A.N: With only Lucci, Kaku, Ulquiorra, and Yammy left, we're drawing close to the end. This chapter will mostly focus on the fights between Naruto and Luffy against Ulquiorra and Yammy. Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Asesinos Muertos

Kakashi narrowed his eyes in anger and determination as he sped through a few Hand Signs. I shouldn't be using this now, but I have to end this before he has a chance to show off what he can really do.

Lightning appeared in Kakashi's left hand. Lucci smirked at this. "Lightning, eh? Interesting; lets see how it holds up against the power of the Leopard Model."

With that, Lucci and Kakashi charged one another.

"Lightning Blade!" Kakashi shouted.

"Ten Finger Pistol!" Lucci shouted.

The two powerful attacks collided, creating an enormous shockwave.

Ichigo shielded himself from the shockwave and gritted his teeth. Kaku smirked at Lucci and Kakashi's fight.

"Looks like Lucci's having his fun." Kaku noted.

Kaku sheathed his swords. "Well, I suppose I should stop holding back and go all out. It's much more fun that way."

Ichigo looked at Kaku, confused. He sheathed his swords, why? Ichigo wondered.

Kaku then started to transform. He grew tall; taller than even Lucci during his transformation. His neck grew to an extremely long length. CP9's best swordsman had become…

"A giraffe?" Ichigo could not believe what he was looking at.

Kaku nodded. "This is the Ox-Ox Fruit: Giraffe Model."

Ichigo did not respond. Kaku smirked at this. "I can understand why you'd be intimidated by my form. Most would be."

Ichigo did respond to this. However, much to Kaku's surprise, he responded with laughter. Ichigo could not help but struggle standing as he belly-laughed at Kaku's current appearance.

"What the hell is that? You look ridiculous!" Ichigo cackled.

Kaku was furious at this. "Don't you dare make fun of my form you brat! I love giraffes!"

Kaku craned his neck. "Nose Pistol!" He shouted, launching his head forward, nose-first.

Ichigo recovered from his laughter. "Oh crap." He muttered, moving Tensa Zangetsu in front of him.

Kaku's nose collided with the side of Tensa Zangetsu, pushing Ichigo back several feet. Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the Giraffe Man. His attacks have more force than before, he thought, this just got a lot tougher.

Ulquiorra Cifer narrowed his eyes as he sensed the battles ending along with the remaining battles becoming heavier. "There are only four of us left," Ulquiorra noted, "myself, Yammy, and those two assassins; Lucci and Kaku."

Naruto Uzumaki grinned at Ulquiorra. "Looks like the first battle of the war goes to us, Paleface."

Ulquiorra sighed, annoyed at Naruto's behavior. "Irritating trash," he muttered, "I can't wait to kill you."

Naruto grinned. "I'm not giving you that chance! Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Ulquiorra sighed once more as he was surrounded by several clones of Naruto. "This parlor trick of yours isn't going to save you forever Naruto Uzumaki. After all, eventually you won't be able to hide behind them all."

The small army of Naruto Uzumaki charged Ulquiorra all at once. Calmly, Ulquiorra swung his blade and cut into each clone, which then vanished into a puff of smoke. A technique like this would overwhelm a lesser opponent with its sheer numbers, Ulquiorra thought, but I'm not a lesser opponent.

A second wave of Shadow Clones then leapt at Ulquiorra in pairs. One half of the pair disappeared as the other half held a Rasengan in its hand. Ulquiorra's eyes widened at this. "Rasengan Super Barrage!" They shouted in unison.

Damn! Ulquiorra cursed.

The barrage of Rasengans struck Ulquiorra. For a brief moment, it appeared that Naruto had managed to seriously injure Ulquiorra. However, at the next moment, a blast of Spiritual Pressure sent the clones flying backwards, causing them all to instantly disperse. The real Naruto Uzumaki hit the wall and slumped back to the floor, groaning in pain.

Naruto then got a good look at Ulquiorra. His uniform was in tatters and he did have some marks from being struck by the Rasengan Supper Barrage, but he looked unharmed other than that.

What the hell is with this guy? Naruto thought in anger and in shock. He took a direct hit from multiple Rasengans and he doesn't look fazed one bit. I wonder what the other 'Espada' are like.

"You are quite strong, Naruto Uzumaki, I shall acknowledge that. If I hadn't it increased the power of my Hierro I might've taken some serious damage. However, you are still no match for me." Said Ulquiorra.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Ulquiorra. At the rate this is going, I'm going to need to use Kurama's Chakra or Sage Mode. Naruto thought.

It was here, Naruto decided to ask for his Tailed Beast's opinion. "Yo, Kurama, what do you think?" Naruto mentally asked his Tailed Beast and friend.

The Nine-Tailed Fox that is sealed inside of him took a good look at Ulquiorra from inside Naruto's mind. "This guy is definitely one of the strongest people you've ever gone up against. He could probably give the majority of the Akatsuki a run for their money. Hell, I'd like to see him go against Itachi, or that guy Kisame." Kurama noted.

"Yeah, but what should I do against him?" Naruto asked.

"Sage Mode takes time to start, I can give you my Chakra right now." Said Kurama.

"Good point," said Naruto, "all right than, Kurama, you know what to do."

Kurama grinned inside of Naruto's mind. "Hell yeah, kick his ass Naruto."

Ulquiorra watched as a Chakra shroud enveloped Naruto. What is this? Ulquiorra thought. His power is…demonic. It reminds me of Ichigo Kurosaki's Hollowifcation.

Naruto suddenly vanished from Ulquiorra's sight. Damn! Ulquiorra thought, I got distracted by his power!

Naruto reappeared in front of him with a different-colored Rasengan in his hand. "Tailed Beast Rasengan!" Naruto shouted, driving it straight into Ulquiorra's chest.

Ulquiorra cried out in pain as the Jutsu dug into his body. He could feel the the pure energy make its mark on his flesh as he was sent flying backwards into the wall. Shakily, Ulquiorra got to his feet. His eyes widened when he saw the mark on his chest. Impossible, he thought, that attack…it broke through my Hierro.

Ulquiorra glared at Naruto. "Naruto Uzumaki, it is clear that killing you is much more important than the leaders."

Naruto grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Earlier, Yammy Riyalgo and Monkey D. Luffy were also stepping up their fight as well. Yammy's strength had proven more than a match for Luffy early on in the fight. Luffy himself, in spite of his lack of intelligence, could not help but note Yammy's strength. There was no doubt in his mind that this brute of a man could become one of the Seven Warlords in his world.

"Heh," Yammy grinned, "you're a lot tougher than I expected, human. To think I'd find such a strong enemy so early, qué suerte!"

"I don't know what that last part meant," Luffy replied, "but thanks for the compliment. You're pretty strong yourself."

"I have to ask," Yammy continued, "how do you stretch your body like that? I've never seen an ability such as yours in all of my life."

"It's a Devil Fruit. I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, I'm a Rubber Man."

"Rubber? That stretchy stuff?"

Luffy nodded at Yammy's question. Yammy got a look of absolute horror on his face as realization hit him. "I've been unable to beat a guy made out of rubber?" He screamed to himself. "No way! I'm an Espada for crying out loud!"

Yammy glared at Luffy. "This is unforgivable, I would probably lose my position if word got out that I had trouble beating a puny human made out of rubber."

Yammy's spiritual pressure started to rise with his anger. "This is unforgivable! Unforgivable! Unforgivable! Unforgivable!"

Luffy remained calm in the face of Yammy's temper tantrum. Yammy was practically seeing red at this point. "The leaders can wait," Yammy roared, "I'm going to rip you apart first Rubber Man!"

Yammy quickly threw a punch at the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. Luffy whipped his head out of the way, holding onto his straw hat in the process. "Now, Gum-Gum…" Luffy began, stretching his arm back and then twisting it.

Yammy's eyes widened when he realized he could not react quick enough. "…Rifle!" Luffy sent his arm shooting forward straight into Yammy's chest.

Yammy gasped and coughed up blood as he skidded back several feet. "You bastard!" Yammy growled.

Yammy brought his fists back. "Bala!" He screamed.

Luffy looked on in awe as compressed balls of spirit energy shot towards him. He ducked and leapt out of the way of each Bala.

"That attack is so cool!" Luffy said amazed.

Yammy growled at Luffy. "Take this fight seriously, you piece of garbage!"

Luffy glared at Yammy. "I'm always serious, big guy, let me show you."

Luffy got back into a fighting stance. "Armament Haki!"

Luffy's arms and legs turned black. "Now, Armament Hardening Gum-Gum Gatling!"

As Luffy started punching at high speed, Yammy glared back at him. "Do you really want to test your fists against mine, Rubber Man?" Yammy asked arrogantly.

Yammy started matching Luffy punch for punch. However, as the onslaught wore on, a shocked Yammy realized that Luffy's attacks were far too numerous for him to block. Upon realizing this, Yammy took a blackened fist to the face, then to the stomach. Thrown off guard Yammy took several more hits before finally recovering and then responded by sending Luffy flying back with a shockwave of spiritual pressure.

Luffy landed on his feet, only to watch Yammy disappear. He's going to punch me in the face! Luffy thought, accessing his Observation Haki.

Yammy reappeared right in front of Luffy and attempted to slam him onto the floor with a punch to the face. Luffy leapt out of the way and landed several feet away from the hulking Espada.

"I didn't think you could move that fast. I guess I'm going to have to use this to keep up with you." Luffy said as steam started to come out of his body.

Yammy raised an eyebrow at this. "What's that little bastard doing?" Yammy asked himself.

"Second Gear!" Luffy shouted.

Luffy suddenly vanished from Yammy's sight. Yammy's eyes widened in shock at this. He's moving as fast as Sonido! He realized.

"Gum-Gum Jet Pistol!" Luffy suddenly appeared in front of Yammy.

Yammy could not react in time as an incredibly fast fist flew straight into his face. Yammy's face seemed to contort as blood shot out of his broken nose. Yammy screamed in pain from the force of the impact. In a normal situation, Luffy's punch would not have damaged Yammy much. However, force is mass multiplied by velocity. With the sudden increase in velocity from Second Gear, the strength behind Luffy's attacks increase exponentially.

Luffy brought his arms back as Yammy stumbled backwards. "Gum-Gum Jet Bazooka!" Luffy shouted.

Yammy grunted in pain as two palms went straight into his abdomen, sending him flying backwards. Luffy vanished and then reappeared behind him.

"Gum-Gum Jet Whip!" Luffy shouted, kicking.

The rubber leg sped into Yammy's side, sending him flying again. The giant Arrancar was being knocked around like a pinball and there was not a thing he could do about it! Luffy speedily leapt into the air and brought his arm back once again.

"Gum-Gum Jet Rifle!"

The attack stopped Yammy's flight by sending him straight into the ground. Luffy landed as, canceling his Second Gear. Luffy grinned, thinking that he had beaten the big man. However, he was surprised when he suddenly felt another shockwave from Yammy's spiritual pressure. Yammy somehow got to his feet. He was bloodied and bruised, but he was standing!

"You little bastard!" Yammy screamed. "Now you've done it!"

Luffy remained calm. "I guess this is gonna get tougher." He said simply.

Ulquiorra raised his sword at Naruto. "I was going to save this for the real war," said Ulquiorra, "but I cannot allow you to leave here alive."

Naruto prepared himself for whatever Ulquiorra was about to do next. "Imprison…" Ulquiorra began.

The emotionless Espada suddenly froze mid-sentence. Naruto was surprised at this. A few moments passed. Ulquiorra soon nodded. "I understand, I will return immediately."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise when he overheard these words. Ulquiorra's body started to glow. "What's going on with your body?" Naruto demanded.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Ulquiorra ignored Naruto's question, "unfortunately we're going to have to continue this later. I have just been ordered to return to our headquarters."

Naruto, quickly realizing that there was nothing that could be done, stood down. "We'll settle this later," Naruto told him, "you can count on that you bastard."

Yammy seemed annoyed when he heard the same orders Ulquiorra received. "The hell's with that?" Yammy asked angrily. "You're telling me to leave now."

A couple of seconds passed. "Damn," Yammy muttered, "fine I'm leaving."

Yammy started to glow like Ulquiorra. "You got lucky this time, Straw Hat," said Yammy, "I'll crush you next time we meet."

Luffy grinned. "Bring it on, I'll be waiting."

Rob Lucci looked at his bleeding hands as he started to glow as well. That was one of the most powerful attacks I've ever felt in my life, Lucci thought, referring to Kakashi's Lightning Blade.

Kakashi looked at his left arm, which was clearly dislocated. The force of his attack his phenomenal. Kakashi thought.

Lucci grinned sadistically at Kakashi as he started to fade away. "I'm looking forward to this war now, Copy Ninja."

Kaku sighed in disappointment as he started glowing. "Damn, and I was having so much fun too." Kaku said.

"Leaving already, huh?" Ichigo asked.

Kaku nodded. "It's too bad," Kaku said to him, "I really wanted to finish this up. And I hadn't even started showing off my stronger attacks."

From all across Chitsujo's temple, the defeated enemies apart of the Villain's Army started to glow and fade away as well. Back in the meeting room, Chitsujo breathed a sigh of relief. "It's over." He said simply.

A.N: And cut! We're officially drawing close to the end of the prologue. Three chapters remain and they will all deal with the aftermath of this grueling fight. What will the heroes do now that they realize that they need to work together to defeat these people? Find out in the next few chapters!