Chapter-11-Raining Hollows!
"W-What's the meaning of this? Th….This is absurd! So….how can there be so many hollows?" the clone questioned in shock as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face, now understanding the constantly growing reiatsu.
The loud howls of anguish and pain, the chilling effects of their dark reiatsu now filled the poor clone's system as he stood on top of a tree, staring at a sight which almost everyone could describe as 'Armageddon'.
'We're officially about to get fucked up!' he thought in fear, knowing it was next to impossible to face so many hollows. He looked down though upon hearing Mizuki's screams of pain as the silver haired chunin was beaten to a pulp by all the shadow clones.
Glancing back at the sight for once last time with a nervous gulp, he dispelled himself.
Down there, currently we find the real Naruto walking towards the bloodied form of Mizuki when he suddenly stopped, his eyes wide in shock.
"Naruto?" Iruka asked in a bit of concern upon seeing his terror-struck face, fists trembling a bit in what seemed to be fear.
'What the hell is going on? Teuchi-oji said before that hollows coming to this dimension was a rarity, and though their numbers have been constantly increasing over the past month- this is just too sudden. It doesn't makes sense at all!' he pondered before clenching his fists, contemplating on what to do. It did not help that those howls and screams were making him more nervous and anxious by the second.
'Shit! What do I do? There's no sense in just barging there and taking on all of them. It would be suicide! Even with Ayame-chan and Rangiku-chan with me, we wouldn't be able to beat so many of them. Damn it! I just wish Teuchi-oji was here, he's much stronger than any of us!' he further mused with gritted teeth when he heard Iruka calling him.
"Naruto! Untie me!" he spoke loudly while the blonde stared at him for a few seconds, as if deep in thought.
His eyes however suddenly widened as he rushed to the forbidden scroll of sealing before opening it quickly.
'If what I read earlier...'
"Oi! What are you doing with the scroll? Naruto, are you even listening to me!" the chunin yelled in anger and frustration while the blonde just ignored him as he continued to read something on the scroll before closing it abruptly, a sign of hope on his face.
'This might just work!' he thought with a serious expression before suddenly bolting to Iruka's side, surprising him somewhat.
"Listen sensei, take this forbidden scroll back to the Hokage's tower!" Naruto uttered frantically as he touched his arm, releasing the kido spell before shoving the large scroll in his arms.
"Hey! Where are yo..." the chunin trailed in shock as he stared at the retreating, but blurry form of the blonde.
'Was he always this fast? Was Anko-san serious back then about him being at a level of about low-chunin?'
Present Time: Konoha: Just Outside Ichiraku's Ramen Stand
"What's the meaning of this? How come there are so many?" Anko spoke with gritted teeth as she stood there with Hiruzen, Ayame and Rangiku. They were talking in the apartment a few minutes ago when the foul reiatsu of all these hollows had alerted them.
Infact, it seemed that everyonein Konoha had sensed it considering the spiritual pressure was so large and anyone could feel it. So currently everyone had come out on the streets, expecting the worst hollow attack since they started to come a month ago. The roofs were filled with shinobi as they prepared to follow the usual protocol- keep your chakra levels low, protect the civilians and leave the rest to the hollow hunters. Anbu too were prepared as they stood on the highest grounds, some on the roofs while some on the Hokage's monument as they waited to face these hollows if things got out of hands. Most of the population was terrified of this feeling, they had never felt this way their whole life. Some of them had started to faint, not being able to withstand such pressure.
Ayame had her eyes widened as she stared at the sky filled with tiny approaching figures of those monsters, their forms coming closer as the spiritual pressure increased throughout Konoha. She knew that with only her, Naruto and Rangiku at less than even half of her shinigami powers, it was a lost battle. Their only chance was if...
"Hokage-sama, we have no choice," she turned to Hiruzen with a serious expression making him nod, who already was in his battle gear- having gotten rid of his robes before.
"Hm, what are you two planning?" Anko asked with some impatience in her voice as she stood there, gazing at the hollows with scrunched up eyebrows while her chakra levels were already raised at their maximum output.
"That's something we discussed along with Teuchi-san and Naruto-kun should something like this ever happen," Matsumoto replied with a serious expression making her look at the blonde.
"You were expecting such an attack?"
"With the number of hollows constantly increasing, we had to consider the possibility," she answered while Ayame ate a Soul Replicating Pill as she entered her shinigami form making Anko's eyes widen.
"Hey, don't do that in public here! What if someone saw you do that?"
"It doesn't matter now. Let them see, they're going to see everything tonight anyway," she verbalized with a grim expression before covering her head with the hood.
"RAT, BOAR!" Hiruzen exclaimed as two Anbu blurred to appear in a kneeled position beside him.
"Inform all jounins and other Anbu black ops to raise their chakra levels to the maximum and prepare to fight the hollows. You two yourself increase your own chakra levels too. And for the chunins, have them eva-"
"Wait Hiruzen-san, let me do this the much quicker way," Rangiku interfered making the old kage look at her in confusion while the two Anbu briefly wondered as to why she would refer to the Hokage with his name directly.
"I'll try to hold them as long as I can!" Ayame uttered in her shinigami form as she jumped into the air, using reishi particles to serve as a platform for her in the air. The two Anbu, who had just raised their chakra levels were flabbergasted to notice that one of the hollow hunters had been standing amongst them all along- and even more surprised that they could see her after raising their chakra levels.
Folding up the fabric of her sleeve, Rangiku's fingertips began to glow due to her white reiryoku as she formed several square black markings on her forearms before extending her palms directly in front of her to form a white glowing rectangular box.
Anko and Hiruzen watched with baited breath for they had never seen such a spell.
'Is that the special ninjutsu of Matsumoto-san that's so talked about these days? I've never seen such a thing, there aren't even any handsigns...just some sort of incantation they saw,' Boar thought in amazement as he gazed at the blonde tokubetsu jounin.
"Black and white net. Twenty-two
bridges, sixty-six crowns and belts.
Footprints, distant thunder, sharp peak, engulfing land, hidden in the night, sea of clouds, blue line. Form a circle and fly though the heavens!" Matsumoto exclaimed with a serious expression while several white root-like extensions originated from the other side of rectangle, fading into the distance as they pointed in almost all directions.
"Bakudō no Shichijushichi-Tenteikūra! (Way of Binding 77- Heavenly Rickshaws in Silken Air)" she exclaimed loudly while the surrounding civilians were too busy gazing upwards in horror. Upon naming the kido, the root-like extensions now started to glow making her nod in satisfaction.
"Place a hand on my shoulder and speak, your voice should be heard by almost everyone in Konoha," she spoke when Anko's eyes widened upon hearing Rangiku's voice mentally, as if she could hear her telepathically also.
Hiruzen, for his part nodded before placing a hand on her shoulder as he gave away his orders while ordering the chunins to start evacuating the civilians to safety.
"Hey, did you hear that too?"
"Yeah, he somehow communicated telepathically with all of us. Alright, let's get to work!"
Meanwhile, all the ninja- whether they be chunin, jounin or Anbu let go of their restraints on their chakra as they stared at the intimidating sight of a wave of hollows approaching Konoha from high up there.
"W-What's that?"
"Are they hollows?"
"There are so many! Is Orochimaru going crazy! How can there be so many summons?"
"Will you stop quivering like runts! We have to fight them! Prepare yourselves, as soon as they come in range, we're going to attack together!"
Konoha: Hokage's Monument
"You heard that Kakashi? It definitely was Hokage-sama! I guess your theory was right after all. Raising chakra levels do help us view them clearly, and now that we are not compressing any of our chakra- they are clearer than ever," Asuma spoke after appearing beside the silver haired jounin in a puff of smoke, who currently was staring upwards into the dark sky filled with hundreds of hollows.
"They sure are taking their sweet time reaching the ground,"he muttered making the bearded jounin look upwards too. These two were currently standing with numerous other jounins and Anbu there on the Hokage's head as they all prepared themselves.
"I think they are falling in from some serious altitude up there. It's been several minutes since we spotted them approaching us," he said with with scrunched eyebrows.
"It's also because of that hollow hunter up there trying to stop them from reaching the land," Kakashi uttered making Asuma's eyes widen as he spotted a dot-like black figure, hovering up there in midair.
WHOOOSHHH!
A sudden violent gust of wind swept over the area surrounding them making them skid backwards a bit as they applied chakra to their feet to stick to the surface.
"What power? Is that hollow hunter a wind chakra user?" someone amongst the group asked in astonishment.
"That idiot, he should know with so many hollows, he's got no chance against them. This time, we ourselves have to step in for the protection of our village. And where's the other hunter?" Asuma questioned with a frown when Kakashi lowered his lone eye to stare over the village.
"I think he's trying to buy us sometime so we can get ourselves ready and evacuate the civilians in time," he stated. Currently, almost all the rooftops were occupied by the leaf shinobi and kunoichi out there, taking the highest grounds possible as they waited for the impending attack as the hollows growing closer with each passing second.
With Ayame: Several Minutes Earlier
Using accurate and extremely fast flash steps, travelling long distances in a single step, Ayame blurred towards the wave of hollows at blazing speeds- the howls of anguish pounding her ear drums more loudly with the decreasing distance between them.
"This should be it," she muttered to herself, now standing almost about half a mile above Konoha as she unsheathed her zanpakutou while the hollows drew near.
'I don't know if Naruto-kun is going to come, but I'll have to slay as much of these hollows as I can. Damn, that kumon (Air Gate) still hasn't closed, they just keep coming out. It's like there's no end to them,' she thought with a frown as the moonlight reflected off her petite form in the dark sky.
Nodding to herself, she lifted her zanpakutou to hold it in front of her horizontally, a bit tilted downwards. Gently grazing her index and middle finger over the flat metal till it's tip, she spiked her reiatsu abruptly before exclaiming loudly.
"Zōfuku Suru: Sazanami Sesshoku! (Amplify: Ripple Touch)" a burst of sky blue reiryoku shot forth her body as her reiatsu levels increased by several times.
The flaring reiryoku around her slowly died down to show her form; holding a katana the same size as before.
It's hilt was a glossy shade of royal blue, a silver kanji for 'Ripple' glowing on it; covering the periphery of the round hilt with the Tsuba being octagonal in shape, a dark shade of pink. The metal blade was an unsual shade of indigo, which seemed to be constantly covered with a visible layer of her sky blue spiritual energy/reiryoku.
"A shinigami!"
"So much spiritual power!"
"This dimension is something else, the reiatsu is much denser here!"
"Let's kill the shinigami first!"
Several hollows shouted in between the parade of them, having sensed the sudden spike in spiritual energy all around Konoha due to all the shinobi down their increasing their chakra levels and Ayame releasing her shikai.
Seeing them now almost upon her, Ayame couldn't help but be a little intimidated with the sight. Everywhere she looked upwards, all she could see were those white masks and monstrous forms.
Narrowing her eyes, she dashed towards them at mind boggling speeds, using shunpo to produce after-images, confusing the hollows.
SQUELCH!
SQWISH!
BLECHSH!
One after another, she began to slice off their masks at tremendous speeds, not holding back as she attacked wrecklessly while the low-level hollows couldn't even read her movements.
"There you are!" easily dodging under the attempted claw strike, she completely pierced his mask with her reiryoku-flamed zanpakutou.
"Kill her!" one of them exclaimed as dozens of them jumped at her at the same time. Executing shunpo to dodge their collective attacks, she extended her left palm.
"Sokatsui! (Blue Fire Crashdown)" having no time for any incanations while a rather moderate wave of blue lightening shot from her palm to take out the group, completely engulfing their forms.
Suddenly ducking reflexively, a large claw- the side of her mid-section pierced thin air when she shattered the attacker's mask with a brutal kick.
'Shit! I can't stop all of them, most of these are passing by me. They may be weak, but they are countless in number!' Ayame thought with gritted teeth, feeling overwhelmed by so many of them. Leaping to the side, she was able to avoid another attack.
WHAM!
"Agh!" she exclaimed in pain when a large blurry foot slammed into her back side making her propel downwards before flipping herself in midair to skid on the platform- comprising of reishi particles.
"RAAWWRR!"
CLANG!
"Guhh!" another attack came quickly as she used Sazanami (her zanpakutou) to block it, gritting her teeth as the hollow applied more pressure while she saw dozens of hollows coming at her from different directions; blood dripping down her chin. Lifting her hand, her other shoulder trembling due to the force, she muttered...
"Byakurai (Pale White Lightning)," releasing a white laser-like beam which sliced through the hollow's claw to pierce his mask, a bit of blood splattering on Ayame's face through the hood as she used several flash steps to descend towards the land; gaining some distance from the hollows.
"Kill the shinigami!"
"DEVOUR HER!"
Seeing them now targeting her in groups, she slammed her left hand on the reishi platform she was standing on.
'Right now, the only thing that is in contact with Sazanami Sesshouku is the wind, it should be perfect for wide range attacks and the spirit particles of the wind element are easiest to amplify.'
"Bakudo no Nijuichi: Sekienton (Way of Binding 21: Red Smoke Flight)," and just like a shinobi's smoke bomb, a wide area surrounding Ayame was covered in a large amount of dense smoke making the hollows lose sight of her.
"You think you can run away shinigami?" one of them exclaimed in fury as they dashed towards the smoke with demonic roars from above.
SWOOSHH!
Some of them in the front line stopped when suddenly wind began to pick with the amount of smoke increasing at a fast rate.
"T-This reiatsu...who is this shinigami?"
A large spiritual pressure began to weigh them down when the smoke was suddenly lifted away with another wave of aggressive wind pushing them back a bit.
It revealed to show the glowing form of Ayame, surrounded by wind spiralling around her form at high velocity; it looked to be a tornado of sorts. Her eyes were glowing sky blue in color due to her spiritual energy, visible through the darkness of her hooded face- intimidating the hollows while the reiryoku around her zanpakutou had also flared; which currently was being held loosely by her side.
"What is that?" a hollow shouted in his demonic voice as wind had started to flow around their forms rather voilently with Ayame's reiatsu increasing furthermore.
"Hyperbolize the ripples, Sazanami," she whispered to herself with a serious expression as her zanpakutou started to vibrate a bit.
Gripping the hilt tightly, she lazily lifted Sazanami Sesshouku in the form of a blurred vertical upward slash, slicing through thin air.
SWIISHH!
"ARGH!"
"URGSH!"
The next thing the frozen hollows in front of Ayame knew, their whole bodies were completely sliced and shredded in every possible way, large amounts of blood spraying in midair due to being hit by a whistling, destructive shockwave of a wind slamming into them within the blink of an eye. It was over just in matter of just a second as their bloodied forms disintegrated into spirit particles, their pained screams vanishing into nothingness with their numbers being reduced in large numbers due to the wide range of the attack as the sharp wave of wind kept extending outwards like a ripple, it's power decreasing with increasing distance.
Glancing down at the village, she noticed that many of the hollows still had escaped her but were being taken care of by the shinobi down there.
'These hollows may be extremely large in number, but they are weak. Even low level chunins should be able to handle them. But these hollows just keep coming out, why isn't that kumon closing? Tou-san was right, someone is behind all this, there's definitely something going on in Hueco Mundo,' she thought with a frown before sidestepping a sneak attack from behind to stab her zanpakutou into another hollow behind her.
'Wind's reishi are the easiest to amplify and will take lesser spiritual energy, it's best that I just stick here and concentrate on aerial attacks,' she thought with a grim expression, now getting irritated due to the constant pained howls and screams- it was as if someone was constantly screeching into her ears!
Spiking her reiatsu again, she prepared for another attack as Sazanami again started to flare with sky blue reiryoku, vibrating a bit in her hands.
"HAAHHH!" Ayame exclaimed as she fired the same attack, forming another destructive shockwave of wind with the result being a large number of hollows being erased from existence. Her attack though didn't seem to have any affect on numbers as they just kept coming at her with the three-fourth passing through her- intent on devouring the numerous spiritual energy enriched souls down there.
Ayame however kept on attacking relentlessly mixing some Kido moves in between, intent on wiping as much hollows as she could. The only reason she was still high up in the sky, fighting them even when she should have been easily overwhelmed by their sheer quantity was because most of them were simply going for Konoha instead of one shinigami; else Ayame would have been pushed back easily to fight them with other shinobi.
With Konoha
"Katon: Karyuu Endan! (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame
Projectile)" Mikoto exclaimed after going through a set of blurry hand seals, firing a jet of dense hot fire from her mouth into the sky. The group of hollows screamed in pain as they disintegrated into spirit particles while the Uchiha matriarch jumped through roofs, dashing towards the Hokage's monument.
'I remember everything now...that day, that was the first time I'd seen a hollow. When...I'm sure it was Naruto-kun! The memory is still cloudy, but...I just somehow know it was him,' she thought with a serious expression while bolting through the streets of Konoha with other shinobi busy taking care of other hollows on the rooftops. Screams of pain and anguish now filled Konoha as the hollows were destroyed one after another, but they still kept coming in waves.
"Hey there, your spiritual energy is veeeeery tasty," she skidded to a halt as one giant hollow landed in front of her, shaking the ground somewhat due to its bulky size.
'Spiritual energy? So he can sense my spiritual energy? Chakra sensors are there, but sensing a person's spiritual energy?' she thought with narrowed eyes, her Sharingan activated while she paced through a few handseals.
"Katon: Kaen Kage Kunai no Jutsu (Fire Release: Flame Shadow Kunai Technique)," she uttered in a low tone before emitting a moderate jet of fire from her mouth. Covering a short distance, the fire faded out as several kunai, set on flames zipped through the air before completely piercing through the hollow at multiple parts of his body, one specifically piercing a hole in its mask.
"GRAAGHH!" Mikoto somewhat winced at hearing its loud screams, her ears now ringing while the bulky hollow slowly vanished. Shaking her head a bit, she continued to her destination; now blurring through the streets with the chunins busy evacuating the panicked, terror filled civilians.
Upon recieving Hiruzen orders, when Mikoto had raised her chakra levels- it was as if the memories of that day a month ago had come flooding her mind immediately upon seeing the hollows.
'And then there's this strange way these creatures are dying, they just vanish into thin air...no corpses whatsoever. It's as if they have no physical significance...as if they are just made of spiritual energy only? Is that the reason why I can't see any chakra in them with my Sharingan?' her mind raged with unanswered questions, all around her total havoc as if it was a great shinobi war all over again with spraying blood painting the dark sky.
Near the Ichiraku's Ramen Stand
"This will cause problems for us later Rangiku-chan! With all the villagers knowing of the existence of hollows and now aware of the secret of seeing them, surely they will come to know about the shinigami stuff as well!" Anko spoke as she threw several kunai in the direction of some approaching hollows with deadly accuracy, instantly killing them by destroying their masks. Matsumoto however was attacking them through close range, her katana in action as she sliced through them like butter, currently standing on one of the roofs with Anko.
"You don't have to worry about that. Let them see everything, it's not like they're gonna remember anything of what's happening today. Besides... Shakkaho! (Red Fire Cannon)," she suddenly exclaimed to exude a medium sized red ball of spiritual energy, crashing into a large hollow's mask, taking him out on the spot.
"Besides, we told you about Kaikeisoushinki (Account-Removal Spirit Device) before right? It's the upgrade for Kikanshinki (Account-Replacement Spirit Device). It can be used on a large scale and eliminates all memories regarding any hollows or shinigami. This whole event will be wiped out from their minds!" she spoke, her eyes narrowed while Anko stood behind her; their backs touching.
"And what about the fact that if we kill hollows instead of purifying them, which a shinigami's zanpakutou does, the balance of all the dimensions would be in danger?" asked the snake mistress, curious as Ayame had once informed her that 'killing' these corrupted souls or hollows would decrease the overall number of souls and affect the stability of all the dimensions. It was the reason why Quincy from the other living dimension were banned from killing hollows all those years ago.
"It all comes down to the choice of saving the people here or worry about the balance. We can't just let them kill all these people. Besides, we are only fighting back in defence, I'm sure the spirit king wouldn't mind, it's not our fault that so many hollows are just barging in through!" she verbalized quickly.
"Anko!" both of them turned their heads in the direction of source of the voice.
"Kurenai-chan!" Anko exclaimed, dodging a hollow as the genjutsu specialist landed besides them.
"What's going on? I just returned from a mission to find the village being attacked, and then other jounins told me to raise my chakra levels to fight these hollows. I thought we couldn't see these creatures at all," she said with a frown while the snake mistress skidded to a halt besides her after dispatching another one whereas Matsumoto was busy killing other hollows on the neighbouring roof.
"Well, just go with the flow right now, your questions can be answered later," Anko stated while going through several handseals.
"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Mythical Fire Phoenix Technique)" before shooting several balls of fire onto the incoming hollows from above.
"Damn! All we can do is attack from long range, I wish I could fly like the shinigami!" she complained with a frustrated sigh making Kurenai blink.
"Shinigami?" she questioned in confusion making Anko laugh nervously as she rubbed the back of her head.
"Y-Yeah! I mean, death gods must have the ability to fly, wouldn't they? I mean they're gods after all!" she blabbered while waving her hands in dismissal when Kurenai threw a kunai towards her.
SQUELCH!
Anko's eyes widened when it whizzed past her, iches away from her right ear to slice through a hollow's mask as it's blood sprayed on the back of her head making her eyebrows twitch.
"The hell is wrong with you?" she yelled while pointing an accusing finger at her best friend who just sighed at her.
"Your welcome. Besides, I thought you liked blood," Kurenai spoke with a smirk making the purple haired kunoichi 'hmph' in response who turned her head upwards to throw more shuriken and kunai.
"Well, ain't this a good target practise?" she muttered to herself with a giddy smirk as all around her shinobi were busy dispatching these hollows.
"Tell me...Anko, why isn't genjutsu affecting them?" Kurenai asked in between the fighting making Anko's eyes widen a bit.
"Well, let's just say only physical damage is the key to kill these bastards!" she exclaimed as the hollows continued to rain upon Konoha, the night which was supposed to be another peaceful and silent one like usual, was now filled with blood curling screams, cries of pain while the sky itself looked to be painted red due to so much blood as Ayame kept on attacking them relentlessly.
On Hokage's Monument
"Raikiri! (Lightning Edge)" Kakashi exclaimed with narrowed eyes, his Sharingan now in use as he slammed his hand- flaring with violent sparks of lightning; into another hollow's mask as drops of blood now covered his masked face.
"Fūton: Fūjin no Jutsu! (Wind Release: Dust Cloud Technique)," Asuma uttered loudly before releasing a jet-like wave of wind from his mouth, constituting of sharp dust particles as it killed several hollows coming in its contact instantaneously.
"Raiton: Kangekiha! (Lightning Release: Inspiration Wave)," an Anbu exclaimed before killing several hollows, courtesy of a white lightning laser-like attack being fired from his index finger.
"Their screams are really starting to mess my head now," Asuma spoke with a frown as he clamped his ears with his hands, Kakashi standing besides him as the ones standing on the Hokage's heads continued to throw long range ninjutsu one after another.
"They just don't stop coming. It's as if they don't have any end to them. We can't keep this up forever, eventually all of us will run out of chakra," the silver haired jounin stated with a grim expression.
"That guy up there really is something, he's been going at it constantly for sometime," Asuma spoke while gazing up at the sky where Ayame was releasing amplified wind attacks one after another.
"Katon: Housenka Tsumabeni no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Mythical Fire Phoenix Nails Red Technique)" a feminine voice came from below them as several shuriken, covered with blazing hot flames came into
everyone's view from below the Hokage's monument; sailing through thin air as they sliced through any hollows in their way like butter.
Following the attack, a figure blurred through before landing on the sandaime's head.
"Mikoto-sama," Kakashi acknowledged when Hiruzen too appeared beside him via shunshin.
"Hokage-sama, we have to do something about that rip in the sky. That's the main source for all these hollows," Mikoto spoke seriously making Hiruzen nod with Kakashi and Asuma too agreeing with her.
"And where's Naruto-kun? I couldn't find him anywhere," she spoke in utter seriousness while Hiruzen somewhat jerked a bit at the mention of the blonde's name.
'Come to think of it, I haven't seen him anywhere. I guess failing the exams affected him real deeply. I hope he's alright,' the old kage thought in worry.
With Ayame
Currently Ayame was firing her attacks continuously, now a bit out of breath.
'This is blasphemy! They just keep coming, the only option left is to force the kumon to close itself. Tou-san did taught me the spell, but there's no way I can reach the kumon all the way up there with so many hollows, they just keep pushing me back,' she thought with a frown, her shinigami attire torn in several places while most of her black garb was now covered with blood.
"Ayame-chan!" she snapped her head back to see Rangiku shunpo'ing towards her at a fast rate.
"Rangiku-chan?" Ayame questioned as Matsumoto appeared beside her, now wearing a plain white garb instead of the shinigami's black one.
"I left my gigai down there in my apartment, these hollows are pretty weak and everyone is easily handling them down there. I thought I'd lend you some help. I've recovered enough of my powers to fight these weak hollows atleast, even if I have no zanpakutou," she spoke with a grim expression on her face while Ayame nodded, taking off her hood to reveal her face; drops of blood on her skin which she wiped with the fabric of her sleeve.
"Yeah, thanks for coming up here. Their numbers are increasing each second. But I can force the kumon up there to close if I can just reach it. Can you back me up Ran...," Ayame's eyes widened as her voice trailed in shock while she was currently gazing at something. Following her line of sight, Matsumoto's breathing hitched in shock upon noticing that another kumon was opening up several meters beside the first one.
"Oh Kami, please don't tell me...," Rangiku muttered when...
"Got you!" a hollow exclaimed when Ayame suddenly grabbed her to flash step out of the attack. However she continued to execute shunpo as they travelled farther away from both the kumon in the sky, away from the swarm of hollows descending continuously on the leaf village like a waterfall.
"This is not good! It doesn't even make any sense, now I'm definitely sure someone is doing this on purpose," Ayame uttered, her tone frustrated while she looked to be panting a bit. Currently they were standing directly high above the Hokage's monument with an altitude of about half a mile; their forms only visible as dots from ground even with Mikoto's and Kakashi's Sharingan.
"Look, that kumon is even wider than the first one," Matsumoto pointed out with dread filling her. With no zanpakutou and equipped with less than half of her shinigami powers, she knew she couldn't do much in this situation. With Teuchi out, only Ayame remained with no signs of Naruto whatsoever. And even if Naruto was here, she knew he couldn't have made much of a difference. He had improved tremendously over the past month and had gained considerable control over his huge reiryoku reserves, but still...they needed quantity here; not quality.
Ayame continued to gaze at the jet stream that were the countless hollows, when more hollows began to rip their way in through the newly opened kumon.
'What do we do?' she thought while biting her lower lip, an expression of desperation on her face as she clenched the hilt of Sazanami tightly. Matsumoto too seem to have no answers as she looked at the scene with hopelessness.
'If only I had my powers,' she thought with clenched fists when Ayame spoke.
"We've got to close both the kumon, you just watch my back Rangiku-chan...I'll handle the rest," a firm expression on her face when the blonde put a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you sure? The number of hollows coming are almost double than before, it's next to impossible to reach up there with just the two of us. If only Naruto-kun was...," she trailed as both of them snapped their heads back to look into the forests from way up there.
'He's here!' both of them thought simultaneously, sensing his reiatsu nearby which strangely was increasing with each passing second.
With Other's on the Hokage Monument
"More hollows?" someone exclaimed amongst the group as their eyes widened when more hollows, almost double than before; began to attack relentlessly.
"Hokage-sama, have all the civilians been evacuated to safety?" Mikoto asked with a frown as she walked to stand in the front, her long black hair flowing with the wind while Kakashi stood there with clenched fists, Asuma no longer present for he had left the monument to aid the others.
"What do we do now? There are just so many!" someone voiced from behind.
"We fight! That's what we do!" the sandaime Hokage stated loudly, a serious expression on his face when Mikoto turned around to look at him with a serious expression on her face.
"I ask again, where is the second hollow hunter...where is Naruto-kun?" she asked with a piercing gaze making Hiruzen's eyes widen in shock.
'What the...,' he thought in astonishment while Kakashi narrowed his eyes.
"What are you talking ab-"
"JIJI!" everyone turned their heads back to see a familiar blonde sailing towards them, having jumped off the cliffy wall from behind them.
"Naruto...," the Hokage muttered with wide eyes as he along with every jounin and Anbu stared at his grinning face.
"Where's ever- GAH!"
THUD!
"N-Naruto-kun...," Mikoto whispered, a bit startled as the blonde currently laid flat on his face on the concrete surface just inches away from her feet- having landed on the monument only to somehow miraculously slip, his jaw crashing onto the ground; skidding on the surface to halt just in front of her.
"Ugh...what happened?" he groaned as the blonde slowly stood up, cupping his jaw while everyone else sweatdropped at his antics.
'That's...one hell of a clumsy entry,' one of the jounins thought whereas Hiruzen and Kakashi stared at him in surprise.
"Are you alright Naruto-kun?" Mikoto asked with a concerned face as she observed him, having multiple bruises on his body while he looked to be sweating profusely.
Smiling at her, he nodded before wiping the sweat off his forehead when his expression suddenly turned serious while other jounins were currently glaring at him, thinking that the demon brat would only make things worse.
"Go hide somewhere else brat! We don't have time to deal with your pranks, the village's under attack!" one of them exclaimed loudly, making Mikoto glare at him. If it was not for the urgency of the situation; she would have taught that idiot a thing or two.
"Jiji, are we following the plan?" the blonde asked, competely ignoring the others while he had a knowing look on his face whereas everyone else found themselves confused at his question.
"Yeah," the professor answered with a smirk making the blonde nod before he turned to the large group of other shinobi.
"I'll show you how much of a brat I am," he said with narrowed eyes before turning around to walk upto the edge of the sandaime's head while Mikoto looked at him in what seemed to be...anticipation?
'So he really is one of the hunters? It was Naruto-kun that day, I just know it,' she thought while Naruto was currently looking upwards.
'Both of them are up there and seem fine to me, Ayame-chan however is a bit low on reiryoku,' he mentally sighed in relief.
"Step back Mikoto-chan, I need some space," he uttered seriously while Mikoto found herself strangely obeying him, his voice sounding much matured.
Hiruzen's eyes though widened when he sensed Naruto's chakra levels growing.
'Why is he using chakra now?' he thought while everyone's eyes widened too as his chakra levels kept growing with his body now being outlined by a glowing blue layer of chakra.
THUMP!
"HAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!" slamming his hands into the ram seal, Naruto roared as his chakra levels began to sky rocket at mind boggling rates. Everyone stood there stunned as the vast amounts of chakra they could feel being built up by the boy who had just failed his academy graduation exams for the third time.
'S-So much chakra!' Mikoto thought with wide eyes as wind began to pick up around the blonde like a mini vortex, inducing dust all around them.
WHSHOOM!
"Ugh!" she exclaimed when a shockwave of pure chakra expelled from the blonde outwards making everyone shield their eyes from the dust while Naruto's body burst into blue flames of chakra as he continued to power up, his screams now echoing throughout the area.
'What is he planning?' Kakashi thought while he stood there frozen as he saw the blonde's large chakra coils being flooded by overwhelming amounts of chakra. And then there was this pressure that they now began to feel even when their own chakra wasn't compressed now.
'So much chakra that it's clearly visible now,' one of the jounins thought in shock.
'I've got to use as much chakra as I can! This is a one time thing!' Naruto thought as the flaring blue chakra grew denser in color, his blonde spiky locks now flowing violently with the wind when he formed a familiar hand seal.
"TAJUUUU..." he yelled loudly, trailing as his chakra easily went past the kage levels now, gritting his teeth as he called out as much as he could.
"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, eyes closed in exertion.
POOF!
ENORMOUS amounts of smoke filled the whole area around the Hokage's monument.
'No way!' everyone except Hiruzen thought collectively as the smoke gradually cleared for them to gaze at something they'd never even imagined.
"W-What is this?" Mikoto stuttered as she took a startled step back, turning her head around the three sixty degree space to see nothing but Naruto-'s'.
The whole of Hokage's monument was filled with the blonde's shadow clones while the others were standing on the cliff wall (on which the Hokage's faces are carved) using chakra to stick to the surface. So much were their numbers that seeing from far, it looked as if the wall itself was painted orange. Even the roof of the Hokage's office, which was beneath the monument was not spared by the colossal technique that the whiskered blonde had just executed.
With Rangiku and Ayame
"Hey, why is it so much orange down there all of a sudden?" Rangiku asked in confusion making Ayame look down as her eyes widened in shock.
"What are they doing? It must be Naruto-kun, his reiryoku had fired up suddenly just now, he must have created shadow clones using his massive chakra reserves," she deduced.
"C'mon, let's go," Ayame said when Matsumoto grabbed her arm.
"Wait, look down there. I don't think he would create so many shadow clones only to fight on the ground. Usually, he would have just entered his shinigami form to aid us up here. He must be planning something," she explained with a serious expression before shunpo'ing closer to the ground, taking Ayame with her who was getting anxious by the second as the hollows continued to pour through the two air gates (kumon).
Hokage Monument
"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! LET'S DO IT!OUT WITH THE FREAKY GLOVES!" the real Naruto, standing on the edge yelled as his around thousands of clones chorused in agreement while the jounins and Anbu stood there baffled, in awe of the sight around them. How did an academy failure knew a forbidden technique and the tree-walking phenomenon?
"Naruto, what are you planning?" Hiruzen asked with a serious expression, stepping forward while Mikoto too approached him.
Turning around, panting a bit due to using so much chakra, the blonde smirked at the duo as he took out the familiar black glove, having a white skull printed on it- the Gokon Tekkō.
"What is that Naruto-kun?" Mikoto asked as Kakashi too came forward while Naruto just ignored them as he continued to smirk at Hiruzen.
"The Shadow Clone technique, along with chakra, also divides a user's soul," he simply stated making Hiruzen's eyes widen as everything immediately formed a clear picture for the Hokage while the blonde pressed the glove to his chest with the rest of the clones doing the same.
The result was, as expected, thousands of blonde shinigami, in their adult versions now standing on reishi-based platforms in midair.
Everbody stood there speechless, stunned, astonished, flabbergasted, amazed, awed with their jaws hammering onto the ground.
"N-No way...Naruto-kun?" Mikoto asked in a quivering voice, gazing at the tall figure in front of her, besides whom was laying his original body while all the other shadow clones unsheathed Haineko. Everywhere in the sky the jounins and Anbu looked, all they could see were the flying forms of shinigami Naruto, not a single word escaping their mouths.
Hiruzen however, even in his moment of unbelief and with an expression of impossibility, could feel his lips curling upwards.
'Darn ingenious! So that's why he created so many shadow clones! But where did he get that tid bit of information regarding the shadow clones, I never told him.'
"CHARGE FORWARD YOU GUYS! LET'S HAVE A HOLLOW HUNTING COMPETITION!" Naruto yelled, his zanpakutou still sheathed.
"You got it boss!"
"Kill those wierd masked creatures!"
"This is gonna be fun!"
Enthusiastic shouts filled the area as the clones one by one shunpo'ed out, bolting forwards at blazing speeds higher upto into the sky to face the raining hollows.
Turning back to face Mikoto, the real blonde grinned while she could feel her cheeks heating up. Averting his eyes to the other stupified ninja, Naruto couldn't help but smirk again,
"Who's the brat now?" before blurring out as he flash stepped away, leaving others dumbfounded and an amused Hokage.
I hope you people liked this chapter. One thing I wanted to clear out is that since Naruto already had extremely large spiritual energy reserves from the beginning, combined with his physical energy reserves also increasing comsiderably during his training due to his extreme physical workout...he has much larger reserves than the manga Naruto.
Don't forget to review and tell me what you think. :)
N6023