SpeeDemon: Well, I was at 196,000 hits before I updated, and I usually get about 10,000+ hits per Chapter, I thought I would pass up 200,000 on my next update.
Awesome: Well, I suppose the other nations can have people that become Shinigami, but I'm really going to only focus on the Shinigami ones, at least for this point in time.
Xeiden: No, he's not. He's just an OC.
digitalflame192: Funny you should mention that, as he shows up soon.
Well, it's been a while since I updated, and I'm sure there are a few of you who are wondering where the hell I've been. Well, I've been looking at my stories recently, and I've come to the conclusion that my outlines need work. There needs to be more planning before I decide to write a Chapter. (This is the reason I haven't updated One Twentieth of a Whole in forever.)
They're still not finished, but for the time being I figured I would update this story to satisfy everyone for the time being. I should also mention that while I'm working behind the scenes on these and other stuff, updates may not come at all until I'm finished. But, when I do finish and update, I'll be throwing in a couple of bonus features.
And one more thing, thanks for 200,000 hits! So with that, on with Chapter 20!
Chapter 20: Reclutamiento
"Dreendo-sama isn't going to like this very much..." hissed a shrouded figure lurking in the shadows at the top of the plateau. There wasn't much to said about this particular Hollow. It was covered in a plain black cloak that obscured almost all of his features, but what could be told about this creature was that it was thin, lithe, and subtle, the perfect build for a spy.
It was currently perched on top of the plateau, suppressing its reiatsu while remaining out of view of the other Hollows in the area. He had been assigned to spy on Torobic for quite some time now, and even when Torobic had emerged from his cave complex and trashed the two Hollows, the figure hadn't even batted an eyelash.
That quickly changed when the fox Hollow and the bat Hollow managed to get the advantage, and in a quick display of wit, managed to kill Torobic by dropping him to his death thousands of feet below.
It took all of the Hollow's willpower to not have a panic attack right there. A development like this would massively screw up their plan, and he didn't want to be around to see his master's rage when he found out. He would have to leave his spot and go down, if only to confirm Torobic's death.
The cloud of dust cleared at the bottom, and the figure was able to confirm the death of Torobic, judging by how his legs limply protruded from the dirt below. The fox Hollow who had killed him seemed to be only slightly injured from the fall, though it was hard to tell considering how injured he had been during the fight. Whatever the case, the fox Hollow definitely hadn't been killed like Torobic had.
He heard a whooshing noise to the left of him, and it turned out that the bat Hollow who was just flying there idly had flown down to join his comrade, and maybe reap their reward. He almost forgot that the bat Hollow was still around, and cursed his stupidity at almost going out in plain view.
He moved himself out of his hiding place once he was sure the bat Hollow had completely descended, and when they couldn't see him, and prepared to find suitable cover down below. He had to find out more information about these two quickly, lest they become a threat.
When Torobic was pulled cleanly out of the dirt and sand by Naruto, his cold, dead body would never realize how intensely Naruto's evil red eyes were staring at him right then.
Naruto didn't stir when Ulquiorra landed in the dirt beside, never taking his gaze off the dead Vasto Lorde. He seemed to be even hurting himself from exertion, as his eyes seemed to adopt a manic, bloodshot look, and a few veins popped into the areas around his head that were visible. It was quite a grotesque scene, as even Ulquiorra would note as such.
Ulquiorra was about to say something, but before he could even open his mouth, the fox Adjuchas stopped his intense gaze, cocked his head backwards, and emitted the loudest laugh Ulquiorra had heard him do thus far. It was just as manic as any of Naruto's other laughs, perhaps even more so. Yet this time, there was no hatred laced behind the laugh, just simply insane joy.
Whatever the case, he was probably just ecstatic about the fact that he just killed a Vasto Lorde of all things, and would gain a massive power-up once he feasted upon the corpse. Ulquiorra knew already that there was no way the fox Hollow would ever share any of his meal, and he honestly didn't expect Naruto to do that anyway. The spoils brought about by a dead Hollow belong to its killer, and no one else.
Naruto himself didn't need to be told twice. He didn't even speak, gesture, or even acknowledge Ulquiorra's presence, and proceeded to selfishly tear his teeth into the Vasto Lorde's corpse, and from the sounds he was making, it was indeed delicious. Naruto didn't even make an attempt to have some restraint.
Even Ulquiorra couldn't help but feel a little jealous at that sight.
Halfway through the meal, Naruto seemed to spasm in a crude, almost sexual manner, and Ulquiorra started to feel dirty just watching this scene play out. And, oh god, was he really seeing how tenderly Naruto was caressing the half-eaten body?
As he was eating the body, Naruto, Ulquiorra, and even the messenger off to the side could just feel the change in power occurring in Naruto. As he got closer and closer to polishing off the body, Naruto's orange reiatsu began to release itself, become more beautiful and vivid with each passing second, but also much more violent and oppressing.
The world itself seemed to rumble from the heavy reiatsu, yet when all of this was occurring, Naruto's body never changed one bit. Despite eating a Vasto Lorde and gaining a tremendous amount of power, Naruto... wasn't evolving.
That didn't stop Naruto from eating with pure gusto, devouring every bit of flesh with unrestrained relish. He didn't care about evolution in this particular moment. All he cared about was eating the meal and the taste of it.
The look on his face was pure bliss too, so much so that he almost looked like he was going to pass out. When he finally finished, he collapsed backwards into the dirt and released a moan of pure ecstasy.
"T-That... was... a-amazing!" he moaned softly, blood dribbling from his mouth lewdly and clashing with the seemingly positive scene. Ulquiorra sighed reproachfully, embarrassed by Naruto's behavior.
"Did you really have to act that way? What you just did basically showed that you don't have any dignity." he lectured.
Naruto looked confused for a second, before he turned his head to the side and noticed his right-hand man.
"Oh, hey Ulquiorra! When did you get here?" he asked, before laughing uproariously. Ulquiorra then adopted a deadpan expression at his king's absentminded nature.
The bat Hollow wiped his palm across his face, his eyes showing pure exasperation at the brash Hollow in front of him. Then again, with his consuming of the Vasto Lorde, it was pretty much guaranteed that Naruto was far beyond his level now, even if he didn't quite evolve into a Vasto Lorde.
"So, how are you feeling?" he asked. Naruto looked at him happily.
"Great! I feel great! Power is rushing through me at a phenomenal rate, and I feel like I can do anything right now, with no one able to stop me." Naruto exclaimed, laughing all the way.
"Even though you didn't evolve?"
That put a slight damper on Naruto's mood, though it wasn't enough to wipe the grin off of his face.
"C'mon, Ulquiorra. You should know by now just how much it takes to evolve to Vasto Lorde status. We've both eaten so many of our own kind in hopes of becoming one of them. The Vasto Lorde class should not be underestimated. I'm not surprised that eating one didn't propel me into an evolution. The Vasto Lorde class takes... more than that. Any less, and that stage couldn't be considered the pinnacle of a Hollow's existence." Naruto said.
Ulquiorra looked slightly thoughtful at that.
Over to the side, the messenger was disturbed by Naruto's actions, but more than anything, he was afraid that he would incurring his master's wrath once he got back to report to him.
"If you're quite finished, Naruto, we've got our new cave complex to explore. However, I'm not sure what this Valicav had in mind when he suggested that you use this place to set up your new kingdom. It's so labyrinthine that it would actually be harmful rather than advantageous." Ulquiorra stated.
The messenger narrowed his eyes at that little bit of information.
Naruto laughed.
"I think he meant that this place is the only real area he knows of that hasn't been claimed by anyone else, but it turned out that little bit of information wasn't true, either, seeing how it was occupied by a fucking Vasto Lorde!"
Ulquiorra was pacified at that bit of information, but unknown to the two, the messenger was lapping up information that he would go back and tell his master.
"These two Adjuchas want to start their own kingdom. It would be simple my master to crush them now with his forces, and we should take care of them now, in the off chance that they actually do become powerful. I just hope Master-sama isn't too enraged however, as he might make some unpleasant decisions. At the very least, I know that he'll be enraged enough to want to take revenge on the Hollows who killed his brother. These two don't stand a chance..." the messenger mused, before taking off into the shadows.
"So... if I want to build a kingdom, where should I start?" Naruto mused, as he sat down on Torobic's throne. The two Hollow somehow managed to make their way back into Torobic's throne room, deciding to take up residence in the spacious cavern.
"Well, the main thing we need to do is find Hollows who will take up positions within your kingdom. With your power, it shouldn't be any problem to make regular Hollows obey you without question. The real problem here is getting an Adjuchas under your command." Ulquiorra advised.
"Hmm..." Naruto breathed, before a sudden noise turned his attention to the outside. Ulquiorra heard it too, and both Adjuchas recognized what it was instantly.
"Low-level Hollows..." Ulquiorra stated for the both of them, discerning the hostile cries and shrieks of many Hollow out in the cave complex. In response to that, Naruto grinned savagely.
"This should be the perfect time to exercise my power then. Stay here, Ulquiorra. I won't be longer than an hour." Naruto ordered, to which Ulquiorra complied immediately.
He was surprised by how close the Hollows were to the throne room. Once he walked out of his throne room, it only took two rooms to the right, until he was standing on a small ledge overlooking a shallow pit, where the Hollows were currently milling about, one occasionally taking a bite out of another. All together, there were about forty of them total, and none of them were even a remote threat to an Adjuchas.
"Too easy..." he thought.
With a deep breath, Naruto unleashed his heaviest roar, while simultaneously releasing his full reiatsu. The sheer power he was displaying instantly petrified every single Hollow in the room, and they all stared, enthralled by the authority this Hollow demanded.
"Listen up!" Naruto boomed, doing his best impression of an authoritative voice. "Torobic is dead, meaning that I am the new master of this place, and I am making all of you my subjects, and we will form the greatest kingdom this world has ever seen. Do I make myself clear?" he roared, his voice dropping an octave. It was a simple speech without too many details, but this was all Naruto needed.
The Hollows looked at each other for a moment, before they finally cheered in agreement, too enthralled by Naruto's power and authority to do anything else.
Meanwhile, back in the main chamber, Ulquiorra clearly heard Naruto's roar, followed by the heavy reiatsu, and at that moment, he knew that their kingdom has just gained their first citizens.
"With his power, indeed... " he muttered to himself in the dark.
"So, you let them go back to their colony?" asked Ulquiorra as soon as Naruto re-entered the chamber.
"Yeah, they still live in this cave complex, and they've already sworn allegiance to me, knowing full well what will happen if they break their word to me. I think it's safer to keep all the regular vassals at arm's length right now, at least until we expand our horizons, and craft this place into a suitable palace."
"Anyway, Ulquiorra, tomorrow I'm going to go on a long trip, and see if we can get some more Hollows to join our ranks. I'll be gone several months, so for the time being I'm leaving this place in your care. I also want you to see to the forty Hollows I've subjugated, and see if we can get some more info about this area, and maybe even get some mapping of the terrain done." Naruto said.
For the first time, Ulquiorra actually bowed to his king, and Naruto was left pleased with the obedience.
"And, just so you know. I may send some other Hollows your way if they're close enough. Be prepared for an influx of Hollows if that's the case."
With those final words, Naruto walked out of the main chamber into the rest of the cave labyrinth, leaving Ulquiorra in charge of the entire complex.
Two months later...
Things were going well in Naruto's little recruitment trip. In the first couple of weeks, he had sent over six-hundred new Hollows over to Ulquiorra, who knew just how to initiate the new recruits into the kingdom. After that, he had sent a lesser number of normal Hollows over to the complex, while keeping on the lookout for Gillian and Adjuchas he could add to the kingdom. As was predicted by Ulquiorra, both of the evolved states of Hollow were much more difficult to recruit. He had given up on Gillian anyway, as they were too stupid to listen to words or even force.
Adjuchas, on the other hand, he still wanted beyond belief. However, this was proving problematic. First of all, they were much rarer than normal Hollows, and when he did encounter one, they weren't intimidated or enraptured by his power, so he had to beat them into submission, and force them to recognize his power. So far, he had only recruited thirteen Adjuchas, and every single one of them were pretty low level. While this made them easy to subdue, there wasn't as much merit in taking them.
That all changed when at the present day, he stumbled across two high-level Adjuchas battling it out against each other, yet failing to break any sort of stalemate between the two of them. The fox Hollow also noticed four low to mid-level Adjuchas and a unique Gillian off to the side aways, watching the battle intently. Clearly, they were the companions of one of these Hollows, though it would be difficult to tell at first glance.
An explosion of reiatsu shook the other Hollows in the area, but Naruto was left unaffected, as he stood on top of a small hill overlooking the battling Hollows below. He then took in their appearances and fighting style, noting that the latter of which were quite different from each other.
The first, much less subtle Hollow seemed to be a panther-like Hollow around his size. It had thin, sleek armor covering its entire body, and had a thin tail that was protruding from its backside that didn't seem to be usable for combat. This Hollow was darting all over the place, using his superior speed and skill in an attempt to get the jump on his opponent.
His opponent was hardly fooled by this, however. The other Adjuchas was almost twice the size of the panther, and it definitely showed that it had more physical strength. It stood upright, and had a strange mask, looking somewhat like a cross between a horned demon and a praying mantis. It had four wiry arms which seemed to have scythes growing from them at the ends, and a thin, yet sturdy white bone armor was covering most of its torso and legs.
Anyway, the battle went on for quite a long time, with the panther Hollow failing to majorly penetrate the mantis' rock solid defenses, and the mantis failing to land a single strike on the panther.
All in all, he was impressed by the display of power these two were showing. It was unlike any of the Adjuchas he had recruited before, and it would be a waste if he didn't get both of these two in his forces. Though, the main problem was trying to convince them, not to mention the fact they wouldn't get along if they did accept.
But whatever, these two would be difficult to convince. Even if he did beat them into submission, he doubted that would convince them to join his cause. If anything, from the way they fought with joy and relish, they would want to be finished off if they were ever to be defeated. If spared, they would detest the one who let them live.
Naruto sighed.
"Oh well. I better make my presence known with the two of them. This may be a delicate situation, so I'd better saunter down there quietly, and draw their attention at the right time."
With stealth that only a fox was capable of, he crept down the slope without drawing attention from anyone, hiding in the shadows as he watched the two battle.
Two months before...
The Reino Humanoide was the only known Hollow kingdom that existed in the sea. To be more specific, it existed on an island large enough to settle and build a grand palace, which was located about halfway across the Hueco Mundo ocean, between the mainland where Naruto's cave complex was, and the large landmass that existed beyond the inky ocean.
The island itself was a dark, gloomy place, and it made one fathom why anyone would choose these place to build their kingdom. There was more plant-life than the mainland, even though it mostly consisted of tall grass and trees that looked both dead and gnarled.
A mighty, gothic castle stood at the absolute center of the large island. It wasn't nearly as large as Las Noches, but the aura it gave off was that it was just as powerful. The area around the castle was filled with strange stone buildings and structures, different in architecture than anything seen before, but they could still be easily identified for their roles.
The last thing notable on the island was this strange, rectangular protrusion that came out of the back of the castle. It was connected to the main castle, but it seemed it served a whole other function whatsoever. Their were no windows or anything to see into the building, so one would not know what existed within them as they heard unearthly shrieks and roars coming from inside the chamber.
Within the castle, the messenger Hollow who had eavesdropped on Naruto and Ulquiorra knew he was in deep shit when his master's face became alight with anger and rage. Dreendo Cayera, the king of Reino Humanoide, and former advisor to Baraggan, was very quick to anger and his subjects knew never to set off his temper, yet sometimes it seemed to come without warning.
He addressed the messenger, blazing eyes visible under the heavy cloak he wore. He slowly began to release his reiatsu, which began to crush the poor messenger.
"What did you just say? Repeat your report at once!" he commanded.
"W-Well, D-Dreendo-sama, it seems t-that your y-younger b-brother T-T-Torobic has been k-killed, and his k-killers are a-attempting to s-set up their own k-kingdom in the c-cave complex where he l-lived..." the messenger stuttered.
Dreendo released his full reiatsu, startling all his Adjuchas guards into submission. They could practically feel the anger rolling off their king in waves, and there was even a hint of something they didn't believe their king was capable of.
...Was it sorrow?
"Dreendo-sama! Please calm down! You can't lose control like this!" shouted one of the Adjuchas guards, as Dreendo stood up from his spiked throne. The king ascended down the long, narrow hall, looking around at the drab, grey stone wall. The entire throne room lacked any sort of decoration besides the throne itself and a few windows, as Dreendo wasn't one for frivolousness.
The cloaked king stared out one of the adjacent windows, looking down upon the rectangular chamber behind the castle. A strange, unreadable posture entered his being, and his subjects were left questioning.
However, after a few seconds, Dreendo walked back over to his throne, contempt entering his expression as he gazed back upon his subjects.
"Hmph, I don't care anymore. My brother was just an animal Hollow, inferior in every way to me. I feel nothing over his death, except a-anger that the secret he held is now lost to us." he voice cracked slightly, and one could almost say he was just putting on the apathetic face as a king.
He turned away from his guards and the messenger, and only the observant ones could tell that his breathing had increased slightly.
"There's no need to get worked up over the death of a mere animal Hollow. They are inferior beings, in both intelligence and combat abilities. They are also unworthy to obtain what we so sought after. I founded this entire kingdom on the principle that us humanoid Hollows are superior creatures, and our superiority will prevent us from mourning the deaths of those sub-Hollows." the king said, more to himself than anyone else.
"My brother is just a besti," Dreendo hissed, using the derogatory term he coined himself.
The guards looked at each other. This racist approach was common in the kingdom, so much so that the "enlightened" Hollows refused to believe that all of them were just beasts to the core. In fact, the Hollows of the kingdom ate only animal-based Hollows. Of course, only the Adjuchas really took this to heart. The Gillian and normal Hollows didn't mind who they ate, especially considering they were near mindless, and it was only through strict rules that they were kept in line. That would all change once their master's dream was achieved.
"These two animal Hollows, they shouldn't be allowed to form their own kingdom, especially one that will try to rival us in power. We're going to travel to the mainland, and obliterate this weed before it can grow..." Dreendo ordered.
That was strange. Usually, their king's racist attitude would make him refuse to believe that an animal Hollow could be anywhere near his strength. And, now they were going to bring much of their forces to crush something that probably won't even be a threat. It was almost like Dreendo was afraid of the ones who killed his brother.
"Of course..." Dreendo said smoothly, a soft, yet sadistic undertone added to his voice. "There's no need to dirty our humanoid Hollow hands in the extermination of some animal Hollows.
He turned back to look at the rectangular chamber again.
"Guards! Escort me down to the Estable!" he ordered, to which five of his guards saluted their king, and surrounded the much smaller Vasto Lorde at a three-hundred sixty degree angle.
"We're going to use them, and crush that cave complex before they can even do anything."
Chapter 20 is done! Please Review it!
Two more familiar faces make an appearance in this Chapter, but I doubt those two are going to be convinced so easily, especially considering how they act in the manga.
This is also the beginning of the Reino Humanoide arc, which is going to be slightly longer than the Valicav arc (Chapter 13-16), and the Pre-Kingdom arc (Chapter 17-19). The very special arc is getting closer and closer, and I'm still unprepared how to go around it.
Translations and Other Features
Reino Humanoide: Humanoid Kingdom
Besti: Shortened form of the word bestia, the Spanish word for "beast", and a derogatory word for animal Hollows.
Estable: Stable
That's it for now.
Adios,
Alban55