Chapter 27 - The Strongest Leaf Ninja
VERY, VERY IMPORTANT A/N (PLEASE READ): If you're wondering why the title of the story was slightly changed I've decided to write the parts of the story after Part 2 as a separate Fanfic. Once I've finished writing Part 2 pay close attention to my profile because I plan to work on and post the 2nd Act of the story before I continue working on "Kitsune of Las Noches."
On a side note finally reached 500 faves and follows! Thank you you guys for your support! As a token of my gratitude... a cyber cookie for those who've faved and/or followed this story. Please continue supporting this story!
Now that that's out of my system... enjoy the chapter! :D
For those who haven't done so already please keep sending faves, follows, and reviews
Disclaimer: Still applies
[Unspecified Town, Jōshō Kodoku District, South Rukongai Region. Soul Society]
Recap:
"The hell... who are these two guys?" Ichigo asked, though not to anyone in particular.
Naruto, as he stood ten or so feet away from the two mystery people, gave Ichigo the LAST answer the Substitute Soul Reaper was expecting as the young Uzumaki directed two little words at these two figures.
"Mom... Dad..."
Current Time...
Ichigo, Orihime, and Rukia were shocked at what Naruto just said (along with the townsfolk who commented on this revelation from afar) their eyes as wide as dinner plates at the revelation. The people in front of Naruto were none other than his parents!
Naturally the aforementioned trio were momentarily left speechless.
"What the hell?! These are Naruto's parents?! But how are they even here?! I thought Naruto's world had its own afterlife..." Ichigo thought to himself as he looked on in shock.
Rukia, while shocked that Naruto's parents were standing before them, was even more stunned by the people in question as, due to the records kept in the Kuchiki Manor, she was well aware of their identities.
"So these two are his parents. Minato Namikaze, known as the Hidden Leaf's Yellow Flash due to his speed, and the Fourth Hokage, and Kushina Uzumaki, known as the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero for her temper and her abilities, who was Kurama's previous Jinchuriki. It makes sense in terms of how strong Naruto is if these two are his parents. But why are they here instead of at the afterlife of their world?" Rukia thought to herself.
Naruto, meanwhile, was getting as about as emotional as anyone could expect; seeing parents in his mind or through a video monitor was one thing but seeing them in person was different matter entirely.
The young Uzumaki then did the one thing he had been unable to do for his entire life: he walked up to his parents and tearfully embraced them, one in each arm. His parents, likewise, embraced him, something that they had been unable to do as well for over 16 years.
"We finally meet face-to-face, Naruto, and yet it came far too soon for you," Minato said after embracing his and Kushina's son a few mintues, to which Naruto got out of the embrace and wiped a tear out of his left eye before he answered.
"Don't worry about it dad; I'm going back to set things right, just you wait!" Naruto said with a grin on his face. As soon as he said that Naruto and the others heard a small chuckle.
"It appears you haven't changed at all, have you... Naruto? That is a comforting thing to know," an elderly male said asked lightheartedly.
Naruto and co. turned to face the three people that stood behind Naruto's parents.
The one who spoke was an elderly light-skinned male who appeared to be in his late sixties. He had short spike grey hair and a goatee to go with it, and small black eyes. He wore a black jumpsuit with mesh extensions covering the lower portions of his limbs, a grey gauntlet that covered his right wrist, forearm and elbow, and black sandals that were more traditional in style as opposed to those worn by Naruto, his parents, and Kurama.
Standing next the elderly male were two other men. The man standing to the right of the elderly man was much younger in appearance, having the appearance of a man in his mid-to-late thirties. This man was fairly tall and had tanned skin, dark eyes and waist-length black hair typically styled in a centre-parted fringe that framed his face. He wore a simple black shirt and pants over which he wore a dark red samurai armor similar to what the town guards wore as well as sandals similar to the ones the elderly male wore. Unlike the armor worn by the guards, however, the collars of this man's shoulder guards bore the a symbol emblazoned on them that, to Ichigo and the others, appeared to resembled a Buddhist ritual object of some sort. Like Naruto and the other ninja present, minus the elderly male, he wore a Leaf headband.
The man standing to the late of the elderly male similar in height and age to man standing to the right of the elderly male. He was fair-skin, white, shaggy hair, red-colored eyes, and had three red markings on his face, with one mark under each of his eyes and third one on his chin. Like the man standing to the right of the elderly male he also had a black outfit over which he wore a type of samurai plate armor, though his armor was blue in color and had a fur color extension; he also wore what looked like a type face armor that covered his forehead and cheeks, with a Hidden Leaf symbol emblazoned on the forehead part of the armor. Like the two men beside him the white-haired man also wore a more traditional style of sandals.
Needless to say Naruto was shocked by the identities of the three.
"O-Old Man?! What are you doing here? And why are you with the First and Second Hokages?!" Naruto yelled with a comically shocked expression on his face, recognizing the two men standing beside the so-called "Old Man" from their likeness on the Hokage Monument back in the Leaf.
"It's good to see you as well, Naruto. I know this is all a bit sudden for you to see us all here at-" the Old Man, as Naruto had called him, began.
The "Old Man" was unable to finish his sentence, however, as Naruto, who had managed to get over his shock, interrupted the elderly man before he could finish.
"No, that's not really it. I was simply wondering why you guys are here..."
At this point the First Hokage (the back haired male standing to the right of the Old Man), approached Naruto. Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the sight of the legendary ninja.
"This guy... he's at the same level as me and Naruto... except that it's all chakra. Who is he?" Ichigo thought to himself as the First Hokage stared down Naruto.
After a few seconds of staring down the young Uzumaki the stern look in the Hokagems face gave way to a big grin and a hand rustling Naruto's hair, much to Naruto's surprise.
"I like this kid! I can see the Will of Fire burning in his eyes as it does with you and Kushina, Minato!" he said in a jovial tone as he turned to face Naruto's dad.
"Thanks, Lord First. (He turns to face Ichigo and co.) Oh, right... we haven't introduced ourselves, have we? I'm Minato Namikaze, also known as the Fourth Hokage, and this is my wife, Kushina Uzumaki (he gestures to Kushina). As Naruto just said, we're his parents," Minato said.
At this point the elderly male reentered the conversation.
"I am Hiruzen Sarutobi, the former Third Hokage. The man who just walked up to Naruto is named Hashirama Senju, though he is better known as the First Hokage," the now named Hiruzen said before the white-haired man finally spoke.
"And I'm Tobirama Senju, the former Second Hokage and Hashirama's brother," the now named Tobirama said.
As Ichigo, Rukia, and Orihime introduced themselves Kushina turned to face Kurama. After the initial shock upon recognizing Kurama's chakra came and went Kushina unleashed a sudden wave of killing intent and directed it at the Tailed Beast as a dark shadow fell over her eyes.
Kurama, as calm as ever, was unfazed by his former jinchuriki's rising anger.
"It's been a long time, Kushina," Kurama greeted, much to the confusion of the Hokages... especially Hashirama.
"Huh? How do you know Kushina?" Hashirama asked. Kurama simply smiled at his confusion.
"I see you haven't changed either, Hashirama. Since you and the other Hokages are a bit slow to catch on allow me to refresh your memory," Kurama said before he suddenly released some of his chakra.
After a few seconds of having his chakra permeate the air, and having fun startling the townsfolk in the process, he finally introduced himself.
"I am Kurama. But you know me better by my moniker... the Nine-Tailed Fox," he said in an almost mocking manner before suppressing his chakra again.
As soon those words left his mouth the Hokages took a step back, naturally shocked by the fact that the Nine-Tails now stood before them, in a human form no less. Kushina, on the other hand, was a different matter entirely.
She reacted in the most rational, level-headed way possible...
"NINE-TAILS!" Kushina roared as she charged right at Kurama.
Before anyone realized it Kushina drew back her right hand, which she closed into a tight fist, punched Kurama hard in the gut, and sent him flying 20 or so yards into the wall of one of the stone houses. As everyone looked on in shock, Naruto in particular having a comically horrified expression on his face, Kurama simply shook off the blow as he got out of the imprint he left on that wall.
"Ok, I pretty much deserved that," Kurama stated as if nothing had happened... before Kushina ran up to the Tailed Beast and grabbed him by the hem of his grey duster.
"That's the say the least, Nine-Tails! You have a lot a nerve showing up in person like this, jerk! What the hell are you doing here?!" Kushina yelled out as she shook Kurama violently for a few seconds... which only irked Kurama ever so slightly.
"You and Minato sealed me inside Naruto, remember? As for why I'm outside of Naruto and in this form let's just say that I was given a bit of freedom to move about as I please, though I'm still bound to this idiot (he points his left thumb at Naruto). It's probably for the best," Kurama explained.
Kurama let out a deep sigh before continuing.
"Even though Minato planned to seal me inside Naruto regardless of what I did I still am somewhat responsible for robbing Naruto of his family and for forcing you and the Fourth to leave your son behind. That said... Kami, I can't believe the words that are coming out of my mouth... Kushina... Minato... I-I-I'm sorry," Kurama said, sound quite uncomfortable saying those last few words.
Despite this Kushina and Minato (and the three other Hokages to an extent) were surprised by this, none of them doubting the sincerity of the apology. After a few seconds Kushina finally released Kurama from her grasp. After collecting her thoughts for a few seconds Kushina finally spoke, having calmed down slightly.
"I was about to pummel into the ground before you said those words. I'm still angry at what you did to the three of us, even if it was Minato's idea to seal you away inside our son. That said the Masked Man who attacked the Leaf that night is the one I should be more pissed off at. (she sighs) I'll forgive you this time, but don't think I'll forget about what happened, got it?" Kushina replied, almost as if she was pouting.
Kurama nodded at this before turning to Minato, who had walked up to his wife and the Tailed Beast along with the others. It didn't take long for Minato to realize what Kurama was looking at him for.
"I'm the one who sealed you away. Given what I heard regarding told your history I can't really say anything. That said I am grateful for your apology and I'm glad to see that you and Naruto are now on good terms," Minato said.
"Fair enough. Anyways I think it would be best if we went indoors. I'm sure there's a lot of explaining that needs to be done," Kurama suggested.
"Good idea," Minato replied before he escorted everyone to the house he and Kushina lived in.
Four Hours Later...
Needless to say, the past hours were full of surprising revelations.
It started with Naruto, with help from Kurama, explaining why they were in the Soul Society, what had happened in the past two months, and that he would eventual go back home once he had helped Ichigo and the others with their conflict. After Naruto and Kurama finished with their story Kushina, Minato, and the other Hokages finally explained why they were in the Soul Society.
It all was tied to one jutsu: the Reaper Death Seal.
Apparently this sealing jutsu was not the only jutsu that required the summoning of the being known as the Reaper (the Dub name for the Shinigami of Naruto), who was the spiritual ruler of the Chakra Realm and an entity independent from the Soul Reapers of this world. Since the days of the first ninja there have been jutsus that allowed the user to call upon the Chakra Realm's Death God for aid. The details on these jutsus have been lost to time but one thing that was known about these jutsus was that all of them, the Reaper Death Seal included, shared one common characteristic other than summoning the Reaper: the person using the jutsu was sacrificed once the jutsu had been completed.
This caused problems, however, because, contrary to popular belief in the Chakra Realm, the souls of those who had summoned the Reaper, and those who were sealed by the Reaper (in the case of the Reaper Death Seal), are not devoured by the spiritual entity (In this story, anyways) but merely die as anyone else would.
The souls of these deceased people were still a problem for the Reaper, however, as their physical makeup would become unstable and, because the balance between life and death was more fragile in the Chakra Realm than it was in the world of the Soul Reapers and hollows, the presence of these souls was a serious issue. These souls couldn't go to the afterlife of the Chakra Realm because of their spiritual instability, allowing them to wander among the living would further threaten that balance, and destroying those souls would have the same negative effects (the Reaper had learned this last reality the hard way).
To deal with this problem the Reaper turned to the Soul King, the spiritual ruler of the Soul Society and a close friend of his, for aid. The decision was made to have these souls reside in the Soul Society where the unstable nature of these souls would not cause any problems to themselves or to the Soul Society much sturdier balance between life and death there. Whenever the Reaper was summoned by a shinobi the spiritual entity would open a portal to the Soul Society to allow the soul(s) to pass through. To ferry these souls through the portal the Soul King had the Soul Reapers, specifically a member of either the Kuchiki or Shihōin Clans (why these clans in were chosen in particular was a mystery to everyone else), would be sent to where these souls were located and escort these souls to their new home; it was during two such occasions that Kurama had met Yoruichi and Byakuya, both encounters having completely different outcomes.
Many of the souls sent to the Soul Society lost there memories upon reaching the Soul Society but, due to reasons unknown, the Hokages and Kushina kept their memories, and even their abilities despite the fact that those should've been lost as well, upon their arrival. Upon arriving in the Soul Society the five ninja eventually decided to reside in the Jōshō Kodoku District (at different times, of course) due to its isolated nature...
"...And we've been here ever since. Also since I sealed Yin chakra of Kurama, if that is indeed his name, I was able to give most of it back upon the Head Captain's request, though I still have a tenth of that chakra fixed within the seal I made, hence why the last tenth of his chakra took longer to return to him. Any question?" Minato asked after finishing the explanation that he and the rest of the Leaf ninja have just given to Naruto and the others as they were seated in the living room of the house they were staying.
After letting the explanation sink in for a few minutes Ichigo's shot his head up, as if he realized something important.
"Wait a minute, you guys just said that Hashirama and Tobirama are here because Hiruzen used this Reaper Death Seal to seal their souls away, right?" he asked.
"That is correct, Ichigo," Hiruzen replied.
At this point Rukia entered the conversation, having a good idea what Ichigo was going to say.
"But how is that possible when you said that they were already dead?" Rukia asked, as she was also unable to comprehend how something like that could happen if the first two Hokages were now around to be sealed away.
At this point Tobirama, who had remained silent throughout the conversation, sighed before he finally spoke up.
"It was because my brother and I had been brought back with the Reanimation Jutsu," Tobirama explained.
Ichigo and the others blinked in confusion at this.
"Reanimation Jutsu?" Orihime asked.
"It was a jutsu I created a long time ago. It allows the user to summon the souls of the dead and bind them to the realm of the living. Using a living person's body as a vessel the user of the Reanimation forces the living person to take on the appearance, conscience, and powers of the soul the user of the jutsu is summoning. The person using the Reanimation Jutsu can basically control the summoned soul, or souls if they choose to summon more than one, to do their bidding. Unfortunately a certain... incident... happened that made me rethink about the potential dangers presented by this jutsu; as such I had it labeled it a forbidden jutsu before I sealed it away. Unfortunately it appears that wasn't enough to stop a person from learning how to use the jutsu and summoning my brother and I to help attack the Leaf. It was for that reason that Monkey (he points to Hiruzen) was forced to use the Reaper Death Seal to stop us. The rest, as you can imagine, was history," Tobirama explained as if what had happened was no big deal.
Rukia, Orihime, and even Isshin thought differently; they were disgusted (in Rukia and Isshin's case) and horrified (in Orihime's case) by what they had just heard, while Byakuya and Yoruichi were greatly unnerved by this though it didn't show in their faces. Those feelings paled in comparison, however, to what Ichigo was feeling...
"So you summoned the dead to fight for you like they were just tools? Is that right?" Ichigo asked as he stood up from his chair, barely able to contain the rage that began to surge within him after he had registered what Tobirama had just said.
Tobirama sighed before he answered.
"Yes," Tobirama answered unapologetically.
That lack of concern destroyed what little restraint Ichigo was putting on himself. As a person who believed greatly in respecting the dead, to the point where he would beat up thugs on the streets if they knocked over flowers left in the memories of kids who died on that spot, Ichigo was naturally livid at seeing how another person could defile the dead in, as far as Ichigo was concerned, the worst way possible.
"How the fuck could you even think of using something like that? And how could just use another like a damned human sacrifice to do it?! I don't care if you only summoned the lowest scum, used person just as bad to summon them, or if you had your reasons. Those people were DEAD! They should be left alone, dammit!" Ichigo yelled, much to the surprise of the Hokages.
"Be quiet, boy," Tobirama said in a stern tone, hoping to silence Ichigo as he would his brother or anyone else for that matter.
To Tobirama's surprise, however, this only angered Ichigo even more.
"Fuck you! I'm not shutting up about this!" Ichigo yelled.
"I said silence, b-"
"AND I SAID FUCK YOU, YOU BASTARD!" Ichigo roared, interrupting Tobirama before he grabbed the Second Hokage by his throat and lifted him up into the air, much to everyone's shock.
"Wh-what are you doing?!" Tobirama said as he tried in vain to free himself from Ichigo's grasp.
Refusing to answer his question, Ichigo looked Tobirama with a look of rage in his eyes the Senju clansman seen in... ever.
"I don't care if you're a ninja and I don't care if you were a fucking Hokage. What kind of monster forces the dead to fight against their will like that? Did you even think of how those people felt or of their family and friends when forced these people to fight their loved ones? DO THE WORDS 'REST IN PEACE' MEAN NOTHING TO YOU, YOU ARROGANT SHIT?!" Ichigo raged.
"Ichigo..." was the only thought some of the group had on their minds as they watched, too shocked, scared by or, in a few cases sympathetic to, Ichigo's rage.
After all that yelling Ichigo was panting heavily; Ichigo's rage, however, was still there and he wasn't done giving Tobirama a piece of his mind. Thankfully for Tobirama his older brother decided enough was enough and finally intervened.
"You can stop there, young Ichigo. (he turns to Tobirama) I think my brother gets the point, don't you... Tobirama?" Hashirama said, placing a hand on Ichigo's left shoulder.
After Tobirama gave a curt nod Ichigo finally released the former Hokage and turned away, barely able to look at the Senju in his anger.
Naturally Ichigo was not the only person who had something to say about the Reanimation Jutsu as Naruto began to speak.
"I have to agree with Ichigo on how messed up that jutsu really is and I can tell you that from experience," Naruto pointed out.
This caused the eyes of the Leaf ninja to widen in shock as they quickly guessed where Naruto was getting at.
"The Reanimation Jutsu was used in this last war?" Hiruzen asked to which Naruto nodded.
"Yeah... Kabuto, Orochiamru's assistant, was able to learn it when he took some of that snake's power after he was killed by Sasuke. He summoned a lot of powerful ninjas to fight; he even went so far as to bring back the real Madara Uchiha..." Naruto began.
Naruto quickly trailed off, however, when he saw that his mom, dad, Hiruzen, and especially Hashirama and Tobirama stiffened at the mention of Madara.
"Did you just say that Madara was summoned?" Kushina asked to which Naruto nodded.
"Yeah he was, mom. The masked man, the guy who took control of Kurama and attacked the Leaf the day I was born and started that damned war, the guy I killed in that battle where I died, wasn't Madara at all. He was just a fake who was able to fool everyone into thinking that he was. The real Madara was summoned and, to be honest, he was a lot tougher; I don't know how but the real Madara was able to even use the Rinnegan and Old Man Hashirama's Wood Style," Naruto said; the first part of his comment particularly shocked Minato and Kushina while the second part was a particular shock to the first three Hokages.
Ichigo, Orihime, and Isshin were shocked to hear just how powerful this Madara was. Even Rukia, Byakuya, and Yoruichi were startled to hear that he had acquired the famed dojutsu of the Sage of the Paths, much less Hashirama's Kekkei Genkai.
"Was this Madara guy even stronger than Aizen?" Ichigo asked to which Naruto faced the young Kurosaki with a dead serious look on his face.
"Much stronger than Aizen; I'm guessing that he's as strong as me, you, and Old Man Hashirama. (he sighed) I only fought him once, or at least one of my clones did, and I'll never forget what happened. Madara crushed everyone no matter what we threw at him and right after revealing his Rinnegan... he summoned two giant meteors from kami knows where and had them smash right into our guys. From what I heard before I died there were around 14,000 people in the division that fought Madara after he appeared... less than 2,000 of those people were left after the meteors hit... and Madara did all of that without using his full strength," Naruto explained.
Ichigo and co. paled at this; Aizen was powerful, that was certain, but this Madara character was a level far above what Aizen was capable of if Naruto's explanation was anything to go on.
Just as Naruto finished the his story of his encounter with the infamous Uchiha and how it ended Hashirama finally came to terms with the revelation that his old friend had stolen his own DNA and abilities.
"I should've known he would have pulled something like that after our battle," Hashirama muttered as he placed his left hand over his face in disbelief.
"Are you absolutely sure that it was Madara?" Hiruzen asked Naruto to which he nodded.
"I'm sure; there's no need to worry about it, though. Someone I know managed to release Reanimation Jutsu. I was so focused on my battle that I wasn't able to sense the people leave but I saw it happen with a few of the people that had been reanimated that were in the part of the battlefield where I was so I know for sure Madara and the other ninja that were summoned have been sent back to-"
"That might not be the case, Naruto," Tobirama said, interrupting the blonde ninja.
At hearing this Naruto was stunned by the Second Hokage's claim and looked at him as if he had suddenly grown a second head.
"W-What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, several minutes, as his eyes widened.
Kurama, who had remained silent since his conversation with Kushina, finally entered the conversation.
"There's a flaw to the Reanimation Jutsu, isn't there? Would you like to tell us what it is?" the Tailed Beast asked the Second Hokage in almost of a demanding tone.
Tobirama took another deep breath before he answered.
"There is one potential flaw. If you summon someone with the Reanimation Jutsu that is already aware of how the jutsu works and fail to eradicate their personality, that person can potentially break the link binding to the contract used to summon them, giving that summon full control of their being. Not only will that person still retain the immortal body, regenerative abilities, and unlimited chakra granted by the jutsu but they also are no longer be affected if the original summoner releases the Reanimation Jutsu. making that person almost impossible to stop. (he sighs) Unfortunately I created and used that jutsu sometime before the founding of the Leaf and I did use it several times in our battles with the Uchiha so Madara is undoubtedly aware of this," Tobirama explained.
At this point Isshin and Yoruichi threw in their two cents to the conversation.
"If that's the case then Madara would've known about that weakness when he was summoned and if this Kabuto guy didn't erase Madara's personality than that guy could've easily broken that link before the Reanimation Jutsu could completely be undone for him," Isshin said.
"If that's the case then Madara would still be fighting on," Yoruichi pointed out.
Naruto's heart dropped once he heard this.
"B-but that means t-that..." Naruto blurted out before his dad entered the conversation.
"That means that the Fourth Shinobi World War might not have ended with the Masked Man's death," he said.
As Naruto tried to digest what he had just heard Kurama quickly realized something very dire.
"Hold on... if what you say is the truth and Madara can't stopped by the release of the Reanimation Jutsu does that mean he can't be stopped no matter what anyone tries to do?" Kurama asked Tobirama, bracing himself for the worst.
To Kurama's surprise, as well as everyone else's, Byakuya was the one to answer the Tailed Beast.
"Other than sealing him away there is no way to stop him with the powers of a ninja if, by stopping Madara, you mean undoing Madara's Reanimation; there is, however, one way to undo his Reanimation... with the powers of a Soul Reaper..."
[Near the Top of Ridge at the Unnamed Plateau's Northern Edge]
Meanwhile...
As the sun began setting for the day the ridge that our heroes had passed through more than five hours ago was now the site of nine Garganta portals that suddenly opened. Out of these portals came Aizen, Gin, the 3rd -10th Espadas and their respective Fraccions (for those who had any) as they readied themselves for battle.
"Is that where those Reapers and our ninja friend are staying? This is quite off the beaten track, wouldn't you say... Captain Aizen?" Gin asked in his usual sarcastic manner while most of the Arrancar looked on at what they believed was easy prey, which was a presumptive and, to be bluntly, very wrong attitude to have at that moment.
"It is, indeed, Gin. Considering the people inside, however, it's only natural that the Gotei 13 would allow it. They will soon learn that they have made grave error," Aizen said confidently, fully unaware of what was in store for him as far as Naruto and Ichigo were concerned, before he walked to the front of the group.
"Before we move, my dear Espada, let me make one thing clear: with the exception of Harribel and her Fracciones no one is to engage Naruto Uzumaki. I alone will deal with him in the unlikely chance that Harribel should be defeated. Do I make myself clear?" Aizen said in his usual calm, collected manner and with his fake smile on his face.
Everyone nodded in response.
"Very well, then. Then let us go," Aizen said before he and his little army began their assault on the fortified settlement...
Omake #3: Your Hair for My Clothes
Shortly after Naruto and Ichigo had departed for the Dangai and Soul Society (along with Kurama, Yoruichi, and Isshin), Yumichika arrived at the Urahara Shop for a meeting being held for the remaining members of the Soul Reaper Advance Team and the rest of people defending Karakura Town. He had arrived late so he simply walked to the back room where the meeting was supposed to take place.
"Sorry I'm late everyone! I accidently slept in; I didn't even have time to comb my hair or even look at the mirror where I'm staying to make sure..." he said before his voice trailed off upon seeing that everyone in the room was now staring at him with shocked and confused faces.
For a few minutes there was nothing but silence... and then everyone other than Ikkaku, Toshiro and Tessai began laughing at Yumchika (though Ikkaku, Toshiro and Tessai were barely able to surpress their own laughter). Renji and Rangiku were especially out of control, both of them rolling on the floor as they laughed, much to Yumichika's ire.
"I know my hair might be a bit ruffled but it's shouldn't be-" Yumichika began before Ikkaku interrupted him.
"It's much... less... than just ruffled hair," he said before giving his fellow 11th Division member a handheld mirror.
Yumichika took the mirror and held it up to his face... only to see that he had gone completely bald!
"HAHAHAHAHA! Oh man, Naruto actually went and did it! That's just too hilarious! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Rangiku yelled out as she kept laughing.
Yumichika, after a few minutes, finally realized what had happened and proceeded to react as such:
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Yumichika suddenly ran off to parts unknown, much to everyone's confusion.
"What the hell is up with him, Ikkaku?" a confused Renji asked.
"He's been dozing off during and has been having nightmares since Naruto left him this message a week ago. It spooked Yumichika so much he hasn't slept for seven days straight," Ikkaku explained as he pulled out a sheet of paper hidden in his shihakusho and placed on the table in the center of the room.
Everyone looked at the letter which read as such:
Dear Yumichika,
You are going to pay for destroying my jumpsuit like that, you jerk!
I'm swear I'm going to shave your head until you're even balder than Ikkaku!
You can run and hide all you want but I will eventually get you!
If you were you I would avoid going to sleep because I'll get you when you're least expecting it!
Signed.
Naruto
P.S. Before you think of getting help you should know that Ikkaku and the others are in on this.
Have a nice day!
After reading the note some of the people sighed at this.
"Should we tell him that Naruto isn't even in Karakura Town right now?" Uryu asked.
"Nah... he'll find out soon enough..." Ikkaku began before hearing Yumichika shrieking somewhere not far from the shop.
"... I hope."
Next Time - Under Siege: Aizen's Invasion!
A/N: Despite appearances to the contrary I am NOT bashing Tobirama! I'm just writing what I think would probably happen if Ichigo actually met the guy and learned of his none too glorious past. Besides someone has to call Tobirama out here since no one did it in canon. I can understand his actions regarding the Uchiha but the Reanimation Jutsu (the Dubbed name for the Edo Tensei) is something that is completely inexcusable.
It only makes sense that Ichigo would give Tobirama a piece of his mind given the ideals of the former.
A/N # 2: Before anyone says anything about me having Madara be stronger than Aizen in this story this is MY fanfic and I can decide what the power scaling for the characters will be. Besides it's only my OPINION so of course it's not going to be 100% true because it can't be; we'll never know who's the stronger of the two unless Kishi and Kubo decide to write an official battle between the two and that's not going to happen anytime soon.
So please, do NOT send a message to me that talks about how Aizen is stronger than Madara because that is besides the point of this story.
