gster391: Nope, no illusions here on Naruto's part.

Mavs: Okay, thanks for the suggestion. I should've changed Bala Rayo to Rayo Bala by now, but I'm keeping Grillar Grillo. I knew it was incorrect, but that's the canon name of Tousen's Resurrección, whether it was correct or not, so it wouldn't make sense to change it.

So, allow me to explain the fairly late update. I recently thought that I needed to stop fucking around and needed to go back and re-edit older chapters. When I look at them now, I can tell that there are a moderate amount of errors, and many instances where the words and overall flow are stilted and just awkward. That's unacceptable when I'm still getting a fair amount of new readers every update. I don't want to turn any of them off to these story just because my first chapter sucks. (let's be honest, it did)

One other change as well. I have toned down the controversial Chapter 31-32. The chapters are the same storywise, and it's not necessary to reread them, but it doesn't go into nearly as much graphic detail as before When I wrote it, I thought it was a great idea, but looking back at it now, I hate those chapters. It was meant to show how low Naruto had truly fallen, but I ended up writing it so over the top that it came off as just gratuitous violence. And that's bad writing.

For those of you who are against me changing it, I would like to respectfully point out that this is my story. Whether I want to keep or remove anything from this story is my decision alone. Do not comment on my decision to remove this those parts of the story, whether it be indignation over removing it or praise that I'm following the rules. I do not want to hear them.


Chapter 46: De Hougyoku y Maestro

"What?!"

Aizen couldn't help but yell that as a blade stabbed him straight through the torso. It missed his heart and any vital organs by quite a bit, but it was still a serious wound.

For the first time in the entire fight, he lost it completely. He had yelled in such a voice that wasn't befitting the all-powerful Aizen Sousuke, simply because he wasn't used to being so fallible.

He raised a hand to his chest, and pulled it back. It was covered in blood. Aizen grit his teeth in panic, placing his hands on the blade jutting out of his chest, trying to wrench it out of his chest.

He turned around to take a look at his assailant, and two things went through Aizen Sousuke's mind at that particular moment. One, how the hell did he get the jump on him? And two, how the hell did he manage to break his illusion?

Despite his heavy injury, Naruto was on his feet, smiling cheekily as his Zanpakutou impaled Aizen right through the torso. With his free hand, he caressed the place where Aizen had wounded him. He moaned orgasmically.

"Unnnhhh, it's been a long time since I've felt pain like this. I know this is Harribel's aspect, but I'm feeling the ecstasy of sacrifice right now, where I can sacrifice my flesh to kill you..." he said lowly, twisting the blade in Aizen's chest a little bit. The leader of Las Noches lurched in pain.

"But if that's all you want, then I'll be happy to take this wound for you..." Naruto said. A burst of strength later, and Aizen had pulled the blade out from his chest, clutching the heavy wound and moving back from Naruto in order to get some distance between them.

Naruto swung his sword to the side, clearing the blood from the blade. He held up a finger to it, feeling the life fluid with his own hands. He closed his eyes, wistfully satisfied.

"You look confused..." Naruto said, as Aizen finally looked serious.

"I take it you're not very used to confusion, are you?"

"You honestly didn't think I would try to fight you with only two layers to my plan, did you? Especially when they were as unsecretive as they were. But I added another layer to my plan, one I created even without the help of Szayel," Naruto explained, pointing to one of the devices on his chest.

"Your illusions are your ace-in-the-hole, but I noticed that there was a bit of a similarity in your Kyouka Suigetsu's illusions, and a very particular type of illusion I experienced in life..."

Naruto held up an index finger, and it glowed with orange reiatsu. He put his hands together, holding them out in front of him, the orange reiatsu glowing from both of his index fingers. It seemed to resonate with the devices all over his body.

Tendrils and wisps of chakra rose from the ground, wrapping around Naruto's midsection. The devices glowed ever brighter.

"Your illusions work similar to something called Genjutsu. Using your Shikai's special ability, you disrupt the opponent's five senses using the flow of reiryoku. There was a technique that I used in life that broke Genjutsu, but unfortunately, chakra doesn't translate to reiryoku very well, so I needed to develop a similar yet different technique to cancel out the illusions."

"I spent the last several years honing this device while all three of you were away in Soul Society, simply because then you would hardly be able to keep reasonable tabs on me. It's safe to say that I now have the ability to channel my reiryoku just as well as chakra. And that..." Naruto gestured to a certain spot.

It was where Aizen had put up an illusionary version of himself, while the real him stood safety off to the side. That is, safely until he had gotten stabbed.

"I've already cancelled that illusion you set up, and pretended to fall underneath your trap. And, I al-... DON'T FUCKING BOTHER!" he roared at the end of the statement, putting his hands together and channeling his reiryoku again.

The scene before him went hazy for a moment, and the shapes in front of him began to distort and blur. When the illusion had ceased completely, the wounded Aizen was farther away from him, and he was holding a familiar orb in his hand. The air of panic that had overcome him briefly was no longer hovering over him.

Naruto could tell he was forcing it.

"I'll commend you for your effort, Naruto. In all my experience as a Shinigami, I would have never expected anyone to have the determination and tenacity to work out such a plan. However..."

"You may be able to beat me as a Shinigami, but what would happen if I raised my status?" Aizen said slyly, opening his shirt. Naruto could hear the sound of muscles tearing, as the wound Naruto inflicted widened.

He let go of the Hougyoku, allowing it to float towards his chest. A loud squelching noise could be heard as the orb nestled its way into Aizen's chest, and the gashes around it began to glow with a deep purple reiatsu.

"The Hougyoku is beginning to respond to my thoughts..." Aizen said. Naruto noted the slightest hint of desperation in his voice. He didn't understand the meaning behind his words though, but he had the impression that it was a bold-faced lie.

"Hmm?"

"You don't know? I suppose it's understandable. Not even I knew about the true power of the Hougyoku until I became its master. Someone who has never held the Hougyoku in his own hands will never be able to understand it..." Aizen looked up at Naruto.

"The Hougyoku has a will of its own. You seek the Hougyoku for its ability to remove the boundary between a Hollow and a Shinigami, but that is not the only ability of the Hougyoku. Its true ability is to grant the desires of whoever controls it..." The Hougyoku began to glow brighter, and Aizen seemed to be exerting himself a little bit, even after he had just implanted the Hougyoku in his chest.

Aizen was forcing the Hougyoku to respond to him, given the nature of how his reiatsu increased at such a high rate.

"Since the Hougyoku can respond to the desires of whoever wields it, naturally, it can separate the Gods..." he trailed off, as a crushing purple reiatsu washed over the area, and what appeared to be liquid Hollow mask began leaking from the Hougyoku. It was a little different than that, however.

"...from the mortals."

The material began to solidify underneath his robe, jutting out and flanking his shoulders in a tree-branch shape. More of the material hung off his robes near his feet, but Naruto noted that Aizen was looking more like a Hollow.

Naruto fired a Bala Láser in his direction, but Aizen avoided it deftly and darted towards Naruto. His Shunpo was definitely greater than Naruto's Sonido at the moment, whereas before it had been slower. He angled his blade forward in a stabbing motion, though Naruto held his own Zanpakutou horizontally, one hand on the hilt and another near the tip, which allowed him to solidly block Aizen's stab.

"You're careless!" Naruto shouted, redirecting Aizen's blade to the side, before slashing his shoulder and head three times in quick succession. Aizen staggered, but never lost his smile, as only a few seconds afterward, the white canvas was now covering the areas where Naruto had struck.

"Regeneration!" Naruto shouted, flashing away to get some ground.

"You're right, I was careless. Of course, there is no meaning in me being cautious anymore..." Aizen taunted, appearing before Naruto quickly. He struck Naruto's chest with his hand, creating a shallow cut. Naruto's Hierro prevented a deeper wound. Aizen noticed this, as Naruto was still able to retaliate and drive Aizen off.

"More... more... it's not enough," Aizen muttered to him, as the Hougyoku in his chest began to pulsate violently. His reiatsu grew even heavier, and the white material that covered him expanded even farther.

"He's getting more and more desperate, and he's doing things he would never do in his normal state. Maybe it's all the stress that is getting to him; he's lost one of his commanders, and he still has a war to fight..." Naruto thought to himself.

"Idiot..." Naruto muttered to himself, reappearing on the ground.

"The Hougyoku is beyond your understanding, Naruto. Since I am its master, I can use my power to evolve without limit, whenever I have the desire to do so..." Aizen said. His voice had gotten more mysterious, and with an echoic quality to it.

He was standing in mid-air, covered head-to-toe in the white canvas that only covered a few spots before. His eyes were solid, crystalline mauve orbs that resembled their source. The Hougyoku was still embedded in his chest, being the clear source of all this.

"The Chrysalis Stage... is the next level on my ascent to godhood..." Aizen proclaimed, floating down dramatically to the ground. Naruto rushed him at that moment, placing a second hand on his Zanpakutou before swinging it in a wide arc at Aizen. Aizen didn't blink, and instead his hand shot out, the palm meeting Naruto's sword. He pushed the sword away, nearly jarring it from Naruto's hand in the process.

The Arrancar stumbled in place, allowing Aizen to push forward and stab Naruto right in the shoulder. Naruto winced; their roles were being reversed again. One of his anti-illusion devices fell off of his chest, and he retreated back, clutching his wound.

"While my movements are filled with careless movements because of triviality, yours are becoming filled with carelessness due to a desperate necessity. Your mind in in turmoil, and as a result your attacks will continue to become weaker until they are mere child's play..." Aizen said, looking down upon the ragged Naruto.

"I thought I told you to shut the fuck up..." Naruto muttered, to which Aizen stared at him blankly. Naruto was getting to his feet again, but that was not what was concerning Aizen at the moment.

Naruto continued to attack, and Aizen blocked and parried every single strike with an absurd amount of ease, Naruto's speed and power not being able to put a dent in his defenses.

The portal that led to Karakura Town, which had remained opened during the entire conflict, was beginning to ripple. Aizen turned around carelessly, his purple eyes watching the portal with disinterest.

"It's not quick enough..." Aizen said, his voice becoming slightly more agitated. Naruto still wasn't down for the count yet, and he grew tired of the Chrysalis Stage quickly.

He raised his white-covered hand, before he struck the Hougyoku with it lightly. He released more and more reiatsu, and the ripples made from the Hougyoku's energies increased.

"I will end this Chrysalis Stage here now, and make myself move onto the next stage."

Naruto watched on in awe as Aizen's reiatsu continued to increase, and the Hougyoku began to cycle the former Shinigami out of his Chrysalis stage. The white canvas that covered Aizen's entire body began to cracked, and pieces of the shell fell off, revealing a new and improved Aizen.

Now that he was out of the shell, Aizen could take a look at the scene using his own eyes once again. Though, there were some noticeable changes to the way he looked. His hair was longer, and his eyes had turned grey with a purple sclera, and the Hougyoku was still embedded in his chest. Not to mention, his reiatsu was palpable, much stronger than his Shinigami self. The Hougyoku was throbbing in his chest.

His Zanpakutou had fallen to the ground during his transformation, and Aizen plucked it out of the ground, quick as a flash. He held it aloft so that the wounded Naruto could see his demise.

"This battle is over, Naruto. Prepare to meet your demise..." he said, walking slowly but surely towards Naruto. Naruto was still in suitable enough condition to fight, but he didn't make his move.

He watched Aizen proceed towards him slowly, and he looked down at his Zanpakutou. He then looked over to the side, where Ulquiorra stood. The other Arrancar's eyes were opened slightly more than normal. By Ulquiorra standards, that meant he was amazed by Aizen's new display of power. He looked over to Harribel, who seemed to be staring at Aizen in awe, her blade still pressed to Gin's neck. Gin was looking as calm as ever.

He sighed, before he scratched the back of his head.

After that, he pointed his Zanpakutou out in front of him, and it began to glow red. Aizen looked on with a considerable amount of interest, before he spoke.

"Oh? You're going to use it, after all? I'm honored..."

Naruto ignored him, his reiatsu increasing as he focused on his blade. His left hand was situated on the hilt, pointing the blade horizontally. He placed his right hand underneath the cutlass on the back end of the blade. He closed his eyes, allowing the reiatsu to flow into his cutlass.

His eyes snapped open, and he sneered at Aizen. He let go of his blade, allowing it to hover in mid-air, before he hit the hilt of his blade with his right hand. The blade twirled in mid-air, glowing a brighter red, before Naruto shot his hand out with deft agility and grabbed the Zanpakutou.

"Kill..."

He was cut off by a wave of reiatsu.

Deep purple reiatsu was pouring off of Aizen's body in waves, and from the look of things, he wasn't the one who was controlling it. The Hougyoku was emitting a loud hissing noise, and the glow it was giving off was a hot white instead of a deep purple.

Naruto's eyes widened. He put his Zanpakutou down, the red reiatsu from his Zanpakutou release fading. Aizen seemed to be just as shocked as Naruto was; he truly didn't understand what was happening to him.

"I... I don't understand. How? This..." the new god managed to get out. Naruto didn't really understand either, until the implication hit him at full force. It seemed to hit Aizen at around the same time.

Aizen... forced the evolution.

Naruto's expression took on an eerie, apathetic calm, and he shook his Zanpakutou before sheathing it. Slowly, he took one last glimpse at Aizen, before he turned his back on him without another word.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING? WHERE ARE YOU GOING, NARUTO?" Aizen roared out, grabbing the Hougyoku on his chest, trying to force it to stop. Naruto didn't turn around.

"Is there any need for me to answer that? You're the god here, figure it out for yourself..." Naruto muttered, as Aizen roared in pain as the Hougyoku rejected him as its master.

Ulquiorra watched the display happen with stunned silence. It was like their roles had reversed. For once, Naruto was the calm, collected individual, while Aizen was the raving madman.

The Quinta Espada knew all too well what this meant.

Naruto... no longer acknowledged Aizen.

"I'm not about to answer someone who didn't even realize that the Hougyoku doesn't recognize him as its master..."

The white canvas that once surrounded Aizen broke off, and his purple and grey eyes faded to their normal color. His hair once again shortened, and Aizen saw his true flesh once again.

"DOESN'T RECOGNIZE ME? THAT CAN'T BE!" he continued to yell.

"I know. The Hougyoku never recognized you at its master in the first place, and you just continued to force your "evolution". The Hougyoku just got tired of it eventually..."

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! I KNEW WHAT THE HOUGYOKU'S WILL WAS TELLING ME! YOU'RE JUST A MERE HOLLOW; YOU KNOW NOTHING! YOUR LIFE IS MEANINGLESS; YOU HAVE NO PURPOSE WITHOUT ME! ALL OF YOU!"

Naruto finally turned around to face him, a slight glare on his visage. Overall, he still looked particularly disinterested with Aizen's downfall.

"You were always afraid of me, Aizen. Afraid of what I could become. I know why you're so desperate to evolve to your precious godhood; all of your basic Shinigami skills were at their highest level of what you could achieve. And me, you knew that my basic skills were already above yours, and I would continued to grow stronger. Without forcing your evolution, you would fall behind me..."

Aizen had stopped yelling, but he was still breathing heavily, a look of intense hatred directed at Naruto on his face. His body was starting to deteriorate from the Hougyoku's influence.

"UZUMAKI!" he managed to shout out.

"Aizen... you're pathetic," Naruto said, once again turning his back on Naruto. Aizen cried out in pain, desperately trying to drag himself to his feet and stop the Hougyoku. In response to that, the Hougyoku whirred and hissed, and the smell of burning flesh entered the air. Aizen's body began to glow with the white-hot energy that the Hougyoku was producing, and the brightness of the whole display forced the onlookers to shield their eyes.

The Hougyoku popped out of his chest, but it hovered in mid-air directly in front of Aizen, a white stream of reiatsu connecting the two of them together. It gave one final burst of energy, and that was the end for Aizen.

There was another burst of heavy reiatsu and a quick flash of bright light that temporarily blinded Naruto. When his vision had returned to him, Aizen was gone, reduced to dust by the rejection of the Hougyoku.

The Hougyoku itself clattered to the ground, now dormant.

Naruto allowed a smile to play upon his face, and he chuckled.

His chuckling quickly turned into full-blown laughter, as he walked up to the spot where the Hougyoku had fallen.

He whistled after he picked it up.

"Well, I'll be damned. It really does have a will of its own, after all. Good thing I'm not going to be using it like Aizen," Naruto said to himself, pocketing the orb quietly.

"Okay, that's enough everyo-" he didn't finish his sentence, as he noticed a clear lack of an important presence in the room. Aizen and Tousen were both dead, and that left only one Las Noches Commander to deal with.

Though it seemed that Gin had managed to sneak his way out of Harribel's grasp brief flash of light. He was nowhere to be found after that.

"Where- Oh, never mind... he's not important, anyway. If he ever shows his face on this scene again, he will be no match for us... Ulquiorra!" Naruto suddenly called out. Ulquiorra stepped forward.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Close that portal up! Szayel should be done with it. It's too early for us to meet the Gotei 13, and if we stall long enough they'll be able to come after us. I'm going to take Nnoitra down to the desert and see if our little weapon is a success or not..."

Ulquiorra nodded, before Naruto nodded to Harribel. She seemed a little bit confused about where Gin had gone, but that wasn't important right now. They had other concerns.

"If we're lucky, we'll have a whole new weapon at our disposal," he said, before he flashed away.


Ichigo just destroyed another building within Las Noches, making it a total of seven different structures he had destroyed on his path. No one who observed the scene knew why the mad Visored was destroying everything.

The Hollowfied human roared once again, and this time his roar was tinged with a strong reiatsu. He didn't know what he was looking for, but it called for him to protect it.

There came a flash of movement, and Ichigo's attention was drawn to a figure who seemed to be hovering in mid-air, an object pointed at him. Ichigo pointed his sword over there dumbly, but he was too late.

"Licht Regen!" Ishida shouted, standing directly above the Hollowfied Ichigo and letting forth a stream of blue arrows that resembled a heavy rain. Ichigo roared at they fell on him, but when the dust cleared it was apparent that they had little to no effect on him.

Ichigo had no arrows stuck out of his body; they had all just bounced uselessly off of his armor. He swung his sword in Ishida's direction, the simple wind of the swing knocking Ishida out of the air. Before Ishida could attack, Nelliel had flashed underneath his guard, her lance poised to attack.

She thrust it forward like a drill, but like the arrows, it uselessly struck Ichigo's protective armor. She gasped in pain as Ichigo threw away his sword, and grabbed Nelliel around the neck.

His speed was unbelievable for such an unwieldy body, and his fingers were stronger than she could ever imagine. Already she could feel the life getting squeezed out of her the harder he pressed.

The centaurine Arrancar was lifted off all four of her feet, and they all kicked against Ichigo's chest. Ishida had fallen some feet away, and he was getting to his feet frantically.

"Let go of her, Kurosaki! What do you think you're doing?!" Ishida cried, rushing to Ichigo's aid. Ichigo noticed the noise, and with his free arm, levitated his sword to his hand. With a quick flick of his wrist, the sword went flying towards Ishida, burying itself in his hip.

The Quincy spasmed in mid-air as the sword propelled him backwards while causing a great deal of injury to him. Nelliel painfully turned her head to the side, regretfully watching the Quincy go down.

"No!" she thought to herself. Behind Ichigo's mask, his eyes glowed with a golden-yellow, and it made his visage look all the more evil and sadistic. Still, there was a hint of mindlessness behind the whole thing; he didn't know what he was doing.

Nelliel felt her bones begin to crack, and began to wonder about this situation. How powerful was Ichigo's Hollow side, where he could grab her, a former Espada, by the neck and begin choking her as if she were no less than an ordinary human girl?

She coughed, desperately searching for breath, and closed her eyes while awaiting the release of death. When it never came to her, and the pressure began to lift from her throat, she tentatively opened her eyes again.

An orange glow was surrounding the human turned Hollow. Ichigo released his grip on her neck, allowing her to plummet to the ground, where she began sucking in air. Ichigo's animalistic roars had declined to become a calm, relaxed growl.

Nelliel's gasping had slowed to a halt, and she looked over in surprise behind Ichigo, where the source of the orange, glowing barrier stood.

Inoue Orihime was healing the crazed Visored.

A look of intense determination was set upon her face, even in her worn-out state. Her hands were held out in front of her, and the control of her Souten Kisshun was at its strongest. She made a slight grunting noise, as Ichigo stopped moving completely.

The tips of Ichigo's horns began to break off from the rest of Ichigo's body, and they disappeared, like they had never been created in the first place. Nelliel looked down, noticing that Ichigo's Hollow body was disappearing right before her very eyes, and his familiar human flesh was resurfacing underneath all of the armor.

His mask cracked and disappeared, showing his actual face once again. He was still conscious, though he seemed exhausted. His hair had shortened back towards its original length.

Nelliel sighed in relief; they had avoided a great crisis. She pondered the effects of Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka abilities, and noted how lucky they were that they were effective against Ichigo. It was probably because of a combination of Orihime's will, and the fact that Ichigo was distracted with her. If Orihime had attempted to heal him head-on while focused on her, she probably would have failed.

The orange shield faded, and Ichigo collapsed onto the ground, fully back in his human form. His clothes were completely tattered, but he got to his feet, panting heavily.

"What... what was I doing?"

Nelliel sighed in relief, and a smile played upon her lips. Orihime, however, couldn't contain her own relief. Tears of joy threatened to spill from her eyes, and her hands shook at her sides.

"K-Kurosaki...k-kun," she blubbered, rushing over to the tired Ichigo. Nelliel watched in satisfaction as Orihime embraced the bewildered Ichigo, even as he awkwardly patted the crying girl on the back.

"So, are you finally back to your old self, Kurosaki?" came another voice, who seemed to wince from the pain of speaking. Ishida had limped his way over to the scene. He was clutching a heavy wound at his side, and with his free hand he was holding Ichigo's Zanpakutou, which was covered in his blood.

Ichigo released Orihime.

"Ishida... you're..." he trailed off, noticing Ishida's wound, and the Zanpakutou in his hand. "Did I..." he said, trying to find the words. Ishida smiled, and looked away from Ichigo.

"Don't worry about it... it's nothing. A lot worse would be at stake if I took pity from you..." he said, putting on a tough-guy facade. He walked over there, standing in front of Ichigo and Orihime.

A flash of silver, and then blood was rushing from a vertically bisected Ishida. The two halves of the Quincy fell down, the smile still on the bifurcated halves of his face.

Ichigo and Orihime gasped, and the latter's hands flew to her mouth in shock and horror. Ichigo had gotten to his feet, his exhaustion completely forgotten, and beheld the two new arrivals.

Nelliel turned around quick as a flash; she knew that strike from anywhere. There came a loud cackle from behind the company, and the crescent-shaped blade that had sliced Ishida in half retracted, coming to its owner.

Nnoitra Gilga stood directly opposite the group, with Naruto Uzumaki standing directly behind him. Nnoitra had clearly been the one to kill Ishida, and Nelliel figured they should be thankful that Naruto had not entered the fight yet.

"Ishida-kun!" Orihime cried out in alarm, summoning her power in a desperate attempt to heal him. Nnoitra shot out his crescent blade once again, and the two fairy-like beings hit the edge of the blade.

"Really? Such a disappointment... your Hollow form had so much potential, but if it can be dispelled so easily then I have no interest in it," Naruto said, walking up to fall into line alongside Nnoitra.

"Anyway... I thought I should bring news to you guys. Aizen Sousuke is dead." he said bluntly. All three of their eyes widened, and Naruto relished in the excitement.

"Still, I wouldn't celebrate if I were you. Even if you guys did invade, Aizen at least saw a purpose in both of you. I, on the other hand, have no use for any of you now. I was thinking I would just kill the lot of you right here..." Naruto said casually.

Nelliel glared at the Primera Espada, and immediately got in between Naruto and Ichigo. She had showed a pitiful display earlier against Hollow Ichigo, but she would protect her friends right here by killing Naruto and Nnoitra.

"Ichigo... Orihime... run!" she said. Ichigo got to his feet, and with some hesitation picked up his sword out of Ishida's cold, clammy grasp. Naruto looked at Nelliel in amusement.

"What are you saying, Nel!? I can't let you fight them alone!" he said, rushing to her aid. He found out that his body was in no condition to fight at the moment.

"Ichigo... thank you for bringing me this far. Without you, I would have never regained my memories, and I would never have remembered about what must be done. But you have already achieved your objective. You have rescued your friend, and that is all that needed to be done. Your battle has ended..." she paused for a moment, and Ichigo looked contemplative.

"I know you want revenge; Naruto has caused the deaths of three of your friends. You have every reason to want to kill him, but you must think about Orihime first. You must get her to safety by whatever means are necessary. Even if you cannot escape back to the human world, run. Far away from Las Noches..."

Ichigo cast a look downwards, before Orihime placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, and he nodded.

"Thank you..." he whispered.

Turning his back to Nelliel, the two human teenagers ran in the opposite direction at the best speed the exhausted Ichigo's body would allow.

Nelliel smiled in relief, looking at her friends one final time. Her look shifted to one of anger and determination, as she beheld the two rival Arrancar staring her down.

Naruto grinned.

"Sacrificing yourself to buy time, huh?" he asked, watching the two humans get farther and farther away.

"She's not going to be sacrificing her self!" came a loud voice from somewhere in mid-air. Naruto frowned, and Nnoitra looked up, but two figures, one large and fat, and another one tall and skinny fell from the sky and landed right next to Nelliel.

"Pesche! Dondochakka!" Nelliel shouted, half in relief, and half in worry. Naruto looked bored.

"They're like bugs..." Nnoitra commented.

"Fracción trash? Oh yeah, like that's going to make a world of difference against us..." Naruto said sarcastically. Pesche narrowed his eyes at the two Arrancar; they were the mortal enemies of Nel-sama.

"We are worlds beyond that of our old selves, Naruto. Due to the increasing threat these days in Hueco Mundo, we had to become much, much stronger in order to protect Nel-sama. And now that her memories have returned to her, the time in now..." he said, holding a strange, glowing blue Zanpakutou in his hand. Dondochakka pulled out a spiked club from his mouth.

"Pesche... Dondochakka..." Nelliel said.

"I know what you're going to say, Nel-sama, but this is a battle for all three of us. All three of us were wronged that day so many years ago, and the time to extract vengeance is now. With our combined strengths, we will defeat both of them right here!" Pesche said, determination staining his voice.

Nelliel shook her head, and twisted her lance in her hand before she smiled.

"No... I understand, you two," she said.

Nnoitra cackled.

"This is fuckin' perfect. We're all reunited for another battle." It was three-on-two, but it was two current Espada versus one former Espada and two former Fracción. It was clear who had the advantage.

"I could finish this all by myself, but..." Naruto said. "I want to focus all my attention on you..." he said, directing his attention on Nelliel. He drew his Zanpakutou from its sheathe. Nelliel felt a rock drop in her stomach. Despite being Naruto's Fracción at one point in time, she had never seen him release his Zanpakutou, or even use it in battle.

He pointed his Zanpakutou towards the sky, before bringing it crashing down towards the earth. A line of force moved its way towards Nelliel, distracting her from Naruto, who was moving in for a strike. Nelliel just barely got her lance up in time to block his attack, but Naruto was pushing the offensive, and the two combatants slid away from the scene. Naruto looked up from the battle; Ichigo and Orihime were far away now.

Nnoitra looked miffed at not being able to fight Nelliel, but focused his attention on her two former Fracción.

"This won't take long..." Naruto commented, looking back at the scene. Pesche was gargling up blood already, Nnoitra having administered a heavy wound to his torso. Nelliel looked shocked as Nnoitra followed up with another attack, thrusting his Zanpakutou into Pesche's chest. A fountain of blood erupted from his chest, and Dondochakkra rushed towards his aid. He suffered the same fate as his friend, having his strange tiki-like mask caved in from Nnoitra's Zanpakutou.

Nelliel felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes; they weren't able to survive those attacks. Pesche was already lying in a puddle of his own blood, and Dondochakka's face was crushed.

She screamed in pure, righteous fury, flashing away from Naruto. In her rage, she forgot the opponent she was supposed to be fighting, instead focusing all of her anger on Nnoitra.

She would avenge her dead friends.

Nnoitra looked surprised at the speed of her Sonido, getting up his Zanpakutou to block. He didn't know if he'd be able to survive this oncoming attack. It didn't help that she was released and he wasn't.

She never got the chance...

After Nelliel had rushed Nnoitra in a fit of rage, Naruto himself flashed away at a much greater speed. He got in front of her, completely underneath her guard. He raised his Zanpakutou skyward as Nelliel halted in her advance. Orange reiatsu gleamed on the end of his blade, and the full power of that reiatsu burst forth.

An orange wave washed over Nelliel as Naruto slashed down with all the force he could muster. The move completely cut Nelliel in half, and continued to slice through the ground after that, creating a fissure that cut through the sand for several hundred feet.

The bisected Nelliel turned her head one last time. She didn't even register what had happened, but she knew there was one more thing she had to make sure of it...

"...Hmm?" she thought right before she died.

Good, they were still running, just little specks on the landscape now...


And so ends the conflict between Naruto and Nelliel. Nelliel sacrificing herself to let Ichigo and Orihime get away, but what's left for them out there?

A lot of character deaths this chapter; I guess I should tell you right now that it's going to increase. I hope you don't mind a lot of character death, but I guess it's too late to say that now. Just to let you know, I'm not killing these characters out of spite or to bash them or anything like that. (Hell, Chad's probably my favorite of Ichigo's group, and he was the first canon Bleach character to die... I think.) This is a war after all; there will be casualties on both sides. (Unlike in Kubo's version of war, though he's been getting it right lately).

Current Espada

1st: Naruto Uzumaki

2nd: Coyote Starrk

3rd: Baraggan Louisenbairn

4th: Tia Harribel

5th: Ulquiorra Cifer

6th: Nnoitra Gilga

7th: Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez

8th: Zommari Rureaux

9th: Szayel Aporro Granz

10th: Yammy Llargo

I forgot to do those for the last few Chapters. Around Chapter 49-50, we'll be getting lists on the Gotei 13 side of things too.

Anyway, that's all for now.

Alban55