*Good evening, my friends. Here is a chapter that is way overdue. Thanks to Obsidian for beta-reading.*

'Day 62, War Log of Deidara Harumyo,

Today, I killed 46 Iwa shinobi. My old comrades lie dead at my feet. Their blood covers my body and their faces shall forever stain my memory. I'm really starting to miss the peace of living with Sasori as my brother.'

"Deidara, Nagato says there's another squad of Iwa shinobi heading our way," Sasori said, walking up to his partner. The blonde closed her journal and sat up from the log she sat upon. "Which direction?" She questioned, putting her hands into her clay pouches. "Your two o'clock" The girl nodded and brought up her hands as dozens of little clay birds flew out.

Their destination was the body of any Iwa shinobi and their route was over the countless dead bodies. As she watched the birds leave the blood-covered field, she recounted the events that led to it.

It all started with Konoha declaring war. The moment that happened and word got around the elemental nations, Iwa, Kumo, and Kusa troops invaded the fire country along with its neighbors.

Not long after, shinobi appeared at the borders of Ame. They tried to force their way in, and it caused their downfall. Roughly thirty shinobi were killed on both sides, before they realized that Ame wasn't having any of their shit.

The other villages started going around Ame to fight their enemies, but after just two months, the lands around Ame were reduced to rubble and Nagato monopolized it. That's why Deidara was in Kusa along with Sasori, they were annexing the country.

Not only did the land help Ame's economy, but the land that the two sides could fight on was also nearly halved. With the loss of Kusa, the only way Iwa could fight Konoha was through Taki or going south of Ame through Suna's territory, which stayed neutral in the entire war.

Not one weapon was even sent to Konoha and it confused many. Suna had merely become a sleeping giant, sitting in wait for someone to make a move. Behind the scenes, Suna shinobi were actually being sent to Ame but they were always dressed as Ame shinobi and only those with water affinities were sent.

That summed up the Western Front, but the Eastern front was much worse. Shimo fell a week after the war started from the lightning nation's onslaught. It left Yuga as the last nation between Kumo and Konoha, but it held strong since Konoha had moved a good amount of it's forces there.

The real horror of the eastern front was the inhumane attacks that Kumo had given out. Since half of Yuga was a beach, naval warfare had become common and it was one of the most gruesome.

Since Raiton was strengthened by water, the Kumo shinobi would cover the enemy ship in water or wait for a storm then attack with Raiton jutsu, electrocuting every shinobi they saw. It didn't sound bad but in reality, the skin of Yuga and Konoha shinobi was often fried off from the jutsu.

That was the way that the heir of the Aburame died, his skin fried and his brain melted by Raiton jutsu within the rain. Shino wasn't the only casualty of the Konoha 11 as shortly after his death, the Yamanaka met her end on the Western Front.

During a seduction mission, she had been caught, tortured, and then killed shortly after. Her body was hung on the border of Taki that Konoha had been trying to invade, her cause of death being obvious as there was a giant hole within her chest.

Her torturers had let her run away before using earth spikes to finish her off. Despite two of their clan heirs meeting their demise, Konoha had kept the same amount of pressure on their enemies, something that said enemies took as a sign of their weakening.

"Sasuke is requesting help to our southeast, his hawk has noticed two squadrons of Konoha shinobi heading our way," Sasori said to the blonde. "Are those Iwa shinobi dead?" She questioned, earning a nod.

"Alright, let's get going." The two took off in the direction of the Uchiha and kept silent as they ran. Deidara played with her necklace, reminding herself of why she fought. A glance at the sky and a kiss on the necklace steeled her nerves.

*Soul Society*

Naruto looked at himself in the mirror, kind of proud of himself. In the past two months, he'd managed to gain ten pounds, half of what he needed as per the doctor in Nami's orders. Flexing in the mirror had become his new favorite pastime and working out had become a therapy for his pain.

In addition to the new muscle, quite a few scars littered his body. Learning wind breathing proved to be hell on the body because the wind was so unpredictable. Besides his appearance, quite a few other things had changed in the prior months. It was mostly his status within the academy, which had given him the title of the Golden King.

It wasn't just him but Reito and Kimura as well named the Bronze King and Silver King respectfully. Together, they became known as the Three Kings because every class they attended would have them break records to become the top three of the class.

They were untouchable in a sense, and people respected them for it. Normally, that would make their reputation within the school very good amongst everyone except for those jealous, but an event had occurred that destroyed that.

Naruto chuckled a bit as he thought back to the events.

*A month prior*

The newly dubbed Three Kings strode through the hallway with pride as they'd just gotten top three in their last class, solidifying their status. It just happened that a group of third years was in the way of the three so the first years took a step to the side in respect of their seniors.

While doing so, one of the third years turned to his friend. "You see, that's how it should be. The dogs of the lower clans should bow to their better's will." Kimura and Reito stopped in their tracks, no one got away with insulting their clans.

"No, stop. Just leave them, they'll amount to nothing in the future while we reach higher than they ever will." Naruto said, placing his hands on both of their shoulders. The two clan members bit their lips and nodded, their friend was right.

"At least they know their place unlike that Korren bitch." Naruto sighed, the situation was out of his hands now. Once he felt his shoulder of Kimura leave his hand, he knew what was about to happen.

Turning to Reito, he saw a grin on the male's face. It seemed to be contagious as one grew on Naruto once he heard the cracking of bone behind him. The two turned to see Kimura in the middle of four third years.

One of them was on the floor with his knee bent backward while the rest tried to fight the redhead. Naruto's hand made its way back onto Reito's shoulder and they vanished in a Shunpo.

Whenever they appeared again, they were blocking their friend from their seniors. The one in front of Naruto tried to use Tessho but the former blonde had other plans. Sliding to the outside, he performed three small Tessho of his own.

One on the forearm, one on the elbow, and one on the bicep. The three bangs covered the sound of breaking bone but anyone could see the mangled arm. The Namikaze backed up from his opponent and gave him a chance to give up.

When the man lunged forward with his sword in his left hand, a sigh exited Naruto. The third year was much larger than him but it allowed him to slip close to him. "Stupid commoner." The knee of the man flew up and connected to Naruto's nose, breaking it.

The teen merely smiled through the pain. "Say bye to your ribs." Two fingers were placed on each side of the student's ribs and he knew what was coming.

The fingers impacted the student and he flew back, through the window, into the courtyard. That technique was Tsukiyubi, the second technique that Naruto had learned from Hakuda. Turning to his friends, the boy straightened his uniform.

A grimace appeared on his face when he saw what Reito was doing. The man was just absolutely pounding the hell out of the third year's face and with every punch, there was the sound of wet flesh being caved in.

Checking over Kira, he saw he also had a face covered in blood and his left arm looked to be broken. Giving a whistle, the boy stopped his punching and looked up at his bloody friend. They gave a nod to each other and Reito stood.

Turning to Kimura, Naruto found the boy using small kido to take out his target. It was kind of embarrassing to see as the redhead spammed Hadō #1, Shō directly to the abdomen of the other student. The little spells hit but they never once knocked the student back like they were supposed to.

Kimura knew it was because he redirected the force into the man instead of hitting him. Basically, all the force was doing internal damage. Once their senior fell, the redhead turned to the one that was the first to insult his sister.

He would've broken even more bones if it wasn't for that stepped in front. "All of you, Headmaster's office. Now!" She shouted, pointing in the direction of the office. Kimura didn't even notice her there until she spoke because both of his eyes were swollen shut.

Reito and Naruto grabbed their newly blinded friend to lead him away. On the way, Reito 'accidentally' ran into one of the downed students and kicked him in his ribs. "Oops." A smirk appeared on his face, one mirrored by all his friends.

*Flashback end*

Naruto held the same smirk he did that day while he thought of the punishment they got. It included cleaning duty for a month, writing formal apology letters to the students and their parents, and lunch detention for a month.

It was light because of the clans involved. The Uzumaki, obviously, and the Kira were fairly high-level clans within the Seireitei. The third years they beat the shit out of turned out to be the sons of a really low-level clan so they didn't have to worry about that clan using their power against them.

The real pain in the ass was the same clans that protected them. Well, to the two nobles, Naruto got out of their way anytime he encountered them. Kimura ended up grounded for a month and Reito got guard duty at his family compound during the weekends along with the grounding.

The Namikaze felt slightly bad for not being able to help his friends, but it was something they'd agreed to forget about. "Today oughtta be real fun," Naruto spoke to himself while he threw on his uniform.

That day, all of the first years were supposed to go to the human world to perform konso under the supervision of the sixth years. He figured it would be fun because of what was happening in the human world.

With the war, many souls would be traveling around and the shinigami couldn't get them all. Putting that aside, Naruto finished his dressing and stepped out of his room. Before he did any konso, the teen was going to the library to read up on some things, mostly history about the Sage Of Six Paths to find any trace of the spirit.

If he could figure out his name then there was a good chance that the zanpakuto would awaken. Walking through the quiet halls, the Namikaze made his way to the basement. Once on the floor, he walked past the equipment used to test new students and walked through a wooden door.

On the other side was a giant room with shelves upon shelves of books. "Ah Masao, I already got the next volume on the table for you." The librarian said, waving at the teen. He'd been in there a lot and was mostly the only person she could speak with at work since no one ever came down there.

Naruto nodded his thanks and sat at a table where a book sat. It was the fourth volume of world history, the one that actually spoke about the SOSP and his time after defeating his mother. Opening the thick book, the teen began to read.

*Thirty minutes later*

'The battle between the brothers devastated the surrounding village, killing many. Among the casulaties was the surrogate uncle of the brothers, a man by the name of Yosei.' Naruto stood up quickly, knocking his chair down in the process.

"Finally!" He shouted, gaining the attention of the librarian. "What did you find?" She questioned from her desk, curious about his reaction. Naruto shook his head and closed the book. "Don't worry about it."

After fixing his chair, the teen rushed out to his dorm. Upon entry, he sat down on his bed and tried to enter his inner world with the Asauchi sitting on his lap. The ringing of the bell proved his attempt to be unsuccessful.

"Fuck," The teen stapped his weapon to his waist before heading down for breakfast. It took him a little while to get his food before he sat down with the Student Council like he'd been doing. Reito and Kimura were already upon them and were surprised at his lateness.

"What took you so long?" Kimura questioned, only to be ignored. The older Uzumaki looked at his seniors and gave his own question. "When do you normally learn the name of your zanpakuto?"

Tsuna gave him a confused face. "Only after you show enough power for it to think you're worthy but your spirit shouldn't even be formed yet. Why do you ask?" Naruto came up with a quick lie.

"I heard a voice in my dream last night that told me a name. I've spent the entire morning trying to figure out what it was." Esper seemed quite interested. "What was the location of your dream? Was it somewhere you've never been yet it feels very familiar?"

The Namikaze nodded, that was how he felt the first time he entered his inner world. "It was an older type house with tatami mats and shoji doors." Esper leaned toward his friend and interlocked his fingers.

"You've never fought your spirit while performing Jinzen, right?" Naruto nodded once more. "I've never been in my inner world since I started using Jinzen. It didn't even work this morning." Tsuna spoke next.

"You don't remember the name, do you?" Naruto shook his head and Tsuna responded with a nod. "Well then, it seems you've activated it and just need to train a bit more to unlock the sealed state. It usually comes to you during battle, so just train hard during your next Zanjutsu class. After that, the name should clear up with time and you'll be able to use shikai." With a thumbs up, the woman went back to her food.

"Lucky bastard," Kimura mumbled, taking a sip of his drink. Naruto merely grinned at the boy, annoying him was so much fun. As they continued to eat, the crackling of the intercom flowed through the air.

"All first year students and sixth year instructors please report to the front of the school when the bell rings. I repeat, all first year students and sixth year instructors report to the front of the school when the bell rings. Thank you."

Naruto glanced at his watch and saw they had about five minutes. Turning to the only sixth year, he gave a question "So, who's leading all of this, Tsuna?" The woman held up her finger for a second before swallowing her food and answering.

"Three sixth years including myself and if needed, we'll have Lieutenant Murai watching over us." The Namikaze gave a nod but it didn't seem right to him. Only three sixth years to watch over a hundred plus first years?

There was definitely gonna be other people watching, most likely the Second Division's Onmitsukido to prevent any casualties. Bringing the teen from his thoughts was the ringing of the bell.

"I'll see you guys later." Ryoga waved, walking away with the other student council except for Tsuna. As the three first years followed their Student Council President, Reito sparked up a conversation.

"How's the grouping gonna go down?" Tsuna turned to them and walked backwards down the hall. "Random drawing. We're gonna have a bunch of slips with numbers on them drawn." Flipping back the right way, she continued.

"Damn," Reito cursed. He really liked sticking with his friends. "Don't be too down though, at least you guys get to do this with only first years. When I did it, every group had a sixth year breathing down our necks."

Once she finished, they stepped outside onto the front lawn where a bunch of students started to gather. Tsuna left them to go up to the other adults. Upon them was the other two sixth years and the Lietenant mentioned earlier.

She was a brunette woman with blue eyes and a circle face that adorned a kind smile which quickly curved into a straight face. "Morning children, you already know what we're doing so I'm just gonna lay down some rules. There shall be absolutely no fighting between you and a hollow. If one is encountered, the signal flare you will receive shall be activated and you should run.

We've had many killed from being stupid and thinking that a hollow is easy to kill. Adding onto that, I say if because we are going into a zone cleared of all hollows beforehand. There may also be a chance that you encounter a human, if so, don't mess with them by running through them, or else you shall be punished."

Clapping her hands together, the smile reappeared. "Now, we're going to grab Jigokucho for each of you so please do follow." The massive group was led towards the closest barracks, which was the Fifth Division, and on their way, signal flares were handed around along with slips of paper that they were ordered to put away immediately.

*A little while later*

Naruto stood in front of the giant gates of the Senkaimon. At his sides were his two teammates, a blonde boy named Ire and a blue-haired girl by the name of Chiri. They each made sure they had the hell butterflies on them before stepping forward to the open gate.

"Remember the rules and be safe." The kido corps member said, stepping aside for them to enter. The three walked in and they were blinded by the white light. Upon the adjustment of their eyes, they looked around to find several burned buildings and debris.

Under their feet was a bunch of ash and the air was thick with soot. "So this is Shimogakure," Ike said, kicking some of the ash. Naruto ignored his teammate as he saw a woman standing across the street.

With no words, he approached and unsheathed his sword. The Kashira was popped against her forehead and the bright light of her passing on brought the attention of his teammates. "Well, that's one of four, I guess," Chiri said, starting a walk down the road.

Each of them had to perform four konso and then return, no lollygagging involved, as Lieutenant Murai put it. "You guys want to split up or just stay together?" The blue-haired girl asked, earning a shrug from the Namikaze.

"I'd rather stay together, one of my father's classmates died on this trip because they split up," Ike mentioned. Naruto shrugged once more and looked around. "Just follow me then." Becoming the spearhead, the teen led the group through the ash-covered streets.

It didn't take long for them to find another soul and it was quite a sad sight considering its age of it. The poor child didn't even seem to be over six months old as it cried on the ground. Chiri quickly sent the baby to the afterlife without a word being spoken and it stayed that way as they continued.

The pulses stacked up over the next few hours and Ike performed the last one they needed just at the three-hour mark. "Alright, let's head back," Naruto said, lifting his sword to unlock the senkaimon.

"Wait." Pushing down the sword, Chiri looked at her two teammates. "Can we just look over the city again? To make sure we didn't miss one?" Naruto sighed and put his sword away. "Sure, Ike, you mind?"

The blonde shook his head and they walked through the streets once more. Considering that they were technically finished, Ike wanted to ask the Gold King something. "It must be nice having girls all over you, huh?"

Surprisingly, Chiri didn't seem to mind the question and even perked up. "Not really, it's very annoying actually. Imagine having all of these people being in your way when you're just trying to get to class or work. Sometimes, I wonder if they forget I'm a person too."

With the mood ruined, they continued on.

*A few more hours later*

The teens just finished up their third sweep of the village since Chiri wanted to triple-check. It seemed the baby plus had really scared her. "Alright, let's get going." Raising his zanpakuto once more, Naruto began the process to open the senkaimon.

This time, he was stopped by a flare that flew into the air behind him. The color of it was off though, all the flares given to the students were white and that one was red. "Let's get going." He said, twisting his zanpakuto in the air and giving the release command.

The space distorted and the doors of the senkaimon opened. Being a gentleman, Naruto let his friends go ahead as Chiri went first and Ike soon followed. As he moved to follow them, a hand grabbed his shoulder and threw him back. The teen barely caught a glimpse of the student's bloody clothing before the roar hit his ears.

While turning, a humid heat hit his face. Fully turned around, he saw a hollow standing in front of him. The white masked creature was small with a beetle-like face and giant pincers that it tried to bisect the boy with.

Leaping back, Naruto landed where the senkaimon was supposed to be but only found nothingness. "Fuck," Reaching into his shirt, he pulled the flare out and shot it in the air. With the flare in the air, the teen ran.

Sure, fighting the hollow would probably help unlock his sealed state, but if he ran then he could say that he simply didn't have a choice but to fight once it 'caught' up to him. The speed he ran at was a mere fraction of his real speed but for some reason, he was still outrunning the damned thing.

'That's one unathletic ass hollow.' He thought, looking back at it as it walked towards him. Eventually, the teen got bored of it and turned around. One quick swipe then he'd go home. That one quick swipe of his sword didn't work as it went through the hollow's body.

Once Naruto saw the bugs part within the thing, he knew it was a dead Aburame. That was the thing, whenever a person with a Kekkei Genkai died, their ability passed to the hollow. It was very annoying but he'd been taught how to fight them in Zanjutsu class along with Kido.

Aburame hollows commonly couldn't be killed with swords because the bugs that made up the body would just move out of the way. The way to fix that was a Hado that would be big enough to completely overtake the body.

That one hado was #7: Honō no Kumo, which was a cloud of fire that you shot out. While preparing it, he got a thought. The other student was covered in blood, meaning that the hollow had injured or killed one of his teammates. All of them had a Reishūkaku on them at all times and they'd been told to have it charged so how were they hit? Also, they'd all learned Hado #7, so what happened?

Unfortunately, he got an answer when the cloud of fire surrounded the hollow and a spike of insects flew out onto his wrist. With the hole now in his wrist, the teen jumped back as much as he could.

"Fuck!" He shouted, seeing the insects flow out with his blood. Considering the size of the hole and the placement, the teen knew an artery wasn't hit. The bad part was he knew the median nerve had been severed along with his tendon.

With his right hand out of commission, the Namikaze tucked it into his chest for it to act like a sling. The blood dripping from his arm continuously stained his shirt just as questions stained his mind. "How the hell?" He questioned himself. Reishūkaku were supposed to protect almost any attack as long as it had enough spiritual energy and he was giving it plenty so how was he wounded? Also, how'd it survive the attack?

'It wouldn't be possible…unless…' looking behind him, the teen watched the hollow walk toward him. "Shino…" Naruto whispered, a sad glaze over his eyes. Shino had fireproofed his insects with the help of Asuma and he could also absorb chakra with them so it only made sense that the powers would adapt after death.

Taking a deep breath, the tried to steel himself. He'd grown up with this boy and now, he had to kill him, well, kill him again. Technically, he was sending Shino to the afterlife but that didn't help. 'This is no time for morals.' Holding up his left hand, he formed a knife with it and ran forward.

His hand ran into the chest of Shino and quickly, he whispered his chant. "Hado #8: Bakudan." The heat of the hollow's breath increased with the heat in Naruto's hand. A mere second later, a bright flash overtook the two.

When the dust settled, Naruto stood alone, his outfit singed, and a bitter-sweet smile on his face. 'Well, my emotions still aren't in check.' Turning, the teen walked away from the burn mark in the grass and took a seat against a tree.

He'd have to wait for someone since he could only make one senkaimon with his zanpakuto at the moment. Normally, he wouldn't be able to make any but he was loaned the ability for the exercise.

Yawning, Naruto closed his eyes and soon fell asleep against the tree.

*Northern Ame no Kuni*

Sasuke Uchiha cleaned his sword while walking over the bodies of many Kusa shinobi. He'd finished off the Konoha shinobi long before, and the noise had attracted some unwanted guests. Deidara and Sasori left just a few minutes before to go resupply, leaving him to clean up.

Cleaning up was easy, considering all he had to do was burn them into ash. In the few months of the war, he'd taken up a new hobby and that was looting. Before burning bodies, he'd always take anything useful like ninja tools or if they had jewelry.

If there were any pictures of family or anything then he left that with the body. Sure, he killed them and took their shit but he wasn't psychotic enough to take family photos. "Ooo." Reaching down, the teen pulled up a pair of keys.

Normally, keys wouldn't be of any interest but he was in an enemy camp so they were most likely for something there. Even if they weren't, metal was metal and could easily be melted down for the war effort.

Walking around the small camp, he came across a giant tent that was obviously for the head honcho. 'It's gotta be in there.' The Uchiha entered and sure enough, a long chest sat on the ground.

The thing was very long in fact, taller than the teen that discovered it. 'They hiding spears or something?' he questioned himself while crouching beside it. Upon getting closer, he noticed there was a small note tied to the side.

'Inject gas cartridge before opening.' At first, the ravenette was confused until he pulled a cartridge from his pouch. It was a piece of loot he'd gotten earlier and just figured to be some kind of chemical.

Finding the hole in the box, he placed the cartridge on it and pressed down. The sound of hissing hit his ears and once it was gone, the teen pulled the cartridge out and unlocked the lock.

Flipping the cover, a look of shock appeared on his face. The box wasn't carrying spears, it was carrying a human. Specifically, a female considering the breasts. Other than some very well-sized honkers, she had short platinum blonde hair and two cloths placed over her, one on her face, and one on her chest.

Grabbing the chest one first, he exposed a giant hole within her chest which had to be at least the size of his fist. A thought hit his mind, he knew a platinum blonde that died via impalement to the chest.

Moving the face cloth a bit, the teen nodded and put it back. It was the body of Ino Yamanaka and there was no doubting it. 'Damn.' Taking a deep breath, he scooped her body out of the box and touched the comm attached to his neck.

"Karin, I need you at my current location." While waiting for her, he grabbed a blanket from a nearby bed and threw it over the body. A few minutes passed and the redhead he'd grown close to entered the tent.

"What is it?" She questioned. Sasuke merely pointed at the covered body. "Under that blanket is a childhood friend of mine and she has been stripped of her clothes. Could you put some of your spares on her?"

A warm smile appeared on the girl's face. Her Sasuke had such a kind heart. "I don't mind, do you plan to bury her?" Sasuke shook his head on the way out. "I'm going to have someone take her back to her family, it's the least I could do."

Once fully outside, he stopped and stared at the sky. 'Seems you have some company, Naruto.' Placing his hand in his pouch, out came a cigarette. Using a small Katon jutsu, he lit up the thing and took a drag of the tobacco stick.

He blew out the smoke in a ring-shaped pattern which seemed to greatly amuse him. His antics came to an abrupt end when screams pierced his ears. Looking behind him, the tent had become red on the side in a splatter pattern.

No thought was made as the Uchiha rushed in.

*With Naruto, in his dream*

Naruto, not even ten years old, stood in front of a little Shino, blocking some older children. "Freaks really do appear when you mess with one. I guess we better leave them before more show up." One of the kids laughed, walking away with his buddies.

The blonde boy stood in his guardian position for a few seconds longer until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning back, he saw Shino taking off his now shattered glasses. "Thanks." He said in a small tone.

Naruto smiled, "No problem. If it means anything to ya, I don't think your bugs are that weird." The Aburame muttered something under his breath. "What'd you say?" Naruto questioned, digging in his ear to clear whatever gunk out.

"Insects," Shino spoke up. "They're insects, not bugs." The boy tilted his head up to show malice in his eyes. Just as the Uzumaki noticed, a spike of insects launched into his chest, causing him to spit up blood.

"Traitor," he said in a tone that nobody would ever expect from someone like Shino. "You're a disappointment to all of your comrades and your parents. No wonder you're too scared to tell them."

Not even a second later, the Aburame blew up in a grand explosion of blood, guts, and insects that covered Naruto. Frozen, the boy stared forward and started to cry.

In the real world, Naruto shook his head violently as he woke up. Tears trailed down his face and his lip quivered a bit. "I'm not a traitor." He whispered, wiping away his tears with his hands and accidentally getting blood all over his face because of the wound.

"Shit." Realizing the amount of blood he was losing, maybe his earlier judgment wasn't correct. "Did I seriously go to sleep with a wound like this? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." With each stupid, he facepalmed and after the third one, he sighed.

Grabbing his right sleeve, the teen almost ripped it off until he saw the edge of his curse marks. Even though they were covered in makeup at the edges, if he ripped off his sleeve then they would be exposed fully.

His next best option was on his back, well, wrapped to his back. Pulling his zanpakuto from the sling, the teen undid the knots and began to tie the sling around his arm. He grabbed hold of a stick on the ground beside him and after a bit of work, he had an improvised tourniquet that would last for a while.

Considering his outfit was completely red at the chest where his arm was, the Uzumaki figured he didn't exactly have a while left. His only option left was to try and find someone, which would be easier if his zanpakuto gave him sensory abilities like it did when he was alive.

But alas, it didn't so he needed to do it himself. Standing up, he began walking in a random direction and humming to himself. Different tunes vibrated through the air around him until his hums weren't very loud anymore.

"The hell?" He questioned himself as he started to wobble. Looking down, the teen laughed a bit. He'd lost a bit more blood than he remembered as he was now wearing a red shirt instead of white. The Uzumaki took a step to the side and leaned up against a tree, it seemed that his journey had come to another end.

With his will leaving, a sound entered his ears. It was a sound that he was now very much acquainted with, the hellish scream of Kimura trying his best with a chant. "Hadō #32: Ōkasen!" Surprise shot across Naruto's pale face, that was Kimura's strongest spell.

Pushing himself from the tree, Naruto wobbled a bit before steadying himself. There was no way that he was going to let his friend, no, brother, die. The Uzumaki took off in a sprint mixed with so many shunpo that he simply left a blurry streak behind him.

The streak was originally red from the amount of blood he lost but it slowly began to fade to white as he ran. Although he didn't know, his life force was weakening and his hair was showing it. Soon enough the now white haired teen found an opening ahead of him, not even the size of two normal bathtubs side by side. Inside the opening was Kimura crouched in front of an odd looking hollow.

A quick look at the hollow's shadow told Naruto it was a Nara and he began to plan. Nara's were usually weak to rear attacks which was covered as he came up behind it, but he'd need more than that. As the plan began to form, the teen stumbled and his mind clouded from the loss of bloodflow.

Mid-fall to the ground, Kimura noticed the boy and screamed his name. The will rekindled within Naruto, he was going to protect his brother even if it was the last thing he could ever do. Naruto's head snapped up and he regained his step just in time for the hollow to turn to him.

Holding his zanpakuto in his uninjured hand, Naruto whispered what could be his last words. "Protect my desire, Yosei." The blade within his hand lit up, giving a slight stun to the hollow along the way. The blade grew into a 50 cm long curved sword kind of like a butcher's knife with it being wider at the tip of the blade and narrower as it went down.

Along the spine side were 7 holes that gradually grew bigger as they reached the top of the blade, matching the width. The guard was a simple golden bar that bent a few inches down the wooden handle which was just long enough for two hands to sit comfortably with a space between.

Lastly, the metal tinted itself green before it was swung forward and lacerated the humanoid throat of the Nara being. With more of his hair turning pale, there was no way in hell that Naruto was letting up before the thing was dead.

The hollow evaded as much as possible and tried to use the shadow to catch the wildly swinging Namikaze. That was the tricky part about Nara hollows, they were still smart as hell but smarts could normally be handled with a little bit of overpowering.

A few minutes passed as Naruto tried to overpower the hollow, and he soon realized that the lack of counterattacks weren't from being suppressed. The hollow was purposefully staying on l the defensive, and tiring him out. "Kimura, senkaimon!" Naruto shouted with the last of his strength at his friend. When he heard Kimura scream that it was open, a shunpo brought the former brunette there.

Looking around, Naruto made sure no one else was there and tried to step into the portal when he was frozen. Normally, he would be able to break the Kagemane easily but his strength was gone.

He smiled into the senkaimon, or at least he tried to, he'd accomplished his last wish so he was going to be alright. "What of your vixen, Naruto?! Are you just going to give up on her?!" Kyuubi screamed in his head.

The smile on Naruto's face turned to a smirk, a sly smirk. 'Never.' He mentally stated while stepping into the senkaimon, breaking the Kagemane and the hopes the hollow had for a decent meal.

Once inside the senkaimon, there was a blinding light before he found himself surrounded by medics, from what their uniforms told him. Figuring that was as good a place as any, he promptly lost consciousness and face-planted into a medic's arms.

"He's lost a lot of blood! We need a transfusion now!" Kimura sat behind the medic, panting. He'd used too much spiritual energy and if it wasn't for Naruto, he'd be dead. "I'll pay you back for this, Masao."

Another medic layed the Uzumaki down and started healing him. "What happened, son?" she questioned. Kimura just glanced at the woman, his eye-lids were getting a bit heavy so he was gonna take a nap.

With two downed Uzumakis, the medics had the hands full but something told them that wasn't the end of it.

*Human world, Iron Country*

A man sauntered through the ice-cold country with heavy clothing and a wide-brimmed hat. "I'll never get used to this cold-ass place." He said to himself while looking up at the sky and exposing his face to the light.

"Mr. Nishida," Turning his head, he came face to face with another man that bowed a few seconds later. "Good evening, I'll be your guide to the legion exam." Kai nodded. "Alright, lead the way." Following the fellow male proved to be a bit of a challenge as he ran high speed through the streets and then across the rooftops.

'A test of speed right in the beginning, huh? How very original.' Kai thought while picking up his pace. He wasn't going to fall out at the very beginning. 'Wait, what if they're just trying to tire me out?' The man slowed his pace to just barely keeping up with the guide.

"Normally this would be a test of stamina but we are actually on a time crunch so please run as fast as you can. We are at war, you know." Kai cleared his throat and caught back up to the guide. "My apologies."

The guide nodded in response as they continued their run. A few minutes later, they were outside of the city and in a dense forest just below a cliff. The guide held up his hand and they both stopped on the same branch.

"This is the end of my route. The entrance to the first test is within that cliff, don't go climbing it, there's just a door on ground level." It seemed like a lot of people had done that since there was that much annoyance in the man's voice.

"Thank you." Jumping down onto the snow-covered grass, Kai began to run to the cliff. It was very easy to spot the door in the cliff as it was painted a bright red. "How would one miss this and climb the cliff?" He questioned himself before shaking it off and getting close. Once up to it, he opened it and stepped in.

On the other side was a massive classroom with desks and a chalkboard in the front. In most of the seats were bounty hunters just like him waiting to take the exam. "Ah, finally, please take a seat." The proctor at the front said in a tired tone.

After the rushed ex-Suna shinobi got in his seat, he noticed a pencil and test packet just as the proctor began speaking."The test will be 150 questions, you have three hours to answer them all. You may begin." Kai looked down at the thick packet on his desk and opened it up to the first page.

'What is the correct code of conduct for a traitor within the Bounty Hunter Association?' The man grabbed the pencil on the table and scribbled down his answer in a nice lengthy sentence. 'The correct code of conduct for a traitor is to execute them on the spot with no mercy.'

The next question wasn't quite as gruesome but simply asked about the purpose of the legion within the association. 'The legion is tasked to enforce the laws and iron out any disputes within the association.'

Kai found it funny that he was going to be on the other side of the law once again. 'It only cost me my identity.' He thought to himself before continuing with the questions.'Explain the full process of processing a bounty step by step.' A sigh left him as he began. It seemed he was going to need that full three hours.