Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, Tite Kubo's finest work and Naruto, Kishimoto's grand masterpiece or any other property I used for this story. Please support the official releases now
If you're still with me and this story from this long hiatus, you guys are the real heroes and I love you all. Sorry I've been gone for so long, but I just... I don't know, I've been going through some shit I won't get into, but yeah, I'm gonna try and update more regularly now, starting with a long overdue rewrite of that chapter 5 shit. I mean, seriously, a horny hollow trying to rape Rukia? What the fuck was I on three years ago? Not to mention Naruto wasn't in the chapter. That was fucking stupid. That won't happen again. Anyway, I've rewritten chapter 5 but it was so long I split it into two chapters so yeah, you get 2 chapters instead of one. Enjoy
Naruto laid completely motionless, zapped of his usual fire, gazing up at the fake daylight sky from his place glued to the bottom of Shattered Shaft, now on his back. The inextinguishable flame of his once unbreakable spirit lighting up his bright cerulean eyes faded, evident in his position on his back instead of on his knees. He knew he was done now. It was just a matter of when the Hollow transformation process would begin. Tessai knew it himself, hence why he "teleported" out of the pit of doom, leaving Naruto alone in his final moments of humanity.
"Well, it was nice knowing me," He murmured, with a heavy heart, "Or being me, I guess. I don't know. I don't care." He laughed in bitter triumph in the cold realisation that he wouldn't have to bear Kuwabara gloating his rare superiority over him at reaching his Zanpakuto spirit first, "Sorry, man; guess I won't be buying you that cheeseburger after all."
The very last remnant of his spirit chain was devoured, leaving a gaping hole where his heart should be. Strangely enough, though, Naruto let a sincere smile cross his lips one last time.
"Farewell my-."
Before he could finish a milky white substance simultaneously gushed out of his eyes, mouth, ears, nostrils and just about everywhere with even the slightest gap in it, drowning Naruto in immense pain. "AHHHHHHHH!" He roared in sheer agony, unaware of the tremendous power pouring out of him like a powerful waterfall, cracking the surrounding walls, producing strong vibrations and mighty winds, all the while as the white liquid gushed out of him.
"Here it comes!" Kisuke commanded, stood at the edge of the pit with his arm thrust out in instruction.
"Uh oh." Ururu whimpered worried, huddled up in a clear view orb blocking most of the immense reiatsu from her on her knees. Like Tessai and Jinta, her hands had remained slammed to the floor since Kisuke told her too, maintaining an unique glowing circle around her hands.
"S-Such power!"
"What the hell is this guy!?"
A speck of worried sweat instinctively rolled from Kisuke's bangs, 'Come on, Uzumaki-sama. You HAVE to overcome the Hollowifcation otherwise…" It would be the end of the world as they knew it. Naruto's sealed power was great, far greater than he could ever imagine. He knew if it wasn't for the barrier he had surrounded his shop with the mere emergence of his power would alert the Soul Society and they would come to detain him to make him one of their lap dogs to control.
Although, Naruto would need to overcome the Hollowifcation process first for that to happen and if Kisuke's eyes weren't playing tricks on him it seemed that just might happen. The shady merchant could see the legendary warrior of several millennia ago puking out the sinister substance with all his might instead of choking it down like a champ.
'THIS IS SO GAY!' Naruto internally screamed, violently regurgitating the cum-like shit from himself, 'This is what becoming a hollow is like, then FUCK THAT!" He roared, determinedly trying to reignite the flames of his undying passion, 'I can't go out like this. Not when I'm yet to fuck my gir-!"
A sudden remembrance blasted him full force.
Six-year-old Naruto was playing by himself in the park after giving a wedgie to an annoying bigger kid trying to muscle him off his turf, the jungle gym. It was so satisfying sending bullies crying back to their daddies like wimps after trying and failing to oppose themselves on him due to his much shorter frame.
"I'm king of the jungle!" Little Naruto roared, beating his chest like a mighty gorilla, "Hear me roar!" He slid down the slide upside down on his head before flipping to his feet with a giggle, "Hehe. Awesome."
The sound of little feet scampering toward him had him on high alert until a girly voice cheerfully greeted him. "Naru-kun!" It said a lot about Naruto's social ineptitude than his first reaction to someone approaching him was to get on guard, but nonetheless he was warmly embraced by a girl with darker blond hair than his, knocking him into a mixture of confusion and euphoria.
"Wait, what'd ya call me?" Naruto wandered, scratching his scalp as the girl's arms withdrew herself from him, holding him by his shoulders.
"Don't you remember me?" She pouted.
"No," Naruto answered bluntly with a shrug. The girl slumped with a despondent rain cloud hanging over her, "Should I?"
"Nuh-uh!" She answered back, stars of resolve gleaming in her eyes, "I'm Yuzu. You saved me and my sister and my big brother from a bunch of bullies."
"Did I?" Naruto asked dumbly, though Yuzu nodded firmly, "Hm." He crossed his arms, pulsing his lips, "Maybe I did. I can't remember everyone I've helped." Just today he rescued a young woman from a group of delinquent teenagers looking to put the moves on her, or something. Naruto didn't quite understand the complications, but she was clearly cowering as they huddled around her so he stepped in and laid them out effortlessly.
Yuzu's stars of determination turned to admiration, "Wooow! You must be like a superhero."
Naruto thumbed his brightly brimming posture of pride, "Yep," He winked, "I'm the strongest kid in Tokyo."
Yuzu giggled before extending a hand, "Wanna be friends?"
"Okay." Naruto accepted her hand, grinning and Yuzu grinned back.
"Yuzu-chan…" Unshed tears gathered in his eyes.
Eleven year old Naruto was coolly ambling out of a shop with a can of soda in hand, popping it open and taking a huge sip, "Ah! That's the stuff!"
"Naruto!" He stopped when he heard the call of his name, pirouetting to see a black-haired tomboy approaching him with a red baseball cap on her head.
Naruto recognized her, "Yo, Karin-chan." He grinned widely, "Come to spend some time with your ramen-loving, prince charming in orange shining armour?" He teased.
Karin frowned, trying to swing at Naruto, which he of course dodged, "Give it a rest!" Naruto grinned merrily. He loved teasing his ladies friends, "Anyway, I just finished soccer practise. Figured I'd head to the arcade to kill time. Wanna join me?"
"Hell yeah. Let's go!" Karin smirked at his rambunctious energy.
As they sauntered to their place of gaming, Karin couldn't help but appreciate the wide berth of space most folks were giving them. A gang of older teens even stopped before Naruto to bow and grovel at his feet to give him for some more cans of soda.
"You know, all this respect you're getting is kinda nice," Karin smirked deviously at another group of teenager delinquents, making them whimper and scatter like mice, "Makes me feel like a big shot by association."
"I'll say."
"Karin-chan…" His tears shot forth from his gushing eyes, 'Damn it! How could I just give up when my girls need me?" He lit his eyes ablaze and forcefully stood himself, fighting against Kisuke's voodoo-like spell to free his arms, "FUCK THIS RETARDED TEST! I'M GETTING OUTTA HERE! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The constipated DBZ-like roar of defiance pierced the walls, unleashing his immense power. Unlike the previous round of world-breaking fury, this time he could feel the energy he was awakening to the world. The shower of milky white halted and in its place were ethereal lights transforming Naruto's body blue and yellow. Shattered Shaft nearly collapsed from the pure intensity of Naruto's vast emergence.
"OW!" Tessai, Jinta and Ururu were floored even through their kido barriers.
"S-Such tremendous power!"
"What a freaking monster!"
"I hope this ends soon!"
Tessai started, Jinta continued and Ururu ended.
Kisuke braced himself against the storm of Naruto's raising reiatsu awakening like a sleeping dragon intent to take vengeance on the world, one hand atop his hat to keep it from flying off in the winds, "Did he do it?"
Jesus Never Dies
C
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FIVE
One Who Shines Above Them All
A flash of bright white light greeted Naruto's journey into the unknown: an expansive city, filled to the brim with a vast myriad of small one to two story colourful buildings, slightly masqueraded in the leaves of the many trees surrounding the uniquely congested city he suddenly found himself in.
"What. The. Fuck?" He enunciated slowly, each word punctuating his severe confusion.
"About time you got here," A deep, booming voice elicited a rare startling flinch from Naruto. Abruptly noticing the gaping shadow eclipsing not only his, but a vast majority of the city's form, the blond hastily spun around, eyes dilating to the gigantic nine-tailed red-furred fox giant casually sitting behind him on his haunches, "We were beginning to die of boredom."
"Well this is new," Naruto said, falling back on his usual snark, "What can I do for ya, Big guy?
"You don't remember me?" It was more of a statement than a question, sad acceptance shining clear in the beast's massive orbs.
"Uh, I think I woulda remembered a big fuck-ton mountain-sized fox, dude," Naruto quipped, defensively. He was familiar with the fox, in the same way he was oddly familiar with most of his life in general, he just couldn't put his finger on it.
The fox didn't seem deterred or put off by his sarcasm, instead laughing without humour, "Yeah."
"I see you've already been reacquainted with Kurama-chan," Another voice rang out close by, this one sounding like a regular human being. He turned, feeling dazzled by a warm smile of a young man with similar blond spiky hair but hazel eyes, decked out in beige long shorts, a white short-sleeved t-shirt under a sleeveless green torso jacket left open.
"Just gonna take a wild guess, but I'm assuming you're my Zanpakuto spirit."
The entity grinned wider, "Yeah, how'd you know?"
Naruto jerked a thumb at the kitsune enigma chilling behind him, "It was either between you or the giant furball here and somehow, I don't think a big-ass fox-thing qualities as a Zanpakuto-spirit."
"Okay, genius. What qualities as a Zanpakuto?"
"Shut the fuck up! No one asked you!"
His Zanpakuto giggled good-naturedly at his high-spirited temper, "You were right, Kurama. He is feisty."
"Eh?"
"Eh, I didn't call him feisty, you ass."
"Okay, hold the phone," Naruto quipped in his request. Looking at his cheerful Zanpakuto spirit, he jerked a thumb at the massive fox looming over everything, "You talk like he knows me and so does he. So," He held out his arms in a demanding fashion, "Sup with that?"
"Oh, that's easy!" The blond-haired spirit clarified, grinning contagiously, "You've been resurrected, Naru-chan."
The reaction from his wielder was far more subdued than he was expecting, "Huh, so Mr Shadow-eyes wasn't chatting bullshit then," He actually stopped smiling and settled for staring blankly at his fellow blond's odd acceptance of his current rebirth, "Cool, I guess."
"You're not surprised?"
"Nah, not really," Naruto waved his hand, "I got the weird sense I was reliving my life ever since I can remember. Everything about it just feels weirdly familiar somehow. My love of Ramen and orange, my haters, Miss Riko being the only adult to give a fuck about me," He shook his head, "Hell, even my girls feel familiar. I kinda recall liking a girl like Karin-chan and a girl like Yuzu-chan liking me, but not really," He made a face, "It's complicated."
An understanding smile from his Zanpakuto, "It's okay," He assured, "You'll start getting your memories back."
The similarly coloured blond young man could see Naruto's eyes light up, "Really?"
"Yep!" The Zanpakuto manifestation said, cheerful grin stretching wide. He smacked a gloved fist into a palm, "Now that you've woken me you'll start regaining your memories and recovering yourself little by little."
Naruto released a sigh, shoulders slacking in relief like a weight was lifted off his shoulders, "Thank fuck for that!" He said, earning a chuckle from his Zanpakuto and an amused smirk from the massive fox at his coloured language, "Can't tell ya how weird it's been feeling like I've been reliving my life."
"I can imagine," The Zanpakuto chuckled, "You'll have to swing by some time, Naruto-chan! We can talk about your past life and help you recover your memories piece by piece."
A sincere smile formed over Naruto's lips, "I'd like that, um…" Said smile dropped for a moment before it came back in a sheepish fashion. Naruto stretched his arm back behind his head to scratch it, "I just realised I haven't even caught your name."
A smirk, oddly enough, was his Zanpakuto's reaction to his question, "You think you're ready to learn my name."
A blink, "Uh, yeah. I guess so," Naruto crossed his arms and squinted his eyes, "Why are you making it out like learning your name is such a big deal?" He had a point. What significance could learning names really carry?
Apparently a lot, "Because it is," The gigantic fox clarified, his booming voice startling Naruto.
"I'm not gonna get used to that."
"A Shinigami unlocks the first phase of his Zanpakuto, the Shikai, when he learns his Zanpakuto's name." Kurama specified, ignoring Naruto's reaction.
The delinquent exuberantly pumped a fist at the prospect of undiscovering a new form, "Shikai? That sounds lit!" Naruto crowed, stars shining in his crystal blue eyes, "Basically, all I have to do to get stronger is learn this guy's name." He quickly ascertained, directing an eager smirk and a pointed finger at said guy.
"Essentially, yeah."
"Sweet!" Another spirited fist pump, this time with both fists, "Alright! I've got this Shikai-shit in the bag."
The young man comprising of his Zanpakuto chuckled, finding Naruto's overconfidence amusing, "I like your confidence, Naruto-chan, but let's not get ahead of ourselves," His challenging smirk resurfaced, "You still have to pass my test first before I decide if you're ready to learn my name or not."
"What's your name?"
"Oh, It's Ginji Amano! Thanks for asking."
"Well that settles that."
"Wait, what?" An profound blink from the recently dubbed Ginji Amano preceded an deafening silence. Even the wind blowing in the distance was profoundly audible.
It wasn't to be long lasting, though; Kurama's booming laughter ensuring that much, "Hahahahahaha!" The sheer volume of the beast's thunderous, mocking guffaw made Naruto cringed from where he stood, holding his throbbing head before digging out his ear.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP, GOD DAMN IT!"
"Kurama-chan! Don't laugh at me, you jerk. I had a really awesome thing set up for Naruto-chan to try!" Ginji whined, comical tears of playful, exaggerated sadness ping-ponging from his eyes.
Kurama soon ceased his powerful chuckle with a deep-bellied sigh; the air from his lungs and nostrils practically turning into a tremendous gust of wind which almost blew a dumbfounded Naruto off his feet, "Even now, in your new life, you never cease to amaze me, Naruto."
"Geez. Thanks."
Ginji sighed, now over his little episode. For now, "I have to agree with Kurama-chan," He locked eyes with Naruto with a pair of deep, brown irises gazing fondly into his own, "It's a nine out of ten rarity for Shinigami to instantly be able to hear the name of their Zanpakuto on their first meeting." He smiled, radiating with an aura of such kindness, Naruto almost fell into a trance, "You're something special, Naruto-chan, and I'm excited to be fighting alongside ya."
He gestured expectantly toward Naruto when his fellow blond didn't respond right away with a slight nudge of his head, "W-Well, yeah, totally! You damn well should be!" Naruto fumbled, donning the bravado to mask his initial reaction from Ginji's glowing fatherly aura, "You get the honour of being the Zanpakuto to the great Naruto Uzumaki. Feel honoured!" He preened, getting laughed at by Kurama which in turn made him grump.
Ginji played the good cop to Kurama's bad cop and kindly humoured Naruto, "You bet!" He winked. That settled, he rummaged through the back pocket of his three-quarter demi shorts, hand emerging with a brilliant orb of sapphire which left his wielder breathless, staring wide eyed at the spherical-shaped ball of pure energy that accentuated his entire face.
"Whoa…"
Before he could enquiry what the glowing thing was, Ginji reached out toward him, offering the orb like a servant of the king offering him his crown; explaining everything with a smirk and the simple one-liner of, "You ready?"
Naruto needed no more information than that.
"I was born ready."
And then he firmly shook Ginji's hand, unleashing all hell on the outside world with the seal of their partnership.
xXx
Kisuke's basement
xXx
It was very much the definition of the calm before the storm period for the Urahara gang as they waited tensely for Naruto or whatever he had become to emerge from Shattered Shaft, staunchly maintaining the kido barrier Kisuke had surrounded his shop and them with to prevent Naruto's tremendous power from escaping and there by going on the radar of the high ups.
The tension was palpable among Ururu, Jinta and even Tessai, so much so Kisuke could practically feel their jittery nerves from where they stayed crouched some distance from the deep pit housing Shattered Shaft, and he couldn't say he blamed them. Naruto's near hollowfication was so powerful it could be felt even through their barriers, making them sweat and tremble. Kisuke himself was only spared the torment of experiencing Naruto's out of control reiatsu because of his Captain-class reiatsu. If not for that he would've been little more than a puddle standing at the edge of Shattered Shaft without a barrier.
He stared in deep contemplative thought into the abyss of Naruto and Kuwabara's training pit, palm against the top of his bucket-shaped hat, waiting for Naruto to emerge from his cocoon-like form.
He didn't have to wait long.
A dazzling light eclipsed Naruto's entire body, almost blinding Kisuke from the sheer intensity, washing the shadow from his eyes. Urgency rampaging in his eyes, the shop keeper turned toward his crew, "He's coming!"
The metaphorical storm happened.
The very ground shook from the sheer weight of the reiatsu being released from the inhabitant. The atmosphere grew increasingly heavy, dropping the shielded employees to their arms even through their protective bubbles. Even Kisuke, with his high level of reiatsu, felt his knees buckle from the uncontrollable emergence of such raw reiatsu.
"This is crazy!" The red-haired boy of the Urahara crew yelled out in belligerent agony, nearly being pressed into the ground from the gravity, "I can still feel this guy's reiatsu even through the boss's shield!" The colossal vibration of the ground beneath them was giving them each a searing headache, "What the hell is this guy?"
Ururu could only verbalise her agreement with a nod, becoming significantly more distress with each gigantic tremor that shook the ground. She gave in to the heavy gravity, fully pressing herself to the ground and closing her eyes as tightly as she could.
A bead of sweat rolled down Tessai's cheek when he heard cliffs shattering in the distance and the earth below him, 'S-Such reiatsu!' He knew he wouldn't have been any match for the legendary reincarnated boy even now when he was a novice still trying to regain his full power. He could barely withstand the vast entrance of his reiatsu in his own protective barrier let alone without. Just imagine what Naruto's reiatsu would've done to him without being shielded.
He shuddered just thinking about it.
The wind fiercely blew into Kisuke's face, giving birth to the streak of lightning rocketing into the sky with a screeching chirp. Kisuke watched the bolt of lightning suspended in the air, as if symbolizing Naruto's place in the world as the star which shined above them all, before anchoring toward the ground several feet away from the shady merchant, resulting in a small explosion as though an TNT had been unleashed.
"He sure knows how to make an entrance," A wide-eyed Kisuke quipped, still bewildered from the whole materialization of Naruto's Shinigami powers. He always knew Naruto was godly powerful, he had to be in order to be granted rebirth from the Soul King, but this was something else entirely. He was flat out Captain-level without even awakening his Bankai.
Kisuke waited with bated breath for the swirling dust cloud temporarily concealing Naruto's true form to dissipate, gasping breathlessly from the reveal. What stood before them was no Shinigami they had ever seen. He was a beacon of pure energy itself. Skin and hair as sapphire as the sea. His hair stood on end as though he had been electrocuted. He bore the standard Shingami attire and those, too, were as blue as his skin and hair. Strange black markings ran from his arms across his chest. Six tomoe symbols were also tattooed across his chest with a distinctive spiral on his stomach.
Kisuke briefly wondered was this the famed Chakra mode he had been taught about in the Shinigami academy regarding Naruto's lore.
"Ginji Amano," Naruto grandiosely posed with his uniquely-shaped two pronged kunai, bearing the glowing kanjis for lightning emperor across the handle. A grey coloured kunai holster was on his right thigh.
Tessai's eyes widened exponentially, 'He already knows the name of his Zanpakuto!'
"THIS IS FUCKING LIT!" Naruto roared exuberantly. He marvelled at the jagged edges of his new form through ruby pupils. Sparks of electricity danced all around him, "Dayum!" He looked himself in the reflection of his new kunai. He barely even considered his kunai. The feeling of one in his grip felt so natural, second-nature even, that possessing one didn't feel noteworthy at all, "Holy shit. I got demon eyes." Naruto's eyes had indeed taken on the scarlet eyed slitted look of a demon's, further fanning the fire of his ego, "Man, I look sweet! So glad I came here." He was so pleased with his new form and its power he almost forgot about all the shit his tormentor unnecessarily put him through.
Almost.
The audible clap and cheery, delighted voice of said tormentor hollering behind him reminded him of his torment, "Hey! Congratulations on completing your Shinigami training and entering the world of the Shinigami, Mr Uzumaki!" Kisuke said, unaware of the danger he was putting himself in. Observing Naruto's form, he whistled, "Spiffy new form you got there."
Naruto's wide-eyed bewildered stare of bemusement lingered on Kisuke's sleazeball covered-grin for all of two seconds before he traversed the distance between them, burying a blue fist into his stomach with enough force to cause the shady merchant to puke out of his mouth. The feel of Kisuke's ribs cracked underneath his fist was music to his ears.
Tessai's eyes widened beneath his shades, 'Such speed! It's as if young Naruto was using Yoruichi-dono's signature flash-step!' But he wasn't using it which was the scariest part. Flash step wasn't something one was just born with. They had to learn it. If or when Naruto does master flash step his speed would be godlike. His basic movement speed was blinding enough as it was to Tessai and he knew flash step!
A bead of sweat manifested from cold realization rolled down Tessai's cheek.
The legend spoke no lies in regard to Naruto's immense power.
A dazed Kisuke hung loosely in Naruto's vice-lock grip, "U-Uh, I take it you didn't prove of my training methods, Mr Uzumaki?"
"Hey, you'd lookee here. The dickhead can rationalize!" Naruto sarcastically congratulated, digging his knuckles unforgivingly into Kisuke's chin. The additional pressure evoked a terrified yelp from the love child of Bugs Bunny and the Joker, "No-fucking-shit, dickhead."
"I thought it would be easier to show you what I meant instead of going through the details."
"Well you could've at least told us what you had in store for us first asswipe."
"I thought it would've been funny to see your reactions when I severed your spirit chains and threw you into Shattered Shaft without telling you why I did it first. And it was! Funny, right?"
"Oh yeah! Now that you mention it. Real fucking funny. Almost as funny as you when I get through severing your balls!"
A yelp.
"C'mon! Have a heart."
"You have some fucking nerve, asshole."
Kisuke's crew watched his bizarre interaction with a bona fide reincarnated god of legend with beads of pure sweat manifested from their awkward discomfort raining down each of their faces.
"Oh, Mr Kisuke," Ururu said.
"Ha! Serves the boss right!" Jinta cheered but inwardly mused, 'Still, this guy is meant to be some big-time reincarnated god from thousands of years ago?'
"What goes around comes around, Master. You should know that by now," Tessai lightly instructed.
Kisuke sighed with a leisured breath, grating irritably on Naruto's nerves. What did this guy take him for to sigh in such a relaxed manner as though Naruto's threats meant nothing to him, a joke? "I know I wronged you and Mr Kuwabara over this," He began, his admittance somehow pacifying Naruto's temper, "But look, I'm willing to make it up to you if you just give me a chance." Naruto eyed his sleazey grin suspiciously, carefully monitoring his actions of rummaging through his haori to remove a familiar, yet unfamiliar object; in the same way his second life was familiar, "Here."
"What's this?" Naruto dropped Kisuke like a bad habit to take what Kisuke presented to him. Hearing the asshole grunt from the fall was innately satisfying but he pushed his statistician aside to observe the dark blue headband he had been given, thumbing the silver metal plate stitched into it bearing a uniquely shaped six, 'Wait! Didn't I see this in that place Ginji and the fox guy was in?'
"It's a seal," Kisuke explained, heaving a much more tired sigh from Naruto's rough treatment. Adjusting his hat, Kisuke sat up, further explaining, "To help you control your power."
"Why?"
"Simply put, you have too much power," Seeing Naruto very much unconvinced, he continued to sell his reasoning for Naruto's seal, "Shinigami aren't supposed to possess as much power as you do in the World of the Living in fear of adversely effecting everything in it, including the humans." He smiled in relief at Naruto's stunned look.
"Oh." Kisuke nodded in acknowledgement at Naruto's recognition of the consequences his mere presence could have on the world, "So, does that mean you have your powers sealed off too, assface?"
"Fortunately, I'm no longer apart of the force." He cheerfully quipped, covering his greasy smile with his fan.
"The force?"
"The Gotei thirteen, the Soul Society's primary Military force comprising of thirteen Captains and their lieutenants."
"Sounds cool," Naruto commented nonchalantly but at the thought of taking on the Soul Society's military force his lips curled into a smirk. Flipping his kunai up before catching it in a solid, audible grip, he stated, "I'd like to fight them."
Kisuke adopted a wide-eyed bewildered stare at Naruto's uncanny and unhealthy desire to test himself against a military organization, "While I have no doubt that even the Captain Commander of the Gotei Thirteen, hailed as the strongest Shinigami in the Soul Society, would severely struggle against you," As Naruto preened from Kisuke's leisured massage of his ego, the shopkeeper continued, "If you were to take on the Gotei thirteen as you are right now with no control over your new found powers, you'd burn out in less than an hour."
"Come again?"
Kisuke held up his hands defensively, "Well, yes. You see, the amount of power you're leaking right now is, in a word, unsustainable," He dropped his hands, cautiously choosing his words with the beacon of power eyeballing him in annoyance, "Best way I put it is, you're like a furnace spraying water everywhere unknowingly!" He quipped. He turned Naruto's attention to his shielded crew with a pointed finger, "Look over there at Tessai, Ururu and Jinta. If they weren't in barriers right now the release of your power would've crushed them to death!" Naruto raised an eyebrow, "No kidding! Just look at them. They're still sweating."
Naruto vanished from sight without prompt, bringing a flinch from Kisuke at the sudden movement. He blinked owlishly, finding Naruto right in front of the aforementioned three observing them closely, 'He's that fast already…' He mused with a shaky smirk. He would've to walk a very fine line if he was going to use Naruto.
Naruto stood before the three bubbled individuals assumedly wrapped up for their own safety, curiously eyeing their globe-shaped barriers before shifting his sight to them, and, more importantly, their faces. He didn't know notice it at first but up close he could see they were indeed sweating profusely, blowing wind out of their asses. And this was them surrounded by Kisuke's voodoo spell. He could only imagine the absolute puddle they each would be without the barriers.
The three employees under Kisuke's care couldn't make head or tails out of Naruto's expression before he near-teleported away, rematerializing in front of Kisuke. Audible inhales of air were missed entirely by Naruto.
'Just being in close proximity to Naruto-dono was considerably difficult even shrouded in a kido spell,' Tessai mused, in sheer awe of the living legend's tremendous presence.
"Well?" Kisuke wandered, watching Naruto unfold one of his arms to pinch the bridge of his nose, elbow resting on his remaining folded arm.
"They look pretty fucked, alright," He admitted, arms fully dropping to his sides.
"Exactly," He smiled in bemusement of Naruto's colourful wording, "And Tessai is a Shinigami much like us and neither Ururu nor Jinta are normal in the conventional sense." He unleashed the full force of his massive smile, "If they're in that state just by being in close proximity to you, Mr Uzumaki, just imagine the kind of disastrous state a normal human would be left in by being in the radius of such power?"
Naruto signed heavily, "Point taken." Kisuke beamed, gesturing for Naruto to place his headband around his forehead. Naruto briefly weighed the pros and cons of trusting Kisuke but dismissed them. There was no reason not to take his word for it. Sure, he was massive a dick of the highest degree, but he had set him on the right path to finding answers regarding his familiar life and that in itself was worth its weight in gold to Naruto.
He tied the headband around his forehead and the effects were instantaneous, along with a flood of unfamiliar memories entering his head. The shroud of sapphire turning his entire person blue faded, along with the unique markings adorning his body. No longer was he all azure. His natural hair and attire colours were visible now, though his skin still glowed an ethereal light, all but keeping his whiskers invisible.
Kisuke smirked, "Better?"
"Yeah, actually," Naruto blinked, "I didn't notice, but my muscles feel all relaxed now."
"That's because the amount of reiatsu you were rapidly emitting was putting a strain on your body," Kisuke explained, "You probably didn't notice because of the adrenaline you were riding from awakening your power," Kisuke hazarded to guess, "That headband I made you will seal off eighty percent of your power. It'll much easier to control your current output."
Sparks of electricity danced around Naruto's appreciated visage, although he would be damned if he told Kisuke. Kisuke was an asshole and didn't deserve any gratitude for all the shit he put Naruto and his long-time frenemy/rival through. He simply said, "I see."
Kisuke nodded, "Oh! And I forget to mention."
Naruto's expression soured, "Ugh. What?"
"Mr Kuwabara headed out to assist a Shinigami in his fight against a very powerful hollow."
"What?"
"Yeah! He's probably bitten off more than he can chew. The hollow was at least ten times more powerful than Mr Kuwabara when he left out."
"Then why the hell didn't you say so, assface! I gotta go save my buddy-! I mean punching bag!" He ignored Kisuke's teasing grin from his similar unwillingness to admit his brotherly love for his fellow delinquent and dematerialized, blazing a thunderous trail from the ladder of Kisuke's basement and out of the establishment altogether.
A few seconds later and he returned, ambling up to a still grinning Kisuke with a sheepish grin gracing his lips.
"I just realised I don't actually know where he's at."
Boom. Ginji Amano from the Getbackers is in this shit as Naruto's Zanpakuto, baby!
