Naruto picked at the clothes in a little bit of distaste. He didn't really have anything against black, but the hakama and gi that he was wearing were and unrelieved black with a white gi underneath. The only bit of color was the orange sash he wore around his waist to tie the garment shut and to hold his sword once it formed again. The blonde vowed that he wouldn't wear these to the Academy, since everyone would probably make fun of him for wearing them.
They are the traditional garb of the shinigami, Naruto, the voice told him. The colors are actually quite flattering for your complexion, so you might attract even more attention than normal if you did wear them to the Academy.
The blonde scowled. "Maybe," he admitted, "but I should probably keep this as quiet as possible for now. Don't want the others to get too jealous of me, you know. Plus I don't want anyone to think the fuzzball's interfering with me."
While I would normally encourage you to shine out with your abilities as you grow, the voice conceded, it will probably be for the best to keep your training under wraps for now. Do you have a place where we can work undisturbed?
"Yeah, there's an old training ground over in the part of town where I found that sinkhole that no one ever uses," Naruto said after a moment of thought. "It's easy enough to get there from my apartment or the Academy and I don't think anyone other than jiji or the ANBU that sometimes watch me will ever notice."
Good, we need a place like that, the voice told him. We can start you physical training and I will tell you of my history and what you will learn. Go there and cut a tree branch. One about four feet long and at least an inch thick. We will start the exercises by building your arm strength to wield me as a sword when I reform.
"Right," Naruto, said with a smile as he took off running across town. It was weird, but ever since he'd agreed to the joining the blonde had felt lighter somehow. Like some kind of weight that had always been holding him down was suddenly gone and he'd found that he was moving much faster than before.
Reaching the training ground that was overgrown with weeds, Naruto searched among the deadfall for a branch that fit what he'd been told to find. It took nearly an hour before he had located one that was straight enough, thick enough and long enough to be serviceable.
Excellent, the voice told the boy. I want you to set your right foot forward and your left slightly behind it. Very good, now you will lift the branch above your head and bring it down to stop at your waist.
"How many times do I have to do it," Naruto asked.
As many as you can, the voce replied simply. Then you will rest and do it again. This is a necessary step to prepare your body for the stress of a real fight with a blade and for when you release my shikai.
"What's…ungh…a shikai," Naruto asked as he swung and had to fight to stop the blade from going all the way to the ground. Looks like this will be harder than I thought, the blonde mused as he continued the exercise.
I am what was referred to as a zanpaktou, or a soul slayer, the voice replied. We are born from the souls of certain individuals who have significant spiritual power and those people were trained to become shinigami, the guardians of the dead.
"I thought the shinigami was the guy who took you away when you died," Naruto huffed as he continued to train.
This world is different than the one I came from, the zanpaktou said. There shinigami protected the pure souls from those who would devour others to gain their power and become beasts called Hollows. To answer your first question, a zanpaktou has three states: Sealed, Shikai and Bankai. The sealed state is the basic sword form. You have little access to my power at that state, but it allows you to learn many things before concentrating on reaching Shikai, or the first release. The shikai unlocks a significant portion of my power and will change my physical appearance as a weapon. The Bankai is the ultimate release of my power and by far the most difficult to master. Very few shinigami ever achieve it.
"Wow, so you become scarier with every released form," Naruto asked.
Indeed I do, the voice replied. And you will become much stronger as well. This world is very different from the world I knew in many ways, but chief among them is your chakra.
"That's the stuff Iruka-sensei's been talking about in class lately," Naruto said as his brow furrowed in though while his arms continued to swing the branch. "He said that we have to combine our physical and spiritual energy to make chakra so that we can use jutsu and stuff."
That is true for a normal human in your world, but not for you anymore, the zanpaktou informed the blonde. They need to use their physical energy to even access their spiritual energy or reiatsu, but you can now access your reiatsu without needing the extra step. Your physical energy can be saved to allow your body to heal itself faster and to make sure you grow at an appropriate rate.
"So does that mean I won't be able to learn jutsu like everyone else," Naruto asked with a pout.
No, it just means that you will have an easier time performing them and will be able to do so without those silly seals the humans require after some practice, the voice answered. Though I suggest you continue to use the seals so that no one suspects the extent of your ability. I will also train you in the various arts of the shinigami once your body is prepared. Zanjutsu, hoho, shuho and kidou will all be useful to you.
"Well, if you're a zanpaktou, then zanjutsu is how to fight with you, Naruto reasoned as he panted a little from his continued exertion. "So what are those other ones?"
Hoho is the taijutsu that shinigami train in for situations where a zanpaktou is unwise or a target merely needs to be disabled. Shuho is the movement arts, a manner of channeling your reiatsu into your body to produce extra speed and strength. Kidou are what was known as the demonic arts…
"Hey, I don't want anything to do with demons," Naruto protested.
Rest assured, the voice said with an irritated sigh, that I would never allow you to taint yourself with anything truly demonic. Kidou is merely another set of jutsu for you to learn and there are easily over a hundred with a variety of purposes from attack to restraint. Having an extensive selection of options to complete a single goal is always a favorable situation. Now, as for your training…
Naruto let the large branch drop, his body dripping with sweat. He'd been working for months on the physical conditioning and was proud to say that he'd seen lots of improvement. He was now practicing his swings with a branch that was six inches across and almost six feet long. The voice had told him that he couldn't say for sure exactly how he would appear to the boy, since Naruto's power was different than Komamura's had been. The only release that he could guarantee would be the same was the bankai, since it was an ultimate release of the zanpaktou. The shikai and sealed form could be different depending on whether or not Naruto's power caused the zanpaktou to grow.
The swings hadn't been the only exercise that the blonde had undergone. There had been two other types of swings to practice: slashing down from the left and slashing down from the right. He'd performed all of those so many times that he no longer had to even think about the effort it took to stop the branch before it reached his waist. He'd also been doing an extended series of stretches and lots of running over the last few months, moving at full speed fro as long as possible. The zanpaktou had told him that while there were ways of enhancing strength and speed, it was better to have a solid base to work from.
You've done well, Naruto, the voice said. I think you may be ready to try and materialize my sealed form. I want you to sit down and concentrate on the power you feel coming from inside of yourself. Imagine the energy condensing into the form of a sword with all of your thought. I warn you that this is not an easy task and there are many shinigami who take years to form their zanpaktous even in their sealed states.
"Right," Naruto said with a nod as he sank to the ground in the lotus position. It had gotten a lot easier to sense the energy inside him ever since he'd bonded with the blade. Iruka-sensei had been shocked when he'd produced a visible aura in class the other day, but the blonde had laughed it off as natural talent when asked how he did it. Naruto bent his mind to the energy within him and let it flow between his hands where they rested upon his knees. He closed his eyes and let himself imagine the power taking the shape of a sword. The blonde didn't know how long he sat there, but by the time he felt a solid weight across his lap, the sun was long gone.
Congratulations, the voice said. You manifested me on your first try. I thought it would take two or three attempts, but you've proven your ability to concentrate. Heh, I bet your teacher would have a heart attack seeing you sit so still for so long without being tied down.
Naruto chuckled at the image and opened his eyes to examine the blade sitting across his lap. It looked like an ordinary katana to the boy's eyes, but where the original blade had the hilt wrapped in black this one had orange bindings. Cool, he thought enthusiastically.
Only you would find orange to be cool, the voice stated humorously. Most consider it too distracting and eye-catching a color for a serious warrior, but I guess it will work for us.
"Wait a minute," Naruto said suddenly. "I didn't say anything out loud…"
Now that you have manifested my physical form, you no longer need to speak out loud to be heard by me, the voice informed the blonde. Our bond has become strong enough to allow us mental communication. Besides, if you walk around talking to someone that no one can see, people will think you're crazy.
"I don't know," Naruto grinned. "There's one jounin I've seen walking around with his nose buried in porn and another wearing green spandex. I think I'll fit in fine, even if I am talking to someone no one else can see."
You have a point, the voice allowed, but it is time for you to begin learning what I have to teach you. I need you to follow my instructions exactly. You need to fashion a rough humanoid figure out of branches and rope. There's a seal that I will help you create that will allow me to possess the puppet and train you directly.
"Awesome," Naruto yelled as he leapt to his feet and stuck his sword through the orange sash he wore around his waist. He darted off into the woods surrounding the training area, gathering as many branches as he could and piling them in the clearing he'd cleaned up over the last couple of months. It took him about an hour to lash the vines and rope he had handy around the branches until he'd made a passable figure that had the right number of limbs.
Now comes the tough part, the voice said. You'll need to draw this seal in blood and you have to be careful to draw it exactly correct. I will give you and image that I suggest you draw in the dirt first so that you can work off something other than just your memory.
"Hey," Naruto complained, "I'm not that bad! Just because I don't like studying for Iruka-sensei's tests doesn't mean that I'm stupid or anything."
No, the voice agreed. It just means that you're overly energetic and easily bored as well as being too young to really concentrate as hard as your teachers would like. Now here's the seal.
Naruto blinked as a complicated design flashed in front of his eyes, but he dutifully scratched it into the dirt before cutting his hand and beginning to trace the design across the chest of the dummy he'd created. When it was done, the blonde stepped back and eyed his handiwork.
Not bad, the voice admitted. You seem to have a natural talent for the sealing arts. When you have mastered your basics, perhaps we will explore that. Now watch.
Naruto felt a little of his energy leave him as the dummy began to glow. The light quickly became intense, forcing him to cover his eyes until it died back down to bearable levels. When he could see again, the dummy had been replaced by a six foot figure in heavy black armor.
"Cool," Naruto crowed as he stared at the armored figure. "But how did you get outside of me?"
I'm not really outside of you, the figure sighed. I'm just projecting a portion of my power to the seal you prepared on the dummy so that I can interact with you on a physical basis. There is no one else that I trust to train you. Remember that you must now keep my sealed form with you at all times to maintain our bond. Do not allow them to try and take me from you, since I will punish any other who dares to lay their hands on me. Now, shall we begin the next stage of your training?
Naruto gulped as he looked up at the armored figure that towered over him. It wasn't as big as it had been in his mind when he'd seen the Kyuubi, but it was still huge to the short boy. He gripped the handle of his katana and gulped before nodding his head. "Let's get wild," the blonde said.