Chapter 6
(Human world)
Naruto looked down from the sky where he stood; the human world had much less interesting things to do and see. It was also problematic since he could not move freely around the place. He did not use the normal gate of coming into this world. Using his own teleportation technique ensured that he was not questioned by the annoying Soul Society. He disliked being questioned about some things. It would surely be irritating to be questioned about his whereabouts each time he went for a ''walk''.
Central 46 was an annoying bunch who always liked to have control over everything that happened in the Soul Society and his own actions. They had not been doing a good job so far in keeping tabs on him, though. The reason for their failure was because he could get away anytime he wanted. The Covert Orps were pretty fast and quite persistant, but they could not keep him on a tight leash. He was not a child.
Because he used his own device to teleport here, it meant that there was no limiter that was placed on him as soon as he came. Any Shinigami or the spiritually aware could sense his presence at the moment. Because his Reaitsu was unfamiliar, and had a hollow feeling in it, they would surely be right about him any moment. But it did not matter anyway; it was not like they could do anything to him. Now he cared less for what would happen to the humans because of his spiritual preasure. But given his current state of power, nothing chaotic would happen. The spiritually aware would just be quick to rush at him to see who it was since they were not familiar with his Reiatsu.
It was going to be bothersome; soon, he would have to be queiting down children if he did not leave soon.
He looked behind him at the corner of his eyes as he sensed someone coming behind him. Something like an arrow came rushing at him - He could see it clearly with his eyes, but it was fast. Nevertheless, not fast enough to render him optionless. His interests were picked when he realized that it was a Quincy technique; there was no mistake about it, his eyes could tell him that much. Even though he could have dodged, he did nothing.
He merely looked at the projectile as it neared him. The technique then hit him. Surprisingly, it pierced him from behind. But it did not do any damage. But he raised an eye brow at the fact that it had managed to pierce him. The user must be some strong man to do that to him. It did not take long for his power to make everything go away and make it look like he was never pierced to begin with.
He then turned around and looked at the person who had attacked him. He saw a man wearing white clothing and another in a Shinigami uniform; both were strong beings, he could tell that much just by looking at them. He looked at the man in the Shinigami uniform, he did not recognize him from anywhere, nor has he sensed the Reaitsu from any where before. This man must have been living in the human world. There is no way someone strong as that man could have existed in Soul Society without him knowing about it - ever since he was released.
He was not given much time to think anything more as a wave of arrows came rushing towards him. They were just as fast as the previous arrow that had pierced him. But the fact that they were a heap of them, made it a little difficult to dodge them all, but it was not impossible. He was not going to allow another arrow to pierce him again. Well, he could use some warm up at this time. He disappeared from his position. The wave of arrows missed him...no, he dodged them all using his superior speed.
He then appeared a distance away from his last position, but when he appeared there, more arrows came rushing towards him. It seemed that they were moving faster than before. He did not move a bit as the arrows threatened to tear his body apart. When they were about to hit him, they disappeared inside a black swirling void, surprising the attacker. Even when he was surprised, he did not stop attacking. But this time, he went to the extreme; He flashed to different positions around him while firing more arrows at him. The arrows came in a heap in all directions. Naruto stood still looking immobile, but that was not the case. The arrows then hit him dead on, causing an explosion to occur. The explosion caused some clouds of smoke to appear.
When the clouds from the explosion cleared, Naruto was standing still, unhurt, with his arms folded across his chest. ''That would have been dangerous,'' he said to himself, ''if I was anyone. But I...'' he trailed off when his eyes picked up something.
The shinigami appeared in the right infront of him. The man had a calm look on his face for a moment. Naruto was surprised when he did not have his blade on his hand. Things such as Kidou did not work on him. He wondered what the man would do. Again, he was surprised when the man merely flicked a finger from his right hand.
''Hmm?'' It was Naruto's responce before an invincible force hit him straight on. The force was somewhat powerful and managed to send him flying backwards in some fast speeds. The blond was able to recover quickly though; he flipped several times in midair before standing still.
''You should not come here and stand still like you own this world. Your presence is making a disruption within this world. You might end up hurt,'' the male Quincy stated coldly in an emotionless tone.
This only amused Naruto. ''I have always said that Quincy were the weakest beings and I still maintain that,'' he stated.
''Do you wish to test that?'' the Quincy questioned with narrowed eyes as he prepared his bow. The Shinigami merely stood still watching with a calm look on his face. It did not seem like he was going to intervene with the two.
''Shoot,'' Naruto stated while his hands were still folded across his chest.
The Quincy then fired hundrends of arrows at him in such a close range that made it nealy impossible to dodge. He did so while moving around him. Naruto did not move a single muscle. He merely stood still while the arrows pierced his body in all arears. After a minute when his body was all but arrows, the quincy stopped. He was shocked when he looked at Naruto clearly; his arrows were inside Naruto's flesh, but they had not pierced through the flesh. It seemed like they had just went through it. The arrows then desolved, and there was no wound on Naruto's body, not even a scratch. Despite his shock, the Quincy did not show it.
''I will repeat this again; I have always said that Quimcies were the weakest of the supernatural beings,'' Naruto stated calmly. ''I have always said that because a Quincy cannot hurt me. Your techniques merely tingle me. Desipte how strong the Quincy is, no one has ever been able to wound me. But then again, there are some abnormal beings that exist, everything is possible. However, you can do nothing.''
Ryuken glared at Naruto trying to contemplate what he had been told. This just could not be true. No one could be immune to Quincy attacks. He had no doubt that not even the Captain Commander could willingly take his techniques head on without flinching. So just what was this guy? How was it possible? He had just disregarded all his power as nothing. He was powerful enough to be captain-level and yet some arrogant Shinigami was telling him that all his technique merely tingled him. If more than anything, his Quincy pride was insulted and knocked down a few levels.
''Why did you dodge after the first arrow hit you?'' the Quincy asked curiously probing for information. He could not just let this go without getting some information. He had an enemy that was telling him that he could not harm afterall.
''I wanted to waste some time before Urahara returned. And so I amused you,'' Naruto responded calmly.
'You are so used to lying that you are no longer conscious of it,' Amaterasu noted as she viewed everything taking place. She had been watching ever since Naruto left Soul Society after the captains meeting. But she had decided not to say anything. She knew though, that Naruto was aware of her presence but he had just decided to keep quite.
'Hmm?' he seemed confused as to what she was saying, but that was not it.
'No Quincy has ever been able to wound you? You know that is a lie. You have just made sure to kill everyone of them who did and witnessed it. The Quincy may be trully weak in your standards, but their techniques were your weakness. They could actually hurt more than anything. That is why you hated them and refused to take part in the Quincy war. If you fought them, everyone would know your weakness. Nevertheless in your Bankai state, they could not harm you. However, the great Uchiha Naruto could not bring himself to use his Bankai for weaklings - who could kill him despite being weak. Arent they even the reason you are the fastest being alive?'
Naruto merely shrugged.
'That is not all. You were actually surprised when that arrow 'pierced' you because you had developed a technique that would make you immune to quincy techniques. Your dodging had nothing to do with Urahaha,' Amateraru stated calmly.
'You just spoiled everything, Amaterasu. Now my interest in talking to these two has whaned,' Naruto stated not bothered by the fact that he had been ''caught'' lying.
He looked at the two in front of him and realized that they were saying something to him. But, he was not interested in finding out though, and so he turned around to go to Urahara's.
Ishin ignored the silent curses Ryuken was giving towards Naruto. ''You are Captain Uchiha Naruto, correct?'' he already knew the answer but he just wanted to be polite.
Naruto did not look back at the man but he did stop walking away. ''You are a former captain, correct?'' He responded with a question of his own. But that did not deter Ishin.
''So you are,'' he said ignoring the blond's question. He had a rather uncharasteristic serious expression on his face. ''My friend and I just wanted to see if the rumors were true, that is why we attacked you,'' well it was Ryuken who wanted to confirm everything when they sensed strong spriritual preasure and realized it was him. He had been reluctant but finally gave in.
''Your assesment was worthwhile, I believe,'' Naruto stated while still not looking back at Ishin or Ryuken - he was still cursing Naruto for his attitude.
Ishin nodded. ''Yes it was,'' he paused for a moment. ''What business do you have with Urahara?'' the former 12th division captain had not been willing to share with him what the blond wanted when he visited him. He thought that if he asked nicely, he would be told the answer.
''You have the answer; Urahara,'' he stressed the name Urahara. He did not wait to see if Ishin got what he was saying, he merely disappeared from the two.
''So in another words; it has nothing to do with me but Urahara,'' Ishin muttered silently.
''You think we should have pushed him further to make him use his Zanpakuto?'' Ryuken asked. If they had done that, he would have seen more of the man's abilities. But still he had found out much more. The fact that the man was immune to his powers did not please him at all. He would have to speak to Urahara about it and see if he cannot do anything about it. He could not allow such a thing to continue to be a reality.
''We got more than enough,'' Ishin responded calmly. ''But should you not be more worried about the fact that your techninues can't hurt him?''
Ryuken frowned slightly. ''Don't remind me of that,'' he stated.
''Did you notice that he seemed younger than what Urahara had said?'' Ishin asked looking at his 'friend'.
''Yes, he was. I guess Urahara will tell us more about it when he returns from the Soul Society,'' Ryuken stated as they started to retreat to Urahara's shop where no doubt Naruto had gone to.
''Still, I did not think he could be this strong,'' Ishin stated. ''Urahara has said that he was neither a friend nor an ally despite being a member of the Gotei 13. And your ineffectiveness means that it will be a litle troublesome finding a way to deal with him should he become an enemy.''
''Are you going to keep reminding me that my power has no effect on him,'' Ryuken questioned in a calm tone while glaring at the former Gote 13 captain. It was possible that Ishin was repeating the fact that his power could not harm Naruto on purpose just to see how he would react. Or he might just be gloating about the fact he was useless while he was not.
Ishin merely smiled and patted Ryuken on his shoulder. ''No, it is just that the matter is not favorable to us. It must also be hard for you given your natural hate to Shinigami. The fact that there is one who is powerful and your power does nothing but tingle him must have knocked your Quincy pride down. But don't be hard on yourself, I am sure Urahara will help you if you ask him nicely.''
Urahara's shop
For the past three to four hours, Naruto has been standing motionless in midair within the underground training ground under Urahara's shop. He had not moved a single muscle ever since coming into the place. One could think that he was a statue given that he had been motionless for hours. There was also the thought that he was fast asleep given that his eyes were closed. But you could never know since he did not make sounds that most made when they were asleep. It was as if he had shut down all systems within his body.
Yoruichi had watched him with surprise. He had showed up at the shop but did not say many words. He only said he would wait for Urahara since he had not returned from Soul Society. She was surprised also to see the blond here given that her friend had gone to the spirit world for the capatains meeting, so she figured that he would be there also - she did not know that Naruto had left early as there was nothing more that interested him. His new appearance was another thing to note, but she did not ask anything. She merely showed him the way here without many words. But if the meeting was over, it must mean that Urahara was doing something in the spirit world. It was also apparent to her that Naruto was aware of the fact that Urahara was not present.
Ishin and Ryuken had come to the place, but they went back upstairs when they saw that he was not doing anything. Ryuken also did not seem to be happy seeing the man. in fact, he seemed even tempted to attack him while he was ''sleeping''. She did not understand what had happened, but she could guess they had confrotated him upon sensing him. She had also sensed him when he appeared, but chose not to go there and look after the shop when she realized that someone was taking care of it. Of course at first, she did not know it was him since the last time she saw him his Reiatsu could not be sensed. So she could not have thought it was him at first.
She was not much surprised to see Ryuken show blatant hatred towards Naruto, the man hated Shinigami and Hollows. But he hated Shinigami more. And given Naruto's stature, it was obvious he would dislike the man.
But Ryuken was very calm and matured. He would not have sought to attack Naruto when he was ''sleeping'' unless something had happened.
Yoruichi smiled mischiviously as a thought came into her mind. Yes, this would certainly get his attention. No matter how stiff he seemed, he had a woman in his life, he would react. And so Yoruichi flashed towards the blond. She took off her top, exposing her naked chest. She moved closer to him and rubbed her chest against his back while she kissed his neck. But the blond did not react. She continued her playfulness for a few more minutes, but the blond still showed no sign of reaction, his body was just cold. Yoruichi moved in front of him to see if there was anything. When she appeared, she saw his eyes firmly on hers and he had this mildly amused look on his face. Yet there were no signs of flustering at what she had done to him or seeing her breats. She was surprised by his reaction; that was not something she saw everyday. She was sure even if she appeared in front of Yamamoto like this, he would certainly let loose of a few blood drops from his nose.
''If Shutaru saw this, she would kill you,'' Naruto stated in an amused tone, and a smile she not could tell what it symbolized.
''Shutara...''
''She does not like it when another woman comes this close to me,'' Naruto said, his amused expression now a mere memory. It was not that ever since he took Shutara, he had gone close to any other women, but he knew the kind of person she was. She only tolerated Unohana because there was nothing she could do about it.
''For someone who was said to be a womanizer, you did not react the way I thought you would,'' Yoruichi stated disappoitment clear in her tone and expression. The fact that she was still topless was lost in her mind.
''Womanizer..?'' Naruto said with a raised brow. Only Shunsui could have been the source of that kind of information. ''When people want to see things, you make them see them,'' he responded vaguely.
'Another one of your classic lies,' Amaterasu stated, but Naruto did not respond as there was no need for him to do so.
''What is that supposed to mean?'' Yoruichi asked curiously. She did not understand the meaning of his words, hence her question. But by the look on his face, she doubted she would get the answer.
''Ah, I see you two are getting along,'' Urahara spoke entering the training ground with Ishin and Ryuken. Ishin seeing Yoruichi topless, immidielty got knocked backwards with some blood rushing off his nose. The woman was quickly able to gain consious of her current state, thus she quickly wore her top.
Naruto then turned to Urahara, ''You are a bit late, but I imagine that you had to dig up some information before returning here,'' he stated as if it was the obvious thing. He knew that the man would have stayed behind to search and probe about his new change.
Urahara made no attempt to deny it. He knew that there was no point in denying anything. Naruto did not even seemed bothered by the fact that he had stayed behind to gather Intel on him. ''When interesting things come by, it is hard for a scientist not to investigate, especially when it can give new research material,'' the former 12th division captain responded smiling behind his hand fan.
Naruto took a few steps forward, and stopped in front of Urahara, while ignoring the other two. ''How far are you?''
''I have analyzed everything, but the puzzle is more challenging than I had thought. I have searched through all lost arts to find a way to solve it but I have made little progress so far,'' Urahara stated lying through his teeth. He said it so convincingly in his usual cheerful tone, the others definately believed in his words despite not understanding what they were talking about.
''So you have made good progress then,'' Naruto stated calmly.
''Huh?'' Urahara responded. The others were also curious because he had said he had made little progress, but Naruto was saying that he had made good progress. If anything, the blond must have misheard him. But that was not the case.
''Nomatter how much of a convcing act you put, I can see through all lies,'' Naruto stated, making Urahara and Yoruichi move uncormfortbly. The latter had been told by the former that he had made good progress with the puzzle. But the man wanted to keep it from Naruto because during his research he had found some interesting things that made him curious. He wanted to satisfy his curiosity first before saying anything else. ''I will return soon.'' With that being said, Naruto disappeared in a black vortex surprising the others.
''How did he know?'' Yoruichi questioned quitely. She was surprised that the blond had not even threatened Urahara for trying to lie. He just took it as it was and left. It was true that he got what he had come for, but he had gotten it without Urahara saying anything.
''I don't know,'' Urahara responded with a sigh of relief that the blond had not done anything because of his attempted lie. It would not have been good if the blond had become angry because of his words. So it was a relief that the blond just went away with the words, ''I will return soon''
''That was not a smart move on your part,'' Yoruichi berated her friend in a stern stone. ''Someone would have been surely pissed off with the trick you just pulled.''
''Ara, Yoruichi, when I told you of this, you did not seem to object,'' Urahara reminded her lazily. The woman was also interested in finding out more of the puzzle, not that he had told her anything about it to begin with. He was merely keeping her curious for now. ''It does not matter anyway. Nothing bad happened and next time I will remember to be honest in front of him.''
''Why do you think he was not mad about it?'' the fact that there were other two males beside her seemed to be lost in her mind as she continued to question Urahara.
''I don't know,'' Urahara responded with a nonchalant shrug. It could be that he was used to lies so it did not bother him much. If he had not expected him to lie to him he would have surely been angry. But he was not. This could only mean that he had expected him to try to lie. This just brought the words of Shunsui back to him. He had been made aware of the fact that the man was likely to figure out anything planned against him. But he was not stupid. He could play well without being caught.
''You guys are so cold; how can you ignore us like this?'' Ishin questioned in a mock hurt tone and a small pout. It was true that they were talking like he and Ryuken were not there. But it was nothing troubling.
''Ah, Ishin-san, I had forgotten about you,'' Urahara responded playfully while keeping his smile.
''Can we get to business?'' Ryuken said impatiently.
''Ah you will never change, will you? But I guess I should not expect that from you.'' Urahara noted carelessly. Ryuken's attitude was nothing new to him; he was used to seeing the man like this. But there seemed to be something bothering him greatly.
''He is just pissed off that he shot hundreds of arrows at Naruto-san - which all hit him - and was told that it only tingled,'' Ishin stated looking happy about the fact that Ryuken's techiniques were said to only tingle but at the same time he too was bothered by it.
Yoruichi laughed seeing the scowl on Ryuken's face. ''Seriously? He actually said that?''
''Yes,'' Ishin nodded while laughing at Ryuken's expence, but he was not forgetting that the situation was serious.
''That must have been damning to your pride,'' Yoruichi stated to which Ryuken said nothing. ''I would be pretty much pissed if someone told me that my Shunko only tingled.''
''You said that he shot arrows at Naruto-san and the results were that it tingled?'' Urahara said in some rather serious tone. Ryuken was one of their strongest ally, he could not have his techninque merely tingling the enemy. If so, it would make him useless in battle. Not that he was expecting to go into battle with Naruto.
''Yes...'' Ishin then explained what had happened during the confrotation with Naruto.
''This is troubling,'' Urahara said in a thoughtful look on his face. The others nodded in agreement with him.
''But let us not forget that he is not really an enermy. As it stands, he is with Soul Society and we are not enemies of the Soul Society,'' Yoruichi reasoned while she also agreed that it was troubling, they could not forget that he was not technically their enemy.
Urahara pondered Yoruichi's words for a moment. ''He does not hold any to hatred Soul Society itself, but the Soul King, Sotaicho and central 46,'' he paused for a moment. ''Even with all his past powers, he never attempted to fight with Soul Society. He did not even try to fight the Soul King. I do believe that given his past glory, he could have gone to the Soul King's dimension, but he did not. Yamamoto and the Royal guard are the ones who picked up a fight with him. He had power that even the Sotaicho feared, so he could have brought chaos to Soul Society if he wanted to.''
''What are you saying Kisuke?''
''It is likely that unless we pick a fight with him, he won't do any of that,'' Kisuke stated calmly. Yes, from the past actions of Uchiha Naruto, he could assume that unless provoked, the man would do his business without killing anyone.
''Are you certain?''
''He had the chance to kill Yamamoto long ago, and yet he did not, despite his obvious dislike of the man's principles,'' Urahara paused as he thought of something. ''Kyoraku and Ukitake taicho are aware of this fact. That is why they are so relaxed around him and don't even have thoughts of killing him or even seeing him as an enemy. Yamamoto has known him long enough to know this, so does Unohana taicho.''
''He does not seem to be the type to have a problem with killing anyone, but yet even those who tried to stand in his way were merely knocked out of the way instead of being killed. It makes you curious does not it?'' Ishin stated calmly.
''While it is curious, the same cannot be said for hollows; he has killed any that even passed by him,'' Urahara said. He had been told that the man did not waste time to get rid of hollows.
''Despite all that, it does not mean that we cannot be wary of him,'' Ryuken stated.
''That is true,'' Urahara stated with a nod. ''You can never stop being wary of the man. It is said that he dislikes Soul Society's laws and the only reason he became captain again was because Yamamoto forced him,'' Naruto had not said so, he had said the Sotaicho had played his card. But the only conclusion he could come up with was that it was not in his plans to join something he had quit in the first place. He had refused when given the offer at first, so he had no doubt that Yamamoto had made Naruto join the force again by force.
''By force..?''
''Yes, when I asked him why he was captain after he had refused, he simply said that Yamamoto had played his card,'' Urahara responded quitely.
''Why would the captain commander make him join again when he knows the history of the man?'' Ishin questioned with a curious and yet confused face. He did not see the sense in Yamamoto's decision to force the blond into the Gotei 13 when they know that he did not want to be captain again.
''Regardless of how you look at it; Naruto-san's strength is needed with the conflict against Aizen; Yamamoto knows this. It is also a wise decision to keep him close rather than having him far away. It is also apparent that the Sotaicho would have rather not have him unsealed, despite the uselessfulness of his strength. With him being close, he can be kept in tabs to ensure that he does not do anything. But the fact that he is not a threat to the lives in Soul Society, makes it easier for Yamamoto to work with him,'' Urahaha gave a leghthy explanation to which the others nodded.
''Can this be interepreted as that Yamamoto does not care about Naruto's plots - that is if he has them?''
Urahara shook his head. ''Just because he got him back to the Gotei 13 does not mean he aint wary of the man. But with him being close he can keep an eye on him. But make no mistake, if Naruto-san did something that threatened Soul Society, Yamamoto would not waste time to try to stop him.''
''So where do we stand with him?'' Yoruichi questioned curiously. She still did not get anything they were saying.
''Out of his way,'' Urahara stated with a calm look on his face. ''But if he plans to do anything against Soul Society, then we will have to stand in his way. But given everything, I doubt he will try anything against Soul Society. But knowing Central 46, they will probably try something against him. However, if his actions do not threaten the safety of Soul Society and our world, we will not act.''
''That sounds reasonable,'' Yoruichi responded to which Ishin nodded, but Ryuuken did not respond. He was not going to agree with them.
''That is your own conclusion,'' the man stated calmly. His response did not surprise any of the three with him. ''I can never associate myself with Soul Society, so what he does there is not of my concern. But just to make things clear, I view him as a threat.''
Ishin decided to poke some fun into it, ''Yeh, but your techniques can't hurt him. Did you forget that he told you that they can only tingle him?''
Ryuuken ignored the man before looking straight at Urahara, ''Can you solve this problem?''
Urahara seemed thoughtful for a minute, ''I can do some research, but I would need a sample of his DNA, but more specifically, a sample of his Reiatsu and see how it reacts to your techniques,'' the man responded calmly.
''The problem would be how to acquire that sample,'' Ryuuken responded. He was a bit frustrated that Naruto could just shrug of his abilities like that. He was by no means no weak Quincy. His son could not even compare to him, but Naruto had the audacity to tell him that his power only tingled.
''I can figure something about that,'' Urahara responded before turning away from the other three.
''Where are you going?''
''I have to do some research about Naruto-san's ''puzzle'' and get some results before he returns. I also have other things to do,'' Urahara responded without even turning to face the questioner.
''You have to tell us about his changes first,'' Yoruichi stated earning nods of agreement from the others.
Seireitei
''Where have you been?'' Shutara questioned as soon as Naruto entered their house. She had been waiting for him for a few days now; she had not been having any contact with him. She hated it when he disappeared without telling her anything. During those days, he would never do something like this - he always told her when he was leaving. But now he was much colder and showed her little affection.
''That is how you greet me?'' Naruto questioned looking straight at the woman. But he did not stop on his path; he looked away from her and went towards the entrance of his library.
Shutara flashed in front of the door to block his path. She had this serious look on her face; it was obvious that she meant business. Anyone else would have been scared by the look she was giving, but not Naruto. He had years of experience with this thing, he also had Unohana - the experience was not lacking. There was also the fact that nothing really scared him, well there was something.
''Where were you? You suddenly disappeared after Soi-fon came here. I had to hear from someone that yersterday you attended a captains meeting and yet you have not been home.''
''Is there a problem?'' Naruto asked in an even tone.
''Yes,'' Shutara responded with a firm tone. ''Now answer my question,'' she had a narrowed look on her face. She was not expecting him to lie about it. He would rather not tell her than lie to her.
''I forgot that you women tend to become forceful sometimes,'' Naruto stated. Really, he should not have forgotten given that Unohana regulaly did something like that. ''I wonder if you will go on a strike if I refuse to answer,'' he seemed to be really wondering about it as if this matter was not serious.
''I would do more than strike, no, perhaps I might strike a certain part of your body,'' the tone she used was certainly deadly, and cold enough to change the atmosphere of the place, but Naruto simply brushed it aside.
''You would try...but you would never succeed. If you do succeed, I can always regenarate it,'' Unlike other Shinigami who cannot regenerate a destroyed part of the body as hollows do, he could do it with ease.
''Will I let you regenerate? You lost some of your abilities, despite possessing a high level of Reaitsu, you cannot use it all effeciently. You might have even lost your immortality,'' Shutara stated some facts, no; theories in a rather calm and controlled tone yet so threateningly.
Naruto took two steps closer to Shutara. He stood just in front of her, at a point he could feel her breath touching his skin. ''I wonder if you think that because I am in this state you can actually put up a fight with me.''
Shutara did not back down, she stared straight into the blond's eyes. ''You seem to be forgetting that I was a member of the Royal Guard. Are you forgetting that not even Unohana can defeat me? Have you forgotten how truly powerful I am?'' Her murderous Reaitsu started to leak as she stated those words, but she was still calm as she spoke.
''I have not forgotten anything, woman. You think I might have lost my immortality, you think I cannot utilise all my Reaitsu. You are indeed no weakling, Shutara, but you know as well as I do that you should not be saying things like that,'' Naruto paused for a moment. ''...especially when you belong to me.''
''If am yours, then you are mine. Then what I say should matter, if it does not, you just want me to be your humble servant - I cannot be that. I love you, but its high time you started treating me as your woman. You show Unohana more respect than me,'' her tone did not waver, she kept her straight face, not willing to back down.
''Hmm, is this what they call a rebellion?''
Shutara increased the output of her leaking spiritual preasure, causing cracks on the wall near her and the floor where she stood. ''Naruto...''
The effects of her Reaitsu did not preasure him for a moment. He just stood still and seemed to think for a moment. ''Fine then, you have made your case,'' he sighed. ''I went to Hueco Mundo to kill some hollows, and the human world to handle some business. I was also moving around Soul Society handling some business.''
''Could you have not told me that before you left?''
''The time I left you seemed to be high in anger, giving you some space seemed neccesary,'' Naruto responded. That was actually not entirely true. He just did not think of it necessary to her that he was going.
''I find that hard to believe,'' Shutara stated. But then again, Naruto really did not like getting involved in arguements like this. He would rather avoid them than find himself in the middle of them.
''How has your stay been here?'' Naruto questioned as he moved past Shutara to enter his library. He was curious, since his current relations with central 46 were strained. He would not put it past them to try something stupid. But Shutara was a former member of the Royal Guard, that meant that in terms of power, Unohana and Yamamoto were the only onces who could speak with her - they would not try anything stupid with her.
''Annoying,'' Shutara responded following Naruto from behind. ''I had to deal with some questions from Yamamoto and central 46. But it was nothing extrene, just annoying.''
''That should have been expected,'' Naruto said as he went to take a seat behind his desk. He had some unresolved issues with them that needed to be solved. But he was in no hurry to do so. But the problem was that they would do something stupid now that the Soul King was silent about him with them.
''But you should not leave me to handle the mess you create. I did not even know much about that incident since you insisted in keeping some details away from me,'' Shutara responded while she took a seat also, but she sat on Naruto's right hand on the desk, facing him.
''They questioned you because they wanted to,'' Naruto responded brushing her words aside. ''But I should do something about leaving you in the dark, don't you think?''
''You should,'' Shutara responded quickly, but she did not seem nor sounded excited by the thought it.
''I will,'' Naruto stated. ''What do you think you are going to be doing for now? It will be rather boring for you to spend much of your time in here alone.''
''What do you propose I do?''
''I am positive that Yamamoto has already affored you a job to do,'' Naruto stated to which Shutara did not act surprised at all. It was indeed true that the Sotaicho had offered her something to do. Naruto was most likey to conclude that Yamamoto would do that given her power and former position - and he had done just that. But sje did not accept the offer because she wanted to hear what Naruto would say first. She was not going to repeat the same mistake she did long ago.
''He has. He wants me to be captain of the third division since the previous captain betrayed Soul Society,'' Shutara paused to look at Naruto's expression. She got nothing from it. She could not tell what he was thinking. ''What do you think of it? You would not have brought it unless you wanted to say something about it.''
''Do what you want. You are used to working; I don't think staying in this house all your days will please you. So, you can go play captain for the time being if you want,'' Naruto responded as he opened a drawer to look at some files.
''I thought it would be good if I joined. Since you don't have a problem with it, I will inform Yamamoto of my answer soon,'' she looked at Naruto carefuly. ''What do you mean ''go play captain for the time being?'' Are you plotting something?''
''Not really,'' Naruto responded with a shrug. He was not plotting anything; he had already plotted everything long ago. In this time, he was only making his plans come true, and changing a few things due to unforseen circumstances. ''I will be heading to Hueco Mundo soon, you will leave with me.''
''What for?'' Shutara questioned curiously. She understood that Naruto was not asking her though; he was merely letting her know. Despite that, she had the right to know why they were going there.
''I want to see what Aizen is doing - and also Yamamoto wants me to investigate what the child is up to,'' he was also very much interested in the thing called the Hogyouku. Aizen had it, it would not hurt to take a look.
Central 46
The memnbers of the court all looked at Naruto with hardened gazes. The blond was much more trouble, than the help he provided for them. So far, he had done nothing to in assistance to the threat Aizen poses. All that he has done is trouble. The old court had done a blunder in allowing him to walk freely about this place with Yamamoto standing in for him and the Soul King standing in their way. But things had changed now, The Soul king rarely gave them instructions and he had not said anything about the blond. The matter was in their hands and they could deal with it in any way they choose. It was a good thing for them that the Spirit King was not intefering. They thought that he must have learned from the past. Sheltering Uchiha Naruto did not bring him any good. It only brought about a headache that was troubling to deal with.
But of course, they were not going to do things like their predecessors. They would not allow a rotten apple to infest other good fruits. If Uchiha Naruto was proving to be unmanageable they would quickly put him down without much fuss and trouble. He did not pose a threat that he posed long ago. His power was not one that they could not handle unlike before he was sealed. Back then, Yamamoto and Unohana had testified that his power was frightening. If the man hailed as the ''strongest'' shinigami in the past 1000 years could say that the blond's power had been scary, what more could they do? They obviously could not act rushingly. But the Sotaicho had said that they could handle him now given his current power.
However, they would not do anything now since they already have Aizen to deal with. Since it was obvious that Naruto would never work with Aizen, they wanted to handle the man first then followed by the blond. If they decided to get rid of Naruto at this time, there would be much destruction and chaos within their ranks. The blond was not the one to humbly accept an execution setence. He would fight to avoid that and then the chaos would ensure. The traitorous Aizen might even take advantage of that and then try to bring them down. As of now in their eyes, Aizen posed the bigger threat than Naruto. The man had the hollows with him that meant that he had an army.
On the other hand, Naruto was a one man show, well not counting Shutara. Surely one that had an army posed the bigger threat. What more could a single man do?
''This silence is becoming annoying,'' Naruto finally said something after a few minutes of silence. He had entered the court for a few minutes, but his prosecutors were not saying anything; they were merely glaring down at him, which of course did not faze him. ''I will take me leave. Call me when you have something to say,'' he said turning away to show that he was not actually joking but serious.
There was a round of curses, but Naruto brushed them all aside. ''We called you here; you will speak when you are given the opportunity to speak, you will show us respect and not talk with us as you wish, know your place, captain, and lastly, you will leave this place given our permision, is that clear captain?'' the man who said those words, spoke in a very calm and controlled manner. Unlike most, his tone was not loud to the point of annoying. He also had a straight face as he spoke.
Naruto turned around to look at the man. He did not give the man anything, his expression merely remained blank. ''Interesting, I did not think that I could find one who could speak in such a controlled manner.''
''Are you saying that we speak in an uncontrolled manner?!'' it was more than one who shouted those words.
''That is what I am talking about,'' he received deathly glares for saying those words. ''Most of the members of the court I have had to deal with were so much liud; they barked too much, but had no fangs to bite. They were also quite idiotic,'' he said it with a straight face.
''Bastard! Do you think we will allow you to speak to us like that without punishiment?''
''Come down, fellow members!'' the man who had first spoken to Naruto yelled. He looked back at Naruto seeing the expression on his first. It was hard to read anything from him, but he had a feeling that the words were not meant as an insult but he was just stating what he has observed over the past years. ''Uchiha Naruto, I believe you know why you have been called here for?''
Naruto rubbed his hand under his chin, seemingly thinking about something. He then folded his hands across his chest. ''Get on with it.''
''Don't you dare think you can command us here!'' another yelled before clearing his throat, ''We cannot leave what you did to Captain Soi-fon and her men, unpunished. You injured a fellow captain and killed some of her men.''
''What is the punishment?'' Naruto questioned in curiosity more than anything.
''We would have had you banished to the human world for some time or stripped you of your position as captain.''
''If I go to the human world, I would likely cause multiple deaths - that is if you manage to force me into the human world. You cannot strip me of the captains rank because Yamamoto ''forced'' me into taking the position. If you do that, you will most likely have relieved me. And there is a high chance that I might cause some damage,'' Naruto explained why they can't do any of this options they had for him as some form of punishment.
''Yes, you are correct, but,'' the man seemed to smile slightly, ''we can demote you into a third-seat for a number of months and force you to take orders from those who are weaker than you,'' he made sure to put an emphesis on the word weaker.
''A man like you hates nothing more than being told what to do. You dislike taking orders from those weaker than you. It will certainly put some dent into your pride - that is exactly what we are aiming for. But that is not all; you will apologize to Soi-fon. Should you fail to do that, we will punish either Unohana or Shutara for your crimes.''
Naruto seemed to think about it for a moment. He could simply tell them he was not going to do any of those. But it was not worth the effort.
''We take the silence as a comfirmation that you will humbly accept your punishment,'' Naruto did not respond. He kept his silence. ''Good, moving on to the next issue...''
''The disruption you caused a few days ago. Tell us more about it.''
''You have already talked with Yamamoto, Shutara and Retsu about it, what more do you want?'' Naruto questioned not seeing the point of having to repeat the same thing over again. He was going to tell them the same things as Unohana or Shutara told them.
''We want to here it from your mouth.''
''Why? Are you saying that you don't trust what Yamamoto told you? Are you thinking that he might have kept some things from you? I wonder what he would do learning of this.''
''Yamamoto is a trusted surbodinate of ours. He does what he is told. And besides, we have reasons to believe that you might have lied to him or not told him anything.''
''If I lied to him, what makes you think I won't lie to you? What makes you think I will tell you everything?''
''There is no reason. It seems that you won't say anything,'' the man seemed to sigh tiredly at this as if he had expected such an answer from the blond. ''But, we have a warning to you.''
''A warning?''
''Should you do anything that makes us suspicious of you like an evet such as the past one, we will take measures to ensure that you are silenced!''
''What will you do?''
The whole court seemed to grin sickly at this question. ''We will seal you again. And this time, we will make sure that you are thrown into the deepest prison we have without any chance of release.''
''Hmm? Do you think you can seal me? Before that, can you even create a seal that is powerful enough to seal me?''
''We may not be able to create a seal that can hold you forever, but the Soul King has given us two seals to deal with you should you become a problem. We can seal you anytime we want, and given your current power, we doubt you will be able to escape.''
Narito smiled. It was true, given his current power, if he fell for a seal, it would be the end of him, unless the seal inside of him loses power. But if the seal is from the Soul King, then it was a product of 'That' woman. Even when created long ago, Her seals were a danger to him given his current state. That woman still haunts him even in her death.
''You are more prepared than the previous ones.'' He walked out and they allowed him to leave without another word.
I surely will announce next time I do a flashback. I hope that not everyone was confused about the first scene in the previous chapter. But at the end of the scene I had put in something that will make you realize that you had been a reading a flashback.
A sense of goal, huh? Well, I hope that in the next few chapters everything will bit clearer. I have yet to reveal most things about Naruto's past. You don't even know how old he truly is. But I think that will remain a mystery.
So there is someone that Naruto fears. The woman he fears, even though she is dead, will be revealed soon. I think you might even see her in a flashback.
The flames that would win between Naruto and Yamamoto would be Naruto's – Amaterasu is like the God of flames.
Even though Naruto appears to be far stronger than anyone, I still maintain that he won't be god almighty. Why I still maintain that, you will find out at the end of chapter 9.