Text in italics are thoughts, text in bold are flashbacks, and text that is bolded and italicized is a flashback that occurs in a memory...
Big thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, and enjoyed the story so far...
Mission Impossible: Protect the Leaf Village
What started as any other routine day was quickly turning into a nightmare for the ninja's of the Hidden Leaf Village. Unbeknownst to many of the villagers, except for a select few, there was a soul reaper living amongst them.
Despite her rank, Hiyori Hyuuga knew very little about the situation involving Aizen. She knew as much about his undertakings as the captains did. As a lieutenant, and the commanding officer of her division, she was entitled to such vital information. However, she was not expecting this… a full scale hollow attack on her former family's village.
There were six of them, six Menos Grande towering over the forests, and surrounding the village in a wide circle. Hiyori stood with Tsunade Senju, the leader of the village, and three full teams of ninja at the eastern gate of the village, facing what her father Hiashi had referred to as the Forest of Death.
She turns to look at her sister Hinata, who still had her eyes glued to the sky. She was terrified, and her panic was quickly starting to rub off on the other ninja present.
The boy called Naruto Uzumaki, her sister's love interest, turns to address the Hokage, "Grandma Tsunade! You, this girl, and Hinata can see something that that the rest of us can't! You owe us an explanation!"
The other ninja nod their heads in agreement; Tsuande nods in return, "What I have to say isn't easy… the truth of this situation will be hard to digest, so I give you fair warning to prepare yourselves."
"Teams Seven, Eight, and Ten" she said looking around, "Are any of you familiar with the Spiritualist Medium Jutsu?"
Kurenai gasps, as Kakashi bows his head. Sakura did a double take, 'The Spiritualist Medium Jutsu? Isn't that forbidden?'
"With all due respect Lady Hokage, that jutsu is forbidden" answers Kurenai.
She knew what the technique did; it was a genjutsu that allowed people to see the spirits of the deceased. Though she wasn't exactly sure why the Hokage was asking them if they knew it.
Tsunade frowns, "I'm aware, Kurenai, because I'm the one who created it; and I'm also the one who had it forbidden… but as the Hokage, I am giving all of you permission to use it."
Tsunade gives a brief explanation of the technique; as a genjutsu it can be used as a diversionary tactic, by using the souls of the dead to confuse an enemy.
"However", she continues "If the user casts the genjustu on themselves, it will allow them to see the souls of the dead."
Kakashi interrupts, "Why would this technique help us…"
"…unless she expects us to fight a bunch of ghosts" finishes Shikamaru, shrugging.
Ino Yamanaka smirks, as Kiba Inuzuka tries to stop himself from laughing. Hinata growls and suddenly yells, catching the entire group off guard.
"This isn't a joke! Our lives are in danger!"
The entire group stares at the Hyuuga Heiress in shock; Hinata's eyes widen in fear as one of the massive Menos walks dangerously close to the village, its massive girth causing the earth to shake and buckle beneath the feet of the ninja.
"What was that? An earthquake?"
"It's coming closer to the village!" screams Shizune.
Hiyori steps forward and addresses the group, "This technique won't just allow you to see ghosts; it will allow you to see into the spiritual world itself."
Tsunade grits her teeth, turns towards the rest of the ninja, and quickly begins to cycle through the hand signs for her technique. The rest of the ninja follow; suddenly finding their senses overwhelmed by a brilliant light. Even though Tsunade had given them fair warning, it wasn't enough to prepare them for what they were about to see…
Screams and gasps of horror and shock fill the air, as the three teams of ninja try the grasp the setting in front of them. There were monsters, as tall as mountains, towering above the landscape; the sky looked like someone had smashed it with a giant hammer.
"W-what the hell is that thing?" screams Sakura.
"It's enormous!"
"Look, they're others over there!" yells Kiba.
"Calm down! Everyone just calm down!" said Tsunade, quickly throwing her hands up.
"That's easier said than done!"
"Alright, you've got my attention…" said Shikamaru, "Just what are those things anyway?"
Kakashi activates his sharingan in an attempt to see the monsters more clearly; as expected, he could not see any traces of chakra.
"Whatever these… things are; they aren't of the living."
The only person currently not watching the Menos Grande was, of course, Naruto. The blond had no talent for genjustu at all; and he suddenly felt very small now knowing that even Kiba and Choji knew basic genjutsu. He grits his teeth, clenches his fist, and stares at the ground.
Suddenly, he finds himself being pulled inside his subconscious. Naruto stops, coming face to face with the giant cage within his body… the cage holding the Nine Tailed Demon Fox.
Naruto slowly looks around, "Alright Fox, what do you want? Why did you bring me here?"
It growls, showing its massive orange head to Naruto, "I know what's going on; I can show you."
"Then what, what's happening?" he demands.
The fox frowns, "The village is under attack, by creatures that are… not of this world."
"What? You mean like an alien?"
"Stupid brat! I'm talking about ghosts, beings from the spirit realm; the afterlife!"
Naruto's eyes widen in confusion, "But how is that possible?"
"There are ghosts all around this village, dead souls of the departed. Of course it isn't possible for ordinary humans to see them without special methods; but for a demon like me, it's easy."
"I can see into the spirit realm; use my power Naruto, and see for yourself," It said in a coaxing voice.
Naruto opens his eyes, his pupils turning red, empowered by the Fox. He gasps, overcome by the sheer size of the monstrous creature in front of him.
"Is that… a ghost?" he asks the Fox.
It growls softly and replies several seconds later, "I do not know, for all of the centuries I have been alive, I have never seen such a creature; however, it is a creature that exists only in the spirit realm, for that I am sure."
Naruto growls, as the Fox shakes its head. Though it was centuries old, it knew of forces in the afterlife that were much older than it. These forces were not only old, but powerful… powerful enough to possibly even rival the mighty Nine Tailed Fox.
'There is one thing that irks me though' it thought. 'That Hyuuga brat, the one with such infatuation for the boy, her clone… if I can even call her a clone… the aura surrounding her reminds me of a soul reaper. But it's too strong to be an ordinary soul reaper; it's as if she's…
…No! That's impossible! They don't ever leave the Soul Society… why would one show up here?'
Hiyori approaches the Hokage, "Release me, and I'll explain everything to them."
Tsunade nods, and puts on her glove. With one swift thrust, she pushes the skull emblem into Hiyori's forehead, and releases her soul reaper form. The others stare on in shock, as Hinata catches Hiyori's gigai as it hits the ground.
"Wh- just what the Hell is this girl? She's not a ninja!" Ino stammers, pointing at the girl.
"She's a soul reaper…" said Kurenai.
"…There's no denying it."
Kurenai has seen a soul reaper before, and unlike many, she was one of the few who knew just what a soul reaper actually did.
"A what?" asks Ino.
"A soul reaper… they are the beings in charge of ferrying dead souls to the afterlife." She responds bluntly.
Hiyori smiles, "Impressive; I'd expect nothing less from Hinata's sensei."
"Wait, I'm confused…" said Shino
"…does that mean you're a human?"
She shakes her head, "I ceased to be human seventeen years ago; I'm already dead if that's what you mean."
A few of the ninja pale… they were talking to a dead girl…
"If you are a soul reaper, then why are you here?" asks Shikamaru.
Hiyori puts a hand on Hinata's shoulder and smiles, "To visit my twin sister of course."
There was another uproar, as Tsunade quickly moves to intercept by changing the subject. Kakashi's eyes suddenly widen, 'I see, so she was the other intruder that infiltrated the village a few days ago… that also means… that the woman I fought was also a soul reaper in disguise.'
"Hiyori, I know you're more than qualified to tell us what we're dealing with here. Just what are those things? What can we do to defeat them?"
Hiyori smiles and turns to address the woman behind her, "Honestly Tsunade, if I wanted to kill these things, I already would have."
Tsunade's face turns bright red, "What! Are you telling me you could have already killed these things!"
The rest of the ninja cower beneath their Hokage's glare. They knew that pissing her off was bad health decision.
Hiyori throws her hands up in defense, "I could have killed them, yes, but the Soul Society won't be able to pinpoint our location as easily if I did."
Tsunade gasps, "You mean they're watching us? …Now?"
"Actually they've been monitoring this village ever since I got here. I've set up a perimeter of monitoring systems around the village…"
Ignoring the glare from Tsunade, she continues, "…But it's not them I'm worried about. I can feel something else, something bigger…"
"Like what? What's going on?"
Hiyori looks the woman straight in the eye and turns to address the rest of the ninja, "You can feel it too, can't you Tsunade? This energy, this dense spirit energy, is way too feral to be created by them…" she points to the Menos Grande.
"Look at the cracks in the sky… if you look through the rift, you can see the entrance to Hueco Mundo."
"Hueco Mundo… is that… the name of the Underworld?" asks Kakashi.
Hiyori frowns, "The Underworld? No… but it might as well should be. Hueco Mundo is the place where hollows dwell. It is a barren world, filled with nothing but endless deserts."
"Hollows?"
She sighs, "When human souls linger too long in this world; compelled by their greed, their fear, or their desire to see their loved ones once more, they become…enveloped… by darkness. They become monsters; their souls become… hollow, hence the name."
"So those things…" acquires Yamato, pointing at the enormous creatures
"…are Hollows?"
"No, they are called Menos Grande; they are the compilation of hundreds of individual hollows packed together…"
"…They are merely scouts, foot soldiers; I'm not worried about them."
Sakura finds herself staring in wonder, 'These… things… are foot soldiers? And if what the soul reaper said was true, then they have the power of hundreds of individual people… or at least individual souls.'
The sky above them continues to contort and change; the rips the sky becomes deeper. Hiyori reaches into her robes, and pulls out a foreign looking device. She activates it, sending a bright blue light into the heavens. Hiyori was going to contact the Soul Society; things were going to get ugly here.
"Don't be alarmed, I am calling the Soul Society for backup…."
"…Attention, Soul Society, this is Lieutenant Hiyori Hyuuga of the 5th Division… Do you read me?"
Hiyori's beacon is soon received by the Surveillance Unit of the Research and Development Institute.
Rin Tsubokura was the first to answer the call, "Yes? Go ahead, Lieutenant."
"I am reporting sightings of six Menos Grande around the Village Hidden in the Leaves. My coordinates are 980.805- 747.143. I have a perimeter set up and ready to go; I am requesting the release of the Gentei Rejin seal."
He checks the screen in front of him, the Lieutenant wasn't lying. He can see the outline of half a dozen Menos Grande. The integrity of the sky above the village was quickly disintegrating, and Tsubokura could see the outline of the hollows above, waiting to tear through.
He gasps, 'There must be hundreds of them; perhaps thousands!'
Hiyori's device buzzes as Tsubokura replies with rather grim news, "Lieutenant! You've got to evacuate! They're countless number of hollows above you inside of that rift!"
"What? Hundreds!" she screams "You better not be fucking with me Tsubokura!"
"N-no! No ma'am!"
"Send a back up squad to this location immediately! And I want the Gentei Rejin seal lifted on that barrier, you hear me!"
Hiyori angrily discontinues the message, and turns grim faced back towards the ninja. They had heard the entire message, the words hollows, countless, and evacuate were still ringing in their ears. Hiyori's face said it all; they were doomed… weren't they…
"Hiyori… what can we do… tell us!" demands a panicked Tsunade.
Hiyori looks around and points to the sky, "It's as I feared, there is an army of hollows just beyond the rift in the sky. They'll push their way into this world and annihilate this village and everyone in it…"
"… unless, we fight back."
"But how? We won't even be able to see them right?" asks Kiba.
"You can see me can't you? You… all of you… should be able to fight them."
Hiyori pauses and begins to mull over a different problem, "Quite frankly, I'm worried about the village. We don't have enough time to evacuate all of the people, and with just fifteen people under Tsunade's jutsu… we don't stand a chance of stopping them all…"
"…The rest of the ninja won't be able to sense them coming, so they won't be able to defend themselves from an attack. If we could find a way of warning all of the people, while giving them the ability to see the dead, we should be alright."
Tsunade smiles, "I know a way…"
Hiyori frowns, "How? You don't really expect to be able to train all of these people to use your technique do you? We're running of time."
Tsuande was already two steps ahead, she gathers chakra around her, her body glowing in a brilliant blue light. She makes the hand signs, and slams her palm to the ground…
"…Summoning Jutsu!"
Out of a puff of smoke, Tsunade summons a human sized slug. Hiyori stares at the insect with curiosity.
"Katsuyu, we have a dire situation on our hands. I want you to take my chakra, and attach yourself to every chunin and jonin in the village, so that they too can see into the spiritual realm."
"Yes m'lady!"
Hiyori watches in fascination as the slug splits and multiples itself, suddenly becoming hundreds of other slugs. The hoard of insects splits up, and races to the different sides of the village. Hiyori looks to the sky; the enormous cracks had finally given way, forming large holes in the sky. From the holes, dozens of creatures begin to rain down on top of the village.
"The hollows! There here!"
Tsuande gathers the ninja to her, "Teams Seven, Eight, and Ten… I am placing all of you under the leadership of Hiyori Hyuuga! She knows how to fight these creatures, and how to kill them. Listen to her, and do what she tells you to do!"
Several dozen hollows, land near the group; while they were much smaller than the Menos Grande, they still looked fearsome, like monsters out of a fairytale.
Hiyori draws her zanpakuto, "Listen up! When fighting hollows, it's real simple…"
With one swift swing of her blade, she cuts a menacing bird- like hollow in half, shattering it's mask.
"… aim for the head; destroy the mask, and you destroy the hollow."
Gathering chakra in her hand, Tsunade delivers a devastating punch, sending one of the hollows flying into a rock; its mask shatters immediately, and the hollow dies.
"I see… Alright! Lets protect this village with everything we have! Whether we can see the enemy or not, we shall not fail!"
Tsunade turns to Shizune, "Go inform the elders of this attack, I'll go into the Forest of Death and sound the emergency alarm!"
"Yes ma'am!"
She communicates telepathically to Katsuyu, "Have Iruka and his team evacuate the disabled and the children as soon as possible!"
"Yes m'lady! I have attached myself to Iruka, and we're working on it now."
"Good, I don't want the Academy students anywhere near this battle."
Tsunade leads Sakura, Yamato, Kakashi, and Team Ten into the Forest of Death, leaving Hiyori, Naruto, Sai, and Team Eight at the eastern gate.
Two of the Menos Grande have switched themselves from scout mode, to attack mode, and are making a bee line straight for the eastern gate. Hiyori grabs her zanpakuto, but Naruto stops her. His eyes have changed from a deep blue, to a fiery red outlined in crimson; he has entered Sage Mode, combining it with the power of the Fox.
"I'm sorry, Miss Soul Reaper, but this one's mine!"
Naruto summons three clones, as Hiyori looks on in amusement, 'He's got to be fooling himself if he thinks he can take on a Menos Grande; even I'd have to use my shikai for that.'
Sai calls the warning, "Naruto's releasing the Rasen Shuriken!"
Hiyori looks on in awe as the boy holds a swirling disk of pure energy over his head. She looks on in horror as the giant Menos prepares to fire a cero. The ninja look on in anticipation, readying themselves for the backlash of the attacks.
"Naruto! It's a cero, look out!"
Naruto hurls the disk of energy at the same moment the Menos fires off its cero; to Hiyori's shock, the boys attack cuts right through the blood red cero, and embeds itself within the midsection of the Menos Grande. It expands then detonates, effectively cutting it in half.
She smiles, 'That attack still had plenty of power to spare; what a technique.'
Hiyori begins to laugh, "Not bad Naruto, but the next one's mine! Let me show you how a soul reaper gets the job done!"
She raises her zanpakuto, "Reveal, the all seeing eye! Sekennomei!"
A blast of spirit energy surrounds the girl, taking the ninja off balance. A huge cyclone of blue energy pushes its way towards the sky, drawing the Menos Grande right towards her. Hiyori completes her metamorphosis, holding her zanpakuto above her head proudly.
Hinata stares at her sister in shock; her sword has changed, as well as her clothes. Instead of the traditional black robes of a soul reaper, her outfit was far more liberating. Her stomach and arms were bare, and her top fit snuggly against her breasts, showing a generous amount of cleavage. The outfit left little to the imagination, and Hinata felt a little embarrassed considering the care she took in covering her own body, in fear of drawing unwanted attention to herself.
Hiyori jumps straight into the air, her body seemingly flying; she stops right in front of the head of the Menos. Gripping her sword with both hands, she swings, effortlessly chopping the massive Menos Grande in half. Hinata looks on in shock; her eyes were wide, and her mouth was hanging open.
Naruto shakes his fist in rage and shouts, "Hey that's not fair! You can fly! I can't fly! I had to throw my technique all the way up there!"
Even Kurenai was speechless; she had seen soul reapers before, but never any this powerful. Hiyori executes a flash step, and lands right in front of the ninja; startling them once more.
"H-how did you do that?" stammers Kiba.
Hiyori smirks, "At this point I'm allowed to show off powers and abilities that should shock you people…besides, if I have to fight one more shadow clone, I might lose my mind…
…now, let's go kill some hollows!"
Hiyori disappears, with Team 8, Naruto and Sai close behind…
Tsunade and her group finally reaches the tower in the middle of the Forest of Death. The alarm inside the central tower was the closest, and was loud enough to warn the rest of the village. They had been lucky enough not to run into any of the strange looking creatures the soul reaper had referred to as hollows, but their luck was going to run out.
To the ninja's dismay, the center of the training ground was swarming with several ape-like hollows; and to make it through, they had no choice but to fight. Tsunade goes on ahead, leaving the two teams to fend for themselves.
Ino finds herself fighting back to back with her rival, Sakura. In all honesty, she wasn't ready for something like this, and she doubted that many of her comrades were either. But as a ninja, it was her duty to be prepared for anything, especially when her life and her home were at stake.
Surprisingly the hollows weren't hard to kill; as the soul reaper Hiyori had said, aiming for the head… their mask… was a definite way to kill them. More surprisingly, the hollows they encountered thus far had no more strength than an academy student, making them easy prey for expert ninja like Yamato and Kakashi.
The ape-like hollows were quickly killed, only to be replaced by a horde of insect hollows. The ninja suddenly find themselves surrounded by dozens of centipedes, ants, spiders, and scorpions.
Shikamaru takes out several with his Shadow Sewing jutsu, by aiming for their heads. Kakashi uses his Lightning Blade to mow down several at a time, and one punch from Sakura's mighty fists was all it took to do these hollows in. Despite their superior strength, the ninja find themselves outnumbered; every time they kill one of the creatures, two more take its place. Tsunade's jutsu required a steady stream of chakra in order to function… it was exhausting their chakra reserves very quickly.
Shikamaru stops, nearly collapsing onto the ground, "The Hokage's technique is troublesome, but I suppose it's the only way we can see to kill these things."
Beside him is his good friend Choji, "At least they're not hard to kill; with the whole village being able to see to fight these things, we'll win for sure!"
A few hundred yards away, Ino and Sakura double team a giant centipede hollow; Ino distracts it while Sakura strikes it from above with a chakra infused punch, slamming the hollow into the ground.
"Sakura look out! Behind you!"
A scorpion hollow almost blindsides the pinkette from behind; Ino rushes to tackle the hollow and sends it flying. She throws a kunai and nicks the hollows mask, causing it to crack. The mask shatters, giving the two kunoichi the shock of their lives.
"You've… You've got to be kidding me…" Ino mutters in disbelief. Sakura looks on, in equal horror.
The mask of the scorpion hollow has fallen away, revealing the face of what was once a human being. Tied around his neck was the unmistakable headband, marking the ninja as a member of the Hidden Leaf Village.
The hollow roars, the sounds of pain and anguish filling the air. The mask grows back into place, as the hollow lunges its huge tail forward in an attempt to impale the two girls. Ino and Sakura remain still, too shocked to move. A blinding light engulfs the hollow at the last second; Kakashi stands, his chidori infused arm forced through the hollows chest. It bellows, and then evaporates into nothingness.
He too, saw the whole ordeal; but he pushed his emotions aside, and attacked without mercy. Even though the soul reaper named Hiyori had said that the hollows had once been human, he had been under the impression that only evil people like Orochimaru became hollows when they died. He wasn't expecting to see the souls of good people become mindless monsters.
'Obito… Jiraiya - sensei… Minato- sensei…Kushina- sensei... I hope all of you died with peace in your hearts…'
He drops to one knee, and looks to the sky towards one of the massive Menos Grande, '…it's scary to think that even good people can become monsters in death… and can end up a part of something like that.'
The urgent screech from the alarm at the top of the mountain fills the air, as Tsunade makes her descent back down to the forest floor. The two teams stand in formation; they have killed all the hollows in the surrounding forest area.
'There are so many of them', Tsunade thinks in disbelief. 'I'm just glad Katsuyu got to the rest of the ninja in time.'
She can sense a large amount of hollows right outside the perimeter of the village. She leads the two teams on through the Forest of Death.
Iruka Umino barks orders left and right, while trying to evacuate the decrepit, the children, and the injured from the village. The village had just been rebuilt, and wasn't going to survive another full scale attack.
With Katsuyu on his back, the power of the Hokage flowing within him, he can see the otherwise invisible monsters in front of him.
In the center of the village, Team Guy has their hands full trying to keep the hollows at bay. While they weren't hard to kill, the problem was that more of them kept popping back up after every attack.
Neji had been the first to detect the impending danger, performing Tsunade's secret jutsu, he immediately breaks from his teammates. He kills as many of the creatures as he can on his own before rejoining them.
From a distance he can see Naruto cutting down one of the giant hollows with his Rasen Shuriken. A moment later he sees Hiyori's blue spirit energy towering towards the heavens like a bright blue cyclone. He gasps, watching his deceased cousin fly into the air like a missile, then effortlessly cleave the massive hollow in two with one swing of her sword.
"It's no use! There must be thousands of these things!" yelled Tenten.
"We must not give up! Through the power of youth we can win!" cried Lee.
Guy nods his head in agreement, though it was only through Katsuyu, and the power of the Hokage that they could even see the creatures in the first place.
"Just what in the world are those things, Lady Katsuyu?" Guy had asked.
"I do not know…" replied the slug.
"…Lady Tsunade called them hollows, based on the information she received from the soul reaper. "
"Soul reaper?"
"But this can't be ninjutsu or genjutsu…" replied Tenten, as a small explosion rips the area.
"…We wouldn't even be able to see these things if it weren't for the Hokage."
"That's because this isn't ninjutsu or genjutsu; those things are real."
The group turns; it was Neji…
"Neji, what do know about these things? And about this soul reaper?" asked Guy.
"I know the soul reaper; her name is Hiyori… she's Lady Hinata's twin sister."
His teammates stare at him in shock; Neji quickly finishes, "Lady Hiyori has been dead for the last seventeen years; she only recently reappeared because she wanted to see the family she never got have…"
"… these creatures are called hollows; and as I recall, they are the corrupted souls of the dead… or essentially… ghosts. It's Lady Hiyori's job to ferry these souls to the afterlife, but there's just too many of them. We must help her, or our village is going to be destroyed again!"
Like many of the other ninja in the village, Team Guy finds themselves trying to accomplish the impossible… and that was to protect the village from a supernatural force.
Shizune arrives at the Hokage Tower with record speed. She dashes up the main stairwell, opens the large wooden doors of the main entrance, and then rushes down the corridor to the office of the Konoha Council.
Shizune throws open the door to the council chamber, already finding Councilman Homura Mitokado and Councilwoman Koharu Utatane up and alert.
"We have a situation!" cries Shizune.
"Is it the Akatsuki again?" asks Councilman Mitokado.
Shizune shakes her head, "I can't explain it, so please, take Katsuyu and see for yourselves."
She hands them each a slug; Councilwoman Utatane turns and stares out the window, nearly falling back out of sheer fright.
"it… can't be…" she said softly.
"What are these things?" demands Mitokado.
Shizune bows, "I have come to learn that these creatures are called hollows… souls of the deceased that have turned themselves into monsters… this is based on what the soul reaper has told us."
Utatane gasps, "There's a soul reaper in the village!"
She nods, "Yes, her name is Hiyori Hyuuga…. She was a member of the Hyuuga clan."
"Was?"
Shizune glances at the floor, "… apparently she's been dead for nearly twenty years."
Mitokado smirks, "I see."
He turns to Utatane, the old woman is still looking out the window with a forlorn expression on her face. She turns, and looks the councilman right in the eye.
"Homura, do you remember the tales that Hashirama- sensei used to tell us as children?"
He shakes his head, "Don't tell you actually believed those stories, Koharu…"
"Um… what stories?" interrupts Shizune.
"Long ago, back when Councilman Homura and I were young, the First Hokage used to tell us stories… one was of a legend concerning soul reapers…"
Utatane ignores the scornful look she receives from Mitokado and continues, "As the legend goes, when the Sage of the Six Paths defeated the Ten Tailed Beast, and created the Moon, he received help from the soul reapers."
"A silly legend; folklore at best; and these hollows, do you believe that the soul reapers sent them here to destroy us?" said Mitokado.
She shakes her head, "No! Hashirama – sensei had always said that the soul reapers were allied with humankind! The soul reapers in the legend were of the highest caliber. They were the strongest of their kind, and the rulers of the afterlife… one could tell them apart by the white haori robes they wore."
'White haori robes…'
Shizune gasps, "When Hiyori came to the village, she wasn't alone; there was another soul reaper. Her name was Soifon… she said that this area, the Elemental Nations, were a part of her jurisdiction. She was wearing a white haori robe like the one in the legend!"
"If what you say is true, then why would someone like her come here?"
Shizune closes her eyes, trying to piece together all the details, 'There's an extremely dangerous man that the Soul Society has been chasing for nearly a century and a half now. We believe that he may be in cahoots with your enemies.'
"She said that the soul reapers were pursing another soul reaper that betrayed them a century and a half ago… that's why they came to our village, to learn more about Madara and his plan."
"What did you tell them?" asked Mitokado.
"We didn't give away any of the villages secrets, but we divulge information about the Fourth Great Ninja War, the ninja alliance between the Elemental Nations, and Madara's Moon's Eye Plan with the tailed beasts."
"While I still don't believe in many of Hashirama- sensei's stories, I believe that the presence of these hollows, as well as the soul reaper is proof enough…" said Mikokado.
"…If this megalomaniac has really teamed up with Madara against us, then we can assume that our allies are in danger as well. We must alert the other Elemental Nations at once!"
"What should we do about our village?" asks Shizune.
"Where's Tsunade?" asks Utatane.
Shizune points towards the Forest of Death "She's out there; she was the one that activated the alarm. Apparently she can see these hollows, and she knows a jutsu that has allowed us to see into the spirit world in order to fight them."
Utatane smiles and turns to look out the window, "That's not a surprise; apparently the First Hokage could see spirits as well… at least by his own claim…"
"… as for us, I have faith in ninja of this village. We survived the Invasion of Pain, and we'll survive this as well… the Will of Fire burns brightly here."
The Council orders Shizune to send word to other Hidden Villages to warn them of an impending attack. The rest of villagers continue to try and accomplish the impossible… and that was to defeat an invisible enemy.