Ichigo ate the last piece of orange he had on hands as he traveled on his magical carpet. He took out the Dragon Radar to see where the closest Dragon Ball was again.

It had been several months ever since he won the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament. During those months, he spent his time doing mental training, along with hunting for food and water. While he did have the money needed to supply himself, Ichigo figured since he's been used to living in the wild as Karna, it would be easier to do just that.

Up until a couple days ago, for the first time in a year, he saw the Dragon Balls appearing on the radar. Now it was up to him to find all 7 of them, the first and closest appearing somewhere in the East. And speaking of comebacks, his tail came back as well. A surprise to be sure. He'd much prefer living without it. The only reason he kept it was since its return, was because he felt an increase in his power.

"Should be getting closer…" Ichigo murmured, keeping aware of his surroundings.

As the year went by, there were more events where Ichigo had coincidentally gotten himself involved in: Such as helping Nam getting more water from his village. While the water Roshi gave him was sustainable, it was only temporary. Turns out there was a river where Giran's clan resided in, but refused to give any water to the villagers. Long story short; he and Giran agreed to help, but it required Ichigo's immense power to break a seal that prevented the water from leaking anywhere further. After that, Nam and his people got the water they desperately needed.

Or another time where some kid stole his clothes when he was taking a bath in a lake. Needless to say he was irritated when he found out what happened, and chased after the brat who stole his clothes. Now, sure, the kid didn't have anywhere to live, in fact he was quite literally by himself in a desert, but stealing and lying still didn't cut it. So he lent him some of his money to help him last for a while.

Other strange events have occured, but nothing he couldn't handle. It was a good way to keep things out, to let time flow faster until the Dragon Balls showed up on the radar.

Now was that time.

But on the way there, his nose picked up a strange smell. The closer he got, the smell was becoming more awful. Ichigo put his fingers to cover his nose. 'What is that smell? Is someone cooking? If they are then they're not doing a good…' His train of thought came to a halt. Having lived in the wilderness for quite a while, he became quite familiar with the smell of fire whenever he cooked animals on his own.

But the smell was worse, and far more noticeable at that. There was smoke coming from the place right where the Dragon Ball was. 'No…!' Ichigo ordered the magical carpet to move at maximum speed.

He didn't know why there was a forest being burnt down, but he couldn't afford to risk anyone dying. 'I'm not letting anyone die here! Never again!' He thought as his heart rate began to accelerate.

Once he got to the root of it all, he was shocked to see a dozen or so men burning the forest down, all wearing some sort of military uniforms, each carrying a giant flamethrower weapon in their hands. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Ichigo called out as he hopped off his carpet and landed on a nearby boulder.

Immediately, one of the men turned around and was surprised to see Ichigo. "Hey! Get outta here! This isn't a safe place for kids like you!" As the man yelled, his companions turned around, probably because of the shouting when they were supposed to do whatever sadistic work they were doing.

"I'm gonna ask this again: What the hell are you burning down this forest for?" Ichigo ignored the man's warning, his eyes focusing intensely on the men in front of him. Looking at the uniforms, he frowned. It seemed to be from a military as far as he could tell. They weren't some random criminals. He noted they wore protective gear and masks on their faces, obviously to protect their lungs and make sure the smoke of the flames didn't go through their nostrils and mouth.

But that begged another question; and that was what kind of organization were they? And why do it exactly where the Dragon Ball was? Thankfully he couldn't sense any life force from humans. There were still animals nearby, but they were likely dead.

"Beat it, kid!" Another man turned around, pointing his flamethrower at the child in a menacing manner. "Unless you wanna get barbecued, run off while you can!"

Ichigo sighed. "Well it was a mistake to ask you guys." He jumped off the giant rock and landed on the ground. "Fine. I'll just ask your leader instead."

Before a word could escape their mouths, Ichigo lunged forward and kicked the first man on his gut, making him fall down on the ground instantly. "Ya damn pipsqueak! Ya crossed the line now!" Another soldier exclaimed, aiming his flamethrower before firing the vicious flames of death towards Ichigo.

Colonel Silver carefully observed everything around him. 15 minutes ago he received a report that his men found the Dragon Ball they had been searching for, only to say they didn't possess it in their disposal. 7 minutes ago they started burning the forest down in search of the Dragon Ball that his men claimed were at the possession of… monkeys…

Sometimes the Colonel believed he doesn't get paid enough to deal with stupidity like this. 2 minutes ago his men reported that the Dragon Ball was spotted at the hands of a bunch of monkeys.

Which brings things to the current events. There were a dozen or so monkeys, all injured or bleeding but not one of them had a Dragon Ball with them.

Well monkeys were agile creatures, and with the sheer number, Silver supposed it wasn't impossible for these animals for keeping his men busy. So far there were no reports of where the Dragon Ball was at currently.

"Colonel Silver!" One of the men nearby shouted his name. Silver turned around, seeing the man in questioned panted from running. "Sir! You better take a look what's happening! Th — This might sound ridiculous but… there's a child with a tail that's destroying our men!"

"What?!" Silver couldn't believe it. First the search for the Dragon Ball was being delayed and now a child was beating up his soldiers? The army in question weren't small fry, at least to the general population that knew who they were. "You're certain?!"

"I-I know it might sound ridiculous, but it's the truth! The others are doing what they can to take him out, but he's somehow bypassing everything we throw at him!"

"Show me where it is!" Silver commanded.

The soldier led the Colonel to the area where the said child was supposedly terrorizing his men. For their sake, this better not be a misunderstanding, otherwise they'll pay for it with their lives. He needed soldiers, not children. But still, it was audacious to tell him that a child of all things was causing them trouble.

Several minutes have passed, and they arrived to where the danger was at. Once they did, Colonel Silver couldn't believe what he was seeing. Before his very eyes he saw a child with orange spiky hair picking a boulder that was easily twice his size, and threw it at one of their tanks, crushing the latter completely.

"Wha…" Silver wasn't someone who was easily impressed. Having been in the service for many years, he had witnessed many things that most people couldn't fathom. But a child, who looked no older than 10 or so, destroying a tank by throwing a boulder? Yeah… not something he was used to seeing. "Who or… what is that?!"

The child seemed to have heard him, as he turned around to face him. "Are you the leader here?" The child asked, getting straight to the point. "Because I'm looking for an asshole who told these bozos to burn this forest down. If you're not the leader, then you might as well make yourself useful by telling me where he is."

…

He had guts. He'll give him that much. Nonetheless a brat was still a brat. And anybody, regardless of who or what, dares to get in the way of Red Ribbon pays for it with their lives. Silver chuckled as he began to walk towards the boy, cracking his knuckles in doing so. "You don't have to cause such a ruckus. Yes, I am the leader." He said, preparing himself in a fighting stache. The boy was strong, but from what he's seen it's nowhere his level. So he wasn't worried about sharing information. "Though I'm not very fond of fighting children, rules are still rules, and I have to take care of you."

"You don't have to worry about that. I'll finish this before you lose your job." Ichigo replied in a snarky tone, not bothering to take a stance. "Because right now… I'm not in the best mood."

This made Silver roll his eyes. Children. Always acting like they had the worst problems just because they didn't have their way. Well no matter, he'll be rid of him before he can utter another—

Suddenly, a pair of monkeys leapt forward and landed on a tree branch, with them holding a Dragon Ball in their hand. "What the—?!" The quick notice was enough for Silver to divert his attention from the child.

He then saw the boy immediately rush in to get the magical ball. 'What speed!' Silver thought, as he was taken aback by the boy's dexterity. But knowing he had to get the legendary ball no matter what, Silver called out, "Gimme your gun!" as he looked at one of the nearest men who held a rifle.

The soldier immediately nodded as he tossed his large gun to the Colonel, holding it in his grasp as though he used it his entire life. Acting on reflex, he located where the monkeys were at, aiming his shot with swift accuracy. Much to his chagrin, the boy already made it. Shooting both of them at once wouldn't do good, so using his skills that exceed those of ordinary men, he fired his shot at a tree branch the monkey would have grabbed next.

His timing was impeccable. Despite the target being 300 meters away, Silver expertly took his targets down in just one swift move. By eliminating the tree branch, the monkey lost its balance, and would surprise the boy for sure.

But the Colonel missed one factor. He didn't realize that the distance was exactly where the edge was, thus the monkey began to fall down farther than he intended. Realizing the mistake he made, Silver became worried and immediately followed suit.

The average man would take 200 seconds to walk to such a distance, but for the Colonel he only needed 1/5th of that to get there by running. Once he got there, he saw the monkeys were fine, as the boy seemed to have saved them by clinging to a cliff. What frustrated him was the Dragon Ball wasn't anywhere in sight. It must have been dropped… and he can only guess it must have fallen in that flowing river.

"Damn it!" Silver cursed himself for his mistake. He'd have to search for the ball later, but now he had to eliminate this brat. Aiming his rifle towards the child, he began to take fire, only for Ichigo to let go of the rock he hung and deflect the bullets, using nothing but his bare hand.

This greatly surprised the Colonel. These weren't just your average guns. These weapons pack firepower a dozen times greater, yet this brat deflected them with nothing but his hands. "Hey, magic carpet! I could really use you right about now!" The child exclaimed. Silver was confused. What was he babbling about?

To his shock, he saw a literal carpet flying its way to save Ichigo and the animals, giving them a proper landing before flying away to a lower area. "What the hell…?" Silver was at a loss for words.

That didn't matter now. He didn't know who that brat was, but he'll find him another day. Right now getting that Dragon Ball was top priority.

"You guys okay?" Ichigo asked as the monkeys got off the carpet, now having gone far enough to be far from the eyesight of those soldiers. The carpet was above the flowing river, and the monkeys landed on the ground where they were safe.

The older looking monkey spoke, but only in a typical animal language, which was babbling stuff he didn't understand. But judging from its body language both of them seemed to be fine. "Okay, you guys just stay safe." He told them before the carpet went on to find the Dragon Ball that fell in the river.

Picking up his Dragon Radar, Ichigo saw how far the ball had gone. Thankfully it hadn't gone very far, but it was moving quickly. He ordered the carpet to go faster. It didn't take long before the carpet got him to where the Dragon Ball was still floating beneath him, to which Ichigo dived through the water, not letting the coldness bother him.

There, he quickly found the ball, and he swam after it. Thankfully with all the physical training he received, he didn't have any difficulty capturing the ball. Once he caught it, he returned to the surface, where his carpet was just at the right position for him to grab it with one hand, using it as support to get on top.

"Well I got one ball out of seven. Pretty good for a start." Ichigo said to himself as he shook off the wetness from his body. He hated getting his clothes soaked like that. "Still… just who the hell were those guys?" Ichigo frowned at the thought of those military men. "And just what did they want?"

Were they after some treasure? Or is it possible they're after the Dragon Ball? But only 2 days after they reawakened? Either way, he'll have to go after the leader. He can't let these bastards destroy any more life out there.

Suddenly, he felt a raindrop hit his cheek. Looking up, Ichigo was surprised to see the weather changing: the clouds came together and darkened the area, and temperature was beginning to drop. "Shit, looks like I'll have to hide for a bit before I'm out again." he remarked, getting off the carpet before he ran quickly to find a nearby shelter.

A whole day had gone by, and the weather was simply awful to bear through. Not only did the rain overpour, but lightning bolts struck as well, going as far as to take out some of the cliffs as well. It was one of the worst weathers that ever came to be. Ichigo considered himself lucky to have found a cave to keep himself safe.

The sun was up, and for Ichigo it was a signal for him to strike back against the men from yesterday. With that said, Ichigo got on his carpet and began his search for them. He developed a simple, but overall effective plan. Just extract info on who they were and what they wanted.

Only this time he wasn't going to engage in a full on fight against an entire squadron, rather he'd go after their boss. Similar to when he fought a Stern Ritter in Hueco Mundo, he'd go straight for their boss. And having already sensed his energy from their past encounter, it wouldn't be difficult for his energy tracking skills to find him. While he wasn't against the idea of mopping the floor against all of them at the same time, his experience in the Soul Society made him remember that it wasn't exactly a good idea to get all the enemy's attention on you..

With that said, Ichigo soared above with his flying carpet. It hadn't taken him very long before found some of the soldiers digging through the ground, and it seemed they weren't aware of his presence whatsoever. Him on the other hand... 'Found him!' Ichigo thought to himself, as he soared through the direction where the boss was.

And he was alone as well. Perfect timing. It roughly took about half a minute, but Ichigo found the leader's hideout. Not wanting to attract too much attention, he fired a small Ki blast, at least enough to make the leader come out and fight him one-on-one, hitting the ground.

Ichigo got off the carpet and landed on the roof. The sound clearly got the leader's attention, as he burst right through the door, bazooka in hand as he turned his head to see what it was. Now was his chance. "I'm gonna have to ask you this one more time…" Ichigo made his presence known, his position deposit of crossing his legs together while putting his elbow on his knee, his fist pressing against his cheek. "Who are you people and why did you burn that forest down?"

"You again?!" The redhead leader gave a reaction that mixed with surprise and annoyance. "Just what do you want?!" He demanded to know as he pointed his bazooka at the young boy.

"What I want are answers. Answers you're not giving." Ichigo gave a cold stare towards the leader. "For what reason did you burn that forest down? Since you guys seem to be from military, I doubt it was just for kicks. You were after something, weren't you?"

This wasn't like in Hueco Mundo when he fought that Quincy. The only goal that guy had was listening to orders in oppressing Hollows. Despite having gone through a couple wars himself, he wasn't exactly an expert when it came to the political side of a military organization. But all it required was common sense to realize this wasn't a random act.

"And so what if we were?" The leader gave a rhetorical answer, still not shooting a missile at him. Ichigo's guess was because he didn't want to destroy his base. That or it was to intimidate him. Or maybe both. "What's it to a brat like you?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes over this. He didn't have time for this. "Maybe it'd be better if I showed you." And like a blur, Ichigo dashed at the redhead leader, launching a square kick to the face, much too fast for the leader to react as the grown man fell down, his back roughly landing against the ground.

The lad landed on the opposite site where the leader once stood, his feet planted against the ground. "I don't wanna waste time on this. Just tell me who you are and I'll leave." Ichigo said.

"Ugh…" The leader groaned in pain as he held his face. Ichigo waited to see his response as the man fully got up. "Y-You…" He said, staring at Ichigo with a genuine look of shock on his face. He then composed himself. "You're definitely not a normal child. And more than that…" He removed his hand from his face. "You really know nothing about the Red Ribbon Army?"

"No clue. How much should I care?" Ichigo asked in a non caring manner.

The man in question chuckled. "You're definitely in the minority. It's not every day we see someone who doesn't know who the Red Ribbon is." The leader cracked his neck. "We, the Red Ribbon Army, are the most feared and powerful army to ever walk on this Earth. We stop at nothing to get our hands on what we want. And when we something, we get it, regardless of the cost. And our current objective… well let's say we're on a hunt to find ancient artifacts known as the Dragon Balls."

This piqued Ichigo's attention. "Dragon Balls?" He was confused. How did these guys know? They may be from the military, but from what he understood it wasn't supposed to be some general knowledge. At best it'd be nothing but folklore. "What the hell do you guys want those things for?"

"None of your business." The leader clocked his head, which in turn made a loud noise of bones cracking. "I only gave you a mild introduction to our glory, what we want is none of your concern."

"And that's where you're wrong."

The leader sighed. "I should warn you…" He pointed his enormous bazooka at him again. "We of the Red Ribbon are quite ruthless when we do our job. We stop at nothing to get what we want."

"Even if it means fighting kids?" Ichigo's tone raised higher, giving a narrow stare.

The redheaded leader shrugged. "Well we're not exactly heartless… at least some of us. I'm not exactly the biggest fan when it comes to fighting children… but you're not leaving me much of a choice. Only 2 other options I can think of are if we permanently part our ways and pretend this never happened, or, if you're interested when you're a little older, you could join our army."

"Like I care!" Ichigo prepared himself to launch an attack, having heard just about everything he needed to hear. "I've heard just about enough of you guys!" Running quickly, Ichigo threw a gut wrenching punch at the leader's gut, and the blow weighted as heavy as a bowling ball.

The blow had the leader gasp, as the wind was knocked out of him. The bazooka dropped from the weakened grip of the leader, making it drop on the ground with a heavy thud. "Gogh…" The redheaded adult held his stomach as he kneeled over the pain before passing out on the ground.

Ichigo scowled. 'They're gonna find me… eventually…' He thought as he looked over the unconscious man. 'I could go back and finish off the rest of those guys… but they just seem to be searching for that Dragon Ball… which is on me…' Ichigo patted his thigh, feeling the heaviness of the ball that he dropped in his pockets. 'So I don't think they'll be causing problems until they find it…'

He called out for the carpet before hopping on it. 'There aren't any people close by either, so that's good. Though by the time that guy wakes up… or when those guys find him… they'll be coming after me for sure. But still… just who were those guys?' He recalled the captain's proud explanation of the army in general. 'Red Ribbon is what they're called… I can't recall who they are even though they sound familiar. If those guys are so well known, how the hell have I not heard of them sooner?'

There was a knot in his stomach. An instinct telling him that something didn't feel right about this. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this..." Ichigo murmured. If these people are ruthless enough to strike a child to go after the Balls then… he'd oughta find the Dragon Balls before they could.

"What?! What do you mean that's not Silver?!" A short, angry man shouted, standing at the main, technological office was Commander Red. He and bunch of his men took a look at the giant rader that his scientists had built. A job well done, hiring only the best he could pull under his fingertips, including freelancers.

"Like we just told you, Sir, this isn't Commander Silver. Take a look." One of the tractors said as they pressed a button to make the technological map spread wider between point A and point B. "Commander Silver… or his plane at least… is travelling to the North Pole, instead of the South Pole where he was tasked."

"I can see that you moron!" Red yelled back, having already understood the situation at hand in his eyes. "What I want to know is why in blazes is Silver going that way!? He of all people should know General Grey is in that area!"

"That… we don't know. But from the looks of things, the plane for quite a while."

The only reason why someone would go from that area would be to go after the Dragon Balls. His Dragon Balls for that matter. The chances of this being a coincidence were very small. Smaller than him in fact.

A ring was heard in his ears. Someone was calling him from his office.

"Sir!" General Black peeked through the open gates from above. "It's Commander Silver! He's just reported in!"

"What?!" Red was surprised. That was quick. Very quick for that matter. "Well don't just stand there! Hand me over the bloody thing!" Red exclaimed as he reached for his hand, not bothering to go upstairs by himself.

Black was his right hand man, so besides him, he had the highest authority of his army. He trusted him the most… except when he stood by him. He didn't wanna feel small. Black reached down straits and handed the phone to him.

"Silver!" Red began to yell through his phone. "What in blazes happened!? Somebody out there has stolen your chopper on our radar!" He then waited for a moment, and what he was told next shocked him. "What?! An enemy?! How many of them were there?!"

…

The next reply shook the commander to his core. He halted for a minute, a stunned look grasped in his features. "A kid…" He muttered, not at all caring whether others heard of him or not. "YOU WERE BEATEN BY A LOUSY KID?!" Commander Red screamed on his phone. "EXPECT TO BE EITHER FIRED OR SENTENCED TO DEATH!"

He immediately finished the call, not wanting to hear a single word. The commander was fuming. "A little boy… clearly he can't be normal if he managed to outmaneuver someone like Silver." His lieutenant said with a clear head.

"What isn't normal is how did someone incompetent like Silver become a Colonel?!" Red exclaimed in fury, clenching his fists as he let his rage take over. He looked at the remaining people in the room. "You! Contact General White and tell him to take precautions if that kid arrives! Kill him and take the Dragon Ball if he has it!"

The atmosphere felt colder the longer Ichigo traveled South. It was a good thing he stopped by a shop to give him clothes for Winter. He wore a dark blue jacket with a hoodie on it, a white scarf and a thick layer of gray pants. Even so, Ichigo still felt cold, as though he came to Antarctica instead of wherever the Dragon Radar led him.

"I probably should have stopped by the East… turns out that one was closer than I thought. Oh well, too late to go back now…" Ichigo muttered to himself as he traveled between the mountains.

But then he saw something that surprised him. Military airplanes were coming towards him, several of them in fact, with the same symbols he saw a week ago with the redhead commander in the forest. "What the hell?!" Ichigo exclaimed in surprise. How did they find him?

There was no time to ponder as they started shooting at him. 'Geez, what kind of psychos shoot a little kid when they see one!?' Ichigo thought to himself as he used his carpet to dodge the incoming bullets, soaring higher in the air in the hopes of losing them.

Instead, they pursued him. 'What the hell do these guys want with me? Are they after the Dragon Ball that I have? If so then how did…' He widened his eyes as he remembered his encounter with Silver. 'Just great! Now how do I shake these guys off?' He flew lower in hopes of losing them.

He could just plow through them with brute force, after all bullets can't really harm him. But then they might send more after him if he took them down… which in this case he didn't see much of a choice. 'If that's the way they want it…' Ichigo took hold of his Power Pole. "Extend!" He gave a verbal command, and the staff extended just enough for him to make a horizontal swing and took out 2 airplanes with one swing.

The airplanes began to go out of control. They were going to hit the mountains, but he saw one of them eject themselves out of the plane with a parachute, but one of them lost a wing of the plane and went out of control. This seemed to shock the other pilots, and it was the distraction Ichigo needed before he swung another wave of his pole, taking out another airplane and the pilot along with it.

Now since that mess has been taken care of, Ichigo traveled further to his destination of where the Ball was. He didn't sense any further enemies, at least not too close to where he was at. So that means he was in the clear for now.

However, as he traveled further ahead, he sensed an unknown energy signature, albeit rather faint. He wondered, who in the world was out here in the middle of a freezing atmosphere such as this. Yet at the same time, he sensed the same enemies from before also not much farther ahead. This called for a small investigation.

Once he approached the source, he was shocked to see a child, seemingly around his age with long orange hair and wearing a thick layer of winter clothes. She looked up, and seemed to be shocked when she saw him. "Hey, you mind telling me what a little girl like you is doing out here? I'm not sure if you know this, but there's some bad people in your area."

"Are you talking about the Red Ribbon…?" The girl replied, sounding stunned at the sight of him. Probably because of the magic carpet.

Ichigo developed a curious look. "You know about them?"

Now it was the girl's turn to look stunned. Confused even. "What do you mean? Who doesn't know about the Red Ribbon? Those people took the village chief from us!"

"Can you tell me more?" Ichigo wasn't sure how to feel about this. She was telling all this to a stranger, but she seemed so innocent and naive.

"What do you want to know?"

"I'm here to stop these guys."

At the Red Ribbon HQ where stood General White, he had just received word of 3 of his men reported dead, and only one of them had survived. The HQ was called the Muscle Tower.

"What?! He took out all of them?!" General White exclaimed in disbelief as he was on the phone, having now just received a report.

"That's right. But it looks like only one of them survived, the rest are dead or missing." Was the reply he received.

General White sneered at the news. How was it possible that this child not only beat Colonel Silver, but took out 4 blasted airplanes in mid-air?! "Never mind them, just find the brat where he was last located and that's that! I don't care how you do it, just kill him!" he ordered, ending the conversation right then and there.

The general sat down on his chair, his anxiety clearly evident as he went on to drink a bottle of alcohol to calm himself down. 'It makes no damn sense. How is it that a child of all things manages to beat someone as strong as Silver? And then taking out 4 airplanes just like that? Just what kind of a freak is he?' General White thought.

Ichigo and the little girl made it to her house thanks to the magic carpet. On their way here, he found that the little girl's name was Suno. Quite a nice name. When he had told her that he was after the Red Ribbon, she had doubts. She told him that there wasn't any kid who could fight someone as ruthless and cruel as the grown men from the Red Ribbon, but he told her there was nothing to worry about.

"So you followed me here just because you heard explosions coming by?!" Ichigo was incredulous, having been told the reason for why Suno came all the way out here.

"I was just curious to see what caused it." Suno replied innocently, standing right behind him as she hugged his neck so she didn't fall from the carpet.

"When you hear explosions, the last thing you should do is check them out. Especially when you don't know what's the source behind it." Ichigo scolded the young girl. He then noticed what seemed to be several capsule houses. "Hey, if I'm not wrong, this should be your place, shouldn't it?"

"It is!" Suno exclaimed with joy. Ichigo ordered for the carpet to stop, and that it did before ordering it to go away until he was in need of assistance again. Suno knocked on the door. "Mama! Sis! It's me! Open up the door!"

They were met with a loud gust of wind rushing against them. They waited for about a moment or two before Ichigo heard the door being unlocked, and in front of them stood a woman in her late 20's to early 30's, presumably Suno's mother, with black hair tucked by a bun. "Suno? Where's the wood that I—" she casted her eyes at the young boy. "And who is that boy with you?"

"His name is Ichigo." Suno innocently replied as she pointed her gloved finger next to him. "And I found him near this explosion I heard, so I was curious to see what happened, and I found him with this flying carpet and took me here. He says he wants to know about the Red Ribbon."

"What?!" The mother was shocked to hear this, and Ichigo couldn't help but deadpan at how Suno made it sound so non serious. "Come inside, don't you even dare utter that name outside." She ushered them to come in, and that they did. Once they were inside, Ichigo felt much warmer compared to the harshness of the winter he had to deal with. "Now what did you say before?"

"I just wanna know about this… this Red Ribbon that I've been hearing about lately. Cause I think I might have what they're looking for."

"And just what would that—" The mother's voice was interrupted by the sound of a toilet flush.

"Dragon Balls. Ever heard of them?" Ichigo crossed his arms. Both mother and daughter looked as pale as ghosts when he said that. It would seem as though they did indeed know.

"Y-You mean to tell me that…" The mother grew afraid, her daughter hugging her tightly out of fear. "Did the Red Ribbon hire a child soldier as their spy?!"

"Eh?" Ichigo was dumbfounded. "No. Chances of me joining with those losers are zero. I'm here to stop them. Now where did I put it…" He began to dig through his pockets from his jacket. He knew it was within his jacket, but at what part…

"Yay, Suno is back!" A cheery voice exclaimed happily, as another girl came running towards them. She had a resemblance to Suno, though her hair was short, and the color of her hair was lighter, making it look more like… orange? She had grey eyes as well. "Mama, who is that?" The little girl pointed to the spiky haired Saiyan.

"Here it is—"

"There's nothing to worry about, Orihime, he's just… a guest."

…

Did he hear that right?

"Wait… Orihime?" Ichigo's mouth was wide open, his eyes reaching the limit as to how much they could widen.

As though the mother noticed his change, she said "This is my second daughter… Orihime. Is everything alright?"

For a moment, Ichigo ignored everything else except the girl. "Yeah, just fine." he muttered. He studied the girl, like how a child would see a toy for the first time. She was tiny, no more than his height, and her hair was much shorter, her face was far more childish… but he couldn't ignore the resemblance of his Orihime. "Just… one question… does your family's last name go by Inoue?"

The mother was puzzled by this. "No, I'm afraid we don't have a last name. Why do you ask?"

"No reason…" Ichigo muttered under his breath, head glancing down at the hollow floor. "But back to the matter at hand… I take it this is what the Red Ribbon is after." He pulled out his 6 star Dragon Ball.

"How on Earth did you manage to… this is what they were after all this time?" The mother was agape.

"But it's so small and weird looking…" Suno added. "I can't believe they sent dad and everyone else after this over something like a ball." She was in disbelief.

"Your dad and everyone else?" Ichigo was confused by what she meant. "What do you mean?"

"The Red Ribbon sent all the men in this village with them to hunt for the Dragon Ball they're looking for." The mother told him.

"Do you know where they are right now?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm afraid not." The mother shook her head in response. "And it's not just the men they took, they took our village chief hostage. But he's located in Muscle Tower. But just what exactly do they want with these Dragon Balls?" She asked, her voice hinting curiosity.

Ichigo sighed. He took a brief glance at Orihime, making a small frown before looking back at the mother. "When you collect all 7 of these things, and call out the name of who's hidden in these balls, there comes a huge magical dragon, whose sole purpose is to grant you any wish you want: Say you fix your financial issues, get a new pair of clothes, become rich, you ask for anything, and it gives you exactly what you want."

"Woooow!" Orihime clapped her hands in a cheerful manner. "That sounds incredible! So if I wished for a pony, it would come to life?!"

"No way!" Suno exclaimed, doubt filling her voice as she clenched her tiny fists. "That sounds like a fairy tale! Who would believe that?!"

"And do you have a better idea as to why these bastards would hunt these things down?" Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Besides, I already saw it with my own eyes…"

"Wait really?!" Suno widened her eyes in shock. "You actually saw it happen?!"

"Yeah and the wish…" Ichigo remembered back to what Oolong wished for, and it made the young boy stop what he was about to say next. "Actually, never mind, you don't wanna know what wish was granted."

"World domination…" Ichigo casted a glance at the mother, hearing her muttering thanks to his enhanced hearing. "If what you said is true, then the Red Ribbon must be planning to use these Dragon Balls to take over the world."

"Big shocker." Ichigo rolled his eyes. What a pathetic wish. "Now, where exactly is this Muscle Tower located?"

"Why do you want to know?" Orihime asked in curiosity.

"Cause I'm heading there to save your chief, and the rest of the men that got taken away." Ichigo said, readying to get out of the door.

"What!?" Suno shrieked incredulously, not believing what she was hearing. "You can't mean that! So many adults left in our village already, and they got taken to work alongside the others, while some…"

"Well that's not gonna happen." Ichigo replied surely as he put on his coat. "These bozos aren't even gonna see it coming when I get the people out."

"But you—"

Before she could continue, Suno was interrupted by her mother. "I don't mean to push it but. We've already had to deal with a lot of heart break without my husband, a boy like you getting caught in the middle of it is something I can't in good conscience allow it to happen." She shook her head. "Please, just give them the Dragon Ball."

"Not happening." Ichigo bluntly replied. The answer surprised Suno and the mother. "From what I understood when it came to these guys, they might still kill you even if you do exactly what you're told to do. So no, I'm taking out the primary headquarters, taking out the boss and then getting your village chief out of there."

"But that's insane!" Suno argued. "How would you even—"

"I've seen this happen before." Ichigo's eyes sharpened as he briefly remembered his last arrival to Hueco Mundo, the massacre that took place and his battle with a Quincy. "These people are scum. And they should be dealt with as such." Unconsciously he clenched his fists, his demeanor darkening. "So just tell me where the chief is being held."

For a moment there was silence. The mother pleaded. "Please, you can't just throw away your life like this."

"I might not look like it, but I'm the guy who won the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament." Ichigo began to walk towards the door. "Out of everything I've been through… trampling a small army is a breeze. So just tell where their base of operations are. It won't take a day until I trample their small firepower."

A moment of silence ensued until Orihime broke it. "There's that tower you can see through our window." She pointed. Both Suno and the mother looked bewildered.

"That so?" Ichigo walked towards the window, and with a glimpse he could see a small looking tower. "Yeah, I think I found it." He began to walk towards the door, ignoring the pleats of both Suno and the mother. He gave one last look to Orihime. "Please stay safe…" He murmured before closing the door.

He didn't know if he could bear another minute staying in that place.

Orihime. She was here. She looked different, but that was definitely her.

He simply couldn't believe it.

He didn't know how to believe it. Happy? Sad? Anxious? So many emotions and so many questions ran through his mind. How did she end up in this world? Were there others like her? How was she not dead?

Ichigo shook his head as he continued running off into the snowy blaze where this so-called Muscle Tower was at. On his way he spotted and defeated several Red Ribbon soldiers, though this time he was less merciful. These monsters were cold hearted and had no regret whatsoever, so to him he didn't care whether they were crippled or dead.

Right now it was the mission that mattered. Save the chief. That's all that mattered now. It's why he instinctively held his pole like a sword. The soldiers spotted his frontal attack in no time and immediately began to shoot him down, or tried to at least. Not wanting his clothes to get caught in the cross-fire, Ichigo deflected all the advanced bullets that charged straight at him with his Power Pole.

He began his own counter attack. "Extend!" He verbally commanded as his staff extended itself long enough before swinging it horizontally, not bothering to pull his punches against these scum. He hit all 5 men in different directions at once, sending them flying away with broken bones all over their bodies.

Ichigo continued to sprint forward. Since he lost the ability to use matter to propel himself higher, he used his Power Pole in the same manner an Olympic athlete used a staff to propel himself higher, barring it against the thick snow before bending it just enough to jump high enough till he landed at least what seemed to be halfway of the tower. "Revert!" Ichigo commanded, and the Power Pole shifted back to its original size.

The young teen turned boy looked over. He could already detect a dozen hostilities behind a closed door. This was the easy part… Now how difficult would it be when he entered through this door… or was there some other way for him to get inside.

Well, time tells no lies. He'd figure it out soon enough…

Well, here it is at long last. Sorry it took so long to update this, but I hope the wait was worth it. The beginning of the Red Ribbon Army Saga. Lots of things have happened that kept me preoccupied, and my procrastination began to take over more. I'm not abandoning this story.

With Silver it's honestly funny how in the Anime he's hyped up so much and we see his training while in the Manga he's just shown for like 2-3 chapters and gets one shot by Goku. The Anime makes his beat down by Goku even more humiliating. I swear Goku was a savage even as a kid. I did consider whether I should give Silver more attention cause that's what the Anime does, it made him cooler.

Now for the big part, and that is Orihime herself. Similar to Yoruichi, I'm not going to say or reveal anything, how she got here as well is going to be answered in the future. So no spoilers until we finally arrive at the proper time. But yeah, next chapter deals with Ichigo's challenges in Muscle Tower, so stay tuned