Hueco Mundo - Menos Forest
Madara crashed out of the garganta, clutching his bleeding shoulder as he slammed into a crystalline tree trunk. He had been lumbering through an organic tunnel of some sort, littered with skeletons and the decaying remains of its victims. He didn't know how he could suddenly open up these portals, but instinct told him that he had arrived at his destination. The bloodlust and hunger gnawing at him since his transformation now threatened to consume him.
His eyes scanned his ashen surroundings, ears picking up the fading sound of footsteps. Prey was moving away, but he was in no state to chase. He tried to bite the tree beside him, only to howl in pain as his teeth cracked against its unyielding surface. It looked like a tree, but its outer layer was clearly not bark.
Decades of Shinobi survival instincts kicked in. He looked at his cold corpse, a sick feeling briefly replacing the hunger. But it returned, and with the grim rationalization that he needed to eat to survive, he removed Hashirama's sword and began unbuckling his armor.
As Madara feasted, clarity gradually returned to his mind. He vaguely noticed his body shifting form, but the most profound change was the blessed absence of that inconsolable desire to feed. Rising, he slowly noticed a cacophony of muted snarls and hisses. He wasn't sure how long he had spent consuming his own corpse, but he had clearly drawn the attention of some unwelcome predators. He experimentally channeled chakra into his eyes, pleased as they morphed into the familiar comfort of his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.
Looking around him, Madara saw creatures of various shapes and sizes closing in, each with a circular hole in their chest. He checked his own, finding the a similar hole where the chain had been. Yet, all his other wounds were gone – a testament, he assumed, to Hashirama's regenerative power, gained from consuming a piece of the Senju's flesh along with the rest of his corpse. He had planned on implanting it into himself anyway.
"Do any of you understand me?" Madara asked, picking up Hashirama's sword. His hands were still pale, but the claws had receded. He could still feel his tail, but it was much smaller now.
A large, green Hollow lunged at him, jaws open as if trying to swallow him whole. Compared to the Shinigami woman, it was slow. Madara leaped over it, cleaving it in two with a single strike. He landed on a thick branch, watching in morbid fascination as the other Hollows devoured the corpse.
What a pitiful afterlife, Madara thought. Is this hell? Were my actions in life so heinous that I've been sent to a world of cannibalism? The tunnel he'd run through certainly felt like a path to damnation.
He observed the Hollows below fighting over the carcass. Soon, they began fighting amongst each other, each casualty quickly becoming food for the remainder of the pack. It was chaotic and disgusting, but with nothing better to do, Madara simply watched.
Almost an hour passed as Madara contemplated using the crystalline trees somehow for reconnaissance. Suddenly, a wave of pressure emanated from below. One of the feasting Hollows was glowing, shrinking into a white, anthropormorphic bear clad in white, boney armor.
The rest of the Hollows cowered, some slinking away slowly as others scampered off in fear. Madara remained still, attention focused on the bear Hollow as it raised its head, sniffing the air.
"Come out, little Hollow," it demanded. "I can sense you." A Cero blast erupted from its mouth toward Madara, who leaped down to evade it. He landed silently, twenty feet away, his sword casually lowered.
"That wasn't very polite," Madara observed. His voice had regained his former, rumbling bass.
"I only needed to flush you out. Now I can eat you and evolve into a Vasto Lorde!" The bear Hollow jeered, slowly closing the distance between them.
Madara tensed. This new enemy's power was unknown, and he was still uncertain of his own capabilities in this form. Chakra surged through him, activating his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan again.
The bear lunged. Madara sidestepped, the air whistling past him. The bear swung a massive paw, leaving a deep gouge in the crystalline ground where Madara had stood.
"You're fast," the bear growled, surprised. "But not fast enough." It charged again, Cero energy crackling in its maw.
"Susanoo," Madara declared.
The bear Hollow, fueled by its newfound power, slammed head-first into the blue, flaming ribcage that now enveloped Madara. The force of the collision should have shattered any normal bone, but the spectral defense held firm, not even a tremor disturbing its ethereal form. "Oh, got some fight in you, little Hollow?" the bear taunted, momentarily stunned but undeterred. It flexed, releasing a wave of spiritual pressure that scared the remainder of the lesser Hollows away.
Madara, however, was unfazed. The tension eased from his body as he realized that this Hollow was a complete non-threat.
The spiritual pressure from the Adjuchas washed over him like a gentle breeze. A flicker of interest danced in his eyes, however, at as he observed his susanoo. My chakra feels different, he mused. It's still there, but... altered.
The bear Hollow's voice boomed with arrogance, "Do you feel that, little Hollow? Or is the weight of my reiatsu too much for you?"
Madara merely arched an eyebrow. "Come again?"
"A cero could obliterate you," the Hollow continued, its voice dripping with predatory glee; "But then I'd have nothing to eat. Apologies in advance for the mess. I've just evolved into an Adjuchas, you see." It licked its lips with a barbed tongue, saliva dripping down its fur. "I haven't quite mastered my new power."
"Is that so?" Madara replied, his tone nonchalant as he effortlessly tracked the bear Hollow's movements as it darted about and charged. The Hollow was indeed faster, but its movements were predictable, almost sluggish, to Madara's Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.
With a roar, the Hollow pounced, its jaws agape, aiming to sink its teeth into a Susanoo rib. The rib held firm, the Hollow's bite barely leaving a scratch on the absolute defence. Madara felt only a miniscule drain on his chakra.
With a casual flex of will, the ribcage expanded, the force of its growth enough to crack the bear Hollow's jaw like a brittle twig. The Hollow stumbled back, uttering a pained roar as it clutched its broken jaw.
Before it could even comprehend the extent of its injury, a massive, blue chakra sword materialized, pinning the Hollow to the ground by its shoulder. "A proposition, Adjuchas," Madara drawled casually; "Answer my questions, and if I'm satisfied, I might let you live."
Seireitei, 4th Division Barracks
"Takomi, report," Hitsugaya's voice was soft yet commanding, mindful of his injured 11th seat. Takomi was stable but weakened, and his reiatsu was still worryingly low. Rangiku Matsumoto stood beside them, the only other one to have faced the aberrant Hollow.
"Captain Hitsugaya, sir!" Takomi saluted with forced vigor. "I was on duty in the Elemental Nations' Land of Fire when explosions erupted near where you found me. I kept my distance until I sensed a Hollow's reiatsu, then moved to purify it."
He paused for the scribe to record his words. "That was the Hollow you encountered. It was perceptive, and evaded my initial strike. I tried binding it with a Sai, but it fired a Cero. That's when I paged for help. Then I explained soul purification, and the Hollow seemed... intrigued."
Hitsugaya nodded. That was standard procedure, and his 11th seat had performed admirably. However... "The valley we were in, was it always there?"
Takomi hesitated. "Uh... probably? Actually, no. It should have been a grassy plain, or maybe a forest...? The Hollow's Cero probably caused it, but I wasn't focused on the landscape at that point." He chuckled nervously. "Why?"
"We surveyed the area. There's a village nearby, but around where we found you, there were burn marks and signs of a recent, intense battle. Likely the explosions you heard." Hitsugaya's brow furrowed. "What can you tell me about the Elemental Nations, Takomi?"
The poor Shinigami didn't need to know that the valley was an ugly scar in the earth that had spanned hundreds of meters, and that Hitsugaya had spotted uprooted trees and debris kilometers away from the area. Whatever was fighting there had enormous destructive power possibly on par with, or even above, that of a Captain. If the Hollow had fired a Cero powerful enough to cause such damage, Hitsugaya himself may have been hard-pressed to survive without being in Bankai, much less an 11th seat.
Something else had caused the damage, and they needed to determine what that 'something' was as soon as possible.
"I've been stationed in the Land of Fire for 3 years," Takomi replied. "From what I've heard in passing, it used to be a war-torn country. However I have never known it to be anything but peaceful, and only low-level Hollows have ever shown up there. I've had no issues dealing with anything until now. The most I've seen are some acrobatic humans who are good at martial arts and throwing knives."
"Did you have much interaction with them?" Hitsugaya prodded.
"No, sir. I did not have a gigai so could not interact with them. I honestly don't know too much about the inner workings of that place, but there is a village called Konoha near where you found me. I'm sure you could find all the information you need there."
Hitsugaya nodded. "Thank you for your service, Takomi. You're hereby granted three months of paid leave. Vice captain Matsumoto and I will handle the rest."
Takomi perked up at that, and sat up straighter. "Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" And held a salute as his superiors left his room.
As they made their back towards the Squad Ten barracks, Rangiku and Toshiro were the very picture of contrast. The former strode leisurely, her vibrant auburn hair swaying gently with her step; a twinkle in her eye radiating an easygoing warmth. Her hands were clasped behind her back, and a knowing smile played on her lips as she studied her Captain's expression.
Beside her, Toshiro Hitsugaya was the picture of focused intensity. His brow was furrowed in thought, his gaze fixed on the path ahead, and his lips pressed into a thin line. As the newest Captain of the Gotei 13, he took his duties very seriously, and the recent encounter with the unusual Hollow had only deepened his concern.
"Rangiku," Hitsugaya's voice cut through the quiet, sharp and clear like the winter air he embodied; "I wasn't paying much attention while tending to Takomi, but did anything stand out to you during your fight with that Hollow?"
Rangiku tilted her head, feigning deep contemplation with a drawn out hum. After a dramatic pause, she shrugged nonchalantly; "Nope, not really. It was stronger than a mid-ranking seated officer, that's for sure, since it actually managed to block a few of my swings. But honestly, if it hadn't escaped through that garganta, I would've put it down in fifteen seconds, tops. Maybe thirty if I was feeling generous."
Hitsugaya remained unconvinced. "Did you get a good look at the body it took when it escaped?"
"Nope," Rangiku replied, popping the 'p' with a hint of amusement. "Red armor, black hair, sword through the heart. Male, I think? But why are you so fixated on a minor Hollow, Captain? It wasn't even a Menos Grande. I'm sure it's no big deal."
Hitsugaya's silence stretched for a few moments, his mind replaying the scene of the battle. "Those eyes... I saw them before you engaged. They were calculating, intelligent. That Hollow was a seasoned warrior before its death. He called himself Madara Uchiha-"
Rangiku let out a long, drawn-out sigh, her voice laced with playful exasperation. "Captaaaain," she chided. "You're only a hundred years old, and you've already got a head full of white hair! You keep stressing over these little things, and you'll be bald with wrinkles before you know it!"
Hitsugaya scoffed, a faint hint of a smile tugging at his lips. "I'm probably just overthinking it," he conceded, but the worry in his eyes didn't fade. "When we were using shunpo, I thought the landscape looked like it had been blasted open by a massive Cero, but Takomi wouldn't have survived if it was the Hollow we fought that did that."
He paused, his gaze hardening. "Get some rest, Rangiku. We'll request the use of some gigai and take a look at this 'Konoha' in the next few days. Hollows are drawn to places where they have lingering emotional attachments. I'm sure this one will pop up again soon, and we'll deal with it then."
Rangiku's smile widened, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Oh, Captain, you really, really, really need to lighten up!" She impulsively wrapped her arms around Hitsugaya in a tight hug, earning a surprised grunt from the usually stoic Captain. "But then again," she added with a mischievous grin, "I'd never refuse a trip to the world of the living!"
Hueco Mundo - Above the sands
Madara bounded across the Hueco Mundo desert with a speed he had never experienced before, relishing the sonic booms that accompanied his sonido.
Days had passed since his arrival in the Menos Forest, and his body had mostly reverted to its human form, but for his Hollow hole and mask. It was a testament to the adaptability of his new existence. The bear Hollow had proven useful, as it had quite a bit of useful knowledge about the evolution of Hollow abilities. Madara had consumed it, absorbing its essence and furthering his own transformation.
He had learned that he was in the Menos Forest, a common destination for newborn Hollows after their first garganta. Based on his rapid evolution and clarity of mind, he was likely an Adjuchas, or perhaps even a Vasto Lorde. The difference in his chakra, he realized, was due to the presence of "reiatsu," or spiritual pressure, released from vents on the wrists. Madara marveled at this new energy, its raw power resonating with his own insatiable thirst for strength. Despite his sensory expertise, he couldn't yet sense reiatsu as acutely as he could chakra, a minor frustration in the face of his burgeoning potential.
Experimentation had revealed that his old jutsu were still accessible, a comforting familiarity in this strange new world. In fact, whether due to reiatsu, Hashirama's flesh, or the consumed Hollows, his reserves were greater than ever before. The possibilities were exhilarating.
His tail had completely vanished, and his proportions were now perfectly human. As he listened to the crunching sand beneath his feet, a spark of inspiration ignited within him. This expansive desert was the perfect place to test some larger scale, destructive jutsu.
As he completed the hand seals, Madara drew upon his reserves, inhaled deeply, and roared: "Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Crimson flames erupted from his mouth, engulfing the desert in a raging inferno. Tongues of fire danced and writhed, surging with a speed and intensity that he did not expect. Madara reveled in the display of raw power, feeling the familiar drain on his chakra yet exhilarated by the sheer scale of the destruction. He maintained the jutsu, pushing his limits, until finally releasing it with a satisfied sigh.
He was definitely more powerful now than he had been in life. The realization sent a thrill through him. This new existence, this Hollow form, was not a curse, but an opportunity. An opportunity to transcend his mortal limitations and achieve a level of power he had only dreamed of.
From the knowledge he had gained from consuming Hollows in the Menos Forest, Madara knew that Hollows could live for at minimum, many hundreds of years. He had all the time in the world to consolidate his new power.
He smiled, and then returned his attention to the newly-formed obsidian glass in the sand. The firestorm was not merely a show of force. He had glassed the sand to create a mirror so he could see his new appearance.
Madara knelt, peering into his reflection. A stranger stared back at him. I don't know what I was expecting... He reached up, tracing the contours of his mask. He knew it was there, had felt its presence on his face, but this was the first time he had truly seen it.
Bone-white, with rings radiating outward from the center, it was a grotesque mockery of his own Sharingan. Two of the tomoe served as openings for his eyes, the third positioned high on his forehead, a cruel parody of the third eye he had read about in ancient texts, the mark of enlightened beings. He scoffed inwardly. Am I to believe that one day I may evolve to have three eyes?
Despite the oddness of the three openings, a sense of pride welled up from within Madara - even in death, his Uchiha blood ran thick enough to manifest the Sharingan in the form of his Hollow mask.
His entire hollowfication was a bitter irony. He, Madara Uchiha, the legendary Shinobi who sought power to bring peace, was now a monster, a devourer of souls. Yet, even as he acknowledged this twisted fate, he resolved not to be defined by his mask. He would use this new power, this Hollow form, to continue his quest. He had read about the Infinite Tsukuyomi from the Uchiha stone tablet, and he knew for sure he was stronger than Hashirama now.
His musing was cut short, however by the sound of rushing water. It was drawing closer rapidly.
Water?
"Tiburon!"
A woman's voice echoed across the glassy desert, distorted by the reflective surface left behind by Madara's Great Fire Annihilation. It was a voice filled with authority and a hint of challenge - a stark contrast to the guttural snarls and hisses of the hollows Madara had grown accustomed to in Hueco Mundo.
Madara's Sharingan flared to life, pinpointing the source of the voice: a blonde-haired woman hovering in the sky, her right arm extended, wielding a short, hollowed-out broadsword. A tidal wave flowed into existence from the tip of her broadsword, the water hissing and steaming as it clashed with the last embers of his jutsu.
Madara cursed inwardly. Though he had experimented with aerial movement using reiatsu, he wasn't confident in his airborne combat abilities yet. This woman, with her command over water and her confident demeanor, presented a new and intriguing challenge.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Madara shouted, his voice amplified by the Hollow mask that now adorned his face.
The woman's lips moved, but her words were lost in the roar of the waves and steaming water. Madara's frustration grew. He was not accustomed to being ignored, especially not after such a blatant display of power.
"If you won't come to me, then I'll come to you," Madara growled, a predatory grin spreading across his masked face. "Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu!"
He unleashed a torrent of flames, a swirling inferno of crimson and orange that roared towards the woman in the sky. The air crackled with heat, the very sand beneath his feet beginning to melt. He intended to force her down, to engage in a battle where he could test his newfound abilities against hers.
But through the inferno, he heard a single word, spoken with chilling clarity: "Cascada."
The sky shimmered, and the flames were snuffed out in an instant, replaced by a deluge of icy water. Madara's eyes widened as he was engulfed, the sudden shift from scorching heat to numbing cold sending a jolt through his body. Yet, his Sharingan remained active, tracking the woman's movements as she descended towards him, her blade gleaming ominously in the dim light.
He braced himself for the impact, his instincts screaming at him to fight, to survive. He was Madara Uchiha, and he would not be defeated so easily; not in this world or in any other.
AN
Hey, so Madara is a hollow, and still has his old powers (valley of the end, battle with hashirama level) but slightly amped with sonido and extra reiatsu reserves on top of his chakra. please review and let me know what you think of the story so far, any questions/suggestions/criticisms etc