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Back to Karakura Town
🕑 Added 2023-04-01 15:40:16 +0000 UTCA few hours after waking up next to Tatsuki, Naruto received a message that Captain Ukitake apparently wanted to talk with Naruto about something important. So, the duo was currently sitting at a table, calmly drinking tea.
After around a minute of silence, Ukitake started talking.
"Well, since everything is more or less settled, and your group is no longer considered invaders, I've decided to make you an offer."
Naruto simply nodded his head and motioned Ukitake to continue.
"Since you have Shinigami powers, are you interested in becoming a Substitute Shinigami?"
"Oh? Substitute Shinigami? Please elaborate."
"Well, there honestly isn't much to explain. Basically, you will get an official token to represent your position which will also warn you of incoming Hollow. Overall, all you have to do is kill Hollow when you see them."
As soon as Ukitake stopped talking, Naruto briefly pondered the offer and came to a conclusion rather quickly.
'Well, this honestly isn't a big deal. I would be killing Hollow anyways, so having something to identify myself with might be useful. Neither Seireitei nor I get much out of this, so let's accept for now.'
"Alright, I'm in."
Hearing Naruto accepting his offer Ukitake happily nodded his head while his right hand vanished into his left sleeve before pulling something out of there.
It was a small black and white token that had two crossing black stripes on it with a big black skull at the crosspoint of the stripes.
"This is the Substitute Badge. It will be the token representing your position as a Substitute Shinigami."
Taking the token, Naruto couldn't help but feel a little suspicious of Ukitake. No, that wasn't entirely correct, as rather than feeling that he was acting suspiciously, Naruto felt like he was deliberately doing so.
'Something isn't entirely right with this badge, and although Ukitake knows what's wrong, he isn't allowed to tell me directly. As such, he decided to put up this act.'
As soon as Naruto came to that conclusion, his eyes started shining blue as he directed some of his Spiritual Power into them, enhancing what he could see. After watching the badge Ukitake was holding out to him, Naruto immediately noticed what was going on, as it had a rather simple structure.
"I see; a location tracker, huh?"
(Disclaimer from the author: A lot of people think that the badge restricts Ichigo's Spiritual Power because Ginjo said it would "track and restrict" him, but I feel like that "restrict" wasn't pointed at Ichigo's Spiritual Power, but his movement in general. As in, if he were to go somewhere, Seireitei didn't want him to go, they could block/stop him after tracking him down.)
Ukitake could only smile wryly as Naruto instantly saw through the badge's functions. Obviously, he wanted Naruto to have some suspicions about the badge at least, but he didn't expect him to find out everything at a glance.
"So you found out immediately, huh? I guess that is to be expected of someone who could fight the Captain Commander for such a long time. Indeed, on top of the features I mentioned, this will track your location as well. So, if you want to reject the offer after finding out about that, then it can't be helped."
Instead of outright rejecting the badge, Naruto briefly pondered the situation before shrugging his shoulders.
"I'm not certain what I will do yet, but I'm rather curious about your actions. Others might not notice, but it was rather clear to me that you wanted me to doubt the purpose of this badge. What's that all about?"
Ukitake couldn't help but smile wryly due to Naruto's question. Despite that, he quickly answered his question, as he had already expected Naruto to ask it.
"The rule of giving Shinigami from outside of Seireitei this badge had been in place for a long time now, and I'm the one who set it in motion. On the one hand, I don't want Shinigami that aren't loyal towards Seireitei to roam the world of the living unchecked, but on the other hand, I can't help but feel guilty tracking them without their knowledge. So, I decided to hand the badge over without explaining all its functions while simultaneously acting in a way that might make me look suspicious."
Naruto hummed in acknowledgment after Ukitake finished his explanation. Frankly, he could only agree to his words. In terms of his previous world, Naruto was practically a Shinobi from a foreign Nation, but despite that, he was allowed to roam the lands controlled by Seireitei. A Shinobi from the Stone was not only roaming the lands of the Leaf but was even taking on missions. Well, it was a little more sophisticated than that, but in the end, it didn't really matter.
"I see, so it's like that. Well, I can understand why you would want to keep your taps on a rough like me, so I don't really mind. However, what if I were to reject this badge? As you have said, you want to know where I am, and if I were to reject it, you wouldn't be able to do so."
Feeling a sliver of hostility in Naruto's words, Ukitake could only raise his hands in surrender.
"I won't lie to you; if you were a Shinigami of average strength, I would force it onto you. However, considering what I have seen of your strength so far, I feel like that would be a huge mistake. Although I'm certain that you couldn't defeat all of Seireitei by yourself, I would rather not sacrifice a significant part of our forces just to restrict a single person that clearly holds no hostility towards us. So, even if you reject the badge, we wouldn't do anything."
As soon as Ukitake finished his explanation, Naruto nodded his head in approval and grabbed the badge. He totally agreed with Ukitake's words, as this was how the world worked in his first life as well. While the weak get suppressed, the strong are respected.
"Good, I like your reasoning and fully understand your point of view, so I'll take the badge and carry it around."
'Hehe, I wonder if I can mess with this things tracking function~ Oh? Someone stole an artifact from within Seireitei? Well, it couldn't be Naruto since his badge was moving around in the world of the living when the robbery happened~'
[Couldn't you accomplish the same by simply giving it to someone else?]
'Unfortunately, I can't. This thing is linked to my Spiritual power, so people in Seireitei will know immediately if someone else is carrying it. Another feature that might be fun to mess with~'
[*Sigh* The people in this city actually gave the prankster the tools to prank them with, huh? That's a little pitiful.]
Despite wanting to laugh like a maniac due to Kurama's words, Naruto kept a calm smile on his face as he stored the badge away, causing Ukitake to smile as well.
'He's such a polite young man. I'm really looking forward to what he will accomplish in the future.'
A few hours later, all of Seireitei's "invaders" were gathered at the execution platform yet again. However, instead of an execution, this is going to be the place used to send them back to the world of the living. as a massive Senkai-Mon was installed here, which is the official way to travel from Soul Society to the world of the living.
Apparently, Rukia decided to stay within Soul Society, which wasn't all that surprising to Naruto, as this was her home. Additionally, after the whole incident was done, and Ichigo more or less defeated Rukia's brother, he clearly became much more mellow and accepting of Rukia, allowing Rukia to see him as family.
Anyway, Naruto briefly saw Ukitake handing something over to Ichigo, which he assumed was another Substitute Badge. He briefly pondered whether he should inform Ichigo about what was the badge's real purpose but decided against it in the end. This was Ichigo's problem, not his own.
And, just like that, everyone left Seireitei through the Senkai-Mon. However, things didn't go exactly as everyone had assumed they would go.
"Isn't this the official way!? Why do we still have to hurry through here!?"
Just like the first time, the group passed through the dimension between the world of the living and Soul Society. They had to pass through here at a fast pace.
"It can't be helped! Not all of us are Shinigami, and we don't have any Hell Butterflies to guide us, so this is the only way for us to move through the dimensions!"
Although everyone grumbled after Yoruichi finished her explanation, in the end, no one could comment any further on what she said due to her words simply being the truth.
Despite them being forced to yet again rush through this transit dimension, this time, no problems popped up. Well, except for them appearing in Karakura town around a hundred meters above ground, resulting in a free fall.
However, before they could even start falling, Naruto felt something being shot toward them, so he quickly wrapped everyone in a coat of wind, reflecting the projectile while simultaneously allowing everyone to hover in midair.
Naruto briefly glanced at the source of the projectile and noticed Uzu, one of Kisuke's assistants, standing not too far away from them, holding what looked like a massive bazooka.
'What the hell is this kind of welcome? Someone is clearly craving a beating.'
A moment later, a flying carpet hovered up to Naruto and the rest of his group, causing his eyebrows to rise.
'Seriously? A flying carpet? Does this guy have too much time on his hands to develop gimmicks like that?'
"Ohya~ Seems like you made it back. How did it go? I can't help but notice that we are missing a few people~"
Despite his jolly tone, Kisuke was actually sweating a little due to two people not returning. Although the whole mess in Seireite was ultimately Aizen's idea, Kisuke more or less supported the whole thing. So, despite not really being close to anyone in the party except for Yoruichi, he still would feel somewhat guilty if people lost their life because of his actions.
Additionally, he couldn't help but notice that one of the missing people was Yuna, Naruto's sister. If Naruto found out about his involvement in this matter, and Kisuke was sure he would, it would be perfectly reasonable for Naruto to hunt him down for revenge.
However, his worries quickly vanished when he saw Naruto being in a good mood while teasing Tatsuki, causing her to blush and Naruto to laugh out loud.
"It seems like you are missing two people. What happened?"
Hearing Kisuke's question, Yoruichi simply shrugged her shoulder and started her explanation about what had happened in Seireitei.
"Well, it's a rather interesting story, and no matter how outrageous you think it might be, it's all true."
"Hahaha, now, now, Yoruichi, don't be like that. No matter what happened, there is no way I wouldn't believe your words."
Hearing Kisuke's words, Yoruichi couldn't help but smirk as she started talking.
"I see, guess that's true~ In that case, due to some time shenanigans, Yuna arrived in Seireitei a week before us. In that week, she seduced a Lieutenant and a Captain and had them join her harem, gave at least three other Captains a mental breakdown, causing them to either become rather jaded or destroy their own properties while making the whole city afraid of the word 'cake'.
The following week, she continued terrorizing the city with her pranks, ultimately deciding to follow Aizen toward Hueco Mundo, where she very likely plans to continue pranking people, which, after realizing this fact, resulted in Captain Kyoraku laughing out loud while declaring that Aizen had already lost this war."
As soon as Yoruichi's explanation finished, utter silence reigned over her surroundings, causing her to smirk. This was exactly the type of reaction she was hoping for, as even the people who traveled with her to Soul Society realized how absurd Yuna's actions were. Unfortunately for her, she didn't calculate that there was someone in the crowd who wasn't faced by Yuna's actions in the slightest.
"Oi, sister-in-law, you forgot to mention the part where you joined her harem~"
Instantly, everyone's gazes snapped towards Yoruichi, whose gaze instantly landed on Naruto. Although her emotions were hard to tell due to currently being in her cat form, if she were in her human form, she would be glaring at Naruto while blushing furiously.
"I did NOT join her harem."
"Sure, keep telling yourself that, and it might become the truth one day."
Despite all the commotion, Kisuke still didn't say a word as he was still digesting the ridiculous story he had just hurt. So, only after Naruto and Yoruichi continued bickering for a while longer did he finally manage to come up with a response to Yoruichi's report.
"Huh?"
Well, no one said it was a good response, but that was all he had for now. Realizing that Kisuke was rather close to having smoke come out of his ears, Yoruichi couldn't help but chuckle in amusement while dismissing her grudge toward Naruto. Usually, Kisuke was the one to mess with her, so this was the perfect opportunity to get some revenge.
"I know, right? To think she would be able to not only seduce the old Kenpachi, Captain Unohana, but even defeat the new one. She sure hid her true power well.
Oh well, my highlight was definitely the massive ice penis she managed to erect inside the Kuchiki compound somehow, which seemed to be pretty much indestructible and would occasionally shoot white... snow into the air."
A few more seconds passed after Yoruichi finished speaking, resulting in Kisuke answering Yoruichi.
"Haa?"
Yet again, not the brightest of answers to her report, which only made her even happier. Seeing a dumbfounded Kusike was extremely rare, so she couldn't help but be happy due to the current situation.
Although it took Kisuke a while to reboot his brain, as soon as he did, he couldn't help but glare at Yoruichi.
"Could you please take this seriously? Please tell me the truth."
"Oh? What happened to 'No matter what happened, there is no way I wouldn't believe your words.'?
"Pah, although I said that, at least be reasonable. That nonsense you have just told me is simply too absurd to be true."
As soon as Kisuke finished speaking, his gaze landed on the other people who went to Seireitei, expecting their expressions to falter due to Yoruichi's obvious prank being seen through.
However, although everyone indeed looked away as soon as Kisuke's gaze landed on them, he felt like the reason they were looking away from him wasn't that they were afraid of exposing Yoruichi's lie, causing Yoruichi to laugh out loud.
"Sorry to disappoint your common sense, but everything I just said is true."
"Including you joining nee-san's harem~"
"Shut up, Naruto!"
"Yes, sister-in-law~"
Hearing Naruto calling her "sister-in-law" yet again, Yoruchi gritted her teeth so hard they almost shattered as she directed a seething glare and Naruto, who only casually winked at her, making her even angrier.
On the other hand, Kisuke could only stare at the duo in a daze.
'Impossible. How can that be true? There is no way a single individual could do all of that. Especially not if they had just become a Shingami a few days ago. This is impossible. W-What am I even supposed to do now? It seems like Yuna actually had more potential than Ichigo. So, should I switch her out and make use of her for my plans instead? No, that doesn't make any sense, as her circumstances are completely different from Ichigo's.
On top of that, she actually went to Hueco Mundo. What the hell!? Plans that were crafted for over a century need to be thrown into the trash just because one woman decided to do whatever she wanted.
Damnit, I can't predict what will happen at all. Will Yuna really cause havoc within Hueco Mundo? How will her presence affect the forces Aizen will bring and Aizen himself? Shit, shit, shit, everything is spiraling out of control!'
Meanwhile, while Naruto was bickering with Yoruichi, he couldn't help but internally chuckle in amusement due to Kisuke's current state of mind. He could easily tell just how distressed he was, almost causing him to laugh out loud.
'How pitiful; he tried to predict what nee-san would do and straight up crashed and burned. Oh well, it's not like this is the first time this has happened.'
[As someone who has known her for a long time now, it's always fascinating seeing this kind of thing happening.]
'Yeah, I agree. After all, if you know her, it's incredibly easy to get at least a read of what her next action is going to be, but if you don't know her, it's pretty much impossible to do so.'
[As expected of someone whose Zanpakuto is named "Chaos".]
'Mhh, now that I think about it, I wonder how Zanpakuto usually get their names? As far as I know, the Zanpakuto usually gives it to its wielder and not the other way around.'
[We recognize our names as soon as we become sentient. Usually, even if a Shinigami were to give us a name before we become sentient, it would be meaningless. Despite that, your sister somehow managed to name her Zanpakuto Spirit, either coincidently choosing the correct name or overwriting the real one, which should be impossible.]
'I see, so she somehow managed to overwrite the real one, huh? Thanks for the information, Borrum.'
[Please don't completely ignore the first option.]
'Mah, it's simply too absurd to happen, so it can't be helped~'
[And the second one isn't!?]
'Mah, it's nee-san, after.'
Since Yuna managed to awaken a second Zanpakuto Spirit on top of Kurama, it would be weird for Naruto not to do the same. After all, just like the egg that hatched inside Yuna's mindscape when she turned into a Shinigami, the same happened to Naruto, granting him his own Zanpakuto Spirit.
Although he had not used it within Seireitei yet, his sword's Shikai transformation greatly increased the power of his wind, while the Zanpakuto Spirit's name was Borrum.
Although he had yet to use it, Naruto was sure that there were plenty of chances to do so in the future.
Comments
Christian Jeffress
This story, undoubtedly, and without fail, always puts a smile on my face when I read it. Thanks for another great chapter.
