The Council Assembly Room was used for the monthly meetings of the Clan and Civilian Councils of Konohagakure. It was essentially a large, tiered auditorium arranged in a semi-circle opposite a single table where the Hokage sat slightly back from the floor on a raised dais. The Hokage had a real chair. Everyone else had hard benches, which theoretically discouraged long meetings. Naruto found this was the case when the Civilian Council met but it rarely worked against the hardened Clan Council. Each tier also had a long table which ran across the front of each row. Usually Council members jockeyed for space to spread their reports and agendas. There was none of that today.
Naruto shut the main doors to the assembly hall and slid into a seat between Sakura and Karin. It was the only open seat left in the hall. Usually a meeting like this, an optional session called by the Hokage, was only attended by the biggest clans, who sent one representative at most. Today every clan that could claim a seat had done so and sent the Clan Head and Heir to boot.
Konoha's four noble clans, the Aburame, the Akimichi, the Hyuuga, and the Uchiha sat on the front row of the auditorium along with the Department Heads, which included Shikamaru, Ibiki, and Iruka. Sasuke was the only living Uchiha, but his second seat was taken by his teammate Karin, who managed the property in the Uchiha District. The rest of Team Taka took two seats on the back rows. Kakashi, who was sitting in one of the middle tiers, was also the only member of his Clan but had invited Gai to sit with him. Konohamaru, who had returned from his inaugural mission as a chunin, was the Sarutobi Heir but would be appointed to Head soon. One of his Clan Elders took the second Sarutobi seat.
The two back rows of the hall were reserved for unaffiliated shinobi who wanted to sit in on the meetings. Generally, this was a number equaling zero. Today, every seat was taken. In addition to Naruto, Sakura, and Ichigo's sisters, Yamato and Sai, Kurenai and Anko, Tenten, Neji and Lee, and Hanabi had formed a small block of partially informed shinobi. The rest of the seats were mostly taken by members of ANBU who had watched the Kurosakis at one point or another. Kon, Sandy, and Unicorn were there too sitting on the table in front of Karin and Yuzu to get a better view of the proceedings.
At the moment, Tsunade was providing a summary of the attack on Suna along with background information on the attempted kidnappings. But everyone was eagerly waiting for her to finish.
Well, almost everyone.
"You know," said Karin trying to idle and failing. "The last time a governing body figured out what Ichigo could do, we had to leave our home just ahead of an army."
"That won't happen here," said Naruto firmly.
Karin glanced at him. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah," said Naruto. "This isn't a governing body. The Hokage calls the shots, and Granny has plans for all of you."
Karin didn't look entirely convinced. Sakura took hold of Naruto's shoulder and shoved him into the table for a clear line of sight on her apprentice.
"Don't worry," she said over his squirming body. "Naruto knows what he's talking about. Just expect a lot of staring and whispers for the next two weeks."
"Hooray," deadpanned Karin.
Naruto shrugged off Sakura's hand looked at Karin. She was a little more relaxed and so was Yuzu sitting next to her. The three not-animals all returned their attention to the floor pretending they hadn't been watching him squirm in the first place.
Tsunade had reversed her stance on revealing Ichigo's background. After he opened a garganta where the entire village could see, Tsunade decided a general information session was needed to disperse any lingering rumors. Thus, the called Clan Council meeting. However, Tsunade had issued orders to keep the true nature of the Kurosaki family's pets a secret for the time being. Apparently, one international incident at a time was her current limit.
Tsunade concluded her opening remarks and sat down. Ichigo, who had been waiting against the wall behind her desk, stepped into the center of the floor. He had a piece of paper in his left hand, which he raised for everyone to see.
"This is a map of the Elemental Countries," he said. He lifted his right hand. A glowing blue orb sprinkled with blobs of green and swirling white dashes rotated slowly over his palm. "This is the planet Earth, where I was born. It is in a dimension completely separate from the Elemental Countries."
For a room of traditionally silent killers, the collective outcry was amazingly loud. Ichigo completely ignored the resulting clamor from the assembled ninjas and set the map aside bring the globe to the forefront.
"The Earth is part of system known as the Three Worlds," he continued. "These include the Living World, Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo."
The globe flattened into a disc. Two other discs rose into the air above it. Each one turned a different color: white with "Living" printed in red, black with "Hueco Mundo" printed in white; and red with "Soul Society" printed in black. Ichigo turned the diagram slowly so that everyone could see it.
"The Living World is where humans live. The only difference between human there and humans in the Elemental Countries, as far as I can determine, is the ability to use chakra, which humans on Earth lack entirely," he explained.
"Does that mean it's a world full of people like Lee?" asked Tenten quietly from the row in front of them.
Sakura shook her head. "Lee can't mold chakra but he can still reinforce his body with it. Ichigo's talking about a world like ours before the Sage of Six Paths introduced the uses of chakra."
"Soul Society," the red disk shifted to the forefront, "is somewhat similar to the Pure Land. It is where souls who have passed to afterlife reside as Pluses." The red disk changed colors to white on the outside with a red center. "The majority of Pluses live in Rukongai, the Wandering Soul District, where they wait to be reborn. A much smaller number live in Seireiteti, the Court of Pure Souls, in the center of Soul Society. The Pluses in Seireitei are generally considered to be nobles and form the government of Soul Society called the Central Chambers.
"Also stationed in Seireitei, are the Gotei 13, the Thirteen Court Guard Divisions. The Gotei 13 are composed of shinigami, who are empowered to help souls in the Living World move to Soul Society and to fight Hollows. The shinigami serve as Soul Society's army. My father was the Captain of Tenth Division before he met my mother. He was also a member of Clan Shiba, one of the Five Great Noble Families of Soul Society. I also served as substitute shinigami under the auspices of the Thirteenth Division before coming to the Elemental Countries."
This caused an even greater stir, especially since it was essentially what the shinobi already knew about Ichigo. He really was horrible at lying, reflected Naruto. The only thing the Council hadn't know was that Soul Society wasn't some other foreign country but the afterlife of another world.
"Is your brother dead?" asked Anko curiously.
"Ichigo's not dead," said Yuzu fervently. "He's alive."
"If he were dead, we wouldn't be in this mess," said Karin. "The Central Chambers don't like it when humans have powers beyond their control. Not that any of it was Ichigo's fault."
On the floor, Ichigo acted like the whole explanation was an irritation he had to deal with rather than the restructuring of the assembly's understanding of the world. It wasn't an endearing attitude, but it was very Ichigo. The red circle drifted away, and the black one moved to the front.
"Hueco Mundo is technically an in-between world inhabited by Hollows," explained Ichigo. "Hollows are spirits of humans that have died but have not properly moved on to Soul Society. The weakest Pluses have almost no spiritual power and need nothing more than water to survive indefinitely. A ghost that lingers in the Living World will eventually starve to death, but because they have not moved on to Soul Society those souls can't be reborn. Instead they transform into monsters driven by their hunger to attack and eat sources of reiryoku."
Naruto paled and looked at Karin. "Is that why you were worried about Ichigo eating something?"
Karin scowled at the table. "No, Ichigo's a shinigami not a ghost, so he can't turn into a Hollow like that. I was just hoping he that could eat something and have it do some good if he ever gets stuck outside his body."
"Ichigo was in bankai for three months without eating anything," Kon reassured her. "As long as you can perform the reiatsu restoration kido, he could take on a thousand of those fake armies and still be fine."
Naruto's jaw dropped. Karin hissed in warning while Yuzu gave a little gasp. Everyone in hearing range, which in this case included several rows of Clan members below their little block, turned to stare at the lion doll. Kon paled beneath the scrutiny. Naruto still couldn't understand how the toy did that.
"Are you serious?" demanded Neji.
Kon flailed his arms. "Fake armies. Fake armies! The fakes don't have souls, so they don't have any spiritual power, so their attacks couldn't affect Ichigo at all. It would definitely be different with living ninjas. A lot different! Tenten definitely wounded him in shinigami form."
The details of Ichigo's actions after he entered Sand were still classified. Only the members of the rescue party knew the exact extent of Ichigo's wounds—a single scratch. When the kunoichi nodded in confirmation, many of the Clan shinobi turned back to Ichigo's presentation. A few looked concerned, but more looked speculative. Naruto hoped that was a good sign. Tsunade still had control over Ichigo's right to stay in Konoha no matter the eventual rumors.
Tenten prodded Neji and the pair discretely switched places. Tenten twisted around and leaned in close to stare at Kon. Even the ANBU scattered across the back row would have a hard time reading her lips from that position.
"About that "wound" I gave Ichigo, is that the best any of us can expect to do?" she asked very, very quietly.
Kon shook his head. "No. Ichigo is pretty sure any attacks that involve chakra—ones performed a living person anyway—will have more effect on his spiritual body than pure physical attacks."
"So Lee and I will basically useless against Ichigo when he's like that or against anyone that comes after him," said Tenten.
Naruto had been worried about that exact thing ever since the Kurosakis revealed their origins and their reasons for running. At the same time, he was glad that Tenten was still looking after Ichigo, even now after everything that had happened.
Kon shook his head again. "It's not as bad as you think. Ichigo is, well, he's a lot like Naruto—abnormally strong. In his shikai and with his mask, Ichigo is practically as strong as a Captain in bankai. Hitting him like that, without using a zanpakuto or anything, was really good. You could probably take on a Lieutenant that hasn't mastered bankai yet, and most of them haven't."
"What about Sasuke taking a chunk out of Zangetsu and cutting Ichigo when he was using blut vene?" asked Naruto softly.
"I'm not sure," admitted Kon. "Even with all the Quincy stuff and his what's left of his Fullbring power, Ichigo is at his least powerful when he's in his body. But Ichigo said Sasuke has Captain-class reiastu, same as you, Kakashi, and the Hokage. At full strength, Sasuke could probably cause some damage even if Ichigo was in bankai."
Naruto didn't find the "probably" in that sentence particularly assuring. If Sasuke heard, he was going to be pissed. Tenten didn't look pleased either, but she turned back to the front.
Ichigo was still talking. "Hollows move between Hueco Mundo and the other worlds via use of garganta, which is the technique I used to reach Sunagakure. Physical bodies cannot pass through a garganta or senkaimon—the shinigami equivalent that connects Soul Society and the Living World—without special equipment. The one exception to this rule is that humans can enter and leave the Hell dimension with their bodies intact."
He twisted his hand. The black circle moved away and the red shinigami disc moved back to the front. Three more tiny discs appeared around it. One was black, one was grey, and the last was white. They circle the red disc like tiny moons.
"Hell, Heaven, and the King's realm—that would be the Soul King, who maintains the transfer of souls between all realms—are all separate pocket dimensions related to Soul Society and overseen by shinigami, though none are managed directly by the Court Guard," he continued.
Sakura slid a square of paper over to Naruto. It read, "Karin said Ichigo can't turn into a Hollow like that. Does that mean he can turn into a Hollow a different way?"
Naruto shrugged and passed the note on. Karin and Yuzu bent their heads over it. But it was Kon who scribbled out an answer.
When Naruto took it back, he and Sakura leaned into read the reply together. Ichigo's a Visored, so he can turn into a Hollow if he wants, but only if he wants. He usually doesn't need that much power anyway.
Sakura and Naruto exchanged looks. Sakura delicately folded and swallowed the note. There was no need to raise a fuss. Naruto suspected, if Ichigo's Hollow transformation was really a power boost, then it was closer to Naruto's Tailed-Beast form than an ordinary Hollow transformation. He would double-check later when there weren't so many paranoid shinobi around.
On the floor, Ichigo's discs of light winked out of sight, and a second Ichigo appeared next to the first. Naruto peered curiously at the doppelganger. There hadn't been any smoke, so he didn't think that was a clone.
"At least he's putting his genjutsu practice to some use," said Kurenai from Neji's other side.
"A genjutsu that everyone can see?" asked Naruto. The power requirements for a successful genjutsu increased for every person effected, and it took more chakra to fool shinobi than to trick civilians. That Ichigo had activated the illusion so easily spoke volumes about his abilities. "Was that first part a genjutsu too?"
"That was a kido," said Karin promptly. "Rukia tried to explain this stuff to us once. All she had were these awful drawings of rabbits. This makes a lot more sense."
"This is your average human," said Ichigo gesturing to the copy of himself. "A human's soul is connected to his body by what's called the Chain of Fate."
Ichigo slapped the copy in the center of the back and suddenly there were two. One collapsed to the floor and while the second remained standing. The second had a long chain anchored to its chest which connected to the unmoving copy on the floor.
"When the Chain of Fate is severed, the body dies and the soul transitions to Soul Society to live as a Plus," continued Ichigo.
The chain connecting the two copy Ichigo's shattered noisily. The standing one transformed into a tiny white butterfly and floated toward the ceiling. When Naruto looked down, the Ichigo lying on the floor had vanished, and a different Ichigo wearing a tattered looking yukata was standing next to the original.
"Pluses with spiritual pressure have the option of applying to the Academy of Soul arts"—the copy suddenly shifted into what was obviously a uniform—"receiving a nameless zanpakuto, called asauchi"—a regular katana dropped into the copy's hands—"and, after six years of school, or less for quick learners, graduating and joining the Thirteen Court Guard Divisions as shinigami."
The copy was now wearing the black outfit that Ichigo had worn while they were in Suna. That meant it was the standard uniform of the Gotei 13.
Naruto wasn't entirely pleased with the idea that his cousin's soul constantly wore the uniform of another military organization. Naruto wouldn't mind wearing his uniform for the rest of eternity—shinobi clothes were designed to be as functional and comfortable as possible—but Konoha was his home, and Naruto was going to be Hokage eventually. Soul Society had driven Ichigo and his family away. His soul needed an honorable uniform or, if a shinobi's flak vest wasn't honorable, at least a worthy one.
"The ranks of the shinigami are organized based on strength," explained Ichigo. "The lowest rank shinigami are very weak and unlikely to ever learn the name of their zanpakuto."
The copy-Ichigo waved his sheathed katana at the shinobi. It looked like a completely normal sword to Naruto. It was nothing like Ichigo's zanpakuto.
"Next are the Seated Officers, which are ranks one through twenty with one being the highest. Seated Officers have significantly more power than the average shinigami. Seated Officers know the name of their zanpakuto and are able to enter shikai.
The katana in the copy's hand shifted into the now familiar form of Zangetsu. The copy strapped it to his back and looked smug.
"Do all zanpakuto change shape like Ichigo's?" asked Naruto.
Kon shook his head. Karin bit her lip in a visible struggle not to laugh. Yuzu winced sheepishly.
"Once a shinigami learns his zanpakuto's name, the sealed form generally gains a little customization," said Karin eventually. "Theoretically the size of the zanpakuto reflects its wielder's power, but even Captains are able limit the size of their weapons to something normal like a katana, wakizashi, or daito."
"So the giant knife look isn't standard," clarified Naruto.
"It means Ichigo has a lot of spiritual pressure but his control over it stinks, basically," said Karin. "And no matter how much he improves, there's only so much he can do."
"Sounds like someone else I know," murmured Sakura.
Naruto cringed. He knew what it was like to have too much power. He had nearly failed out of the Academy because of it. Naruto wondered how much control over his spiritual pressure Ichigo really did have. Ichigo's chakra control was much better as evidenced by his control over the genjutsu.
"Next are the Lieutenants," said Ichigo. The copy Ichigo gained a badge on his left arm. It was in the same place where Ichigo wore his hitai-ate, which meant it was probably the reason Ichigo wore it there in the first place.
"Lieutenants are generally the Division's second seat, though sometimes the third seat may share responsibilities. They typically have full mastery of their shikai, and some have learned bankai," explained Ichigo. "Finally, there are the Captains."
Here the copy's uniform underwent a more drastic change. A white haori settled over his shoulders. When he turned around, there was an empty rhombus printed on the back.
"Each Division has one Captain." Behind Tsunade a line of people wearing white haori flickered into view then vanished. "Captains are the strongest members of their Division. Each one has learned their zanpakuto's name, achieved shikai, and achieved bankai. Souls with the ability of achieving bankai are even rarer than shinobi capable of becoming Kage, though they have roughly the same level of power.
"Now, on the other end of the spectrum there are Hollows."
The copy-Ichigo drew his sword with a bloodthirsty grin. He also temporarily developed dark spiky hair and eye-patch. A moment later, he was back to wearing Ichigo's regular clothes with a hole in his chest and a short dangling chain. The copy looked annoyed by this development. Naruto was pretty sure that Ichigo had a lot less control over the genjutsu than he thought.
"Hollows occur when a soul doesn't move to the Soul Society and lingers in the living world as a ghost. This usually happens because a ghost is too scared to move on"—the copy-Ichigo abruptly shrank into a five-year-old version of himself and hid behind Ichigo's legs; Naruto resisted the urge to coo, but not everyone did—"or because something else is tying the ghost to the living world."
The five-year-old Ichigo shifted into the adult version and clung fiercely to Tsunade's desk. The Hokage looked entirely amused by the whole thing.
"The deceased can't sustain themselves in the living world forever. Usually a shinigami comes along to perform a Soul Burial."
Ichigo paused while a uniform wearing copy of himself appeared and struck the soul-version of himself in the head with the hilt of his sword. The butterfly scene repeated itself, and then the soul-version was back like nothing had happened.
"Sometimes, the shinigami are too slow and the ghost becomes a Hollow," said Ichigo.
The soul-version Ichigo looked down at his Chain of Fate in panic, but it didn't move at all. Instead the copy disappeared completely, and a completely different character appeared. This person had a much larger hole in his chest and much shorter chain. The soul transformed into a vaguely frog-shaped monster. Shinigami-Ichigo reappeared and stabbed the Hollow in the mask. The Hollow crumbled and a butterfly rose to the ceiling again.
"There are two hybrid spiritual beings," said Ichigo. "One is called a Visored. That is a shinigami who has undergone hollowificaton and gained Hollow-like powers. I am a Visored, which is why I was able to form a garganta to Suna."
Meanwhile, a white skull mask appeared on copy-Ichigo's face. The mask had two black stripes running from the top to the bottom over his eyes.
"Before you ask, Visored don't need to eat souls to sustain themselves unlike normal Hollows," explained Ichigo. This actually raised a few chuckles from the shinobi, even though it wasn't very funny at all in Naruto's opinion.
"The other hybrid race are called Arrancar," added Ichigo. "They are Hollows which have removed their masks, going through a process called shinigamification, to gain Shinigami powers. They don't have to eat Hollows to sustain themselves either, though like all souls with spiritual pressure they need Spirit Food of some kind."
A blue-haired man in white appeared next to the copy-Ichigo. This one had a giant hole in his stomach and a partial mask running along his jawbone. He also had a sword at his hip. The copy-Ichigo and the blue-haired man immediately started fighting each other. Ichigo rolled his eyes and waved a hand. Both fighters disappeared.
"There are also humans with advance spiritual awareness," said Ichigo. "On Earth, there was a group called the Quincy. These were Clans of people who possessed the power to see and fight spirits. This is essentially a kekkei genkai. My mother was a Quincy, which allowed her to meet my father. The Quincy have been at odds or at war with Soul Society for most of their existence. One of the reasons my family had to leave our world was that the Central Chambers do not approve of the existence of humans who have the potential to use both shinigami and Quincy powers."
That brought a round of sympathetic murmurs from several of the Clans. Everyone knew that possessors of kekkei genkai were often resented by civilians and even other shinobi. The purges of kekkei genkai wielders in the Land of Water horrified citizens of Konoha, who took great pride in being the home of two famous dojutsu.
"There are also other spiritually aware humans. Generally, humans gain awareness via constant exposure to spiritual pressure or by surviving a life threatening incident involving a spiritual being," said Ichigo.
Zangetsu's hilt manifested over his shoulder. Ichigo hefted the blade for everyone to see.
"Zangetsu is a zanpakuto comprised entirely of spirit particles. If you can see Zangetsu, congratulations, you can also see ghosts. If you say, I've never seen a ghost. Well, neither have I since arriving in the Elemental Countries. And if there were any, there'd definitely be some in the Uchiha District."
Naruto groaned. The Sasuke from his childhood would definitely have attacked Ichigo for saying something like that. The current Sasuke just looked quietly stunned. Unfortunately, his teammate Karin looked ready to spit nails.
"Every citizen of the Elemental Countries has above-average spiritual power," said Ichigo. "I can only assume that is because they all possess the ability to use chakra. Spiritual power also grows when one's life is in danger. Every person in this room has the spiritual power of a Seated Officer or higher. Some jounin are Lieutenant-class, and a few are Captain-class.
"Regardless of how well shinobi could compete with shinigami, the Soul Society in its entirety lacks the ability to move between dimensions not connected to the Dangai, the Precipice World, including this one. My family used a seal developed by the Uzumaki Clan to come to the Elemental Countries just as Uzumaki Mamoru used a similar seal to leave Uzushiogakure for Earth. The only shinigami in this world is Shinigami-sama."
Ichigo had dismissed his copy and the blue-haired man, but apparently he hadn't ended genjutsu entirely because the Shinigami popped into existence next to him. Several of council members shouted in alarm. Naruto, who had seen the actual Shinigami, noted this version was holding an incongruous cup of tea. Disturbingly, he also sensed amusement from the image.
"Oh no," said Yuzu faintly. "That's the tea I had Ichi-nii make for Kon this morning. I hope it's not cold."
Naruto gaped at her. "You mean that's the real one?" he hissed barely remembering to lower his voice.
"Feels like it," said Karin.
"Kai!" barked several of the shinobi in the front of the auditorium.
The Shinigami, apparently playing along on a whim, blinked out of existence. Ichigo frowned at the empty place in confusion for a moment. Then he shook his head and looked to Tsunade.
"I think that's everything, Hokage-sama," he said politely.
Despite sitting so close, Tsunade seemingly hadn't noticed anything unusual about the Shinigami. "Thank you for your report, Kurosaki. You may stand down."
Ichigo returned to his previous position behind the Hokage's desk. Tsunade looked at the assembled Clans. "That concludes today's informational session. I will, of course, be willing to answer questions or listen to any security suggestions you submit through the appropriate channels. You are dismissed."
The shinobi rose from their seats when the Hokage did. She swept through the door at the bottom of the assembly hall and Ichigo hurried after her. Naruto touched Karin on the shoulder and leaned in so she and Yuzu could hear him over the growing cacophony of confused and irritated shinobi.
"We're going to the Hokage's office," said Naruto. There was a reason he had been sitting at the back instead of standing beside Tsunade and it hadn't been to question the twins. "Grab your pets."
Karin and Yuzu rose. Each one took the appropriate biju while Kon jumped to Naruto's shoulder. The six of them hurried out of the Hall before the crowd could remember there were two more members of the Kurosaki family to question and hastily made their way up to the Hokage's office.
Tsunade was waiting for them along with Ichigo, whom Kon immediately moved to join. A few seconds later, Kakashi and Shikamaru appeared in the window. Kakashi looked as relaxed as usual while Shikamaru looked like the weight of an unusually troublesome world rested on his shoulders. The two jounin fell in line with the rest of them.
"Excellent timing," said Tsunade. She turned her focus on Ichigo. "Kurosaki, I have two major questions, and I need you to answer them as honestly as possible."
Ichigo looked offended but didn't protest the accusation. "Yes, ma'am."
Tsunade's face softened briefly. "I realize you don't like to lie. In fact, you've been very honest with everyone. But you do downplay your abilities and the safety of Konoha is at stake."
"I understand," said Ichigo.
"Is it possible for the shinigami from Soul Society to pursue you here?" asked Tsunade.
"It is not currently possible," said Ichigo carefully. "But I know Hat'n'Clogs, that is, Urahara Kisuke, former Captain of Twelfth Division and founder of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, could probably invent the technology if he wanted. Also, the current Captain of Twelfth, Kurotsuchi Mayuri, could probably do the same. But Kurotsuchi is subject to a budget allocated by the Central Forty-Six, and from their point of view, the three of us being here is nearly as good as the three of us being dead."
"At least we don't have to prepare for another army taking a swing at us," grumbled Shikamaru. "Why couldn't you just be from some weird country on this planet? Multi-verse theory is pain to study."
"But at least you know it's not a theory, Shikamaru-san," said Yuzu. "That's more than anyone else who's written on the subject."
"You don't have to find a silver lining on every cloud," said Shikamaru.
"You can complain later. At this time, we will consider the threat of invasion by Soul Society unlikely and be grateful," said Tsunade firmly. "Now, Kurosaki, for my second question, if it came down to a fight, who would win, you or Naruto?"
"Oi!" protested Naruto.
Ichigo sighed heavily. "Save the hard ones for last, huh? If I was in my body and we were both going all out, Naruto would win. If I was in soul form, I would probably win."
Naruto wrinkled his nose at the matter-of-fact announcement. Kurama rumbled angrily inside his seal. Kon had already told them that Ichigo was weaker in his body. It was like hearing Naruto could defeat anyone as long as his opponent had a handicap.
"You do realize that Naruto is the vessel for the Kyuubi," said Tsunade.
"Naruto has above-Captain class reiatsu and so does the Nine-Tails," said Ichigo. "But I have above-Captain class reiatsu and so does Zangetsu. I wouldn't have brought Matatabi and Isobu home if I didn't think I could stop them from getting out of line."
Tsunade glanced at the two biju, who attempted to look like cute, innocent animals. Naruto thought they did an admirable job.
"At least you're not a complete idiot," said Tsunade. "Does being in your body make that much of a difference?"
"Physical matter can only withstand so much spiritual pressure before it's destroyed," explained Ichigo. "I can use Zangetsu's first release for about ten minutes before my internal organs start to shut down. But bankai is five to ten times more powerful than shikai depending on the person. There wouldn't be anything of me left if I tried to use it."
"Let me guess. You're one of the tens," said Tsunade drily.
Ichigo shrugged. "Zangetsu's bankai is a little different than most, but yeah, I guess you could say that."
Tsunade hummed thoughtfully and took a scroll from her desk. She tossed it to Ichigo.
"Your next assignment," she informed him. She then turned to look at the rest of the shinobi. "I received a hawk from Gaara early this morning. There are no shinobi, other than the Sand Siblings, with Uzumaki blood in Suna, but there were two civilian families suspected to have ties to Uzu. Those civilians went missing in the attack."
Naruto glanced at Ichigo. His cousin's face was clouded with guilt, even though there was no way for him to have tracked down those civilians. Tenten had described the forest of ribbons, and Ichigo explained he could only use it to track people he knew. He was lucky that Gaara had such distinct reiatsu and that Kankuro was with him or else he never could have found them both.
"Unfortunately, our information about the attackers is still limited," continued Tsunade. "We know that they were mostly false-shinobi with a handful of paid missing-nin. Presumably the creator of the false-shinobi is behind the attacks. We do not know how they are created, but we do know they contain several seals, which are unusual."
"Agh, they're not just unusual. They're stupid," said Naruto. "Neji didn't get a good look at all of them, but the ones he did see are written weird like they're backwards or something. One is definitely a mirror seal, so they can reflect techniques used against them, and another was a nature chakra converter. But there were at least six."
"One of those unidentified seals is likely what stops the chakra of Uzumaki clansmen and causes them to collapse," said Tsunade.
"Isn't that weirdly specific?" asked Ichigo. "How can a seal affect only Uzumaki?"
"In addition to their skill with seals, the Uzumaki were known for having very unusual chakra," explained Kakashi. "It was how they were able to make real weapons out of pure chakra like Kushina or Yuzu's chains. The next closest skill is one used by samurai which coats their weapons in chakra, but they still require physical weapons to manipulate."
"So it can be done," allowed Ichigo. "But wouldn't something like that be hard to make? I mean, it took me hours to adjust that bug-barrier at the party so that it would only keep out mosquitos."
Tsunade sighed. "And you've hit the nail on the head. The only group we know of that has the skill to manipulate fuinjutsu to that degree is the Uzumaki Clan, but the clan dispersed after the destruction of Whirlpool and the remaining Uzumaki are targets."
"We think there must be a group that opposed the Uzumaki in the past that has recently resurged," said Naruto. "But there's nobody around to ask anymore."
"I asked the other Kages to an emergency summit meeting during the Chunin Exams, but they declined," said Tsunade. "There aren't any descendants of former Uzu-nin in Kiri, Iwa, or Kumo, and regrettably shinobi do not keep close track of civilians not of the Villages, so any disappearance from other countries have gone unnoticed until now. However, with the attack on Suna, the other Hidden Villages cannot deny there is a serious threat.
"We will likely meet for a summit in less than a month," continued Tsunade. "But until that time, Team Taka is grounded and no one with Uzumaki blood, including Naruto and myself, is leaving Konoha for any reason."
"But, Hokage-sama, these guys already grabbed Ichigo from inside the village," said Karin.
"That is why Kurosaki has received new orders," said Tsunade. "And why your pets will remain in the Village incognito."
Naruto smiled faintly. He had talked to Matatabi and Isobu when he returned from Suna. The Tailed Beasts were lonely and bored waiting for their energy to regenerate, not they couldn't still do serious damage if they wanted. The Kurosakis were many things, but they weren't boring. Tsunade had agreed to allow the biju to stay in the village as long as they actively looked after Karin and Yuzu. She was concerned about how the other villages would react when they discovered Konoha had two extra biju, which was why she insisted they stay in disguise as long as possible.
Ichigo unrolled the mission scroll and read the contents. His scowl shifted into a frown. Naruto had thought the information session and the deal with the biju were good ideas on Tsunade's part. He wasn't convinced that Ichigo react well to his new assignment, even if the reasoning was solid.
"These are orders to report to ANBU headquarters," said Ichigo suspiciously. "I thought genin couldn't become ANBU."
Tsunade leaned back in her seat. "You are not joining ANBU."
"I'm just going to be working with them from now on," said Ichigo.
"You are going to be training with them, and you are going to be guarding the wall, which is something only ANBU are permitted to do," said Tsunade. "The situation is temporary until the Clans come to grips with your abilities and this new threat is dealt with."
"Isn't it illegal to impersonate an ANBU?" asked Ichigo, but it was clear he was wavering.
It had been Naruto's idea to tell him about ANBU protecting the wall. The man had guardian written into his name and apparently wired into his brain.
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "You have special permission from the Hokage, so it's fine. This way, we'll have warning if more of those copies sneak into Konoha, and I can assign the ANBU watching your apartment to other, useful pursuits, like tracking down the kidnappers."
"I suppose," said Ichigo.
"Kakashi will escort you to ANBU headquarters for outfitting," said Tsunade. "And maybe while you're working with ANBU you can learn some military decorum."
Ichigo grimaced. "Sorry, ma'am. Yamamoto-jii-san gave up on that sort of thing after our first few meetings."
On Ichigo's shoulder, Kon went stiff. "I still can't believe you called the Captain Commander "old man" to his face. Anyone else would have been flash-fried."
Naruto smirked to himself. Every old guy in power needed someone to call them grandpa. It gave them a seriously needed reality check. He ignored the pointed stares from Kakashi and Shikamaru.
Tsunade sighed heavily. "I didn't realize insolence was genetic. We don't have any other information for now, so get going before you give me a bigger headache."
The shinobi bowed and left the office. Kakashi led Ichigo and Kon in the direction of ANBU headquarters, but the rest of them lingered. The sounds of irritable shinobi drifted up the stairwell. Sakura was the one keeping the clan members on the first floor since Shizune was still in Suna.
Shikamaru glanced at Naruto then at Yuzu. "Do you have time to play some shogi today, Yuzu?"
"Ibiki-san told me not to come in today," said Yuzu. "So, I have lots of time. I probably won't be able to answer very many questions about Soul Society though. Karin and I only visited a handful of times."
Shikamaru choked at being caught out. Naruto exchanged smirks with Karin. He liked the Kurosakis' straight-forward style, but it was taking everyone else awhile to catch on. The pair took off, the trio if Naruto included Matatabi, making sure to avoid contact with the crowd below.
"So, Karin, what are you going to do?" asked Naruto.
Karin shrugged. "Sakura-sensei said I should take today off from the hospital to recover. I was thinking of going to practice my water jutsu. Sandy said he'd show me some tricks."
"Oh?" said Naruto. He grinned at the turtle.
"Don't say a word," cautioned Isobu telepathically. "This is just payment on a deal. I'm not some soft-shell like that fox of yours."
Kurama spat curses back his brother. Naruto just kept smiling. "That sounds fun. Mind if I come with?"
"Do what you want," said Karin. "But I've got to find a way out of here first."
"I'll show you," said Naruto. "Sneaking out of places is excellent ninja training."
Karin eyed him suspiciously. "Ninja-training? Aren't you supposed to be the next Hokage?"
"Ninja-training for you! For you!" said Naruto. Why were his cousins so difficult?
Karin smirked. "Lead the way, ninja-trainer."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Kakashi led Ichigo deeper and deeper into the ANBU headquarters. They had already passed the basement several floors ago, and Ichigo was getting tired of the silent treatment.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"You're going to be working closely with ANBU, so you're going to need a mask," said Kakashi.
Ichigo already had a mask, thank you very much. He didn't see why he needed another one.
"Here," said Kakashi. "After this, find me on sub-level two. You'll have your security clearance checked."
"Security clearance?" muttered Ichigo. He thought working with the ANBU on the order of the Hokage would be enough security clearance.
Kakashi just smiled that weird false smile of his and plucked Kon off Ichigo's shoulder. The modsoul let out a cry of protest that everyone ignored. Ichigo scowled at Kakashi's retreating back.
Ichigo stepped through the door innocently labeled Mask Storage and Maintenance and abruptly froze even as his heart raced. There were white masks everywhere. They were hanging from the walls and scattered across every desk and table. There were even ones on the back of the door when it closed behind him. A few of the masks had color; some designs were mere splashes of paint while others were elaborate works of art. Unfortunately, the majority of the masks were bleached-bone white.
"It's worse than the Forest of Menos," muttered Ichigo. "Hello?"
Out of a dark corner, perhaps the only dark corner in the whole room, moved an old man. He wore a green shopkeeper's apron, somewhat incongruously, over a standard ANBU uniform. Despite his old age—and he was old, Ichigo could feel it in the depth of his reiatsu as much as he could see it in the wrinkles of his skin—his spine was straight and his shoulders strong.
"So you must be the new one," said the old man. "Alright, pick one."
Ichigo looked around the room. There were literally hundreds of masks. And he was supposed to pick one? Then, what? Decorate it? He could probably draw his hollow design on one of them. But none were the right shape. A different sort of mask would feel wrong.
Some of his feelings must have filtered onto his face because the old man grunted. "Look, kid. I know they aren't samurai masks. But Leaf hasn't had one of those in more than fifty years. It would take weeks to find one in the old building, and that's if I had permission to enter."
"I already have a mask," blurted Ichigo. This guy thought he was a samurai too. What was with these people? Was his training from the shinigami really that obvious?
The old man stared. "You can't wear some fair mask. This is serious business."
Ichigo scowled and held out his hand. His hollow mask formed on his palm. The old man stared in surprise then he narrowed his eyes at Ichigo.
"Kai!" he barked.
Ichigo rolled his eyes. What was the use of using a genjutsu to fake a mask? Unlike Aizen's complete subjugation of the senses, the shinobi's illusions were fairly simple to break once they were identified.
Satisified that it was real, the old man reached out for Ichigo's mask. It took everything the former substitute had not to snatch it back. Other people had touched his mask before. Hanatarou and Ganju had touched it before he even knew it existed. It wasn't like giving up his zanpakuto. He could just dissolve the mask and make a new one if he wanted. Still, it hurt to see the symbol of his power in someone else's hand.
The old man studied the mask carefully. Examined the black designs, the teeth, and the overall shape. He pulled a tiny hammer from his apron and tapped a few spots on the front. Then he turned the mask over and did the same thing to the back.
"Looks like bone china," muttered the old man.
He abruptly turned to the nearest table and swung the mask at the edge. The solid hit shaved a few bits of wood off the table, but the mask didn't even crack.
"What are you doing?" snapped Ichigo.
"Tougher than porcelain though," said the old man. "Put it on."
He made to the toss the mask at Ichigo, but it dissolved in his hand before he could. Ichigo pulled his left hand across his face and felt the mask settle into place.
Everything looked different from behind the mask. He had only spoken with Shinji about it once and never tried again after the man proved reluctant to talk. The Visoreds had been shinigami for years before their hollowification and as a result they felt very uncomfortable with their Hollow abilities no matter the fronts they put on for others. Ichigo had possessed his shinigami powers for scant a month longer than his Hollow powers. They both felt perfectly natural to him.
The old man recovered his equilibrium faster this time and stared at Ichigo's face in fascination.
"Does this one have lenses?" he asked.
"No," growled Ichigo still offended that the old man had tried to break his mask on a table.
The double-echo of his Hollow voice sent goose bumps across the man's skin but did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm.
"Excellent voice distortion," said the old man. "Better than the usual mask. What is it made of?"
"Spiritual energy," said Ichigo.
The old man frowned. "If it's a drain on your chakra, then you shouldn't use it."
"It's not," said Ichigo. "No chakra involved."
The old man shrugged. "Fair enough." He sorted through a few papers and pulled out a form and ink brush. "So, Mr. Kurosaki, what's the name of that mask?"
Ichigo wasn't surprised the man knew his name. Godaime-sama had had those orders ready to go. She had probably written them the moment he took off for Suna.
Still, Ichigo barely needed a second to the think of an appropriate name.
"Hollow."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Ino listened with half-an-ear as Kakashi tried to wheedle more information about the Kurosaki's original world out of Kon. Kakashi wasn't T&I, but he had handled plenty of field interrogations, and his technique wasn't half bad. Nonetheless, Ibiki hadn't let Kon sit-in on Yuzu's training session until he knew the toy wouldn't break. It was amazingly frustrating to try and question a doll and worse when one realized none of the usual techniques would work.
Ino had an even better opportunity to find out more about Naruto's mysterious family. She was going to screen Ichigo's mental defenses. Just as soon as he got here.
The door creaked open. In ANBU headquarters, hinges were oiled just enough to open smoothly but not enough to quiet any squeaks. Sneaking up on anyone in a building full of assassins was generally a bad idea. On the other side, Ichigo looked vaguely irritated. Ino knew that was the usual reaction to encounters with the Mask Man. It was a reaction she intended to use to her advantage. Hiding secrets was harder when a mind was unbalanced by emotion.
"Good morning, Ichigo!" said Ino. She gestured to the seat across from her. "Sit down here."
Ichigo did so warily eyeing Kakashi in the corner. "Kakashi mentioned something about checking my security clearance."
"When you work with ANBU, you have access to a lot of classified information including the real identities of all the other ANBU members. I'm going to check to see how well you'll hold up to interrogation," explained Ino.
Ichigo raised a brow. "I have a pretty high pain tolerance."
Ino suppressed a smile. "We try not to torture our own shinobi if we can help it. I'm going to use one of my Clan's techniques on you, and that will give us pretty good gauge of how you'll stand up to other forms of interrogation."
"Ah," said Ichigo. "What does this technique of yours do?"
"I'll be transferring my consciousness into your mind," said Ino. "It will knock you out, so I'll be done before you even notice."
Ichigo huffed. He still look more annoyed than worried. "Fine."
Ino had moved her hands into the first hand sign when Ichigo spoke again. "Ino, you're not going to fall."
Ino smiled reassuringly and finished the jutsu. She blinked and was in a different place entirely. She was on a building of some kind. There were clouds, and the ground was that way. She was going to fall off! Ino instantly channeled chakra into her feet to stick the glass and accidentally canceled out her mind-invasion jutsu.
In the real world, the suddenly influx of chakra to her feet blasted Ino backwards, tipping over her seat and sending her crashing into the ground. She blinked dizzily at the ceiling. Kakashi's head appeared in her vision.
"Are you okay, Ino?" he asked holding out a hand.
Ino took it gratefully. "Fine. Just embarrassed."
When Ino got to her feet, she saw Ichigo had regained consciousness and was watching for her reaction.
"What the hell was that?" she demanded. "Everything was sideways! And what were those giant buildings?"
"Those were skyscrapers," said Ichigo. "And my Inner World is usually oriented that way. I told you, you wouldn't fall."
Ino flushed. "Yeah, well…"
She trailed off. He had told her that, but she had expected something like dark pits full of secrets not a giant, foreign city tipped on its side.
"How was the weather?" asked Ichigo.
"Sunny but hazy," said Ino. She only had a second to look, but she was an information retrieval specialist.
Ichigo looked pleased with this answer. Ino wondered the weather had to do with anything. People's minds didn't have weather, but they did have moods. Sunny but hazy, was that the same as mildly irritated?
Ino righted her chair and sat down. "I'm going to try again."
"That might not be a good idea," said Ichigo.
"I'm not going to fall this time," Ino assured him.
"Well, make it quick," said Ichigo.
Ino reactivated her jutsu. Once again, she was standing on the side of a skyscraper. The sky was sunny, and the air was hot, but she could hear the distant rumble of thunder. Fluffy white clouds drifted downward in the sky and if she turned her head she could see the ground, but she was in no danger of falling. She took a few steps just to prove she could, then crouched down to tap the glass beneath her feet.
The glass was thick and solid. Ino wasn't sure if she would be able to break it, and there didn't appear to be any hinges. Every building she could see was the same. She stood on her tip toes to get a better look at the base of the building. There weren't any doors as far as she could tell. The only irregularity in the building's surface was a single flagpole.
Ino strode to the edge of the skyscraper and looked down. There more buildings that way. She retreated from the edge and pulled a kunai. She would have to try and break the glass after all.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Ino whirled at the unexpected voice. Ichigo stood on the next building over. Except this obviously wasn't Ichigo. It was like someone had bleached the color from his hair and skin. Two gold-on-black eyes and a black slash of a mouth were the only relief in the too pale face. He wore a copy of the shinigami uniform he had shown them his morning, but this too was white where it should be black and vice-versa. Jutting over his shoulder was a black-wrapped hilt, even Ichigo's Zangetsu was inverted.
"Who are you? How did you get here?" asked Ino.
"I live here," said the man. "You're the invader. What do you think you're doing, turning a weapon against the King?"
"I'm investigating," said Ino.
"Yeah, well the King told you to make it quick. I'd say you've been here long enough," said the man. "Wouldn't you say so, Old Man?"
Ino was in no way, shape, or form an old man. She glanced over her shoulder. There was another person standing on top of the flagpole. He was an older man, and he had a copy of Ichigo's Zangetsu too.
"Leave or die," he said drawing the blade.
The old man attacked her. Ino darted away from his initial strike and readied her kunai. Something came racing out into her peripheral vision. Ino turned her kunai and barely managed to knock away the white Ichigo's Zangetsu. He had thrown it across the gap. She saw him pull on the cloth connected to the sword's hilt and sensed more than was the return of the giant blade. Ino quickly ended her jutsu.
In the real world, Ino slapped a hand to her neck. When she drew it away, there was a thin line of red across her palm. Ino stared at it, eyes wide. When they were genin, an inner Sakura had knocked Ino out of her mind, but this was nothing like that.
"Are you alright, Ino?" asked Kakashi sounding much more serious this time.
"I—" Ino was not alright. Whatever that was in Ichigo's mindscape had nearly killed her! "What was…?"
"That was Zangetsu," said Ichigo plainly. "They're a little overprotective sometimes."
Ino stared helplessly in confusion. Kakashi pressed a bandage to the slice on her throat.
"Your sword attacked her in your mind?" he asked.
"It wasn't a sword," blurted Ino. "I mean, they both had swords. But one looked like a white copy of Ichigo and the other was some old man."
"White Zangetsu and Old Man Zangetsu," said Ichigo slouching in the hard metal chair. "They're my zanpakuto's spirits."
"Your sword has a soul too?" asked Kakashi. "Does everything where you're from have souls?"
"I'm from the Living World, which is basically the same as here," said Ichigo. "But ordinary weapons can't damage souls or Hollows, so you need a weapon with spiritual power. For Quincy, that's a weapon comprised of reishi. For shinigami, that's a zanpakuto, a soul-cutting blade. All zanpakuto have spirits with spiritual pressure equal to or greater than that of their wielder."
Ino was still stuck on her unexpected near-death experience. She would have no trouble shaking off something like a near-miss in the field, but in the middle of ANBU's detention center, she expected to have control. As a result, she was slow in making the connection, but Kakakshi spent hours puzzling out Ichigo's abilities and made it right away.
"Are you saying in your shinigami form we won't be able to affect you at all?" he asked.
Ichigo raised a brow. "Don't forget, Kakashi, that Tenten landed a blow. Ninjutsu has a much better chance of hurting me than taijutsu, but as long as you sharpen your reiatsu while you attack should still manage something."
"And how do we do that, when we've never heard of reiatsu before?" asked Kakashi.
"You do it unconsciously when you attack," said Ichigo. "It's a matter of resolve or intent."
"Like killing intent," said Ino brushing her fingers against the bandage. "Your Zangetsu really wanted me dead."
"I didn't want you dead," said Ichigo mildly. "But I don't like it when people mess with my head, and Zangetsu knows that."
Ino realized Ichigo was angry. It was hard to tell with the scowl constantly in place. Irritation seemed to be his default setting, but it wasn't really. Anger was heat—a hot breeze and the muted rumble of distant thunder. If she hadn't been in his mind, his Inner World, she wouldn't even know he was upset.
"What's sunshine?" asked Ino.
Ichigo blinked in surprised. "Normal, I guess. Rain is sorrow, so maybe sunshine is contentment. I only ever hear complaints about the rain."
Complaints from Zangetsu, Ino realized. If the sword spirits lived in that world, they were subject to Ichigo's feelings. No wonder they were overprotective. She wondered if that muted thunder would have mutated into rain if she had broken into one of those skyscrapers. An act of betrayal would surely cause sorrow.
"Are you done, Yamanaka-san?" asked Kakashi.
Ino straightened in her chair. "I think I have enough for an assessment. Kurosaki is cleared for duty." She looked at the orange-haired man. "Just out of curiosity, how high is your pain tolerance?"
Ichigo considered it for a moment. "Well, Encroachment was definitely the most painful thing I've ever experienced, but that's not exactly easy to describe. Maybe it was the time Ginjo sliced my eyes open. Or that time I had my stomach sliced open. Or, no, no, after Encroachment, it was definitely when I had to rescue Yuzu from Hell and this lava got all over my hand. I was in my shinigami form then, so it didn't do too much damage, but I could still feel it. Ouch."
Ino exchanged an incredulous look with Kakashi. If lava on his hand was the second most painful thing to happen to Ichigo, then he would probably be fine.
"And encroachment is?" asked Kakashi.
"It's this thing that happens to souls who've been on Earth too long," said Ichigo.
"You mean, souls that turn into Hollows," said Kakashi. "Is that why you have Hollow powers?"
Ichigo winced. "Yeah. I'm not sure if Hat'n'Clogs intended for that to happen or not, but I lost my shinigami powers for a while, and I was a little too slow getting them back. But there was also this thing about this Hollow that had infected my mother. I don't really understand all the details."
"That sounds standard for most of my conversations about you," said Kakashi. "Since you've received the okay from our T&I expert, it's on to step three."
Ino watched in dull amusement as Kakashi herded Ichigo out the door. Step three was, in effect, a hazing ritual, ANBU-style. Whoever wanted a piece of the newbie got to try under the guise of a physical assessment. Ino really wished she had been able to watch Shikamaru's assessment. She wasn't cleared for work with ANBU at that point, but he had grumbled about over-enthusiastic shinobi for months afterward.
The door swung open again, and Ichigo popped in his head to look at her. "One more thing about my Inner World, Ino-san."
"Yes, Ichigo?" she asked.
"The size of the buildings means something too. They reflect my confidence level," he said and shut the door again.
Ino gaped after him. That arrogant brat! Maybe he was overcompensating. Maybe Zangetsu was overcompensation too. No reasonable person needed a sword that size. She was definitely mentioning the possibility in her report.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Kakashi led Ichigo to the outdoor training facility behind ANBU headquarters. He had heard the boy's comment to Ino and knew he had described the buildings as skyscrapers. How confident did that make him?
"What are we doing now?" asked Ichigo.
"Now, it's time for an assessment of your fighting abilities. Obviously, you're qualified to participate since the Hokage sent to you here, but the captains need to see where your specialties lie, so you can be assigned to the proper team," explained Kakashi.
"I'm not really joining ANBU though, right?" said Ichigo.
Kakashi smiled at him. "Of course not, genin can't join ANBU. We're just storing you here for a while until the Hokage figures out what to do with you."
"Great," said Ichigo. "So what's this assessment?"
They passed through the door outside and froze. Every ANBU currently off-duty, and a few who had retired to normal shinobi life, like Kakashi, were crammed into the training area. There was a tiny space left that was nowhere big enough for fighting.
Yamato struggled to the front of the crowd. "I'm sorry, captain. Everyone really wants to fight Ichigo."
"I see," said Ichigo. "We're going to need more room."
Kakashi eyed the wooden walls surrounding the training area. "Can you move those temporarily? And move them back after?"
"I guess so," said Yamato.
While Yamato started the process of moving the giant walls surrounding the training ground, Kakashi turned to Ichigo.
"You may have guessed, but you'll be fighting the other members of ANBU so they can see where you stand," he explained.
"Like a visit to Eleventh Division," said Ichigo. "No problem."
Kakashi raised his brow. Ichigo was supremely confident. Well, he would find this a very different experience than fighting an army of fake shinobi.
"Sasuke tells me your sword-skills are a little rough," said Kakashi. "Would you mind telling me about your original training?"
Ichigo shrugged. "There's not much to tell. I took karate as a kid and got into fights all the time. Rukia gave me her powers, and I fought some Hollows for a few months. Then she got taken back to Soul Society, and I had to get my own shinigami powers. You could say Hat'n'Clogs took over my training then, but after I learned Zangetsu's name we basically just fought for five days then he sent me off to Soul Society."
"Wow, Captain, there's someone worse than you at training beginners," muttered Yamato.
"Shut up, Tenzo," said Kakashi smacking Yamato on the head. One of the wall-segments wobbled dangerously.
"But you have had formal training," said Kakashi.
"Yeah, Dad taught me some kendo, but that was several years later," said Ichigo. "Mostly my training has been hands on."
"You should do just fine with the ANBU then," said Kakakshi. "Are you finished Yamato?"
"Almost, captain."
Kakashi turned to Ichigo. "Now, you may have guessed, but everyone here really wants to make sure that you'll fit in."
"I'm sure," said Ichigo looking unimpressed.
Kakashi plowed right over the sarcasm. "To make your transition as smooth as possible, everyone wants to test how you do in real combat."
Ichigo rolled his eyes and Kakashi beamed. "I thought you'd enjoy it. But, to give us an accurate assessment of your abilities, I'd like you to use as many techniques as possible."
"Fine," said Ichigo. He turned on his heel and stalked into much widened circle. "When do we start?"
"Now sounds good," said Kakashi.
Ichigo drew his bokken and the first wave of ANBU attacked. Kakashi glanced at Kon.
"Will this end badly, too?" he asked.
Kon had attempted to discourage Kakashi from allowing Ino to interrogate Ichigo. Kakashi had let Ino go ahead despite the toy's protests that Ichigo didn't know anything because, quite frankly, everyone knew something, even if they didn't know they knew it. He had also underestimated Ichigo's temper in spite of Kon's warnings. Ichigo's default scowl notwithstanding, the man was more resigned than angry, even when he talked about Soul Society's betrayal. Kakashi should have known that attitude wouldn't last, even Naruto got angry when people doubted him.
"This should be okay," said Kon. "Ichigo is great at tests. You might regret it later."
"Why is that?" asked Kakashi.
"Just watch, Kakashi-san. You'll never learn if I give you all the answers," said Kon.
Kakashi watched carefully. Ichigo was a slow starter. He had excellent reaction speed—as expected of someone who trained with Gai's team—but he didn't seem very interested in attacking. He also wasn't having any trouble with a 360 degree battlefield.
Things changed after the first jutsu. A large rock exploded almost in his face. Ichigo barely brought up his arms in time to block. One shard lodged in his left arm. Ichigo slid out of the way the attacking shinobi using a modified tree-walking technique. Kakashi had used a similar skill when standing on water, but on the ground it required far too much chakra for an ordinary shinobi.
In his newly open space, Ichigo had the room to sheathe his bokken and draw Zangetsu. Ichigo wielded the oversized blade with one hand as easily as most shinobi wielded kunai. Kakashi noted several ANBU, mostly newer recruits, struggling to associate "giant sword" with "fast," and twice he saw Ichigo turn his blade to avoid killing strikes.
"How embarrassing," said Kakashi after the second time.
"I told you, you wouldn't like it," said Kon.
"Maybe our teams need to step it up," said Kakashi.
On cue the individual ANBU, who had mostly been doing whatever they wanted, reorganized themselves into their normal teams. The earth rose to trap Ichigo's feet as a fireball from one corner collided with a whirlwind from another catching him in the middle. The resulting explosion limited visibility for everyone, but the dust settled to reveal Ichigo still standing. He was dirty and part of his tunic had burned away displaying a network of black lines crossing his body. Otherwise, he was completely unharmed.
"Is he smiling?" asked Kakashi curiously.
"You're in for it now," warned Kon gleefully.
Ichigo raised Zangetsu into a guard position with both hands. "Go forward, Zangetsu."
Zangetsu blurred and separated into two different swords. The larger remained in Ichigo's right hand while the smaller occupied his left. Simultaneously, a second smaller explosion blew the recently settled dirt away from Ichigo. It was a definitely an explosion and not a Wind Release jutsu, though Kakashi couldn't pinpoint the source of the blast. He had to blink to clear his eyes.
Between one blink and the next, Ichigo had vanished. He was so much faster than before at least seven ANBU—all heavy hitters from different team configurations—went flying before the rest caught on. Sheer numbers kept the rate of attack high, but only the strongest managed to hit Ichigo. The rest he knocked away with blasts of energy from his blades. The ANBU quickly ruled out straight-line attacks because Ichigo's counters usually knocked out the attacking shinobi too.
"Is that Ichigo's shikai?" asked Kakashi.
"That's right. It's Zangetsu's real form," said Kon.
Kakashi lifted his hitai-ate and activated both of his sharingan to watch Ichigo work his way through Konoha's elite force. None of ANBU were using their most dangerous attacks. Even if the injured parties pulled back, and many of them retreated to the roof of the building to watch, it was still too crowded to use any area attacks. Unfortunately, there were very few small S- or A-rank attacks, and Kakashi suspected they were necessary to break through Ichigo's defense. Even worse, Kakashi knew that Ichigo wasn't at his most powerful either. He had demolished buildings using his shikai in Suna. He was going easy on them.
At roughly the ten-minute mark, Kakashi expected Ichigo to automatically drop out of his shikai, but he kept the double-blades as two teams jumped him at the same time. The extra seconds ticked away in the back of Kakashi's brain and slowly the seconds added into minutes.
"Is that safe?" he asked Kon quietly.
The lion doll brought a paw to his cheek. "No, not really. Ichigo used a partial release phrase to activate his shikai, which means he didn't release all of his power, but his organs will start shutting down soon anyway."
"Do I need to call them off?" asked Kakashi.
"I feel like Yachiru," Kon muttered to himself, but Kakashi heard it anyway. Louder he said, "No, Ichigo's having fun, but he knows better to than to cripple himself over a game. He'll drop out of shikai once he's sure he won't be killed immediately afterward."
Kakashi frowned and reanalyzed the action on the training field. At this point, it was more of battlefield. The members of ANBU had raised their game, Ichigo had responded, and the ANBU had escalated again. It was entirely possible that Ichigo would die if he suddenly decreased his power. Kakashi decided that if another two minutes passed, he would put an end to the test.
He didn't need to worry. Thirty seconds later, Ichigo raised his reiatsu much the way Karin and Yuzu had after that long ago dinner with Team Taka. Only, Ichigo's spiritual pressure was much greater than his sisters and physically blew away the closest shinobi. Even Kakashi, standing back against the building, felt an overpowering weight. He had to lock his knees to prevent himself from collapsing.
After a second of struggling to breathe, Kakashi remembered all the various descriptions of spiritual power he had heard from the twins, Naruto, Sakura, and Neji and mustered his killing intent. That seemed to throw off the heavy weight, and Kakashi regained his usual relaxed slouch. Before anyone else could attempt the same trick, the pressure withdrew and Zangetsu returned to its single blade form.
Ichigo tucked the zanpakuto against his back and it vanished from sight. Now Kakashi realized that rather than sealing his blade with fuinjutsu, Ichigo was actually returning the weapon to his soul. It was a beautiful, if disturbing, concept for Kakashi.
Ichigo hastily drew his bokken but transferred it to his left hand immediately after. Then he raised his right hand and giant, glowing crossbow appeared above his head.
"Please do not tell me he's going to fire a siege weapon," said Kakashi. The crossbow was large enough to be mistaken for a ballista.
"Not quite," said Kon.
The bow rotated and fired a white arrow into the ground in front of Ichigo. The weapon disappeared, but the bolt remained. Ichigo grabbed the arrow just above the fletching and it transformed into a sword.
"Come on," said Yamato, who hadn't moved to join the fight. "How many swords does he need?"
"That's not a manifestation of Zangetsu," said Kakashi.
"It's definitely not bankai, if that's what you're asking," said Kon. "This is another manifestation of Ichigo's powers as Quincy, forming a weapon out of reishi."
Kakashi thought back to the bow on the wall of the Kurosaki's apartment. "I thought Quincy created arrows."
"Most of them do, and Ichigo can do that too. But he learned this from fighting Yhwach, the first Quincy, and he uses it to fight with because he's more comfortable with a sword," explained Kon.
"Makes sense," said Kakashi.
Ichigo was holding off the ANBU with the Quincy sword and his bokken as easily as he had been with Zangetsu's shikai. He couldn't make the blasts of energy quite as large, but even the bokken could slice through anything the shinobi threw at him. They were really getting serious now. ANBU teams rarely had to practice battle formations, but they were dusting off the few they knew. Even at his peak, Kakashi knew he'd never be able to hold his own against all of Konoha's elite shinobi.
"Is he getting better?" asked Yamato a few minutes later.
"I think so," said Kakashi.
As they watched, Ichigo's movements were growing tighter, his reactions were faster, and his strikes stronger. He could track the ANBU more easily and was adapting to the rhythm of a ninjutsu-based battle. He was improving before Kakashi's very eyes.
"Have you ever seen anything like it?" asked Yamato.
Kakashi was reminded strongly of his genin team's very first C-Rank. Sasuke had activated his sharingan for the first time and was suddenly so much better.
"Not without use of a kekkei genkai," said Kakashi. "And I'm guessing that Quincy powers don't enhance Ichigo's abilities that way."
"No," said Kon quietly. "It's all Ichigo."
"But surely, he's got to stop or slow down," said Yamato. "You said before that he weakest in his human body."
"Stop isn't a word Ichigo understands," said Kon. "He'll fight until he dies and then keep going. Winning, growing stronger, it's the only way he can live."
Kakashi regarded the lion doll carefully. It felt like the toy was giving up a great secret, but even Kakashi struggled to find a deeper meaning. "That doesn't sound too different from any other shinobi."
"Good," said Kon. "Soul Society doesn't understand that way of thinking. Ichigo's potential frightens them, and that's the real reason why Central Forty-Six ordered Ichigo's execution."
"But how can they survive like that? If you don't adapt, then you die," said Yamato.
Kon huffed loudly in Kakashi's ear. He stood up and Kakashi felt the doll lean over his hair to look at the younger jounin.
"What did I just say?" demanded Kon. "This is Soul Society we're talking about. The dead don't change. They don't adapt. They train until they hit their limits and then they're stuck."
"Like the shinobi revived by Edo Tensei," murmured Kakashi. "They had infinite strength and longevity, but none of them changed their fighting style at all."
Kon jumped off Kakashi's hair to frown at the jounin. "Edo Tensei?"
"It's a technique that involves sacrificing a living shinobi to summon a soul from the Pure Land," explained Kakashi shortly. "The sacrificial body transforms into the body of the reincarnated soul, except it can't be destroyed and has limitless power."
"Ugh, zombies," muttered Kon. "I am so done with zombies."
"You had them in your world too?" asked Kakashi.
"Not while the Soul King is doing his job," said Kon flatly. "Huh, Ichigo got rid of the Quincy sword."
Kakashi, who kept his attention on the battle, had seen the blade disappear. The abrupt loss of his his weapon hadn't alarmed Ichigo in the least. Instead, he started firing different attacks from his right hand. Those ANBU that weren't hit by lightning, fire, or some other form of energy attack were trapped in bandages, chains, or, worse, invisible bindings. And, he was still blocking physical attacks with his bokken.
"That one didn't have a time limit?" asked Kakashi.
Kon snorted. "You're the one who told him to use different forms of attacks, Kakashi. He probably chose to disperse it after ten minutes so he could use kido instead. Ichigo's not really used to fighting with kido. He doesn't have enough control to use them without the chant while he's in shikai."
Kakashi tore his attention away from the fight to exchange a look with Yamato. Ichigo wasn't practiced at fighting with kido, and he was still holding off the ANBU? Kakashi watched Ichigo carefully. He was using the bokken more defensively than he had been before.
"Can't you do something about that wooden sword, Tenzo?" asked Kakashi.
"I tried, captain," admitted Yamato. "But it's been treated somehow. I'd really have to work to get it to change shape."
"Is that so," said Kakashi. A thought occurred to the silver-haired jounin. "Say, Yamato, what sort of reaction do you get from chakra paper?"
The confusion was evident in Yamato's voice. "What do you mean, captain?"
"For Wood Release, does the paper get wet or turn to dirt?" clarified Kakashi.
"It doesn't do either of those things," said Yamato. "I mean, it might if we used chakra oil or something. But chakra paper just stays paper. Why do you ask?"
Kakashi resisted the urge to groan. He still had to close his eyes for a moment to gather himself. Why had it never occurred to him before?
"Isn't "no reaction" the reaction Ichigo got from the chakra paper?" asked Kon. "And no one knew what it meant?"
"Really?" said Yamato sounding excited and nervous. "Is that true?"
"It's true," said Kakashi.
"But how?" asked Yamato. "Ichigo doesn't have Hashirama's cells."
Kakashi held up a finger. "The Uzumaki are a branch of the Senju Clan." He raised another finger. "We don't know that the Shodai Hokage was the only Senju to have Wood Release, just the only one in the history of the Village." He held up another finger. "It seems Ichigo has a penchant for rare power and the necessary excessive life force."
"Ichigo has life force in spades," said Kon. "The first time he used bankai, the force of his reiatsu broke every bone in his body."
"Sounds a bit like Naruto burning all his skin off when he first started using the Kyubi's power," said Yamato. "This means, I'll have a new student. Right?"
"You can fight Kurenai for him," said Kakashi idly and grinned at the way Yamato paled.
Kakashi cast an assessing eye over the remaining ANBU. Everyone had gone against Ichigo at least once, and most had gone back for seconds. The number of injured or unconscious ANBU outweighed the number of active ANBU almost four to one. If Kakashi was going to make a move, then it needed to be soon. He passed Kon to Yamato and prepared to use his chidori.
Kakashi needed to see for himself what the man would do in the face of a serious assassination attempt. Before, he had taken his family and run. If he ran again, it would break Naruto's heart. Sasuke had channeled a chidori through his chokuto and barely managed to wound Ichigo. Ichigo had told Kakashi that resolve strengthened a technique and would make one more likely to damage him. Kakashi had been an assassin longer than Ichigo had been alive. He wouldn't hesitate.
The next time Ichigo's fight showed them his back, Kakashi launched his attack. The ANBU in his line of fire scattered. Ichigo heard the chirping sound and started to twist around. Before he could complete the turn, Kakashi thrust his lightning-clad hand at Ichigo's unprotected ribcage.
Kakashi hit a green barrier instead. It shattered under the force of his chidori but prevented it from reaching Ichigo. He cursed silently. Kakashi knew Ichigo could write out barriers. He hadn't realized that Ichigo could verbally cast them the way he did with other kido.
The redhead dropped his bokken and grabbed Kakashi's wrist in his left hand. There were black lines all up and down Ichigo's arm, and Kakashi couldn't break his grip. This was blut arterie, the form that increased Ichigo's attack power instead of his defensive ability. Kakashi wondered if Ichigo was going to crush his wrist.
Ichigo smirked. This close Kakashi could see black creep across his eyes like a growing flame. When the flames reached Ichigo's irises, they turned the warm brown to a bright, harsh gold.
"Kakashi, while I have your attention. Let's talk about Yuzu," said Ichigo falsely cheerful.
Kakashi blanched beneath his mask. He was so dead.
"You see, Yuzu hasn't dated that many people. It's not her fault. People without spiritual awareness feel her aura and think she's scary, and people with spiritual awareness feel her aura and run screaming from the Hell-taint, so she very invested in your potential relationship," explained Ichigo.
Kakashi broke out in a cold sweat and not just because of relationship anxiety. Ichigo's eyes were pure gold on black at this point and white flakes were pouring from his tear ducts forming a hard shell across his cheekbones. His smile was vicious.
"If you break my sister's heart, I can track you down anywhere," said Ichigo. "Even if you happen to break her heart by dying on a mission."
Kami-sama, Kakashi had never even considered that possibility. He was always being the one left behind. He was getting old, close to retirement age soon. But he had never expected to actually retire. He always imagined that he would die on some mission somewhere leaving no one behind but his students.
"I thought you might like a demonstration of what would happen, if you did something so foolish," said Ichigo.
The redhead completed his turn. Now Kakashi saw why Ichigo grabbed him with his left hand. There was a tiny dot of red-black energy collecting on the tip of his right index finger. It wasn't pointed exactly at Kakashi, but Ichigo's attacks weren't exactly small-scale.
Kakashi tugged ineffectually at Ichigo's grip. He'd probably have more luck cutting off his own arm than breaking free. Ichigo's smile achieved the manic look Kakashi had only ever seen on the truly deranged. He took the only option available and ducked. He might lose his hand, but hopefully he wouldn't lose his head.
At the same time, Sai came racing up out of nowhere. He dropped low and kicked up at Ichigo's right arm. Kakashi was definitely out the line of fire at that point, but Sai's kick also triggered Ichigo's attack. Kakashi and Sai were both knocked to the ground by the backlash. Luckily Ichigo released Kakashi's wrist at the same time, or else he might really have lost his hand.
When he regained full use of his faculties—the pressure of the attack had also done unpleasant things to Kakashi's hearing and eyesight—Ichigo was crouched next to Kakashi and Sai looking much less psychotic but still vaguely amused. He still had his gold-on-black eyes too, which wasn't exactly comforting.
"So, those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum?" asked Ichigo.
"Yeah," said Kakashi. "Where did you hear…?"
Ichigo pointed at Sai. "Your subordinate was very worried about you." He looked at the younger shinobi. "I wouldn't have actually hurt Kakashi. That would upset Yuzu and Naruto, and probably Gai, but that was still a very brave thing you did."
"Thank you," said Sai politely.
Ichigo raised a brow. "You're welcome."
He returned his attention to Kakashi. "You need to take fewer risks, Hatake-san."
"I think that's an example of the pot calling the kettle black, Mister Runs-Off-To-Fight-Armies-On-His-Own," said Kakashi.
"Maybe," said Ichigo. "But I can do that."
Kakashi raised his head. There was a hole in one of the walls Yamato had moved. The diameter was the length of a tall man. There was also a perfect circle extending far back into the forest behind the wall. If Kakashi had been hit by that, there would have been nothing left.
"Are you thinking about attacking again?" asked Kakashi gesturing at his eyes. His own sharingan had deactivated when Ichigo's attack knocked him over.
"Nope, I'm taking this break to repair my internal organs in case I have to keep going. That sort of thing is too complicated to heal in the middle of a battle," said Ichigo.
Kakashi looked at the hole in the wall, at the stunned collection of ANBU staring at the broken tree line, and at the numerous rips and tears in Ichigo's clothes all revealing perfectly whole skin. For him, it was like the fight had never happened. Some ANBU would need weeks to recover even with the help of medic-nin.
"Welcome to the club, kid," said Kakashi.
"Thanks," said Ichigo smiling sadly as his eyes faded to their usual white and brown.
Ichigo hadn't really wanted to join the assassination squad, Kakashi knew. Ichigo had only agreed to Tsunade's plan in order to protect his sisters and to keep the peace in Konoha. But that was why all Leaf shinobi fought—to protect the treasure that was Konohagakure. If the Central Chambers of Soul Society couldn't understand that much about Ichigo, then Soul Society didn't deserve to have him.