Long ago, in the age of chaos, the world took form with the original denizens. Beings that would later be known as gods, goddesses, and what would later be called Hollows. These primordial Hollows devoured anything in their wake and many of the infant gods were helpless before these hungry monstrosities, except for one. His original name was removed, but even back them he was called 'King'. The Soul King rose up and protected the many gods that lived in that time with an unbelievable power and benevolence that made him loved and worshiped. However we did not know that in his act of protection, the Soul King also caused the chaotic world to face oblivion. Thus, five entities conspired together and sealed the Soul King in a crystal prison before tearing him to pieces and leaving him in a state between life and death. With his immense power, those five beings would create the cycle of Life and Death, separating the world into many parts and all connected to the world of the Living. The five that performed this cruel act would become content to rule over their realm, keeping the weakened Hollows at bay, while other gods left to find and forge their own home to watch over the living and the dead. This is how the many other pantheons of the world came into existence.
(Meeting Hall: Kyoto)
"And among these factions, none have been as active as the three of the Biblical Pantheon." Amaterasu said, closing an ancient scroll and looking over those that assembled. There was her brother Susanoo, the archer Hachiman, her priestess Yasaka and one of her guards, Tomoe Gozen a woman with long silver hair, crimson red eyes, and wearing samurai armor.
Next to them were her favored son Ichigo and his cousin Uryu wearing a white military uniform, and with them from Soul Society were other Shinigami leaders like Kisuke Urahara, Shunsui Kyoraku, and a woman with long black hair named Retsu Unohana.
From Kanto came the leader of the East Faction of Youkai, a elderly looking man with a long gourd shaped head named Nurarihyon, wearing a kimono and smoking a pipe with a few Nozuchi, large furry caterpillar things with giant mouths, and an Otoroshi, a large headed hunched figure with large tusks and teeth.
On the other side, hailing from Onigashima of the South Faction, was Shuten Douji, a grandchild of the original king of Oni, looking like a pale silver petite teen with dark hair in a hime cut that reached her neck and separated by the two long horns on her forehead, wearing a loose kimono and drinking copious amounts of Sake. She was with her guards; the current Ibaraki Douji, a golden counterpart to Shuten's silver, who also wore a loose kimono and had longer hair but was otherwise the same, and a man bearing the name of Kintoki who had swept back blonde hair, purple sunglasses, and a black biker suit with a furry collar and golden knuckles on his hands.
Finally, representing the North Faction, was the high priestess of the Yuki-Onna, Tsurara Shirayuki, a woman with purple silver hair, ice blue eyes, wore a white kimono, and was flanked by other Yuki-Onna and yeti like Youkai.
"The Biblical group is split into three factions, Devils, Angels, and Fallen Angels." Amaterasu continued while the rest watched and listened with varying levels of attention. "The Devil Lucifer led his faction, the Angels were led by their god, and the Fallen Angels are led by a Fallen named Azazel. These three would battle each other, often dragging humans into the conflict, and spreading their influence throughout the world. I've lost more than a few of my children to the them." The goddess growled, remembering one that converted and led a painful life as a result and another she would lose to a Devil's wiles. "The three eventually clashed in a terrible war that nearly drove all three to extinction, taking the lives of the original Satans that led the Devil and leaving the three in a stalemate to avoid that certainty. To replenish their numbers, the Devils devised a way to take anything from any race and turn them into a new Devil."
"Anyone we'd recognize?" Urahara asked suddenly. "I can't imagine that some famous figures wouldn't capture the attention of the Devils."
"Okita Souji, captain of the Shinsengumi." Susanoo answered, joining Shuten Douji in drinking. "One of the finer swordsmen I've ever had the pleasure of drinking with. A 'possible' Kenpachi if he didn't choose to become a Devil." The knowledge surprised Ichigo and Uryu, hearing of such a famous figure in Japanese history becoming a Devil. Ichigo felt a hand drop to one of his blades, a deep desire to test his skills and blade rising within him.
"Well it makes sense that they'd want to convert humans into Devils." The hybrid admitted, quelling his thirst for battle to focus on the meeting. "They aren't exactly rare and plenty have displayed great potential."
"Plenty of Devils were not happy with the system, viewing it much the same as a Quincy king that no longer exists viewed Quincy that were not pure blooded." Uryu nodded as the group returned their focus to Amaterasu. "However, there are some with a special gift granted to all mankind by the Biblical God. A power called, Sacred Gears." Urahara's focus intensified as he listened to the goddess. "There are many different types of these Sacred Gears, each one useful in their own way, but the strongest are known as Longinus. Gears that have the ability to kill god like beings." Urahara's eyes gained a gleam that screamed of a desire to study these gears. "But as I said, the method they use to convert other races, the 'Evil Piece' system, is not limited to humans but to all races."
"Just get on with it already~!" Shuten Douji yelled out, quickly downing what seemed to be a liter of wine in a few gulps. "I didn't come here for a history lesson lady Amaterasu. You called us here about a massacre." Some of the crowd bristled and muttered among themselves about the blatant disrespect the drunkard Oni displayed while others silently agreed with her. Amaterasu turned her sight to the Oni king, who stiffened up and shrank under the gaze of the motherly goddess.
"My daughter, the Shinigami have been long isolated from the rest of the world and need to be brought up to to the current news as I know it." She calmly explained to the oni. "Nurarihyon, what became of Fujimai's daughters?" She suddenly asked the elderly Youkai.
"I remember her saying something about leaving them with the... Naberius clan?" The gourd headed man answered, trying to remember the past event. "I haven't seen Fujimai for a long time."
"Fujimai was the daughter of a special Nekomata clan called the Nekoshou. Uryu here," the goddess pointed to the Quincy, "used a precognitive ability to foresee that the Devils will be attempting to kill many Nekomata. Considering the power of the Nekoshou specifically, I suspect that they're the main targets. I've been forced to cede much of my country to those invading Devils, but I REFUSE to allow them to wantonly kill my children!" She faced her assembled Youkai and Shinigami leaders. "So please, work together for this." She pleaded with a bow.
"What the hell are ya doing?" Nurarihyon grumbled as he pulled out a pipe and started to pack the bowl with an herbal blend. "Everyone here knows that you're our divine mother, the goddess that watches over and commands all of Japan." He lit the pipe and proceeded to take a drag while everyone else looked to the elderly Youkai in surprise. "Don't bow your head and beg. Take charge and give us our orders." Attention returned to the goddess who seemed just as surprised before gaining a determined look of steel resolve.
"Find any and all Nekoshou that you are able and transport them to a safe location." Amaterasu ordered, making the various leaders grin.
"That's more like it." The gourd head Youkai said before taking out a phone. "I'll have my men scour the entire region to find any that remain." The other leaders nodded and proceeded to do the same.
"The hunt is on, but where to send them?" Tsurara asked, contemplating various locations and possibilities. "It needs to be well hidden and well protected."
"Karakura Town," Kyoraku answered, "or more accurately, the Silbern located in the shadow of Karakura Town. It's still the home to Squad 15 which has plenty of strong soldiers to protect it."
"Hope you don't mind a little extra help in that endeavor." Shuten Doji said. "We're all doing this together, time for the supernatural of Japan to finally act in unity." Kyoraku nodded before turning to Ichigo.
"Well Kurosaki, you're helping out with this. Also, I am permitting you up to release up to five seals while in the world of the Living." That got all the Youkai's attention, particularly Yasaka.
"You're going to have him bare himself?" The fox asked, blushing at the thought though not entirely against it. Shuten, and Tsurara looked at Ichigo with anticipation while all the members of the Gotei that were present looked at the kitsune in confusion. "His clothes are his seals... right?" Yasaka asked when she noticed the stares.
"His clothes CONTAIN his power," Urahara explained, "his seals limit the power he can use. Every captain and lieutenant gets at least one placed on them when they enter the world of the Living so they don't adversely affect the Spiritual Balance. They normally limit up to eighty percent of a Shinigami's normal power, but Ichigo is far from a normal Shinigami, requiring many seals so that him training here has any actual effect. He needs my authorization to release these seals while in the world of the Living... or until I retire and he becomes the new Captain Commander."
"So... no naked strawberry beefcake?" The oni leader asked before releasing a sigh of disappointment. "That's a shame." The various other female Youkai silently agreed with her, Ichigo sparing a glance to the man called Kintoki.
"Yes. She's always like this." The man said. With that, everyone left to do their jobs to save the Nekoshou.
(Time passes)
The process had a few hiccups here and there, some of the Nekomata refusing to leave their homes until being told that Amaterasu herself ordered it, but otherwise it went smoothly. The Oni provided an escort and the Yuki-Onna acted as spies and lookouts with the Silbern in Karakura Town acting as the safe haven for them, guarded by Soul Reapers, Quincy, Fullbringers, and various synthetic augmented humanoids called Mod Souls. Everything was going... mostly well. Mostly in the sense that Uryu used the Almighty again and saw some futures where he had to make a choice to save many and abandon the few. Whoever it was that was behind the coming massacre seems to disagree with the people of Japan's supernatural side hiding away what they were gathering and Uryu saw some peaceful negotiations turn into outright kidnappings. Some Youkai escaped, others they were too late for. The time for a conflict was coming and they needed information, the kind that comes from testing and experiments.
'Let's see,' Uryu thought as he did some last minute checks, 'narrow alleyway, concealed flash mines in formation, snipers in position,' his eyes drifted to the rooftops where his backup and hidden sharpshooters waited before drifting back down to an ornate disc, 'Sun Gate, and two more minutes before he appears. I've got this.' The current Quincy King determined as he waited on the rooftop in Tokyo's Nerima ward. His precognitive sight told him in a number of future timelines that a perfect research specimen would be making his way there soon enough. He checked his watch and soon enough someone was running down the alley, a figure in a blue hoodie and track pants. It was the targeted Nekoshou that the Devil was after and someone that Uryu met with ahead of time to plan this out, giving him the means to escape just before the traps. The moment the Nekoshou set foot on the Sun Gate he vanished, immediately teleporting into the Silbern.
"What the hell?" The Devil said, walking ever closer to the mines. He had grayish skin with black spiky hair and pointed ears, wearing a blue and green track suit of all things. It didn't matter as he soon stepped on a mine and was bathed in pure light and a high pitched bang strong enough to shatter eardrums. The Devil cried out in pain before Uryu used Hirenkyaku to flash down and pull out a Seele Schneider, quickly cutting all over the Devil before pointing the high vibration Reishi blade at the Devil's chest.
"Geldschrank." The Quincy muttered as four lines shot out of the silver hilt to form a cube shaped barrier, trapping the Devil inside as blue light energy poured from the myriad of cuts all over his body. 'Every race has Reishi in one form or another it seems.' He thought, silently thanking fate for allowing this to work. There would be no end to Mayuri's complaints if Uryu had to bring him the pieces instead.
"AHH!" The Devil cried out in pain while Uryu signaled his Quincy and the Mod Souls helping while the Yuki-Onna retreated. "Who the hell are you!?" The subject demanded as the retrieval team got to their leader.
"Transport him directly to Mayuri." The Quincy King ordered while the Devil tried to force his way through the barrier, only to fell his hand burn and shred against the dense field of Reishi. "I've got another appointment to make. The more samples, the better." He said before disappearing, leaving the retrieval team to take that Devil to Soul Society. He wouldn't be the last, and none were ever seen again.
(Near the End of the Year)
Time continued to pass as more and more Devils from low to mid class would soon find themselves in the tender care of Mayuri Kurotsuchi, the most thorough and vicious scientist in the Gotei experimenting to find the most efficient methods of bringing down the Devils, as a result of their attempting to capture the Nekoshou. This has now brought us to Ichigo, standing in the middle of a deserted street, because of another vision Uryu had. The ones in charge of whatever this mess was were getting fed up with the drop in captured Nekos and lack of response from the capture force, so they would decide to send a group of fourteen Devils to attack. The promised date of the massacre was well in coming.
"There is no way in hell I'm letting this happen!" The hybrid growled to himself before pulling out his phone to check the time. Two minutes remaining, he was at the edge of the Gunma and Saitama prefectures on a bench waiting for the group to appear. Ninety seconds, squad twelve was waiting on his order to create an isolated space for him to fight in. Forty-five seconds, Ichigo rose to his feet and removing his restraint Shihakusho and revealing his bare chest. Fifteen seconds, he quickly glanced over the scars and five present tattoos on his chest. Each a symbol of the Gotei 16 squads, almost all a flower of some kind aside from the horned skull of the Arrancar Division. Zero, a glowing red glyph appears on the ground as a group began to rise up from the ground. Ichigo sent the order and walked toward the Devils.
"Right, you lot know what to do." A large man in the center said to the rest, a small group of men and women, all in military uniforms and combat fatigues. He had a few scars on his face, yellow eyes, and green hair shaved down to a crew cut. "The top had an 'incident' so we're to remove the threat of these mangy felines, but before that we need to find whatever has been attacking our teams. Ready?" His team formed a circle around him with two spying Ichigo, a man with big metal knuckles and a woman with Shamshir.
"Ready captain!" Most of the team responded, noticing the two that didn't respond right away.
"Sir, we've been spotted." The woman told the captain as they all turned to face Ichigo, who was now walking toward them. The captain narrowed his yellow eyes to the hybrid. "Orders?"
"Kill-" The captain was about to say when one of the Devils behind him was now lacking the top half of his head. A flick of the teen's wrist and a ball of energy shot through the air and tore the Devil's head clean off. The captain made the mistake of looking at his now dead subordinate before turning back to the hybrid, only to find a foot slamming into his face and sending him flying back. Ichigo did a backflip and channeled Touki into his hand before using a mix of Hirenkyaku and the Fullbring skill Bringer Light to instantly maneuver himself into the center of the group and lashing out with a series of punches and palm strikes. He occasionally had to block incoming attacks, mainly the blades, before jumping upward and creating a Reishi platform.
"You bastard!" One of the Devils growled before black bat wings sprung from their backs. "We of the Halphas clan will kill-!" She stopped when Ichigo raised his hand and a series of glowing yellow lines went from his hand to their bodies.
"Hado #11, Tsuzuri Raiden." He said as his hand sparked with electricity before the energy surged to all of them instantly, shocking them into unconsciousness. 'Well that was easy.' Ichigo thought as he dropped back down. 'Now, which one to... where's that captain guy?' The hybrid wondered as he realized he couldn't find the lead Devil's body anywhere. His eyes scanned the area, trying to find his target, when he sensed two of the Devils coming from behind him. He twisted around in time to block their punches. "Still standing? Limit release, sixteen." The horned skull dissipated from his chest and he shifted into their guards before slamming his fists into the center of their guts, forcing them to void their stomachs. "There, now-" He was cut off when a large hand grabbed him by his face and began lifting him up while strengthening his grip.
"Good effort, but you should've killed me first." The captain growled before punching Ichigo in the chest repeatedly and slamming him into the ground before stomping on his stomach. "I'm a Halphas. My clan grow in strength in accordance to the energy spent fighting and the bloodshed caused by that fighting. You killing my subordinates only served to make me-"
"Limit release, fifteen, fourteen, thirteen." Ichigo counted off, making a higanbana, myrtle, and snowdrop flowers dissipate from his chest. The hybrid's next move was to punch the Devil's knee, severing the leg from the thigh down. The next action happened so fast that captain Halphas never even noticed that his body was paralyzed and was in a crumpled heap next to where he had held down Ichigo. "Now, let's see... I don't even know what counts as what among your kind, but I need to send a message." The hybrid said, looking over the unconscious... or dead for some, bodies before spying two that were struggling to get back up. Both men, both wearing some kind of studded knuckle covering for more damaging punches. The fact that they were still trying to move gave Ichigo his messenger.
"Bakudo #81, Danku." The hybrid cast, creating an invisible wall behind the two Devils, and then his hands began to glow yellow as he started drawing two inverted triangles in the air. "Bakudo #30, Shitotsu Sansen." The points of the triangles shot out smaller triangles that slammed into the shoulders and pelvis of the two Devils, pinning them to the invisible wall. "I want to send a message to your master." Ichigo said, walking up to the two while pulling out a silver rod that then had a small rod of white light come out of it. "I don't want this message interpreted any other way than what I've intended it to be." He grabbed onto the shirt of the Devil on the right and ripped it off, revealing his bare chest. "I don't like doing this, but I want to make this message clear." The air was then filled with agonizing screams as Ichigo carved into the man's flesh with the light.
(Underworld: Research lab office)
"You've lost contact with them?" A man with slicked back purple hair asked in irritation, getting tired of hearing more and more bad news. This was one of the heads of the Naberius family, self tasked with the research of Super-Devils in the hopes of creating another being on par with the current leader of their people. Research that unfortunately hit a snag once they've stopped gaining more lab rats they were using and one in particular managed to kill her master before escaping. Now they needed to cover their tracks, using the Nekoshou as scapegoats to buy themselves time to remove the worst of their failure and proving the race to be a danger to them. Which wasn't hard considering how many of their kind were lost trying to deal with this mess now, but the climbing casualty list would prove damaging to them in the long run. A part of him wanted to kill that white kitten in their holding cell out of anger, but the rest of him kept calm with the idea of using her as bait to lure out her sister whom they had already got classified as a dangerous rogue Devil. "Damn it. That's it, I'm heading out my-"
"Going somewhere Naberius?" A voice spoke out, freezing the Devil in place out of shock and fear. Naberius forced himself to look up to find a handsome man with shoulder length crimson red hair and blue green eyes in a rather fancy suit with three more at his sides, a man with slicked back green hair and blue eyes in another fancy suit, a short woman with black hair in pigtails and blue eyes in another suit of her own with a business skirt, and another woman dressed as a maid with long silver hair with two braids in the front and one in the back all tied with blue bows. The three in front were three of the four Satans that currently ruled the Underworld: Sirzechs Lucifer, Ajuka Beelzebub, and Serafall Leviathan, accompanied by Sirzechs's wife and head maid, Grayfia Lucifuge, a devil almost as strong as the Satan Leviathan. "I was hoping for a chance to talk."
"Particularly about why negotiations with the Shinto pantheon have stopped because of unwarranted attacks and kidnappings of Youkai." Serafall added, glaring at the man in question. Naberius tried to think of some way out, but he couldn't fool the smartest Devil in the Underworld.
"We already figured out the connection to you from the facts that most of the travel took place within your territory or the territory of your allies, the allocation of funds, your seal being used, and the fact that Kuroka was a servant of your family." Ajuka quickly listed off. "We have sixty-four people missing in action and you are going to explain what has been-" The Satan was interrupted when someone burst through the doors and into the room, carrying a man on his shoulders. An armored grunt and the man he was carrying was shirtless and coated in electrical burns and ruined combat fatigues.
"Sir! We've LORD LUCIFER!?" The man shouted in surprise at seeing the leader of the Devil.
"Report." Sirzechs told him, making the grunt swallow nervously.
"My lord! We've found a survivor... barely." He set the man down and pointed to his chest. "He bears a message, probably from whoever has been causing the recent string of disappearances." All the Devils went up to the unconscious man to read the words carved into his chest.
Send your leaders to Karakura Town.
"A trap? Surely this is baiting us." Ajuka said, already thinking of how things might happen in this Karakura Town.
"I'll go and try to broker peace." Serafall told them. "There might be a way to stop this without any more bloodshed. But it is odd that they want us in Karakura Town. That's one of the places Amaterasu has made clear are off limits."
"They want ALL the leaders." Sirzechs looked to the Naberius elder, now sweating nervously. "Let's have them meet."
(Timeskip: Karakura Town)
The school year had ended for Ichigo and his friends, all graduating from high school with almost all of his friends going into higher learning provided by the Shinigami with the exceptions of Ichigo who had further training to undergo in Europe, Uryu who would continue his medical education as his day job of being a doctor, and the Fullbringer of the team Yasutora 'Chad' Sado, who wanted to be an MMA fighter and part time musician. The Devil attacks stopped after Ichigo sent them a message a few months back, but that didn't mean anyone lightened up on the security. Every major region was under constant surveillance for any tell tale signs of the Devils until one night, when Karakura town was finally quiet and asleep, did the Devils finally arrive.
"This is Candice," the electrical Quincy said while touching an earpiece, "we have a line of limousines heading into town. Every spirit ribbon connected to them is black." All over the city were Quincy and Shinigami observing from various rooftops.
"Roger that Candice. Isolating Reishi around the vehicles." A voice on the other side responded as the cars drove around until heading to the city square. Once parked, Sirzechs, Ajuka, Serafall, and the last Satan, a tall bald man with a goatee named Falbium Asmodeus, exited the central limo while guards went to the others and pulled out various other people, members of the Underworld nobility. "We have confirmation on high levels of Devil Reiryoku. Bring them in Bazz."
"Roger." A man in a white military uniform with rolled up sleeves and a tall red mohawk said before flashing down to the Devils. "Greetings Devils, you may call me H and I shall be your escort to meet with our leaders. First step, everyone hold hands." The Quincy instructed as he pulled out what seemed like a mirror pendant. "Now hold on tight." The Devils did as instructed, curious about what method was about to be used, when the ground beneath them glowed silver and revealed a large ornate disc that occupied the whole square. The very next moment they were in a new location filled with a mix of Japanese and European style buildings with a massive fortress like building in the center, all in gleaming white and silver. "This way." Bazz ordered as he began leading them from the square to the fortress.
'Tengu, Yuki-Onna, Oni, Kitsune, Nekomatas, and... what are these humans?' Sirzechs thought as he scanned the area around them, making note of all the beings looking at them and how most were glaring at them with disdain. Whatever Naberius did, he was going to pay for it before this meeting ended. They continued the tour through this new place, the older Devils whispering among themselves how pathetic that this band of weaklings and animals think they can intimidate high born pure-bloods, but the four Satans had a different question. What was it that inspired this much confidence?
"Here's where the meeting shall take place." Their escort said as they came up to a pair of tall silver doors, pushing them open. "This way." Bazz repeated as he walked into the building, the entourage of Devils following him through various turns through the hallways before coming to a large meeting hall with a wide table. Seated at this table were the various Youkai Heads, Shunsui Kyoraku, Kisuke Urahara, Retsu Unohana, Uryu Ishida, Ichigo Kurosaki, and Amaterasu in the center as a projection. "Please wait while our final guest arrives." The Quincy told them as they took their seats, with the four Satans in the middle, and Ichigo rose up and took off his top, which was a little surprising before they determined something was special about that man.
"Limit release." They heard Ichigo whisper as the sixteen symbols of the Gotei appeared on his chest, each one disappearing as he counted down from sixteen. "One." At that, a new symbol appeared, four cross shaped flowers that looked like a Winter Daphne. "Zero." It likewise faded from his body and the room was flooded with a power that shocked the Devils, as if the very air burned with energy. The four leaders quickly determined that this teen very much qualified as a Satan class entity himself and experience told them there was much more he could reveal. The scar on Ichigo's chest began to glow as Ichigo brought his hand to it. "Voices be heard, providence be given, reveal to us your being." The swirling spiritual power around Ichigo began to condense above him and take shape, revealing a man with slicked back hair, pale skin, multiple pupils in his eyes, and eyes in his left and right hands. None among the Devils recognized this being, but they could understand the depth of power and age that the figure displayed just by appearing.
"Now that we're all here." Amaterasu started, managing to regain her composure at finally witnessing the Soul King himself. "Shall we start? We have a few grievances to air. I am the goddess Amaterasu, besides me are my fellow gods Susanoo and Hachiman. Representing the Youkai are Yasaka the Kyuubi, Nurarihyon of the Hyakki Yagyo, Shuten-Doji of the Oni, and Tsurara Shiraiyuki of the Yuki-Onna. The 'humans' are the Shinigami, Shunsui Kyoraku, Retsu Unohana, and Kisuke Urahara, and the Quincy Uryu Ishida. This one," she pointed to Ichigo, "is Ichigo Kurosaki, lone protector of that one, the Soul King." She then pointed to the projection above them, making some of the Devils' eyes widen in shock at the mention of an entity they thought of as a myth.
"And you have every right to." Serafall said, bowing to the Japanese faction. "We've only found out about what was going on shortly before your invitation to these talks found its way to us. We deeply apologize for the grievances caused by our members and know that they will be dealt with before the day ends." One of the Devils in the back let out a loud cough that was mainly for attention followed by the sound of smacking, mainly the female Satan sigh. "Allow me to introduce ourselves, as is courtesy. I am Serafall Leviathan, head of foreign affairs. With me are Ajuka Beelzebub, head of the technology department, Falbium Asmodeus, head of military affairs, and Sirzechs Lucifer, head of domestic affairs and our leader. Behind us are various members of our nobility, some of whom are the reasons for the mess that brought us here. If I may be so bold as to ask, what became of the Devils that 'disappeared'?"
"All dead." Ichigo bluntly said, turning attentions to him. "We defeated each one and used them for experimentation and study. There's... not a lot to give back." Some of the Devils seemed to accept that answer, though they didn't seem happy with it.
"Fair, I suppose." Serafall said with a sigh before continuing. "In regards to the attempted kidnappings and genocide, our investigations revealed the ploys to be masterminded by these two." She looked back and nodded as the Naberius clan leader and another man, bald and with plenty of battle scars, were brought forth. "The heads of the Naberius and Halphas clans, both were interested in the Nekoshou for their experiments in trying to create stronger Devils by artificial means. Their best subject went on a rampage and killed her master and has since disappeared. This was their way of covering their tracks."
"Then their lives are forfeit." Nurarihyon said aloud. "Anyone willing to order the deaths of anyone should be ready to sacrifice their own life in the process."
"Seems fair to me." Kyoraku added, pouring himself a cup of sake with Shuten immediately joining in. "It's because of their actions that we've come to this point."
"If I am to die, then let it be in battle!" The Halphas clan member growled out, rising to his feet. The Soul King pointed at him with his left hand and the Devil's body immediately began to twist and contort in unnatural ways, filling the air with the sounds screaming, of bones shattering, and flesh tearing, before the Halphas Devil was reduced to a mangled red ball that was dripping with blood.
"You lost." The Soul King said with a hushed tone before the mangled flesh ball flew to his hand and disappeared into the mouth that appeared in his palm. Everyone but the Shinigami gawked in shock at the visceral and gruesome way that the Devil was just killed, Kyoraku bringing everyone's attention back to the matter at hand.
"Well that settles one of them," he said before pointing to the remaining criminal, "now how do we execute this one?" Several ideas were being bounced around by the Japanese representatives; ranging from simply beheading him to giving him to Mayuri, gruesome ones like slowly freezing or slowly burning him to death, to Shuten-Doji saying 'fuck him to death'... Urahara and Unohana then defending her suggestion by pointing out how it is basically death by exhaustion and that the constant act can eventually turn into pain rather than pleasure. The more and more graphic methods of execution being offered turned the Naberius Devil into a terrified wreck as he looked to his people's leader in vain hope.
"Master Sirzechs please! Spare me!" He begged, interrupting the debate. "Everything I did was for the future of Devil kind!" Many were disgusted with his lack of pride and shame while Sirzechs closed his eyes.
"Very well. I shall be merciful." The Lucifer told him, shortly before engulfing the man in an orb of darkness and causing him to fall apart like dry sand. "A quick death."
"Sirzechs you ungrateful bas-!" Naberius roared out in anger as he turned to dust.
"Now that that matter is settled, what else? I can imagine some concessions must still be made."
"For the next decade, the cessation of all Devil activity outside of Kuoh Town." Amaterasu said in a tone of finality. The Devils were about to speak up but were silenced by a glare from the Satans. "After that, any further talks will be done by the leader of the Shinigami at the time." Ichigo spared a glance to Amaterasu, something Serafall caught. "And to enforce that, there will be surprise inspections of Kuoh Town and the rest of my land will be monitored closely. Those are the terms for peace." Before the Devils could rage at the demands of 'eastern savages' Falbium glared at them and allowed Serafall to continue.
"We understand and accept those terms lady Amaterasu." She said with a bow. "We shall keep a tighter watch on our people to ensure this mess doesn't happen again." The four leaders rose and led the group back out of the fortress. Within minutes they were back to the normal side of Karakura and returning to the Underworld within seconds of that. The four Satans were furious at the members of the Naberius and Halphas clans that caused this loss and would become more strict with their own people as a result.
For the members of the Shinto faction, it was time to celebrate. They managed to work out a deal, no looming war, the Nekoshou survived but are still under the protection of the shadows of Karakura, and Ichigo and his friends finished their high school careers. Now it was time to check if Ichigo had graduated from his Senjutsu training.
(Kyoto Underground Training Hall)
"So why are we doing this?" Ichigo asked as Kintoki did some checks to his spiked knuckle gloves and some stretches. On the sidelines stood the various leaders of Japan's supernatural world.
"You're being tested in three parts." The man answered, doing a few warm-up punches. "Ki manipulation, Touki, and healing. As such, I'll be your sparring partner."
"That's the part I'm wondering about. Why you?" Ichigo asked again, curious as to why
"I'm the legacy of Kintaro himself." He answered, sparking with electrical energy. "Scion of Raijin, the god of lightning, and I've been aching to fight you since I first saw you." Ichigo merely shrugged and got into a Hakudo fighting stance before his body became alight with spiritual energy. Kintoki immediately threw his fist forward and fired bolts of lightning at the hybrid, Ichigo utilized Senjutsu to sense the energy flow and redirect it away from him. The hybrid then countered by throwing his own fireballs of Ki energy, forcing Kintoki to dodge as Ichigo followed him with the energy blasts. Kintoki charged himself with electrical power and shot like lightning toward the hybrid, hoping to speed blitz him. Ichigo... easily caught him by the collar of his coat and raised an eyebrow.
"You were told my greatest asset is my speed right?" Kintoki felt himself sweat-drop, remembering that he was told how fast Ichigo was by Yasaka before the fight began. "Moving to the second part." Ichigo then slammed his Touki infused fist into Kintoki's gut, causing the demigod to cough up some bile. Then Ichigo tried something new, feeling out Kintoki's own Ki, and then tried disrupting the flow of energy that allowed him to summon lightning. The result blew them both up as Ichigo was blasted back and Kintoki lost his arm. "Okay.... need more practice with that." The hybrid groaned out before getting back to his and flashing to Kintoki, who also forced himself to his feet and was bleeding quite a lot.
"Third? How are you doing with healing?" He asked, biting back the pain as best he could. Ichigo's hands glowed green as he began using his Senjutsu to close the wound., the best he could do with his current skill in healing. "I think it's fair to say you passed." Kintoki admitted, looking to his arm. "There's a way to fix that, right?" Ichigo raised his hand and drew a rectangle with Kido and twisted his hand like he was turning a dial counterclockwise, with Kintoki's arm reappearing as a result. "That felt... odd. What was that?"
"Kido spell, time regression." Ichigo told him as the demigod examined his restored limb. "Kido can do... pretty much whatever if you're clever enough and have the power." Ichigo then turned to find Amaterasu before him. "So... do I pass?" Amaterasu narrowed her eyes at the hybrid and let out a sigh. "Though I'm loath to let you leave my son, you've passed. But before you go, there's one more thing I want you to do."