Kuchiki Byakuya stood on the rooftop, feeling lost and uncertain.
The yellow-haired figure on the street was incredibly striking.
Why did Naruto rush out without saying a word?
Should he go down?
He hesitated.
Naruto and Hisana were already chatting and laughing. "You and Byakuya seem to have a good relationship?"
When this was mentioned, a fleeting look of sadness crossed Hisana's eyes, and she shook her head with a bitter smile. "Byakuya-niisan is a Shinigami, and apparently a noble too. I'm just an ordinary soul, so there's really no such thing as a 'good relationship' between us."
"Is that so?" Naruto feigned confusion. "I thought you two were really close friends."
"After all, Byakuya often mentions you in front of me."
He emphasized the words "really close."
Hisana was surprised, and joy almost overflowed from her eyes. "Really? Byakuya-niisan mentions me?"
"Of course," Naruto said softly.
As they talked, he gradually learned about her past.
After her death, she was born in the "Inuzuka District," where the living conditions were extremely harsh, so she fled all the way to this area.
Kuchiki Byakuya met her by chance during a mission two years ago.
They have occasionally encountered each other since then.
However, according to Hisana, their meetings were infrequent—maybe once every few months. Each time, Byakuya appeared for a mission, exchanged only a few words, and then bid farewell and left.
"Did something happen to Byakuya-niisan?" After a while, Hisana hesitantly asked, probing for answers.
She noticed that the blond youth in front of her kept evading the topic, asking about her relationship with Byakuya-niisan and her background, but never mentioning his true purpose.
This gave her some uneasy thoughts.
Naruto didn't answer.
He sensed a surge in spiritual pressure; someone was becoming restless.
A breeze blew, and that person landed beside them.
"Just passing by on a mission," Kuchiki Byakuya said in a calm tone with a stern expression. "He knows I have a friend in Rukongai and couldn't resist coming to see."
He paused and added, "I have few friends in the Seireitei, so he was curious."
Hisana nodded, feeling a strange sense of disappointment.
So that's all it was.
Just friends.
"Hisana, do you believe that?" Naruto leaned in.
This question caught Hisana off guard.
Believe what?
Believe that Uzumaki-san is curious about her, or believe they're "just friends."
Byakuya couldn't hold back and pressed down on Naruto's head, feeling an impulse to bury him underground.
But since he was already here, he couldn't resist talking with Hisana.
However, with Naruto beside him, words like "truth" and "lies" kept popping out at the most inopportune moments, leaving both of them a bit distracted.
Half an hour later, Byakuya dragged Naruto away to leave.
They had just used Shunpo to leave the area.
"Naruto," Byakuya took a deep breath, his tone still calm, but from the way he addressed him, it was clear how tumultuous his inner feelings were, "Why did you do that?"
Naruto walked ahead. "Because you're too reserved."
"I don't want you to regret not cherishing the time with her only after she's gone."
Byakuya bowed his head in silence.
Naruto continued, "Don't become someone with a heart of stone."
"Byakuya, you're already excellent; no one will think less of you because of this."
Byakuya caught up to him. "I don't want to become like Tsunayashiro Tokinada."
Naruto chuckled. "The reason he's a scumbag is that he didn't know how to cherish what he had."
"He held treasures in his hands but trampled on them carelessly."
"Byakuya, you're not like that. You treasure her."
Byakuya said nothing.
He realized Naruto was becoming as "annoying" as Shihōin Yoruichi.
From that day on, he made a silent decision not to go to Rukongai again. As long as he could suppress and overcome the feelings in his heart, there wouldn't be so many problems.
But Naruto wouldn't give him that chance.
He would forcibly drag him out, taking him to Rukongai to see Hisana.
At first, Byakuya resisted, and Naruto had to tie him up with adamantine chains to take him there. But later, when he realized resistance was futile, he resigned himself to it. When Naruto came, he would obediently go with him to Rukongai. Sometimes, if Naruto was a bit late, a barely perceptible trace of anxiety could be seen on Byakuya's face.
But progress was still slow.
When Byakuya went to Rukongai, he would at most chat with Hisana or help her with some manual labor that the heir of the Kuchiki Clan had never done in his life.
Both had their own internal barriers, making it difficult to express the feelings they kept bottled up inside.
Naruto didn't interfere anymore.
He was almost clueless about matters of the heart.
He went to ask Uncle Shunsui for advice, but the suggestions those two old men gave sounded completely absurd.
So rather than doing something, it's better to do nothing.
Byakuya and Hisana have already started down this path, so there's no need for him to overcomplicate things.
Naruto refocused his attention on his research and observations.
It seems that Kūgo Ginjō is not one of Aizen's experiments. What particularly intrigued him was the "Hollow's aura." According to Ginjō, when he was still an embryo and his mother was pregnant, they were attacked by a Hollow, which is why he carries the Hollow's aura.
He believes that the "Fullbring" ability was born because of this.
Within the Seireitei, everything has been peaceful.
Nothing too extraordinary has happened.
It seems that Aizen has genuinely started to behave.
Soi Fon remains in her office, feeling perplexed. She still hasn't figured out the reason—given that the "Hollowfication issue being resolved" is a conclusion almost universally accepted by the entire Seireitei, it's indeed challenging to break out of this mindset without any clear hints.
As time passes bit by bit...
Naruto begins preparing for his next return to the Ninja World.
He wonders what he might be able to bring back with him.
He also wants to understand the principle behind traveling between the two worlds.
He confirms that the clothes he's wearing can't be brought back, but his Zanpakutō can.
During this time, he always carries a scroll with him, with a strip of cloth inscribed with words tied to the Zanpakutō.
In the twenty-fourth year...
Naruto wakes up and opens his eyes to observe his surroundings.
He's not in his own bedroom.
It's the inn where he stayed the night in the town.
He has returned to the Ninja World.
He checks the personal items he had prepared.
The scroll and the strip of cloth tied to his Zanpakutō did not come back.
This makes Naruto frown as he confirms a suspicion.
Is it that only things that belong to one's soul can be brought back?
It seems that apart from himself, the two worlds do not intersect.
He then extends his hand to try the "Summoning Technique."
The seals are formed, but nothing is summoned.
Even after Kurotsuchi Mayuri's modifications, the essence of this technique remains the summoning of objects from the same spatial realm, and the "Soul Society" and the "Ninja World" are entirely different spatial realms.
As he ponders this...
Inside his mind, Nine-Tails couldn't help but speak up, his tone urgent, mixed with a trace of joy: "Naruto, we've returned to the Ninja World."
Naruto smiles.
He knows what Nine-Tails intends to do by saying this.
With someone like Sosuke Aizen in the Soul Society, even though they had learned the method to temporarily release Nine-Tails, they still couldn't use it.
But there's no Sosuke Aizen in the Ninja World.
Naruto leaps out of the window and heads outside the town.
Standing in the woods, he extends his hand, letting chakra flow to his fingertips, and places it on his abdomen, gently twisting.
On his belly, the sealing formula unfolds, the Four Symbols Seal opens slowly like a fan, but it only opens halfway before stopping. The seals around the portal converge into a line, which follows the half-open door and flies into his inner world, connecting to Nine-Tails's stomach.
This technique, researched by Kurotsuchi Mayuri, was named "External Four Symbols Seal" by him.
After casting it, there's a feeling of flipping the "Four Symbols Seal" inside out.
The line formed by the sealing formula guides Nine-Tails out of Naruto's body.
First, a tail emerges, then a paw, and gradually, Nine-Tails's entire massive body squeezes out of the small opening in the Four Symbols Seal.
The thin line still exists.
It's the materialized form of the opened "Four Symbols Seal" and continues to tie Naruto's and Nine-Tails's life forces together.
"This is what freedom feels like." Nine-Tails carefully sweeps his tail, clearing a section of the forest, then sits down and extends a paw towards Naruto.
Naruto takes a quick step and lands on Nine-Tails's shoulder: "But we still can't fully release you."
"This is fine," Nine-Tails yawns, lowering his body to lie down, "Ninjas are a really annoying species."
"If they knew I was completely released..."
"They would definitely come over to bother me, trying to seal me up again."
"Rather than that, staying by your side is certainly better."
As he spoke, he suddenly thought of something, and his tone became disdainful: "Isn't there also an organization called Akatsuki that wants to capture us Tailed Beasts?"
"The Sharingan is truly an evil power!"
Just mentioning those three words, he felt both fear and dread.
Naruto tilted his head and looked at him: "Do you want to try shrinking your size?"
"You're too conspicuous like this."
"Luckily, it's the middle of the night; otherwise, like before, we'd attract countless ninjas."
Nine-Tails swished his tail, knocking down several trees again, and muttered: "Let me enjoy the world in this form first."
"I'll think about how to shrink later."
He liked this feeling.
He hadn't felt so exhilarated in over a hundred years.
In the town...
Under the persuasion of several barmaids, the already drunk Jiraiya suddenly woke up.
He sensed a massive surge of chakra in the distance, making his heart race and filling him with unease.
This feeling urged him to leave the izakaya, jump onto the roof, and look into the distance.
The enormous creature with fiery red fur instantly sobered him up.
What is that? The Nine-Tails?!
~~~
Jiraiya_Shock.jpg
The shock face of Jiraiya in my pfp hahaha
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