The students were caught off guard, especially those who had previously attacked the Hollow. Just moments ago, it had taken several of them working together to barely fend off the "Advanced Hollow," whose defenses were so strong that even Hadō spells couldn't pierce its body. Yet now, Naruto had effortlessly defeated it with just one strike.
The blond boy looked up at another Hollow and calmly asked, "So this is a Hollow?" It didn't seem nearly as powerful as the instructors had made it out to be.
Hearing his words, the upperclassmen hung their heads in shame. They felt sorry for being so weak that Naruto had overestimated the Hollow's strength.
The other Hollow screeched, hovering in the air, its emotions tense. It could sense how powerful the Shinigami before it was, but it showed no signs of retreating or fleeing.
"Can it fly?" Naruto muttered, focusing on the creature's flapping wings as he raised his hand. Shinigami could float in the air by solidifying spiritual energy beneath their feet, creating a surface to stand on, but Naruto hadn't yet learned that technique.
"Bakudō #4: Hainawa." Forgoing the incantation, a golden rope shot from his palm, quickly binding the Hollow's legs. The Hollow struggled, flapping its wings harder, but Naruto gave a sharp tug, pulling it out of the air and down to the ground. With another swift strike of his blade, the Hollow was split in two, its black, viscous blood evaporating into spiritual particles.
The threat was neutralized, and the students breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness you were here, Uzumaki," one of the upperclassmen said gratefully. He was the one who had been captured by the Hollow and had almost died. As he spoke, it was as if he opened the floodgates, and the other students began praising Naruto fervently, their relief palpable.
"You're truly a once-in-a-century genius."
"Even Bakudō without an incantation! Impressive!"
"Well done!"
Naruto smiled shyly. "Is everyone back yet?"
He wasn't used to receiving so much direct, enthusiastic praise, especially all at once. It made him feel a bit embarrassed.
One of the upperclassmen stood on tiptoes and counted heads. "Yes, everyone's back. No one's missing."
"Then let's head back," Naruto suggested softly, "before anything else happens."
But before he could finish, one of the students cried out in alarm, gripping his Zanpakutō tightly. "The Senkaimon won't open!"
"What? Impossible!" Another student immediately attempted to open the gate by inserting their Zanpakutō into the air and twisting it like a key. But nothing happened. The gate was indeed sealed. Panic began to set in among the students, many of whom turned pale, realizing they were now cut off from the Soul Society.
High above, a brown-haired man wearing glasses chuckled softly. "What a splendid display of Kidō. But that's not enough, little Naruto. I expect much more from you."
With a snap of his fingers, the night sky rippled as if it were fabric being pulled, creating deep folds. His gaze intensified as he watched the students below. "Show me something truly interesting."
Among the panicking students, Naruto remained the calmest. Despite being the smallest among them, his words carried the most weight. "It must be the work of those two Hollows," he said. "The Academy and the 13th Division will notice we're missing soon, so they'll be more worried than we are."
A sharp scream interrupted him as someone pointed to the sky. Space itself seemed to ripple, and from within the folds emerged a massive, clawed hand, tearing open the night to reveal a dark, chaotic void.
"What… is that thing?" someone stammered, their voice dry with fear. The sheer size of the creature carried an overwhelming sense of dread, made worse by the horrifying spiritual pressure it exuded. The monstrous figure pulled its white-boned mask through the tear in the sky, revealing a long, serrated snout and sharp, grinding teeth. The sight of it sent shivers down the spines of everyone present.
"A Menos Grande!" one of the students gasped, stepping back in fear. "That's a Menos—only captains and vice-captains can handle those monsters!"
Naruto looked up. He recognized it from his textbooks as a Menos Grande, a Hollow formed by the merging of hundreds of other Hollows. It sniffed the air, laboriously squeezing through the rift into the World of the Living. As it turned its head, its hollow eyes locked onto the group below, brimming with a terrifying hunger. It clearly intended to devour them all.
"Why are we facing something like this here?" one student muttered in despair, collapsing to the ground. Others, trembling, tried to draw their swords, but the oppressive spiritual pressure made even standing a herculean task.
Naruto stepped forward, his own spiritual pressure surging as he prepared for battle. The other students felt the weight on their shoulders lift slightly, and they looked up. Naruto, standing at the forefront, turned back to them. "Get to safety. I'll handle it."
"No way!" one upperclassman objected. "Even if you're a genius, this is a Menos Grande! It's too powerful…"
Naruto's voice, though soft, cut through his words firmly. "Do we have any other options?"
The upperclassman clenched his fists, his knuckles turning red. At that moment, he finally understood what their instructors had meant when they said, "You must become stronger, and quickly." He realized that power was necessary, especially now that someone younger than him was stepping up to protect them all.
"We'll fight with you," the student said, drawing his sword. Even though Naruto was shielding them from the brunt of the spiritual pressure, the residual force was still almost too much for them to bear. "We can't just leave you behind…"
Naruto smiled at him, an unexpected expression in such a tense moment. "You can call me Naruto from now on," he said brightly. "Do you think I'll become a seated officer after I graduate?"
The question seemed out of place, but the upperclassman didn't hesitate. "Of course."
Naruto turned back to the Menos Grande, which had nearly finished emerging from the rift. "Then let me exercise the authority of a seated officer a bit early. I'm ordering you all to retreat and protect the students of the Shinō Academy."
The upperclassman gritted his teeth.
Naruto raised his sword, the red tassel at its hilt swaying as he spoke with unyielding determination. "Don't worry, I'm strong."
"We'll see each other again—alive," the upperclassman said, trying to hold back his emotions.
"Of course," Naruto replied without hesitation.
As he called out the name of his Zanpakutō, his spiritual energy flared, and he entered his "One-Tail" state. A translucent red cloak of lava-like spiritual energy enveloped him. All at once, everyone felt a heavy weight on their hearts, their emotions darkening. Those who had been holding back their tears could no longer resist and began sobbing openly.
"Is that Naruto's Zanpakutō?" one of the retreating students asked, still glancing back. "It's both powerful and beautiful."
Naruto's ear twitched. Beautiful? That was the first time anyone had described it that way.
The Menos Grande fully emerged, lowering its head as a mass of chaotic spiritual energy gathered at its mouth, glowing a deep red. Naruto's eyes narrowed. Was that…? Urahara Kisuke had mentioned how similar this attack was to the Bijūdama he could use in his Four-Tails form—a Cero.
Naruto crouched low, then leaped into the air, slashing at the Menos Grande's arm. The blade didn't sever the limb, but it did carve a deep gash, spilling dark blood and scattering spiritual energy.
The Menos Grande roared in pain, its Cero dissipating as it howled. Despite its immense power, it was just as the textbooks had said—huge spiritual pressure, but low intelligence and slow movements. In battle, those weaknesses were fatal. Ordinary Shinigami couldn't harm it because they couldn't break through its defenses. But if they could, it wasn't much of a threat.
Nearby, the brown-haired man with glasses floated in the air, watching the battle unfold with interest. Neither the Menos Grande nor Naruto noticed his presence.
Inside Naruto's mind, the Nine-Tails bristled. It sensed a powerful presence watching them, one that made it feel uneasy—like the three men it had encountered before.
"A Menos Grande is such an unreliable tool," the man mused. "This won't do. I saw you with four tails that day, Naruto. Let's see… how about this?"
With a flick of his wrist, several dark rifts opened in the sky, and dozens of Hollows began pouring out, not heading for Naruto, but instead targeting the fleeing Shinigami students.
The man's voice was low and pleased as he murmured to himself, "Newfound friends under attack… What will you do, Uzumaki Naruto?"
(End of Chapter)