There are no tactics here, only brute strength.
They can't even unleash their Zanpakuto to bring more complexity to the battle.
Still, despite this, the centuries of life experiences, countless battles of the captains and lieutenants have ingrained a battle instinct in their very beings that he struggles to contend with.
He must not get hit.
He also needs to think of a way to seal them up.
What a headache.
While Naruto evasively maneuvers, Shinji Hirako painfully lifts his head.
His face is mostly covered by a skeletal mask; one eye void and hollow, lost to insanity, while a trace of human rationality lingers in the other.
He clings to this last shred of sanity, using the last of his strength to call out, "Naruto, if you can seal us—"
"Whether you cut off a hand or a foot, it doesn't matter."
"Don't be a coward!"
"If you can't, then leave decisively, don't pity us and endanger yourself too!"
Before he could finish, the bone fluid spreads, completely covering his face along with his last bit of rationality.
Shinji Hirako succumbs.
His mask is ghastly white, sinisterly evil, yet poignantly sacred.
Naruto grits his teeth and raises his sword high.
"Anger, pain, fear, despair."
"Let the cries of agony bloom forth!"
"Demon Fox Nine-Tails!"
Chakra envelopes him in a cloak, six tails flickering in the air.
He devours the sword.
White bones grow from his arms and face.
He appears even more malevolent and fearsome than those who have 'Hollowfied.'
However, the color of the 'bones' is starkly different.
The faces and bones of the hollowed individuals are a deathly silence.
But the exoskeleton on Naruto glows with a bright white sheen as though ready to sprout flesh.
Yet, this does little to improve the situation.
Surrounded on all sides, attacks coming from every direction—it was more than he could bear.
With the aid of his shadow clones as distractions, and relying on his speed, Naruto managed to avoid getting injured.
But this was his limit.
He couldn't find an opportunity to seal the enemies.
Even when the clones bought him time to execute "Adamantine Sealing Chains," they instantly destroyed the shadows and charged at him directly.
It was a frustrating dead end.
"Uzumaki Third Seat!"
Someone called out to him.
Naruto looked over. It was Vice Ghost Leader Haori Tanpachi, clutching his arm and breathing heavily, yet his expression was resolute, "Retreat!
This is beyond what we can handle."
"Call for reinforcements from the other captains."
Naruto clenched his teeth. Should he retreat?
They had all become hollows, even the vice ghost leader was compromised. Seven captains and vice-captains had hollowfied.
He was the last one standing with his sanity intact.
As more "enemies" appeared, the pressure increased. Stay any longer, and he, too, would fall.
But these were his comrades, mentors who had cared for him.
Naruto tightened his grip.
The title of "genius" vanished in this moment. What he needed was power.
The Six-Tails was not enough; he required even greater strength. Should he tap into the Seven-Tails?
But that would not bring a qualitative change needed to seal these foes.
There was also a significant risk of "losing control."
"Call my name."
Suddenly, a voice—a mature and composed male tone—resounded in Naruto's ears.
He was stunned.
Who was speaking?
No one here seemed to have any sanity left.
"Call my name!"
Another voice followed, distinct from the first: it was youthful and urgent, sounding like a child's.
As Naruto dodged attacks, he glanced down at the blade at his waist.
The voice originated from it.
The two voices called out once more, clear and distinct, each taking turns to speak.
They uttered two names, each representing their own identity.
Naruto gripped the sword's hilt, took a deep breath, and his expression turned resolute.
Not far from the forest, Gin Ichimaru exclaimed, "Is this the Shikai of the Uzumaki Third Seat?"
"It indeed resembles… Hollowfication."
Sosuke Aizen smiled slightly, "His brilliance outshines even what it was seven years ago."
"Gin, do you know?"
"Jewels need polishing to truly sparkle."
Gin Ichimaru remained silent.
His face was coated with a thick, fake smile as he stared unwaveringly ahead, his fists clenched tight within his sleeves, his pupils suddenly dilating.
Naruto hovered in the air, releasing the restriction.
He unsheathed the sword from his side, holding it in his left hand, mirroring the one in his right.
"Is he buckling under pressure, about to give up?" Gin couldn't help but ask.
Sosuke Aizen shook his head.
He stared intently at the other sword, already anticipating something.
Naruto raised his dual blades, his expression resolute.
That quiet yet eager voice echoed in his mind, drawing him closer.
But now, he needed a greater power.
If they were two sides of the same coin, then he would harness it for himself.
Spiritual pressure surged, disturbing the very air around him.
He began to chant, words different from any he had spoken before.
"Roaring lament, merciful song, wheel of desire."
On his dark red blade, spiritual pressure erupted, and the crimson silk ribbon gleamed with golden light.
The blade's shape shifted, shortening from a standard katana to a "little tachi" barely two-thirds its original length.
The hilt was fashioned like two interlocking circles, resembling a "whirlpool."
Its entire appearance was a dazzling gold, with a pitch-black tomoe adorning the hilt.
Deep within Naruto's psyche, at the end of the underground waterway, the Nine-Tails suddenly opened its eyes.
Its massive form rose, filled with astonishment and disbelief.
This power—how could it sense this aura?
It was said to have perished over eight hundred years ago.
Yet now, it suddenly manifested within this boy.
Was it the power of that thing called a "Zanpakutō"?
With Hirako Shinji and Kensei Muguruma closing in, Naruto gritted his teeth and summoned the name of his two blades—
"Nine-Tails Asura!"
The combined power of the two blades brought forth extraordinary changes in his body.
The energy of the tailed beast surged, cloaking his form.
No longer the sinister, menacing dark red, it was now a brilliant, half-transparent gold like the sun, encasing Naruto tightly.
Four additional arms symmetrically sprouted from his form.
A six-armed golden body wielding dual blades, divinely radiant.
Naruto swung his sword, slashing towards the two opponents rushing at him.
With a flick of his other two hands, he formed a seal with them. "Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
The power of the technique was more formidable than ever before.
Massive, thicker, and more numerous golden chains surged forth, lashing towards Hirako Shinji attacking from the left.
Binding him and slamming him into the ground.
Meanwhile, chants spilled from his mouth. "The chariot of thunder, the gap of spinning wheel."
"Let them converge, then split into six!"
"Bakudō Number 61, Six Rods Light Prison."
The direction pointed by his final pair of hands was at the Ninth Division's Vice-Captain, Kensei Muguruma.
Giant six-sided golden bars flew out and clamped onto her torso, forcibly pinning her in place.
Amidst the trees.
"Has he liberated another sword?" Sosuke Aizen observed, his eyes bright with a gleam of interest. "The enhancement of Kido and techniques is astonishing."
"This isn't something his current spiritual pressure should be able to unleash."
"An augmentation to Kido from the second sword, indeed."
Ichimaru Gin responded with a smile, "He seems to have gotten even more interesting."
"Aizen-sama, do we let him go?"
Sosuke Aizen shook his head, smiling warmly, but his tone was cold and indifferent: "The strong are meant to be devoured."
"Left to linger on the table, they spoil."
"Move ahead, if you will."
To his other side.
The blind man with the star-like explosion hairstyle nodded, committing promptly, "Yes, Aizen-sama."
He wore a white sleeveless haori.
But it wasn't a symbol of 'Captain'.
The words "Squad Nine Special Attack'' were printed clearly on his back, easily visible.
(This chapter concludes)