Naruto: Just Want To Be A Death God

12th Division, Department of Research and Development.

"Captain Naruto," Mayuri Kurotsuchi greeted with a sly smile. "I've already submitted all the evidence regarding Captain Aizen to the 2nd Division."

"Although I'd love to show it to you..."

"The Head Captain's orders are absolute."

"I can't let you see it."

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not here for that."

"What I want are your research materials on the Quincy."

Mayuri's expression froze. "Captain Uzumaki has already found out?"

"I don't recall doing anything that would give me away."

Naruto reached out his hand without wasting words.

Reluctantly, Mayuri summoned two scrolls with a hand sign. "These were supposed to be my bargaining chips with you in the future."

"What a pity."

Naruto acted as if he hadn't heard him, took the scrolls, and turned to leave.

He paused at the door and glanced back at him. "By the way, Captain Kurotsuchi."

"I believe—"

"Before the Quincy endanger the balance of the three worlds, they're still just ordinary humans."

"What do you think?"

Mayuri clicked his tongue, face full of disgust. "Why hasn't that old man Head Captain taken you in as his disciple yet!"

"In some ways, you're just as annoying as he is."

Naruto said nothing, only raised the two scrolls high.

The summoning technique activated.

They vanished before his eyes.

The Quincy and Shinigami didn't have to be enemies.

One protected the Human World, the other the Three Realms.

However—

The Quincy were different from the Shinigami. When they destroyed Hollows, they completely erased them—down to the last spiritual particle.

And the disappearance of spirit particles would disrupt the balance of the three realms.

The Shinigami had once negotiated with the Quincy, asking them to restrain themselves and leave the task of eliminating Hollows to the Shinigami.

But the Quincy refused.

With talks failing, the Soul Society declared war.

All of this had taken place before Naruto arrived in the Soul Society, so he didn't know the details.

He didn't have any strong feelings about the Quincy.

But he had a good impression of Kurosaki Masaki, that girl who risked exposure and arrest by the Shinigami, and even helped out Isshin Shiba.

Besides—

There weren't exactly few Quincy in the Human World.

If they wanted to, the Soul Society could find them at any time.

But the Head Captain never acted.

Naruto felt he was just turning a blind eye.

That old man was always like that.

Just like the way he saw Naruto.

He appeared rigid, stubbornly by the book—

But in reality, he never opposed actions that had already happened and didn't seem excessive.

Mayuri stared at Naruto's departing shadow, waved his hand, and the shadow clone dispersed.

In a laboratory—

"This is bad," Mayuri muttered as he received the message. He frowned, staring at the corpse on the table. "He found out already?"

"I can't continue this anymore."

"That was fast…"

"Good thing I used a shadow clone, otherwise that short time wouldn't have been enough."

It wasn't that he lacked the courage to keep going.

It was just—

The critical data had already been acquired. The remaining scraps weren't worth the risk of angering Naruto.

He was not someone you could afford to provoke.

And Mayuri still hadn't figured out all the secrets Naruto held.

7th Division Barracks.

Naruto took out the two scrolls and opened them.

He was intrigued by the Quincy.

That day, when he faced off against a Quincy named "Xiaolong," he discovered that although they both used spiritual power, the way Quincies and Shinigami utilized it was completely different.

If the Shinigami drew strength from their self,

Then the Quincy drew strength from the world.

They absorbed spirit particles from the environment and used them for their attacks.

This method felt familiar—it resembled the "Sage Mode" used by ninja.

With Aizen under control,

The Soul Society had quieted down.

Hollow activity began to settle, no longer as frenzied as before. Hollows that shouldn't appear in the Human World also stopped showing up.

This shift itself was strong evidence against Aizen.

But...

The joint investigation conducted by four divisions was progressing poorly.

Not a single piece of conclusive evidence had surfaced.

It looked as though Aizen truly had nothing to do with these incidents.

The Head Captain remained patient.

He didn't push for immediate results, but neither did he ease off on the surveillance of Aizen.

During this period—

Several divisions underwent changes.

Byakuya Kuchiki took over as captain of the 6th Division.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya assumed leadership of the 10th Division. Rangiku Matsumoto was quite troubled by this; she had always known the day would come, but she hadn't expected it so soon. He hadn't even served as third seat for long.

Gin Ichimaru eventually took over the 3rd Division, a bit later than the others.

After all,

He had ties to the 5th Division.

Moreover—

His personal reputation wasn't great. His personality was rather unpleasant, and aside from Naruto and Rangiku, he had no real friends.

Only after a thorough investigation confirmed his character did he become the new 3rd Division Captain.

Renji Abarai was transferred to the 11th Division as a 5th seat.

Momo Hinamori followed shortly after, becoming the 7th seat in the 7th Division. Under the guidance of Komamura's lieutenant, she began handling internal affairs.

Izuru Kira became the 6th seat.

As for the Nine-Tails—it held the rank of 3rd seat. After all, it had begun carrying out missions for the Gotei 13, and it wouldn't make sense to grant it no official status.

Naruto occasionally visited the Human World to see Isshin Shiba—

Now renamed Kurosaki Isshin, who had married Kurosaki Masaki and started a family.

Naruto would bring news of him to the Shiba Clan and also exchange information with Masaki about Quincy abilities.

Naruto had long been interested in Sage Mode—

A technique that used "natural energy."

And now, with the Quincy offering a comparable example, he naturally wouldn't let it pass.

In the Soul Society—

Aside from monitoring Aizen, he also delved into studying other techniques.

Like Shunpo.

The Shinigami, Hollows, and Quincy all had their own methods of high-speed movement.

Each with not only different names, but fundamentally different mechanisms.

Shinigami's Shunpo relied on internal spiritual pressure—using bursts of power to propel themselves at high speeds.

The Quincy's Hirenkyaku adjusted the spirit particles beneath their feet.

They were similar—one internal, one external.

But the Sonído used by the Vasto Lorde that fought Isshin was completely different.

It wasn't high-speed movement.

It was spatial transfer.

This reminded Naruto of the space-time techniques Mayuri had previously derived from summoning techniques.

He and Mayuri were also researching that together.

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, forty-eight years came to an end.

Naruto was ready.

On a certain morning, he opened his eyes.

What he saw was the wooden ceiling of a cabin.

He had returned to the Shinobi World.

(End of Chapter)