Shinigami in the Ninja World

12th Division, Technological Development Bureau

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

"I'd love to give you a peek, but the Captain-Commander's orders are clear. I can't show it to you."

Naruto shook his head. "That's not why I'm here."

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

Mayuri's expression froze. "Captain Uzumaki, you've already found out?"

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

Naruto extended his hand, saying nothing.

Reluctantly, Mayuri summoned and handed over two scrolls. "These were supposed to be my bargaining chips for future dealings with you. What a shame..."

At the door, he paused and looked back at Mayuri. "By the way, Captain Kurotsuchi, I believe that until the Quincy threaten the balance of the Three Worlds, they're just ordinary humans. Don't you think?"

Mayuri clicked his tongue, his face twisting with disdain. "Why hasn't that old Captain-Commander taken you as his disciple yet? In some ways, you're just as irritating as he is."

Naruto didn't respond. He raised the two scrolls, and with a flash of summoning technique, they vanished.

The Quincy and the Shinigami don't have to be enemies.

One protects the World of the Living, the other protects the Three Worlds.

However, unlike the Shinigami, when the Quincy destroy Hollows, they completely annihilate them, leaving no reishi behind.

The disappearance of reishi disrupts the balance of the Three Worlds.

The Shinigami once tried negotiating with the Quincy, asking them to restrain themselves and let the Shinigami handle the task of eliminating Hollows.

But the Quincy refused.

When negotiations failed, the Soul Society went to war against them.

All of this happened before Naruto came to the Soul Society, so he wasn't too familiar with it.

As for the Quincy... he didn't have strong feelings about them. But he did have a good impression of Masaki Kurosaki. After all, she risked being discovered and hunted by the Shinigami to help save Isshin Shiba.

Besides, Quincy in the World of the Living weren't exactly rare. If the Soul Society wanted to find them, they could do so at any time.

But the Captain-Commander didn't do that. Naruto figured he was probably turning a blind eye.

That old man was always like that.

Just as he had said about Naruto himself.

He seemed rigid and stubborn, but in reality, he wasn't opposed to things that had already happened and didn't seem excessive.

Mayuri watched Naruto's retreating figure and waved his hand, dispelling the shadow clone.

In a Laboratory…

"Damn," Mayuri's real body muttered, frowning as he stared at a corpse on the lab table. "Naruto found out. I can't keep this up. So soon…"

"Good thing I have the shadow clone technique. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been enough time."

It wasn't that he didn't have the guts to continue.

But… the key technical data had already been obtained, and the remaining details weren't worth the risk of crossing Naruto.

Naruto wasn't someone he could easily provoke.

Plus, there were still secrets about Naruto he hadn't figured out yet.

7th Division Barracks

Naruto took out the two scrolls and unrolled them.

He was somewhat interested in the Quincy.

When he had confronted the Quincy named Ryūken the other day, he noticed that although both utilized spiritual energy, the Quincy's methods were entirely different from the Shinigami's.

If the Shinigami relied on their "self" for power... then the Quincy relied on the "world" for theirs.

They drew reishi from the environment and used it as a weapon.

This ability sounded familiar, reminiscent of the "Sage Mode" used by ninja.

With Aizen detained… the Soul Society grew peaceful.

Hollow activity gradually subsided, no longer as frenzied as before, and the Hollows that shouldn't have appeared in the World of the Living ceased to show up.

This change was certainly more incriminating for Aizen.

However… the investigation by the four collaborating divisions made little progress.

They couldn't find any evidence to directly implicate Aizen.

It seemed as though he had no involvement in any of these events.

The Captain-Commander remained patient.

He didn't demand quick results but also didn't lift the surveillance and investigation on Aizen.

During this time… there were some changes among the divisions.

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

Tōshirō Hitsugaya became the captain of the 10th Division. Rangiku was pretty stressed—she knew this day would come, but she didn't expect it to happen so soon. He hadn't even been a Third Seat for that long.

Gin Ichimaru took over as captain of the 3rd Division, albeit a bit later than the others.

After all, he was associated with the 5th Division.

Plus… Gin's personality wasn't well-liked by others; he wasn't seen as charming and had a rather nasty disposition. Besides Naruto and Rangiku, he had few friends.

After a period of investigation, he was finally cleared and became the new captain of the 3rd Division.

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

Momo Hinamori followed, becoming the Seventh Seat of the 7th Division, starting to take on some administrative tasks under Jin'emon Kutsubaki's guidance.

Izuru Kira became the 6th Seat.

As for Nine-Tails, it took the position of Third Seat. Since it had begun performing duties for the Gotei 13, it couldn't go without a formal title.

Occasionally, Naruto would visit the World of the Living to see Isshin Shiba… now going by the name Isshin Kurosaki, who had married Masaki Kurosaki and started a family.

Naruto would bring news of him to the Shiba family and also discuss Quincy abilities with Masaki Kurosaki.

Naruto had always been interested in "Sage Mode."

After all, it involved manipulating natural energy.

And now, with the Quincy as a reference, he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity.

Life in the Soul Society… aside from monitoring Aizen, Naruto also focused on studying various techniques.

For instance, "Shunpo."

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

Not only were the names different, but their natures were also distinct.

Shinigami's "Shunpo" relied on the use of internal spiritual pressure, a burst of power for high-speed movement.

On the other hand, the Quincy's "Hirenkyaku" involved manipulating the flow of reishi beneath their feet.

These two were similar, with one drawing from internal power and the other from external forces.

But during Isshin Shiba's battle with that Vasto Lorde, the technique it used, known as "Sonído," was entirely different, more like "spatial transfer" than mere high-speed movement.

This reminded Naruto of the "space-time technique" that Mayuri had researched based on the summoning technique.

He also collaborated with Mayuri in studying this.

Time passed.

Forty-eight years flew by in the blink of an eye.

Naruto was ready.

One morning, he opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was the ceiling of a wooden house.

He had returned to the ninja world.

~~~

Ok we're back in the Ninja World!

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