55 Hollow Attack on Karakura Town

It was another lazy evening as Ichigo was lying on his bed deep in thought while Kon was pestering him to be allowed to go outside.

While Ichigo was ignoring him, the Shinigami Bagde started making noises, indicating the appearance of another Hollow, causing Ichigo to sigh deeply.

"I'm going out, don't make any trouble, Kon."

As soon as Ichigo finished speaking, he pressed the badge against his chest, resulting in his Shinigami form popping out of his body, before roughly grabbing Kon, pulling a small pill out of his mouth, and putting it in the mouth of his physical body.

As soon as the pill had vanished in the body's mouth, it reopened its eyes.

"Fine, fine, I'll stay here."

After giving Kon a simple head nod, Ichigo left the room through the window, leaving a grinning Kon behind.

"Hehe, I swear I won't be making any trouble."

And so, as soon as Ichigo was gone far enough away, Kon followed him out of the window to make some trouble somewhere else and have some fun.

Meanwhile, Ichigo arrived at the correct location and quickly found the Hollow he was looking for, instantly killing it with a single sword strike.

"Well, that wasn't worth my time."

"Hey, who are you!? Why are you running around in Shinigami attire!?"

Suddenly, Ichigo heard someone calling him, and after looking for the source of the voice, he noticed a man with a black afro and huge eyebrows looking at him.

Realizing that that was very like the new Shinigami assigned to this district, Ichigo took out his Substitute Badge and showed it to the man, resulting in Ichigo receiving a confused look. Seeing that the man in front of him had no idea what the badge he was holding was, Ichigo couldn't help but click his tongue in annoyance.

"What the hell? This thing is useless."

However, before the conversation could advance further, Ichigo heard a footstep behind him. After turning around, his eyes widened in shock as a sword was currently slashing down at him, forcing him to hastily move his own sword, barely blocking the attack.

He glared at his attacker, but moments later, his eyes widened in shock yet again after seeing who his opponent was. After all, he actually knew the person who attacked.

"You are the new transfer student, Shinji. What the... Is that a Zanpakuto!?"

Although Shinji Hirako was a little late in introducing himself in class the previous day due to his small meeting with Naruto, in the end, he still appeared and introduced himself to the class. Since it was a person Ichigo had never seen before, and he had other things to think about, Ichigo pretty much didn't pay him any attention.

Surprisingly, the person he didn't care about suddenly appeared in front of him, attacking him with a Zanpakuto, giving Ichigo quite a shock.

Meanwhile, the man with the afro felt the two people in front of him clashing and decided that he was needed someone else.

'Yeah, I'm not messing with these two monsters.'

"Geez, someone with your Spiritual Power shouldn't get agitated so easily, Kurosaki Ichigo. If you lose control, your Spiritual Power will echo through the world, revealing your position to them."

Naturally, Ichigo was a little flustered by Shinji's words, causing a frown to appear on his face.

"They? Who are you talking about."

"*Sigh* Do you seriously not understand what I mean?"

Hearing Shinji's question, Ichigo's frown deepened. Obviously, he had an idea who Shinji might be talking about, as the only true enemy he had made so far was Aizen. However, he couldn't understand why he would come to Karakura Town.

"Who are you, Shinji?"

Instead of following that line of thought any further, Ichigo decided that he would rather know more about Shinji's identity. Following Ichigo's question, Shinji sighed yet again as his gaze wandered in a certain direction.

"Seems like they are already here, huh? Oh well, as for who I am, this should answer that question."

As soon as Shinji finished speaking, Shinji raised his hand towards his face and pulled it down again, resulting in a black and white mask appearing in his hand, half-covering his face.

"Take a good look. Do you recognize this~"

Although Shinji talked with a teasing voice, Ichigo couldn't help but be dumbfounded as he looked from the mask Shinji was still holding down to his Zanpakuto, quickly alternating between the two.

"Impossible, a Zanpakuto and a Hollow Mask? How can that be?"

"Hehe, you get it now, don't you? I'm a Shinigami that has crossed over the realm of a Hollow. How about we become friends? I'm a Visored, and I'm just like you, Ichigo."

Ichigo's eyes bulged in shock when he realized what Shinji meant, briefly remembering the little episode where he was controlled during his fight with Byakuya. Shinji was just about to continue talking when he felt some pressure coming from underneath his shoes.

He was briefly confused about what had just happened, but when he looked down to check out the situation, his eyebrows twitched in irritation.

"Hee~ Since Aizen is going for Hollow-Shinigami hybrids, I pretty much expected that there was a faction of Shinigami-Hollow hybrids as well. I see, so you call yourself Visored~ Good to know."

Shinji's eyebrows twitched in irritation, while Ichigo couldn't help but be dumbfounded seeing the scene in front of him. Currently, one blond person was standing upside down on the soles of another person, creating a bizarre image.

While Ichigo was only dumbfounded, Shinji was rather irritated that Naruto yet again managed to sneak up on him. However, simultaneously, he also grew warier and warier of Naruto.

By now, he had spoken with Kisuke about Naruto, and considering how he got his Shinigami powers, there was a very high chance that Naruto might turn out to be a Visored as well.

However, Shinji couldn't feel anything from Naruto. Unlike Ichigo, whose Spiritual Power was constantly radiating off him, he couldn't get a read on Naruto at all. Hell, if Naruto wasn't currently wearing Shinigami clothes, he might even doubt that Naruto was a Shinigami at all.

'This should be impossible. Ichigo's bad control over his Spiritual Power is partially due to him having to constantly suppress his Hollow, so if Naruto had a Hollow inside him as well, there is no way he could reign in his Spiritual Power so effortlessly. Unless he can already control his Hollow powers...

No, that should be impossible; it took all of our combined efforts to finally come up with an at least somewhat safe method. Considering Naruto shouldn't have even known about the Hollow inside him, it's impossible for him to have already found a control method. In conclusion, he probably does not have a Hollow he has to fight with for some reason.'

Well, at least Shinji's thoughts were somewhat correct. After all, there really was no Hollow persona he had to fight. He has already accepted the Hollow as being part of him, so there was no longer any point in fighting.

Despite all these thoughts wandering through Shinji's head, in the end, he could only sigh due to Naruto's antics.

"You really like appearing like this, don't you, Naruto."

"Hehe, aren't you the one who started hanging around upside-down in midair? I'm just adding a little flavor to it."

Hearing Naruto's answer, Shinji sighed deeply yet again before his gaze landed back on Ichigo.

"Anyway, this jokester aside, you don't belong to the Shinigami site, Ichigo. You should join us, the Visored."

Meanwhile, Kon was running for his life. Or rather. He was running for Ichigo's life, as he wouldn't die from Ichigo's body being destroyed.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

As he was running, Kon heard a distorted voice saying Ichigo's name, almost causing him to curse. Not only was he currently hunted down by a Hollow, but said Hollow even had a grudge against Ichigo.

Kon could only internally curse again and again while the weird Hollow, with half its mask opened, was gaining ground on him.

The Hollow's hand was just about to touch Kon when a magma-coated fist smashed into it, causing the Hollow to reel back while a pained cry left its mouth.

"Yo, Ichigo, what are you doing losing against such a weak Hollow? Mhh? You aren't Ichigo, are you?"

Couldn't help but sigh in relief when he saw the young woman who had just deflected the Hollow's attack. Although he didn't remember her name because he had never really interacted with her, he at least knew that she was one of Ichigo's friends and that she was aware of Ichigo being a Shinigami.

"I'm Kon, and I might not be Ichigo, but this is his body."

"Mhh, Kon, huh? I'm Tatsuki. Naruto had previously explained the concept of artificial souls to me, so I more or less know what you are. Oh well, I'll get rid of this thing first."

Losing interest in Kon, Tatsuki's gaze landed on the weird Hollow with a half-opened mask and popped her knuckles with a grin on her face.

"You certainly feel different from a normal Hollow. Let's see how hard it will be to get rid of you."

During the brief conversation between Tatsuki and Kon, the Hollow managed to regain its bearing and was now glaring at Tatsuki.

"Get rid of me? Hahaha! Do you really think of me as a normal Hollow? I will show you true power!"

After hearing Tatsuki's words, the Hollow got angry due to how easily defeatable she deemed it to be. So, it suddenly started transforming, growing even bigger as more parts of its mask vanished.

Seeing that, Kon paled as he couldn't believe the creature in front of him could grow even stronger, while Tatsuki was rather indifferent.

"I-Is he a Menos."

"Mah, bigger isn't always better, if you know what I mean... *Sigh* What's wrong with me?"

"This isn't all; watch this!"

As soon as the Hollow stopped growing, it reached for its back, revealing a sheathed sword. He slowly drew the blade, revealing it to be a Zanpakuto.

"What can you do against this giant sword, little girl? I will easily crush your little frame."

"That IS a big sword. Are you compensating for something... Shit, I really spend too much time with Naruto."

She was just about to get ready for battle when a calm voice echoed over the battlefield.

"Mah, could you let me deal with this one? This Hollow almost killed my wife a few years ago and almost killed my son a few months ago, so I have a bit of a grudge against it."

Tatsuki briefly glanced at the source of the voice, just long enough for her to identify the owner while not letting her guard down against the Hollow. However, when she saw a familiar-looking middle-aged man approaching, she couldn't help but take another look.

"Isshin? Ichigo's father?"

"Hahaha, the one and only. It's been a while, Tatsuki~"

Naturally, both Tatsuki and Kon were dumbfounded that, apparently, Ichigo's father was a Shinigami. Additionally, Isshin had a white piece of cloth wrapped around one of his shoulders that looked very suspiciously similar to a Coat a Captain would wear.

Naturally, the Hollow was annoyed that yet another person interrupted him. By now, it had grasped that the person he had been hunting probably wasn't the real Ichigo, so it realized that it had to look somewhere else.

However, its annoyance with the additional intruder quickly vanished when it realized that the newcomer was Ichigo's father.

"You are his father, so you should know where Ichigo is. Tell me!"

"Geez, Ichigo is a big boy by now; there is no way I would still control where he is. Not that I would tell you even if I knew."

As soon as Isshin finished speaking, he drew his own Zanpakuto, causing the Hollow to laugh at him in mockery.

"Hahaha, what can you do with such a tiny sword? The more Spiritual Power a Shinigami has, the bigger their swords get. You can do nothing with that little twig you are holding."

"Oh yeah, this guy is definitely compensating for something."

As soon as those words left Tatsuki's mouth, she regretted saying them, as a blush appeared on her face while Isshin was looking at her in amusement.

Unbothered by Tatsuki's words, the Hollo swung its blade at Isshin, who attacked as well, resulting in the Hollow's sword and body getting cut in two as easily as if they were made of paper.

"The more Spiritual Power a Shinigami has, the bigger their swords get? Although that isn't entirely wrong, it's only common sense to reduce the size of your sword to something manageable. Otherwise, Captains would have to swing around swords the size of a building."

As soon as Isshin finished his little spur-of-the-moment lesson, he sheathed his sword and looked at Tatsuki and Kon with a sheepish expression on his face.

"Oh, and could you keep this a secret from Ichigo? There are certain reasons why I don't want him to know about his yet."

Tatsuki and Kon briefly glanced at each other before shrugging their shoulders.

""Sure.""

Meanwhile, a few minutes earlier, an uncomfortable silence hung in the atmosphere as Ichigo digested Shinji's words while Naruto wondered why Shinji was even bothering to ask. Since he had contact with Kisuke, he should be aware of Ichigo's disposition, which should make it rather obvious that Ichigo wouldn't join them.

Before Ichigo could answer, his head snapped in a certain direction, causing his eyes to widen.

"Shit, is that a Hollow? And what's with that other powerful aura?"

Seeing that Ichigo only now realized that another Hollow was nearby, he could only shake his head.

'Is his Hollow messing with him, or is he simply shit at sensing things.'

Before he could contemplate the matter any further, Naruto answered Shinji's unasked question.

"He really is THAT shit at sensing things."

"H-Hey!"

Before Shinji could comment any further, he noticed Ichigo leaving, causing him to exclaim in surprise.

"Stop it! Why are you leaving!? I still have things to say to you!"

Hearing Shinji yelling at him while conveniently being just far away from Naruto, not to hear his words, Ichigo briefly turned around and resumed speaking.

"I've no interested in what you have to say, nor do I care about joining you. I don't know what kind of freak you are, but I'm a Shinigami. I am NOT one of you guys."

Seeing Ichigo leave for good, Shinji couldn't help but sigh. It's not like he wanted to become a Visored, so Ichigo's words annoyed him quite a bit. However, he quickly realized that there was still someone else present.

"What about you, Naruto? Kisuke told me how you became a Shinigami, and your circumstances were somewhat similar to Ichigo's. There is a high chance that you will have to deal with your inner Hollow one day as well."

Hearing Shinji's words that seemed to contain genuine concern, Naruto briefly chuckled before disappearing from his upside-down position and reappearing in front of Shinji to face him properly.

"Well, there is no need to worry. I don't have any trouble with any potential inner Hollow."

"Yet. You don't have any trouble yet. I heard that, unlike Ichigo, you never were pushed to the brink of your abilities while in Seireitei, so your Hollow might have simply not had a chance to act."

"Hehe, that's not what I mean at all. There won't be any problems because all possible problems were already solved."

As soon as Naruto stopped speaking, he moved his hand in front of his face, resulting in a fox-like Hollow mask appearing, causing Shinji to almost fall out of the sky in shock.

Frankly, he would have never revealed this part of his ability so freely before he had visited Seireitei, and there were two reasons for that. First, he now had a grasp of how strong the strongest of this world were, and although he didn't think he could defeat all of them, he at least wasn't completely helpless.

And, even more important, peeping-tom Aizen was no longer within Seireitei, making it much harder for him to spy on the world of the living.

Well, there actually was a third reason why he decided to reveal himself to Shinji. Frankly, it was probably the most important. No, in fact, there was even a fourth one that might be the most important.

To put it bluntly, Shinji's facial expression when Naruto revealed that he could already use Hollowfication was utterly hilarious, especially considering that Shinji was constantly trying to project the image of a cool-headed guy.

His eyes bulged out as his mouth opened far enough to fit a tennis ball inside while a dribble of snot flowed out of his nose, displaying utter dumbfoundedness.

As for the last reason why Naruto revealed his Hollowfication to Shinji...

*Splat*

... While he was distracted due to Naruto's words, he was no longer on guard against Naruto, allowing a pie to slip through his perception, hitting him square in the face, causing Naruto to laugh out loud while he was comically running away with his elbow and knee bent in a 90° angle.

It took Shinji a while to regain his bearing, and seeing Naruto running away while laughing like a madman, he could only shake his head in bewilderment.

'Honestly, since he can already use Hollowfication, I should genuinely try to get him to join us as well. However... I don't wanna~ Guess I'll pretend I didn't see anything.'