15 Free Powerup

Meanwhile, Kisuke was watching the situation in the hole with a dumbfounded expression. While everything was normal in Ichigo's case, things couldn't be more abnormal in Yuna and Hinata's. While the Encroachment for Ichigo's chain was proceeding as planned, Yuna and Hinata's were advancing at an insane pace. Rather than the 72 hours Kisuke claimed this process would take, it would probably be finished in about four. Worst of all, Kisuke didn't even know whether that was something good or something bad.

"Why is it going so fast?"

He was only talking to himself, but someone actually answered him, surprising him a little.

"The duo is actively disassembling their souls; that's why it's going o fast."

Kisuke couldn't help but be shocked when he heard Kurama's explanation.

"Why would they do that?"

"Because the initial process of the soul breaking down is deliberately slowed down to prevent a collapse, but safety measures like that are not necessary."

Kisuke frowned deeply when he heard Kurama's explanation and looked at the meditating duo.

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"It would be for a normal person, but these to know more than enough to navigate through the situation safely."

Kisuke's frown deepened, and after a few seconds of silence, he resumed talking.

"You didn't seem to have much knowledge about souls when you came here; why is the situation suddenly so different."

"The assumption that we didn't have much knowledge about souls is incorrect. What we didn't have much knowledge about is Shinigami."

Although Kisuke nodded in understanding, he still wasn't really satisfied with that answer. Honestly, he wanted to know how a young girl that hasn't even reached the age of 18 yet could have such esoteric knowledge in general, but he knew that he wouldn't get an answer to that. Well, at least not a truthful one.

Meanwhile, in Yuna's mindscape, everything around her was falling apart while she sat cross-legged on the ground, inspecting the black and white egg.

"Definitely not hostile. Rather than hostile, this thing is clearly a part of me."

[Yuna, your soul is collapsing rather fast.]

"Mhh, I get the feeling this egg will hatch as soon as I become a Shinigami."

[Oi, Yuna, things are getting rather dangerous.]

"I wonder what will come out of it~"

[YUNA!]

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Soul's collapsing this, soul's collapsing that."

As Yuna said that, she slowly stood up and dusted off her clothes, followed by her picking up the box that currently had a sword hilt poking out of it.

"Oh well, might as well get ready."

[Finally!]

Hearing the mixture of relief and annoyance in Kurama's voice, Yuna couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. Then, she placed her right hand on the sword hilt and closed her eyes, preparing herself to pull out the sword at any time.

A few more seconds passed before Yuna felt a new presence inside her mindscape, causing her eyes to sharpen. Feeling that it was time to act, a powerful aura erupted out of Yuna as she pulled the sword out of the box, resulting in all the small boxed moving in tandem to reconstruct the whole mindscape. Although the end result would look identical, it would be completely different as well since her soul would no longer be tied to a physical body.

Simultaneously, cracks appeared on the small egg, and a few minutes later, the creature inside was fully hatched.

[Gah~ Gah~]

It was a small female-looking humanoid figure. She had two pairs of wings; one pair was black-feathered, while the other one looked like white batwings. There was a halo flying above her head, but instead of the usual pure white, it was pitch black. In contrast to that, she had two small, white devil horns on her forehead. Overall, her whole figure was a chaotic mixture of black and white color, which was even reflected by her skin, which had equally chaotic coloring. The only exception to this black-and-white color scheme were her eyes, which were deep purple, matching Yuna's own.

"My, aren't you a cutie?"

As Yuna said that, she picked up the little girl with one hand while using the index finger of her other hand to pet her head.

[Gah~]

"Can't speak yet, huh? Well, considering you were just born, that's not much of a surprise."

[Gah~]

As Yuna was petting her head, the little girl flailed her arms around while happy sounds escaped her mouth. Clearly, she was enjoying getting her head pet.

[I'm calling the police.]

"Geez, chill, big brother Kurama."

[B-Big brother!?]

"Yup, henceforth, you are this little ones brother."

[N-Nonsense!]

[Gah~]

Hearing Kurama's words, the little girl looked up at him while sadly tilting her head, causing Kurama to stagger a little.

[E-Even if you look at me like that, I...]

[Gah~]

[Urgh, as I sa...]

[Gah~]

[...]

[Gah~]

[Haa~ fine, I give up.]

[Gah~ Gah~]

Seeing Kurama losing an argument against a newborn, Yuna couldn't help but chuckle in amusement, causing the little girl to refocus on Yuna.

"Well, I'm not sure how this will play out, but we need to give you a name. We can't call you "little girl" all the time. Mhh, considering how you look, how about we keep it simple and choose Chaos."

[Gah~ Gah~ Gah~]

Seeing Chaos happily flail her arms while loudly exclaiming, Yuna quickly realized that she seemed to be satisfied with her new name, causing her to nod in approval.

"Ara~ Ara~ Aren't you forgetting something?"

Hearing another voice, everyone moved their heads to look at its source. While Chaos only tilted her head in confusion, a smirk appeared on Yuna's face, while Kurama sighed deeply while facepalming.

Without another word, one of Kurama's tails moved and wound around Chaos, removing her from Yuna's hand.

[Come, little girl, I'll show you around the mindscape.]

Although Chaos didn't really get why she was suddenly picked up, the moment she was engulfed in Kurama's fur, she started exclaiming in happiness again, making Kurama chuckle. He was just about to depart when he gave Yuna another glance.

[Don't overdo it.]

"Do you want me to lie or not make that promise in the first place?"

[*Sigh* I'm leaving.]

As soon as Kurama was out of sight distance, loud moans and wet slapping sounds started echoing through the mindscape, causing Kurama to sigh again and again.

[Seriously, this is the fourth time this has happened, and I'm not even counting Yuna's first live. People really like those "meet the other you" scenarios, don't they?]

[Gah?]

[Don't worry about it, little one. Oh well, now I at least have someone who can suffer with me. I really hope you grow up fast, Chaos.]

Meanwhile, Hinata's mindscape was slowly falling apart as well, while Hinata and her sword spirit Undine sat side-by-side and chatted.

[Is it really safe to let everything crumble like that? Wouldn't it be much safer to just pull me out and become a Shinigami?]

Hearing Undine's words, Hinata simply shook her head in denial.

"Maybe in the short term, but in the long term, waiting till the last moment will be advantageous."

Undine nodded her head in understanding despite not being happy about Hinata's decision.

[However, won't this risk turning into a Hollow?]

"Hehe, seems like you are misunderstanding something. The end result won't be that I become a Shinigami. The end result is becoming a Shinigami-Hollow Hybrid."

Naturally, Undine's eyes widened in shock when she heard Hinata's words.

[Absolutely not! You would have to constantly fight it for control, and in case you lose the fight, you would stop being yourself!]

"This is where you are wrong. There is no point in fighting it. That Hollow is part of me, so there is no reason to reject it."

Undine paused when she heard Hinata's claim. She never really thought about it, but Hinata's words made sense. Nonetheless, she wasn't sure if this was a good idea.

[Are you really certain about this, Hinata?]

"Yup, trust me, Undine."

The duo held eye contact for a few seconds, and after seeing the confidence and determination radiating out of Hinata's eyes, Undine's shoulders sagged in defeat.

[Fine, I'll trust you.]

Hinata nodded her head as a happy smile appeared on her face. Moments later, she slowly stood up while preparing to pull the sword representing her Shinigami powers out of the box.

Just like Yuna, Hinata suddenly felt another presence within her mindscape and immediately pulled out the sword, resulting in the collapse of her soul stopping.

"See, I told you it would work out."

Hearing Hinata's words, Undine could only shake her head as her gaze wandered in a certain direction.

[You might have become a Shinigami, but the Hollow problem is still there.]

However, just when Hinata was about to answer, a thin blade pierced through her back, causing Undine's eyes to widen.

[HINATA!!!]

However, instead of showing much of a reaction to the blade piercing through her body, Hinata slowly turned her head and looked at her attacker. It was basically a copy of herself, but this version of her had a mostly white color scheme.

"Yo, Hollow Hinata. Nice to finally meet you."

Hollow Hinata's eyebrows twitched in irritation, and moments later, she sighed deeply while pulling her sword out of Hinata's back.

"You truly accepted me without a shred of doubt, huh? You do realize that you are a little insane, right?"

Hearing her copy's question, Hinata couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Hehe, honestly, I can't deny that."

While chuckling mirthfully, Hollow Hinata sheathed her sword and raised her hand for a handshake.

"Very well then, let's get along, partner."

"Oh! Let's get along!"

While the duo was shaking hands, Undine could only look at them in bewilderment. She didn't understand how Hinata could be this trusting of someone who had just stabbed her. No, not only did she get stabbed, she even accepted the attack.

[*Sigh* Seems like I'm in for a wild ride.]

Meanwhile, in the outside world, Kisuke was utterly dumbfounded by what was happening in front of him.

Around five minutes ago, incredible Spiritual Pressure started radiating out of Yuna, while a Hollow mask started forming on her face. The short while it took her to get there aside, so far, everything was as Kisuke had predicted. However, this is where things got weird.

As soon as the mask finished forming, Yuna's clothes turned into the typical Shinigami outfit, but nothing more happened. Yuna still sat cross-legged on the ground, her body unmoving, while a fox-like Hollow mask covered the upper half of her face.

To make things even more confusing, the same happened with Hinata around ten minutes later, baffling him even more.

Initially, the only difference between the duo was the form their mask took. While Yuna's looked like a fox, Hinata's looked like a rabbit. However, after another few minutes, things became even stranger as she leisurely stood up, removed the mask from her face, and made it vanish, reminding Kisuke about a certain group of people who could do the same.

'The real question is whether she can willingly resummon the mask or not and to what degree she can control herself while wearing it.'

However, the strangeness of the situation didn't end there as Hinata quickly noticed that Yuna was still sitting on the ground. She glanced at Yuna in surprise, and moments later, she shook her head in disbelief. Additionally, Kisuke could barely hear her say, "No way".

Moments later, she stomped her foot on the ground in anger while glaring at Yuna. Then, a pout appeared on her face as she puffed up her cheeks and crossed her arms under her chest. Following that, she turned around and walked away from Yuna with a somewhat depressing atmosphere surrounding her; however, after a few steps, she gave Yuna another glance, resulting in a light blush appearing on her face. She glanced at her again and again, and every time she did so, the blush would intensify. That continued for about 30 seconds, and then Hinata apparently decided what to do and sat down behind Yuna, so their backs were touching. A perverted-sounding chuckle later, Hinata closed her eyes again, seemingly going back to meditating.

"What in the world did I just witness."

"The five stages of grief in fast forward and with a strange ending."

Kisuke could only tilt his head in confusion when he heard Kurama's explanation.

"What does that mean?"

"Mah, don't worry about it."

While Kisuke still didn't understand the situation, Naruto could be seen walking towards them with Tatsuki flung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Damnit, I can walk on my own! Let me down already!"

"Sure, sure, I totally believe you can walk by yourself."

"Shit, honestly, what kind of freak are you! How do you not even sound winded after fighting for hours?"

Naruto chuckled in amusement and almost pattered Tatsuki's butt out of reflex. Luckily, he remembered that he wasn't that close to Tatsuki yet.

"Hehe, I just know how to conserve my strength properly."

"Bullshit, no one can conserve their strength to such a ridiculous degree."

"Well, I can~"

A few seconds later, the duo reached the waiting group, and as soon as Naruto set Tatsuki on the ground, she collapsed backward and lay on the ground, causing Naruto to chuckle in amusement as she was clearly not capable of walking by herself, which earned him a glare from her in return.

"Yo, I heard someone is dispensing free power-ups, so I came over."

As Naruto said that, he looked inside the hole Yuna, Hinata, and Ichigo were currently in and immediately had a wry smile on his face when he saw Yuna and Hinata sitting back to back.

"Is that what I think is happening currently happening down there, Kurama."

Kurama growled due to Naruto happily revealing his real name before shrugging his shoulder.

"Why are you even asking? I think it's pretty obvious."

"Mhh, I guess that's true, huh? It would be weirder when it didn't happen. However, to think Hinata would jump into the fray as well; She sure likes getting bullied~"

Meanwhile, Kisuke couldn't help but be surprised that Naruto actually knows whatever is currently controlling Yuna's body, and apparently, he is even close enough to it to be told its real name.

'Things are getting more and more mysterious about that little group of three. Just how many secrets do they have?'

"Oi Naruto, why are you call Yuna Kurama?"

Hearing Tatsuki's question, Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, because that's the name of the one currently controlling her body. The real nee-san is down this hole."

Tatsuki, who still couldn't move and, as such, could not look into the hole, looked at Naruto in bewilderment. However, she quickly remembered the situation where there were two Ichigo's running around and quickly accepted Naruto's explanation.

"I see; nice to meet you, Kurama."

"Naruto's mate, huh? Nice to meet you."

"M-MATE!?"

"O-Oi, don't say unnecessary stuff, stinky fox!?"

While Naruto was yelling at Kurama, Tatsuki's face became crimson when hearing the word "mate". Although she was pretty much Naruto's girlfriend by now, the word "mate" held a completely different meaning.

"Excuse me~ I don't want to interrupt your lover's quarrel, but could someone explain to me what exactly is going on down there?"

Hearing Kisuke's question, Naruto simply shrugged his shoulds before his soul came out of his body, resulting in his physical body falling to the ground.

"Nope."

Before Kisuke could even fathom what was going in, Naruto flicked his wrist, resulting in a wind blade cutting through his Chain of Fate, giving his soul the freedom to jump down the hole toward Yuna and the rest.

"Why is everyone treating cutting their Chain of Fate so casually?"

"Because we have the skills to do so."

Yet again, Kisuke was surprised as the one who spoke to him was Naruto. Or at least the speaking used Naruto's body to do so.

"*Sigh* Just how many surprises are in store for me? What am I supposed to call you?"

"Well, since Naruto already revealed my name, I might as well give you the real one. You can call me Kurama."

Yet again, even more question marks appeared above Kisuke's head as he clearly didn't believe that the entities that could control Yuna and Naruto's bodies had the same name due to a coincidence.

'Shouldn't there be a limit to how many secrets a single person has? Ichigo has so many special circumstances surrounding him, but somehow that random group of three that simply appeared one day seems to outperform him in that regard.

'Should I... change my plans?'

That thought appeared in Kisuke's mind for the first time in a long time. However, he quickly discarded the idea due to one simple reason: Just being monstrous wasn't enough for what he perceived to be the final stage of his plan. Every single puzzle piece had to be in the correct position for everything to work out.

'I'll see how they develop from now, and while doing so, I'll think up possible alternative plans those three might be able to help with. Since Ichigo is plan A, those three will be my plan B for now.'

Meanwhile, inside Naruto's mindscape, everything around Naruto was crumbling away as he leisurely strolled around, his goal already in his mind. He had detected his hidden Shinigami powers rather early, so he was currently walking toward them while assisting in the disassembling of his soul to quicken up the process. He had seen the state Ichigo was in and would rather not be stuck lying on the ground doing nothing for a full three days.

Anyway, around five minutes later, he found what he was looking for: A small box that had the handle of a sword coming out of it.

"So these are my Shinigami powers, huh? *Sigh* why does it have to be a sword? I have no clue how to use swords. I really hope something can be done about its form, or I would rather have the sword uselessly dangle from my side while using my bare hands to fight than suddenly learn how to use a sword."

As he inspected the box and waited for the perfect moment to pull out the hilt, he noticed another presence that felt somewhat foreign while simultaneously feeling familiar.

"Is the something else?"

As he said that, he walked toward the source of the feeling and quickly noticed a small yellow and black egg that did not belong in his mindscape.

"What the hell is that? I don't think it's anything bad, but how in the world did this get in here?"

However, before he could inspect the egg further, he felt that the moment had come to pull out the sword, and after doing so, the world around him started to reconstruct itself while cracks appeared on the egg.

"Oh? Something is hatching? How interesting~"

It took a while for the unknown creature to free itself from the egg, but as soon as it was done, Naruto couldn't help but stare at it with curiosity. It was a yellow-feathered eagle with three black stripes going from its head toward its wings and tail feathers.

"Oh? I wonder what kind of creature you are?"

"Kha~"

"Mhh? I guess you can't talk yet. Oh well, nice to meet you, little bird~"

As Naruto said that, he started petting the bird's head with his finger, resulting in it squinting its eyes in pleasure.

"Oh? What is the meaning of this? How dare you not pay attention to this young master? Do you even know who I am? You are courting death."

While Naruto was petting the freshly hatched bird, another voice interrupted him. Naruto glanced at the source and noticed a somewhat similar-looking copy of himself glaring at him with arrogance. However, the difference between the two was that Naruto wore simple trousers and a shirt, while the figure was dressed in extravagant clothes that seemed to ooze the feeling of someone being rich.

A smirk appeared on Naruto's face as he turned towards the figure, and while doing so, his clothes quickly changed, matching the person who had just appeared.

"Hee~ You speak quite big, peasant. Do YOU even know who I am? You are courting death!"

After Naruto said those words, tense silence reigned the place, but after around ten seconds, the silence was broken.

""Pffhahaha!""

Both Naruto's started laughing like madmen simultaneously.

"Hahaha, as expected of me, that was hilarious."

"Hahaha, indeed."

After a few seconds of loud laughing, the serious atmosphere returned as both of them eyed each other seriously. Moments later, a smirk appeared on the duo's faces as they shook hands.

"I'll be in your hands from now on, partner."

"Oh! Let's get along!"