106 Changing Capital

(With Night Raid and Ichigo)

"Sayo? Ieyasu?" Tatsumi stared at his two friends in shock, swearing that he just saw their dead bodies, and the orange haired man dressed in black that called to him. He ran out to the two, passing through as he attempted to hug his lost friends. "Wha? But-"

"You can see them, but you can't touch them." Ichigo explained, the boy looking at the Soul Reaper while on the verge of tears. "This is so you can give them a proper goodbye." The two souls looked to Tatsumi with sad smiles.

"Sorry Tatsumi, that's all we can do." Sayo told him.

"It's up to you now." Ieyasu said, putting on a confident smile. "Sorry to leave our goals to you alone but if anyone can pull it off, it's you." Sayo turned to the members of Night Raid.

"You wanted to recruit him right?" She asked, Leone stepping up to the ghost.

"Yeah, he's got what it takes." She said, thinking back to how Tatsumi handled himself earlier that night. "He's going to need some training, but he's got potential."

"You'd better take care of him." Sayo warned. "Or I'll haunt you guys." Ichigo coughed loudly, letting them know that it was time to pass on.

"Who are you?" Tatsumi asked, finally remembering the Shinigami after seeing his friends.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, the Empire's resident Death God." Bulat said, his voice filtered through the armor. Tatsumi practically lit up at the news.

"A god? Then maybe-" He started, only for Ichigo to shoot it down.

"They've died Tatsumi." He sternly said, taking out his Zanpakuto and tapping Sayo and Ieyasu on the head with the pommel. "Once you've died, you do not come back to life. Not like how you're thinking." The pair said 'goodbye' one last time as they glowed a bright white before flying away as black butterflies. "You don't get second chances."

"But... you're a god." Tatsumi weakly argued.

"I may be Shinigami, but the official title and duty is Soul Reaper." Ichigo explained. "I help the dead pass on." 'And I may be pushing the limits of what I can and can't do already.' "You should make your peace." He said, Tatsumi dropping to his knees as that last bit of hope of seeing his friends alive truly disappeared. He began crying, clinging to Sheele as she embraced him in a gentle hug, mourning the loss of his friends and the cruel reality that the Death God made clear.

(Timeskip: The Capital)

It's been three days since Tatsumi was brought in by Night Raid, two for him to recover from his loss and the last he spent talking to the members of the assassination group. He also badgered Ichigo about the afterlife and asking questions that Ichigo just did not have the answers to, especially since he knew nothing about the dimension's religion. The kid made a point to camp out in Ichigo's personal room beneath the base to talk to the Soul Reaper. Ichigo eventually learned to find comfortable roofs to sleep on, expecting to spend days in the capital just to escape the kid. More than that, he spent his time helping every soul he could find to help pass on.

"It never ends." Ichigo sighed, performing hundreds of Konso on so many dead. Dead with anger and hate for the corrupt and sadistic of the Empire. Even the small percent he could help find closure paled in comparison to the numbers he forced to pass on, the ones that demanded vengeance or justice. On the Hollow side, dozens kept appearing from souls he couldn't reach before the transformation and ended up slaying without mercy. At times, he wondered if he should forgo any sense of niceties and just Konso every soul as fast as he could. Before Ichigo realized it, he was walking on the palace grounds.

"Been a while since I was here." He said to himself as guards walked around. No one noticed the Shinigami, he was in his spirit form and thus invisible to those without sufficient spirit energy. "Might as well see what's going on here. Maybe this might help take my mind off things. Willing to bet that fatass is still hovering over the kid." He said as he phased through the walls. Much to his disappointment, he was right. Honest was still hovering over Makoto's side, smiling as the kid sentenced a man to imprisonment and congratulating him. But for the briefest instant, he thought he saw some small measure of doubt in the kid's eyes.

'Nothing is going to change unless that kid gets some independence.' Ichigo thought as the Prime Minister guided him out of the room, discussing lunch plans. Ichigo's hand twitched, imagining just how easy it would be for him to kill that fat bastard, but he forcibly stayed his hand. That was not his decision to make, who lives and who dies, not even where he sent people was entirely his choice. He released a sigh of frustration before sending out a Pesquisa pulse. He sensed the Teigu in the vault and on their users, an incredible presence under the palace, a man with thunder in his soul on the training field, and found out how strong Honest was. That last one surprised him.

'While surprising, I doubt it's anything to worry about.' He thought as he began walking to the training field. 'I should probably warn those Night Raid guys about him. I may not be fighting for them, but that doesn't mean I can't offer any advice. Now, why can't I sense Esdeath?' He wondered as he reached the training field, where he found Budo sparring with what he assumed to be members of the Royal Guard.

"I said, 'Come at me with the intent to kill me!'" He roared as he sent a man flying with a punch, tossing around his sparring partners with some small effort. Ichigo reached out and manifested spirit ribbons, grabbing onto Budo's and putting the general on alert. "That's enough for today. All of you get some rest." He ordered, something many of the guards were relieved to hear as they left. Soon, the only people were Budo and Ichigo. "Are you there, Soul Reaper?" He asked as Ichigo put on his Gigai Ring, as he took to calling it.

"I see you taking some of my advice to heart." Ichigo said as he manifested into a physical form. Budo didn't say anything, but looked to a window above Ichigo and giving a silent warning. The hybrid nodded and disappeared again, only to reappear where Budo indicated and found a soldier looking confused. Ichigo brought out a 'memory modifier' and clicked it in front of the man, who passed out and began talking about Budo seeing his wife. 'It'll do.' He thought before flashing back down to Budo.

"Honest has his agents spying on me after you bested me." The general informed the Soul Reaper. "He has his paid drones watching me while he hovers over the Emperor like a damned hawk. I would be doing something, but I've been unable to do anything. The only time he leaves the Emperor's side is when the Emperor is too occupied with something other than state affairs, like when he's bathing or sleeping or just being a child." Budo growled, frustrated with his lack of ability to do anything with the current situation.

"How severe is the watch?" Ichigo asked, scanning the area around them for anymore possible spies. "Is it just one at a time or completely random?" Budo shook his head.

"I'm under constant watch," He answered, "now was just one of the few lucky times I only had one person watching me." He looked the Soul Reaper in the eye. "I know I probably shouldn't ask this of you, but Honest is looking for any reason to have me dismissed and executed. If you can, can you take the Emperor and show him the state of the Empire?" Ichigo thought for a moment, debating whether or not he could or if that was in violation of his duties. One idea did pop into his head though, he just needed to make the right tool for the job.

"I'll consider it." He said as he got ready to leave, before realizing something was off. "By the way, I can't sense Esdeath. What's going on with her?"

"You can sense people?" Budo asked, surprised for a second before scoffing. "Of course you can. She was dispatched to subjugate the Northern Tribes. She hopes to find you there since she last saw you heading North."

"She'll be disappointed then. I never left the Capital." Ichigo informed him. "There's so much death here already, I'd need a whole squad to cover all the souls here. Besides, I'm not getting involved in the war."

"Then can you stop a massacre?" Budo suddenly asked, surprising Ichigo. "Esdeath loves battle, LIVES to fight, nothing brings her more joy than the suffering of her enemies. After crushing an army, she'll let her soldiers pillage and rape to their hearts' content while she makes any survivors watch, just on the chance that they'll grow stronger and challenge her again." Ichigo was shocked, even Unohana at her worst wasn't this bloodthirsty in her days as the first Kenpachi. She was going to need more than Ichigo's 'Kenpachi treatment', she needed to be humbled. The question of 'could' and 'should' didn't come to the Soul Reaper's mind, he was going to stop her from attacking civilians.

"We'll have to find out. See you in a few days." Ichigo said as he removed his ring and traveled back to the Night Raid base.

(Night Raid Perimeter)

"Here we go, hopefully Tatsumi will lay off and... hmm?" Ichigo said, flashing back to the forest around Night Raid's base and feeling more presences in the area. "Let's see... Sheele, Akame, Mine, Bulat, Lubbock, Leone, Tatsumi, Najenda's back, and another eight people in the forest. I'm fairly certain they weren't invited to join Night Raid." He stretched his body, bones popping all over, as he got ready. "Time to earn my keep." He said before disappearing in a flash.

The first stop was by the river, finding three of the people. They were dark skinned and seemed to dress similar to African tribesman back on Earth, all were on guard like they knew they were in enemy territory. Ichigo was standing high above, on solid Reishi, out of their range of awareness. Soon the group began to look around, as if they were seeing things, but collapsing onto the ground.

"Hakufuku, you are such a useful spell." The hybrid said before tossing down a single tendril of orange and yellow energy from a Horin spell, tying up the scouts and hoisting them up to his level. "Now let's move on to the next." He flashed to a new location, deeper into the forest, with another scout running directly into him. He fell as Ichigo forced himself to stay upright, immediately throwing the Horin tied group into the scout and making him join the bundle. "That's four." Ichigo counted off, while another scout appeared behind him with the intent to cut his head off. "Make that five." He said, instantly grabbing the scout's ankle and throwing him into the bundle.

"Who are you!?" One of the bigger guys demanded, before Ichigo held a hand up and his mind went blank.

"Best hurry." The hybrid said, sensing that Night Raid just found out that they were being invaded. He grabbed the bundle and flashed to a new location, a clearing in the forest with another scout looking to be on the retreat. Tossing aside subtlety, Ichigo threw the Kido bundle into the scout and tying him into it as well. "Two more." He said, looking to his right and finding a woman about to enter a cave. "This is gonna be rough." Ichigo summoned up his bow, took aim, and fired. The spirit bolt pierced through trees, rocks, and shot her leg off at the knee.

"Sorry about that." He muttered, trying to avoid killing. He agreed to protect the hideout, but he never said he'd kill for them. He knew he'd reap the souls anyway but he wanted to avoid killing them himself, killing was not something he wanted to make a habit out of. That didn't stop his reflexes from striking as hard as he could when he felt someone pop up from behind him, courtesy of Yamamoto's new training regime of having Zaraki attack the hybrid at any time. A sickening crack rang out as Ichigo's fist hit the guy's head, twisting it to an unsightly angle and killing the man instantly. Ichigo sighed in disappointment, not the first time he's killed intentionally or accidentally, and it likely won't be the last with the vast difference in strength and power between him and everyone else.

"Well, guess I made the right call making that deal with you." Najenda said, entering the clearing with most of Night Raid, lit cigarette in hand. Lubbock was apparently taking care of that woman Ichigo shot. "Lubbock thought his wire signal was going haywire for a bit." She said with a slight chuckle. Without any prompting, Sheele walked up to the scouts tied up in the Horin Kido and cleaved them all in half with her massive pair of scissors.

"And they were mostly alive." Mine said in a haughty arrogant tone. "What kind of guard dog are-" Ichigo glared at her, looking her dead in the eyes, and she stopped breathing as an invisible weight came crashing down on her.

"The deal is that I protect the base, not that I kill for you." Ichigo reminded, letting up on his Reiatsu and leaving Mine gasping for air. "Do not mistake the bargain we have." He turned away from the irritating sniper and turned back to Najenda. "Budo is under heavy watch from the Prime Minister, so if Makoto is going to see the state of the Empire then I'm going to need a certain tool to help get him out of the palace and without Honest interfering."

"Can you make this tool?" The assassin boss asked, getting a nod from the Shinigami. "You'll be wanting our assistance in testing it out when you're done?" Another nod. "How long do you think that'll take?"

"Depends on how long it'll take me to get back." Ichigo answered. "Budo also informed me that Esdeath is in the North, looking for me, and about how she treats her victims." Most of the members of Night Raid cringed at that, knowing the stories of Esdeath's legendary sadism. "I'll be stopping that from happening." The Soul Reaper informed, performing his Konso on the scouts' souls as soon as they realized they were dead.

"Are you sure you can do that?" Najenda asked, remembering the rules Ichigo set out for them. "Doesn't this mean that you're picking a side? That you're getting involved?"

"Maybe. For now, I see it as picking my side which implores me to protect the civilians." He returned. "Besides, I doubt your trip to your superiors didn't mention me in the slightest. Did it?" Najenda took a drag from her cigarette.

"They insist I try to either convince you to join us, or find a way to kill you." She answered, earning surprise from each of the assassins as they gauged their chances. "You're right about your spot on the board Ichigo, you're either an invaluable asset or a threat that needs to be eliminated. This is an order I'll be ignoring since none of us are exactly suicidal."

"Good girl." Ichigo returned, getting ready to remove his Gigai Ring. "Don't get into too much trouble while I'm away." With the ring off, and his power unrestrained, the hybrid flew Northward to find and fight the icy general.

(Capital City of the Northern tribes)

It was pathetically easy, at least for someone like her. Over the course of two months, she and her army made their way to the Northern territory. She felt some mild nostalgia as the biting cold hit her, but she only had one goal in her mission to the North. Find and bring out the Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki, her new obsession. When she and her army reached the fortified capital city, she showed no mercy. She destroyed the walls, froze everyone she came across, killed thousands, and very quickly crushed the 'Hero of the North' Numa Seika. But the Death God did not appear.

'Where is he!' She thought in anger, not even bothering with her hobby of torturing the beaten prince. 'Did he not feel all the death here? What does it take to call him to me!?' Her mind raced for answers. "Maybe more should do it." She muttered out loud before grinning. "Liver, Daidara, Nyau! Gather the rest of the Northerners and put them inside a pit. Let's bury them alive." She ordered of an older man with long gray hair and a mustache, a man without pupils and long spiky blonde hair with horns and a beard, and a smaller boyish man with blonde hair and cat-like eyes and fangs.

"Yes, Lady Esdeath!" The three answered as they scrambled to obey. Next to the general was the bare and beaten Numa Seika, whose eyes shown a broken man. The general looked at the lean and dark haired man, someone that was promised as a challenge for his title, but after fighting the Soul Reaper she wasn't even interested enough to be disappointed by the gap in their abilities. Now there he was, hanging on a cross with a collar on a chain leash, arms broken, and killed in spirit. She could have molded him to become a dog to lick her boots clean, but that held no appeal. All she wanted was the Soul Reaper, and hopefully all 400,000 of the remaining Northerners dying might get his attention. Half an hour later, she was ready to make her sacrifice.

"This is your punishment for defying the empire." She announced to the fearful and huddled masses. "For daring to match our might, our power, when you are just so pathetically weak. But, fear not. For your lives may hold some use, to summon forth my beloved! My god of death!" She said with a mad gleam in her eyes, such that even her own army was beginning to think she lost it. "Ichigo Kurosaki! Come forth and either reap their souls or try to stop me!" She called out as a giant ball of ice formed above the heads of the Northerners, who were now either panicking, praying, or calmly accepting their fates as the ice descended upon them. Then the ball was engulfed in a beam of red screeching light and was disintegrated, shocking everyone into a stunned silence while Esdeath smiled with glee. "You've finally decided to appear," she looked ahead to find her target on the other side of the pit, "my love."

"To be honest, I didn't even leave the capital's region." Ichigo said, walking on air as he made his way to the general. "I likely wouldn't have come if I didn't hear that you were in the North, looking for me." The general gave a hand gesture, making her whole army step back and away from the unknown figure. No one noticed Numa Seika getting some light in his eyes as hope returned. "Now, you want to tell me what's going on here Esdeath?"

"I wanted to see you again." She answered, smiling brightly as she blushed. Seeing the man she decided to fall for bringing out the woman in her. "I figured the best way to summon a Death God is to be around death on a grand scale. This was the second try." She continued to smile, despite Ichigo's glare.

"What makes you think this pleases me?" He asked, a slight pressure in the area appearing and growing little by little.

"I didn't think it would, I just wanted to see you again." She answered, unaffected but noticing the pressure. "But why should you care anyway? You said it yourself that you weren't going to fight on behalf of the Empire or its enemies. You weren't going to involve yourself in a war"

"There's a difference between a war and a massacre Esdeath." Ichigo returned. "A war, no matter how one sided, implies that there was fighting between the two. A massacre is the slaughter of those that can't fight or defend themselves." He grabbed onto one of his blades. "And I'm not going to let you do as you please. Zangetsu." He called out, now holding a trench and Khyber knife pair of blades and swinging them out to create a large noticeable gash in the ground. "This is the line. You will not cross it." The ice general licked her lips as she unsheathed her blade.

(Illustrated Guide to Assassination)

Najenda Reports About Ichigo

"-and I believe Leone's report that he can and has fought on par with Esdeath because, when threatened, he disarmed Akame and had me and Lubbock at his mercy within an instant." The boss of Night Raid reported to her higher ups. "The good news is that he claims to be neutral in this war, so we probably don't have to worry about fighting him. That said, he also won't be allying with us."

"This is most concerning." One of the leaders of the Revolution said, cloaked in shadow because the author is too lazy to find an actual image of one of the leaders. "But do you really believe he is a god?"

"I believe he is 'god like', but he insists on Soul Reaper." She responded. "That, and he's shown to inhabit both the physical and spiritual planes."

"Either way, this can't be ignored. We'll look for anyone that is capable of joining Night Raid to strengthen your side. In the meantime, you find out anything you can about him. Prioritize vulnerabilities to kill him if necessary. Convince him to join if you can."

"Understood." Najenda answered, smiling at the promise of new assassins to aid. Not that they'd do much against the Soul Reaper, but they didn't need to know that.

Mine needs to learn

"Is there something you want Mine?" Ichigo asked, the sniper in question was glaring at the Shinigami as he drank tea and read another book on the history of the Empire.

"How are you Death?" She demanded. "No matter how I look at you, you're just an average teen boy. Aren't you supposed to be skeletal, grim looking, actually scary? I doubt you could scare-" She shut up as Ichigo looked at her with pitch black eyes with piercing gold pupils and every primal instinct in her body screamed at her to run. Then he blinked and his eyes returned to their normal brown.

"Scary enough for you?" Mine said nothing as she went to change her underwear.