A swarm of Hollows blanketed the sky.
Each one was no smaller than the two that had appeared earlier.
They bared their fangs, wicked and ferocious, driven by greedy hunger, and charged at the students.
Panic spread among the crowd.
Several senior students turned back and drew their swords. Though fear still lingered on their faces, their steps were firm—they did not retreat.
Naruto crouched on the shoulder of a Menos Grande, unruffled.
Perhaps for other Shinigami, if their Zanpakutō weren't suited for wide-range attacks, they'd struggle in such a situation.
But Naruto was different.
Though the current version of "Kurama" lacked large-scale offensive abilities apart from the Four-Tails' "Tailed Beast Bomb"...
Naruto was never lacking in methods.
If one of him wasn't enough, he'd just summon more.
He tossed his sword high into the air.
Raising both hands, Naruto brought his index and middle fingers together—right hand vertical, left hand horizontal—forming a cross.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Poof! A puff of white smoke.
Dozens of Narutos appeared atop the Menos' shoulder.
They dove down, chasing after the swarm of Hollows, each wielding a dark red blade.
In the sky above, a man's expression shifted.
The surprise he had been hoping for bloomed in full.
"Is that the Zanpakutō's ability?"
"Or a new kind of spell technique?"
He observed the main body of Naruto still standing on the Menos' shoulder, raising his hands to form the same cross-shaped sign.
Of course, he wasn't using spiritual power himself—just memorizing the motion.
"Each one is a real body."
"With equal spiritual energy."
"But the total Reiatsu hasn't increased—it's divided among the clones."
"What an interesting ability."
Even though the Reiatsu was diluted, the clones were more than capable of handling the Hollow swarm.
But Naruto began to struggle against the Menos itself.
Only after releasing the third tail was he able to inflict real damage.
The Menos let out a pained roar.
It tried multiple times to tear open the sky and summon a Garganta to retreat—Naruto and the Shinigami students did seem like tasty prey, but its instincts warned it of the danger, enough to abandon the meal.
But the man orchestrating this grand scene would not allow it to exit stage left.
He watched hungrily, recording everything.
"Such immense Reiatsu."
"Even when split so many ways, it still damages a Menos."
"But..."
"It's not enough."
"This isn't enough to please me."
He stretched out his hand and tore open the sky—as if a theater master drawing back the curtain for a grand and luxurious performance.
A second Menos was released.
Along with it, another swarm of Hollows burst forth like a hive of bees, buzzing into chaos and charging the crowd.
The unique rotting Reiatsu of Hollows devoured the space around them.
The crescent moon vanished; dark clouds pressed down.
Naruto gritted his teeth.
A second Menos wasn't the problem.
But—
He glanced toward the crowd.
They were no longer panicking—perhaps due to the support of his clones, or maybe they had simply grown accustomed to the oppressive pressure.
Many had stepped forward, drawing their swords or casting Kido spells to assist the clones. Though their power was minor, their courage was not lacking.
Still, the appearance of even more Hollows brought despair to their faces.
Naruto took a deep breath and raised his blade.
He needed more clones.
He needed more overwhelming Reiatsu.
He didn't like using the Four-Tails state, even if Urahara Kisuke's seal markings allowed him to maintain his own consciousness.
The sensation of being wrapped in negative emotion was still unpleasant.
The fourth red tail unraveled, enormous spiritual pressure surging outward.
A dark red spiritual cloak grew from under his feet.
He opened his mouth—and swallowed the blade.
The fourth tail emerged.
His clones transformed as well, and more shadow clones were summoned, leaping into the Hollow swarm.
Naruto stood upright, his appearance now somewhat eerie—like a fox standing on two legs. He drew another blade and leapt high into the air.
Two of Kurama's arms shot from his body.
They grabbed the heads of the two Menos.
And yanked them hard.
The towering giants collapsed, crashing into one another.
In midair, Naruto twisted the four tails toward his mouth.
Spiritual particles gathered rapidly, condensing into a small black orb that he spat out.
It wasn't large—Naruto had sacrificed some power for speed. About the size of two fists, it didn't spin—just shot forward.
And struck the heads of the two Menos.
The small orb exploded with a thunderous blast, winds ripping through the smoke.
The heads of both Menos were utterly obliterated in the explosion.
Fast and decisive.
Naruto landed, quickly standing up again. His spiritual energy restrained, he began chanting an incantation—
This was one of Urahara Kisuke's inventions.
A precise spell.
Allowing Naruto to suppress his own spiritual pressure.
The fourth tail withdrew, the red cloak faded to translucency, and three tails swayed behind him.
In the sky above—
The man raised his hand, the hot wind touching his palm.
His clear glasses reflected the explosion's flash.
Was this the power he held back that day?
Even after dividing his spiritual pressure so many times, he still unleashed such destructive force.
Not a Shinigami. Not a Hollow.
He memorized the incantation.
This would be a useful key.
"Let's leave it at that. They're about to break through."
With a wave of his hand—
The sky curtain began to swallow his form.
"Surprises are gems gifted by the world. When sunlight touches them, they shine brightly."
"This time, I'm quite pleased."
"Naruto, are you pleased?"
Naruto had no time to reflect on that. He continued cutting down Hollows, eyes still on the sky, worried a third Menos might appear.
But—
The incident ended there.
The remaining Hollows finally realized they needed to flee, opening Garganta and vanishing.
The few that didn't escape were swiftly finished off by Naruto.
A senior pointed behind them: "Great! The Senkaimon is open!"
The gateway stretched open.
Even before it was fully revealed, two figures in white haori rushed through.
Followed by black silhouettes.
The Hollow Reiatsu still lingered in the area, keeping the newly arrived Shinigami on edge.
But they soon realized—
Only a few Hollows remained, being cut down by a blond boy wrapped in red spiritual armor.
"Naruto!" Yoruichi Shihouin let out a breath of relief and called out.
Her expression serious, she stared at the enormous, disintegrating corpses.
Another captain turned—blond hair swinging.
It was Shinji Hirako.
His default sour expression looked even more intimidating when grim.
Without a word, he glanced at the Menos, then quickly turned away.
His eyes locked on the man behind him, the one wearing plain glasses.
That man had been beside him the whole time.
Yet somehow…
Shinji Hirako felt that this entire event was somehow tied to him.
"Yoruichi-san, you're here!" Naruto waved after finishing off the last Hollow, dispersing his clones.
"Menos?" Yoruichi asked, pointing to the corpses.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, two of them."
"Menos..." Yoruichi's brows tightened. "Any casualties?"
Unlike regular Hollows—
Menos rarely appeared in the human world; they usually remained in Hueco Mundo, their own realm.
Naruto didn't respond—he didn't know about such things.
A nearby senior stepped up, grinning tiredly, but couldn't hide his excitement: "Luckily we had Naruto with us. He not only fought the Menos but also protected us from the higher-level Hollows—at least several hundred of them. Without Naruto, we'd all be dead."
"Some classmates were injured, but Naruto healed them in time using recovery Kido. Everyone survived."
The Shinigami from the 2nd Division showed no emotion—they were from the Onmitsukidō.
But the Shinigami from the 5th Division, following Shinji, were shocked. They stared at Naruto in disbelief.
Defeated Menos...
Protected students amidst a Hollow horde...
And he was just a student who hadn't even graduated?
Honestly, even their senior seated officers wouldn't be confident they could've done that.
"No one died."
Those words visibly relaxed both captains.
That was the best outcome.
"What happened to the Senkaimon?" Naruto asked.
Yoruichi shook her head. "Still unclear. Urahara's working on it."
"For now—let's head back."
"Squad 4 is fully prepared."
(End of Chapter)