So Many Issues

Stretching for as far as the eye could see, buildings made almost entirely of stone stood tall. Surrounding most of these buildings were mountains piercing through the clouds, acting as a natural barrier. However, one of these buildings towered over the rest, and sitting inside was one of the five Kage.

"What..." Sitting cross-legged on a couch as if it was a chair was a dark-skinned man with blond hair and a goatee. He was holding a clipboard with six different reports layered on top of one another. As he read on, the glare in his eyes increased along with his strength to hold his clipboard.

"All of this happened without our knowledge?" The clipboard in the man's hand broke as he looked towards a woman dressed in formal attire with grey hair. "Yes, Lord Raikage, and please stop breaking my clipboards." Ignoring her request, the Raikage grit his teeth. "What are the chances this news has reached the other villages?"

"Through our analysis, the chances that it has reached the sand and stone is guaranteed. It is even possible they knew before us due to the difference and distance." Originally the Akatsuki were not seen as a threat by the Raikage or most of the Kage for that matter, but things have changed.

They now had the Fifth, Seventh, First, Second, Third, Fourth and Sixth Tailed Beasts and potentially enough power to wipe entire villages off the map if harnessed. And that led to another issue catching the Raikage's attention. News about Rei and his stunts in the Leaf and the Land Of Fire, in general, have finally reached this far.

Killing Orochimaru, Establishing a strange region at the Leaf's borders without them taking action and even having them pull back their border defence. And most of all, having the strange ability to create flames from a blade hot enough to burn everything in their path.

Not only did he kill Danzo who was considered to be the rival of the Third Hokage, but he also fought some of the Leaf's top-ranked Jonin and still escaped. That, paired with the Akatsuki incident, created two threats they had to worry about. While the Akatsuki were overall the most dangerous, he saw Rei as a threat that could easily grow out of hand.

Having thought over all of this, the Raikage looked up at Mabui. "Faced with this those other Kage will probably still remain stubbornly idle. We have to take action and if need be possibly call a Kage Summit." Mabui looked at Raikage, surprised and even double-checked his words. "Are you sure?"

"Chaos is beginning to spread throughout not just our nation but others as well. If we refuse to take action until the issue arrives at our doors, then it will be too late. However, if every nation combines its forces, we can easily crush the Akatsuki and deal with this boy. Letting them run amok is no longer a possibility."

With the Raikage's decision made, Mabui left the office with a bow. Meanwhile, back at the Soul Society, the meeting Rei had gotten everyone together for had just come to an end. The atmosphere was still pretty tense as Rei sat up from his chair. Brushing his hand against Ryujin Jakka, Rei tried communicating with it.

'Ryujin Jakka, you wouldn't have any input on this, would you? Maybe a similar event happening before?' Rei was used to Ryujin Jakka, ignoring his random chatter. And honestly, if it weren't important, he wouldn't care; however, this was different. This possibly threatened the Soul Society, the one thing Ryujin Jakka seemed adamant about having him create.

'Ryujin Jakka?' Trying to speak to it once more, Rei still didn't get a response. As he was trying to talk to Ryujin Jakka, he heard Kushina's voice breaking his concentration. "Sorry, you looked like you were busy thinking to yourself. But I was wondering if we could talk." Looking at Kushina, Rei briefly took his mind off of Ryujin Jakka's silence.

I did say I would speak to her about what she wanted after she told me what she knew…' Rei still didn't trust Kushina, which went for his thoughts on the entirety of the Leaf. After learning of their history, his outlook on them changed quite a bit. But at the same time, he wasn't vain enough to paint all of them in a bad light.

After taking a moment to think about Rei eventually decided to hear her out but didn't make any promises. "I need to handle something first so you can wait in my office." Looking over at Shisui, Rei waved him over before he left. "Is something wrong?" Shisui glanced at Kushina and then back at Rei.

"No, at least not yet. I need you to watch over her and take her to my office until I arrive." Shisui was about to say something but instead nodded. "Alright, Lady Kushina, please follow me." Shisui led Kushina out of the meeting room as everyone else left to fulfil their task. Rei noticed Ren sleeking out of the room faster than everyone else but simply ignored it.

'Alright, let's see what's going on with you.' Glancing down at Ryujin Jakka, Rei began to make his way through the building. Eventually, he arrived at his room, where he unhooked Ryujin Jakka from his waist. He could still feel Ryujin Jakka's presence as well as his ability to activate its Shikai form, so something else had to be the issue.

Moving himself to an open area on the floor, Rei sat down in a meditative pose and placed Ryujin Jakka in front of him. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and focused. Slowly the sound of flame's rumbling and burning air replaced the silence of his room. Soon even the heat had risen around him, and when Rei opened his eyes, he had moved.

Well, not physically but mentally, he was inside of Ryujin Jakka's inner world. Unlike his first time arriving here, things had changed drastically. While there still was a sea of flame's stretching for miles on end, there was a plateau in the centre of them. Near the edge is where Rei was standing and in the centre was a single dead tree with a man sitting underneath it.

From his eyes to his hair, everything except for his body was ablaze and seemed to have an unyielding amount of heat resonating from them. While all the fire in this inner world represented Ryujin Jakka, it bore two forms. One being it in its closest to raw state, forming a phoenix and the other being more tamed as Rei saw now.

"So you are still here." Feeling a brief moment of relief, Rei walked towards Ryujin Jakka and saw they were in a type of meditative state. It was only as Rei approached them that they turned to look at him. "So you have come. You normally avoid entering this realm unless you require something, or I do so by force."

"Ya, that happens when you stop responding to me. What's going on?" Rei looked out to the sea of flames, which were growing periodically followed by a burst of Reiatsu. "Why is your Reiryoku so irritated I've never seen those flames burn like that." Ryujin Jakka's manifestation glanced downwards before answering.

"If you haven't sensed it yet, then that means I've been suppressing it properly." Rei looked both visibly concerned and confused as he sat down on the ground. "What are you talking about?" Ryujin Jakka's eyes seem to flare slightly as another burst of intense Reiatsu enveloped its inner world.

"I have been in this strange world for quite some time. I am acquainted with its forms and its ways of power. However, the force that has been reaching out to you specifically is strange. It feels unsure and yet changing. I've never encountered anything like it. Thanks to it, my focus has been divided."

Hearing that Rei had a brief understanding of why Ryujin Jakka hasn't been replying to him. But there were still a few questions lingering on his mind. 'How long has this been happening. I didn't sense a thing thanks to Ryujin Jakka, but it's still worrying that something is trying to get to me, and I don't even know what for.'

"Is it possible that this force is linked to the-" Before Rei could finish speaking, he saw Ryujin Jakka shake its head. "No, while the appearance of Hollows is worrying, they can't generate something like this." Finally, having something to latch onto Rei's brow popped up. "Hollows?" Ryujin Jakka nodded lightly.

"Yes, although I didn't expect them to exist in this world." Having heard all of that, it didn't take Rei long to begin inquiring about hollows and their abilities. Having Ryujin Jakka's wealth of experience at his disposal was a luxury Rei learned to abuse quite literally. Rei spent the next few minutes in Ryujin Jakka's inner world.

Eventually, Rei opened his eyes and found himself back in the Soul Society. In his mind, he was going through everything he had learned. Currently, two issues befell him and the Soul Society, and he knew of one of them. 'Based on what Ryujin Jakka said, then Kushina must have battled against a normal Hollow. Hollow, Gillian, Adjuchas and Vasto Lorde…'

These were the normal ranks Hollows could be categorized in. While knowing their ranks was one thing, he was more interested in how these heights were obtained and what kind of abilities Hollows had. And what worried him was how Ryujin Jakka spoke of it. He believed dealing with normal Hollows would be no issue.

However, as the ranks went on, he learned of their destructive capabilities. If a Hollow ever managed to evolve to the state of a Vasto Lorde, Rei felt he might be the only one who could deal with that kind of threat. Worse yet, Kushina stated that Fuyumi caught onto the fact the Hollow she was fighting was growing stronger periodically, even without devouring anything.

Still sitting on the floor, Rei gripped his head. Ryujin Jakka said Hollows would normally have their own world, which would limit the effort the Soul Society would have to deal with them. But of course, this wasn't Ryujin Jakka's original world. "I've been thinking about constructing a Kido that would create a separate dimension for the Soul Society, but..."

The amount of power needed to create a dimension from scratch was insane. Though he wasn't an expert he had done a few test and calculations before. Creating a dimension was one thing and Rei spent all of his energy creating one, he MIGHT see success, but that's not all. After creation, that same dimension would need a constant flow of power, maybe around half of what was used to create it just to remain stable.

He didn't know all the details, so that he couldn't be a hundred percent sure. But then again, experimenting with dimensional creation was a dangerous matter in itself. It was all just a giant risk. "And I still have to find out what the hell that strange force is. If it's causing Ryujin Jakka to go silent like that, then it must be powerful."

Rei took a deep breath in and then out as he thought of it all. "Ok, no reason to get overwhelmed." He remembered when his dad told him something. If you're fighting multiple fronts, it's best to immobilize the less dangerous variable. In this case, If Ryujin Jakka is dealing with it for now, then that is good enough.

He will focus on the Hollow issue and deal with them first. 'Oh wait, I almost forgot I have Shisui waiting with Kushina.' After all of that, Rei almost forgot about them. Speaking of which currently inside of the office, there was a brief moment of awkwardness. "So your name is Shisui Uchiha, correct? How were Mikoto, Fugaku, and their sons doing when you were around?"

Shisui was standing up next to Rei's desk as he lowered his head slightly. There was a brief tremble in Shisui's voice as he spoke. "Well… I'm afraid the Uchiha Clan was wiped out shortly after my death and a while after yours. The details are still unclear to me." Hearing that, Kushina's eyes widened as she placed her hand over her mouth.

"What? But they…" Kushina seemed to have no words as she stammered herself. "I feel the same way however luckily enough, Rei did tell me Sasuke is alive and possibly his brother as well. Though since this is a pretty grim topic lets move on to something else.

You're here because you want to convince Rei to make you a potential Lieutenant or Captain, right?" As great as Shisui was at hiding what he was thinking, it was obvious this time it was a sore topic, Kushina tried her best to move on from it.

Kushina paused for a moment before nodding. "Yes." Shisui thought to himself for a moment. "I'm not saying it's impossible, however… It'll be difficult. From the stories I've heard, you are obviously skilled and strong enough. However, those ranks mean more than what they appear. No matter how skilled you are, Rei wants their loyalty and trust much more."

Kushina listened carefully to Shisui as he continued. "Plus, he's had some… Less than favourable run-ins with the Leaf that have given him a few reasons to distrust them." It all seemed more and more hopeless as Kushina listened on. 'Now, it makes sense why he was so hostile when we first met. But if I don't...'

As Kushina thought to herself she heard Rei's voice from behind her. "You're making me sound pretty bad Shisui not going to lie. Besides like you said it isn't impossible. There are two possible roles you could fit quite nicely."