A/N: Wow it's been a long time guys. What almost a year?! Sorry guys a lot has happened in 2016 but my personal drama is not an excuse for slacking off. Here's the chapter we've been waiting for all most an entire year for. Enjoy the chapter and I hope it's to your liking.

Konoha sure looked different in the three years the Espada had been away. The buildings looked more compact than their spacious counterparts, save the exceptional alleyway that dotted the area for drain pipes, several buildings were stacked up on one another like towers, his guess would be that some of them were actually the same building rather than home on top of home, buildings closer to the ground were still made of wood and straw rooftops, slowly being overshadowed by their much higher metal structures. The entire place seemed monopolized.

Businesses on the ground level either had signs saying "out of business" or "everything must go" probably from the other places snatching all of their original customers. Restaurants were large and thriving enough on their own despite being on the ground level but that was to be expected. Customers wouldn't go several feet up in the air just to eat. Nor would the traveling merchant or tourist see the establishment.

A particular building though that caught Grimmjow's eye was a bright red and black establishment, decorated with arch gates and wooden dragon statues, large glass windows could be seen on the side from his stand point but the rest of the details were vague. A place a few blocks down had more vibrant colors, it lacked the outside display of statues but was much larger and had an extra floor to house more people. The rivaling restaurant may have lacked appearance but made up for it in its sheer size. The smaller eating establishments appeared to have some kind success due to still being open.

"Amazing isn't it?"

Grimmjow looked over what was once his home to now see an explosion of economy growth. If Konoha wasn't the leading Major Village in economy when he was still Naruto Uzumaki, then he was sure it was now. If the Village had expanded this much, then how difficult would it be for him to find Hinata? Had the place still been as it was three years ago, then he would have the lay of the land and been able to track her down but now it would be like a needle in a haystack.

"Impressive. I've seen better though," Grimmjow retorted. "What happened here exactly? Last time I was here this place was barely crawling out of the mud but now its bursting with growth."

"Last time?" Kakashi questioned. "When was the last time you visited us?"

"I'd estimate three years back. Trust me you would not recognized me if you see the before and after picture. Now anyways mind answering my question about how a third world country civilization turned into this piece of work?"

"I didn't like the idea at first but it appeared that our Hokage was tricked into a few things," Kakashi answered the curious Espada. "First thing was signing off much of the authority to the citizen council. Second was that all financial situation such as funding would be put into their hands."

"Sounds like your leader screwed the pooch on that one," Grimmjow chuckled. "Didn't think one could put all of its power into one side of its council. What happened as a result besides what I'm staring at."

"Apparently most of the opposing half allowed it so the citizen council has the say. Hefty bribes would be my guess but a lot of places lost funding obviously. The Hokages tried to make funding fair for all places to thrive but the citizen council then put funding toward any business that would flourish and eventually make the Village money and to loin their pockets. Shinobi, unless they were good, got pay cuts. A way to 'motivate' them to better themselves. This caused a bit of an uproar I'm sure you can imagine."

"You're very forthcoming with this information," Grimmjow commented.

"Honestly, I don't care. If it's not common knowledge at this point, then it's empty information. There's really no harm in you knowing this," the copycat shinobi sighed. "Before I forget, here take these too."

The Espada heard a faint whooshing sound behind him and in a quick motion, shifting his weight to his back leg, turned around to catch the garments thrown to him. The filthy farmer clothes he had obtained from the border drunk upon his arrival. The clothes, while still a earthy color, appeared unscathed from the conflict in the Stone Village. Regardless it still remained an eyesore if the Espada could openly judge it.

Putting on the clothes, Grimmjow didn't realize just how much smaller the clothes were but it was that or walk around naked. His head popped out of the opening and he struggled to get his arms in. His broad shoulders adjusting to avoid any unwanted damages, his long arms bending in odd angles to get past the sleeves. The shirt only covered half his torso revealing his hollow hole, his one feature he wanted hidden, not to mention the shirt was tight around his neck, shoulders and upper arms. The farmer pants stretching at the seams with thick muscles bulging in the thigh and the legs stopping halfway down his calf muscles. The pants felt like tight wrappings around his waist and revealed certain bulges that were better left unnoticed. The sight was more ridiculous than the Arrancar could bear. Perhaps being naked would have been less humiliating.

"We found these on your person in a bundled ball. Not sure where you stole the outfit you had originally but it's a good thing you kept your old clothes to cover you. Keep things cheap and whatnot. Now come on," Kakashi waved. "My higher ups want a word with you."

"Lead the way."

Kakashi nodded as he lead Grimmjow down the hall. It was one thing to be surprised of Konoha's economic boom but the citizen council's hostile takeover was another. Tricking the Hokage was no easy matter even for the greatest of shinobi so for mere common folk to do it, they either had to have planned this for years or just got really lucky. More than likely it was the latter. So if the power was in the people, then it was safe to say the corrupt and greedy had their hand in everyone's cookie jar. He would enjoy leveling this place that much more.

Grimmjow had more questions but they were being blocked by his rage. Eviscerating his former sensei before him would make for a great start for the day but he had no idea what other shinobi were around, nor if he could combat Kakashi. The Espada managed to fight a Kage and killed a Jonin before but this was no normal Jonin but the "Copycat Ninja." He possessed the Sharingan and the strongest lightning techniques he had ever seen in his old life. No doubt he increased his arsenal of copied jutsu, mastery over lightning techniques and his own skills in battle. Taking him on now without any kind of info would be crazy but since when was the Sexta Espada ever tactical. It was time to fight.

"I'm going to enjoy every last moment of th-"

"Let these words forever echo in your mind when you fight, when you train and when you feel confident about fighting someone out of you league." A voice echoed in his mind. The voice of his old rival Ulquiorra.

The anger over his former mentor ceased and turned to his rival. Why would those words repeat themselves now when they never bothered him before? Could his comrade be warning him about Kakashi? To bide his time and train further.

"I'm not even sure what I can do at this point. I don't even have Pantera to use my resurrection should I need it. Fine you win Ulquiorra, you bastard. I'll wait. For now."

Kakashi glimpsed over his shoulder to view the Espada but his gaze was more focused on the hole through his abdomen. Grimmjow returned the gaze and was fully aware of where his attention was focused on. Even Iwagakure seemed curious about the hollow hole.

"Looking is free but touching costs."

Kakashi did not answer the Espada's crude comment but rather returned his focus to the hallway leading Grimmjow to wherever it was they were going. The Arrancar had his theories about where they were going but none of them made sense.

His first thought being that his identity of once being Naruto Uzumaki was discovered but the idea was preposterous so it was mentally scrapped. Next were if he would be forced into some kind of work to repay his hospital fees, which seemed more likely, but the same thing happened with Iwa and they practically interrogated the Espada on the spot, so work right away was very likely on top of a quick interrogation if they were anything like Iwa. So it was down to his last theory of meeting the head honcho of the Village currently. After all he fought the Tsuchikage and lived to tell the tale, why not want a personal debriefing of the events.

Grimmjow, however, lost in thought did not realizing Kakashi had stopped moving. Walking right into the Copycat he stumbled backwards a bit before stomping the floor to regain balance.

"A warning would have been nice."

"Sorry thought you noticed I stopped. After all you are standing behind me."

He was right about that so the Espada couldn't be too upset about their collision but he could have inform him that they had arrived to wherever they were. He was deep in thought about the reasoning of still being here but the Arrancar was bullheaded most of the time and had to be informed of details no matter how small or he would just go ballistic. With a muffled grunt, he dropped the argument and put his focus back on track of his whereabouts. Which was really, really, new to him.

He hadn't seen the door before them in his life of Naruto so it obviously wasn't the Hokage's office. This door was massive, decorated in kanji and creatures jutting out of the steel frame depicting lions, dragons but most amusingly, a nine-tailed fox. The fact that they used the creature that decimated them so long ago, the monster they hated, being used as a symbol of power for their meeting, made Grimmjow chuckle with irony.

The people in power were behind that door, killing them all would not only bring him great satisfaction but would tip the power scales drastically for any who wanted it. While the thought was fun, a certain opal-eyed female excited him that much more. Her warm embrace would be better than the fresh blood dripping from his blade or the sound of bones cracking under his fists. His short temper was legendary back in Hueco Mundo but for once in his lifetime, both before and after, he would think this one through before rushing in.

Kakashi, after pressing a red button, spoke into an intercom on the wall informing those behind that he had brought the Espada in. Waiting in silence was boring but it was better than hearing his former mentor talk. Good thing he was the quiet type and read most of the time otherwise Grimmjow would have lashed out at him by now.

A loud buzzer pierced the silence catching the Arrancar off guard, startling him into a battle stance. After he regained his composure by sliding his feet back to a proper standing posture, from his embarrassing false alarm, the massive, gate like doors pushed inward, dragging themselves along the floor and an echoing screech with each second the doors moved. The Espada could not see through the darkness but his pesquisa detected nine individuals across the room in an arc formation. Those people had to be the ones that called the shots or atleast dealt with whatever he was labeled as.

The Espada entered the room without any form of gesture to continue forward. Kakashi grabbed his shoulder with a light grip but Grimmjow shrugged it off with little effort and made his way into the darken chamber.

"Why don't you turn on some damn lights so we can get this game of twenty questions on the road," Grimmjow said. "I went through something similar to Iwagakure after waking up so let's get these irritating questions out of the way."

Flames erupted out of cast iron plates hanging from the ceiling illuminating the room enough to have a field of vision but enough to keep an ominous atmosphere about it. The shadows that still lingered on the walls danced with the light provided by the fire as if it were waiting to strike something down. The wooden table, just as Grimmjow expected, formed an arc from one side of the wall to the other, blocking any normal way past it other than over it. Ten sheets of shōji masked the seated occupants to shroud their identity but the silhouettes verified there was a presence behind them.

"That can't be right. I detect only nine sources of spirit energy with my pesquisa. How are their ten of them?"

He eyed each silhouette individually that leaked even the smallest amount of reiatsu. The furthest one on the left had the least so either he was close to death or never expanded on his spiritual energy. The second one on the right, closest to the center, had a good size of reiatsu, rivaling a fresh Gillian, at least. The middle two though troubled the Arrancar because both were completely opposite. The left one had massive spiritual energy reserves. The presence reminded him of Shawlong Koufang but Grimmjow knew he couldn't have been reincarnated with him otherwise they would be side by side like the good old days. The right one was dead or atleast had to be close to it. Even the trees of Hueco Mundo had more to offer than the one behind that sheets. There was no possible way he or she were real or even alive at that.

"I monitored him and brought him in like you asked," Kakashi said as he walked up to Grimmjow's side. "Now as for my request for the Kazekage retrieval mission. I would-"

"You may leave Kakashi," a cold voice responded.

"Wait, I thought we had a-"

"And take your team with you to Suna. We shall have nothing to do with this as it does not benefit us. You may take action to aid Sunagakure with their abducted leader but we shall not fund your team for supplies. Also any trouble you get yourselves into, we never authorized you."

Kakashi without hesitation, made his way to the door and hit the buzzer to shut the door. Grimmjow pursued the copy cat shinobi fully aware that he was now headed toward Suna, one of his desired destinations. Before he could make his way to the door however, the giant doors already sealed him inside with the councilmen. He pressed the red button his former mentor had pressed earlier hoping to achieve the same results but the door did not open.

"You mind opening those doors," Grimmjow asked. "He's going somewhere I need to be."

"You have created a stir in a wasp nest. Are you aware of this?"

The voice echoed without the opened door to let sound pass freely but regardless the Espada new it came from the right side of the table. The flames in the room increased in size heating the room at an uncomfortable level, light drumming of fingertips could be heard in the shadows, faint but present. It had to be some sort of intimidation tactic they would use when making deals or putting people in their place but Grimmjow dealt with the likes of Aizen, Tousen and Gin so these corrupt old timers were nothing compared to those crazy shinigami.

His annoyed frown flipped over to a confident grin. How he enjoyed turning the tables of intimidation tactics and these people set up the perfect atmosphere for a soul devouring creature of Hueco Mundo to feel right at home. The dark room, perhaps sound proof, the eerie flames that danced in their pots, the shadows that crept on the walls like hands ready to grab you and the beating of fingers on the wood to mimic an unsteady heartbeat. This would be fun.

"Sounds like you old timers still manage to catch up on current events. Guess your reading glasses haven't have gotten better. Or is that still a missing luxury for you old folk?"

The flames burned higher, hotter and the sound popping coals responded to Grimmjow's remark. If he angered them with any vulgarities, the flames would try to scare him into submission. Such a cheap tactic work frighten a normal citizen or a merchant afraid of death but not a seasoned soul that, not only has died before, but lived in a world where the fearful vanish.

"You do best to learn your place in this world," a voice echoed. "We show those who don't know their place."

"How ominous," Grimmjow chuckled. "If you nine are done with your pathetic attempts to scare me, maybe we can get this show on the road. I know for a fact the only one here that is a fighter is the center guy on the right. The rest of you could probably could kill a child if they were sick and sleeping but even that would challenge you people."

The drumming stopped entirely. Grimmjow's knowledge of the exact number of people may have shocked the council or maybe mocking their skill in battle got under their skin. Regardless what he hypothesized, it caused some kind of disturbance among the unknown group.

"So here's how it's gonna work," Grimmjow said. "First you're going to give me my sword that which I'm sure you guys are holding, next that door is going to open and finally I'm free to leave. Any questions?"

"Why should we give into your demands?"

"If you don't, I'll show you why I was given the rank of Sexta Espada of Hueco Mundo. The odds of all nine of you posing a threat to me are very unlikely. I've held my ground against a Kage level warrior so you people won't stand a chance."

The room flooded with different pitches of echoing laughter. The ringing in Grimmjow's ears were bothersome enough to have his hands clasp over them in attempt to block out the noise. The flames died down to a low light source only created enough light to expose Grimmjow and the door behind him. The shadows invaded the room faster than the light could banish, the laughter calming to dead silence and, thanks to pesquisa, revealed the bodies moving in front of the table, away from their shadowy façade. The faces of the new leaders of Konoha would be present to Grimmjow and his hit list would expand by nine people.

The coals cracked in the pots by the fires heat, the air, from the anxious group, could be cut with a knife but even more so the room illuminated with light bulbs instead of the firepots used earlier. The men in charge of the council all kept cool postures, standing tall despite some of them requiring canes to keep their bodies up. The one furthest down the line, the one Grimmjow had detected earlier, had sunken eyes and an unhealthy thin form, a thinning hair style that was almost unnoticeable, shaking knees to add to his old age and only being supported by a thick club he was using as a cane. Now the one that caught the full attention of the Espada though had to be the one in the center. His demeanor cold as stone, the slick jet colored hair that was well kept back, a long brown haori over a solid white robe with a black sash around his waist but the most intriguing feature of this man were the white, opal eyes.

"Most people don't get this far. Some cry, others just leave but you stood your ground and challenged us back," said the man with opal eyes. "Now that we got that trivial nonsense out of the way, we can conduct real business."

"It's about time," Grimmjow retorted. "So what nonsense do I have to answer and how about some proper intro? I'm Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, the Sexta Espada of Hueco Mundo. Let's get this over with I got stuff to do."

"This is my counsel of delicately chosen businessmen, aristocrats and nobles. I am the leader of this citizen ran group. I am Hiashi Hyuga, clan leader of the Hyuga Clan."

The Hyuga clan was in charge of Konoha after the coup of the Hokage. From his knowledge of his 'younger' days, the Hyuga clan did have some wealth behind them and had a high position in the council when it came to diplomacy so them being in control now wasn't too farfetched. No one dared to attempt a coup d'état since the Uchiha Clan but no one came publicly with evidence so it was just gossip and rumor but their annihilation still scared the clans into place. So for the Hyuga to have pulled off what the Uchiha could not, they must have pulled several rabbits out the their hat.

Grimmjow's interested however went from the coup to interrogating the Hyuga. If he was the head honcho, then he would know how Hinata was but more importantly where she was. This was his break, his golden ticket. A question for a question. It worked once before with Kami so why not with this guy.

"Awesome a man with some actual power here. I thought I was just going to talk to a bunch of penny pinchers. So how about a question for a question? How did a group of soft nobodies gain control of an entire Village?"

Hiashi turned his gaze up and down his neighboring councilmen. His request could easily be rejected by the trained money making diplomats, if they could even be called that. The golden decorated man standing on Hiashi's right hid his face behind a wide fan whispering something into the leaders ear but the Hyuga's composure never changed.

"Unfortunately that question is under wraps and would serve no purpose to you in knowing," Hiashi answered. "However we do, however, have a bit of a problem and wish to utilize your 'unique' prowess to help achieve a certain trade deal."

Just as Grimmjow expected, he would be put to work right away as a form of gratitude. Also his question being shrugged off with a petty answer so instead the Espada would seek answers through his smut reading sensei. No need to complain though about his ignored request but why even bother being remotely interested in these corrupt politicians.

"Unless I'm getting something out of this, no deal."

"Maybe this can motivate you." He answered as he pulled a sword out of his long white sleeve. "This is yours I believe. It's yours if you can take it without harming anyone or me noticing."

Grimmjow, never backing down from a challenge, readied himself a with a quick flash of Sonido, cleared the eight meters between him and the Hyuga, snatched his blade from Hiashi's clenching hand and returned to his spot with Pantera at his side. With a smile he drew the blade, presented the tip to the council and returned the blade back to its sheathe.

"Forgive me for wanting bad so badly but I've had this thing taken from me to many times here than anywhere else."

"Glad to see Kakashi was right about your abilities. Now about our goal we desire," Hiashi started. "Sunagakure was once our proud ally but now we believe they, not only secreted allied themselves with Iwagakure, but are aiding a rebellion we have been trying to quell over the last year. If you travel to Suna on our behalf to seal a trade deal, and by chance discern anything that would confirm our suspicions on the hidden alliance and rebellion funding, we would not only answer any question you have but we would reward you quite nicely."

So not only would he be able to freely travel to Suna unhindered and meet with Gaara, but he could just come back and say everything is fine and no need to worry. A simple lie would lead to riches and Hinata's whereabouts. How could the Espada refuse a simple errand that benefited him so well. Almost to well.

"Why trust me so suddenly? How do you know that I'm not part of this rebellion or a Suna spy?"

"If that was the case, then why would you attack the Tsuchikage so openly?"

He had a point. If he was with Suna already then if they were allies why attack their leader. Aside from them wanting to kill the Espada, he really had to real quarrel with them. So the last question was why trust so easily.

"As to why we trust you so easily," Hiashi added. "You're a stranger. Someone new to our Village that no one would suspect. We've already ruled out that you're not a rebellion activist or a spy so you'd be perfect for what we have in mind."

"Seems a bit risky to trust a stranger," Grimmjow said. "Why not send Kakashi and his team considering they're heading there?"

"Kakashi and his team have been on thin ice as of lately. Kakashi was once on the side of the rebellion but returned to us within a few months. He traded valuable information on the leaders and in exchange we would reinstate him back into Konoha but we believe he has a problem with how we run things now."

The relationship between the council and a few of its shinobi already showed forms of uneasiness so it was expected . That information could be used against them but surely loyalty still remained if they remained in the first place. A few pieces were needed before everything fell into place but it was still a step in the right direction.

"You got a deal Hyuga. Consider that deal done and your suspicions at ease. How long do I have to get this done?"

"You have two weeks to complete this task but that's more than enough if you use that speed of yours," Hiashi answered as he snapped his fingers. "Prove yourself useful to us and you'll find us exceedingly beneficial as allies."

The door opened inward nearly grazing the Arrancar with enough speed to blow the hair on his head forward a bit, scrapping the tiled flooring with its loud scrapping and collided on the stone walls with a bounce. The natural light illuminated the room further and brought the Espada a sense of victory over the feeling of being a tool. A simple turn and out he was, free once more to wreck havoc and destruction along the path.

He could rebuild his Fracción with the start of Gaara, a powerful ally, convince Konoha of Suna's innocence, get paid and turn tail back to the Village of Deserts and Sands. A living version of Hueco Mundo and a place of asylum while he was able to build himself back up. Not to mention if they were part of Konoha's rebellion, then Grimmjow would want to be a part of that. A chance to destroy the place that damned him. Why turn down the opportunity.

"Hey Gaara get ready for a reunion because the guy that beat you three years back is coming back. This time not as an enemy but an old friend and a blast from the past. Naruto Uzumaki, no, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques is coming for ya!"

A/N: Sorry it took so long everyone but i'll be trying my best to keep things going but last year was wild and i have a feeling so will 2017.