“For your own good, sheathe that sword and come with me.” Isshin said.

“Do you take civilians into custody that easily?” Itachi asked in return which made Isshin snort.

“You are no civilian. Your Zanpakutō tells otherwise, and I don’t remember ever meeting or hearing of someone of your capabilities.”

Itachi paused at Isshin’s words and looked at his sword. ‘A Soul Cutter? Is that was this sword is? An apt name, all thing considered.’

Turning back to Isshin who was looking at him with a raised brow. “I am no Shinigami, and I had no idea what kind of blade this was. I only acquired it from a dead Shinigami months ago.”

The two fell in silence as they stared at each other.

Isshin was contemplating the veracity of Itachi’s words while Itachi was also using his words to gauge the disposition of the Shinigami Captain.

“Aye aye, unfortunately you’re still coming with me. I’d advice you don’t do anything stupid, young man.” Isshin said, giving a look at the blade Itachi held, his intent all too clear, telling him to lower it.

Regardless of Itachi’s words or reasons, he had to be brought in for questioning or killed, and Isshin wasn’t below doing any one of them depending on which one the young man chose.

“Why do you young ones have to be so difficult?” He asked in distaste, knowing just what the look in Itachi’s eyes meant.

The two rushed at each other, swords drawn, and brought it down to draw blood. Itachi wasn’t aiming to kill Isshin and so also was Isshin. The Uchiha wanted a strategic retreat while the nobleman just wanted him to be brought in for questioning.

‘He’s good, but is he looking down on me by not releasing his Shikai, or is he truly just another soul from the Rukongai? Well, let’s see.’

Sensing the bubbling energy inside Isshin’s body becoming a torrent, Itachi broke off the engagement and jumped back.

“The fun times ends here. Burn, Engetsu.” At Isshin’s words, flames came alive over the length of the blade and Isshin’s energy skyrocketed, alerting the nearby Shinigamis of geir Captain’s upsurging Reiatsu.

‘The increase is even more dramatic with the Captain when compared to the others I’ve seen.’ Itachi thought.

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He had been keeping an eye out for this better Isshin’s showcase of skills easily brush past his conservative estimate.

“Are you not going to activate your Shikai, or are you still underestimating me?” Isshin asked in confusion as he saw Itachi showing no move of him going into Shikai when it should be pretty clear by now that there was no way he would beat him without at least going into his Shikai release if he at least wanted to have a decent chance of winning.

But the reply Isshin was expecting wasn’t what he got. “Shikai, huh? Is that what you call the sword’s transformation?”

There were quite a few plays here and one of them was simply not letting Isshin know that he couldn’t go into Shikai, but that would mean nothing and the Captain might even figure it out.

“You seriously don’t know?” Isshin looked at Itachi in surprise as they clashed again but Itachi was quick to retreat this time around.

He surmised that Itachi was more of a speed build than a strength build, but then he noticed something else about the weird soul he was clashing with.

“What kind of movement technique is that? It’s obviously not Shunpo.” He asked as they seperated.

He could easily pressure Itachi into defeat but rather than push him into a desperate retreat or death battle, it was best for Itachi to realize that he was surrounded and give up to that.

“I have to say, the way you control your Reiatsu is splendid. Makes me doubt your words, you know.” Isshin remarked.

Itachi had sensed all the incoming energy, Reiatsu as Isshin had called it, and knew this was time to retreat.

“Thinking about taking the backfoot? Sorry, can’t let you do that.”

Isshin’s Reiatsu skyrocketed at that moment and the atmosphere felt like blistering heat on Itachi’s skin.

‘Fire. How ironic.’ In response to Isshin’s attack, Itachi’s Reiatsu surged and his body disappeared as a fire slash from Isshin touched his body.

Isshin, though surprised at the new burst of consistent speed, stepped up his attack on Itachi and he had to say that if the boy truly wasn’t a rouge Shinigami, he was damn a talented soul.

Twisting himself on a branch, Itachi’s hands dug into his robe and the next thing Isshin saw was a knife meters away from his face which made him almost snort as he tilted his head to dodge it. Almost.

Just as his head swerved, another knife centimeters behind the first one was diverting to where his head was. He leaned behind and dodged the second knife but that was when Itachi’s blade leveled on his neck like a guillotine with how he was positioned.

“Getsuga-”

His words were drown out as a fiery explosion engulfed the both of them and the entire landscape around them.

The current geography looked like the ground zero of a controlled tactical nuke.

As the concentrated recepient of the attack, Itachi bore the brunt of it, despite his quick retreat, as a side of his body was covered in burns and blood.

“You’re surrounded-” A girl’s voice and a blade was set at his neck. “Heh?!”

The next thing the female ninja behind him knew was her being kicked towards a rock and as soon as her back impacted against it, her spine chilled and she froze as a blade started ripping its way across her throat.

CLANG!

“Captain Shi-”

“Move!” Isshin’s voice cut her off and she immediately leapt off from her previous deathbed.

Oh Itachi knew just how bad the situation was but the presence of Isshin was something that stomped almost all of his avenues of subterfuge and retreat.

This was a really bad time to be handicapped.

‘Itachi.’