“And one day, when you have the same eyes as I, come before me.” — Itachi Uchiha.

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[POV: With Itachi]

The first person Itachi met with was Junpei who was injured rather extensively and had one of his hands hanging limply at his side while also trying his best to stand upright.

“M-Mr. Itachi… I mean, Lieutenant Ita-”

“It’s alright, Junpei. Take it easy for now.” Itachi interrupted him and made a clone to take him to the 4th Division. His senses zoomed in on Soi Fon next and he appeared right beside her.

“A rough fight?” He asked.

“Tsk.” She clicked her tongue angrily.

“He used a Hollow bait to escape.” She said through gritted teeth. “After everything, after all the training, all the techniques you taught me… I STILL COULDN’T EVEN STOP ONE TRAITOR ARGHH!!”

Itachi silently looked around the battlefield and read the movements of Soi Fon’s lingering Reiatsu and pretty much visualized how the entire fight played out.

He suspected something like this after fighting Gin but it was still surprising that Soi Fon failed to apprehend Kaname Tōsen.

“We’ll talk about this later. We still have a lot to do.”

He could see that Soi Fon was clearly angry at his nonchalant dismissal but she held herself knowing that now wasn’t the right time to lash out.

Three Root agents landed behind them – the Tiger, Dog and Cat – two of them on their knees while their leader, Tiger, walked towards Itachi and Soi Fon and reported what had happened when they were fighting.

“Oh spirits! Itachi…” Soi Fon covered her mouth in shock and looked at Itachi in worry. As someone who had incriminating evidence on Aizen prior to the invasion, most of the blame would go to him as not just ordinary Shinigami were killed due to his inaction, but also nobles and the entire council of Central 46.

Even in the face of possible imprisonment, Itachi still remained nonchalant and calmly ordered the kneeling Root agents and subsequently dismissed them.

“Soi Fon, go with Tiger. Aizen wouldn’t just kill Central 46 without a reason behind it.”

Soi Fon’s eyes widened when she realized what Itachi was hinting at. It was an insinuation worthy of being executed or sentenced to Muken for a thousand years.

“.. Will you really be alright?” She asked, eyes full of concern.

Itachi looked at her, really looked at her, and smiled. He walked towards her and thumped her head with two of his fingers, surprising and confusing her at the same time.

“I’ll be fine. I promise.” He said as he walked past her. “No lies, remember?” And with that he faded away, leaving her and the Tiger behind.

“Let’s go.” They wasted no time and went to carry out Itachi’s orders.

……

As the two-hours time frame for the meeting closed in, Itachi went to the 4th Division to bring Gin along with him to the 1st Division as ordered by the Head Captain.

“Mind sharing what is on your mind, Itachi?” Captain Unohana, who was accompanying him, asked.

“…” Itachi looked at the woman who was right behind him with the slightest raised brow. “Most wouldn’t be able to tell.”

“Ufufu~ I am not most people.” She said with the softest laugh. “So? What is it?”

Itachi looked at her from the corner of his eyes and for the life of him couldn’t tell why it was just impossible to figure out this woman. She was no simple doctor, that he knew, but even that meant little to nothing as none of the Captains were anything like they seem.

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One thing however that he was mostly certain of was that she, Unohana Retsu, was someone he owed quite a lot to and someone he trusted.

“Well, I’m most likely to stand on trial for my gross oversight.” He said half-truthfully.

She nodded with a somber look. “I guess so. Still I believe you’ve had that figured out, haven’t you? I can tell that your currently precarious position isn’t what has you worried…. Hmm, not worried per se, more like a bit concerned.”

“The Nobles. The Principal Clans specifically; Aizen despised them and most likely killed off Central 46 for a similar reason.” Itachi blurted out.

Unohana didn’t show it much but she was inwardly greatly surprised at how easily he said it.

“Recklessness is a folly of youth, Lieutenant Itachi.” She warned and went ahead.

Itachi said nothing as he got her message.

His words, especially in his position, were treasonous and she wouldn’t support anything that had to do with the Nobles.

……

Like one would expect, the meeting was chaotic and tense – which was to be expected given their losses this time.

To further rub salt on the wound, a single individual, one of the Gotei 13’s most respected Captain, was behind the incident that caused them to lose SEVEN Captain-level figures, four Lieutenants, countless Shinigami, and now the entire Central 46 – all in the span of a few decades… and he also breached their defenses, invaded them with Hollows and escaped relatively unharmed.

Itachi was just a hair’s breadth away from being executed by Yamamoto’s sword, especially when he revealed in full, the circumstances surrounding Gin’s capture and his testimony,

Mayuri wasted no time in voicing his opinion of Itachi being imprisoned in the Maggots Nests or plainly executed, a proposition supported by Kuchiki Byakuya, not because of any apparent dislike for Itachi like in Mayuri’s case, but because he truly believed Itachi had failed woefully in his duty and moral obligations.

Unohana remained silent, making no comment on Itachi’s actions, for or against it, due to her own involvement.

Kyōraku however, and surprisingly Jūshirō defended the point Itachi made – there was no evidence. Gin’s testimony was one thing but Aizen’s innocence was another, as even Itachi hadn’t found anything incriminating concerning the man.

He couldn’t reveal his confirmation of Hirako Shinji, Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihōin’s words as that would further discredit his integrity and brand him even more of a traitor.

“Let’s face it, Aizen pulled this stunt over all of us. Not one, not twice, but thrice. What we’re doing now is no different from finding a scapegoat to blame to hide our failures.” Kyōraku said in a low tone and glared at everyone in the room with half lidded eyes, Yamamoto included. “We’ll be losing another Captain if we do that.”

His last statement surprised some while he continued holding the old man’s hard glare, making them question it, mostly because they were feeling increasingly worried with the continued stare off.

“What drivel are you spouting now in his defense, Captain Kyōraku?” Mayuri asked, extremely livid at Kyōraku for his defense of Itachi.

“That darkness that swallowed half of the Seireitei…”

“Yes? What of it?” Byakuya asked immediately after, earning an irritated glare from Mayuri.

Kyōraku said with a casual shrug. “That was his Bankai release. The Head Captain can confirm.”

The rest of the Captains and Lieutenants looked between Itachi and Yamamoto in surprise.

Those that had been trapped in it’s dreaded blanket shivered when they remembered what they had felt in those few moments.

Yamamoto’s continued silence was all the confirmation they needed and with that truth the opinions of the Shinigami gathered were further split apart, and unsurprisingly some weren’t all too happy with what it might mean.

Mayuri banged his sword against the ground and pointed his long fingernails at Itachi. “And so what if he achieved Bankai? That doesn’t absolve him of his crimes! In fact I propose that his Zanpakutō be confiscated until a decision is reached.”

For the main subject of this meeting, Itachi – as it was no longer Gin –, all he felt was a strange bewilderment. He was stuck in a very foreign situation, and it wasn’t for the first time either, where his competency was being put into question – something that never happened once throughout his time as a ninja.

The meeting was mostly inconclusive as everyone knew that the most pressing matter was the reestablishment of Central 46, the general governing power of the Soul Society. Itachi’s trial could wait until that was done. Even the Head Captain seemed to be of the same thought even if he never said it out loud.

There was however something that Yamamoto never once overlooked – Itachi’s Bankai.

Half of the Gotei 13 was engulfed in darkness following the release of Itachi’s Bankai. The effects might not have been pronounced in the outskirts of its shades but he had been the one closest to Itachi and he had felt it even more.

He knew a dangerous Bankai when he saw one.

……

In normal Shinigami fashion, things slowly gained a semblance of stability in the days following the invasion and Aizen’s subsequent defection and while Itachi wasn’t yet behind bars, his movements were restricted by Yamamoto himself, at least until they learnt all they could from Gin.

Itachi looked at his hands where a band of his cut hair lay. It was an old custom of the Uchiha Clan before the forming of the Leaf Village where they cut their hair if they lost a true fight.

His hair was still long but no longer stretching down halfway through his back.

He brought the kunai he used to cut his hair to his face and stared at its reflective surface and watched as his eyes changed from black to red, slowly changing from its three tomoe pattern to the new pattern of his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

“When I activated my Bankai, I felt something. What was that?”

“You’re not asking the right questions.” Amaterasu replied.

Itachi exhaled and slowly asked. “Amenominakanushi – what is it?”

…

…

“Everything.” Tsukuyomi replied.