“The Kuchiki clan is one of the four noble houses. We must set the standard for all shinigami. If we do not abide by the code…then who will uphold it?” — Byakuya Kuchiki.

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“Ahhhh~”

A soft breath. A tranquil exhale.

SWOOOSH!

The sound of a blade splitting the air became even more pronounced in the eerie silence. As soon as the first blade flew, the rest followed – all soon mirrored by the pacing steps.

“What—”

The first whisper of disbelief was the very one that disturbed the horrific and unbelievable dance that was taking place before the widened pair of eyes hidden in the shadows.

Figured clad in all black wielding short swords and daggers flew out from the darkness, all towards one person.

The same person that had both his eyes, ears and his hands bound behind his back in a Kidō seal.

Yet the same person was the very one dancing between the flying knives and sweeping swords from 15 attackers.

With his legs being the only part of his body free of binds, it became the only part he could use to both move, deflect, counter and attack – and it turned out to be the only part he needed against these figures.

First stepping on one of the wayward blades against the ground, he curved his heel into the masked figure’s face and laid him flat against the ground. In another fluid motion, he kicked up the blade under his feet and deflected three daggers flying for him, veering two of them in the line of sight of two of his attackers jumping at him.

He ducked, evading a back stab and swept the man behind him off his feet.

The other attackers faltered for a moment, unbelieving of the scene in front of them, but soon steeled themselves and pushed forward, none saying a word but they all had the same words ringing in their minds.

‘Once. We just have to touch him once.’

As many as they rushed in, one by one they saw their comrades fall – in either the simplest ways or in the unbelievable way – and they soon started to accept the reality in front of them and the sour taste it was known for.

“Acrk!”

And so the last man fell.

Their visible eyes watched in disgruntlement as their Captain easily broke the Kidō binds that sealed off his hands, eyes and ears.

If he easily defeated them with only his legs, then how much quicker could he easily kill them with his released senses – from binds which he also easily broke out of –?

“Only four of you passed. And you know yourselves.” Itachi said as he looked at the group of downed Shinigami before him.

A series of exclamations came in response to Itachi’s words before suddenly dying out as everyone soon understood why, the passing criteria.

As Itachi had said, only four of them had been able to turn his counter attack against him. All his counters were basically invisible and too fast to react to, even for most experienced Shinigami (and they were all grim blindspots), and the four that managed it only managed to double counter only one of his attacks before they all fell to the next one.

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“Those four are yours from now on.” Itachi said to thin air, surprising the group of grieving Shinigami who were confused on who he was talking to.

By the time they turned to look back at him, the ever-elusive Captain of the 2nd Division was gone.

“Hey! Where did those guys go?” And when they looked back at themselves, they realized four of them were missing. And that would be the last time they ever saw them.

…..

Itachi, since becoming a Captain, slowly took his time in finding out what he could about the Great Noble Houses and what secrets were held behind those veils of nobility.

Even if he wasn’t aware of everything, he could smell the distinct stink of dead mice behind the facade that were the ‘Noble’ Families.

And he could smell something slowly stirring up behind those walls. It was only a matter of time before the stink becomes too thick that it soon starts to draw the attention of passers-by – someone like him for example.

Like he would always say if anyone asks, he is not a schemer. He only has keen eyes.

“Captain Itachi..”

Someone called out to him as they silently arrived behind him.

“Captain Byakuya.” Itachi acknowledged without turning around. Even if they hid their Reiatsu well, it was next to impossible to fully mask it when using Shunpo to move behind a fellow Captain.

“Do you have something to say to me, Captain Byakuya?” Itachi asked.

Byakuya, from the beginning, was not a very huge fan of Itachi and unlike other people – Mayuri Kurotsuchi – Byakuya was just like his grandfather, which means most of his dissatisfaction with Itachi, other than sometimes showing on his face, was kept mostly to himself.

“Not entirely.” Byakuya replied.

“Then this is surely a surprise.” Itachi said calmly.

One of the things about Itachi that Byakuya disliked the most was this cold, detached and even expression he always seemed to have. Even the Head Captain on rare occasions sometimes visibly expresses his satisfaction or anger.

“The Hoinu Clan. They are vassals of my Kuchiki Family. Release them to me, I’ll punish them how I see fit.”

Itachi stared at Byakuya through the edge of his eyes and though they were covered by his hair, he could see Byakuya staring back at him.

Itachi opened his mouth and asked, just as calmly as he looked. “And why is that?”

“‘Noblesse Oblige.’” Byakuya replied. “It is something you would understand, isn’t it?”

Two pairs of cold dark eyes stared unflinchingly at the other. Itachi was the first to withdraw.

“Soi Fon started processing the transfer an hour ago. You’ll receive the Hoinu rebels at the end of the day.” And he left immediately after. Almost as if he was waiting for Byakuya to show up before leaving.

Byakuya stared at the spot Itachi had been and sighed by himself.

“Itachi Uchiha. Just as you said grandfather, he truly is a hard man to read.” He shook his head softly before leaving. After this he had to Rukongai since some Hollows had started acting up, mostly around the area his Division looked over.

…..

After leaving Byakuya, Itachi went to the Shin’ō Academy to teach, having become a favorite among his students since back in the days – not that he knew much about it or cared to know.

Though it was very rare to see, every few years, every few decades in a while, he got to see different types of talents joining the Academy as students. And with each new talent came a new perspective in how he saw them and how they saw the world. From the most childish and naïve views, to the most cynical and hypocritical ones.

And one of such were two students who were practically edging towards the end of both spectrums, yet still holding passionate flames within them.

One was a fifth year student, Shūhei Hisagi, and the other was a first year student, Momo Hinamori.

The former was a growing cynic, yet with a sense of extreme camaraderie, while the other, a young girl, was too naïve and passionate, even letting it show on occasions where it would be unsightly to see.

“Good morning, Captain Itachi.” Shuhei greeted Itachi with the utmost respect when he met him. The respect wasn’t born out of simply meeting a Captain and being taught by them, no. It came from the conversations he’d had slowly had with the man who had become his most respected Captain out of all the current Captains.

“Do you need help getting ready for the lecture?” He asked.

“I’ll be fine.” Itachi said and waved him off to which he nodded and retreated. They weren’t similar, in most cases at least. Where Shuhei would be more inclined to help anyone who asked for it, he had found the Captain to be the type to watch and judge when someone in need was truly at their end, and instead of outright helping, would instead prod them to see if they still had any more strength to help themselves.

It also wasn’t much of a surprise to either of them when Yamamoto stuck Itachi with Ethics class to add to his repertoire of side gigs as an academy teacher.

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