“Whenever you fight from this point on, there is one thing that you must never do. And that is to die alone.” — Kaien Shiba.
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‘What is he doing?’ This thought permeated Itachi’s mind after they went through waves of Hollows.
He wasn’t exactly sure what Aizen was planning but him being this open with his actions didn’t quite sit right with Itachi.
He could also feel multiple presences just lurking in the shadows and none of them were familiar to him. The reethey none of them were moving out was because his group of Shinigami were still alive and neither Kisuke or Shinji’s group have made their appearance.
But then again, won’t such a huge disturbance alert the Soul Society? – was Itachi’s thoughts as he watched the battle.
Junpei and Kaien were doing good from his observation, the latter in his Shikai while the former was still relying on heavy usage of Kidō and sword plays – though he was breathing a bit hard.
‘Now if only it all goes as specula-ʼ Itachi brought that thought to a halt when he sensed another Reiatsu at the edge of the town. A very faint presence – almost as if being hid.
‘Is he really going for a frontal assault against them?’ Whatever the sneaking presence was, he doubted any of the Hollows under Aizen’s employ, except the ones on the level of either Baraggan or Starrk, would pose any problem to Kisuke, Yoruichi or the former Kidō Chief, Tessai.
So he did nothing.
‘Are you seriously not going to do anything?’ Of course Amaterasu wasn’t going to take that lying down.
“There’s no need for me to show myself yet. Those Hollows haven’t made their move.” And he also doesn’t know what angle Aizen was playing at.
Them being alert of his presence might spook them into retreating and if that was the case then all the more reason to stay in hiding.
“Seems like you won’t have to wait any longer, Amaterasu.”
The weaker Hollows below have all been cleared and he could see the panting Shinigami sighing in relief as most of the guard went down, which was when one of the bigger Reiatsu started moving.
Itachi’s displeasure wasn’t visible but it was apparent. For all the things that could have revealed his position, he never expected it to be a rookie mistake from his own group no less.
True, there weren’t any other Hollows in the town for them to be on guard against but keeping your guard up after any battle, especially in unfamiliar terrain, was something even the academy students were taught.
Junpei and Kaien were the only ones who had their guard up, more so in the former’s case, but they were too slow to notice the fast incoming presence.
The eyes of the Shinigami widened in deathly fright as he saw the hand that was aiming to punch his head off suddenly grabbed by the wrist.
“Eh?”
The attacker was confused seeing as how his hand was suddenly grabbed from nowhere. “Who the hell are you?”
Itachi studied the appearance of the Hollow whose hand he was holding and ran it by with what he got from Shinji and even if not for the sword, the fact that he could see a small part of what remained of the Hollow’s broken mask all but gave their identity away.
“I asked you a question.” The Hollow with the appearance of a young effeminate boy snarled at Itachi and attempted to smack his face in with his other hand only for his balance to be disrupted when Itachi yanked his hand forward and caught his harmlessly swinging hand, holding both hands together in one of his.
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‘He’s strong. Judging by the force in that swing and the sheer amount of Reiatsu bubbling inside him I doubt Kaien will be able to take him on. Seems like-’
He released the hostaged hands and jumped back to avoid a wild swing.
‘-the other one finally decides to join the party.’
“Stay out of this, Nnoitra. He’s mine.”
The newcomer was a tall lanky man with an eyepatch over his left eye and a slimy smile smeared all over his face.
“Shut up, you idiot. Can’t you tell who that is?” He asked his shorter and more volatile companion whose only answer was a raised brow. “That’s a Shinigami Captain, you dolt.”
The grin that crept up on the latter’s face was a purely ecstatic one. “A Captain? Well what do you know? It will be entertaining to play with him for a bit.”
He pointed at Itachi and introduced himself with the haughty expression on his face growing more and more. “I am Luppi Antenor. The Sixth Espada.” He pulled down on the cloth around his hip to show a tattoo of the number ‘6’ etched on it.
“Nnoitra Gilga. Hehehe.” Nnoitra laughed with his tongue hanging out to show the number ‘5’ stained black on it.
“You Captain,” He pointed at Itachi, “release your Zanpakutō and fight me. I will be the first Espada to kill a Captain.”
“Luppi, be careful… He’s a tough one.” Nnoitra warned but Luppi snorted.
Itachi looked between the two Hollows, Espada as they called themselves, and wondered which of them should take more of his attention.
“Junpei, make contact for permission to release our seals.” He meant for him and Lieutenant Kaien as they were the only ones with seals when they came through the Senkaimon.
His was a formality, not that anyone knew, but he still can’t show more than 20% when the seal is still active on his hand.
“Yes sir.”
“Lieutenant Kaien.”
“Captain.”
“Don’t bother with trying to kill him, I doubt you can. Just hold him back for a bit.”
Kaien’s lips twisted but he said nothing against it and merely nodded, taking the Captain’s warnings to heart.
The Sixth Espada, Luppi, was livid when he heard what Itachi just said. Here he was, finally able to fight and kill a Captain and the Captain just relegated him to fight his weakling Lieutenant. If the bastard was trying to mock him then he’ll make sure to kill everyone here and laugh it in his face later.
Nnoitra on the other hand smiled widely and mockingly put a hand on his chest with faux gratitude.
“Oh me? I’m very much flattered. Unlike Luppi however, I have a habit of playing with my food you see.”
“Sir, permission granted.”
He merely nodded and drew out his blade but that was only what he did which earned him a confused look from his opponent.
“You’re not going to release your Zanpakutō?”
Itachi shook his head. “Not yet.”
He wasn’t underestimating the Hollow, far be it from him. But you see, after spending so much time in the presence of Zaraki and Amaterasu, he just wanted to see how his weaker state compared to that of this Hollow, or Arrancar as they were called.
“Then it will be your funeral! Despair!” Nnoitra rushed at him and threw a kick at his chest which Itachi blocked, only to be thrown a few meters back from the force of the kick and all his opponent got an inconsequential nick on his clothes.
Nnoitra on the other hand was confused because he for sure remembered that Itachi only unsheathed a sword so why were there two blades in his hands.
‘It doesn’t matter. That is not enough to cut through my Hierro.’
He lucked his teeth and pressed on his attack on the Captain who retreated, which brought a smile to his face, but was forced to stot when he realized that his continuous retreat would force Nnoitra to attack his comrades down below.
‘I have to say, his skin is harder to cut through. Even harder than Zaraki’s.’ Even the thought felt somewhat off in his head.
“Hahaha! Do you see it now! I have the strongest Hierro of Lord Aizen’s Espada. Your blade can’t possibly cut me open.”
‘It's not impossible. I’ll only have to put in more effort when I swing.’ He had enough practice with Kenpachi but where Kenpachi’s body was just naturally hard, a byproduct from his Reiatsu, Nnoitra’s was more like a special physique.
He briefly glanced over to Kaien to see that the Lieutenant wasn’t dead yet but it was clear that Luppi was just toying with him.
He couldn’t satisfy his curiosity at the cost of a comrade’s life.
“This won’t take long.” A flicker of flame came alive at the guard of his black blade while his other one had a brief glow.
“Now we’re finally getting serious. Let me see it, your Bankai!” Nnoitra let out a crazed howl as he finally got to see it. The famed Bankai of a Shinigami Captain.
“Burn and Reveal, Truth-seeker.”
The offset of Reiatsu that came with Itachi’s Shikai Release was the first clue Nnoitra had – it brought about an uneasy feeling.
When the Reiatsu subsided, Nnoitra saw the result. Itachi’s one pristine white haori was now a pitch black robe with billowing red clouds on them. But the most drastic change were his swords. One became pure black flames in the shape of a sword while the other became the clearest mirror Nnoitra had ever seen in the shape of a sword.
“This will be enough.” There was no hiding it now. Everyone in the town and wider city that was spiritually attuned could feel the sheer pressure of Itachi’s Reiatsu the moment he released his Shikai.
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