Chapter 36 - Prologue

The spectating shinigami get up from the ground after being thrown back by the shockwave of Itachi's shadow clone explosion.

"Bankai? Did he say he is going to use bankai?!"

"Isn't he going a bit too far?"

"Yeah...no I'm not sticking around I'm getting out of here!" A few shinigami said as they watched the sparring session escalate.

The shinigami began to urgently leave the training field as the temperature drops further.

"Bankai!" Toshiro yells as his body is covered by an ice cold reiatsu. Ice forms around his arm and sword handle and up his shoulder, taking the form of a dragon head. From his shoulders, large wings begin to sprout from his back.

"Daiguren Hyourinmaru!" Toshiro says as his bankai finishes forming. Itachi stared at his bankai, amazed by its power being it was the first time he has seen a bankai up close.

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Some distance away, two figures were seated opposite to each other. One was a tall and thin man with white hair and black eyebrows. He had a slightly pale face and sunken eyes. The other was a tall shinigami with wave brown hair. He was wearing a Sugegasa straw hat and a pink, flowered lady's kimono, which he drapes across his shoulders and over his captain's uniform. They were playing shogi while eating and drinking. There was a young lady standing in the corner. She was a slim and youthful girl wearing a normal shinigami outfit. She was also wearing a pair of glasses whilst carrying a book. She had a serious expression on her face as she remained standing.

"So Ukitake, how is the new lieutenant?" Kyouraku asked while sipping his sake.

"Very strong and he's also very disciplined. I am also surprised at how efficient he is." Ukitake replied.

As the two continued talking, they felt two massive waves of reiatsu near the Tenth Division barracks.

"This reiatsu is?!" Ukitake said slightly surprised as he looked towards the Tenth Division.

"Oh not bad, is this the new captain of the 10th division. Who is he fighting that he even released his bankai." Kyouraku.

"Hmm, the other one feels like Uchiha… Why are the two of them fighting?" Ukitake replied.

"Shall I investigate? The young woman asked.

"No I'll go. Besides, there's no doubt that this reiatsu already alerted the old man. I'll let him know I will investigate. Take care of things here Nanao" Kyouraku said still with his lazy expression.

"Yes sir" Nanao replied.

He sent a message to the other captains alerting them that he would take care of it.

"Oh, then let me join you." Ukitake replied while smiling.

Kyoraku and Ukitake got up and the two vanished from their spot.

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"Uchiha, don't hold back!" Toshiro charges in at Itachi with his sword in front of him.

"Bakudo 21: Sekienton." Itachi creates a large smokescreen that fills the area then jumps high into the air above the smoke screen as Hitsugaya is still inside.

"Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado 31: Shakkaho!" Itachi shouts as three spiralling orbs rotate around his palm and he throws them at Toshiro. Toshiro notices Itachi in the air performing the incantation. 'Did he just combine Bakudo 58 with Hado 31?!' Toshiro jumps away from the spiraling orbs coming at him but they proceed to follow him as he flies through the air. 'I see. He used the reiatsu homing capabilities of Kakuishitsujaku and combined it with his upgraded version of Shakkaho which means this blast will keep following me.' Toshiro turns around to face the attack and swings his sword, creating a large arc of ice that collides with the blast. A red explosion occurs as the two attacks collide, covering the area in mist.

Two figures escape out of the mist and face each other once. The mist clears and Toshiro begins the attack. He raises his zanpakuto into the air and swings down his blade, creating an enormous ice dragon that rushes at Itachi.

"Bakudo 81: Danku." A large, transparent wall forms in front of Itachi to block the attack. The dragon collides with the wall and it holds off the dragon momentarily. Shortly after, the barrier cracks and the ice dragon breaks through and collides with Itachi, creating a huge explosion of ice. Toshiro looks into the icy mist created by the collision but his face turns to shock when he sees two large glowing orange eyes and a humanoid-like ethereal figure.

"Not bad." Itachi says as Toshiro stands in awe of the large orange figure surrounding Itachi. Itachi raises the arm of the Susanoo up in the air and beads of reiatsu begin to form in its palm.

"Alright that's enough!" A voice suddenly interrupts both of them.

The two look towards the owner of the voice. They see Ukitake approaching them from a distance.

"It's good to spar once in a while, but you don't have to go all out like this right?"

Itachi nods. He receded his reiatsu and deactivated his sharingan.

Toshiro also complied and reverted his zanpakuto back to its asauchi state.

"Sorry for the disturbance. I'll take my leave first." Toshiro made a quick bow to Ukitake and Kyouraku.

"Uchiha, that was a good battle. It's a shame it ended so quickly, but hopefully we will finish it someday." Toshiro said as he looked at Itachi.

"Indeed." Itachi replied.

Toshiro nodded and left.

Itachi turned to Ukitake. "I apologize for the disturbance captain."

"Don't worry about it Uchiha, just remember to keep the spar simple." Ukitake replied with a smile.

"Understood." Itachi replied before leaving.

"Hmm.. That's him huh? Not bad. He's definitely skilled and still very young. He will definitely go far." Kyouraku commented.

"I believe so as well. His talent in Kido is the most impressive I've ever seen." Ukitake said.

"The fact that he can already use Kido in the eighties as a vice captain is impressive enough. But he used it without the incantation." Kyouraku mused. He had seen the scene when Itachi had used his bakudo to block an attack from a bankai.

"What if I told you I had just taught it to him a few days ago." Ukitake replied.

"What?!" Kyouraku was surprised. "A few days to use Danku at that level? He's some kind of genius, much like Hitsugaya who already became a Captain despite being so young.This is a good sign for soul society to have such talented youngsters."

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Itachi returned to his compound. He digested the battle he had today and reviewed it over.

'So that was a bankai' Itachi mused as he entered his room. 'It rose his strength by at least five times and forced me to use Susanoo in that fight. Looks like I have to train harder.' Itachi thought to himself as he fell asleep.

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17 years have passed.

There were no new events in Soul Society. It seemed after the strange hollow incident in the human world, things had quieted down. During this time, Itachi had continuously trained, increasing his limits on his Mangekyo Sharingan further than he ever had before when he was still alive. He also continued his training under Ukitake to learn even higher levels of Kido and master them up to eighty nine while also making sure to perform his duties properly.

Itachi enjoyed this time of peace. He never liked conflict and it was great for If he could avoid it whenever the chance. He also frequented the dango shop for his favorite snack and also often ran into Renji from time to time. Renji by this point had remained as the 6th seat in the 11th division.

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During one rare encounter, Itachi had run into Renji during his personal day.

"Itachi, It's been quite some time since we met, let's eat!" Renji said enthusiastically.

Itachi smiled and nodded.

The two continued talking before they were interrupted by a hell buŧŧerfly.

"Eh what's this…" Renji said.

Itachi held up his finger so the buŧŧerfly could land.

"It's an invitation." Itachi said, narrowed his eyes and frowned. The invitation was by Aizen to all vice captains for a gathering in the fifth division.

"What is it for?" Renji

"A gathering for all Vice-Captains at the fifth division. It's hosted by Captain Aizen." Itachi replied.

"Then this will be a chance to test yourself against other lieutenants." Renji says excitedly.

Itachi remained silent. He found something strange about the invitation.

"Captain Aizen will also be demonstrating his shikai. Itachi said calmly.

So what do you think Itachi? Will you be attending." Renji asked.

"I won't be able to attend." Itachi replied.

"Why not. It's not everyday all the lieutenants get together right?" Renji inquired.

"Well my Captain is still ill and lately it's been getting worse. A lot of his responsibilities usually fall into my hands. I will be dealing with a heavy workload in the coming days so I will not be attending." Itachi replied.

Renji nodded and the two of them walked down the streets of seireitei looking for a taiyaki shop.

After eating with Renji, Itachi returned to the main hall in the thirteenth division and resumed his work. 'Something is strange, but I don't know what. There's no proof or reasoning, but I instinctively feel that something is amiss. Demonstrating his zanpakuto? The best course of action for now would be to avoid him using my work as an excuse. It's best to avoid Aizen as much as I can. I've searched all these years, but there is no proof I could find directly linking to him. I don't know what he is planning, but whatever it is I have to be ready.' Itachi thought to himself as he continued his work.

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A few days later at the Fifth Division, a big hall was filled with the Gotei 13 lieutenants.

They were talking amongst themselves enjoying the rare atmosphere of having a day off.

"I cant believe there isn't any sake here." Grumbled a young woman with wavy blonde hair and a busty ċhėst. She was wearing her shihakusho loose, revealing her massive brėȧsts.

"Rangiku please behave yourself. Said a young man with blonde hair, with bangs parted over his left eye.

"Quit being so uptight" Rangiku replied lazily, slightly annoying the young man.

"Kira, Rangiku be nice" A voice said from the side. It was a young woman with brown eyes, and standard Shinigami robes, with her black hair pulled into a bun held in a tied cloth. She was carrying a tray of snacks.

"Momo, you're too nice." Kira replied.

However before she could reply, a pink blur raced by her picking up all of the snacks on her tray. She stuffed them all into her mouth, enlarging her cheeks. It was a very small, young girl with pink hair, dark pink eyes and a perpetual blush on her cheeks. She looked pleadingly at Momo to give her more snacks "More, More!"

"Wait a moment Yachiru!" Momo said smilingly before she went back into the room and brought out another tray. Yachiru's eyes gleamed as she quickly grabbed the tray and dashed out of the building.

"Yachiru, wait-" Momo quickly called. However Yachiru had already disappeared into the distance. She smiled helplessly as she watched Yachiru disappear into the distance.

"Haha! What did you expect, Hinamori?" A laughter was heard from the side. It was lieutenant Iba, of the 7th division. He was familiar with Yachiru's antics. He was surprised she stayed as long as she did.

"It's always rowdy when we come together." Another lieutenant commented as he walked in.He was a tall and lean-built man with dark grey eyes, short black hair and three scars straight over his right eye that lead down his cheek, as well as a blue-striped tattoo running across his left cheek and over the bridge of his nose.

"Hisagi, you're late," Omaeda said from the side while eating his bag of chips. "When is this starting anyway, I have things to do!"

"Hmph, have more patience." Nanao replied.

Omaeda grumbled but remained silent.

"Come on, let's all relax, It's been a while since we have all gotten together right." A young woman tried easing the situation. She was tall with gray eyes and short messy silver hair with strands on the right side of her face that are shoulder-length and styled as two thin braids. She wears a thin dangling red earring on each ear and a standard Shinigami uniform with her lieutenant badge on her left arm.

"Not all of us here, where is the Thirteenth Division lieutenant? The First and Twelfth division lieutenants are missing too. Omaeda said.

"It's true but those are special circumstances. The first division lieutenant doesn't go anywhere without the captain's permission. The 12th division's lieutenant is never seen during gatherings like this. As for the thirteenth division, he covers a lot of the responsibilities of the captain, so it's understandable that they aren't present." Nanao replied. The group continued their conversations before Aizen arrived in the hall. He had a warm smile on his face as he arrived.

"I hope everyone is enjoying themselves." Aizen said.

"Thank you for having us Captain Aizen!" the lieutenants bowed and responded.

"No need to be so formal. Please relax." Aizen continued.

"Now I've invited you all here so we get to know each other better. However, it seems that we are missing a few people." Aizen said.

"Sorry captain, it seems they were unable to make it." Momo responded.

'So he didn't come.' Aizen thought to himself.

"It's no problem. After all,it was last minute." The pleasantries continued before Aizen once again went in front of the group. Now everyone please pay attention. This is my zanpakuto.

"Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu."

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7 Years Later

Rukia Kuchiki stood in the office in front of Itachi, Kiyone, and Sentaro, awaiting her orders for an upcoming mission.

"Kuchiki. You are being ȧssigned a change of duty." Itachi said, reading a piece of paper with the information. Rukia looks at him surprised.

"A transfer order?" Rukia questioned.

"No, no, no. It's not as big as a transfer! It's only a mission in the human world. You did it once before when you first came here and was my ȧssistant!" Kiyone added in. Rukia's confused expression does not go away as she tries to remember and there is an awkward silence in the room.

"How can you not remember?!" Kiyone exclaimed, breaking the silence.

"Maybe it was so disgusting, she decided to forget about it! Right Kuchiki?" Sentaro added in.

"Shut up!! Just get out of here and plant yourself in the garden or something!" Kiyone yelled back at Kotetsu.

Itachi shakes his head as he watches the two of them argue but his attention is diverted when he senses someone approach the door.

"The place you will be designated is a spiritual area in a place called Karakura Town. With your abilities it shouldn't be difficult at all." Ukitake said as he peeked his head from behind the door.

"Captain?!" Everyone in the room exclaimed upon seeing him.

"Weren't you supposed to be resting?" Itachi asks him, surprised that he was standing up right now and was able to walk to the office considering the poor state he was in yesterday.

"Oh no. I feel good today! Besides, although it will only last a month, I thought Kuchiki would be worried so I came here to send her off myself." Ukitake replied.

"Oh...Thank you so much!" Rukia said, getting on her knees and bowing to Ukitake.

"You don't have to be so formal." Ukitake said with a light smile on his face. "By the way, have you told Byakuya?"

"Ah...no not yet...I think that if I did, Captain Kuchiki would tell me not to inform him of such insignificant things. So I would rather go without telling him." Rukia said with a sorrowful look on her face. Ukitake notices and crouches down on one knee to look her eye to eye.

"It's okay. If that's what you want, let me tell Byakuya instead. Don't worry about it!" Ukitake said to her reassuringly. Rukia's face brightened up as everyone in the room smiled. Itachi finished reading off the mission briefing to Rukia and everyone said their temporary goodbyes to her as she walked to the Senkaimon, ready to take on her new mission.