Chapter 39 - The Crow and the Cat

"Kurosaki Ichigo, the way you are now, you are not strong enough to fight the Gotei 13. Become stronger or the only outcome will be you and your comrades' deaths." Itachi said before walking away.

"Hold on! Who the hell are you?" Ichigo questioned.

"Lieutenant of the Thirteenth Division, Uchiha Itachi." Itachi replied as his body broke down into crows and disappeared.

"Uchiha Itachi…" Ichigo said to himself, watching the crows fly away. Ichigo was confused. He didn't know who that shinigami was or why he left so suddenly. 'I can tell by our clash. He is far more powerful than me. Why did he just leave?.... I don't have time to think about this, I have to find Ganju!' Ichigo thought as he turned back around and continued running in order to find where Ganju went.

---

Itachi slowly made his way back to the Lieutenant waiting room, thinking about the conversation he just had with Ichigo. 'Rukia, I see you found a good friend while you were in the human world.'

On his way back, he caught a small movement out of the corner of his eye. He quickly turned his head and saw a black cat quickly jumping across the tops of buildings. 'Cats don't have reiatsu signatures like that…it's hidden well, but it can't escape my eyes.' Itachi thought, looking at the strange black cat with his sharingan. Itachi remembers one of the other reiatsu signatures that fell by itself from the sky earlier. 'So that must be…!'

Itachi flash stepped and appeared in front of the cat. The cat silently looked back at Itachi. The two of them stared at each other before the black cat suddenly vanished from its spot. 'That cat can perform shunpo?! Not only that, but it's movement is exceptional…' Itachi thought as he chased after the black cat.

"I'm not trying to fight you! I only want to talk." Itachi exclaimed as he chased after the black cat. The black cat looked back at Itachi but as it looked back, it collided into something in front of it. The cat looked in shock as Itachi was in front of it and as the cat looked back again, the Itachi behind it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Itachi grabbed the cat by the scruff and looked it in the eyes.

"I only want to speak to you." Itachi demanded. "As much as you want to play tag all day, I'm sure you have things you need to do as well. This will only take a moment."

"Fine." The black cat replied and asked back. "Your flash stepping is impressive for a lieutenant. Who taught you?"

"Captain Soi Fon, when I was previously in the Second Division." Itachi replied. "But that's not what I'm here to talk about. I just ran into Kurosaki, Ichigo who I am sure is with your group." Itachi said. The cat was slightly surprised. With this guy's strength he would've easily subdued that boy.

"Great. Now, would you mind letting me go?" The cat asked as it was still being held by its scruff. Itachi nodded and placed the cat down.

"Okay.. lets talk." The cat responded. The cat still seemed slightly suspicious. 'He is fast, but if I use my full speed, I should be able to flee quickly. If things don't work out and we end up fighting, I can't afford to fight him and have someone notice it.'

"Who are you? No offense to Kurosaki, but he doesn't seem like the one behind the plan. After my exchange with him, his goals are very straightforward and he charges in head first. He doesn't know the true strength of the entirety of the Gotei 13. I mistakenly ȧssumed he was the strongest. But I now see that you are hiding your strength." Itachi said. The black cat looked at Itachi curiously before responding.

"Not bad, you are able to estimate my strength. Are you really just a lieutenant?" The cat asked.

Itachi remained silent but furrowed his brows, changing the topic.

"I do not know what you are truly here for, but at the moment our goals align, so I will ȧssist with you rescuing Kuchiki."

"Why am I to believe what you are saying? As a lieutenant of your squad, shouldn't you be upholding the values of the Gotei 13?" The black cat asked, looking at Itachi's lieutenant badge and still suspicious of Itachi.

"That is true, even with the dark side and inconsistencies that Sereitei is run by. However, Kuchiki is a comrade who I believe is being subject to foul play. I will not hesitate to save her and I can attest that my Captain and the seated officers of the Thirteenth Division believe just the same." Itachi replied.

"Your help is appreciated but not needed currently. I must get going now. We'll most likely meet again." The black cat responded, now more open to Itachi's offer after hearing what he had to say. "By the way, what is your name?"

"Uchiha Itachi." Itachi replied.

"Call me Yoruichi. We'll definitely meet again." Yoruichi said before turning around and walking away. Itachi becomes surprised upon hearing that name as everything clicks in his head with the cat knowing shinigami ranks and being able to flash step.

"Shihouin Yoruichi…?" Itachi questioned. The black cat turned around and looked at Itachi one more time before vanishing. 'So they have someone like her ȧssisting them?' Itachi thought to himself as he flash stepped the other way back to the waiting room.

Itachi reappeared outside the lieutenant's waiting room to see the lieutenants gathered outside. Those who were still left there were shocked to see him.

"Uchiha? Where did you go?" Kira asked.

"I went to check on my Captain, to make sure the invaders didn't land close to him, for he will struggle to defend himself in his sickly state. In fact, I might return there again as we must secure our battle stations." Itachi replied. Kira nodded

"Wait, Uchiha!" Hinamori exclaimed. "Have you seen Renji? He disappeared around the same time you did."

"No. I didn't run into him." Itachi replied before vanishing from his spot to return to the Thirteenth Division. On his way back, Itachi was still thinking about his meeting with Ichigo and Yoruichi. 'I hope you succeed, Kurosaki Ichigo.' He thought to himself.

----

Ichigo was rushing towards the Senzaikyu. According to Ikakku, Rukia was being held at this prison before her execution. 'Damn I have to hurry.' Ichigo thought to himself as he quickened his pace.

"Damn Ichigo, calm down!" A voice came from behind. Two figures were following Ichigo. One was a tall muscular man with chin-length black hair and partially missing left eyebrow. He was wearing a vest, scarf, bandanna and pair of goggles. Right next to him was a small male shinigami with black hair and blue eyes. The trio finally arrived near the entrance to the Senzaikyu. However, before they could continue, they were greeted by a shinigami standing at the entrance of the stairs.

"Long time no see, remember my face?" The shinigami said.

"Abarai, Renji." Ichigo responded.

-----

Back at the meeting hall

"I don't know… we were at the meeting hall and Renji just disappeared." Momo said. "I tried to find him, but all I found was this in his office." Momo continued, holding up a Sixth division Lieutenant badge.

"His badge…" Kira stared at the badge. "Do the captains know about this?"

"I was going to tell Captain Aizen, but I didn't want Renji to get in trouble." Momo replied. "Where would he go at a time like this?"

"I don't know, he has been moody lately because of Kuchiki. I hope he's not doing anything foolish." Kira replied.