Chapter 46 - Showdown on the Hill

"So nice of you to join us now, Lieutenant Uchiha." Aizen said as he turned to Itachi. "Would you also like to meet the same fate as Komamura?"

Itachi arrived, panting heavily as he used his sword for support.

"Aizen.." He said.

Aizen smirked. "Gin, Kill him." Aizen ordered as he walked towards Rukia. "Now, lets begin." Aizen said, picking up Rukia.

Itachi instantly rushed towards Rukia, only for Gin to suddenly appear in front him.

"Sorry but it looks like I have to kill you now." Gin said, swinging his sword towards the approaching Itachi.

Itachi waited until the last minute before raising his sword. He parried the strike to the side and stabbed towards Ichimaru's ċhėst.

"Wow." Gin said before narrowly dodging Itachi's strike with a sidestep as Itachi's blade cuts the fabric of Gin's robe.

"Even with those burns, you're still quite fast. It would be scary fighting you at full strength." Gin commented as he smiled and took a few quick steps back. Gin raised his sword and pointed it at Itachi's face. In an instant, Gin's sword grew and Itachi quickly moved his head. Itachi backs away and feels blood dripping from his cheek. 'I won't last against him in a drawn out battle. Not only that but I still have to deal with Aizen by myself at least until the other Captains catch up.' Itachi thought as he looked at Aizen who was lifting up Rukia. Green spikes began to protrude from the ground as Aizen talked to Rukia.

"Yes...Kuchiki Rukia. When you were discovered in the real world, the first thing I did was exterminate Central 46. Isane probably told you that Aizen faked his own death and hid then later murdered Central 46. But that is a mistake. After you were discovered, I immediately killed off Central 46 and cast Kyoka Suigetsu on the conference room. I made it appear as though the Central 46 committee was still alive and were continuing their conference so even if somebody came into the room, they wouldn't notice a change. Unless there is permission from the inside, not even captains can be inside the room. So we made sure that either myself, Gin, or Tousen were always in the room and acted as the committee, manipulating all the commands. In order to ȧssure your capture, I made sure it was two guys from the Sixth Division and made sure your gigai was destroyed to separate you from the humans. Then, I decided to use the Sokyoku to dissipate your spirit so I could take the Hogyoku. The only times the conference room was ever empty was during the Captains meeting. Afterwards I faked my own death so that I could stay in the room soon after. Because there, I decided there was a chance Kurosaki Ichigo would interfere with the execution." Aizen went on as he prepared to extract the Hogyoku from Rukia. Itachi diverted his attention away from the fight to pay attention to what Aizen was saying until Gin interrupted him.

"Where do you think you're looking in our fight?" Gin said as his zanpakuto extended again towards Itachi's face. Itachi reacted in time and parried the blade away from him as he closed the distance between him and Gin.

"Oh you can react to my speed now?" Gin commented as he backed away and retracted his zanpakuto. With his free hand, Itachi weaved a hand sign.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu." Itachi exhaled a large sphere of fire at Gin. Gin's normally closed eyes opened, revealing his sharp bright blue eyes as the fireball made contact with him and exploded. Itachi looked to Rukia and saw Aizen had just pierced her ċhėst and withdrew a strange object from her. 'What is that thing? My sharingan can't distinguish what exactly it is.'

"Surprising...I didn't think it would be this small." Aizen commented as he withdrew his hand from Rukia's ċhėst and the hole in her ċhėst began to close.

"Not bad Uchiha." Gin said as the smoke cleared. His left hand was burned but he was otherwise undamaged from the attack. "Your attack wasn't as strong as I thought it would be though. Are you tired from your last battle with Yamamoto perhaps?" Gin questioned as he aimed his zanpakuto at Itachi again, this time piercing through his body forcing Itachi to fall to the ground.

"Gin, when you're done there, kill her." Aizen said as he held Rukia's body up in front of him. Gin smiled and turned to Aizen.

"Alrighty." Before Gin could lift his arm halfway up, however, he found his body unable to move as if there were large metal stakes holding him down by the joints. Suddenly Itachi's body dematerialized into crows and Gin realized what was going on. 'I see, he got me..' Gin thought to himself.

"Sorry Captain Aizen, it looks like he bested me.." Gin smiled as Itachi rushed towards Aizen and mustered the last bit of his strength to summon his susanoo. A skeletal figure wraps around Itachi's body and manifests a blade. Itachi slashes down at Aizen with his Susanoo's blade but Aizen manages to slip away as he lets go of Rukia. Itachi quickly appears next to Rukia and carries her in his arms while the susanoo's ribcage surrounds them both.

"I guess I'll just deal with both of you at once then." Aizen smiled as he raised his hand up and a black orb of reiatsu appeared in his hand.

"Hado 90: Kurohitsugi." Itachi found himself surrounded by the same black reiatsu that downed Captain Komamura. The box surrounded both Itachi and Rukia as black spikes pierced from every side. As the black box began to dissipate, Aizen saw a pair of glowing orange eyes as a large half body humanoid figure surrounded in armor protected both Itachi and Rukia.

Shortly after, the Susanoo began to dissolve and Itachi keeled over, dropping rukia. The susanoo was only able to soak in so much of the damage before his reiatsu reached its limit. He felt pain in every part of his body as blood leaked through his clothes.

"Lieutenant Uchiha!" Rukia got up and checked his injuries. She sighed in relief, since he was still alive.

"Interesting Uchiha, so that's your zanpakuto ability." Aizen said. He recalled what Gin had told him twenty years ago. A shield that protects the user from harm.

"It's definitely powerful. Or perhaps it's your own strength that kept you in one piece from a Hado in the 90s. But It looks like you pushed yourself to perform that technique. Gin..finish it" Aizen said.

The genjutsu on Gin shattered since Itachi had exerted most of his energy. He looked at Itachi and Rukia's direction before gripping his sword.

"Shoot to kill, Shinsoo!" Gin's zanpakuto suddenly expanded and flew towards Rukia.

Itachi no longer had the strength. He had not only fought Soi-Fon, but Yamamoto and Gin and finally used the last of his strength to use the Susanoo. He watched as the sword pierced past him. However, it was not Rukia that the attack struck. A figure held her in his arm, as he used his left hand to keep the sword from piercing any further.