Chapter 66 - Unlikely Ally

"Eternally self-destructing doll of mud! Unite! Repulse! Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness! Hado 90: Kurohitsugi!" Itachi finished the incantation and his Susanoo raised its arms in the air.

From the ground up, surrounding the icy prison, an enormous black box that towered over the rest of the buildings formed. Several large black spikes impaled the box on all sides before the box began to shrink and recede. Toshiro watched in shock at what Itachi just did.

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"That was...Hado 90…" Toshiro said, watching the kido disappear then turning to Harribel.

"Why did you help us?"

"Don't get the wrong idea shinigami. I only helped because we now share a common enemy in Aizen. Once this is over, I will be going after you. I haven't forgotten what you did to my fraccion." Harribel replied coldly to Toshiro.

Toshiro remained silent. Although she helped, he still had his guard up.

"Itachi we shou-" Toshiro was about to continue when he noticed Itachi staring down at the rubble.

"It's not over." Itachi said.

"What do you mean? That was a full incantation of Hado 90." Toshiro said, stunned.

"I-I...L-Lord...Aizen…" A voice grumbled from the rubble. Toshiro and Harribel both looked in shock at Kaulico who was still alive. He was gravely injured, with deep wounds all over his body and profusely bleeding. His hollowfied arm had several chunks missing out of it and half of his mask was cracked off. His body began to glow red as his reiatsu suddenly surged higher than it was before.

"How is he still alive after that!!" Toshiro said as he readied his guard.

"He is still grievously injured." Harribel commented. "Not even his regeneration can heal that."

"Uchiha, that was quite the attack... But if I die, I AM TAKING YOU WITH ME!!!!!" Kaulico yelled as his body began shining.

"Lets see you stop this one! CERO MAXIMA!" Kaulico yelled as his body began to glow a bright red color. Itachi appeared in front of both Toshiro and Harribel and with the rest of his reiatsu, tried to summon the armored form. The Susanoo began to manifest itself but there were several holes in it.

As the three of them prepared to take the explosion, a figure suddenly appeared in front of them. The air around them became hot and a wall of flames suddenly erupted in front of them, covering Kaulico's body and incinerating it before the explosion could occur.

"Captain Commander?!" Toshiro exclaimed.

"Forcing the Captain Commander to step in…" Yamamoto shook his head.

"Captain Commander" Itachi and Toshiro both said at the same time.

Yamamoto looked towards Harribel as he flared his reiatsu.

Harribel immediately readied her defence. She knew from the reiatsu that she would be no match for him. 'I'll bȧrėly be able to escape. But I have to try' she thought to herself. However, contrary to her expectation, the Captain Commander simply walked past her towards Itachi.

"Uchiha, you have expanded quite a bit of your strength. Rest for a few moments and rejoin the battle!" Yamamoto said before leaving with Toshiro, with Harribel following at a safe distance.

"Yes sir….." Itachi complied and landed away from the battle, he sat down and began resting.

Just as Itachi began resting, he noticed a familiar figure rush towards him.

"Hachigen." Itachi said.

"Uchiha, Although I am not too proficient in healing, I should be able to ȧssist you with your recovery."

"Thank you." Itachi replied as.Hachi began using Kido to heal Itachi.

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"What a troublesome bunch…" Aizen said as he wiped the splattered blood off of his face and looked down beneath him at the unconscious bodies of Shinji, Komamura, and Hisagi. "They're simply pests at best."

"Aizen!" Toshiro's voice yelled from behind him. Aizen turned around and grinned at the remaining shinigami that stood in front of him.

'Hmm...Uchiha isn't with them...how disappointing...I was hoping he would be able to fight me right after Kaulico…' Aizen thought. Toshiro suddenly charged at Aizen, clashing swords with him.

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Down below in the buildings, Itachi watched the Captains and Vizards team up and fight as Hachigen began restoring his reiatsu. Under Yamamoto's orders, Itachi was told to rest in the event that Aizen was not taken down so that he may be the last line of defense.

"Are you worried about them? They'll be fine. Not even Aizen can face all of them at once." Hachigen said to Itachi as he restored his spiritual pressure. Beside them, were the unconscious bodies of Shinji, Komamura, and Hisagi who were patched up with remedial first aid.

"You're wrong. I can see it with my eyes. Inside of Aizen's ċhėst...he merged with the Hogyoku. Right now I may be the only one who can stop him, but not in the state I'm in. The way things are going now, all the other Captains can do is hold him off as you heal me. The only one who may stand a chance is Captain Commander Yamamoto."

Hachigen shook his head and continued restoring Itachi's reiatsu as Itachi watched the Captains and Vizards above him fight Aizen and one by one, fall to his blade.

"Oh so this is where you all have been hiding." A voice said from behind them. Both Hachigen and Itachi jumped back and turned around.

"No need to get so defensive. I have nothing to do and I was getting lonely watching the fight by myself so I decided to join you guys." Gin said with his sly smile as he reached towards his blade. Itachi glanced over at Hachigen, who already seemed very tired from healing three people and partially restoring Itachi's reiatsu.

"Shoot to kill, Shinso!"

Both Itachi and Hachigen jumped away from the blade but Hachigen was a moment too slow, resulting in him getting cut in the arm. Gin suddenly appears behind Hachigen and before he has time to put up a barrier, cuts across his back. A large amount of blood gushes from the wound as Hachigen falls to the ground.

"One down." Gin commented with a grin.