Chapter 72 - Ascension

"Itachi!" Ichigo exclaimed as he appeared behind Aizen and tried to slash him, only for Aizen to turn around and block his slash with his own.

"One pest out of my way. Only you remain, Kurosaki Ichigo." Aizen and Ichigo continued clashing swords before Ichigo powered through and pushed Aizen away.

"I've had enough of you Aizen…" Ichigo said coldly as he raised his zanpakuto in front of him. "I'll show it to you now...the Final Getsuga Tenshou."

Ichigo's reiatsu exploded in a tower of black, white, and blue energy that swirled around him. Aizen observed silently as he watched Ichigo's transformation. The top black jacket that Ichigo wore was replaced with wrapped bandages and his orange hair turned black and grew to his waist. Black reiatsu constantly spilled out of Ichigo's arms and body and floated up in the air. Despite Aizen's ascended state, he was perplexed as to why he still could not sense Ichigo.

"This...This is impossible! You, a mere human could have never surpassed me!" Aizen exclaimed.

Ichigo remained silent as he raised his right arm in the air. In his closed hand, a thin black stream of highly condensed reiatsu shot up into the sky.

"Mugetsu."

Ichigo swung his arm down as the thin black stream cut straight to Aizen and turned the brightness of the day dark briefly before it dissipated. Aizen, with his body cut in half, fell to the ground as Ichigo also descended back onto the ground.

Ichigo watched Aizen's body stitch itself back up as the bandages around him began to crumble and fade. Aizen began to slowly stand up as Ichigo's long black hair faded away into his regular orange hair. Ichigo fell slowly to the ground on his knees as he felt his shinigami powers vanishing.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, you have lost." Aizen said as he approached Ichigo with his zanpakuto in his hand slowly crumbling away. "Even the Hogyoku has determined that I no longer need a zanpakuto. It's over for you, Kurosaki-"

Just as Aizen was speaking, A bright orange blade pierced straight into Aizen's ċhėst before he had a chance to finish the sentence. Aizen coughed up a large amount of blood and slowly turned his head to see Itachi inside of his armored Susanoo.

"How?! How are you still alive! I watched you die with my very own eyes! Your reiatsu completely vanished. Your illusions do not work on me. But why?! Why are you standing here before me!" Aizen yelled out in confusion and rage. Itachi did not reply as the Totsuka Blade began to absorb Aizen's body.

"No...this can't be happening! The Hogyoku's will! My will! Why is this-" Aizen's last words were cut short as Itachi's Totsuka blade fully sealed Aizen away inside of it. On the ground where Aizen was originally standing, a small bead remained. Itachi's Susanoo dispersed as he slowly walked up to it.

"So this is the Hogyoku…" Itachi picked up the small bead and looked at it with his sharingan before walking over to Ichigo and helping him up.

"Thanks, Itachi." Ichigo said as he shakily stood up. As he looked at Itachi, he noticed the iris in his left eye had turned completely white. "Your eye. What happened?"

"It's a technique that I used as a last resort, much like your Final Getsuga Tenshou. When Aizen killed me, I activated a technique that allowed me to rewrite my death." Itachi replied.

"Rewrite your death, That's insane! Well maybe Inoue can restore it back." Ichigo suggested.

"Maybe...but I don't know." Itachi replied. Ichigo noticed his expression and decided to change the topic.

"What happened to Aizen." Ichigo asked.

"He can no longer be killed, so I trapped him for eternity." Itachi replied.

'Although we won this time, if a similar situation arises, how long will I be able to fight. I may be strong, but I cannot bring out my full strength. My mangekyo is no longer usable. The only path left to grow stronger is to awaken my Zanpakuto.' Itachi thought to himself.

Just then Itachi felt a faint light coming from the Hogyoku, it slowly enveloped his body and disappeared almost instantly. It continued streaming the light inside his body for a few moments before stopping.

'What was that' Itachi thought as he noticed a faint change in his body. However, before he was able to study it properly, a figure came from behind.

"What an interesting technique, Uchiha! And good job both of you." A voice said from behind them. Itachi and Ichigo turned around and saw Urahara standing behind them.

"It's quite unfortunate I never got a chance to use the kido I developed specifically to seal Aizen away. But it all worked out in the end." Urahara said. "By the way, Uchiha, what happened to the Hogyoku?"

"I have it right here." Itachi replied as he opened his hand and showed it to Urahara.

"I'll be taking that then. I will properly dispose of it this time so we don't have another situation like Aizen's." Urahara responded. Itachi nodded and walked to Urahara. As he reached over to hand it to him, the Hogyoku was still glowing. The moment he passed it on to Urahara, it stopped glowing.

'This!..' Urahara noticed the brief gleam in the Hogyoku before it dissiapitated. It seemed as if Hogyoku had provided Itachi with some power. Even though Urahara had created it, he was still baffled at Hogyoku's nature. It was definitely something he had to destroy before someone else tried to steal it.

As the group discussed the battle, a few figures ran in from the distance.

"Kurosaki, Uchiha!" Orihime exclaimed as she ran over with Renji, Rukia, Chad and Uryu who had also followed.

"Lieutenant, are you alright?" Rukia said as she rushed over.

"I am fine." Itachi replied. The group sighed in relief seeing the two of them alright.

"Inoue!" Ichigo said as he rushed over. "Can you try to heal Itachi?"

"Uchiha, what's wrong with him?" Orihime asked. She was confused at Ichigo's question. When she looked over Itachi's body, there weren't any significant injuries.

"His eye, are you able to heal his eye?" Ichigo asked.

"I'll try." Orihime said as she walked over to Itachi. "Please relax. Soten Kisshun!" She said as a golden light enveloped around Itachi. She healed his external injuries, however, his eye remained unchanged. She continued for a few minutes, failing to get any results. She eventually stopped and shook her head apologetically.

"I am sorry Uchiha, for some reason, I can't heal your eye."

"That's alright-" Itachi was about to reply when he suddenly felt an intense pain shooting through his body. He could no longer and think fell forward, passing out.

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The next day

Itachi once again woke up in Urahara's store. He felt that his left eye and body were different. He looked around but there was no one there. Just as he was pondering what happened to him, the door opened.

"Uchiha, you're awake. That was sooner than I thought" Urahara said as he walked in.

"How long was I out?" Itachi asked.

"Just a few days." Urahara replied. However, he had a strange expression on his face as he looked at Itachi.

"What happened?" Itachi asked. Why was he just staring at him?

"Your eye…" Urahara said and he handed a nearby mirror.

Itachi quickly grabbed the mirror and looked into it. His left was no longer the sharingan. It had a purple, concentric ripple-like pattern which spread over his eyeball. 'This is the Rinnegan!?'

Itachi was shocked. How did he suddenly awaken the Rinnegan. He thought about everything that had occurred before finally coming to a conclusion. He turned to Urahara who was still looking at him.

"This is from the Hogyoku?" Itachi asked.

"That's right. It seems that when you held the Hogyoku, it had briefly accepted you as its owner and healed your eye. All though, I do not know why it changed. I'd ȧssume it has something to do with your own background. " Urahara deduced.

"But why did Hogyoku accept me as its owner?" Itachi asked.

"That… I don't know." Urahara replied. "There were still many things I did not understand about the Hogyoku. The Hogyoku that Aizen had merged with mine enhanced its abilities. I still don't know enough. For now just accept it. Think of it as a gift." Itachi nodded before laying back down. That was not the only changed he had felt in his body and he still felt tired. He closed his eyes to sleep, when he suddenly found himself surrounded by trees.

All around Itachi, were deciduous trees with red leaves and black trunks. In front of him, was a stone path with leaves of various shades of red scattered across it. Not knowing where else to go, Itachi followed the path in the unknown forest.

After walking a short while, the forest opened up into a clearing. Above him was the dark night sky with a full moon and no clouds in sight. In front of him at the center of the clearing, was a familiar structure. In terms of appearance, it looked like the Uchiha shrine but the entrance was blocked off. In front of the shrine, was a lone figure, with his back to Itachi facing the shrine.

"Who are you?" Itachi asked. There is a brief moment of silence as the figure did not respond. After a short moment, the figure turned its head to Itachi, meeting his gaze. As the two locked eyes, Itachi's eyes widened as he saw the eyes of the figure were his Mangekyou Sharingan.

"I have no name."