Chapter 6

Under The Skin of Battle!

Nnoitora and Kakuzu were glaring face-to-face at each other in the heat of the desert they were transported into. They heard the Cloaked Figures' Voice telling them to begin as Nnoitora held up his weapon; A Zanpakutō that was uniquely different from the Zanpakutō of many of the other Espada since, unlike the basic sword shape of most Arrancar, it tooks the form of a giant axe-like weapon bearing two crescent moon-shaped blades fused together at the backs, with a large looped chain connected to the shaft at the end of the handle. The chain was connected to Nnoitra's waist, which allowed him to perform long-ranged attacks. "I hope you'll provide a fun challenge," Chuckled the thin Arrancar, "Otherwise I'd be fighting for nothing." Kakuzu merely cracked his neck. "You're just as cocky as my nit-witted partner," said Kakuzu coldly, "And that's saying a lot, so I'll tell you what I always told him...don't get on my nerves, or you'll die..."

Nnoitora sneered. "Oh please," Laughed Nnoitora obnoxiously, "You'd have to cut me down first, for I am Espada 5, Nnoitora Gilga, and no one can cut me!" He threw his weapon at Kakuzu quickly. Both of Kakuzus' hands darkened into a black tone as he caught the weapon by the blades. "Get over here!" Shouted Kakuzu as he grasped the blades bare-handed and yanked on Nnoitoras' weapon, which was linked by its' chain and linked to Nnoitoras' waist. The Arrancar was sent flying at the Akatsuki Member while Kakuzu had his right hook ready for a punch. He slammed his right fist into Nnoitoras' gut, which sent him, and his weapon flying into the sand far away from Kakuzu. Kakuzu began to go onto the offensive as he quickly ran to Nnoitora with the same fist. "I am Kakuzu of the Akatsuki, and it's over!" He growled as he swung it at Nnoitora. The Arrancar just stood up and too the blow across his face. He sneered. "Is that the best you can do?" Asked Nnoitora sadistically as he reared his weapon to strike. Kakuzu unleashed his left leg and sent Nnoitora flying again. He landed with his weapon in hand and laughed. "I actually felt those two strikes a bit!" He chuckled, "But I doubt you can make me bleed!"

Kakuzu merely glared as he turned his whole body black and vanished in an instant. "Huh?!" Uttured Nnoitora, "Where did he go?" He looked around. Kakuzu appeared behind Nnoitora and slammed two fists into his back. It didnt cause any injury to Nnoitora, but he definitely felt both hits. He turned around and swung his weapon at Kakuzu who blocked the blade bare handed with his left hand and flattened his right hand, swiping it across Nnoitoras' stomach, which created flying sparks as the attack proved ineffective, though Kakuzu kept at the attempt. "Useless!" Laughed Nnoitora as he grabbed Kakuzus' wrist and flung him upward. Nnoitora then jumped and flung his weapon downward, which sent Kakuzu flying into the sand, causing a large cloud of dust to rise up. Nnoitora landed on his feet and held his weapon over his shoulder.

Kakuzu soon stood up once the cloud of dust dissipated. He was alright, not a single scratch on him. He cracked his neck again. Nnoitora was surprised, but pleased. "Looks like you're gonna be quite the Challenge," Chuckled Nnoirota, "Out of all the Opponents I've fought in my life, you have skin that might be as hard as mine! Perfect! Now we'll see whos' is better!" He flung his weapon up and spun it around, which created a sand-twister that hovered him upward. He stopped the spinning and attacked from above while swinging his weapon from the side. Kakuzu backhanded the weapon with his left hand and swung with a right fist. Nnoitora grabbed the fist but was soon grabbed by the face with Kakuzus' left hand. The Akatsuki Member then threw Nnoitora down head first into the sand. Nnoitora growled and looked up, Kakuzu had his right hand flattened out, ready to stab him through the face as his hand decended downward. Nnoitora quickly rolled out of the way and quickly stood up, grabbing his weapon.

"Oh?" Muttured Kakuzu as he stood up straight and looked at Nnoirota, "It looks like someone has a weakness, why else would you dodge if you say your Skin is hard?" The Espada sneered. "Ha! What are you talking about?" Laughed Nnoitora, "Dodging attacks is a pure battle instinct! And there ain't nowhere you can cut me! You can never cut me! That's all there is to it!" Kakuzu shook his head and ran at Nnoitora once again. Nnoitora swung his weapon at the Akatsuki Member but missed as Kakuzu vanished out of sight again. Nnoitora looked behind him to see if Kakzuu would ambush him from behind, but no one was there. He turned to his original position and Kakuzu appeared before him and struck his left hand through Nnoirota's Eye Patch. The Espada was motionless, it appeared as if Kakuzu had won.

Nnoitora grinned and opened his mouth as he extended his tongue with the Number 5 Tattoo on it. A Yellow Cero charges quickly at the tip and fired. An explosion was soon made that engulfed the dessert in a cloud of dust. Once the dust cleared up, Kakuzu was nowhere to be seen. "Heh," Sneered Nnoitora, "Vaporized him." Kakuzu appeared behind Nnoirota with a right hook and slammed it downward. Nnoitora turned and blocked with his weapon in time before being sent back. Nnoitora quickly removed his Eye Patch to reveal his Hollow Hole, which replaced the entire eye that would've been there. "See?" Laughed Nnoitora, "You'd think my eye would be a weakness, but you're wrong! I have no weaknesses!"

Kakuzus' Cloak was burned and torn, with his left shoulder blown apart with his arm dangling from it. Dozens of organic threads oozed from it and quickly started stitching themselves back together. In mere seconds, his shoulder was repaired and his arm was hooked back on, it was slightly deformed, but he moved his shoulder around a bit, showing signs of stability for the time being. "What the-?!" Uttured Nnoitora, "What are you?!" "I'm the one who plans to rip you apart." Growled Kakuzu as he ripped his cloak off. He had stitchings all over his body. He wore a navy backless shirt with a white scarf and sash. On his bare back were four masks, each one with a unique and ominous design; The one on the top right took on the shape of a demonic tiger, the bottom left mask took on the shape of some sort of deformed, horned biped, and the other two masks took on the appearances of beaked-creatures, such as birds.

"Now you've made me mad." He growled as the stitchings in his arms started to turn loose. He then flung his arms forward as his arms, connected by multiple threads, flew at Nnoitora. The Espada jumped up, but was quickly followed by both arms. Nnoitora soon swung at the arms' threads, severing them both. As they fell, Kakuzu was seen from behind Nnoitora as he grabbed Nnoirotas' neck with both legs and flung him downward into the sand. Kakuzus' arm-stumps then sprouted more threads that attatched themselves to his severed arms and quickly recovered them. His arms were soon stitched back into place. He soon landed onto the ground and ran into the dust cloud where Nnoirora remained standing as he held his weapon. Kakuzus' entire body turned black against as he released a barage of punches and kicks at the Espada while Nnoitora either dodged them, blocked them, or took the hits.

"It's useless!" He laughed, "No one has been able to cut my Hierro before, so what makes you think that you can cut it now?!" Kakuzu growled as he flattened his hand and swiped it across Nnoitoras' chest. Much to the Espadas' surprise, Kakuzu managed to make a small cut. Nnoitora backed up and glared, wiping some of the blood from his chest and examining it. Kakuzu stood there and looks at the hand that spilt the Arrancars' blood finally. "What's wrong?" Asked Nnoitora, "Aren't you surprised that you were able to cut me?"

"No," Kakuzu answered after a long pause, "I was only surprised at the fact that it took this long for me to get used to your Skin..." Nnoirotas' eye widdened in shock. "Get...used to...my Skin…?!" He uttured. "You see," Continued Kakuzu, "My Idiotic partner usually does the fighting when it came to bounties and Jinchuuriki so I usually stood back incase hen needed my help...it was boring...it made me rusty...thank you for the warm up...next time...I'll be sure to rip you apart as a 'Thank You'.."

Nnoirota growled. "Don't bet on it!" He shouted as he held his tongue out to charge his Cero. Kakuzu quickly sped up to him and grabbed the Espadas' tongue with his left hand. The Espada was stunned as Kakuzu swung his right fist across Nnoirotas' face, which sent him flying into the sand. Nnoitora soon stood up with a huge bruise across his cheek as blood leaked from his mouth. Kakuzu stood there and cracked his knuckles and then his neck. "Just surrender now," Warned Kakuzu, "Or I'll kill you...This is your final warning...I...am...strong..."

Nnoitora gritted his teeth harshly. "Don't you dare think you can defeat me just because you can successfully injure me now!" He growled as held up his weapon over his head and glowed a ferocious yellow, "Now Pray! Santa Teresa!" Nnoirotra finally released his Zanpakuto as he was enveloped in his yellowish Spiritual Pressure which came from the empty space of his top-blade. Once the yellow energy disperesed, Kakuzus' eyes widdened in surprise. Nnoitora gained extra set of arms, which took on an insect-like carapace and clawed hands, with each hand that held a large scythe-like weapon as well. The scythes themselves resembled the appendages of a praying mantis, and had a small golden tassel at the end of each staff. He also gained a golden marking extending from his forehead to below his right eye, as well as a pair of horns on his head that resembled a crescent moon, with his left horn longer than his right. He gained several white, tendril-like appendages around his torso which extended over the sides of his abdomen. His Hollow mask also changed, which became torn, with the teeth extending over the hole itself. All of his wounds have healed, including the nasty bruise he had prior to his Trump Card.

"I guess this is your first time seeing a Ressureccion," Cackled Nnoirotra, "Seeing me like this will be the last sigh you'll ever see!" He ran at Kakuzu with all four blades and swung them all down on Kakuzu. Kakuzu kept the black on his skin as he took all four hits. Kakuzu then took on his usual combat prowess as Nnoitora kept swinging his blades. The battle was even more violent, and Nnoitora enjoyed it more than ever. Kakuzu growled as he unleashed dozens of his threads around Nnoitoras' fours arms and swipped his flattened hands over one on each side, several the two. He then kicked the Espada away as Kakuzu ran at Nnoitora. The Espada grinned as both his arm-stubs grew new arms. Kakuzu was even more surprised, he had never faced an opponent that could replace his arms so faster than even the Bounty Hunter can!

Nnoitora ran and grabbed the two weapons he dropped due to amputation and charged at Kakuzu. Kakuzu ceased the black in his skin and vanished again. He then came up behind attempted to swing a fist at Nnoitora. Nnoitora grinned as a 5th hand struck itself through Kakuzus' chest. Kakuzu was surprised as he groaned in pain. "Wh-what…?!" He coughed. "What's wrong?" Chuckled Nnoitora, "Did you honestly think that I can only regenerate my arms? Here's a News Flash; I can grow as many arms as six!" Kakuzu fell back and went limp as hs eyes closed painfully. Nnoitora then flexed his 5th and 6th arms and shook the blood off of his 5th arm. Nnoitora turned to him and cackled. "You were a tough one," He said, "But you just let your defenses down too soon."

Kakuzus' eyes quickly. "It won't happen again!" He growled as he swept his right leg underneath Nnoitoras' legs and caused him to trip. Kakuzu quickly got up and jumped back. Nnoitora quickly got up. "How are you not dead?!" Exclaimed Nnoitora in a fit of rage, "I stabbed your Heart with my bare hand!" "You stabbed one of my hearts," Growled Kakuzu, "In which yours shall gladly take its' place..." Once his chest wound stitched itself up, he then turned around and revealed the same four masks on his back, though one of the bird masks that were marked with blue markings were damaged. The stitchings on his back loosened and snapped. Kakuzu gave out a low, painful growl as both of the bird-like masks, the tiger mask, and the horned mask slowly oozed from their places and busted out of his back. Four creatures spawned from his back and took their places by his side as he turned back around, his back quickly stitching up the loose ends and tightly sealing them. The Bird-Mask that came out took on a four-legged being with wings, the other Bird Mask was a bipedal bird-like creature, though it had a hole in its' face from the successful strike made from Nnoitora, the Tiger Mask took on a short biped like appearance, and the Horned Mask took on the tallest form with a biped form and large shoulders.

"What...what are those?!" Asked Nnoitora in horror. "My Trophies," Answered the Bounty Hunter, "And you will soon join them..." The damaged bird-like creature fell down, oozing and deflating into a dead pile of threads and blood. Nnoitora knew he had to take down the other three along with Kakuzu himself before he could truly kill him. Kakuzu then weaved a Sign as the winged creature flew at Nnoitora. The Espada swung at it but the creature evaded through an areal manuver and back up behind him as it opened its' beak. "Wind-Style;", called Kakuzu, "Pressure Damage!" The Bird-Creature unleashes a storm of pressurized wind at Nnoitora, engulfing him in a explosion-like cloud.

Nnoitora jumped up, slightly damaged and missing one of his Scythes. The Horned-Creature appeared infront of him with its' teeth sparkling like a charge of electricity. "Lighting-Style;", continued Kakuzu, "False Darkness!" The Horned-Creature launched a stream of incredibly bright lightning at Nnoitora, which sent him flying downward. Once Nnoitora got up, the Tiger-Creature stood in front of Nnoitora and opened its' mouth, creating a small sphere of fire from within. "Fire-Style;", growled Kakuzu, "Searing Migrain!" The Tiger-Creature, at point-blank, blasted Nnoitora with a wide barrage of flames. It seemed as if it was all over as a huge cloud of smoke engulfed Noitora.

Nnoitora soon rose up as the smoke cleared, incredibly singed and very mad. "I'll kill you yet!" Shouted Nnoitora, "I'll kill you all!" The Horned-Creature stepped in front of the Tiger-Creature and unleashed a second beam of lighting. Nnoitora countered it with his Yellow Cero, the two attacks seemed even at first, but the Cero overpowered the False Darkness and the beam headed straight for the Horned-Creature, engulfing it. The attack would've made it to the Tiger-Creature, but it jumped out of the way. Kakuzu glared as the Tiger and Bird Creatures joined his side. Two hearts gone, it has been a while since that has happened to Kakuzu.

Kakuzu was done, his back opened up once again as both the Tiger and Bird Creatures reunited with him, although they didn't go all of the way into him, no, their masks were exposed on both sides of Kakuzu; The Tiger Mask on his right side, and the Bird on his left. "Now let's see if you can handle Wind and Fire..." Chuckled Kakuzu as his mask flew off through the force of his fleshy-threads pushing out and wriggling about from his grinning mouth. Both Tiger and Bird Masks opened up and charged their respective elemental attacks.

Nnoitora started charging his Cero via tongue, it all ends at this precise moment. Kakuzu launched the Wind-Powered Fire Blast as Nnoitora launched his Yellow Cero. Both attacks clashed, and soon resulted in an explosion that engulfed both fighters, who won?

The smoke cleared up and Kakuzu could be seen by Nnoitora, descending from above. Nnoitora swung

with his Scythes, but Kakuzus' skin turned black, causing the Scythes to be as ineffective as nails on a stone wall. Kakuzu pinned down Nnoitora, who was about to charge up his Cero, but his tongue was soon grabbed by Kakuzu. "Enough of that attack," Growled the Hunter as he ripped it from Nnoitoras' skull, "About time someone shutted you up!" Nnoitora spat out blood as he screamed in pain.

Kakuzu then struck his black, hardened hand into Nnoitoras' rib-cage, which forced more blood through Nnoitoras' mouth. "You're heart..." growled kakuzu, "Is mine!" Kakuzu then ripped Nnoitoras' chest opened, in which the Espada tried struggling to get free. The Espada slowly died once Kakuzu succeeded in ripping his heart out.

Kakuzu retracted his mouth-threads as he grinned maniacally. "You were my toughest victim yet," He cackled, "So this Heart will be quite the Special Trophie within me..." Once Kakuzu was done with the procedure of the Forced Heart Transplant, he stood up. Taking the place of the Biped-Bird mask was Nnoitoras' own face, ripped away from the corpse of the once proud Espada; Kakuzu glowed yellow and grinned…

A VERY close battle! Both Combatants are known for their extremely tough skin, but the Factor was obvious; "Whos' Skin can outlast the other?" Well, while Nnoitoras' Hierro was known to be the toughest of all the Espada, Kakuzus' Earth Style – Earth Spear Jutsu makes ALL physical attacks useless, except for Kakashis' Lightning Blade, in which Earth-Style Jutsu are incredibly inferior to Lightning-Style Jutsu. Kakuzu took the full force of Chojis' Spiked Human Boulder Jutsu while the Earth Spear Jutsu was active, and Kakuzu stood up with only steam emitting from his skin and, for some reason, his clothes weren't harmed by the attack either (Anime Clothing Logic, am I right? Lol!). It was also featured , in the Anime, that Kakuzu could have still used his Earth Spear even without his "Earth-Mask" to an extent, meaning that no matter which heart was taken out, he still had hard, capable skin. Noitora, on the other hand, was cut by (Technical Privaron Espada) Neliel, an EX-Espada, who'd be weaker than Tia Harribel! Even Kenpachi Zaraki, who had rusty muscles from the lack of training, was able to cut down Nnoitora after multiple good swings. So there's no doubt in my mind that the same thing would've happened for Kakuzu. Combine Kakuzus' nearly invincible defense with his years of experience, multiple ridiculously powerful elemental Jutsu, extreme endurance, monster strength (He was able to kick Choji, who weighed 87.5 kg (192.9045 lbs.) over several yards) AND his Trademark Earth Grudge Fear Jutsu, and even Nnoitoras' Hierro nor his Resurreccióncouldn't stand a chance in the end.

It's sad that Nnoitora had to die on the Month of his Birthday. That's right! Nnoitoras' Birthday was 11 Days ago (This Fic was finished on 11/22/15)! ...So his his "Deathday" is Today in this Fic-Canon! XD

Sorry for the 11-Day-Delay folks! New Chapter coming up soon, so be sure to Review this Chapter and Follow if you want! ^_^