Sooo, this took a bit longer than expected (was meant to be up a few days ago before those who didn't get chance to read the temporarily posted "apology" chapter about my near-year-long absence, sorry again about that). Just gonna have to accept that I can't really meet deadlines on this, so I'll try to get a chapter up a week, but it may be a little slow sometimes, stretching to a fortnight and perhaps, but hopefully not, beyond.
Chapter 8 - The Sharingan Awakens - Kakashi and Sasuke, memories reborn!
"Foolish little brother." The words echoed through Sasuke's head. His left hand shot onto his forehead, running a hand through his hair to try and calm his thumping head. His other hand was within his pocket, gently fiddling with the vial in his pocket, the one Aizen had "gifted" him. The four, Sasuke, Shisui, Kakashi and Naruto, were upon the sandy dunes within Las Noches. The palace of Las Noches was pretty much the same as it was all those years ago when Aizen had last caused havoc on the Soul Society, although there were some changes to some of the areas within the building-like structures of the palace, to fit the likes of the new Espada. Sasuke took a deep breath, his legs doing the walking for him as his focus went elsewhere, to his inner world. He found himself within the old Uchiha village, the place his mind often wandered to was now his inner world too? Great. A man sat upon a small table randomly in the centre of the village, his form a glowing blue. Sasuke had no difficulty believing this was Kirin. He approached his Zanpakuto Spirit, pocketing the vial Aizen had given him and holding it up.
"What does this do and why do I need Bankai for it?"
Kirin looked to Sasuke and examined the vial, holding his glowing blue hand out. Kirin was a reasonably tall fellow, also bald. Pretty strange looking even if he didn't glow blue. Sasuke handed him the vial and the Zanpakuto Spirit looked at it more closely. When he spoke, anybody besides Sasuke would've laughed. His voice was incredibly high pitched, as if it weren't even real and he was just putting it on for show. Sasuke seemed not to care.
"Nothing." The Spirit told the young Uchiha, throwing the vial back to him. Pocketing it, Sasuke frowned.
"Aizen lied to me?" Sasuke didn't know why he was surprised.
"Indeed, it's not tailor made for your soul, Sasuke. One of those guys right next to you though..." Sasuke instantly left his inner world at this point. It wasn't for him, somewhat of a relief, now he'd need no reliance upon Aizen. But for one of this group? He needed to know which. He thought back to what Aizen had said, one key detail standing out. Bankai. Aizen wanted him to use it when he had a Bankai. To him, this meant it couldn't be Kakashi. He'd wager that Aizen was counting on him losing to either Naruto's Bankai or to Shisui and thus craving more power and using it, which would somehow effect one of them. It had to be Naruto. It was the only reasonable choice. The vial would make Kyuubi stronger or something of the like, consuming the Uzumaki. Sasuke didn't hesitate, snapping himself back to the real world, Sasuke quickly took the vial out of his pocket and through it, with full force, behind him. He wanted naught to do with it.
As it happened, Shisui caught it. Appearing in front of it mid-flight, it landed neatly in his hand.
"What's this?" The Captain pondered aloud, not really asking Sasuke but expecting an answer nevertheless. Sasuke mouthed one word, one name. 'Naruto'. Kakashi saw this, he'd already turned, but Naruto hadn't noticed yet.
"Oh." Came Shisui's response as he crushed the vial. He was a fair distance from Naruto, Sasuke figured it should have no effect. He was correct, it didn't affect Naruto. In fact, Naruto was the only one who felt nothing. Shisui looked around, the air feeling a little colder to him. Kakashi's eyes widened as his head began to pound, his hand shot over his left eye. Sasuke dropped onto one knee, groaning as pain flared through his head anew.
"Guys!?" Naruto exclaimed, seeing Sasuke and Kakashi struggling with their pain. Shisui had felt the air get a little colder when he crushed the vial, what he figured to be the cause of their pain. But why those two? Shisui couldn't understand it, nobody could. Perhaps not so thankfully, someone appeared to explain.
"Foolish little brother." The words echoed once more, through Hueco Mundo this time and not just Sasuke's head. Itachi stood atop one of the building-like structures upon the sandy inside of Las Noches. All eyes looked up to him at once. A blue man, well Arrancar, stood beside him. Itachi had that same visor shape on his head, constructed of the same material that a Hollow mask was. His partner, who went by the name of Kisame Hoshigaki, was blue from head to toe, his black cloak the only thing concealing his blue tinted skin. His Hollow mask fragment was like a headband upon his forehead.
"Itachi..." Shisui spoke, stealing the word straight out of Sasuke's mouth. "What is this trickery, old friend?"
"You chose correctly, albeit by accident." Itachi spoke directly to his hate-filled younger brother, as if ignoring Shisui entirely. Pausing for a second, he turned his attention to his old friend. "Did you forget your own ability can affect you too? It's a shame. Had you not been close to that vial when it shattered, the Sharingan would've belonged to worthy Uchiha exclusively. Thanks to you, memory of the Sharingan will return to the world and-" Itachi got no further before he was attacked. Surprisingly, it wasn't by Sasuke or Shisui, and not even Naruto. Kakashi appeared in front of the dual Arrancar, a Chidori in each hand. He swung them both, sending an enormous and ferocious wave of lightning towards the two of them. Itachi swiftly dodged with a leap into the air, skidding to a landing upon the edge of the building-like structure. Kisame drew his Zanpakuto from his back, a zweihander blade wrapped in bandages. He held it in a single handed vertical block, skidding backwards as he blocked the arc of lightning. He ended up beside Itachi once more. Where the lightning had been blocked, the bandages upon Kisame's blade had been destroyed, revealing a small part of the blue scaly blade underneath.
Naruto appeared upon the building beside Kakashi, Shisui helping the writhing in pain Sasuke up there too. Sasuke stood up when they appeared atop the building, on level ground with the two Espada. He was still in tremendous pain.
"Bastard." Kakashi spoke, the usually calm Lieutenant having completely lost his cool, Itachi had really struck a nerve. "You may use your eyes for genocide, but to me the Sharingan means something. Robbing the world of the memory of it..." Kakashi closed his eyes, he was festering hatred almost as much as Sasuke did. But not for Itachi, more for what he'd done. This hatred sparked reactivation of that which he'd long forgotten. "You won't be forgiven!" Completing his words, Kakashi opened his eyes. His left eye was normal no more. His Sharingan had returned. He was furious at himself above all. No matter what tricks Aizen pulled, how could he have forgotten it? His Sharingan... Obito's Sharingan. He visited the graves of his old comrades nigh every day, and yet somehow, some way, someone had robbed him of his memory. The memory of Obito giving it to him with his dying breath flooded back into the Lieutenant, stirring his anger even further. Seeing the Sharingan appeared, Shisui's own memories flooded back. He too had forgotten it, despite the amount of times he'd fought alongside and sparred with Uchiha, including Itachi. He found it impossible, that he could forget such a fundamental and important part of the Uchiha clan. How had this occurred? Who could have changed the memory of everyone in Soul Society? The answer scared Shisui more than the questions did. He knew. That was the worst part, the knowing. He knew whose ability had caused this.
Sasuke probably didn't look too crazy right now. Between the dismayed Captain, the furious Lieutenant and the idiot who looked as confused as Sakura would in this situation, Sasuke probably looked the most normal of the group. He too was remembering the Sharingan, but he simply didn't care all that much. Itachi couldn't use it if he couldn't, otherwise the memories would be reborn in Sasuke and it would activate. The memories of everyone else returning just allowed Itachi to use the Sharingan at will. As far as Sasuke saw it, them both using Sharingan put them on equal ground. He'd later learn what a naive presumption that was when he witnessed the difference between his own pre-adolescent Sharingan and Itachi's. Sasuke felt new power in his eyes, he knew he could activate his Sharingan. And yet he didn't. For the first time, he felt like he may have a trump card against Itachi, a way to catch him off guard. Itachi's own Sharingan, three tomoe of unrivalled visual prowess, appeared within his eyes. Kakashi also sported three tomoe, Sasuke was well aware his limit would be two if and when he activated it. Seeing, or rather feeling it in his Reiatsu, Itachi's Sharingan activate, Kisame returned his blade to a position in front of him, preparing for an oncoming attack. He held the wrapped blade in his right hand, his grip was masterfully firm.
"You really seem to have got them riled up, Itachi." Kisame verbally applauded his partner. Shisui and Kakashi weren't taking any more talk from Itachi. Even though the Uchiha slaughterer wasn't likely the cause of the memories of the Sharingan disappearing, that one likely rested upon Aizen, he clearly knew of it and wasn't affected by it. Since he was a more realistic opponent that Aizen and directly in front of them, that put Itachi right in their line of fire.
The two jumped forwards in unison, showing their experienced teamwork as Lieutenant and Captain. The roof of the building had cracks etched into the areas where Shisui and his Lieutenant had dashed from. Kakashi's hand began to spark, a Chidori was in the making, and Shisui's hand was moving onto his Zanpakuto, his release was about to happen once more. Kisame raised his blade a little further, preparing for the opponents, Itachi remained motionless. Sasuke waited, he needed an opportunity. He didn't make the same mistake twice, he wasn't going to rush in. Naruto was pretty damn confused. It was hard enough for him to keep up with what people actually remembered about the Uchiha clan, all this stuff about returning memories and weird eyes was very far above his head. His hand shot to his Zanpakuto anyway, he was going to fight. The moment all of this occurred, a man revealed his presence within the building. His Reiatsu had been concealed previously, but it came out with a roaring blast. His words pierced the buildings roof before his attack.
"Almighty Push."
For an instant, everything was calm. Then a storm of epic proportions erupted. The building was no more within the briefest of moments and all upon the roof flew tremendous distances backwards. Having been slightly more prepared for the attack upon hearing its name, Itachi and Kisame recovered in the air a little quicker than the Shinigami quartet. Kakashi, Shisui, Itachi and Kisame were hurtled back an enormous distance in opposite directions, putting near a mile between them. Sasuke recovered a little slower, but was on his feet for the landing, skidding backwards in the sand a fair distance, leaving him a little behind the far more experienced Shinigami. Naruto landed on the sandy ground pretty hard, although a small bed of clones cushioned his fall a little. He still rolled further back, stopping a little behind Sasuke but definitely worse for wear than the other three. Naruto climbed to his feet without hurry, seemingly forgetting the opponents in front of them. They took in the newcomer, the one who'd levelled the building with ease. This one was ginger haired, a black cloak hanging from his frame, purple eyes with curved lines emanating from the middle were within his sockets, making a pattern akin to ripples coming from a drop of water into a pond, the drop being his pupil and the ripples being the lines. He had sections of his Hollow mask in his ears and through his nose, like piercings, and two on his bottom lip, all white in colour. The Shinigami didn't seem to care about what he'd just done, not yet.
"You alright, Kakashi?" The Captain quizzed, keeping his eyes on his enemies. This was not a reference to the attack they'd just been on the receiving end of.
"Yeah. Just a little shaken." Sasuke and Naruto could see that Kakashi's answer was an honest one. It was brief and well hidden, but every now and then Kakashi's hand would twitch. Slightly, but noticeable from a short distance. The Lieutenant was seething with anger. Shisui sighed, closing his eyes as he looked down, before looking back up with a glare at his opponents. He was being weighed down right now, Itachi had shaken him too. Or rather, Aizen had, Itachi had simply revealed it to them in an attempt to focus their anger on himself. Shisui reached towards his sword, his hand moving past the hilt and gripping the black sheath below the hilt guard. He pulled it off his waist and spun the sheathed blade around, sticking into the sand beside him. He then stepped forwards, three steps in front of his blade. Kakashi nor the Squad 7 members moved. Naruto spoke up.
"You're not using your Zanpakuto, Captain?" Shisui didn't look back, he stayed dangerously quiet. Although nobody could see it, the Shinigami were behind him and the opponents too far away, Shisui wore a brief smile as he answered after a second or two.
"I'm not. Unfortunately, Naruto, my Zanpakuto has unknowingly betrayed myself and the Soul Society. I can't use it and keep my honour. I'm afraid I'll have to petition for its destruction upon return to the Soul Society. Heh, shoulda known a power like Bijon's would just cause trouble." Nobody spoke for a while. Kakashi was a little taken aback by the statement, Naruto more so and was considering how to get his Captain to reconsider. Sasuke waited until Naruto opened his mouth before making his move.
The Uchiha stepped forwards, walking past Kakashi and picking up the sealed Zanpakuto. He walked up to Shisui and held his hand out to the side, thrusting the Zanpakuto against Shisui's chest.
"Not necessary. You're pardoned." The Uchiha looked to the side to his Captain as he spoke, serious as usual.
"Sasuke, you don't know what you're talking about." Shisui reached to brush the Zanpakuto aside, but Sasuke's grip upon it held firm.
"You're confusing us, you're the one who doesn't understand." Sasuke began, explaining everything mainly for the sake of Naruto's understanding. "It was you, your Zanpakuto, that made everyone forget about the Sharingan. Bijon twists dimensions, your call-out, specifically any dimension in which memory exists. You can track muscle memory, look into people's pasts, see their motives and thoughts and even erase memories. Although that last one is so powerful it's likely your Shikai's ace in the hole, a recharge time applied, or a Bankai only move."
"Impressive." Kakashi nodded along. Sasuke had pretty much nailed it. Piecing together how he fought the Arrancar earlier without watching their attacks, why he wanted to hit Itachi with it and how that related to everyone forgetting the Sharingan he'd deduced Shisui's Shikai, although it had taken some thought. A tricky power to deduce in Sasuke's opinion.
"But you knew all that." He continued. "The part you don't understand is me. I see two Uchiha, myself and Itachi. I don't believe Itachi qualifies for it, so I formally claim leadership of my clan, the Uchiha clan." Shisui now turned to Sasuke. He knew the rest, he gripped the sheath of his blade, his hand alongside Sasuke's.
"Then say it. We have witnesses." The Captain grinned at his Squad member, Sasuke closed his eyes.
"By the birthright of the Uchiha..." Sasuke opened his eyes, a 2 tomoe Sharingan revealing itself in each pupil, his Sharingan activating for the first time since memory of it had disappeared from the Soul Society. "Nobody is to punish Shisui Shiba or his Zanpakuto for any crimes relating to the memory or use of the Sharingan up until this point in time. A full pardon from the clan head."
Sasuke turned to the Arrancar, looking at the three of them in detail he'd never seen before. As far as he was concerned, the matter was done with. He let go of his Captain's Zanpakuto, Shisui gripped the blade, his smirk still present.
"Ace in the hole." He stated, in reference to Sasuke's deduction of his memory erasing power.
"Area of effect and upon contact. You're a dangerous foe." He replied, only to be corrected.
"Actually only on contact. Aizen's the dangerous foe, he both enhanced and manipulated my Zanpakuto without the knowledge of it or myself." The matter was spoke of no further. Naruto was finally keeping up, weird eyes called Sharingan, memories of them erased somehow by Shisui without his knowledge but everything somehow fine now that they're back and Sasuke was gonna prevent him getting into trouble for it. Simple.
"Plan of attack, Captain?" Kakashi asked, the odds weren't in their favour.
"Fight till we drop." The Captain responded. He was out of ideas too. He planned to release Bankai shortly, Kakashi was thinking the same thing. Naruto's plan was as simple as hitting people with his clones. Sasuke decided his risky idea was best.
"Kakashi, I need your lightning. Naruto, work on a Senkaimon. Shisui, hold those guys off. We can't fight, escape is the only option." Sasuke barked the orders like he was in charge. Naruto would've argued should he have had the time, Kakashi and Shisui really had no reason to listen, but they did. Sasuke seemed to have an air of confidence around him, he was focused. Despite this, Shisui and Kakashi would've declined, bar one thing. Shisui wanted to hit at least one of these guys with his Shikai, Sasuke's plan took that into account. He agreed, and having the most superiority there his agreement meant all. Kakashi didn't argue with his Captain, they began.
"They seem to be ignoring us." Kisame noted as he and Itachi landed. They soon Sonidoed to the side of Tendo Pain, the one who had launched the almighty push. Kisame was always a little suspicious around this fellow. Pain carried no weapon, no Zanpakuto, and yet he wasn't supporting the Reiatsu of his rank, the first/Primera Espada, in Resurreccion form. Something weird was going on regarding his powers, Kisame couldn't figure it out. Itachi never appeared to notice, but of course the Uchiha prodigy noticed from the very beginning.
"A fatal mistake." Pain responded, yet he didn't make a move. He seemed content to just let the Shinigami talk, discuss and create a plan.
"You're going to let them stand there and talk? We should crush them." Kisame sounded irked at that idea, his grip on Samehada tightened.
"How better to show them that their attempts are futile than to effortlessly crush their best efforts?" Itachi spoke rhetorically.
"Lord Aizen is allowing you to choose the fate of your brother, Itachi." Pain didn't turn to the man he spoke to. "The rest get unavoidable death."
"He goes with them." Itachi responded as calmly as always, without hesitation. Nobody was surprised at his answer. Itachi was well aware that Aizen was testing him, trying to see if he held any alliance to his brother, which of course he didn't. He was the one who butchered the entire clan, after all. The trio remained in silence a little longer before the Shinigami finally made their move, their discussions finished.
"Kisame, destroy their exit and then disrupt them. Itachi, take the Captain." Pain dished out the orders as nonchalantly as Sasuke, although he actually had the authority to do so.
"And yourself?" Kisame questioned, not that he cared too much. "There is... something that requires my attention. I'll return when it is dealt with, a few minutes should suffice." Kisame didn't know what Pain was talking about but really didn't care, by Itachi had long sensed it by now.
Sasuke's Shikai blade was stuck within the sand, lightning travelling through the hilt of basic looking katana, decorated with a sleek black hilt. His Sharingan had deactivated by now, Kakashi's too. Kakashi had his hand atop the blade, Chidori active as the lightning passed through the blade. Naruto was focusing, trying to start the makings of a Senkaimon, an exit from this place. Sasuke had assigned Naruto that task simply because he knew he'd struggle. In his mind the chances of that exit being the one they used to escape was non-existent. Hence, Sasuke's next words. Shisui dashed forwards as Pain took off to his left, dealing with whatever he had to. Kisame and Itachi rushed towards the Captain. With Naruto focusing and Shisui going to fight, Sasuke spoke.
"Kakashi," He addressed the Captain without title. "You must've copied some kind of dimensional travelling technique. The next time the three of you group together, use it. Don't worry, I have my own way out of it." Kakashi obviously wasn't going to willingly oblige, but he nodded anyway. In his mind, there was no way he was leaving Sasuke behind to fend for himself in Aizen's domain. Honestly, he was more concerned for Sasuke than ever. Sasuke hadn't had a fit of anger over Itachi in the last few minutes, he'd been unusually calm. It seemed like a good thing, which probably meant it was the opposite of that, Sasuke was definitely planning an Aizen-level game about now. Shisui and Sasuke knew where Pain had gone instantly, they'd sensed it just like Itachi, how could they not? Kakashi remained oblivious and Naruto hadn't even noticed.
Shisui's blade was in Shikai once more, he was running for Itachi. Luckily enough, for Shisui anyway, Kisame was running for Naruto and the exit. The two crossed paths and eyed each other until out of sight, running in opposite directions and passing without a word nor attack. The Captain had to act now. One cut was all it took, one cut to find out why Itachi had one what he had. Shisui's erasure of memories was very tough to use in all honesty, it required multiple boxes to be ticked, ones that he knew he'd never get against Itachi. Changing Itachi via memory erasure was out of the question. The best he could hope to do was see glimpse of Itachi's memories and motives, although with only one cut even that would be limited. Itachi knew this, of course, and wasn't going to let the blade touch him. The exchange started as Shisui swung the short sword that was his Shikai, Bijon, at Itachi's neck. The blade was within the left hand of the Captain, the swing coming from right to left. The bandages upon the hilt of the blade were wrapped around his left forearm. Itachi easily ducked the blade, his 3 tomoe Sharingan active. As he ducked, he pushed off the ground with his left foot, moving with increased speed towards the Captain, inside of his range now. He extended his left fist, turning it as he thrust it forwards towards Shisui's gut. Shisui raised his right knee, knocking the fist upwards as his blade came back from the left towards Itachi's right shoulder. Without hesitation, the Uchiha hopped a little to his left, away from the incoming blade. He brought his left leg around at Sonido-level speeds, crashing into Shisui's raised knee. Shisui stayed firmly in place, not phasing from the blow as his body twisted towards his old friend, he was going to launch another attack. Itachi pushed off the man's leg with his foot that kicked it, sending him flying backwards. He flipped through the air and landed in a small skid on the sand.
Shisui was on him in an instant, they didn't call him Shisui of the Body Flicker for naught. He was stabbing towards Itachi with the blade in his hand, the one Itachi couldn't let touch him for more than the simple reason that it could cut him. Shisui was stabbing for the chest of his enemy, a simple attack. He knew he'd never hit with a simple attack, so he was simply trying to provoke a counter which he could then counter to land a hit. He was invoking an exchange of blows. Shisui had the advantage in such a contest, Itachi had to put special care into dodging his blade and couldn't strike it if Shisui were to block with it, otherwise the Captain would achieve his aim, which Itachi knew and wanted to prevent more than he wanted to not be stabbed, for deeply private reasons of course. Itachi crouched for a brief moment and leapt into the air, raising his knees to his chest, raising them above the height of the stab. The next move was, seemingly, obvious, Itachi was going to land on Shisui's arm before he could pull it back and push off it to get closer and land a blow. Expecting this, Shisui's arm light up yellow with lightning sparks. Tsuzuri Raiden, Hado #11, without an incantation. At Shisui's level it was still enough to damage Itachi, although he could bare it and still land a major blow. However, Itachi went one better than this, he exhaled. When he did so, a fireball tens of times the size of a person burst forth from his mouth, almost instantly connecting with the Shiba and engulfing him in flames. Itachi was propelled backwards from his, landing upon the ground once more.
Shisui hadn't expected the move, he'd presumed that Itachi had lost all elemental Kido upon becoming an Arrancar. While it was still possible that was a Cero or Bala of some kind imbued with flames, which were an Uchiha speciality, he thought it best to presume that Itachi could use all Kido. The flames faded to reveal Shisui, several burnt holes in his shihakusho and his Captain's coat, traditionally known as a haori, in tatters. He ripped off what little there was left and threw it to the side, brushing out a few small raging flames with a small chuckle to himself as he looked to Itachi. He didn't seem as hurt as he was impressed. Itachi hadn't bested him yet, but in the two exchanges they had Itachi had been fighting as masterfully as always. Countering the blows made by the man's body with his own attacks while effortlessly dodging the blade and attacking where there was little to no way he'd hit the Zanpakuto. To an onlooker, it'd seem like the blade didn't even do anything special, he wasn't visibly taking any extra care.
"You're as sharp as ever, old friend. You remember, don't you, when we used to fight during our youth and beyond. You won every time." Another small chuckle came from the Captain, Itachi didn't respond to him. "I guess that gives you an edge here, right? That, and the fact that I don't know what new powers you got thrown at by Aizen. Oh well, I guess I'll just find them out my usual way, right after I know what you were thinking when you slaughtered your own clan." Shisui's demeanour turned serious with his last few words, his glare returning on Itachi. The Uchiha still didn't respond, he didn't seem in the mood for words. His Sharingan just looked at his opponent, taking in every subtle and normally unnoticeable movement. It was undeniable, those eyes were intimidating, but nothing was going to deter Shisui. Unlike Sasuke, he had emotional control. He may not be able to let his anger go, but he could certainly direct it. He was directing it all at the man in front of him.
"Let's go, Itachi!" Shisui moved forwards once again to exchange blows with his ex-comrade.
Pain jumped off in a flicker when his fellow Arrancar took off towards the enemies. Pain had sensed something a fair distance away, within Las Noches, something that Lord Aizen would likely not forgive if he were to let roam. An intruder. Pain was under orders to not let any Arrancar see any of his bodies besides his most commonly used one, Tendo Pain. This meant coming alone was a significant advantage, he could be joined by another Pain. The one that joined him was Preta Pain, one who could absorb Reishi, Reiryoku and Reiatsu. That was to say he could absorb practically anything that wasn't of a physical nature, including Kido-based Zanpakuto abilities. Preta was somewhat chubby in appearance, white mask segments on his cheeks, nose and ears. The two walked towards the Reiatsu signature without hurry, as it wasn't moving with any haste either. Eventually they rounded a corner to see the intruder, a man who stood waiting for them, his sword gripped in his right hand and held by his side.
"I take it you're here to stop me?" The man spoke to the dual Arrancar.
"To show you true despair." Tendo Pain responded to the man, he and Preta taking up a fighting position.
"Allow me to show you instead." The man retorted, and their battle began.
Kisame ran past Shisui without fear, he knew he wasn't the Captain of the target, but he was still somewhat weary. After exiting his attack radius, Kisame carried on running towards Sasuke, Kakashi and Naruto. It was obvious to Sasuke and Kakashi that Shisui both had his hands full and wanted to deal with Itachi, one of them would have to deal with Kisame.
"When Shisui and him get here, get everyone out of here, I have enough lightning." Sasuke spoke quickly, pulling his sword out of the ground and turning around, swinging it into a clash against Kisame's Samehada, one that sent sparks of lightning across the area. Sasuke quickly realised he wasn't piercing through the blade, quite the opposite. The lightning around the blade was being absorbed as it moved beneath the bandages. Was it... eating his lightning? Sasuke sent a blast of lightning out of the sword, aimed to cover the whole of Samehada and destroy the bandages if a block was attempted, which it was and the lightning succeeded in its aim. It also propelled Sasuke backwards, putting distance between him and the Espada. Samehada was revealed in its full glory, the name Sharkskin being seen as painfully appropriate.
"How do you like my Samehada?" Kisame taunted, raising his blade in front of him, holding it with a single hand despite the blades large size.
"It's nearly as revolting as you." Sasuke retorted to be met with an amused laugh from Kisame.
Samehada irked Sasuke to no end. Its ability was pretty clear, it ate Reiatsu and Reiryoku based attacks and likely dealt a stronger hit via being powered up from said attacks. It completely nullified Sasuke's Shikai, to put it bluntly. Sure, he could play about trying to send lightning attacks from behind or the sides or wherever else while trying to have them avoid the blade, but they'd pretty much be pointless and deal little to no damage, not enough to break a Hierro. In this case, it was far more effective to re-seal his Zanpakuto. However, that'd be admitting Kisame's sealed blade was better than all of Sasuke's Zanpakuto abilities. Admitting defeat while Itachi was so close really didn't suit Sasuke. He had to make a play, a risky one. Most people would have questioned the idea before going with it, but Sasuke didn't, he didn't see another option. He sighed, turning his blade and stabbing it into the sand beside him. His eyes closed for a moment before he looked back to Kisame, a small smile on his lips. His eyes opened, 2 tomoe Sharingan staring down Kisame.
"That's an annoying sword you have there, Arrancar." He admitted.
"Call me Kisame, Espada number 5." Kisame's empty left hand moved up to where his Hollow mask fragment was, pushing it upwards to reveal the black number 5 tattoo on his forehead. Perhaps more impressively, Kisame was capable of moving his Hollow mask fragment like a headband of some kind. He lowered it to his forehead again. "Not that you'll like to remember that."
Sasuke chuckled, his small smile fading to be replaced with a dull and blank expression, he didn't seem too amused to be chuckling.
"I'm afraid you're mistaken, you're the one who's going to die here. And trust me, your mistake is the only part of you I'm afraid of." Sasuke didn't receive a response, nor did he need one, he'd made his move. The whole time the duo had been talking his hand had been on the sleek black hilt of his blade, lightning crackling along the blade like always. Kisame pushed off the ground towards Sasuke, raising his blade upwards and swinging it down in a diagonal slash, aimed to slice the Uchiha diagonally in half. Sasuke didn't move until the last moment, and did so in an instant. One moment the blade was beside his shoulder, the next he was gone, his sword still in the ground but now sealed, no lightning along it. Sasuke was a few metres behind Kisame, who quickly turned, sensing the Uchiha's presence there. Naruto had stopped making a Senkaimon upon seeing this, he was speechless at the speed Sasuke seemed to move at. Even Kakashi's eyes widened. Had he been prepared, his Sharingan would have of course followed it, but not expecting such even his eyes hadn't kept up with the manoeuvre. Sasuke was facing the opposite way to Kisame, he turned his head to see the fifth Espada with his Sharingan, voicing his thoughts aloud.
"These are good eyes. Let's see if they can help me keep up with my own movements." He wasn't bluffing, had Sasuke used no Sharingan he wouldn't have been able to follow his own speed just then.
Should one look closely, as Kisame did and Kakashi's Sharingan easily noticed, Sasuke's skin seemed to be a little lighter than usual, the sclera of his eyes (the white of his eyes around the pupil) were also a lightly tinted blue. Kisame didn't know what to make of this, but Kakashi's Sharingan deduced the technique in an instant. Sasuke had taken the lightning from his Shikai and put it into himself. His movement speed was through the roof now, but the technique would be damaging the inside of his body before long, he'd need to do what he had to quickly. Although, even if he couldn't Sasuke had another thought. When he "fought" Byakuya, if one could even call that a fight instead of a slaughter, Sasuke's Reiatsu had granted healing qualities that had brung him back from the brink of death. Sasuke didn't know how to induce this for sure, but he believed hatred to be the answer. He was channelling his hatred currently, biding his time until he could use his true plan and get to Itachi. Should he stop channelling it so calmly, the explosion of hatred might just release that same Reiatsu. He couldn't be sure and it was a far bigger risk than even this technique, he also didn't want to activate it just yet, he wanted at least that trump card for Itachi. But should it be life or death, he knew it was there.
"Bastard!" Kisame growled dashing forwards once more towards Sasuke, who sighed at the approach. How basic and predictable. Kisame swung Samehada from the side, aiming to slice Sasuke in half horizontally this time. Sasuke ducked with near untraceable speed. The blade sailed over his head and didn't even get a few inches further before he'd made his counterattack. He dashed forwards, keeping his head low under the blade, and thrust out both his palms, wrist to wrist. His palms slammed against Kisame's gut, the Espada was just looking down as it happened, unable to follow the attack with his reactions. The moment Sasuke's palms connected the same move he'd used to end Haku took effect, the one he'd dubbed Explode. The explosion was far bigger this time, Sasuke was far stronger after all, and the lightning came directly from the Uchiha's body, a mixture of Kido formed lightning and that powering his body. Kisame flew backwards at incredible speeds, the sand beneath him being thrown up to form a trench, even though he flew above it. He crashed hard into the wall of a building. Sasuke looked over to Naruto and Kakashi.
"Kakashi, start working on your transportation. Naruto, keep going on the Senkaimon." Sasuke dished out more orders as the Espada rose and moved back towards him, brushing himself off. Sasuke moved forwards to continue the assault.
Naruto couldn't focus any longer. Sasuke was incredible, unbelievable, extraordinary. He was here fighting toe to toe with an Espada, the fifth one at that. No, he wasn't fighting toe to toe, he was decimating him with no effort. And what could Naruto do? He felt helpless here. Could he pull off what Sasuke was doing? No chance. Even Naruto knew he'd have been destroyed the moment he stepped up to Kisame. Sasuke was so far ahead of him that he couldn't even deny it any further. Of all the things to be disheartened about, Naruto was mostly so about that. He didn't even care that Hollows surrounded them, that they were in possibly the most dangerous place they could be.
I can give you power... An ominous, low and raspy voice filled Naruto's head. He wasn't sure who it was, but he quickly found himself in a dim world, a world within him that wasn't that of his Zanpakuto's making. An iron gate was in front of him, he sat in a not too deep puddle of water that covered the whole ground. He looked up at the gates... at the Kyuubi. More specifically, at the beast's glowing red eyes.
"You... You're that Hollow!" Naruto exclaimed, standing up to see the resting Kyuubi in its full glory.
I've evolved beyond a mere Hollow, Naruto. Let me free and I shall give you a power greater than Sasuke could ever wish for. Naruto wasn't fooled for a second by what the Kyuubi was telling him. Well, he did believe two thirds of it, that the Kyuubi could give him power and that he was more than a mere Hollow. The fact that he had no mask showed he'd evolved beyond that. But he didn't remotely believe that the beast wouldn't kill everyone or willingly give him power. His answer was a straight up no.
Naruto found himself back in reality, his vision locking onto Sasuke once more. Well, trying to. The Uchiha was still blitzing his enemy, Naruto couldn't keep up. Kakashi had lost sight of the battle too, his Reiatsu was building in his left eye, he was preparing a technique to warp dimensions, it was gonna take its toll on him. Speaking of, Sasuke was slowly beginning to feel a painful shocking feeling throughout his body. His technique was taking its toll on his body too. By his own estimate, he could keep this up for maybe another 2 minutes before he was flat out useless in a fight. Maybe Kisame knew this, or maybe he just thought he'd eventually keep up. Either way, the fifth Espada refused to release his Zanpakuto. A plausible option was Aizen having forbade him from doing so, although Kisame didn't really seem, to the Shinigami, like the kind of Arrancar who'd listen to orders over his own wishes, even from the likes of Aizen. It was a mystery that Sasuke cared little for, he was going to end the fight here and now.
Kisame rushed the Uchiha at top speed, throwing a fury of quick strikes despite the size of the blade he was throwing about. Sasuke nimble dodged each by back stepping. He crouched slightly, about to push off the ground in a burst of lightning, when in an instant the battlefield changed. He, Shisui and Itachi had already sensed this coming, and Pain obviously had seen it with his own eyes. Kakashi was mildly surprised, Kisame jumped backwards to observe, Naruto didn't know what to make of it. An Almighty Push sent a figured flying backwards, out of a building and into the "outside" area of Las Noches. The man wasn't harmed, something had protected him, a lot of somethings to be precise. Preta had disappeared, he'd proven useless in the fight as he couldn't absorb the man's Shikai. He couldn't absorb his blades. Byakuya emerged from the crater he'd made in the wall, or rather the crater the blades protecting him from the Almighty Push had made, unharmed and unamused. He noticed the second Pain had disappeared but didn't mention it. In a moment he'd analysed the battlefield and decided upon his course of action. Sasuke didn't seem like he needed help, something was different about him. Shisui looked about evenly matched right now, probably could use a hand. The other rookie was out of the action, and Byakuya didn't really know what Kakashi was doing.
He made his move.
"Bankai." He performed the usual ritualistic dropping of his blade, the large hallway of blades rising and scatter into a countless number of smaller blades. Some went into the ground, some of the rest rushing at Pain and the last of them staying near himself for protection. Pain used a small Almighty Push to repel the blades, but they soon moved back in. The Primera took to running in random directions, changing often and artfully dodging the streams of attacking blades with fancy flips an array of dance-like dodges. Shisui took little notice of Byakuya's arrival, although he was thankful, for it. Itachi was too good of a fighter to be distracted either, their fight continued on. The two closed in upon each other before a column of small petal-like blades rose up out of the sand, the ones Byakuya had sent under the sand. They headed straight for Itachi. He retreated back, not showing much difficulty in dodging the blades, but they were clearly a pain when he was trying to get the one up on a Captain. Despite Byakuya's revolution of the tide of the battle, none of them were fooled into thinking they'd win so easily. This much Reiatsu was bound to attract more and more Arrancar soon, they needed to leave. As if on cue, Kakashi shouted.
"It's ready!" Everybody's attention shifted to him and Naruto. The make or break time had arrived.
Sasuke moved first, lightning bursting from where he moved. He slammed Kisame's block with a fist full of lightning, following up with a quick paralysing kick to the shin. He then moved in a blur quicker than his own non-Sharingan eyes could follow, appearing behind Kisame and slamming him in the middle of his back with a strong right fist that sent lightning coursing through his body. He leant back, placing one hand on the sand and rose his right foot into the spot he'd just hit, sending the fifth Espada high into the air. Another blitzing speed manoeuvre and Sasuke was in front of him in the air, spinning and sending a kick into his chest. This kick exploded with the force of all the lightning in Sasuke's body, he discharged it all in one attack to send Kisame flying further than a small Almighty Push would do. He wouldn't be stopping anybody escaping any time soon. Despite having no opponent, Sasuke was playing the riskiest game of all right now, his plan was going into action. He landed on the ground in front of Kakashi, panting from the exertion his body had been through. His Sharingan could see that Kakashi had amassed a lot of Reiatsu in his left eye. He looked straight at Kakashi, who looked back at him, the two not needing words. They turned to the other participants.
Byakuya didn't have too hard a time keeping Pain at a distance, the most the Primera could do was momentarily close the distance with his Almighty Push and then be forced back again. Due to this, it was an easy job for Byakuya to Shunpo back near the trio who were ready to leave while keeping Pain on the defence at the same distance as before. This left only Shisui. Shisui was very conflicted. He wanted to fight Itachi, to kill Itachi, but what they'd accomplished here was even greater than what he'd imagined. He couldn't let his irresponsibility be the death of himself and his comrades, he needed to retreat. Thankfully enough, Byakuya had that one covered. A portion, a rather small portion compared to it all, of Senbonzakura Kageyoshi was already keeping Itachi on his toes. It was little work for the veteran Captain of Squad 6 to improve the performance of that section via use of his hands. Itachi was forced further on the defence, and Shisui was left with a tough decision. He wanted to attack again, to fight more. But he couldn't get greedy. Arrancar could swarm the area any second, and the information they'd gathered here was more than enough. He Shunpoed back, arriving beside Kakashi, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Byakuya, Naruto, Sasuke; come a little closer." Shisui instructed, knowing exactly what move Kakashi was planning to use. Naruto came close instantly, Byakuya took a small step back, not close enough to be within the technique, as he continued his hand movements, keeping both Pain and Itachi at bay. Sasuke turned a little, looking at all those behind him, which was everyone by now, although Byakuya by just a little.
Byakuya was not feeling at ease. Nobody else had noticed what he had yet, even with Kakashi and Sasuke's Sharingan they'd failed to see it. Itachi was... counting Senbonzakura Kageyoshi. Byakuya had watched for no more than a few seconds, but he was sure that this man was counting the uncountable amount of blades. He was without words, Itachi's skill excelled anybody he'd ever met. The Espada flipped over a stream of pink gleaming blades, looking down as he did. The same thing happened as every other blade be dodged, his Sharingan darted from side to side at a speed beyond the level of even a Shunpo or Sonido, keeping track of every blade. He landed and back stepped as more blades swung in an arc in front of him, his eyes never stopping. Byakuya continued the assault, seeing just how skilled Itachi was. He got nowhere, the Uchiha's movements were just too fast and his eyes too sharp. Every blade, every attack he followed without difficulty. Of course, this was only a rather small portion of Senbonzakura Kageyoshi so dodging it wasn't all that impressive for an Espada, but counting each of the blades was. Byakuya could have been wrong about what Itachi was doing, but he didn't believe so, especially after his suspicions were confirmed. Itachi landed from another smooth dodge, his eyes flicked up to Byakuya instead of the blades for once, he mouthed a few words. Byakuya's eyes widened in disbelief, the words Itachi had mouthed to him were numbers. To be precise, the exact number of the blades Byakuya had trying to harm him. He'd succeeded in counting every single one of them.
Sasuke also hadn't stepped towards Kakashi yet, it was time to make his move. He stepped forwards, spinning on his heel and then pushing backwards, pushing himself straight towards Byakuya. His left hand sparked blue, Chidori burst into life, he thrust it towards the Captain's chest. Byakuya didn't exactly know what Sasuke was doing or why, but he cared little, a wall of pink blades rose to stop the attack. The moment before the two collided, the lightning in Sasuke's hand disappeared, streaming into and through his body. He glowed a little blue once more, his unbelievable level of speed restored even though, by now, doing this was taking a serious toll on his body. In a blur, Sasuke appeared on the opposite side of the wall of blades, launching a kick into Byakuya's stomach, sending him flying back and straight towards Kakashi and the others. Shisui looked at Sasuke with surprise, Naruto the same. Kakashi just watched, waiting for Byakuya to get within the range. As he flew near Kakashi, the Lieutenant finally took action...
"Kamui!"
The area around Kakashi turned into some kind of warp hole, himself being the centre. His left eye had... changed. It had three stretched triangles within, looking akin to a pin wheel. A very warped Sharingan appearance, a Mangekyou Sharingan. This technique, the Kamui, breached dimensions, everybody within its range disappeared within a few moments, that was all the Shinigami besides Sasuke. They found themselves in the Squad 7 courtyard, landing exactly how they'd been teleported. Byakuya flipped in the air, skidding to a landing, his blade was in his hand now, he'd had to reseal it quickly during the teleportation. Kakashi dropped to one knee, his hand covering his left eye as he panted from the strain. Kakashi's condition didn't stop Naruto's anger in the slightest. He was the first to speak up.
"How could you leave Sasuke like that?!" The Uzumaki growled, moving to be face to face with Kakashi. The Lieutenant continued to breath heavily as he looked around, noticing Sasuke was nowhere in sight. He chuckled a little, despite how not funny the situation was.
"He learnt Genjutsu so fast..." The Lieutenant recalled looking into Sasuke's eyes and came to the correct conclusion immediately, Sasuke had put him under a Genjutsu. He should've seen through it, but he'd been preparing for a Kamui for one thing and he hadn't expected Sasuke to be able to do that with a Sharingan at only 2 tomoe so quickly. In his vision, he'd seen Pain dart through badly placed streams of blades and attack Byakuya in a way similar to what Sasuke had done, he'd also seen Sasuke step close to him much sooner. In reality, he'd been tricked real good. Naruto remained outraged, Shisui sighed, not entirely sure what to do, Byakuya seemed to have no care. To everyone, besides Naruto that is, it made a lot of sense. Sasuke had been so calm and controlled the whole time, not the way anybody who knew about his hatred for his brother would expect him to be around that very person. None could be surprised at what he'd done.
Back within Las Noches, Sasuke sighed as the Kamui finished, the lightning draining from him once more. Pain and Itachi no longer had anything to dodge, they walked towards each other, a few tens of metres opposite Sasuke as he turned to meet them. Kisame recovered, using a Sonido to appear beside the duo. The three Arrancar stared Sasuke down, but the Shinigami's dual tomoe Sharingan stared back at them, he was beginning to love these eyes more and more by the minute. He drew his black hilted katana, nobody stopped him, lowering it to his right side, in his right hand.
"Stream, Kirin." Blue lightning shot along the blade, lighting it up with an almighty crackling sound that displaced the sand around the Uchiha. He'd already grown so much stronger from this trip to Hueco Mundo.
"Now, brother, let's settle this." Sasuke announced, his eyes locking onto Itachi once again.
