Hey guys, sorry (as usual) about the space between updating. Lot going on and what not and by the time I get round to it I've lost track of the story and need to go reread it all and blah blah blah. Just rest assured that, no matter how large the time between some updates, I'm not sacking this story and it will be continuing for a long time.

Chapter 9 - Itachi vs. Sasuke - The Training Continues!

Byakuya turned away from the group of Shinigami who'd just arrived back in the courtyard without any words. He seemed not to care about Sasuke, the logical yet incorrect conclusion being because Sasuke had attacked him. Shisui didn't believe that was the reason, and spoke up.
"You're just going to abandon him, Byakuya?" He didn't shout, he didn't need to. Byakuya stopped and paused for a moment before turning back.
"Indeed. I have no intention to go back. He chose to stay there for his own reasons that are not my concern, I have no intention to rob him of whatever pride-filled decisions he may choose. It's not like he is beyond help. Surely you don't believe I was the only one to travel there the same way you did." Kakashi, who was crouched upon the ground with one hand over his left eye, frowned with his visible eye. He didn't like the idea of the person Byakuya was implying had entered Las Noches being that close to a prodigy like Sasuke. Shisui didn't like it either, and of course Naruto had no idea who they were talking about.
"Kakashi," Shisui began, taking a pause to think something up. "Go rest up and then see how Sakura is holding up. Naruto," Naruto had scolded himself quickly for forgetting about Sakura while they were gone, and had almost rushed off to go see her before his Captain had drawn his attention.
"Huh?" Was all he responded with.
"You rest up too. In the morning we're going to start work on your Bankai."
"What about Sasuke?!" Naruto shouted back in his face. Byakuya continued his leave, this time successfully exiting the courtyard without being spoken to, as Shisui began his fruitless attempts to calm down the yellow haired firecracker who refused to leave Sasuke alone. Kakashi slowed pushed up to his feet and trodded inside. Come morning, he'd have a headband tilted over his left eye that nobody would mention. With the memory of the Sharingan returning to everyone without them even realising they'd forgotten about it, they'd think it was normal for Kakashi to look that way. Shisui would later inform the Head Captain of the situation that had occurred but, pretty typically, Hiruzen decided to let things play out without action, seeing no benefit in letting everybody know how much Aizen had assaulted their minds and tricked even their precious memories.

Back in Las Noches, a very worn out Sasuke stood opposite the three Espada, Kisame, the Fifth, Pain, the Primera, and Itachi, whose number was currently unrevealed. Surprisingly, he felt pretty safe. He had a plan to survive this, the only problem to him was being capable of taking out Itachi. In an instant his vision saw something different, the old Uchiha village. Kirin had brought him back here, sitting on that same randomly placed table and being the same bald man of blue as before. His voice was high pitched, which Sasuke only now thought akin to the buzzing of electrical equipment.
"I need a little power." Sasuke spoke bluntly and simply, not asking as much as demanding. Kirin nodded in return. He seemed rather impartial, a part of Sasuke that was never seen, a part that strived to help people. With that simple task out of the way, Sasuke saw the Espada once more. He stared them down for a few seconds, before the purple eyed one, Pain, tired of it and turned away.
"Deal with him, Itachi." The orange haired Espada ordered as he disappeared into a Sonido. Kisame groaned, shouldering Samehada into a holster on his back.
"Why do you get all the fun ones, Itachi? You better pay this punk back for cheating against me earlier." Kisame turned towards a small building on the sand, about to turn and Sonido away before Itachi spoke back to him.
"No need, you can handle it yourself." Itachi was now the one to turn towards that same building, not even watching his little brother. "He isn't worth my time."

Those words struck an obvious nerve in the youngling Uchiha. In an instant his blade, coated with blue lightning still, was sailing through the air towards the side of Itachi's head. Without looking round, Itachi leaned backwards and let it soar in front of him, an effortless dodge. However, once the blade was a metre or so beyond Itachi, Sasuke leaned down and slammed his right hand against the floor. The katana reacted to this, turning and shooting straight into the ground. Sasuke then pushed off the ground with both feet and his hand pressed against it, leaping into the air as he whispered.
"Stream." Responding to his word, the lightning on his blade crackled for a brief moment before the whole floor for about half a mile in every direction light up blue with deadly lightning. Although fast, Itachi and Kisame were highly trained in combat and took nothing lightly, the two had jumped into the air the moment the crackle had sounded. But that was right where Sasuke wanted them, in the air where movement would be at an all time low. His leap had been straight towards his older brother as a Chidori flared into life in his left hand, the chirping of violent birds filling the air. He screamed his brother's name as he leapt towards him, left hand out in front of him as he moved at Shunpo speeds, aiming to stick the lightning straight through his brother's chest. Kisame made no movements, he fully trusted that Itachi would be able to counter the attack with little effort. His partner turned towards his oncoming brother, three tomoe Sharingan watching him approach. The Chidori landed, piercing straight through his chest and making his red eyes widen with surprise. Sasuke stood on the air on a base of his own Reiatsu, holding position to take in what had just happened, the fact that his attack had landed.

Over to the side there was a hole in the wall, the very same one Byakuya had thrown through when repelled earlier by an Almighty Push. Standing in that gap was the man Byakuya had told Shisui and Kakashi had come with him to Las Noches to watch the events unfold. This was none other than another Captain, a pale white skinned one with snake-like eyes. He went by the name of Orochimaru, Captain of Squad 12. He'd been watching since the moment Kakashi had teleported everybody out of here, meaning he hadn't seen the Kamui nor Sasuke attack Byakuya, but he'd watched the events since. His Reiatsu was clearly somewhat concealed since Kisame nor Pain had noticed him and come to attack, Sasuke hadn't noticed him either and nobody could really tell if Itachi had, although surely nobody would be surprised if he had done. Either way Orochimaru was getting to see what he liked without disturbance, watching the youngling Uchiha struggle to unleash his hatred successfully against his older brother. He licked his lips, struggling to contain himself as Sasuke made his well planned attack. His lips widened into a smile as he murmured quietly to himself.
"Perfect..."

Orochimaru was not the only observer of the fight, although the other was not on the battlefield or even near it. Sosuke Aizen sat on his couch length furniture, a Garganta that acted as a television screen open in front of him. His right arm rested on the arm of his seat, his chin resting on his hand. A usual confident and mocking smile painted his lips as he watched. He too seemed to have some kind of interest in Sasuke, the interest he hadn't shown in over a thousand years, the interest he'd shown to a certain substitute Shinigami who'd eventually played a large part in his downfall back in that time. His left hand moved over to his chest, moving under his white robe to run over the Hogyoku pulsing in his chest. He wasn't so much as impressed by Sasuke, but the Uchiha feud was certainly amusing him for the time being. Despite his typical outwardly demeanour, he wasn't best pleased. He'd been sealed away in Muken for a long time before being broken out by an unnamed helper within the Soul Society, one who carried great influence. He could probably give the Shinigami one hell of a fight right now, but he wouldn't return to a state greater than the power of his final form for some time, perhaps up to as much as 6 months, although it was unlikely to be that long. He'd have to find situations like this to amuse himself till then, so he focused back upon the fight taking place, letting himself been drawn into the story of the puppets he watched dance for him. He thought about gifting Sasuke once more, with an actual gift for him instead of one intended for Shisui, but held off for the time being. He knew Itachi would obliterate his brother here if not stopped, so he'd have to intervene sooner or later for his own enjoyment to be allowed to continue.

Sasuke looked up to the face of his brother as a smirk crossed the face of 'Itachi'. The fake Itachi disbanded into crows that flew off in different directions, reforming behind Sasuke back into the man he recognised as his brother. Sasuke turned without hurry to face Itachi. The younger Uchiha was in a state, panting again already after two rather simple moves. Chidori took a toll on Sasuke enough when used a fair few times. Sasuke had surpassed that limit already, alongside him filling his own body with lightning and a few other flashy tricks to boot. He'd grown so quickly in the space of a day, this same growth was what interested Aizen. Even he was mildly interested to see what Sasuke would be like wielding a Bankai and the full power of his eyes.
"You appear to have reached your limit." Itachi stated, easily discerning Sasuke's remaining Reiatsu with his Sharingan. Sasuke smirked, despite his state, what looked like an obvious bluff to Itachi.
"I'm just getting started. You'd better ready yourself, brother. I'm about to get serious." Sasuke stood up straight. He didn't descend to the ground to retrieve his sword, he didn't want it. He could wield lightning pretty well with his own hands, his brother wasn't using a sword so why should he? Besides, he wanted to pummel Itachi with his own two fists, not a piece of metal. Itachi looked unamused, staring idly at his brother.
"There's no point bluffing. My eyes can assess your Reiatsu level, I can see you used up all your energy in that last attack."
"Yeah." Sasuke responded without hesitation. He was betting on two risky games right now. The latter of which was Aizen. He was betting that Aizen was watching and somehow getting his jollies from this. He believed that, in a dire situation, Aizen would come and stop him dying to prolong the feud between him and his brother. That was why he'd made the others leave without him, as far as he was concerned there was no chance he'd be left to die here. But his other bet was more in the moment, he'd asked Kirin for some power and they'd both known what he wanted and was going to risk his life to get.

"Begone, Itachi!" Sasuke dashed forwards, Chidori sparking in his left hand as he did so. That Chidori even looked weak, reaching maybe up to about the 20s in power. Itachi shook his head at his brother's foolishness, reaching into his cloak and pulling out a small kunai knife. He spun the knife in his hand, but Sasuke rushed forwards still.
"Foolish little brother." Itachi muttered as Sasuke came within striking range. Itachi grabbed Sasuke's left wrist, throwing it wide to the side as he moved his right hand around, stabbing the kunai straight into Sasuke's gut without hesitation. Sasuke stopped in that moment, struggling to stay standing as his weak body coughed blood. Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, watching without any words. He didn't know if it was over yet, but he couldn't wait to find out. Aizen's usual smirk grew a little wider. He'd seen many times in the past, as well as in this battle, that Sasuke wasn't a fool who'd rush in so easily. Then again, he was so hate filled, wasn't he? Maybe this was his endgame, or maybe not. Aizen silently hoped not, such a quick end to this situation wasn't to his liking, he wanted to witness an all out fight between Itachi and Sasuke at their fullest potentials. He knew Sasuke wasn't dead from such a blow, but how long would it stay that way before Itachi followed up. He considered notifying Itachi that he wanted his brother alive, but decided against it. If Sasuke really was that stupid, even if it was a hate filled manoeuvre, Aizen didn't care to witness him any further. The King of Hueco Mundo didn't deal with fools and wouldn't go out of his way to save one. Sasuke would be left to prove himself or die.

Naruto woke up with a loud yawn, sitting up and stretching his arms as he rubbed his eyes. The moment he opened them, he saw a blade at his throat. Shisui's Shikai blade to be specific. He yelled and jumped back against the wall.
"What the hell?!" His widened eyes were focused upon the Captain, who was notably clad in a fresh new haori. He stood up, sliding his small sword into his haori and holding it there in his right hand.
"Slow. You were open. I could've ended your life multiple times in that time." Shisui responded methodically, jumping off the bed with a sigh. "Come on, Naruto. Hurry up and dress so that we can begin." Naruto wanted to ask again what he was doing but correctly figured he'd get no answer. He knew already how different training with Shisui would be to training with Jiraiya, Shisui wasn't going to pull any punches. Good, Naruto wanted to be trained as tough as Sasuke had been to get him to a level at which he could fight Kisame. As if he could read his thoughts, Shisui spoke up as he reached Naruto's open door, looking out blankly into the hallway.
"Was it Sasuke?" He asked, sounding somewhat morbid. Naruto was confused by what he was talking about as he snapped back to focus on the Captain. "Was Sasuke the one who fought the one Kakashi told me is the Fifth Espada?"
"Y-yeah." Naruto responded, dumbfounded at how Shisui had picked up on what he was thinking about.
"I didn't teach him anything that would allow him to do that, and I still haven't heard how he did it. Sasuke is... different, Naruto. To you and to me, to Sakura and Kakashi too. He's experienced loss, a lot of it, and pain too. Me and Kakashi can relate to that, but not in the same way. I hate Itachi and Kakashi does too, but Sasuke has transcended the hatred you or I can understand." Shisui didn't speak any further, but Naruto wanted to hear more. He jumped off the bed, landing besides Shisui.

Kakashi happened to be in the adjacent room, Sakura's room, and sitting against the wall, having awoke hours earlier. He was idly listening into the conversation, eyes closed, as he heard the two speak without interruption.
"I don't believe that." Naruto shook his head, Shisui turned to face him. He was about to continue, tell his Captain how he and Sasuke were on in the same in his opinion, but Shisui opened his mouth and retorted before he even had a chance.
"What do you live for, Naruto?" Taken aback by the question, the yellow haired boy frowned before a smirk crossed his face.
"To prove I'm the best and become Head Captain!" Silence filled the room as Shisui stared him down, eventually speaking.
"How strongly do you follow that?"
"With everything I've got! I live to train, to get stronger, to show everybody what I can do. I'll never stop until I get there."
"Imagine that feeling, that passion." Shisui didn't pause before this response, he'd found his argument from Naruto's words and was latching onto it. "Imagine how strongly you feel about that. And now imagine you have to beat one person, just one, to achieve it. One person who doesn't love you when he should, but doesn't hate you either. He just doesn't care about you, he puts you through hell and doesn't even acknowledge it. Sasuke lives for Itachi. Sasuke lives to kill that man. Every decision he takes, sword he swings, Kido he lets lose or even every breath he takes. It's all for him, for Itachi. For his brother who doesn't even take any notice of him, doesn't consider him enough of a threat to even end his life or do anything but mock him."
"I-" Naruto didn't know what to say, how to counter that. Shisui had turned his own dreams into an argument against him, to justify in a way what Sasuke had done.
"I know what you're wondering and no, I don't think Sasuke will die. And I don't think that because Orochimaru is there, I think it because Itachi doesn't care enough to kill him. He'd leave Sasuke for dead until he claws his way back to life festering more hatred than ever. You want to know how Sasuke got that level of power without being taught? He got broken again and again and again, Naruto. He kept breaking. Breaking his body and his mind over and over. But each and every time he repaired himself with nothing but uncontrolled and pure hatred. He repaired himself stronger than ever until he could tell a difference, until we could all tell a difference, and he didn't stop there. I can teach you Naruto, but I cannot get you to the level of your friend. Only you can do that. I can teach you the stances, the incantations and the abilities, but the skills come from you."

Shisui exited the room after his fairly lengthy speech, walking out to the courtyard without another word. Kakashi didn't move, he was lost in his thoughts. Thoughts about Sasuke a little but more so about Obito. He didn't feel worthy to wield his Sharingan right now, not after what he'd forgotten. Naruto began to dress after taking a moment to think. Hearing the rumbling in Naruto's room, the Lieutenant stood and moved out to the courtyard, where he knew Shisui would be waiting. He walked to the steps and sat on the top one beside his Captain, resting his arms on his lap.
"When do you think we'll be seeing him again?" Neither of them looked at each other, even as Kakashi asked his question. Shisui paused before answering.
"Not before the competition in 5 days."
"You think Orochimaru will teach him?"
"Maybe. If not he'll spend the time learning by himself. He won't win, not against Itachi. Itachi is stronger than ever, stronger than me now." Kakashi wasn't surprised to hear this, it only made sense that Itachi had grown after becoming an Arrancar. "He counted Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, according to Byakuya."
"No..." Kakashi turned to Shisui, visible eye widening. As a Sharingan user, he was perhaps one of the only people who knew how impressive a feat that was. He hadn't spent much time around Byakuya himself but he knew his own eye wouldn't be able to even get close to such a feat. Shisui nodded in response before subtly switching the topic.
"How's Sakura getting on?"
"She decided to train with someone else for until the competition. Although I doubt she'll fight there anyway." Kakashi snapped back to reality as he answered, leaving the thoughts of Itachi's prowess for another time.
"She's gonna trade with Tsunade, huh?" The Captain showed off his intellectual abilities once again, deducing it within a second or so. "That'll do her good. She cares, she'll be a good medic one day." After he'd finished, they both heard footsteps behind them, someone running through the hallways of the barracks, obviously Naruto. He jumped over the Captain and Lieutenant, sword in hand as he turned to face them.
"Let's go!" He grinned, all the talk of Sasuke, hatred and what he lived for out of the window and gone from his thoughts by now. Shisui stood up and nodded to Kakashi as he took Naruto away from the courtyard.

Sasuke's blood splattered upon the sound of the sands of Las Noches. As it hit the floor, Itachi withdrew his knife and brought up his foot to the level of Sasuke's chest and moved it forwards, delivering a violent kick that sent Sasuke flying backwards and sliding along the sand, laid on his back and breathing shallowly. He flicked the blood off his kunai and returned it to his cloak, turning away from his brother.
"Leave him, we can go." True to Shisui's expectations, Itachi didn't seem to care enough to kill off his brother and was going to leave him for dead. He descended back onto the sand and took a single step on the sound before a sound akin to an explosion was heard from behind him. His head snapped around, his Sharingan inspecting a purple column of Reiatsu that had loudly burst forth from Sasuke's body. With a groan, he sat up, his eyes closed. He staggered up to his feet, swinging around groggily as if drunk. His head tilted back as he stood up properly and exhaled slowly, purple Reiatsu in the form of mist seeping out of his mouth. This was familiar, the form he'd entered against Byakuya not too long ago, about 9 days ago judging by the length of time the competition was from now. The knife wound healed, as did all the faint wounds on him from the electricity earlier streaming through his body. He was healing quickly, as if he had High Speed Regeneration like a Hollow would. His head came back down, his eyes opened, glaring at Itachi. His Sharingan menacingly stared at his brother, who was, for the first time yet, shocked at what was going on. He watched in surprise as Sasuke's eyes changed, as they evolved. The tomoe shifted to the sides, like two corners of a triangle, and made way for a third one to appear within them. Sasuke sported 3 tomoe Sharingan as his hatred flared in the form of his Reiatsu. The purple column receded and left the area in silence.
"Did I not tell you..." Sasuke's hands curled into fists. His right leg traced through the sand, moving in an arc behind him as he raised his right hand, his palm flat and facing towards Itachi. "...That I was about to get serious. I'm going to end you, brother."

Orochimaru watched with glee as Sasuke, whom he decided was going to be his new star subject, restored his body and power with that strange Reiatsu. It gave of a menacing, hateful vibe and yet seemed to be doing Sasuke a world of good. He'd need to get samples of that later. Aizen too watched with some feeling of joy, albeit slight. This was getting more and more interesting. Would this newly powered up Sasuke be a match for Itachi or fail like he had before? Aizen knew this collision was nearing its end, but he'd already decided that Sasuke had earned the right to survive this one should he fail once more. The boy was putting everything he had into this last exchange that was about to take place. Although Orochimaru couldn't tell, Aizen certainly could tell that the healing Reiatsu was doing Sasuke more harm than good. It was simply the fact that nobody besides Itachi and Aizen knew the biggest secret the Uchiha clan had to offer. To Aizen's knowledge anyway, but he was blissfully unaware of other plots at work outside of the World of the Living, Hueco Mundo and the Soul Society. Unaware of the group biding their time and storing their power in waiting. Without that secret, nobody would ever understand what was happening to Sasuke right now, they'd only ever reach a conclusion of paradoxes that failed to connect correctly. It was sad really, just another way in which Aizen intellectually outclassed everyone else. If only they realised the true nature of the Sharingan and the inheritance of the Uchiha.

Sasuke pushed his palm against the air and a purple flash of Reiatsu burst forth before disappearing. The disappearing it did was simply travelling at speeds no Sharingan user on the field could follow. Itachi tilted his head to the side, letting it pass by before it crackled and exploded behind him, causing a purple explosion that blew a storm of sand into the air behind him. By the time his head returned to position, his brother was in front of him, kicking at his chest. Itachi batted the kick aside and went for a low sweep, aiming to trip Sasuke's remaining leg. In response, Sasuke pushed upwards into the air, launching a left jab straight at his face. Itachi ducked the punch and pushed forwards as he turned to the side, pushing his shoulder straight into Sasuke's chest. The Shinigami flew backwards, hitting the sand and bouncing before landing on his feet and skidding back. By the time he'd stopped Itachi was above him once more, kicking downwards at his head. His right foot landed hard on the back of Sasuke's head, forcing his whole body to slump downwards and, even freshly healed, making Sasuke blink a few times to stay conscious. Itachi landed in front of the dazed Sasuke, quickly following up with a right hook to his lowered face, sending Sasuke flying once again. Kisame smiled as Sasuke struggled to stop rolling along the floor. This was what he liked to see, Itachi pummelling his little brother without mercy. Sasuke pushed up to his feet slowly, bruised and bloody from the few strong blows Itachi had dealt to him. He couldn't keep getting up much longer, the pain was already slowing his body. The sand around him began to move in a circle as he gathered his power. He reached out with his right hand and grabbed his lightning coated sword, which he'd landed right beside purposefully, and used the lightning from that to further enhance his own power. He sheathed the blade and gripped his left wrist, all the while Itachi slowly walked towards him. Sasuke's left hand flared with violent lightning, making a crater in the ground beneath him. He dashed forwards, ripping up the sand his Chidori moved over, as he ran towards Itachi. His older brother noticed, as he watched the oncoming Sasuke, that his Sharingan only had 2 tomoe. Had he imagined the 3 tomoes earlier? No, not possible. He figured that Sasuke's earlier burst of power was some kind of hidden potential, similar to what Aizen had told him of a form known as the Final Getsuga Tenshou. Did Sasuke possess something similar that his hatred helped him tap into? Regardless, it wasn't an issue.

Sasuke burst forwards, Chidori working at full power to help burst his speed, and thrust his lightning filled left hand towards his ever so hated older brother. An explosion rocked the ground they stood upon, smoke clouding them from everyone's view. When the smoke cleared, Itachi had hold of Sasuke's wrist, a tunnel in the ground to his left had been formed, he'd redirected the attack that way. Sasuke looked up in horror at his older brother as Itachi rose his knee, breaking a few ribs as his knee moved into his brother. His hand let go of Sasuke's wrist as he coughed blood, his right hand came up and grabbed Sasuke by the throat. He squeezed, almost tight enough to break the boy's neck.
"You don't have enough hatred, Sasuke." His mocking voice whispered into the self-proclaimed Uchiha clan head's ear before he tossed him aside, in the direction of Orochimaru, who Itachi now confirmed he'd sensed a long while ago. Sasuke landed hard in the wall behind Orochimaru, leaving a separate hole in the wall than the one he'd been looking through, as well as a dent in the wall behind him that Sasuke stood in. The Espada turned and walked the opposite way, the fight was over and Sasuke had lost. But Orochimaru didn't care. He picked up the now unconscious Sasuke, carrying him out of Las Noches without haste, seemingly not concerned about being attacked. When they'd exited the area, Orochimaru drew a circle in the sand, drawing formulas for a Garganta he'd invented within it. Before powering it up, Sasuke's eyes flickered open, and he made some weak murmurings.
"Calm." Orochimaru spoke softly before his neck extended in an inhuman way. He sank his snake like fangs into the boy's neck, sending venom through his body that was intended to do nothing more than incapacitate him. Around the bite mark, when Orochimaru pulled away, a black mark appeared. Three tomoe-like dots in a circle, a Curse Mark of Heaven, appeared upon the boy's neck as he passed out. With little difficulty, Orochimaru opened the Garganta and carried him through. When they appeared on the other side, within Orochimaru's Captain office within the Squad 12 barracks, a voice echoed.

Byakuya was stood leaning on the closed door within the office, speaking as Orochimaru entered.
"I do hope you planned to do nothing more than return him to Squad 7, Captain Orochimaru." The Garganta closed and the Captain of the Research and Development Institute set Sasuke down on his desk as he smiled in the direction of his visitor, Byakuya. Sasuke was placed so that the Curse Mark was facing away from Byakuya.
"Not quite, Captain Kuchiki." He admitted, never losing his inhuman smile. "When he wakes, I wish to offer him the chance to train with me for a while, until the competition at least. If you wish, I'd be more than happy for you to oversee this training, to ensure I'm not plotting anything with this boy."
"Not needed." Byakuya turned to open the door and stepped into the doorway, speaking without turning. "Rest assured that if I sense one minute change in the nature of the boy's reaction that I can trace back to this place, I shall be returning."
"Why of course." Orochimaru responded as Byakuya left his barracks. When the Squad 6 Captain had gone, Orochimaru scowled. Byakuya had served as a Captain since before Orochimaru had been born, he knew that he couldn't be too careful around that man. If he dared to experiment on Sasuke even a little, Byakuya may sense a change. That meant that, to his dismay, he couldn't do anything to the boy. He wasn't happy with that, but it'd do. He'd train Sasuke on the up and up without anything illegal or any under the table experiments going on. Well, except for one, the Curse Mark. That was named a seal for a reason, its power was untraceable unless activated. That would be the one and only experiment he could have Sasuke participate in without Byakuya's knowledge. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't an experiment that he could use to control Sasuke to his whim. He'd have to do that through promises of power and the use of mind games involving his hatred for Itachi.

Shisui took Naruto to a seemingly random location, but in actuality it meant a lot to him. It was a river, surrounded on each side by large canyon walls. Within wall of the walls was a large cave, large as in about as big as 5 Squad barracks put together. More than enough room for Naruto to train for his Bankai. When they arrived, there was already a white and tall humanoid doll waiting within the cave at the entrance. Shisui picked it up as they walked inside. After both entering, a boulder rolled from outside and sealed off the entrance as flames lit seemingly by themselves all around the cave. This surprised Naruto, but Shisui continued onwards. He walked to about the centre of the cave, which was a walk that took over a minute, before turning around to face Naruto, holding the doll by his side.
"They call this an Tenshintai, you stab your Zanpakuto into it and it manifests your Zanpakuto into the world for you to gain the acceptance of and obtain Bankai quickly. Traditionally, this takes 3 days. You have 4 days, Naruto. On the fifth you'll need to rest for the competition, I won't allow you to go into it unprepared." Unusually, Naruto listened closely to what was being turned to him, absorbing the information with a nod.
"I want to fight you." Naruto responded, seemingly randomly. Shisui sighed.
"Did you hear anything I just told you?"
"Yup. I want to fight you. I won't need 4 days if you train me good, right? So show me stuff for a day and then I'll start."
"I can't train you better than your Zanpakuto Spirit can Naruto."
"I don't care, I want to fight you. I want to go through what Sasuke did." In that moment, it became clear to Shisui, Naruto thought of Sasuke as his equal and didn't want to have any less difficulty put into his training than Sasuke did. He wanted to match the one he considered his rival. Shisui chuckled, dropping the doll and moving his left hand over his face, shaking his head as he chuckled. "What's so funny?!" Shisui smiled faintly as he faced Naruto.
"Sasuke told you that he died, didn't he?" Naruto didn't respond. It was a sore point from him, he hated the thought and never understood what Sasuke had told him about that. "He wasn't lying. He put that much effort in. If you want me to train you that way, there is no one day training. I'll set you one task and you will not train for Bankai until you complete it.
"Do it." Naruto stared up at his Captain who took a few paces back, mumbling slowly. He finished in a few seconds.
"Bakudo #81: Danku." A transparent barrier flickered into life in front of Shisui, a Danku. "Break through that barrier and you can train for Bankai. I'll be honest Naruto, I don't think you can do it and I recommend you go back to Jiraiya and train some more. I've not heard of any big hitting move like Chidori from you, and punches won't break that barrier."
"Oh yeah?! We'll see about that!" Naruto drew his Zanpakuto as it lengthened outwards and in length, turning into the broadsword that was his Shikai. Five clones appeared, making a total of six Narutos, and began to slice at the barrier from all directions fruitlessly. Shisui sighed, walking to his left for a few seconds before sitting down and sighing.
"This is gonna be a long day..."

The moment Shisui sat down, Naruto drew his attention back to him with another loud statement. All but one clone disappeared, Naruto and his clone backed away and crouched a little.
"That's it! I've had enough of this thing, it's time to show this barrier everything we've got!" The clone's sword disappeared in a cloud of smoke as Naruto held out his right hand, digging his sword into the ground with his left. Shisui drew his sword, about to start performing Jinzen after he'd watched whatever it was that Naruto was doing. The clone moved his hand rapidly, spinning a large amount of Reiatsu as the real Naruto contained it. They were looking right and left at the same time. The clone disappeared in a poof of smoke as Naruto held out the Kido for Shisui to look at that with widened eyes.
"Let's go... Rasengan!" Naruto Shunpoed forwards, moving at great speed and thrusting the Rasengan into the Danku with great effort. The barrier didn't budge, but neither did Naruto. Air was shooting forcefully back at him from the impact as the two clashed. His feet were digging into the ground, creating small holes to stop himself from skidding back.
"Minato..." Shisui whispered as he watched the action take place, struggling to get to grips with the Kido that Naruto was performing right in front of his eyes. He recognised it from when Jiraiya had used it against him in the past and knew Minato had originally created it. It was a notoriously hard Kido to perfect among the top tiers of the Soul Society and here was Naruto, a new unseated officer, performing it without strain, bypassing all difficulty with use of a clone.
"I'm not done yet!" The rookie screamed, pushing off his feet and putting all his weight behind the attack. Eventually the strain overcame the rotating sphere and it exploded outwards, sending him flying backwards. As Naruto flew back, Shisui keeping his eyes on the boy, he noticed that the Danku was now sporting a crack at the centre. Miniscule, but visible.

Naruto regained control of himself and flipped in the air, but didn't land. A clone appeared behind him on his left side and grabbed his left arm. One appeared adjacent to that on his right. He held out his right hand as the clone on his left span him around in a full circle. The clone on his right moved its hands to form the part of the Rasengan Naruto couldn't manage on his own. He smirked as the clone let him loose, holding out his new Rasengan and flying back towards the barrier while the clones disappeared in clouds of white smoke.
"I'll part of my master plan!" He exclaimed, untruthfully, as he connected with the barrier once more. The Rasengan hit his target, the crack in the barrier. Air pushed back at the mid-air Shinigami like before, but he didn't stop pushing. Cracks spread throughout the barrier slowly, moving from the centre to the edge, making a sound akin to glass cracking in the same way. This took several seconds and clearly put a great strain upon Naruto who was visibly sweating from the effort. He was so puckered out that his Rasengan faded just before completing the breaking of the Danku, leaving the barrier riddled with deep cracks as it died out.
"I'm not done yet." Naruto panted as it died out and he began to fall. He curled himself up into a ball as he fell, spinning twice before extending his right leg and landing a kick in the centre of the barrier, the point where it was most delicate. The barrier showed resistance and held against the kick before Naruto put his full weight behind it, giving a roar of effort as it came down harder, piercing through the barrier and leaving it to shatter as he landed cleanly before crouching to wipe away his sweat.
"T-too... easy..." The boy panted, turning to his Captain and giving him a shaky thumbs up. He was met with a slow clapping as Shisui sheathed his katana and stood up, nodding to show he was impressed.
"Well well, maybe you stand a chance against Sasuke after all."

After letting Naruto recover, Shisui was sat opposite him, both of them had their legs crossed. Shisui held his small knife-like Shikai in his hand, ready to draw on the ground between the two of them.
"Naruto, you can't beat Sasuke with skill." Naruto was about to protest but Shisui quickly silenced him. "I'm serious. In natural skill and ability Sasuke has you outmatched beyond belief. You have no hope there. But that doesn't mean you can't land a hit and when you do you need to make it count. Your aim has to be to cripple him with every hit to make him easier to hit with the next one."
"And how do I do that?"
"You make openings, you need to exploit his weaknesses."
"Sasuke has weaknesses?" Shisui chuckled, digging his sword into the ground and drawing a few symbols.
"Everybody does. Take a look." He tapped the ground with his sword, pointing to a diagram he'd drawn of all the new nature Kido elements. It was a circle with arrows showing which is superior and inferior to each. He explained the diagram to Naruto, telling him how Sasuke utilises fire and lightning, which meant that Naruto would have to utilise wind or water. "Here, take this." He handed Naruto a piece of paper and guided him through directing his Reiatsu into it. The paper was specifically designed to conduct Reiatsu and reveal which nature they were naturally skilled with. Naruto's paper suddenly cut in half, revealing that he was naturally a user of wind natured Kido. Shisui nodded and picked up a piece for himself, directing his Reiatsu into it to show that it dampened, becoming wet.
"Unfortunately, Naruto, I don't know wind Kido. Although everybody can learn up to all 5 basic natures and I'm a Kido master, I only utilise 3. Water, fire and earth. You'll have to talk to Kakashi about wind."
"How many does he know?" Naruto asked curiously, a little bummed out that he couldn't learn the nature to beat Sasuke's lightning right now.
"All 5. They don't call him the Copy Reaper for nothing. Anyway, let's go."

Shisui wiped away the diagram and walked towards the exit of the cave. Naruto followed, picking up his sword and sheathing it once it was sealed. He presumed they were off back to the barracks to talk to Kakashi. Once they exited, Shisui jumped upwards randomly. After he did, Naruto saw a pillar of water shooting towards him that he couldn't avoid in time. It slammed into the boy, knocking him back as Shisui landed on the surface of the flowing river, using Reiatsu controlled out of his feet to stand upon it.
"You don't look ready to learn water Kido, Naruto." The Captain chuckled as Naruto got up scowling with his wet hair over his face.
"I thought my nature was wind?!"
"Naturally, yes. But I just told you everyone can learn all 5. Besides, water would benefit you more. Water beats fire and can redirect lightning when used correctly." Naruto couldn't really argue with that and stood upon, joining Shisui by walking onto the surface of the water.
"Alright, how do I learn this?" He asked, brushing away his hair and throwing his sheathed Zanpakuto on the side of the river.
"Bend down and put your hand on the water. Just feel it for a while, how pure it is. Then after a while try to direct it the way you do a Rasengan, swirl it around your arm and see how long you can keep that up out of the water. By then you should be ready for me to teach you a move or two." He did as instructed, closing his eyes as he bent down and placed his hand onto the surface of the water. The Shiba clan head walked off the water and sat down besides the side of the canyon. He sighed, wondering how quickly Naruto would pick this up. He only had a day before he'd need to start on his Bankai training and then he wanted Jiraiya to show Naruto a little something too. This was gonna be a busy few days for the rookie.
"Use some clones, trust me, they'll help." Shisui instructed, closing his eyes and leaning back to relax. He hadn't slept in the past day, scared to think about the events from Las Noches again in his dreams. Both he and Naruto were thinking about the same thing, about Sasuke. They wondered how he was getting on.

Elsewhere, Sakura was in the Squad 4 courtyard with various parts of her body wrapped in bandages after her fight with Haku, if one could call it a fight even. She was currently training with the Squad 4 Lieutenant, Shizune. She was practicing healing small creatures, squirrels right now, with Kaido - better known as healing Kido. She was taking to medical Kido pretty quickly and was progressing quickly. She'd trained a little with Tsunade personally, but the Captain was a busy woman of course, Sakura couldn't ask for more than the little time she got training with her. Kakashi had been by earlier to make sure she was alright, but he seemed... different. She couldn't put her finger on how, but she knew he was somehow. At first she'd thought it was the headband he wore over his left eye, but after shaking her head she remembered he'd always looked that way... hadn't he? She'd chatted with him a little about her friends, Naruto and Sasuke. Kakashi said Naruto had wanted to come by but Shisui was demanding he start training for the competition. All he'd said concerning Sasuke was that he wasn't good. Sakura appreciated that he hadn't lied to her, although by his demeanour when she asked how Sasuke was she already knew what the answer was. He didn't give her any details and just told her that he was pushing people away in his pursuit of power and revenge. On the bright side, he was stronger than ever which to Sakura meant that he'd be done with his revenge before long and they could live together as a happy little family... hopefully. She'd asked about the Captain too and Kakashi had answered honestly once more, saying that he had no idea. Captain Shiba was a closed book when it came to Itachi, Kakashi didn't know what he was thinking about the whole situation. More than likely he still felt guilty regarding the Sharingan situation, but Kakashi didn't blame him or even Itachi. He blamed Aizen, and rightly so.

In Squad 12, Sasuke was waking up. He was still in Orochimaru's office, who had done nothing to him besides gift him with the Curse Mark.
"Ah, you're awake." Orochimaru mused gleefully as the Uchiha sat up, rubbing his aching head. "I gave you some medicine, fast acting, to heal your wounds. You'll probably still feel the pain for a day or two, but you should be fine for the competition in 5 days."
"Like I care about that." Sasuke groaned without any pause, sliding off the desk and leaning back on it for support. "Captain Orochimaru, right?"
"I'm glad you remember me, Sasuke. I certainly remember you."
"Yeah, whatever." He shook his head in an attempt to shake off his headache, but ended up making it worse. "I'll be off then."
"As you wish." Orochimaru gestured to the door, not making any attempt to stop him. "But before you depart, could you humour me for a minute?"
"What do you want?" Sasuke's pupils flicked to Orochimaru lazily. He didn't mind chatting for a minute, he needed the time to try and recover.
"I want to offer you power. As head of Research and Development I have the occasional method of upping power fast. I saw you fighting, in fact I was only there to make sure you didn't get harmed. I'm sure you know your own talent, I want to help you develop it."
"No thanks." Sasuke sighed. "I can do that by myself, I work better alone."
"No doubt." Orochimaru persisted without aggression. "There's a mark on your neck I put there, part of the healing process unfortunately." Orochimaru smiled inside as Sasuke checked his neck, he didn't question that it was part of the healing even though that was a blatant lie. "Try directing Reiatsu to it for me. I should warn you, it will hurt quite a lot. But it should give you a taste of the kind of hidden power this Squad possesses." Sasuke gave it a shot, and indeed it did hurt. He gritted his teeth as wavy black lines spread out from the mark across half his face and his arm. They glowed red while moving, turning black again when they stopped.

Sasuke felt... good. He felt power flowing through him, even more than he had when he fought Itachi. He smiled, looking at the marks on his arm in awe. Orochimaru saw his reaction, it was as expected. Sasuke was following the lust for power as he always did, he was coming round.
"I was hoping to help you master that particular power for a day or two before showing you the shortcut Bankai method you were approved to learn." Sasuke was barely listening and didn't respond for a while, letting the marks flow back into the one on his neck and letting the power disappear from his body.
"You make a good offer, Orochimaru. Teach me how to master this, I can handle Bankai myself if you give me the tools."
"It'd be my pleasure, Sasuke. I should mention, you shouldn't show off this power in front of others, it's frowned upon."
"Power is power." The Uchiha retorted simply. "Illegal or not, I don't care. I don't plan on using it where it isn't needed, and the only time it'll be needed is against Itachi." Orochimaru nodded in understanding. Sasuke was taking this all perfectly.
"I imagine you'll be keeping your Bankai a secret too then?"
"That's right. Shall we begin?" Orochimaru chuckled at his eagerness, but didn't make the natural response of asking if he wanted to rest.
"Of course. Where shall we begin? I am aware of a thing or two about your Chidori that you could change it with to give it a little more of a personal touch and little less Hatake. There's also a little something you may wish to learn as I'm sure your friend Naruto will soon be taught a similar move by Jiraiya."
"We can do those tomorrow, I want to learn about this Curse Mark."
"I figured so. Do come with me." The Captain led Sasuke out of the office and through the halls to one of his various private training rooms to begin teaching Sasuke how to utilise both the first and second stage of his Curse Mark properly."

Kakashi found himself with little to do. He wasn't in the mood for very much, especially not training, and those within the Squad under his care - Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura - were all busy. Naruto was with Shisui, Sakura with Tsunade and Sasuke was... still in Las Noches? Who even knew, Kakashi certainly didn't. He was wandering the Seireitei without interest before returning to the Squad 7 barracks. He arrived back in the courtyard and was about halfway through it when the gates slammed open once more and a painfully familiar voice shouted out to him from the gates.
"Kakashi, there you are! I found you at last!" Kakashi dared not to turn around, he recognised the voice instantly. It was without a doubt the Lieutenant of the Second Division, Captained by Soi Fon. He heard footsteps run up to him from behind, shouting when they got close. "It's time for our weekly Taijutsu contest, Kakashi! Here I come!" He turned around just in time to sidestep a Dynamic Entry coming at him. Avoiding the mid-air kick to the face and leaving Might Gai to crash into the wall of the courtyard, Kakashi sighed. Gai kicked out of the rubble produced by his crash, standing up and jumping in front of Kakashi with his fists up. "The loser has to do 500 laps of this courtyard, agreed?"
"No."
"Haha, you're right Kakashi! 5,000 laps it is!"
"That's not what I had in mind."
"50,000?! Alright then, but I'll be bringing my A-game in that case!"
"No laps."
"Good one, Kakashi! Now let's go, loser does 50,000 laps!"

Gai wasn't taking no for an answer and leapt forwards, spinning around and launching a kick at Kakashi's face. Kakashi raised his forearm to block the blow, pushing it away and deciding to fight as he closed the gap between them. Gai landed back on the ground and launched a left jab towards Kakashi's face, which he ducked efficiently as he rose his own leg in a crouch to kick towards Gai's gut. Gai blocked the powerful kick and skidded back, closing in quickly again with an endless flurry of kicks and punches that Kakashi couldn't follow easily. Backing up as Gai kept advancing, Kakashi reluctantly rose his left hand to his headband and lifted it, opening up his Sharingan. He didn't feel right using this now, although he remember how to perfectly. Gai's punches and kicks that were so hard to follow before were now moving so slow in his vision. He no longer back up, using his fists to knock away and block each blow. After blocking a kick, Kakashi ducked a barrage of punches and moved in before Gai could retract his fists. Kakashi's gloved right fist found a target in Gai's gut and quickly moved into the aforementioned area. He followed through with the punch, sending Gai flying backwards. Or he would've gone flying, if Kakashi hadn't appeared behind him before he flew over a metre. He drove his left elbow into the lower back of the Squad 2 Lieutenant, making him arc his back as his spine was struck with force. Kakashi then brought his left leg up and round to Gai's side, sending him flying with a strong kick to the side of his abdomen. Gai landed upside down in a heap, holding out his hands.
"Good show, Kakashi! You win this round!"
"You don't have to do any laps." Kakashi brought his headband back down over his Sharingan, sighing with regret that he'd resorted to using it.
"A deal is a deal!" Gai flipped up to his feet and began to run around the courtyard at great speed. "At least I don't have to do these on my hands!" Kakashi shook his head and headed back inside to go take a lie down. He stayed in there for a good few hours before he went to visit the graves of Rin and Obito around midnight, where he'd stay for a few hours.

In Las Noches, a meeting was taking place between the Espada. They all piled into the room in order, Pain leading the group. Konan followed in front of Zetsu, followed by Itachi and Kisame and then Kakazu, Hidan, Deidara and finally Sasori. There were two empty seats at the room, one at the head of the table and one next to it, for a Tenth Espada. Aizen soon wandered in to take the seat at the head of the table and was followed in by a new figure who sported a white swirled mask covering his whole face. He looked more like a Hollow with that mask than Arrancar but that was simply because it was removable, similar to the mask the old Ninth Espada once wore. This new figure's, the new Tenth Espada's, swirled mask had a single eyehole in it, for his right eye.
"Welcome our new Espada, Tobi." Aizen spoke softly but the whole room paid attention. All eyes flickered to Tobi, who gave a childish wave.
"Haaaai, they call me Tobi. Tobi is a good boy." Most of the room was speechless, in fact everybody was besides Deidara, who openly sighed at the stupidity.
"Take a seat, Tobi." Aizen ordered, his voice sounding as smooth and calm as always, he had no worry of being disobeyed.
"Alrighty boss." Tobi spoke from below his mask as he sat down. Aizen rested his elbows on the table and clasped his hands.
"I'm sure some of you have questions about the little intrusion earlier."
"I want to know which dumbass let them all leave alive!" Hidan shouted from his seat towards the end of the table. Aizen didn't respond.
"We focused on those we were told to, letting the rest leave." Kisame responded in an irked tone.
"And how come that one survived?" Hidan retorted. "If he was the target why did you just let him go?" Zetsu responded, the white half, in a cheery voice.
"Aizen gave Itachi the choice to spare his brother or not, there was nothing wrong with that." Hidan geared up to respond before Itachi's calm voice settled him.
"He simply wasn't worth killing." Itachi spared a glance to Hidan as he spoke before his gaze returned to Aizen. Soon everybody's eyes returned to their leader too.
"I'm glad we have that sorted." He seemed to have nothing more to say, his smile ever present. "Now, shall we get to business?"