Shinto's New Shinigami

This is the revised first chapter of God of Death and Infinite Darkness. However this one might get another chapter.

Karakura Town - Soul Society

'So even I never knew what I truly wanted.' Aizen said to himself as he got to his hands and knees after the devastating attack his opponent unleashed. 'Who would have thought I wished for someone equal to me in strength.'

Finally getting to his feet, the treacherous captain heard the sound of a shunpo. Not looking back, he already knew who it was, and sadly, he couldn't help but turn around until he was face to face with the orange-haired teen.

"You know they will never repay you, Kurosaki Ichigo." He said, feeling his zanpakuto slowly dissipate into thin air, and he felt the teen's power quickly diminish. "Everything you have done for them. The Bounts, the Zanpakuto Rebellion, Ginjo and his gang, the situation with Hell and its gate and even now… having sacrificed your powers. They will never repay you."

Aizen watched as his greatest creation stared at him, and for the first time, the former captain couldn't read Ichigo or his emotions. "I know." Was the response he was given. "After learning about the badge, I figured they would."

Hearing this made the man feel overwhelmed with anger. "Then why do you sacrifice such things for them!" He threw out his free hand towards Ichigo. "Your powers, the thing you have worked so hard for and have sacrificed for! All gone by protecting those that will betray you! Why Kurosaki Ichigo!"

Ichigo looked at the angered man, understanding his feelings. When Ginjo first told him about the badge, he denied the claim but after thinking over what had happened and those around him… he couldn't help but agree. The way they always appeared out of the blue when people were in danger, and how his uncontrollable spiritual pressure somehow had control.

Not breaking eye contact with his enemy, he went to speak, and when he opened his mouth, he came to a quick and sudden stop when he felt pain from all over him, making the young veteran fall to his knees and start to breathe heavier.

'Damn. It's already happening. How much longer? How much longer do I have as a shinigami?' Ichigo asked himself, as he felt his reiatsu diminish. Well, trying to get his breathing under control, he heard Aizen move closer to him. Wanting to get up, Ichigo found his chest and legs screaming in denial of the movement.

What happened next wasn't what the orange-haired teen was expecting. As he knelt, a greenish mist fell over him, and slowly looking up, he found his opponent holding out a glowing green hand over him. Not knowing what to do, Ichigo gave a small nod in thanks.

Neither of them knew how much time went by, but once Ichigo got control over himself he finally answered the question. "I… I didn't… I'm not doing this for them… they mean nothing to me… and those that I trusted and cared about… can go suck a dick." Ichigo heard the man chuckle and continued what he was going to say. "I'm doing this for those I care and love… my sisters… my friends that I grew up with and the ones I just got to know(minus Rukia and shinigamis if you didn't get what he meant earlier… also Kisuke and his group isn't tagged as one of them, I love Kisuke and Yoruichi too much to ditch them)." He looked up to the man who was his enemy and gave him a look of pure determination. "They… they are the reasons I'm willing to lose my powers… to sacrifice everything to make sure you don't get your way."

Aizen looked into the honey-brown eyes and understood everything he was trying to say. Nodding the transcendent man gave a small smile. "They do not deserve you, Ichigo." That was all he said as he then watched as exhaustion and tiredness filled the teen's face. 'Not even a seated officer anymore.'

As Aizen watched as his greatest creation started falling over from the loss of so much spiritual pressure but also the strain of the attack he just used. He couldn't fight back the worry he was filled with at this sign. But Aizen also couldn't help but acknowledge something.

'Even now he feels nothing from being in my presence.' Aizen said to himself as he caught the slowly losing conscious teen. 'Only if you were given a better future, Kurosaki Ichigo.'

In that instant, an overwhelming feeling engulfed Aizen at the centre of his body, but not only that, all colours of his surroundings vanished and turned into black, gray and white. "Sosuke Aizen." A voice echoed around him, and after a few minutes, it spoke up once more. "Do you wish for this boy to be somewhere more worthy of him and his powers?"

Aizen raised his eyes to find himself staring at a woman of average height and milky pale skin, with purple and magenta hair and bright amethyst eyes. Aizen also took notice that she was wearing a black and purple kimono. He already knew who it was, for who stood in front of him, because she didn't look or resemble anything to his Zanpakuto.

"Am I right to say you are the Breakdown Sphere?" He said as a matter of fact and not a question. The woman nodded, just solidifying his thoughts. Aizen then remembered what she said, and gave it some thought. 'The only thing keeping him here is his family and friends. If he does stay here he loses all chance at having a life worth staying here.'

Aizen then looked at the black, white and gray Ichigo, his greatest creation, and someone who he, a man so vile, and evil, learned to respect for his defeats. The former captain also knew what would happen once the teen lost his powers. He has seen it before with other temporary shinigamis.

Well, thinking about this, the woman spoke. "I need an answer, Sosuke Aizen. Even though time slowed down here, I am not able to keep those outside of my range away." She spoke, now standing beside the downed teen.

Looking up, the man nodded. "He needs a better life. One where he won't be forgotten and abandoned by those that only want to use him." Looking back to the black-and-white image, "He deserves a better life than what he has and might be given."

The woman nodded and appeared only a few inches away from Aizen. "So be it." The former captain then watched as the Hogyoku's spirit placed a hand over the location of its orb. "You won't feel a thing."

Aizen then felt an enormous amount of pain and watched as the colour returned and time came back to normal. Looking down, he found two things: one was that the breakdown sphere was glowing and looked to be splitting itself apart, and lastly, it was a spike protruding from his chest. Immediately noticing it was a kido, one he didn't know, he looked around.

Standing at a ledge of a broken mountain stood Kisuke Urahara. Hiding a smile at the man's presence, Aizen backed away from the unconscious teen, dropping the healing kaido he was using. "Kisuke Urahara, it's interesting to see you here. I thought you would be back in the false town." Looking back to the protruding spike he felt it expanding. "I also assume you are the reason for this kido."

The scientist didn't make a move to speak, his eyes only moving between the slowly diminishing spiritual pressure and the transcendent man. 'Were my eyes playing tricks on me or was Aizen healing Ichigo?' He asked himself, quickly shunpoing towards his student.

Hesitantly turning his back to his enemy Kisuke checked Ichigo's vitals with a few simple kidos. Finding nothing wrong, minus the quickly diminishing reiatsu, the scientist turned his eyes to find a brown and white eye looking at him.

"Yes, I was the one who placed that kido upon you; it was during our earlier fight. I hid it behind another, and the only reason you are still able to move and talk is because I'm currently allowing it." Kisuke said, getting up and turning around properly. "What were you doing just now?"

Aizen's smug smile never faltered as he brought time for the hogyoku to do what it needed. "What I did or was doing was between me and Kurosaki Ichigo. But I assure you that I wasn't harming him." The smug man watched as Kisuke glared at him. "Why would I harm my greatest creation and feat."

Kisuke examined the man's words. 'He's not lying.' Looking back to the unconscious war hero, the former captain felt Ichigo's spiritual pressure and was shocked to find that the falling reiatsu had stopped and was making a quick and skyrocketing jump.

Shooting his eyes towards the madman, who was also staring at the unconscious teen. "I'm guessing this isn't your doing?" Kisuke asked as he nodded to the centre of both of their attention. But as he did so he noticed the hogyoku, which was still embedded in Aizen's chest, was smaller than it was before, almost half the size it was before.

"You have noticed it seems." Kisuke looked back to the mismatched eyes and found them still on Ichigo. "I believe you already know what the Soul Society and the new Central 46 will do when they learn 'their' saviour lost his powers." Aizen finally brought his eyes to him. "They'll abandon him like they did every other Substitute Shinigami, and we know that they won't ever repay him for everything he sacrificed and gave up for them."

Kisuke couldn't deny any of that. True, they will ditch him, and after the whole Ginjo conflict, Ichigo has already turned his eyes away from helping the Shinigamis. It was also unheard of that the Onmitsukidō would probably find a chance to kill the teen like they did all the previous Substitute Shinigamis after Ginjo Kujo.

After a few seconds, the scientist finally spoke. "I will not deny that. But that doesn't explain what you've done." As he finished, Kisuke felt multiple captains and lieutenants' spiritual pressure making their way in their direction.

"I simply desired a better future for Ichigo. One where he won't lose his powers, or have those that betrayed him at his side." Aizen answered as he looked towards the location the uninvited guests were coming from. "He won't have his family or his friends, but that doesn't mean he won't make new ones." Kisuke felt the man's eyes turn to him. "Oh. It seems the time has come for not only myself but also Ichigo Kurosaki's new future."

Kisuke then looked behind him to find his student floating from the ground with a purple aura around the unconscious teen. In a blink of an eye he was gone, leaving nothing but a massive crack and a bit of reiatsu to let those know that he was once there.

Looking back at the transcendent man Kisuke, saw that the smug smile was gone, and what was in its place was a glare. "Now before they get here, answer me this Urahara Kisuke? Why do you bow to that 'Thin', and allow your brilliance to be wasted away?" Saying this the scientist heard the hat,red and destain in the man's voice.

Relorange-haired Kisukbutclosedcame eyes and allowed the Kido to do its thing. "By that 'Thing' you are talking about the Soul King." Opening his gray eyes he found the transcendent glaring at him. "I see… you've seen it then." Kisuke looked over to where his student once was. "I… will leave that conversation for another day, Sosuke Aizen." With that the Kidoforinished sealing theseconis d greatest threfrom to all of Soul Society.

Within a few days news of the disappearance of the Hero of the Winter War, has already spread throughout the Soul Society. The teen's friends human, and shinigami looked everywhere for the sight of the orange haired teen to only come out with nothing.

The only person who knew was Kisuke Urahara, who only told them the bare minimal amount of information and has trapped himself in his room in the Urahara Shoten, where he will spend whatever amount of time to find Ichigo Kurosaki.

Elsewhere in Another Universe

The Shinigami is a special title to the Shinto Faction, and very different to its other kamis. Whereas they are immortal and ageless, the Shinigami wasn't. their aging slowed but death always took them in the end, and most importantly the title was given to anyone throughout this whole galaxy.

The most recent one and previous one was one Oda Nobunaga, a beautiful woman who specializes in ranged weaponry, but was a master with the katana of hers(Fate Oda Nobunaga). Yes she did her duty, abit unwillingly but still she fulfilled them, by welcoming the old and unlucky into the world of Death, and most importantly Oda fought the Shintos' Factions wars, to her satisfaction and pleasure. Yes they had Hachiman, but he was more of a strategist and warrior, and the duty to fight the Shinto's enemies fell onto the shoulders of their God of Death.

However after 5 centuries Oda Nobunaga met her end, and now it was time for the universe to pick the next Shinigami. All the Kamis and people of the Shinto waited with bated breaths as they waited, wishing for a just and kind man or woman to take the position. It wasn't unheard of, and has happened, that the universe would pick a tyrant to take the position and each time it had happened, the Shinto was thrown into an unwanted war, the most recent being with the Jade Emperor and his fellow Gods and Goddesses. So the Youkai and Kamis of Japan waited with bated breaths and prayers that the upcoming Shinigami wasn't like them.

Among them was Amaterasu, the Kami of the Sun, Head of the Shinto Faction, and the holder of the 13th strongest being in their universe. She took the blunt of their Shinigamis misdeeds, and it wasn't rare to find her screaming and yelling at the Shintos God of Death for what they did and telling them how idiotic they were. Now on this day she sat outside her temple in Takamagahara with both her brothers at her side, and she waited just like everyone else, however to her this was a turning point.

Yes Oda Nobunaga did her duties and listened to her, but when she was first named The Shinigami, she lead the Shinto into a unwinnable war and when it was over, the Japanese Faction lost over seventy percent of their kamis and warriors, and to this day amd era they were never able to fix what had happened. Leaving them with some of the weakest Factions of their world.

Yes she held a title as one of the strongest beings of this world, and her brothers were the same, Tsukoyami being just below her and Susanoo holding the title of the 18th strongest. But it wasn't the power that made the many Factions the strongest, it was the numbers and the believers that made them to be the strongest. So to Amaterasu, this was a turning point, will the next Shinigami be a tyrant and bring a end to the Shinto Faction, or will they continue to live.

After 13 hours, 38 minutes and 10 seconds after the death of their previous Shinigami, everyone felt the arrival of The Shinigami, and Amaterasu was shocked when she felt his power. The Shinigami was stronger than her and possibly even stronger than those above her, however what surprised her the most was the familiar presence he gave off.

Looking over to her right, the Sun Goddess found her brother with mouth agape eyes widened with even more surprise than her's or Susanoo's. Tsukuyomi was never one to show his emotions and his current reaction confused Amaterasu even more.

Looking to the sky her eyes followed the shooting star that was the new Shinto's God of Death. In this instance she knew that something was amiss, for there was no galaxy or universe that held Gods and Goddesses like theirs, so wherever this man's from, had the potential to copy and make powers similar to their own.

Mundane Realm(Earth)

It was 2 in the morning when all of Japan woke from the earth shaking below them, and terror filled everyone as they were sent to the ground and as dogs barked and as babies and children began crying. When the shaking stopped, parents ran to their children's sides and as some went to turn the tv on to find that it wasn't only them that felt the world shake, but everywhere, the whole world shook, causing tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes to erupt and heavy storms began. With that knowledge everyone thought the world was coming to an end.

Those who were watching the news and as they were joined by their loved ones, they watched as news helicopters went towards a crater outside of the Greater Tokyo Area, the reporter tried their best to explain what happened. The crater they showed was several kilometers wide and deep, and everyone in Tokyo prayed in gratitude and appreciation that whatever caused it didn't hit the city, for it would have leveled the area and left nothing but rumble and destruction.

As the news went on, conspirators give their ideas on how this could have been an act of war, or it was the first of many to bring the end of the world and civilization as a whole. Those of the supernatural, believed different as on the impact they felt a new, unimaginable power crush all of them for seconds, even those who reside in the Dimensional Gap and inside of their own dimensions.

Devils, Angels, and Fallens who lived in Japan, went to investigate with a spell hiding them from the common eye, no one pointed fingers and no jabs were made at this moment, for the Biblical Factions only wanted one thing, and it was to know what had caused this. So they allowed their enemies to do their job and left them in peace while they did the same.

It wasn't until they got to the very center that they found the first thing out of the ordinary. Around the core of the crater they found minerals that they would later find weren't of this world, however that was all for there were also black float pieces of cloth that would turn to nothing when touched by either hands or vials that they would hold it for examination later.

It wouldn't be until weeks to months later that people all over the world would forget about this, but for the supernatural they wouldn't forget for whomever it was that caused this wasn't from here and half power that even the strongest feared and wanted.

Minutes Earlier Upon Landing

Ichigo Kurosaki shot awake when he felt the earth below him, looking around the orange haired shinigami found that he wasn't in the Soul Society anymore, but inside a crater that he might have caused. However his surroundings quickly became second priority as he realized that he could still sense… spiritual pressure? No it was something else, something… magical? Maybe.

'What and where am I?' He asked himself, and then quickly looked at his hands, noticing he was still wearing his shinigami garbs, still tattered by the training he did in the Dangai. 'Wait a minute! Tensa Zangetsu!?'

When he called out inwardly Ichigo wasn't expecting a response, but when it came a relief he couldn't describe filled him. 'I am still here.' The zanpakuto spirit called out. 'How and why, I do not know, but what I can tell you is that your powers have stabilized, as if the Mugetsu never happened.'

Climbing to his feet the orange haired shinigami relaxed and looked around, finding his released zanpakuto laying on the ground a few feet away. 'It's nice to hear that you are still with me, Tensa Zangetsu.' He said mentally and he didn't need to see his spirit to know that that youthified spirit nodded.

Picking up his odachi Ichigo released a pleased sigh, knowing that not only did he still have his powers but that he was home. Looking around, the teenage war hero thought up a small plan, it was also at that moment that he truly realized what had happened. Shunpoing away, Ichigo made for his first destination, Urahara Shoten.

Ichigo stood in the place where the candy shop should have been, but instead of the familiar building he found himself standing before an apartment complex. However it wasn't the only thing that the young veteran noticed, his presence, was knowledge by the common eyes. Ichigo didn't know what to do, the Japanese people around him saw him appearing out of the blue, he even scared a young boy when he arrived. Thinking the child was a spirit he offered him a hand, but when he felt the warmth of his hand, he knew something was up and it furthered when he noticed occupants of the complex muttering and looking at him.

Thinking on his feet he shunpoed away, heading towards his home, and it was during this trip that he noticed the abundance of new helicopters and the growing restless crowd. 'What the fuck is going on?' He asked himself knowing that he wouldn't be getting a response from his equally confused spirit.

Arriving, utter terror filled him when he noticed the absence of the familiar 'Kurosaki Clinic' sign. Walking to the door he knocked, thinking that maybe his old man took it down, but when a tired unfamiliar face greeted him, he apologized and left, this time on foot. Sprinting, Ichigo looked for any landmarks he would recognize and when the sun started coming up, the orange haired teen found himself standing at the tallest skyscraper in the area.

This… this wasn't his home… no, home was too small a word for this drastic change. For this world wasn't his world, Ichigo was in a world he knew nothing about, the only thing he did know was that it was Earth with the same countries, continents and peoples.

'Hollow…' he called out to the sadistic spirit forgetting that the menacing sad merged with Tensa Zangetsu. 'How… how do I open a garganta?'

TBC