Itachi Rebirth: A Shinigami Tale

"I am Uchiha, Itachi, Squad 2." Itachi introduces himself to the two shinigami. Itachi b.r.i.e.f.s them both quickly on the situation with the hollows just as Shun arrives back from the second division.

"So this is the other guy then?" Iba asks, looking at Shun, who was panting slightly from traveling back and forth between the division and the forest at full speed.

"I'm Yami Shun." Shun says to Iba and Renji. "I assume Itachi already briefed you on the situation so I'll get to the point. We'll split up into two man teams to deal with the hollows. Itachi, you take red hair and deal with the hollows to the north. I'll take shades over here and deal with the hollows in the south."

Itachi nods before flash stepping out of his stop.

Renji grumbles about being called red hair before following Itachi.

Iba nods and follows behind Shun.

"Hey Itachi, how many hollows have you killed?" Renji suddenly asks.

Itachi is a little surprised at the sudden question, but he replies with no change in expression. "Not too many."

"Ah, well I have killed a lot, so don't worry" Renji replied nervously.

'He looks very tense, and it seems like he is still relatively new at this. Good thing the hollows aren't very strong unlike the ones back from the field exercise...' Itachi thinks to himself before replying.

Itachi nods and replies "Then I'll be counting on you." Just as he replies, he hears a few roars coming from the distance.

He instantly speeds towards the hollows, the moment he reappears, he takes into account the location of each hollow based on the roars. He looks back and notices Renji tailing far behind in the distance. 'Looks like I went too fast.' He waits a moment before Renji finally arrives slightly panting.

"Wow, you are really fast!" Renji comments.

"My division focuses on speed so we can perform missions more efficiently" Itachi replies.

"Right." Renji replies.

Renji hears roars from the forest and begins to move in their direction. However, just as he is about to, Itachi makes a gesture for Renji to stop and points ahead. About twenty meters away, stood two large hollows, both towering at about five meters.

"I'll take one you take the other." Itachi says to Renji.

"Sounds good to me." Renji replies as he draws his blade. Itachi vanishes from his spot and appears on top of the hollow's head. He quickly stabs through the hollow's mask without the hollow making a sound or realizes what happened before flash stepping out.as Renji watches in awe.

"He's good. I won't fall behind " Renji says as he charges in towards the other hollow. The hollow takes notice of Renji and turns around to swing at him, only for its hand to be cut off from the rest of its arm. Renji charges in one more time and the hollow lets out a deafening roar.

'That roar is going to attract more hollows…' Itachi thinks to himself as he watches from the trees.

Renji jumps up into the air and cuts the hollow clean down the middle, splitting it in two and killing it. Suddenly Renji hears something approaching from his left side in the trees. Another large hollow leaps out and throws a punch at Renji. Renji sees the punch coming and attempts to block it, resulting in him getting sent flying back. He regains his footing quickly but he feels something on his head cracking.

"My sunglasses…" Renji says in despair as he takes them off his forehead. "Dammit!" Renji yells as he charges back in at the hollow. Another three hollows come bursting through the trees near Itachi's side and run towards Renji.

'I should step in now.' Itachi thinks as he jumps off the branch he was standing on. He lands on the back of one of the hollows and cuts through its neck quickly. Itachi looks ahead and sees the other two hollows still charging towards Renji, who was still fighting.

"Hado 31: Shakkaho." Itachi raises both his hands up in front of him. Two red orbs are fired from his palms and hit the hollows in the back, incinerating their upper halves. During this time, Renji managed to defeat the hollow he was fighting. He turns around and sees Itachi standing over the bodies of three defeated hollows.

'This guy took out three hollows behind my back while I was trying to fight off one?' Renji thinks as he looks at Itachi.

"There should be a few more up ahead." Itachi says before flash stepping away.

"Hey wait up." Renji yells as he tries to keep up with Itachi.

---------

"Never got your name." Shun says to Iba as he jumps through the trees.

"Iba Tetsuzaemon." Iba replies to Shun. Shun nods before making a gesture to stop. The two of them look past the trees and see two large hollows in a clearing.

"I'll take the one on the right." Iba says as he jumps out from the trees.

"Sure thing." Shun flash steps to the hollow on the left. He quickly decapitates it and looks over at Iba who had just finished killing his hollow.

"There's more further in." Shun comments as he and Iba disappear into the forest.

They kill through a few more before charging towards the rest.

------

After half an hour of killing dozens of hollows, the two groups meet back up to discuss.

"All of the hollows have been cleared on our end." Renji says.

"Good, we finished with our side as well" Iba responds

"Great, then we will inform you if new news comes up. Thank you for the assistance."

Iba nods and the two return to their squadrons.

On their way back the duo discusses the details of the mission.

"So Renji, how was the mission." Iba asks.

"It was great. I have never fought this many hollows at once before." Renji replies.

"It's good that you experienced it. Sometimes you may face similar situations, so you have to be ready." Iba said

"Yes sir." Renji says.

"So how many were you able to slay?" Iba asks, smiling.

"A few, but not as many as that Itachi guy.." Renji replies.

"Oh? He is a scout mostly. Did he have that much strength"

"Yes, he was able slay so many Hollows so quickly. Not only that, he was very good at using kido!" Renji replies with a hint of envy, as his own kido skills had always been lacking.

-----

"What's next mission Shun?" Itachi asks.

"Nothing for now. We'll go back to the squadron and wait for further instruction. If you're not tired out from fighting hollows, we can get some training in." Shun suggests Itachi. Itachi nods and they quickly return to the barracks.

The two arrive at the barracks and make their way towards the training fields.

"Since both of us will most likely be working together on this mission, we should work on teamwork tactics." Shun says to Itachi as they walk down the hall on the way to the training field.

"I do have a few ideas in mind for that…" Itachi says as he remembers the times he was partnered with Kisame and Juzo.

They walk outside to the training field and stand facing each other.

"So what are the ideas you have? I'm a bit surprised because you always came off to me as a lone wolf kind of guy." Shun asks Itachi.

"There are formations we can call out depending on the situation. It will play to our strengths while effectively disrupting the opponent long enough to land a decisive blow." Itachi explains the rest of the formation's plan to Shun. Shun thinks about it for a moment and nods his head in approval.

"Okay I can get with this plan. But I'm confused about one of your techniques. It's not like any kido I've ever heard of." Shun questions. Itachi doesn't give Shun a verbal reply but instead starts weaving hand signs very quickly.

Shun looks at Itachi with surprise. 'Hand signs?'