Itachi Rebirth: A Shinigami Tale

Ikkaku's eyes widened upon hearing that he was also a 3rd seat. He was surprised because not many shinigami in high positions would spend their free time like this.

Ikkaku charges back in at Itachi excitedly as this was a rare opportunity to fight a strong opponent. Itachi ducks down and executes a low sweeping kick at Ikkaku's legs. Ikkaku jumps into the air to dodge and swings his zanpakuto down at Itachi. Itachi twists his body to just barely avoid the attack while still on the ground and leans back into a kick, hitting Ikkaku in the chin and launching him upward into the air. Ikkaku snaps out of his daze just as Itachi appears behind him.

Ikkaku swings his zanpakuto at Itachi while still in the air. Itachi blocks it with the sheath of his zanpakuto. Ikkaku's eyes widen as he notices another Itachi appear above him when he had just made physical contact with Itachi who was still in front of him. Unable to block in time, Ikkaku prepares himself as Itachi delivers a solid axe kick to Ikkaku's head, launching him back into the ground face first.

Ikkaku looks up and sees Itachi standing above him. Ikkaku smirks and wipes the blood dripping from his nose.

"HAHA. This is great!" Ikkaku shouts as he runs back in towards Itachi. Itachi assumes a defensive stance as Ikkaku attacks Itachi with a fast flurry of jabs from his zanpakuto. Itachi watches as the zanpakuto approaches his face with great speed and with his sharingan, analyzes the path it will take. Itachi weaves his body between each jab by just a hair's width and finds an opening through Ikkaku's onslaught of attacks. Itachi grabs Ikkaku's wrist, stopping his flurry, and jumps up into the air to deliver a round kick to Ikkaku's head. Ikkaku takes the kick directly but is not knocked back as much as Itachi anticipates he would. Ikkaku remains standing with his feet firmly planted on the ground and gives Itachi a bloodl.u.s.ted look and grins as he grabs Itachi by the shihakusho and throws him over his shoulder towards the ground behind him.

Itachi is surprised by Ikkaku's sudden reaction but manages to reposition his body mid fall and stops his face from slamming into the ground by putting his hands out in front of him to catch his fall. Itachi lands in a partial handstand and in a fluid motion, turns his body by moving his hands, delivering several helicopter kicks to a surprised Ikkaku. Ikkaku loses his footing as he steps backwards to regain his balance. Itachi jumps back upright and stands with his back facing Ikkaku. Ikkaku sees his chance and runs towards Itachi and jabs forward with his zanpakuto. As Ikkaku leans in to jab Itachi, Itachi closes his eyes and senses Ikkaku's spiritual pressure and tries to predict his movements.

Itachi turns around quickly and steps slightly to the side to dodge the jab and as he spins, he kicks his foot at a wide open Ikkaku, hitting him directly in the chin with a rising back kick. The force of the kick could be felt through the training field as Ikkaku is launched high into the air. Ikkaku drops onto the floor and his zanpakuto reverts back to its sealed form. Itachi takes a deep breath as he looks at the unconscious Ikkaku but immediately feels a sharp pain in his side.

Itachi puts his hand to his side where the pain is and feels the warm sensation of blood leak onto his hand. 'So I didn't dodge that last attack all the way then? I must not be used to relying on reading spiritual pressure instead of my eyes in battle. Or perhaps I underestimated Ikkaku's abilities?'

Yumichika immediately rushes over to check over Ikkaku's pulse before sighing in relief. Renji runs over to Itachi and congratulates him on his victory over Ikkaku and hands him a roll of bandages. Itachi thanks Renji and begins to patch the wound on his side but his attention is diverted as he notices Ikkaku getting back up after being unconscious for only a short time. Ikkaku shakily walks over to Itachi. He grabs the hilt of his zanpakuto and removes a lid off the end, revealing a gelatinous substance.

"Haha! That was one hell of a fight. Use this ointment to stop your bleeding!" Ikkaku says as he points the hilt of his sword at Itachi. Itachi thanks Ikkaku and he applies the ointment, noticeably stopping his bleeding. Itachi finishes wrapping his wound and walks towards the box of dango he left at the edge of the training field. He and Renji begin to walk towards the exit of the training fields when Ikkaku yells at him before he completely leaves.

"Stop by another time for our rematch!" Ikkaku shouts at Itachi from across the field. Itachi looks back and waves, acknowledging Ikkaku's request, before he turns back around and exits the 11th division barracks with Renji walking with him.

"Amazing Itachi, I can't believe you were able to defeat Ikkaku. You've improved a lot since I last saw you. You didn't even release your zanpakuto." Renji says.

"No, I am still unable to release my zanpakuto." Itachi replied.

"What?! You mean you have just been relying on your Kido and Hakuda till now? Renji asked with a shocked expression on his face. He had never expected someone like Itachi couldn't use his zanpakuto but was already strong enough to fight the third seat. And he knew that Ikkaku was also most likely the strongest third seat and close to some lieutenants in power. Itachi simply nodded with a calm face.

Renji mistakenly assumed he had brought up a sore subject so he quickly added on.

"Ah don't worry too much, our captain also doesn't use a shikai when he fights. "

"What is the exact process for activating one's Shikai?" Itachi asked.

Renji noticed that Itachi didn't have much of an expression and replied.

"Well, I suppose it's knowing the name of your soul."

"Name of my soul?" Itachi murmured.

"In the academy they talked about it right?" Renji asked.

"Yes, Imprinting my soul onto my sword" Itachi Replied.

"Exactly, over time the bond between you and sword will grow, and your sword will give you its name. Have you spoken with your zanpakuto? Renji questioned again.

"No." Itachi answered.

"Well, I don't really understand it as much, but one day I just heard Zabimaru calling out to me." Renji said.

"I see. Thank you Renji." Itachi said before taking his leave.

"No problem. Hey, If you ever want to spar again you are free to visit the 11th division" Renji says. Itachi turns around and nods before making his way back to the 2nd division. He takes this time to digest everything he learned.

'Imprinting my soul… How can I rely on a sword or soul to form. I always relied on my eyes and jutsu. When was there a need for me to rely completely on tools. Itachi thought to himself.

He made his way towards his barracks.

Once he arrived at the barracks, he excused his substitute who had temporarily taken over his duties in the Maggots nest. He arrived at his room and sat down cross legged placing his sword in front of him.

He stared at his asauchi for several minutes. 'I have the knowledge, but is it the shinigami who must be acknowledged by his zanpakuto or the zanpakuto that must be acknowledged by the shinigami?'