Itachi Rebirth: A Shinigami Tale

He could no longer feel or hear anything, just the crushing silence as his eyes slowly closed. He thought back to his entire journey and what he came here to do.

He thought about Orihime who was unconscious and would have no chance of escape without his help. He thought about all of his friends who had risked their lives to come here with him to rescue Orihime.

Right as he felt like he was about to fade away, he heard a shrill voice inside his head.

"I told you Ichigo, the moment you show weakness, I will appear. Only this time, I will be the king." It said as Ichigo closed his eyes.

Nel flicked her weapon to wipe away the blood before turning around to leave. However, just as she took a few steps, she felt an enormous Reiatsu erupt behind her. Ichigo's body was slowly being covered in a white shell as it lifted him off the ground. The shell moved along his body before covering his face like a mask. Ichigo stood up, however this time giving off a completely different feeling. His eyes were cold and uncaring. His hair had grown down to his waist. He had two horns protruding from the side of his head.

"Is that Kurosaki?" Nel said as she moved back in a hurry. The reiatsu that Ichigo was giving off was far larger than before.

Nel readied herself as Ichigo approached. She used all of her concentration on this fight. She was looking for a single opening to mortally wound Ichigo.

'His reiatsu are more like a hollow's now than a shinigami.' She thought to herself.

She blinked her eyes and Ichigo had disappeared. He had moved instantaneously right next to her before kick her on the side of her body. She went flying for hundreds of meters before coming to halt.

'He's fast!' She immediately recovered and tried to position herself, however, just as she was about to do so, Ichigo appeared over head and brung his sword down with the intent to kill.

"Golpe de Pinza." Nel said as she struck with her lance. The two weapons collided causing a miniature explosion in the area. Ichigo and Nel were both sent back. However, Nel was more injured than Ichigo. Ichigo's wounds instantaneously recovered as he charged once again.

'Instantaneous regeneration!' Nel thought as she barely held on. Ichigo was attacking wildly with no regard for his own body. Any strike that Nel made would heal instantly while her own injuries were getting worse by the second.

She focused her reiatsu in her legs and charged with her lance, knocking Ichigo back. She then used the opportunity to retreat to a nearby hill, She gathered a large amount of reiatsu into her lance as she pointed it up. Her weapon started glowing Pink as the reiatsu concentrated itself at the tip of her lance.

"Lanza de Luz Galuza!" Nel shouted as a mass quantity of spectral lances flew out of her weapon. The Lances flew towards Ichigo, who watched as they approached. However, the moment that he was about to be struck, he began dodging them with his Sonido. He swiftly moved between the lances as he made his way over to Nel. He threw his sword spinning at her direction as he charged over.

Nel immediately dodged the sword as it flew past. She was about to defend herself from Ichigo's frontal assault, when she felt something approaching from behind. She immediately tried dodging once again as Ichigo's sword flew back into his hand. However, this time she wasn't so lucky as the sword grazed past her shoulder, injuring her arm in the process. Ichigo grabbed his sword and moved above Nel, while she was still recovering and punched her down towards the ground.

Nel fell to the ground. Just as she was about to get up, she was pierced by a black sword. Ichigo had once again thrown his weapon down at Nel as she was falling striking her through her stomach. Before she had a chance to remove the blade, he once again appeared above her, stomping the handle of the sword, piercing it down even further.

Nel screamed as the sword went through her stomach, ripping apart her stomach as it passed through.

Ichigo then forcefully pulled the sword out once, splashing her blood everywhere.

He lifted his foot and pressed it against Nel's face, stomping her into the ground once again.Ichigo continued his assault, slowly breaking Nel's horns. Finally she could no longer withstand the pressure of his attacks, causing her horns to shatter into pieces.

The moment her horns shattered, a huge puff of smoke appeared. The smoke cleared, revealing an unconscious Nel, who had once again returned to her child like form.

Ichigo stared at Nel and raised his blade, preparing to deliver the final strike. Just then, Nel slowly roused out of her unconscious state, groggily staring at Ichigo who was now completely hollowfied.

"It--Itsygo.." she whispered before falling unconscious.

Ichigo suddenly froze when he heard those words. A vision appeared in his head as he remembered what Itachi had told him previously.

--------

"That hollow of yours is strange. I may not have been able to imprint upon a zanpakuto, but I've done countless amounts of research over the years in order to try to do so. Your hollow manifested itself in your Zanpakuto's world. Perhaps upon manifesting within your soul, it gained some sort of individuality that most hollows don't have." Itachi commented. Ichigo looked at Itachi with a confused gaze.

"Individuality? Before I got this mask, he would try to take over my body. It happened in my fight against Byakuya and almost happened against Grimmjow but I stopped it…"

Itachi paused for a moment before responding.

"In those fights, you were pushed beyond your limit, correct?" Itachi asked. Ichigo nodded.

"You and your hollow are one in the same. It cannot live without you, as you cannot survive without it. You may have conquered it but have you ever fully acknowledged it as being part of you, much like a zanpakuto?"

"You expect me to let that thing take over me?" Ichigo questioned anxiously. Itachi shook his head.

"No. Acknowledge yourself, and all aspects of yourself. Then you will become strong. Strong enough to defeat Aizen, like you told Inoue."

Ichigo looked at Itachi before looking down at his zanpakuto. 'Acknowledge my hollow like I've acknowledged Zangetsu?'

"Like a zanpakuto, your hollow should not control itself. You control it."