Itachi Rebirth: A Shinigami Tale

Itachi looks at Itsuki, his eyes filled with determination and expectancy. Itachi thinks about it for a moment and recalls his talk with Itsuki back in Rukongai on why he wanted to get stronger.

"Ok I can train you." Itachi replies to Itsuki. Itsuki's face brightens with excitement.

"We can start right now." Itachi points to an open area of the training field. The two walk to the center and Itsuki gets into his fighting stance. Itachi looks at Itsuki's form.

"Your feet are too wide apart. Your shoulders are too tense. Remember what was told to us in class." Itachi points out. Itsuki nods and fixes his stance.

"Now attack me whenever you're ready." Itachi says to Itsuki.

Itsuki runs at Itachi and winds his arm back to throw a punch. Itsuki throws the punch and Itachi grabs his wrist.

"You're leaving yourself wide open and making it obvious what moves you are going to do."

Itachi lets go of his wrist and Itsuki takes a couple steps back. He goes for Itachi again with a kick but Itachi takes a step back and dodges it.

"Okay I see the main problem. His execution is passable but he lack the proper body strength and speed even with his reiatsu augmenting it…" Itachi thinks to himself while Itsuki tries to land several more blows on Itachi but misses each one. An idea pops into Itachi's head as he dodges a few more strikes. "If I remember correctly, Might Guy had an unorthodox method of strengthening his body by constantly wearing weights. This might work with Itsuki to get his body much stronger and faster in a short time." Itachi thinks as he catches one of Itsuki's punches. The two continue sparring for another twenty minutes.

"Okay that's enough." Itachi lets go of Itsuki's wrist.

"We're done already?" Itsuki questions.

"For now. I have another method for you to get stronger much faster. Come with me." Itachi signals Itsuki and Itsuki gives him a confused look before following. They leave the training field and walk across the courtyard to the training hall storage area. They hear noise coming from inside one of the sheds and they go to check it out.

Inside the shed is a man sorting through various training equipment. He notices Itachi and Itsuki walk up to him and smiles.

"Can I help you two?"

"Do you have any weighted clothing we could use?" Itachi questions. The man thinks for a moment then responds.

"We do have different weighted gear you can use. Give me one second." The man goes to the deepest part of the shed behind some shelves. A minute later he comes out dragging a bag across the floor. He makes it to where Itachi is standing and pants.

"In these bags are old training equipment the omnikitsudo donated to us years ago. The academy had plans to involve them in the curriculum but they were forgotten about." The man reaches into the bag and pulls out what appears to be ankle weights.

"If you wish for beginner weights, then these would be best. A lot of these weights were donated by the Omnikitsudo." He pulls out some weights showing them to Itachi and Itsuki.

Itachi holds them in his hands to test the weight. "These are too light. Are there any pieces of gear with adjustable weight that we can use?" Itachi asked.

"Hmm. Adjustable weight, huh. There is something that comes to mind. One moment." The receptionist reaches into the bag to pull out some dusty ankle weights.

"Here, you can try using these. They were a prototype made by Urahara Kisuke about a hundred years ago. The more reiatsu you release into them, the heavier they get. They don't really get checked out that often since they are a bit difficult to use. Without proper control, they can be a bit tricky. I don't mind giving a couple pairs of these to you. Just be careful with them."

Itachi takes the weights from the man. They were very light as they had no reiatsu activating them. Itachi thanks the man and he and Itsuki walk outside the shed.

"Put these on." Itachi says to Itsuki as he hands him the weights. Itsuki takes the weights and is visibly surprised by how light they are. He wraps them around his ankles. Itachi also puts them on. He pours some reiatsu into the weights and he feels them get heavier. Itachi tries to raise one of his legs but struggles to get his foot more than ten centimeters off the ground. As he places his foot back onto the ground, the concrete below him cracks. Itsuki stares at Itachi wide eyed at what he just saw and looks back at his weights, scared to pour any reiatsu into them. Meanwhile Itachi reduces the reiatsu going to his weights and tries to walk. "I understand now why these were considered hard to use. If you don't always precisely control the amount going into them, you'll be unable to move." Itachi looks back at Itsuki.

"Put just a tiny amount amount of reiatsu that you can control into these and keep it like that." Itachi says to Itsuki. Itsuki looks back down at his weights and focuses just a small amount of reiatsu into them. Immediately he is shocked by how heavy they have become and he tries to take a few steps. Itsuki walks to Itachi slowly.

"I'm supposed to wear these all day?" Itsuki questions as he looks down at his legs.

"Wear them all day except for when you sleep. If you feel like they are getting too heavy you can always lower the reiatsu going to the weights. They also strengthen your ability to control your reiatsu and be able to multitask.

"Ok, what's next?" Itsuki asked.

"For now let's go to the cafeteria and get something to eat. After that just get some rest for the day." Itachi says.

Itsuki nods in agreement and the two of them head towards the cafeteria.

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The next day, Itachi and Itsuki head to class with Itsuki out of breath by the time they made it to the door of the class.

"You're letting your reiatsu leak too much into your weights. Lower it again." Itachi tells Itsuki as they walk into class. They take to their seats and watch as the rest of the class fills with students. The instructor walks in and does his morning greetings then proceeds with a short lecture on Soul Society history.

"Today's class will focus on Kido and Hoho. Kido is the advanced spells that all Shinigami are able to use. There are two distinct styles of kido that will be taught. The first will be Hado which will focus on destructive spells. The second will be Baukudo which will focus on supporting spells." Ounabara introduces before explaining the differences between hado and bakudo. After the lecture he makes an announcement.

"First we will be focusing on Kido. By the time you graduate from the academy, you are expected to be able to do Hado 31 without incantation and Bakudo 30. Now class, we will head to the kido training field."

Ounabara signals the class to get up and they all move to the training field. They arrive to an open area with 10 training dummies lined up. Ounabara stands in front of one as the class stands behind him.

"The first spell i will show you will be Hado 1: Sho" Ounabara says before point towards a dummy.

"Hado 1: Sho!" Ounabara yells out as a burst of reiatsu towards the dummy. An invisible force kocks the dummy back. After a few moments the dummy recovers back to its previous state.

"Next is Bakudo 1: Sai" Ounabara introduces the spell before point a dummy once again.

"Bakudo 1: Sai!" Ounabara yells while keeping his finger raised towards the dummy. The dummy's arms are then restrained by an invisible force. A brief moment later, the binding releases and the dummy recovers to its original state.

"These are the two spells you will be practicing today. You are all part of the advanced class so I expect good things from you. Now get into single file lines in front of the dummies. Every 10 minutes I'll have you swap places with the person behind you. Begin!"

The students scramble to line up behind the dummies. Daiki, Akemi, Taro and several others line up in front of the dummies.They raise their arms up, point towards the dummy and shout.

"Hado 1: Sho!, Bakudo 1: Sai!" Akemi, Daiki, and Taro are able to perform the hado and bakudo with ease. With prior knowledge from their respective families. Basic hado and kido were drilled into them long ago. Akemi's hado was the strongest, as it sent the dummy back over 5 meters before it recovered. Her Bakudo restrained the dummy arms while making creaking noises.

The class was not to surprised Akemi's skill, since she was considered the most talented in the class by her peers.

Ounabara nods as he watches the students pick the technique quickly. "As expected of the nobles, they already have prior knowledge in basic kido techniques." He guides a few of the students in line by correcting their reiatsu control.

Itachi was standing in the back silently. He had already activated his sharingan when the teacher performed the techniques. He continued observing the students and picking up the technique. "These techniques are similar to jutsu." He thinks to himself before closing his eyes and deactivating his sharingan.

10 minutes passes and the next set of students line up in front of the dummy. Itachi, Itsuki, Daiyu, Kenta, and the rest of the students line up in front of the dummies. With the exception of Itachi, the rest of the students raise up their arm and point towards the dummy and shout.

"Hado 1: Sho!". The noble students are able to perform the technique with no trouble. After a few tries Itsuki is also able to get the hang of the technique as he starts firing it with relative ease.

Ounabara looks through the students and watches them perform the technique. He nods before looking over to itachi who remains standing. "Hmm, is there something he did not understand?" Ounabara thinks to himself before making his way over to Itachi.

Itsuki is very happy with his success as he looks over to Itachi. "Why is he just standing there, there's no way he doesn't understand this right?" Itsuki thinks confused looking at Itachi standing still.

Taro is also surprised to see Itachi simply standing there with no expression. "What is he up to?"

Daiki sneers at Itachi. "So what if he's good at hakuda? With no experience there's no way he can best me at Kido techniques!"

Taro looks at Daiki without saying anything and looks back towards Itachi.

Ounabara walks up to Itachi to offer some pointers. But before he is able to say anything, Itachi calmly points his finger without raising his arm towards the dummy.

Hado 1: Sho, Itachi quietly says before a burst of invisible force strikes the dummy and sends it flying over 10 meters before hitting the fence behind it. A few moments later the dummy recovers itself back to its original position.

The class looks at Itachi with stunned faces. Ounabara was also surprised with Itachi's technique. However, before they recover they once again hear Itachi's voice.

"Bakudo 1: Sai." Itachi points to the dummy and recites the spell. An invisible force is sent towards the dummy as it locks its arms. The force of the restriction was too great for the dummy as the arms snap off the body.

"Hmm, too much force. I overestimated the required amount. I need to repress and control the flow of the reiatsu more." Itachi thought to himself.

Daiki felt his face burning from the humiliation. Just earlier he had proudly stated his superiority over Itachi in Kido, but the reality proved different.

Taro was also shocked at Itachi's talent in Kido.

Akemi was also surprised, her Hado had sent the dummy flying over 5 meters, but Itachi's had went and slammed into the fence. Not only that, his Bakudo completely snapped off the dummy's arm. She looked at Itachi with some reservation. His talent was scary.

A few minutes later the dummy fixes itself once again before going back to its position.

Ounabara coughed before heading to the front of the class. Ounabara signals the class to once again rotates with the next set of students.

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After an hour, the class finishes their last cycle of kido practice and Ounabara calls for a short break. He leaves the training field temporarily and the students talk among themselves. Itsuki approaches Itachi.

"Hey Itachi that was amazing haha, you really showed those nobles." Itsuki says to Itachi.

Itachi remains silent and just looks at him with a stoic expression.

Itsuki smiles awkwardly before changing the subject "Hey next is the Hoho class. Should I keep my weights on?" he asks.

"It's up to you to decide what you can and can't handle." Itachi replies. Itsuki nods as the instructor comes back.

"Looks like his kido skills are also very strong." Taro sighs before turning away.

The students continue talking amongst themselves, send occasional glances at Itachi before a voice is heard.

"Break is over! We are going to the hoho practice field. Let's go!" Ounabara signals the students and they all follow. They walk through the courtyard then around the back of the academy. They see an open field.

"Here I'll show you how to properly use Hoho. Remember Hoho is the ability to incorporate speed and agility in our movements. The greatest expression of this technique will be when you are all able to use the flash step. Watch me carefully as I demonstrate the basic steps.

Ounabara stands facing the open field in front of him. He takes a single step forward but instead of traveling the distance of a regular step, he traveled several meters forward with great speed.

"The goal is to gain the most distance in the least amount of steps." Ounabara demonstrates it one more time then stops.

"Now I'll show you the flash step." Ounabara says. Itachi once again activates his sharingan to watch Ounabara closely as he performs the technique. Ounabara suddenly disappears from sight and reappears halfway across the field. He vanishes again and appears right back. To most of the students, his movements were too fast for their eyes to follow but Itachi tracked and analyzed each of Ounabara's movements.

"To get from his position to the center of the field took him only two steps and back again was also another two steps. He concentrated reiatsu to his legs with such precision to increase his speed much like the body flicker technique but there is a huge emphasis on taking less steps. So that's how he flashed behind me yesterday." Itachi thinks to himself before deactivating his sharingan.

"All of you spread out on this field. I'll be going around watching your performances." Ounabara says before flash stepping to the middle of the field. The rest of the students pan out. Itachi finds an area by himself. With the image of Ounabara's flash step still clear in his mind Itachi focuses his reiatsu to his feet. For now he stops channeling his reiatsu into the weights and focuses on just his legs. He looks ahead to an empty area in the distance and takes a step forward. Itachi suddenly vanishes, then reappears in the place he was looking at. "Five steps. I can do better." Itachi looks back to where he was originally standing and tries again. Itachi vanishes and reappears. "Three steps this time. I am getting the hang of it. It also helps me control my reiatsu better. I should try flash stepping with the weights on as well". He channels his reiatsu into the weights and begins practicing once again. Itachi was feeling the strain of practice as his control was split between the steps and the weights. He begins to feel the exhaustion as he continues his practice.

Ounabara walks around the training field looking at each student. He sees Daiki, Daiyu, and Taro performing hoho at an advanced level. "Those three are very close to learning the flash step." Ounabara keeps walking around the field watching the other students stumble and fall and gives them pointers. Out of the corner of his eye he catches a fast movement. He looks to his left and sees Akemi Kuchiki disappear and reappear several meters away. "Oh she already can flash step? Impressive." Ounabara keeps watching the other students and then his eyes open with shock as he sees Itachi flash stepping back and forth in an area with minimal steps. "Amazing, his technique is near flawless. I expected him to be at around Akemi's level but...this far exceeds her technique. This kind of talent is very rare. And he's someone with no background or status. He reminds of that Hitsugaya kid from all those years ago."

Itachi notices Ounabara approaching him and stops his training. He was already panting from the excessive training.

"Uchiha. Again you surpass the expectations I had set for you." Ounabara compliments Itachi. Itachi nods as he receives the compliment. "Thank you". Ounabara smiles and heads towards the other students.

Itachi bends over and tries to catch his breath for the next few minutes. He could feel pain in his feet and legs from the added weights.

A few minutes later Ounabara's voice was heard.

"Okay that's enough for today! You are all dismissed!" Ounabara shouts from the middle of the field and his voice echoes.

Itachi starts to make his way towards the dorms as Itsuki walks up to Itachi.

"Hey that was amazing, you already have grasp over the flash step!?" Itsuki questions.

"No, I am still taking too many steps. The goal of the technique is to use the least amount of steps to move." Itachi replies. Itsuki nods and memorizes Itachi's explanation.

"Were you also using the weights during the practice?" Itsuki questions. Itachi nods.

"Wow! How did you split your control so well between the technique and keeping the weights active?" Itsuki questions.

Itachi gives Itsuki more pointers before bidding farewell and continuing his way towards the library. Itsuki notices Itachi looked very tired and decided not to pester him about training and bids him farewell and heads towards the training field.

The librarian was very expectant as he awaited the arrival of the strange book-reading individual.

"Hmm the classes were over so he should be arriving soon." He thought to himself before looking towards the door.

Just as he was finishing his thought, the door opened and Itachi walked in. Itachi greets the librarian with a nod as he walks past.

"He's here!" The librarian watches itachi go towards his usual corner and pick up his book. He waits for him to start flipping pages like crazy.

He waits a brief moment and realizes Itachi just reading like a normal person.

"How come he's not flipping pages?" He thinks to himself feeling slightly disappointed.

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Itachi.

"I am too tired to activate my sharingan. I'll finish this small book for now." He picks up a book about the academy history and its Alumni. He sits down in a chair and starts reading the book.