Crows x Souls

“Even if you don’t want your youth to end, dreams must come to an end at some point!” — Itachi Uchiha. 

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Itachi slowly drew out his swords under the watchful gazes of everyone gathered and they watched as both blades got covered in black flames and red fog before merging together to a dual white-black blade.

“Huh?” A few of the Lieutenants were confused at the sight of Itachi having another blade and a different Shikai altogether, but the Captains were focused on another entirely. 

‘His Reiatsu. It’s not bursting out like a usual release. Is it his control… or is it an illusion?’

“And pray tell, what is the essence of this show of yours?” Yamamoto asked, looking disinterestedly at Itachi’s display. 

“A point.” Itachi replied succinctly. 

“And that is?”

“This is Honshin, the Truth-seeker.” He stretched the blade out for them to get a closer look. “And one of its abilities is ensuring that its name remains true.”

He saw a few Captains stealthily reaching for their blades but disregarded their actions. 

His mastery of Truth-seeker was still subpar at best but thankfully he had two extremely cooperative Zanpakutō spirits along with the innate knowledge of his Zanpakutō’s abilities. 

“And, forgive me for asking bluntly, but exactly do you want to do, Itachi?” Aizen asked what was in most of the people’s minds. “I remember your Tsukuyomi ability being illusion based. Does it also have a way to detect illusions?”

“… If it is active, yes, otherwise it would be the same as direct mind reading, and my Zanpakutō can’t do that passively.” Itachi replied, though some caught a certain word he said. 

“Passively? So you can utilize it in a way to read minds?” Unohana asked, the calm and compassionate cast on her face not betraying any thought going on in her head. 

“Basically.” Itachi didn’t have any problem with saying this much because whether they knew or not didn’t matter. “I want to use it to determine if anyone here is under an illusion.”

The bubbling Reiatsu that was suffusing the air let Itachi know exactly what their thoughts were in this matter. 

“So lemme get this straight; yer wanna put us in an illusion an’ want us to cooperatively fall under its influence? That ‘bout right?” Shinji said with a dead stare at Itachi, the joke in his voice extinct from his eyes. 

“Why are we even entertaining this?” Love Aikawa, Captain of the 7th Division, asked with a dry tone. 

Whether or not he expected it, he was met with one of Itachi’s deadest stares. “It doesn’t matter what you decide; they came after me so that means I will continue regardless to look for them. All I’m offering is a way and a suggestion. Whatever you choose to do doesn’t take away from the grave fact that the Gotei 13 is infected with spies and traitors.”

The grim reminder, though unneeded, brought back the somber air in the room. 

What was it that drove Itachi to stand up like this and question the integrity of the Gotei 13? 

He no longer had a place in the World of the Living and he couldn’t spend an eternity wandering the Rukongai for nothing. If the Uchihas were here then without a doubt they would have joined the Gotei 13 as Shinigami. And the fame of the Uchiha wasn't exactly subtle once they started using their Sharingan… He was alone here, but that wasn’t the life he wanted to live. It never was. 

Like Yoruichi had said on the day he became a Shinigami, it was his choice if he wanted this to be the closest thing to an answer or the home he was looking for. 

“Well, we’re not going anywhere with this. And no, I’m not talking about the ridiculousness of agreeing with the fact that an illusion could be trapping the Captains.” Hiyori Sarugaki, Lieutenant of the 12th Division, snidely remarked. “I’m talking about the fact that everyone is agreeing that something shitty is going on within the Shinigami ranks.”

“Well, well, Hiyorin, you’re not exactly wrong but it’s not as if this is the first time something like this has happened in the Shinigami ranks.” Yachiru giggled while kicking her feet from where she was seated on Kenpachi's shoulders. 

Even if it hasn’t been long since she and Kenpachi joined the Gotei 13, it wasn’t exactly hidden information that they were rebels every then and now in the Gotei 13 among the minor nobles and ordinary Shinigami. 

“Head Captain?”

Yamamoto listened to everything they had to say and silently contemplated this. Personally he wasn’t worried. Having lived for over 2000 years, no level or form of betrayal and rebellion was new to him again, but he never allowed that lazed mindset to show when it concerned the Shinigami and their duties. 

“Let me ask you again, 3rd Seat Itachi; what do you want to do with your blade?”

“Easy. As far as I’m concerned, everyone here might as well be the person or part of the group after me, and I’m not willing to trust any of them unless I can verify that they are not in any way compromised.”

Kyōraku couldn’t help but chuckle loudly when he heard what Itachi just said. With the few times he’d spent in the company of the youth, the things he’d gleaned from his character were interesting to say the least. 

“But no-” 

“Captain Yoruichi?”

Yoruichi stepped forward to stand in front of Itachi with a grin on her face and her hands spread wide. 

“So? What are we still waiting for? Go ahead and do your thing.” She said, permitting Itachi to run his anti-illusion check on her, but first she turned to the Head Captain. “You don’t have a problem with this, right Head Captain?”

Yamamoto only looked at the both of them and said nothing, his answer showing his neutral decision on this particular matter. 

“So? Why are you still unmoving?” She asked Itachi who remained staring at her. 

“And why exactly are you doing this?” Itachi asked back but Yoruichi’s answer came very easily. 

“Why else? To gain your trust back of course.”

The two of them stared at each other, one sighing while the other just looked on with apparent interest. 

Under the intense gaze of over 40 high leveled Shinigami, Itachi gave his sword a twirl before running two of his fingers over the white surface. 

The white surface turned red like the clouds on his black cloak and Itachi, in one swift move, drove the red blade into Yoruichi’s body. 

Instantly, Kyōraku, Kisuke, Soi Fon and Ginrei all had their blades to Itachi’s neckbit their next actions were halted when Yoruichi held up her hands for them to stop. 

“She’s fine.” Itachi said while having his eyes closed. It took a few seconds before he drew out his blade and that was when they all saw that she wasn’t injured in the slightest. In fact, if one looked closer they’d see that the blade was constantly glitching. 

“She’s clear. There’s no trace of any lingering illusion in her mind.” Itachi said. 

The three Captains and Soi Fon retracted their blades from Itachi’s neck and looked at Yoruichi who followed with a nod. 

“Tessai, make sure that he is not taking advantage of their mind in the process. Start with the 3rd Seats.” Yamamoto said, revealing his decisions and kicking the Kidō Chief and his Vice, Hachigen Ushōda, into action. 

They constructed two Kidō spells; one around Itachi’s sword and another around the head of the 3rd Seat Itachi was stabbing his blade into. 

“Sheesh, that felt weird. Hope you didn’t go'round sniffing up my nasty nasty thoughts?” Gin asked with a smile but Itachi said nothing in reply. 

It was easy to see how neither of them liked each other. In Gin’s case, he was an oddball that rarely got along with anybody, while Itachi’s reason was more of bias and Gin’s irritating behavior. 

‘Itachi, I sensed something. It’s a little warped, but it didn’t escape me. Something is weird with that Aizen fellow.’

‘How so?’ Itachi continued without any change in his expression or glancing to look at who Tsukuyomi was talking about. 

‘First of all is his Reiatsu, it has a certain potency to it that isn’t present in yours or any of the 3rd Seats and Lieutenants.’

‘Hmm. Is his Reiatsu the same as we found in that man’s mind?’

‘No, his is different. But there’s something about him and the way his Reiatsu feels that just doesn't resonate with his persona.’

‘Noted. I’ll keep an eye on him from now on.’

It wasn’t until Itachi got to the Lieutenants, specifically Hiyori, that he felt illusions present. And due to the active Kidō around him and Hiyori, Tessai and Hachigen also picked it up as soon as his sword identified it. 

Seeing their glowing Kidō barrier and the serious look on Itachi’s face, everyone watching knew something was up. 

Tessai looked at Yamamoto with a grave expression. “Head Captain, there’s a foreign Reiatsu presence that is inside her mind. I don’t think we would have ever been able to pick it up if not for 3rd Seat Itachi’s sword’s ability.”

“Er-What the hell?!” Hiyori screamed, panic slowly bleeding into her voice. “What do you mean there’s something in my head? I’m not being controlled, I tell you!”

“Calm down, Lieutenant Sarugaki. We know you’re not being controlled. But we also know you’ve been compromised.”

Hiyori’s face blanched upon hearing Tessai’s word. 

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