Itachi Rebirth: A Shinigami Tale

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At the Thirteenth Division Barracks

"Uchiha, I'm glad to see you're alright!" Ukitake said upon seeing Itachi return from the fight. "I sensed a large reiatsu coming from your direction but it seems you had no problems dealing with it."

"It wasn't a problem at all. But I am curious as to why Kuchiki and Inoue are here. I thought only I was called back." Itachi asked.

"Ah those two. Inoue wanted someone to train with and Kuchiki was no longer required in the living world so she offered to help her train. They decided to help defeat a few hollows for training but I didn't expect them to run into a hollow that strong."

"That was no ordinary hollow. It was an Arrancar, created by Aizen as a test." Itachi said as he made his way over to a side desk and sat down. "I'll include more details about it in the report."

"Well I'm glad you made it back safely and helped Kuchiki and Inoue. Sentaro and Kiyone have finished the rest of the paperwork so there is nothing left for today after your report so go ahead and relax. I'm going back to my room for a long awaited nap." Ukitake mentioned as he walked out of the office.

'It was an arrancar, however its strength was greater than the one I fought outside Urahara's shop.' Itachi thought to himself.

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1 month later

"You seem like you have a lot on your mind, Itachi." Ukitake said, breaking the silence between them. "It's not like you to seem worried."

"It's not that Captain. I was just reflecting on the training I did with Kurosaki back in the living world." Itachi replied. 'It reminded me of how things could have been…with Sasuke.'

Itachi looked at Itachi's expression and decided not to pry. Despite Itachi having been in the Division as a lieutenant for over twenty years, he still knew nothing about his backstory.

As the two continued walking, a hell's buŧŧerfly flew between them with a message. Both Itachi and Ukitake looked at each other as the message played.

"Kuchiki! We've just received the report!" Ukitake yelled at Rukia who was in the center of the training grounds with Orihime. Head back to the living world! The arrancar have appeared again!"

"Yes Captain!" Rukia replied as she ran out of the training grounds.

"Wait Kuchiki, I-" Inoue cried as she chased after Rukia.

"Inoue, even if you go through the Senkaimon with me, you'll end up in the dangai because you don't possess a hell's buŧŧerfly." Rukia said as she turned around.

"Inoue, it is important in situations like this you remain calm." Ukitake said as he and Itachi approached her.

The living world

"Bankai again? Are you trying to bore me to death? Did you forget your bankai couldn't even touch me?" Grimmjow laughed as he faced Ichigo. "I'd rather face that other guy who messed up Tousen! Where the hell is he?!"

"He's not here. But don't worry about him. I'll be more than enough for you now. I'm not the same person I was a month ago." Ichigo replied. "By the way, what happened to your arm."

"Heh, I felt I could take you on with only one arm so I threw it away. And to prove to Tousen that I can beat that guy he lost to, even with only one arm! But I should have thrown them both out so maybe you would stand a fighting chance!"

"Then I guess I don't have to go easy on you." Ichigo said as he glared at Grimmjow and put his hand over his face.

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At the Visored Hideout

"Shinji, you think that dumbass Ichigo is going to get beat up?" Hiyori asked.

"You would know if you had actually decided to train with him. But his progress…" Shinji said before stopping. 'When he trained with that lieutenant, he grew at a remarkable rate. He's able to use his mask for several minutes at a time after only training with him for a couple weeks. And he increased that even further in the month he trained with me. But it wasn't just his hollowfication that got stronger, his basic fighting skills increased. Damn, I should have watched them longer. The hell kind of training did that Lieutenant do?'

Grimmjow stared in shock at Ichigo as he donned his mask. His reiatsu was drastically increased and darker.

"What the hell is that?!" Grimmjow yelled, confused.

"You'll find out soon enough, Grimmjow." Ichigo said as he vanished from Grimmjow's sight and disappeared before instantly reappearing in front of him.

Grimmjow pulled his blade out in time as Ichigo slashed down at him, sending Grimmjow flying at high speed towards the ground.

'What the hell?! Is he...pushing me back?!' Grimmjow thought as he tried to regain his balance in the air. Suddenly Ichigo appeared behind him and he was unable to turn around to block in time.

"Getsuga Tenshou."

A large black arc appeared to cut through the sky as Grimmjow emerged from the black reiatsu, covered in blood.

"You little shit...so you've gotten stronger! This is what I was waiting for!" Grimmjow exclaimed with a large grin on his face.

"Grind, Pantera!"

Soul Society

"Inoue, the Dangai has been stabilized and you're now able to pass through it. I'll send two shinigami with you to escort-" Ukitake is cut off as Itachi walked past him and towards Orihime.

"Captain, If it's okay with you, I will escort her back to the human world." Itachi suddenly spoke up. He had a strange premonition after seeing Orihime's ability, If he had noticed it, there is no mistaking that Aizen had as well. Her ability was more than healing, and under Aizen's control, it may lead to trouble.

Ukitake was a bit surprised, but he still consented.

"Very well. That way, after you escort Inoue, you can join the other shinigami in battle." Ukitake nodded, trusting Itachi's decision to go with Orihime instead of taking a Senkaimon by himself straight to the human world.

"Thank you very much! I'll be leaving now!" Orihime cheerfully said as she ran into the Senkaimon, with Itachi right behind her.

"I appreciate you coming with me, Lieutenant Uchiha, but you didn't have to." Orihime said as she and Itachi ran through the dangai. Itachi remained silent as they kept running but then instantly stopped running.

"Inoue, stay close to me." Itachi said urgently as he turned around towards the darkness of the Dangai.

"Come out." Itachi said.

"Only one person for protection?" A voice echoed from the darkness. "Soul Society is no longer competent. It seems they are not aware that danger is said to be at its highest during times of travel."

Itachi activated his sharingan and watched as a figure stepped out of a Garganta.

"How unorganized. But also convenient for me. I wanted to stay and chat." A slender man with pale skin, messy hair, and green eyes emerged from the darkness.

"I only have business with that woman there." Ulquiorra said as he looked at Itachi, who was standing in front of Orihime. 'Those eyes...he must be Uchiha Itachi.'

"Where are my manners. Allow me to introduce myself to you. I am Cifer, Ulquiorra." Ulquiorra said as he began to unzip his jacket, where he revealed a tattoo of the number four. "Lord Aizen mentioned you, Uchiha Itachi. It appears Soul Society isn't as incompetent as I had originally thought, sending a lieutenant in with that woman. However, you alone are not enough to defeat me."

"You said you have business with her. Why do you wish to take her?" Uchiha asked, still looking at Ulquiorra and not letting his guard down.

"You are much calmer than I thought. However, it is not you I wish to speak to." Ulquiorra raised his arm and a red lightning sparked around his hand. In an instant, a blast of energy was launched at Itachi creating a large cloud of smoke that filled the dangai. As the smoke cleared, an ethereal skeleton was surrounding Itachi.

"Oh, you managed to block that?" Ulquiorra questioned with no change in expression on his face.

'This arrancar here is an Espada, a high ranking one at that. He purposely aimed that blast at me in a way that if I dodged, it would have hit Inoue, resulting in me having to block the attack myself. He's not trying to kill me, he's gauging me. If I were alone, this wouldn't be an issue, but another issue arises with two large reiatsus fighting inside of the Dangai like this…'

"Whatever it is that you want with Inoue, I won't let you." Itachi replied as his Susanoo manifested into a humanoid form, growing skin over the skeletal structure.

"Yasaka Magatama." Itachi fired several large orbs of reiatsu from the Susanoo's hand at Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra dodged out of the way and appeared behind both Itachi and Orihime with a single step of Sonido.

"Sorry, but I'll be-" As Ulquiorra grabbed Orihime's wrist, the walls of the Dangai around him began to melt. The entire Dangai began to shake as it started to collapse on itself. His stoic face is turned into surprise as he sees Orihime's wrist that he was holding begin to melt and Itachi's body also began to melt. As he held the liquified arm of Orihime that dripped between his fingers, his hand began to melt in the same manner.

'What's going on? Why is everything around me melting?' Ulquiorra quickly opened a Garganta back to Hueco Mundo. As he turned around to face the collapsing Dangai before entering the Garganta, he saw nothing around him was melting. Neither Itachi or Orihime were there and his hand was still intact. 'Where did he go!? Was that just an illusion?' Ulquiorra thought to himself. 'When did he cast this on me?'

'I must report this to Lord Aizen.' Ulquiorra thought as he stepped into the Garganta back into Hueco Mundo.