Crows x Souls

Two blurs crept in on him ever so quickly, dancing around him like moths around a midnight lamp, while he calmly stood there in the middle, meeting every attack they sent head on. 

Soi Fon was the main attacker while Junpei did all he could to back her up. The only thing he could do.

Unlike most of their training however, this time they both had their Shikai released and based on the butterfly mark on Itachi's cheek, he was one strike away from losing. 

Just like them Itachi had his Shikai released, though separated, and it would have been a fight on equal terms if not for the two meter circle around him that limited his movements. 

Junpei threw a flurry on shurikens at him, which he deflected to the side only to slow down the motion when he saw the glint of senbons - flying through the hole in the middle of the shuriken, courtesy of Soi Fon who had taken a special liking to them - and having to catch them between his fingers. 

The second he took to shift his hands to catch the senbons was the opportuned time for Junpei and Soi Fon to start their counter. 

They had little in the way of planning beforehand so everything they did to complement the other was done in an instance of a second. Forcing them to make intelligible actions to capitalize in that of their allies'. 

The senbons in Itachi's hand, marked by Kidō seals, which had been inscribed on the shurikens(hence why Itachi was quick to bat them away) had been transferred to the senbons when they passed through the shurikens. 

Green chains wrapped around Itachi's body, complimented by a Sai that further limited his movements. 

If that was all it took to get him down – perfect planning and execution – then it wouldn't have been a harrowing training for them. Case in point why they looked pissed off even when their attacks connected because they had to retreat to escape the clone's explosion. 

Itachi substituted himself with one of the shurikens lying around so seemlessly that they missed it. 

Compounded on their perfectly executed plan to secure his own perfect escape, all while within their line of sight. 

"Tch. His timing is as perfect as ever." Junpei grumbled before fading away, leaving Soi Fon to restart the frontal assault. Even with Shichishito, he couldn't bridge the gap between his mastery and that of Soi Fon when it came to pure skills so he let the stronger of them to face head on the frustrating task of diverting Itachi's attention while he provided supplementary fire to help. 

He smirked from where he hid, feeling the aftermath of the explosion he narrowly escaped seeping from his blade into his body and further concealing his presence. Stealth and suppression were his preferred field. 

Soi Fon critically eyed Itachi as she readied her stinger and her tanto. 

"Don't stare too hard, or you'll miss it. Instead focus." It was said like an advice but Soi Fon took it as a warning. 

Here she was trying hard to keep his attention, meanwhile he drew in her attention, drew it in too close that she basically became tunneled vision, and used her to fool Junpei whose whole task was capitalizing on her actions. 

Fighting Itachi was a chore. She couldn't see the same appeal that Kenpachi saw. She just couldn't see it. It was like hitting at shadows. 

Even the butterfly mark on his body didn't comfort her. In fact it did the opposite. 

Seeing her still taking her time, Itachi prompted his attack. A downward slash of his sword that produced an upward burst of flames directly from the spot Soi Fon had been standing on. 

"You sure are annoying." She grumbled as she dropped in from behind, tanto and stinger both coated in Kidō spells, aiming to have her blades dig into his sides but he parried her with his blade while using an Escudo to block Junpei from behind. And then slashing through both his barrier and Junpei only to have Junpei fade into smoke. 

'An illusion Kidō. He's putting more thought into it.'

Soi Fon lunged at him but he pushed himself over her, landing behind her and executing a precise decapitating slash at Soi Fon who turned out to be a lightning Kidō clone. He pushed his Reiatsu into his arms, pushing back and keeping at bay the creeping lightning and used Amaterasu to block the last second swing from Soi Fon… Junpei. As the real Soi Fon came up from underground, where the lightning clone had stood, with her stinger to his legs. 

"Ours or not." She asked as they checkmated him. 

"Not." He said and burst into crows that split into two Itachis that both had their hands pointed at the duos' necks. 

"That's cheating." Junpei grumbled. Even though she said nothing, she wholly agreed with him. 

"Then you should have used a Bakudō instead to keep me in place." Was his rebuttal. 

Soi Fon stood up from where she was kneeling with a disgruntled look on her face. "Would that have done anything?"

Itachi actually took a second to think before nodding. "Depending on which one you choose and how you use it. I'm strong, but I'm not infallible."

They had been fighting for the past three hours and while he did nothing and mostly stood in a confined space, the most debilitating blow they did to him was the stinger mark, which was counted as one because of how situational it was. They gave him quite a few hits but none that would classify as a winning shot. 

They were training in the courtyard behind Itachi's office so neither Itachi nor Soi Fon needed to go anywhere else other than the office since they both still had work to do. 

As for the matter concerning Aizen, the ball was already in his court, but not for long. With Las Noches gone, Aizen knew that whatever he had to do he had to do it fast. 

They could attack Aizen in Hueco Mundo but with Las Noches gone, the Hollows could be scattered everywhere and Aizen most probably would go into hiding. Unless he is flushed out. 

All the cards were on the table and everyone had an idea of what the other held, could make educated guesses on what their next play would be. 

"What about the rebels from the regent clan?"

"All rounded up and taken care of." They weren't that hard to cull, not when the main bulk of their forces had already been apprehended. And yes she meant cull. Weeds needed to be plucked out from the roots. She could imagine that the prideful pricks at the Kuchiki Clan were none too happy with her actions. 

With the Kuchiki Clan not doing anything other than glaring at her every time they saw her and her subordinates, she had a way easier time getting everything done. This time she had gone without Itachi as it was unbecoming for her Captain to me involved in what she considered 'mere disturbances'. 

She passed a scroll to him, which he opened and frowned after reading the contents within. 

He frowned even more after realizing what he was about to do. "You could have told me about this earlier."

"I figured you wouldn't want to go that early so I just kept it back. And honestly, it kind of slipped my mind." She confessed. 

He suspected she pushed this onto him instead of handling it herself because it had to do with demands concerning the rebelling clans. 

She didn't want to deal with the old Patriarch of the Kuchiki Clan and its new Captain Head when making demands and listening to them politely berate her down because of her standing, both as a Shinigami and a noble born. Better to let Itachi deal with it as it seems he has a knack for strong-arming nobles. 

"And here I was hoping I won't have to go back there for a long time." He mumbled to himself even as he walked out of his office, causing Soi Fon to smile. 

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