Chapter 102 - A Snake and A Crow II

"Emotions? Nope, I've got nothing like that. I told you when we first met, didn't I?" — Gin Ichimaru.

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[POV: With Itachi]

Itachi nonchalantly glanced at Gin's hands tightening around the hilt of his blade and capriciously ignored the hateful billow of his Reiatsu. He held little to no care for whatever backstory this young man had, or whatever motivations that pushed him into the path he was now on, where he would kill his own comrades and walk it off with a smile.

Killing Gin would have been very easy and no one would have questioned his actions so long as he provided proof, but that would mean cutting off a potential source of information on Aizen's plans.

He reckoned that there was a deeper story involved in Gin's actions as an accomplice given the conflicted feelings that flowed through the youth's Reiatsu. Or he could be one of those natural psychopaths with a heart, he's met a few of those in his lifetime.

"Even now, I can tell you hate me and you want nothing more than to kill me but still the amount of hate you feel towards me is significantly lacking compared to the hate you have for yourself."

"Still… preaching huh?" Blood flowed out from the sides of his mouth, staining his lips and teeth crimson, which when added with the blood flowing down his head painted a frightening picture of Gin's face.

"Since you're in no mood to talk, I'll ask you one last time: Why did you kill your fellow Shinigami and under whose orders?"

Gin couldn't tell if it was fatigue clouding his eyes but the Lieutenant's blade seemed to darken to a deep black as he said those words.

'So this is it huh. I'm sorry, Rangiku, but it looks like I'm the one who has always been the failure. I couldn't even do a simple thing.'

Everything in this moment felt like a cool breeze to Gin, fleeting and peaceful, so maybe it was okay to go like this…?

What about his regrets?

No matter how peaceful he currently felt, they wouldn't go away.

'Oh… now I see it.' He soliloquized. 'When I left, I unknowingly took your smile away… and I couldn't even return it. Some genius I am.'

Itachi watched silently, feeling as Gin's Reiatsu went from a bubbling flare to a somber wisp…

"…"

… waiting patiently for Gin to make his choice.

Gin saw this for what it was and regardless of how much he wanted to escape his current situation, his abilities were limited.

'… No.'

"Hmm?" Itachi's eyes squinted at the minute flare of Gin's Reiatsu that spiked up for a brief instant.

'No, I still haven't apologized. I still haven't taken back what he stole from you. No, not this time!'

"You know, you Shinigami…. I hate you all."

Itachi's facial expression gave away the tiniest frown at Gin's words. "Is that why you hate yourself or is there another reason?" He asked but Gin didn't answer, but the latter's Reiatsu kept rising in such an alarming way yet Gin kept forcefully pushing it out that it started hurting his body.

'Shinsō, listen to me: I don't care if you will it or not, this is what I want!'

He still couldn't make out how fast it all happened nor could he tell how it all came to this, but at this point that mattered little. There was no way he was going to peacefully accept that he was going to die to a Shinigami wretch, at least not without giving him damned best.

Itachi could tell a suicide attempt when he saw it and that was exactly what Gin wanted to do so he readied his blade and was about to lop off Gin's arm when Amaterasu stopped him.

"Let him do it, Itachi. Since he wants to kill himself, why not let him and learn from his actions."

"Is it what I'm thinking?" Itachi curiously asked as he backed away from Gin on the behest of one of his Zanpakutō spirits.

"Yes. The fool is trying to forcefully push himself into Bankai despite not being ready. He'll burn both his and his Zanpakutō's soul by doing that."

"Then isn't that dangerous?"

"And what if it is? Danger is not a deterrent but a caution call. And besides, I doubt he'll unlock the full capabilities of his Bankai with this desperate method of his.. Here it comes."

"Consume All, Amaterasu."

He partially released his Shikai when Gin's Reiatsu settled down as chaotically as it could, marking the end to his Bankai transformation.

Itachi could very well see how Gin's Reiatsu was leaking out of his body in large amounts and knew that the youth's transformation came with a very strict time limit if he did cancel it as soon as he could.

"Bankai: Kamishini no Yari." (*God-killing Spear*)

There was no physical difference between his Zanpakutō's Shikai and Bankai, but the momentum it carried was worlds apart.

Itachi held his blade slanted in front of him and the blade started dissolving into black flames until nothing was left except a plume of flames taking the silhouette of a sword.

The change in the atmosphere and how Gin's turbulent Reiatsu quieted down made Itachi realize that the incoming attack might be a bit stronger than what he was initially expecting, forcing him to act accordingly.

They both acted at the same time.

"Blaze Release: Sever and Swallow." (*Enton: Tachikiro tsubame*)

"Pierce through, Shinsō." (*Tsukitōsu, Shinsō*)

A thin black line made from condensing the essence of Amaterasu's flames tore the space in front of Itachi – attracting, destroying and engulfing everything that fell into his pull.

On the other hand, the force and speed of which Gin's blade moved was over fifteen times its former momentum in its Shikai state. And another twist to it was that its trajectory could curve in an almost 270° arc.

Itachi's eyes could barely follow the blade's speed and he didn't need to.

The same instant they released their attack was the same instance they both collided, the result which was a great explosion of compressed Reiatsu as Gin's blade of white light fought to pierce through Amaterasu's black Sever point.

Itachi pushed out more of his Reiatsu to combat the sheer force behind Gin's blade and fortunately for him Gin wasn't in a state to push back as his Reiatsu was dwindling at a rapid pace that Itachi was forced to act as he was basically climbing onto his deathbed.

The force behind Gin's blade progressively decreased and when it was sufficiently decreased, Itachi flickered behind Gin and swiftly interrupted the flow of Reiatsu in his Saketsu and Hakusui while being careful enough not to seal it and incinerate Gin in the process.

The intensely charged atmosphere slowly dispersed as Gin's transformation came undone. A quick scan of Gin's body with his Sharingan highlighted the intense damage Gin had caused to his soul from his suicide stunt.

"Tsukuyomi, is there any reason why you suggested we shouldn't kill him?" Itachi asked as he placed Bakudō seals on Gin's body to restrain and prevent his Reiatsu from leaking out.

"I only voiced the thoughts you pushed away, Itachi. You felt it at the end, didn't you? The sea of sadness flowing out of his blade."

"Even a vile man can have a heart of love. It doesn't automatically pardon his actions." He remarked. "Just because I'm familiar with his feelings of sacrifice doesn't mean I feel any sympathy for him."

"True and truer words. You can always leave him to die if he's not forthcoming with information on Aizen's plans." Amaterasu chirped in as Itachi hefted up the thoroughly sealed and comatose body of Gin Ichimaru over his shoulders.

'This has been a very long week.' He thought to himself as he stealthily retreated from the area of their fight. He had wanted to ruffle some feathers, silently investigate a few people and do a little bit of prodding to see how they react and it was by pure luck that he found Gin who had covered the area he killed those Shinigami with an illusion barrier. Something that stood out like a beacon to Itachi.

Seeing the result of what had transpired and how Gin structured the scene to resemble that of a Hollow, Itachi had a sudden epiphany: Gin and Aizen were manipulating the data of Hollow casualties.

There are a few things Itachi loathed with his entire being, and a traitor was one of them. As for killing a fellow comrade-in-arms in cold blood, well that was the greatest taboo in any military organization.

"Are you taking him back to Seireitei?" Tsukuyomi inquired to which Itachi responded with a shake of his head.

"Undoubtedly, that's the best course of action to take."

"But you're not doing that because…?"

"Because it's easier for Aizen or any other of his accomplices to manipulate the information we can get from him. Best to get it filtered out of him as precisely as I can and in any way I choose."

The aloof crow had won whereas the cunning snake had lost his fangs and his venom along with having his stomach bruised, but it was no victory for either of them. The crow felt nothing for it, while the snake was trapped in his own regrets.

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