"The strength of your heart determines the strength of your power." — Itachi Uchiha.
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The constant pitter-patter was like a soothing symphony as rain fell on two shadows on an empty prairie. Ribbons of lightning decorated the somber sky and added a tint of foreboding to the grieving sky.
Aizen writhed with quaking breaths as his mind was plagued with torture unimaginable and loud streams of doubt and guilt. It tore his soul so deep that his mind split unequally into multiple orbs of thoughts that wrestled against each other. Each leaving a lifetime of pain that they instinctively warred against the smallest thing that would take their attention away from the torture for even a split moment.
While Aizen trembled as his mind turned into a physical warzone that only brought him more pain, Itachi had him pinned to the air as a limbless stump and intently studied the Hōgyoku.
As the undisputed ruler of this dimension, though it was temporarily reigned over by Tsukuyomi which made little difference as the crow was one part of the whole, nothing inside it, foreign or local, was incomprehensible to him.
Reishi, Reiryoku, Reiatsu – physical, spiritual, or abstract – nothing was outside of his scope of understanding. And that was why he was surprised when he understood the Hōgyoku.
"I understand it now." He said to himself.
He saw as the Hōgyoku shattered both mental and spiritual barriers in an aim to reconstruct Aizen to a level of existence where he would either be resistant or outright immune to whatever Itachi was doing to him.
"You are a vile thing. What do you understand about desires? How can you say you understand the heart when you subvert the very nature of it by calling them limits?" The Hōgyoku thrummed violently, making a wistful expression appear on Itachi's face.
The former Shinobi shook his head, and for a moment his eyes turned sad.
"Neither you, Aizen, nor Kyōka Suigetsu understand the intricacies of the heart." He said. "There is no true or wrong way to live with it, so saying you understand it is false. You can either be shackled by it, suppress it, or train and strengthen it. It is your heart. It is to your will how you live by it."
"But desires…. Desires are different. Especially if it comes from the heart." Itachi's eyes hardened as the Hōgyoku settled in an intensity. "The desires hidden in people's hearts are not so easily understood. Neither is it a tool for you to wring out as you please."
The soft torrent turned into a stormy downpour with flashes of blinding white. It heralded an unnatural change.
"I…ta… hi." Aizen croaked. Itachi was as impressed as he was astonished. Not only did a part of his mind win against the others, both of his eyes were practically living through millions of lifetimes, painful lifetimes, and yet he could focus enough to not only remember him but also call out his name all across every lifetime he was living.
The Hōgyoku really was something.
But Itachi didn't worry. This wouldn't be a drawn out battle. From the beginning, since he learned of the implications of fusing with the Hōgyoku, he had already thought out ways to neutralize whatever threat it might pose. Especially after putting Aizen inside Kamimusuhi. He could literally see the process to his victory.
Not only was the Hōgyoku fighting against the effects of this reality, it was also fighting against all the laws that governed the dimension.
"I… will…"
"I know." Space twisted and suddenly Itachi was holding both of his Zanpakutō, Tsukuyomi's silver and Amaterasu's pitch-black.
He raised Amaterasu and brought it down in a straight line. "Sever."
The Hōgyoku could fight as much as it could but the fact of the matter was that the dimension itself was suppressing growth of any kind, burning and consuming it in all senses.
The world faded to black.
Blood spurred out from Aizen's orifices as he felt a whole new realm of pain. So deep and wrong that it couldn't be called something as basic as pain. It felt as if the entire dimension started pressing on his soul, amidst the soul-crushing pain it was already drowning in.
Unlike what Aizen had believed and despite all the time that had passed, there were numerous factors that stunted the Hōgyoku's growth.
The least of it was the caveat about desires of those around him. That was the basis of the Hōgyoku's nature and unfortunately for Aizen, he no longer held the desires of others.
That aside, there was also the suppression of the dimension eating away at his Reiatsu, Reiryoku and Reishi composite. Basically, it was consuming Aizen's being and further strengthening it's suppression on Aizen. Another sinister loop.
And then there was Tsukuyomi's Kamimusuhi which turned Aizen's mind and soul into millions of orbiting personalities that were fighting against each other, each wrestling for the Hōgyoku's powers over the others. Some fought, some gave up, some regretted, some fell into despair, and some rejected everything. Power and all.
And now the first act was over.
The Hōgyoku was still latching to the shattered pieces of Aizen's soul.
The second act begins: A boring act. No suspense. No twist. No complicated mechanics. Just a boring and plain display.
If Kamimusuhi was Tsukuyomi's right to create, then Takamimusuhi was Amaterasu's right to reign.
The vile usurper and arrogant conqueror – that was Amaterasu. A soul that harbored nothing but the desolate dark. Having no desire but to take and consume everything just for the vain wish to be the reason for everything.
There was no incredible showing or complex foundation behind it. Takamimushi was just everything she wished – everything consumed to Nothing.
Tsukuyomi was the silent creator, but Amaterasu was the loud and boastful ruler.
You will burrow into earth no longer, you trifling worm.
Amaterasu's flames wrapped around Aizen's frozen form, soothing around his chest as it tried to greedily gulp the Hōgyoku.
It ate away at everything the Hōgyoku did for Aizen. Aizen's chest was already undergoing an evolution as vein-like pathways of amethyst spread from the Hōgyoku to his torso – and Amaterasu's flames fought to dive in and drink it all up.
It is no longer trying to evolve his strength and resistances. It is trying to evolve his state of being.
Itachi hummed noncommittally, acknowledging her words as he too could see what it was doing. "It is aiming for that one percent chance that would enable them to pierce through this dimension."
They were not stupid, Aizen and the Hōgyoku both, as they understood the only basic fact about Itachi's Bankai. It was a separate dimension.
They were gambling for an avenue that would allow them to not be restricted by the constraints for dimensions. Given that Amenominakanushi controlled every single facet of this dimension; energy, being, abstract laws and all states of matter (all of which meant that no type of spatial technique could operate into, through or from it), they were pushing towards an evolution that was based on the nature of ignoring all dimensional laws.
Because despite the terrifying nature of Itachi's Bankai, they had to be a short instance of time before it could exert its dominance on an entirely new state of being.
"They are trying to push above– no, away from the limits of a spiritual being." Itachi remarked. They were no longer pushing for strength as it would be useless, instead they were pushing for an escape route.
And those were the reasons Aizen had escaped the first time.
The split second that Itachi had been stunned from the knowledge of the acquisition of his Bankai, the instinctual control he pushed on the restrictions of the dimension so that he wouldn't inadvertently kill thousands of Shinigami, plus the outward interference from Yamamoto created the perfect window for Aizen to hightail it out of there.
While he didn't know the abilities of Itachi's Bankai then, the suppression and his general knowledge of dimensional control were enough reason to debut his exit. And also Yamamoto was coming. He had no intention of fighting the Head Captain without sufficient countermeasures.
Except that all those thoughts and strategies mattered none at this point. Time had passed since then and Itachi had mastered his Bankai, needing only a year to do it instead of the expected ten years.
Neither Itachi, Tsukuyomi, nor Amaterasu planned on letting him go.
"It truly is a magnificent thing. The Hōgyoku." Itachi praised again. Because it truly was. It was such a miraculous thing that it was hard to believe that it came from the minds of mere men.
Amaterasu didn't share Itachi's feelings towards it. Rubble. That is what it will be when I am done with that pebble. I tire of this farce Itachi, I seek to end it.
"Ah, so it's time then." It was a stated fact rather than a question. After all, everything from the moment he used his Bankai became a preconceived sequence.
They didn't outright aim to kill Aizen's for a reason and that was weakening his tether to the Hōgyoku.
Destroying Aizen's body wasn't a viable plan as they were pretty sure that the Hōgyoku would recreate it, and it would be a stronger and more evolved form. Instead they attacked the foundation of what the Hōgyoku worked on.
Itachi looked above, Tsukuyomi's eye was nowhere to be seen but that was to be expected. They were inside Amaterasu right now.
"It will try to save him at any cost. If it senses that there is no immediate solution then it will try to fuse Aizen's mind to itself." Itachi said as threads of red and black energy started forming around him.
At that point it will become Aizen and be able to skip the whole evolving process. Amaterasu scoffed derisively. Delusional.
Itachi silently agreed.
First came the skeletal frame that grew until it towered mountains. Then came the muscles and sinews that grew from the joints and wrapped around the whole body. It's arms separated at that point to become two pairs of four arms, along with wings shooting out of its back.
Then came the armor, gleaming abyss black and a deep crimson red, that covered every inch of the already gigantic warrior spirit. A tengu mask with two horns and beastly fangs covered its face, its eyes shining ominously at the sockets.
The wings spread out. The two left arms went forward and grabbed the emptiness and made it take form into something curved and obsidian in their grasp.
Another simple motion was made. The right arms went to the point of the left arms and as if grabbing something, they drew it back in the motion of nocking a bow and from their action, red and black lightning formed on the bow as they drew the strings taut.
"In another life I would have loved to spend the waning evenings with you. Talking to the night as the sun made its rest." Itachi spoke with a heavy voice. Aizen was a genius, both in philosophy and inventions. Maybe… just maybe, but they could have been friends.
"To me you are a man of many flaws, but weakness was no one of them."
The Susano'o let go the arrow and the ruling of Takamimusuhi was passed.
"Are-Uchihaya." (Desolate Arrow of the Uchiha.)
It did not travel. Amaterasu would not deign to arm Itachi with something so slow.
In an instant. That was how it traveled. Amaterasu was not one to bother with meaningless fanfare. The moment the fingers released the arrow was the same moment the arrow consumed Aizen.
The Uchiha's Arrowhead. The Hōgyoku, Itachi decided, he would show the meaning of desires. The arrow carried with it not just Itachi's anger, regrets and resentment, but also those of the bygone Uchiha Clan, along with their aspirations, hopes and yearning.
The arrow cried. It was a shout of love and kinship long lost. Telling the desolate remains of a broken heart.
The dimension cracked… It cracked again. More cracks appeared as the arrow ate away at Aizen and the blinding Hōgyoku. The intensity grew so fierce that after a mere dozen seconds, the dimension crumbled, revealing the outside world once more.
Everything above and below them was gone, even the ceiling of the anchored dimension.
Itachi was still in his Susano'o but its gaze was focused on the small orb shining with a flickering glow. An indestructible object that survived the full brunt of Amaterasu's wrath.
"Truly a tenacious thing." Itachi said with labored breaths.
It was trying to use the last vestiges of the desires it had fed on to heal Aizen. The arrow had been focused more on it than Aizen, to sever its last connection to the man's soul, and it had worked.
Itachi didn't look surprised to see it as it was all part of the sequence.
And now came the closing act.
The Sword of Totsuka. An ethereal sword that seals anything or person it pierces into its gourd-hilt, but Itachi didn't intend to use it to seal a person.
The sword stabbed the Hōgyoku, and with a flimsy tug that broke the last tether it used to desperately anchored itself to Aizen, it drew the relic into itself until it was fully swallowed by the gourd.
Itachi closed his eyes and made sure the Hōgyoku was finally sealed away and let out a relieved breath before opening his eyes and dismissing the Susano'o.
"I… tachi." He heard the groans of a broken man that struggled to get to his knees. "W…why?" Aizen whispered, his hollow eyes were horrified. He was a dead man gasping for his last breath.
"Korose, Kamishini no Yami." (Kill, God-killing Spear.)
A blinding flash of light appeared for a second and it was gone as soon as it came, but when it receded it's intent was already carried out.
A hole was in Aizen's chest.
And still, Itachi didn't look surprised. He calmly looked ahead, past Aizen who unceremoniously fell dead to the ground, to see the Snake standing a distance behind Aizen with a short blade held in his hand.
"Are you satisfied now?"
The Snake finally spoke. "Satisfied? Ain't no 'way. Pacified? Maybe." He said with a humorous shrug that didn't hide the heaviness in his voice.
"'Guess yer were right, Cap." Gin said as he took off his mask. "Ah still feel like shit though."
Itachi nodded, his eyes laying on Aizen's dead body. "Don't worry. It passes. As for how? It depends on when you finally let go."
Gin sighed, clear and heavily tired eyes looking up at the huge hole in the sky. "I'll hold you to that, Cap."
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