Crows x Souls

Itachi clutched his left side that was in severe pain as he retreated deeper into the forest and rocky terrains as he looked for somewhere inconspicuous to lay down for a while.

It was an unfortunate outcome for him no doubt, but his actions had been warranted. Unfortunately, he had based their senses to Reiatsu in the same way sensory ninjas were to Chakra back in the Elemental Nations, and given how he could escape the senses of those sensory ninjas, he'd baselined the senses of a Captain in the same way. 

In his defense, he had nothing to base it on and given how severely ignorant he was on the subject, a clash like this was bound to happen somewhere down the line. 

Thankfully he had gotten something out of all this. Something that was not the wounds all over his body. 

"A Shikai release, huh. But how do I do that?" He asked himself as he took off his robes to examine the state of his body. "Somehow I know that I'm close to it."

Now more than ever, he needed to unlock this Shikai ability of his sword. 

"And then those techniques. Some of them felt like Kekkei Genkai techniques." He went through the battle in his head as he cleaned himself up at a small pond. "I really need more information."

The thought of infiltrating the Seireitei, the HQ of the Shinigamis, came to mind but he swiftly pushed it aside. He wouldn't be attempting such a dangerous mission anytime soon unless after getting back the Sharingan. 

No matter how much he tried not to think too much on it, the problem kept glaring hard at his face at every point he turned. 

"I won't be doing anything strenuous after this for some time." He said as he washed himself and cleaned his wounds.

...

Some time later in a tent back at the place where Isshin and his group were camping, the gruff Captain stared at the communication device as it came alive. 

"Captain Isshin, I got your surprisingly urgent request-" A lighthearted voice started only for Isshin to cut the speaker off with a groan. 

"Not now, Urahara. Did you or Yoruichi manage to find something?" He cut straightly to the chase. 

Kisuke Urahara, Captain of the 12th Research and Development Division, put on a befuddled expression and stroked his chin as he went through the data inquiry once more. 

"I'm sorry, Captain Shiba, but there was no result to the Reiatsu signature you gave us. Not even the sketch I got matched any of the Shinigamis of the Gotei 13, dead or considered M.I.A."

"So he really is not a Shinigami?"

"Most likely. If his words, based on your reports, are true, then he most likely is a new soul, and um… Hiyori did mention meeting someone like that some time ago." Kisuke revealed. He did not disregard Hiyori's words but at that time there was nothing he could do, at least until now. 

Now this surprised Isshin a bit. "Did she report any specific traits?" He asked, but Kisuke shook his head. 

"Other than what she considered his ridiculous speed, nothing worthwhile was reported." Kisuke said. 

"Yeah, that's him alright. How did they meet?"

Kisuke gave Isshin a lopsided eye but made no specific comment. "She said she found him fighting off a group of Hollows but he quickly retreated when they arrived."

"I see." Isshin remarked and wandered around a bit in his head. 'No Shikai, and even his Reiatsu application is basic, I'd say raw if not for his extremely precise control. So he started hunting Hollows on his own?'

"Captain Shiba, I can see that you're quite invested in this new soul but is he that impressive?" Kisuke asked after a while of seeing Isshin being lost to himself. 

Isshin shook himself out of it before shrugging at Kisuke. "He is, but variables appearing at the same time as the recent events makes it look even more suspicious."

"I'll talk to you later, Urahara." Isshin said and cut off the transmission before turning to the only person with him inside the tent who had been silent since the beginning. 

"Matsumoto, let's get moving. Tell everyone in case we come across that man again."

Rangiku nodded and made to leave but stopped and inquired of her Captain. "Captain, is he really that strong? I mean, I know you were holding back against him but we would have captured him anyway, right?"

Instead of what she expected, Isshin shook his head with a semi-serious look about his face. "I highly doubt so. At least half the squad would be dead before you can do any substantial damage to him."

Rangiku didn't say anything else to either agree or disagree with her Captain but just saluted him and left the tent. 

... 

Itachi now had his left hand bandaged to his shoulders from the wounds he received from the 10th Division Captain. 

His natural healing was better than it had been while alive but he knew it would take a while before he was completely healed up. 

With his recent breakthrough in his Reiatsu application, he spent his time focusing his everything on the blade in his hands since he had nothing else to do with how banged up he was. 

"I know you're trying to tell me something, what is it?" He muttered as his Reiatsu flowed into the sword as he tried connecting with it. 

The sword remained inanimate but somehow Itachi knew the blade was somehow trying to talk to him. 

The way his Reiatsu flowed into the blade was as it was trying to draw him deeper, fervently beckoning him to give himself away. 

"I will trust you this once." It was an experience for Itachi who had never trusted anyone since he was a child, not even his parents, to give an instance of trust to a sword. 

As the sword reacted to his flow, his Reiatsu surged as if it was banging against a door it had finally arrived at after running for a long time. 

It was a resonance between the core spirit of soul and an object, a sword, that perfectly reverberated with the same resonance. 

An instance of harmony between a colored soul and a blank canvas – the birth of a Zanpakutō spirit.