Crows x Souls

"As death comes to embrace you, you will realise what you are. That's what death is, don't you think?" — Itachi Uchiha.

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[A Few Minutes Earlier]

Kaien and Junpei were in over their heads, that much was apparent after the first minute of their clash.

This Hollow, Luppi, the Sixth Espada (whatever that meant), was unlike any Hollow either of them have ever fought. More for Kaien than for Junpei.

The older and more experienced Shinigami could feel things more clearly than Junpei and all he could sense was how overwhelming Luppi's small presence was. The easygoing smile the smaller Hollow had perpetually stuck to his face should have been the first sign of danger. His willingness to fight a Captain at the starting line should have been another.

At the end of the day he and Captain Uchiha's student were tasked with holding down this Hollow for a minute or two. 'There's no way we holding this thing down for three minutes or more.'

At first he was skeptical of Junpei assisting him as a strength weaker than his own in such an upscale fight would only end up dragging him down but that changed when the boy finally unsealed his Shikai.

It wasn't anything outlandish like that of his Captain (honestly Kaien couldn't wrap his head around how someone's Shikai could have three forms, dual Zanpakutō or not) but it was something that, didn't necessary brought him up to par, but saved his life and kept his presence in a balance in such a huge fight.

Wielding his three pronged trident with a wave of turbulent waters behind him, Kaien pressed on with his attack with Junpei right behind him, riding on arcs of lightning.

"Hahahaha! That's it, Shinigami. Try and try again."

Luppi punched his way through Kaien's torrent with his hardened Hierro, dodged Junpei's sneak attack and followed with a kick to the gut that knocked the air out of the youth.

"What do you even do?" Luppi asked in disgust, looking at the weaker Shinigami.

Using the innate movement technique of high level Hollows, Sonído, he closed the distance between him and Junpei before the latter could blink and tore through his chest with his hand.

"No!"

Eyes widening in horror, Kaien spun Nejibana above his head, building up a great wave around it's tip. Being a Zanpakutō with the ability of manipulating water, being hit by any part of Nejibana, most especially it's tip, is like being hit with crashing waves. Waves strong enough to break most defenses.

His rage peaked as Luppi kept dodging his trident and when Luppi made to attack in his heat of moment, a gleam behind Luppi caught his attention and brought a quick realization to him that calmed him down at the last second to take in a brunt of the force from Luppi's blow and deflect the rest before crashing his trident straight into the Hollow's chest… and with it came the raging force of the sea.

The force was so great, greater than what Luppi was expecting that it threw him back violently only for a blade to impact him in his back and the stream of current that sparked from the contact being the only indicator of what was about it follow.

"Hadō #11: Tsuzuri Raiden."

Yellow lightning coursed through Junpei's blade and wrapped around Luppi's neck like a noose and made spark works of the Hollow.

"Did that get him?" Junpei asked with labored breath, not from being tired but because of the nervousness he felt being in such close proximity with that thing.

"You think?" Kaien let out a hollow laugh.

And just like he said, when the smoke up Luppi was there standing with not so much as a scratch but with a very pissed off face.

"I think this is the part where we die." Kaien said with a resigned voice. "Not yet."

He looked at Junpei surprised, especially when he saw that the counterpart Reiatsu was as calm and confident as a tranquil pond. He was nervous yes, skittish even, but that was mostly because of his subpar abilities when coming face to face with such an overwhelming opponent. When it came to the prospect of death, there was not a single doubt in Junpei's mind that they would survive.

"We just need to hold on for a few minute, right? So we just do as he says." Junpei managed to quirk a smirk at Kaien before turning a lot serious as he looked at Luppi who was slowly making his way towards them.

His Shikai ability, one of them at least, allows him to store 'extra damage' done to him. What classifies as 'extra damage' remains unclear as Itachi already prodded every nook and cranny of the sword's ability to know that it didn't in any way decrease the damage done to Junpei so the 'extra' was still a bit vague.

His Zanpakutō, Shichishito, is a seven-branched sword that had seven branches sticking out of the sword's body.

As for what he does with the stored damage, well he can incorporate it into any form as long as it constitutes as 'reattacking' his opponent.

His Shikai was troublesome even without its abilities which was no wonder why he was mostly hesitant to use it for anything other than the passive boost, but fortunately or unfortunately Itachi had beat that mindset out of him and had practically forced him to get very familiar with his Zanpakutō.

'For someone who practically begged to unlock his Shikai, you sure are acting rather prideful.' Those words of Itachi had stung.

So yeah. No matter how troublesome it had been at first. No matter how uncooperative his own Zanpakutō had been with him, he, Junpei, had found a way to fight with it regardless…. And a funny thing happened when he did.

He could use the stored damage to boost any part of himself or his own attack as long as he held the intention of reattacking.

Be it in the form of a higher output, piercing or cutting attribute, or even his physical attribute… or even his Reiatsu. Yes, it wasn't a such a great increase but when it came to anything spiritual, the smallest increase is always noticeable.

Still… that did not mean that he could now bridge the difference between an above average Shinigami and an Arrancar, an Espada at that.

BANG!

Blood spurted out of Junpei's mouth even as his sword got in the way of the Hollow's blow, one so heavy that it sent him flying through the sky with an ominous ball of Cero flying after him.

"Junpei!-"

"I wouldn't be so worried if I were you." He heard the Hollow's voice behind but reacted a tad too slow and grabbed his neck from behind and squeezed it so hard that Kaien could hear his bones creak.

The light in his eyes were growing dim with every breath he took and so was the strength in his limbs. He could hear the Hollow laughing his ass off.

His eyes were about to take their final blink when suddenly air filled his lungs and he found himself being roughly flung off to the side and digging a trench along the ground.

There was a newcomer based on the Reiatsu but Kaien couldn't find it in himself to be glad because this newcomer's Reiatsu was that of a Hollow.

'Is a Hollow fighting another Hollow?'

He managed to pushed himself off the ground and take a deep breath before looking up at the scene that was causing confusion in his senses and what he saw, juts like what he sensed, made no sense to him.

He felt his breath hitch.

Not because of the clash of Reiatsu from the two Hollows fighting. It was the plain fact that here he was watching a Hollow trading blows with another Hollow, except something more took his entire focus.

The blade the new Hollow was holding. The fighting style with which she was swung, and the Reiatsu-filled intent that flowed from it with every swing.

"…Miyako." He whispered as if in an illusion and he could see the Hollow stiffen for a moment before being forced on the defensive by the Espada.

'What is happening?' Safe to say, Kaien's mind was a mess but the clues all started coming together like torrents from a flowing stream.

They escaped, didn't they? That fact was widely known among the upper echelons.

They were turned into Hollows by Aizen which was framed on Kisuke Urahara – who latter turned out to be the one who actually saved them from execution.

And here was a Hollow woman, mask and everything, swinging the same Zanpakutō his beloved wife used in the same style she fought with.

"… Miyako." He said it a bit louder this time and with his full senses trained in on her, he felt the excitement and fear that wavered her Reiatsu when he called her name.

"It's you, isn't it?" She didn't reply but the growing steadiness to her Reiatsu, tainted as it was, was all the answers he needed.

"Surge, Nejibana." With a furious shout, Kaien jumped back into the air, the tide around his trident fiercer than it ever was, all pointed at the arrogant form of the Sixth Espada.

Two things happened at once.

First, the other Reiatsu that belonged to the Fifth Espada dwindled so fast that it was seconds away from being snuffed out, which in turn caused Luppi to startle.

Second, both Kaien's trident and the Hollow woman's sword struck straight at Luppi's torso tearing open a deep wound and also sending him crashing into the ground.

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