Chapter 2 - Hollow (1/2)

”Calm down and tell me what happened Ryo!” Itsuki asked as he saw the panic in his friend's eyes.

”Me and Sora were playing in the woods when a hollow appeared. Sora distracted the Hollow long enough for me to get away to try to find a shinigami but there weren't any nearby so I came back here!” Ryo was noticeably overwhelmed by his fear and was starting to break out in a cold sweat.

”What!!, where is it!.”Itsuki says. Ryo starts to regain his composure and signals Itsuki to follow him. Hurry, It's this way! Itsuki and Ryo take off towards the woods.

”I'll go as well.” Itachi quickly runs after the duo into the woods. Itachi quickly catches up to the boys as they reach the foot of the woods. Itsuki and Ryo turn around to see Itachi behind them.

”What are you doing here!? This doesn't concern you, go back! You don't know what-”

”GRAAAAAAAAAUUUURRRRR!!!

Itsuki is cut off as a terrifying, inhuman roar can be heard echoing through the trees.The boys are shaken by this roar as cold sweat runs through their back.

”Is that the sound of a hollow?” Itachi ponders as he stares towards the general direction of the roar.

Itsuki tells Ryo to stay put and runs off towards the direction of the roar.

Ryo reluctantly obeys and stays put, knowing he would only get in the way. Ryo finally turns to Itachi.

”Mister who are you? Did you just arrive here?”

”Yes” Itachi replies while still looking towards the direction Itsuki took off in.

”Mister, I am sorry to ask this of you, but can you please help big bro.” Itachi nods and goes deeper into the forest.

Shortly, Itachi arrives at a clearing and sees who he ȧssumes is Sora with his back against a tree and Itsuki running straight towards the hollow. Several feet in front of Itsuki is a 2.5 meter tall green hollow. Itachi examines the situation from the bushes.

”That monster with the mask must be the hollow mentioned earlier.” Itachi thinks to himself.

The hollow slowly extends its arm towards Sora to grab him. Itsuki, begins to mold his reiatsu into his hand, creating a small orb of reishi and hurls it at the hollow's face. The orb flies towards the Hollow's face but before it makes contact with the mask, the hollow reacts promptly and raises its arm to block it. Itsuki stands there paralyzed by fear as the hollow stares at Itsuki while radiating its killing intent. Itachi quickly reaches into his pocket and pulls out the stale piece of bread he received earlier. He throws the stale, rock hard, cut of bread at the hollow and it bounces off the back of the hollow's head. The hollow redirects its attention towards Itachi as Itachi emerges from the bushes.

”Get out of here! Both of you!” Itachi's stern voice snaps Itsuki out of his daze. Itsuki and Sora both make a run towards the bushes with the hollow paying no attention to them anymore.

The hollow lets out another roar and charges straight towards Itachi. Itachi recalls what he just saw with Itsuki molding energy into an orb and thinks back to basic chakra control training with molding chakra towards a specific body part. Itachi controls his reiatsu, channeling it towards his feet and legs. As the hollow enters striking distance of Itachi, Itachi side steps. Inexperienced with controlling reiatsu, he jumps farther than he anticipated, almost losing his balance as he lands. The hollow turns and attempts to attack him once again.

”This energy appears to be fundamentally the same as chakra but the control is different. My body isn't used to it yet.” Itachi recalls the basic water walking and tree climbing exercises for chakra control as a reference.

”Unlike those exercises, the margin for error is significantly smaller and requires greater precision...the appropriate way to control this power seems more akin to the body flicker technique.” He starts concentrating his energy to the soles of his feet and legs, narrowly avoiding the hollow's strikes as he adapts to the control.

”Although crude, I am starting to understand how to use this. However, I can't be on the defensive the entire time.” Itachi scans the surrounding area for anything he would be able to use as a weapon. ”There's nothing but rocks and branches.” After avoiding several more of the hollow's strikes, Itachi takes advantage of an opening to dash toward some rocks scattered on the ground and in one fluid motion he picks them up. Itachi channels reishi into his palms and arms and skillfully throws a few rocks at the hollow. The rocks inflict no lasting damage and only serve to further enrage the hollow.

”No, this method isn't enough. I have to mold energy into the rock as well.” After focusing his reishi in the same manner as before, he also channels it into the rocks and throws them all at the hollow towards various parts of its body. The hollow prioritizes blocking the rocks that were aimed towards its face and ignores the ones that hit its body.

”The hollow is very protective of its mask...could that be?” Itachi wonders as he picks up more rocks and throws them all towards the hollow's mask. The hollow uses its arms to block all the incoming projectiles, and charges toward Itachi with its guard up around its face.

”That confirms the mask is its weakness. Now to get around its sturdy defense...”. Itachi suddenly switches into an offensive stance and closes the gap between himself and the hollow.

The hollow reacts to Itachi's aggressive action and lowers its guard to punch Itachi.

”Now's my chance.” Itachi infuses even more reishi into his feet and pivots around the punch at the last possible moment allowing him to get close to the hollow's body. In this opening Itachi created, he quickly channels reishi into his hands and jumps into the air, aiming an uppercut towards the hollows mask. The hollow is bȧrėly able to react to Itachi's speed and attempts to move away from the strike. However, it was unable to fully dodge the blow and is struck towards the side of its mask, cracking it.

Itachi gains some distance between him and the hollow and catches his breath.

”All of that effort and I only managed to crack its mask? I'm getting used to controlling this energy but it isn't perfect and I'm burning through far more than I should in comparison to using chakra...”

The hollow's rage intensifies as it realizes its mask was damaged.