Chapter 71 - Death (2/2)

”Aizen. Let's move. I don't want to fight here.” Ichigo said calmly.

”Such a meaningless proposal. That is only meant for those who-” Aizen's words were cut short as Ichigo appeared in front of him, grabbing his face firmly as he carried him outside of Karakura Town into a mountain range and launching him into the ground.

Aizen put a hand on his face in shock at what had just happened as Ichigo stood in front of him and Itachi arrived shortly after.

”Uchiha Itachi, as I've said before, the way you are now, you are currently no match for me. Why bother even coming here.” Aizen scoffed as he regained his composure.

”Fine...I'll show you something special.” Itachi replied. The pinwheel patterns in his Mangekyou Sharingan began to rotate quickly as his reiatsu flared up. His body rose high into the air and became covered in an ethereal large armored head with a tengu nose and grew a large body clad in robes and ornate armor. Out of his back were a pair of giant orange wings.

Aizen looked up at the giant behemoth figure towering above him and laughed.

”It's large but it's no different than Komamura's bankai! I'm quite disappointed and confused as to why you would not use a technique such as this for so long.”

”You'll find out soon enough.” Itachi replied as he drew the Totsuka blade out with both hands. Aizen flew up and charged forward at Itachi as Itachi swung his sword horizontally.

Aizen blocks the slash with his own zanpakuto, but the force of the slash sends him flying into a nearby mountain. As Itachi finished the slash, the tops of the other nearby mountains flew into the air as they were cut off.

Aizen emerged from the rubble of the mountain he crashed into. He wiped a trickle of blood coming from his lip and grinned.

”I see. With destructive force of that kind, you fear your comrades may be struck as well. A foolish way of thinking. Uchiha Itachi, you also possess great power and potential. If you had joined me with Gin and Kaname-”

Aizen's words were cut short as Ichigo appeared in front of him. With no time to react to Ichigo's speed, Ichigo slashed across Aizen's ċhėst.

”That's enough from you, Aizen. You've been too talkative lately.” Ichigo commented.

”Kurosaki…” Aizen teleported to a nearby cliff and glared at Ichigo. ”You...abandoned your spiritual pressure for physical power is that it? I will admit for that brief moment, your physical prowess surpassed my own. But physical power will not be enough to protect you from this!”

Aizen raised his hand in the air and began reciting the incantation for hado 90.

”Kurosaki.” Itachi called as he landed his Susanoo next to Ichigo. ”Formation B.”

”Right.” Ichigo replied as he vanished from view.

”Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!” Itachi quickly casted the hand signs as his susanoo shot multiple enormous fireballs at Aizen. Aizen stopped his incantation as several fireballs the size of small meteors flew towards him. Aizen teleported away as the fireballs vaporized the cliff he was just standing on.

”Getsuga Tensho!” Ichigo yelled from behind Aizen. Aizen turned around too late as a large wave of black reiatsu dug into his back and pushed him into another mountain, destroying the mountain in the process.

From the debris of the mountain, Aizen's reiatsu burst and flared up even further. Itachi and Ichigo watched as Aizen walked out of the dust cloud. His face was now completely black and the tips of his wings grew mouths. He no longer had the appearance of a human but instead, a monster.

”You may have bested me, but my power will continue to grow!” Aizen gloated. From one of the mouths on his wings, he fired a condensed fiery ball of reiatsu at Ichigo and Itachi. Itachi quickly summoned the Yata Mirror on his Susanoo and deflected the blast away from them. In the distance, what appeared to be a giant mushroom shaped explosion incinerated the landscape.

”Kurosaki. We can't afford to let Aizen keep growing at this rate. I have a plan for removing the Hogyoku from him, but you'll need to hit him with your strongest attack. If something happens to me, do not worry and continue fighting. It's part of the plan.” Itachi said.

Aizen quickly charged in at the two of them. Ichigo charged towards Aizen, clashing swords with him briefly as Ichigo vanished while Itachi swung down with his Susanoo's blade, creating a large ravine in the earth. Aizen emerged from the dust of the impact and flew up the Susanoo's arm before Itachi had time to pull back. As he was about to make contact with the head of the Susanoo, Ichigo appeared behind Aizen, cutting him in the back. However, Aizen's wound healed instantly as he knocked Ichigo back with a kick before reaching his arm through the Susanoo's head, grabbing Itachi out of his Susanoo and causing the Susanoo to disperse.

As Aizen grabbed Itachi by the neck, he and Aizen locked eyes one more time as an evil grin formed on Aizen's inhuman face.

”Your eyes are useless against me!” Aizen yelled as he slashed Itachi in half from the head down.