"Those who cannot acknowledge themselves will fail. Just like I did." — Itachi Uchiha.
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Itachi secluded himself in a part of the forest surrounding the West gate and sat on top a boulder with both legs crossed with his sword resting on his legs.
It only took a moment before his consciousness plunged into the dark red world of Tsukuyomi and there he was, as huge and black as he was in the beginning.
"Tsukuyomi." He called out, not minding the part of Tsukuyomi's feathers that fell off and turned to smoke only for the wisp of smoke to coalesce into crows that flew around him.
"Itachi." Tsukuyomi's head bent down halfway to look at Itachi. "What do you require of me, Itachi?" Like always, Tsukuyomi was already offering his help to Itachi.
Not just Tsukuyomi's deference to Itachi, the both of them shared a very close relationship, so close that only the Captains could boast of this bond with their Zanpakutō spirit and yet still envy it.
What all of them were unaware of however was that Tsukuyomi literally used to be Itachi's eyes. How could an eye deceive the body and force them all to ruin?
If it was up to Tsukuyomi, he would have granted Itachi access to the Mangekyō and even the Eternal Mangekyō if he could and it wouldn't have an averse effect on Itachi.
"Amaterasu. I still can't hear them. How much longer?" Itachi asked. "Is my soul not strong enough yet?"
"Unfortunately, it isn't time yet." Tsukuyomi said and ruffled his feathers, causing his feathers and crows to descend towards Itachi. "Your soul is not in perfect synchrony with us. Not even with me."
"And how do I fix that?" Itachi asked, not minding the murder of crows that were entering and exiting his clothes.
"The perfect synchrony is when you can use my illusions as easily as breathing. You're still far from that and saddling you with Amaterasu would do neither of you any good."
"I see." Itachi nodded in understanding but then remembered something just as crucial. "Bankai. How does one achieve it?"
Tsukuyomi tilted his head at Itachi, expressing his confusion which Itachi immediately picked on. "What?"
"Your Bankai and your Mangekyō Sharingan are one and the same, Itachi." Tsukuyomi clarified and that was when it hit him.
His Zanpakutō spirits were Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu, meaning that whatever his Bankai was would be a blend of both of their abilities and the only way for him to use the extensively would be unlock his Mangekyō Sharingan, which is also their true form or the core of their souls.
Thinking about it that way, it became obvious why Tsukuyomi wanted his soul to grow stronger. He was different from the other Shinigami after all.
"I understand now, especially why you're saying I'm not perfectly synchronized with either of you. You are not the same as you were when we were alive."
"No we are not. Putting us inside a Zanpakutō not only strengthened our symbiotic relationship but also removed the restriction your human limitations placed on us, enabling us to express ourselves in the truest way to our name."
Itachi silently nodded while he held out his arm for one of the crows to perch on, only for the both of them to fall into a staring contest.
"So, after getting sufficiently strong enough to handle the strain of both of your truest forms, how do I actually get Bankai?" Itachi asked, slowly peeling away his eyes from the crow who then flew away as she turned to Tsukuyomi.
His reasons for asking this question were very important and Tsukuyomi knew that as well.
"For your Bankai, you'll have to defeat me and Amaterasu's truest form… at the same time." Tsukuyomi purposely saying it slowly made it sound more ominous to the hearing ear. "You must be able to suppress both of our abilities at the same time and that has its own symbolic meaning. Defeating your Bankai means that your body is strong enough to handle the strain of using it without dying and that your soul is strong enough to house our grown spirit."
The crows around Itachi formed a chair of smoking wisps and slowly pushed him towards Tsukuyomi.
"Imagine the empty Asauchi blade as an incubator for Zanpakutō spirits to grow and realize their potential. Shikai is just the first stage of growth, us spreading our wings for the first time. Bankai on the other hand is us fully grown and ready to return our grown core back to your soul – our origin. So your soul must be strong enough to permanently house our spirit, two in this case."
Tsukuyomi calmly and clearly explained the intricacies of the Shinigami's Bankai to Itachi who was finally able to paint an accurate picture of why needed to be less lacking when it came to his soul.
"No need to rush, Itachi. Like every other Bankai, it will make itself known when it feels that you're ready, like I do you."
Today was a real eye opener for Itachi. It was something expected but it was the scale of it that genuinely surprised Itachi.
"I appreciate you telling me this, Tsukuyomi." Itachi said as he wore a contemplating look on his face. Everything Tsukuyomi said was valuable but one of his major takeaways from it all was that even his Shikai was lacking much more than he thought.
If he couldn't be perfectly synchronized with Tsukuyomi with his basic Shikai abilities then all it did was show him how unprepared for Bankai he was.
Tsukuyomi raised his head and looked at the red moon that almost looked as if it was shining brighter. He looked at Itachi so lost in himself that he didn't register the changes in this illusory world, or maybe he did but just ignored it. This was after all the safest place he could be.
Tsukuyomi turned his head to face a certain direction, closed his beady eyes and slowly faded away.
As Itachi's spirit guides and more so his eyes, it was their role to pave the way to any desires his heart might birth; to turn his dreams into a realization – something Tsukuyomi felt was specifically his duty.
"Fret not, Tsukuyomi. He'll have the chance and time to grow. I will make sure of that."
A very dark sputtering voice filtered into Tsukuyomi's head as he faded away, wholly agreeing with the sentiment the voice spoke with.
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Pulling himself from his thoughts, Itachi looked around and found that Tsukuyomi was gone. The gigantic crow always knew the best time to be present or to leave, something Itachi never had the thought to comment on.
Opening wide his palms, the crows around him started cawing loudly and a few flew towards his hands and lost their tangible form, leaving only the inky black smoke that swirled above his palms and soon started stretching to the shape of a sword.
Even if it looked like it had no solid body, Itachi held it as such as it felt as such. He threw it to the ground and the shadowy blade sank over 2/3rds into the ground.
"Simple genjutsu won't cut it at this point anymore. My illusions can grow even more." He said. 'Using Tsukuyomi to his fullest potential. It will take some time but I can make it work.'
Bankai could wait, he told himself as the red world started fading away.
As a Zanpakutō, Tsukuyomi's Shikai didn't have much in terms of fire power but that was okay with Itachi. With enough control and training, he reckoned he'd have a very high level grasp of his illusions and breaking out of them would be harder as well.
Standing up, Itachi looked at the blade in his hands before strapping it to his waist. He wanted to leave but paused as his mind went to the training workaholic young man, Junpei, who he hadn't seen for some days now.
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