"The heart and soul are closely linked. Your heart reveals what is most precious to you." — Yoruichi Shihōin.
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[Outside of Las Noches]
Altogether there were eight Espada that surrounded the two Shinigami, the only eight that mattered, and the force emitting from these eight were enough to give Yoruichi pause. She had ascertained the danger before stepping in but being face to face with the full pressure of their Reiatsu was a whole different perspective.
She could take care of one of the Vasto Lorde-level Espada with no problems. Taking on two of them at once was already stretching the limits of her comforts too thin. Taking on two of them plus the other Adjuchas Arrancars? Yeah, she wasn't that arrogant. She was a cat, but she wouldn't test the fabled lore of nine lives if she didn't have to.
Instead she turned to her companion and gave him a skeptic look. "Why are you still holding back?" She would have thought the situation was dire enough for him to let loose.
Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, Itachi's reply was valid reasoning given his character.
"I'm not holding back. Most of my efforts are reserved for securing our escape."
Valid, but she felt there was still something he was withholding from her. He saw the look on her face and sighed.
"I'm waiting." For someone, he didn't say, but she understood.
It could have been anything but one thing Yoruichi knew about Itachi was that he wouldn't put his life on the line for just about anything. Right off the top of her head, apart from a very scant number of people, she couldn't picture something else that would force Itachi to blatantly keep himself in danger. He was too cautious for that.
She also didn't know who it was he was waiting for, nor could she hazard a guess so all she could do was hold on as much as she could until he wrapped his business up. Who told her to jump in willfully? She couldn't lament enough.
If they had known Itachi – the Hollows – then they would have suspected something was afoot when he kept on fighting with just the basic form of his Sharingan. Unfortunately, no one knew him quite well enough to be able to point that out.
But even if they didn't know him well enough, from the tell of his Reiatsu, they were well aware that he intended to fight without holding anything back. Yes, Harribel had stalled him for some time but even then he still refused to use his Bankai for some unknown reason.
Well they would find out soon enough why.
Going back as he did, Itachi was face to face with the one Hollow he didn't want to fight if it were ever his choice.
Baraggan Louisenbairn.
His power was too similar to Itachi's own Amaterasu and yet it differed greatly. While Amaterasu was a black and desolate flame that devoured all, it was still a flame at the very end.
While they both ate away at their target, unlike Baraggan's Aspect of Death, Senescencia, his Amaterasu, even though briefly, can be staved off for a few moments. This difference wasn't apparent in his Bankai, but in his Shikai was very telling.
"Brat. Your fate has delivered you to my hands once again. And you won't escape this time." Baraggan spoke and walked calmly towards Itachi, his axe hanging loosely by his side.
Harribel was a few steps behind and positioned herself to at least have Itachi in her view to prevent any instance of escape.
"Starrk isn't here so I wonder, who will save you now from me?" His Sonído carried an overwhelming force with it that bore down on Itachi as he swung his axe.
El Escudo.
A translucent green barrier barred the path of the axe but could only hold on for a split moment before it broke in cracks.
Fire Style: Great Fireball
A gigantic orb of black flames threatened to swallow Baraggan but the former king snorted derisively and coated his axe in his decay Reiatsu and unflinchingly brought his axe against the ominous flames, spewing black flames and rot in all directions.
The tempo of the battle changed as soon as Baraggan started attacking. His strength was different compared to the likes of Harribel and Ulquiorra, in that every single one of his attacks were fatal.
Desolate flames and deathly rot; it was a type of battle none of the other Espada could allow themselves to be drawn into, which was unfortunate since all their attention shifted to Yoruichi.
Yoruichi, like she suspected, was not getting a breathing space as she ducked and weaved through the Hollows that were out for her life.
The easiest of the bunch was the big dumb guy. He couldn't move fast enough to save his life and she let him know how she appreciated that by turning him into a sitting log. Shunkō for the win.
The most annoying and aggravating was the guy with the eyes as well as the uptight stoic one that reminded her too much of Itachi's earlier days.
If she so much as slowed down for a bit then Eyes would lock in to her and the other Hollows would just pick her apart.
Her specialty was lightning fast attacks and immense close range and she couldn't do that at her own pace when she had four Arrancars on her tail.
'First I take out Eyes. Those eyes of his are too annoying.' Even if the Hollow in question didn't specifically reveal his abilities, she stayed around Itachi long enough to be wary of anything 'eyes'. And the gleam in one of them right as soon as she lost the function of one of her hands was too noticeable for her to miss.
She traded a look with Itachi, glad that he caught it, and grinned. Oh Eyes, oh Eyes, how pitiful it is to be you.
The uptight one seemed to notice but before he could get in Itachi's face to stop him from doing whatever it is that they had silently planned, Itachi had already acted.
Few seemed to notice what Itachi did, but even fewer could react in time.
The explosion of Reiatsu from Eyes gave Yoruichi the break she needed to reorient herself and also the moment of clarity to realize just how encircled she had been.
If anything, she was thankful for Eyes' distraction. None of them were an issue for her to take on alone, not even Mr. Nonchalant, but altogether they were enough to pose a sense of danger to her life.
Everything happened in an instant.
From the glare Itachi gave Eyes, to the reaction of Mr. Nonchalant, to Yoruichi stabilizing herself; those who knew what to expect were the quickest to react.
Zommari Rureaux was a physically large Hollow with a penchant for eyes. Able to grow eyes from multiple parts of his body, an ability which was greatly limited while in his normal state as he could only sprout an additional pair of eyes in the palm of both hands, hence Eyes.
It also didn't help him that Yoruichi, because of her time with Itachi, could sense the minute gathering of Reiryoku in his eyes, especially whenever he looked at her. It also greatly annoyed her with how he was always in her face and always boasting his speed. 'Take a hint pal! You're not my type!'
He was fast, she would give that to him. But not 'Flash Goddess' fast.
In his hubris of always pestering her, especially after using one of his eyes to seal up one of her hands, the concentration of Reiryoku around his other eye was… lacking.
A simple suggestion. A simple warning of danger. A lie told beforehand.
In the face of death, whether as a show of defiance or desperation, every living being resolves to a final struggle.
In Zommari's case, as an Arrancar, his final resolve lay in his Resurrección.
Maybe if he had taken the time to calm himself he would have noticed the obvious irrationality in his mind, but alas, the story of the hunter becoming the prey was a tale as old as time. And like all cornered prey, he used his strongest resolve to lash out.
Following his subsiding Reiatsu, Zommari's form was taken over by his Resurrección; numerous eyes scattered all over his torso and his lower half resembling a fleshly pumpkin with wide open eyes.
However, unlike Zommari's normal yellow eyes, every eye in his body held the pattern of Itachi's Sharingan.
Because Yoruichi was already expecting something of that nature, she moved so fast out of Zommari's entire line of sight that all that was left in her former position was a fading clone.
In an instant, a small reprieve of time, all the Hollows in the area were frozen under Zommari's gaze.
Every single eye in Zommari's body bled red as he was trapped in a nightmare of his own mistake, while also inadvertently facilitating the escape of his lord's enemies.
….
Unfortunately for them, that was not all they had to watch out for as moments later, after being barely able to wrestle themselves out of Zommari's control, a terrifying premonition washed over all of them.
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