Yamamoto looked deeply at Itsuki in front of him while Shunsui and Ukitake just arrived and landed behind Itsuki. Nanao appeared after the four teacher and students. She was breathing heavily and looked quite tired."Nanao-chan, you"re last place."
"It"s because you"re too fast, captain"
She suddenly had a shocked expression when she looked past the two captains. Yamamoto was there looking like a frail old man with a slight crouch while Itsuki was in front. The two extreme opposites had a stare-off.
To Yamamoto"s question, Itsuki didn"t say anything as he looked back. Shunsui and Ukitake weren"t surprised by the two having better Shunpo than them.
"These two arrived rather quickly, didn"t they?"
Seeing the two, Nanao put her hand into her Shihakuso with the idea of being somewhat useful. Seeing her move, Yamamoto made eye contact with the girl as a despairing expression masked her face causing her to collapse due to the sheer pressure emanating from Yamamoto. Itsuki moved slightly and became the focus of Yamamoto while Nanao stopped feeling the pressure.
Itsuki looked back and reprimanded Shunsui,
"Why did you bring her here? She is too weak."
Shunsui looked guilty seeing Nanao"s expression. Slight saliva was coming out her mouth as she looked blank with no energy to even talk.
"I"m sorry, Nanao-chan. I shouldn"t have bought you here"
Bringing her away, Shunsui returned in a short while.
Yamamoto looked at Shunsui as he spoke,
"Your Shunpo distance is as great as always."
"Nothing like the youngest, Yamjii"
Yamamoto then looked back at Itsuki,
"Doesn"t matter, there"s no need for you to answer but it seems you"re siding with your brothers. This has gone beyond giving you guys just a beating."
Both of Yamamoto"s eyes were dead serious while he continued talking,
"Out of all three students, you are the one I had the most hope in and the one who I am most proud of. While Shunsui was sharp and astute, he was lecherous, lazy and frivolous in nature. Ukitake had a weak body but was the most popular and he had a very open mind. When the two fought, they would surpa.s.s their peers and elders. You, Itsuki, excelled in all three compared. You have the intellects surpa.s.sing Shunsui and have the most loyal subordinates amongst the Gotei 13. Although you are still young, your strength has had the biggest improvement and have long surpa.s.sed your brothers. I thought of you three like children."
Although Yamamoto looked at Itsuki, it seemed like he was talking to all three students. He felt hurt seeing that all three of his students were standing against him.
"I felt that although we thought of different minds, we walked the same path."
Yamamoto brought his walking stick in front of him as the wood disappeared leaving just his zanpakuto.
Ukitake looked at Yamamoto as he unsheathed sword,
"Genryusai-Sensei."
"Don"t say anything, any further discussion on this is useless"
Ukitake wanted to say something, but Itsuki raised his hand prompting him to stop. Itsuki stood there while hr put both his hands on his zanpakuto. His zanpakutos were both on the left side of his waist so Ryurai was held with a normal grip with his right hand and Byakko in a back handed one with the left hand.
Both never moved and looked at each other, they never released their Shikai and kept their zanpakutos in sealed form. Stabbing his sword into the ground, Yamamoto proceeded to take off his captain"s haori and his shihakuso off his upper body. A ripped body came into view with scars littering it all over the place.
Yamamoto and Itsuki then released their reiatsu, pressuring the whole of soul society. Everyone felt it, stopping most of the fights currently happening. Ichigo who was battling Byakuya also felt it,
"W-what is that?"
"That is true strength."
Byakuya returned to fighting Ichigo,
"Be safe, Itsuki."
Ichigo was a bit distracted before concentrating on Byakuya again.
Soi Fon and Yoruichi, who were fighting, also stopped upon feeling Itsuki"s reiatsu. They both had a look of worry on their faces before Soi Fon looked at Yoruichi,
"At first, I was angry at you for not taking me, but I had Itsuki…"
"So why are you still angry?"
"You took Itsuki"s first!!"
Their fighting then resumed but both were worrying for Itsuki.
Zaraki had wounds all over his body while a crazy smile never left his face. He felt the reiatsu of the two people he respected most as he continued looking at his opponents.
"Genryusai-dono!"
Komamura had lost his helmet and his wolf face was out in the open.
"You sure you want to go; his opponent could kill all three of us even if we combined strengths. Though, even if you still want to, do you think I will let you."
Rangiku was making her way towards the central 46 alongside Toshiro when she felt Itsuki"s reiatsu,
"Be careful, Itsuki."
It was natural for them to be worried as they knew Yamamoto"s strength was nothing to scoff at.
Shunsui and Ukitake were mostly unaffected but they still felt the pressure emanating from the two. They could tell that Yamamoto"s reiatsu was still higher than Itsuki"s, however Itsuki"s was still improving. Even if it was slowly growing, it was still an improvement, nonetheless.
They both suddenly disappeared and clashed in the middle. The clash created a crater beneath them as they once more disappeared. This time Yamamoto was going all out and Itsuki was able to keep up just slightly. Strength wise, Yamamoto was higher, however, all the damages caused by the strikes were healed by Itsuki"s high speed regeneration. This process of breaking and recovering strengthened his body and increased his strength.
Arrancars were able to improve the more they fought and that was what Itsuki was doing now. Improving with every strike. Looking at all the possible outcomes and creating countless scenarios. Upon achieving Bankai, Itsuki was able to have 10 part.i.tions causing a ma.s.sive improvement in his mental capabilities and with his thought acceleration reaching 1200%, ideas and plans were quickly thought up.
Still this was nothing compared to 2000+ years of experience melded into one"s very bones.
Shunsui and Ukitake were surprised seeing Itsuki barely on par with Yamamoto. Even though it was a fight of pure swordsmanship, strength and Shunpo, it was still something to be proud off.
Hitting one of Itsuki"s sword to the side, Yamamoto took this opportunity to clench his right fist and send it forward.
"Ikkotsu!"
Seeing this Itsuki dodged and dropped Ryurai while sending out his own, ignoring the destruction caused behind him. Yamamoto also responded in a similar manner. Throwing out another Ikkotsu, the two clashed causing Itsuki to retreat as he felt a few bones break in his right arm. Yamamoto was also surprised as his arm trembled from the impact. It was natural though, the combination of Hierro and Ikkotsu packed quite a punch.
Thinking of getting the upper hand, Itsuki took off his haori and took his arms out of his sleeves, leaving his upper body bare, just like Yamamoto. The only difference was the lack of scars and the tenderness of Itsuki"s skin. Shunsui felt it was better for Nanao-chan not seeing this,
"Like father, like son. Well in this situation, like teacher, like student."
Itsuki ignored Shunsui"s mutterings as he once again got ready to attack Yamamoto.
Picking the dropped Ryurai, Itsuki calmly muttered,
"Shunko."
A blue-pinkish reiatsu covered Itsuki as one could hear the faint rumblings of thunder and the sound of gushing wind. This time Itsuki disappeared and appeared next to Yamamoto before giving out continuous strikes.
Shunsui was surprised seeing the tables turning, he recognised the technique used by the previous Onmitsukido head, Shihouin Yoruichi. Ukitake was the same.
Yamamoto know felt what his students went through the last time he saw them fight. Itsuki was fast, too fast that when one strike ended, another started. Yamamoto was replying with pure instinct and sheer experience as he felt like he was losing face.
"This d.a.m.n brat!"
"You seem to have improved brat, let this old man give you a proper beating."
Pushing back Itsuki, Yamamoto released his shikai,
"All things of this world, turn to ashes, Ryujin Jakka"
Hearing this, Itsuki replied
"Reign from the heavens, Ryurai"
"Shred to everything to pieces, Byakko"
While flames appeared surrounding the two, Itsuki had gotten into his shikai mode for the first time since fusing with the hollow. The incantation wasn"t the only change as even though his gauntlets looked the same, the lightning on Ryurai looked more terrifying. Byakko wasn"t just an invisible sword but now had a proper gla.s.s blade. Their physical capabilities had tremendous improvement while three lightning drums in a faint circle appeared behind Itsuki.
It was also at this time Ichigo decided to go Bankai, however it was completely overshadowed by the release of Shikai from the two. Heat rose melting buildings and walls around them while faint storm clouds could be seen gathering over their location.
Byakuya seemed amused as he spoke to Ichigo,
"How does it feel, realising this small thing you call Bankai cannot be compared to their shikai"
"It doesn"t matter, as long as I defeat you!!"
Shunsui and Ukitake finally got to a safe distance seeing the two monsters bout it out. They at first thought of helping Itsuki but seeing the rare crazy smile on his face, they felt a shudder in their hearts.
Yamamoto slowly increased the output of his Shikai making Itsuki find it difficult to fight the old man. It wasn"t like they were having an intense battle but rather he was training Itsuki.
Thinking back to all the trainings he was beaten black and blue, Itsuki started losing control as all his pent-up grievances of that time came pouring out,
"Screw canon!"
"Bankai!"