Crows x Souls

"Knowledge and awareness are vague, and perhaps better called illusions. Everyone lives within their own subjective interpretation." — Itachi Uchiha. 

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Itachi's current situation can be likened to one having a noose around their neck and willingly stretching it taut. 

The Hollows around did not make him comfortable in any sense of word. And from the looks of it, from the unruly ones at least, it seemed that they were any second from ganging up on him and tearing him to pieces. 

He summoned two crows on his arm and sent them flying towards Harribel who quickly fired off a Cero to intercept them, not trusting anything from Itachi even the simplest of gestures. 

His form flickered away and struck Harribel from the side only for her to dodge by jumping back and cover her retreat with a cross slash of Reiryoku. 

From the start, Itachi fought heavily subdued because he couldn't use any of his stronger attacks, knowing that they would step in if she was ever in imminent danger. So he stuck to counterattacks and a few sleight of hand tricks. Fighting her, Baraggan and Ulquiorra was not an idea he entertained. 

'This is taking too long.'

'This is boring. Burn this bitch away right this instant.' Amaterasu yelled in outrage. 

He twisted his Zanpakutō and batted hers away using the flat side of his blade but she was quick to recover and positioned her Zanpakutō behind her back to stop Itachi from stabbing her through. 

His motions were fluid, as if almost knowing he would have to take them when she inevitably blocked his attack. He used his other hand to grab the free part of the hilt of his Zanpakutō and drew out another blade from it, much to her surprise and before she could easily retreat, cut her deep. From below up to her lower mouth. 

Even though she had read the trajectory and speed of his blade wrong, she still managed to dodge before he could do any lasting damage. Using Amaterasu would have been better but she was very wary towards it and a simple illusion like switching the appearance of the two wouldn't work numerous times with her. 

He hated this. He hated being handicapped but it was a necessary sacrifice if he wanted to leave here alive. He couldn't use any advanced Bakudō since the other Espada would likely attack him if he trapped her and break the seal from the outside. That was if they even let him finish the set up for the spell. 

Harribel skid to a stop, having narrowly avoided a fatal injury, and stared at Itachi in shock and rage. Silent rage. 

Killing him was easy, laughably so. She could step away from this fight and the others would kill him, there was no ifs and buts about that, but she couldn't do that. Her honor was on the line. 

She wasn't fighting because he was a Shinigami and she was a Hollow, she wouldn't fight for something as base as that. She was fighting because the man in front of her hurt her comrades, her friends. She would continue to fight until she lost. If she lost. 

And maybe that was what angered her. The fact that he saw her reason for fighting as an easy way out. It was an easy way out so why would he give it his all. His focus wandered and wavered throughout the entirety of this fight, clearly he didn't see much meaning to this fight, and even with that arrogance of his, she still struggled to comfortably take over the initiative. 

Tier Harribel was not one for petty grievances. She was upright and model, some might consider her honorable and just, and she hardly hated anyone. Dislike, yes, but she has never cared for anyone so deeply negatively to call it hate. Hell, she didn't even hate him. It was close but she did not hate this man. 

They were far up in the sky above and away from Las Noches, but nowhere safe enough for her to release her Resurreción. 

She knew it would force him to release his Bankai and that was what she was aiming for. He was planning something, he alluded to it, and for whatever it was, it required him not to go above a certain threshold of power. 

She, Tier Harribel, was no fool. Even without knowing the specifics of his plan, she knew that whatever it was, the very same reason he held back was the very same reason he was confident in escaping. 

'And what about Lord Aizen… and Starrk?' She couldn't sense them no matter how she tried and it left her all the more confused. 

Everything. Lilynette, Starrk, Aizen and Itachi Uchiha – there was a variable there that she couldn't see… yet. 

"I wasn't lying when I said you'll die here." Her Reiryoku bubbled forth, coalescing over her Zanpakutō with a threatening intensity. 

"I believe you." And once again, his answer was the same. 

"You're lying." She knew he was. It was plain to see. 

"To whom?" 

Itachi was a good liar, both to himself and to others. He never looked down on Harribel, not once, never. She was more than skilled enough, more than powerful enough — yet he kept an edge over their fight, not because he was having it easier but because he could lie to make it seem so. 

She wasn't like other Hollows. She didn't rage wildly. Never emotional. Always remained calm. Never pushed an extra inch more than she needed to. She was the very type of opponent everyone hated fighting, even him. 

But that was the beautiful thing about lies… 

It got to everyone. Sooner or later, you'll learn to believe the lies. And not because you were too stupid to fall for it but because it gave you that peace of mind you constantly seek for. That encouragement to give another push. That contentment of control. 

Sooner or later, everyone learns to accept the lies. And Itachi was no different. He was used to it. 

In fact, lies were second nature to him. He could hardly go by without lying. No matter how small, no matter how harmless. It was in the gestures, the calm looks… even the way he fought. 

So Harribel took precautions against his illusions… So what? So she was skilled and powerful enough to hold him back… So what? So what if he was at his wits end and was as close to death as he's ever being?... He'll just lie again – this isn't the first time he's done it after all. Lying at the verge of death that is. 

Even as Harribel surged her Reiatsu and Reiryoku to defend against his abilities, he lied. It was very easy at this point. 

A glance. A word. Even the slightest twitch. It took nothing to lie. 

It took everything to believe it. 

"Terase, Tsukuyomi." (Illuminate, Tsukuyomi.)

In an instant, the black cloaks left him, fading away into Reishi, and his eyes became crystal clear, even in its darkness. 

Time was running out… or it was all coming to a close. The results were the same. At this point it wasn't about who was more powerful or who had a stronger conviction. At this point, it all boiled down to compatibility. 

The rest of them could watch, it was best they did. After all, the best way to get away with a lie was to tell one lie to everyone, preferably at the same time. 

To everyone else, this was a dumb move from Itachi. Switching mainly to his illusions when the other party was well aware of them and was already taking precautions against them should have been anything but strategic. 

But the thing was… illusions, the personified concept of lies, was never that simple. All it takes is a little lie for the truth to be rendered asunder. 

It started small, almost negligible, but soon they all started to see it. Most of all, Harribel. 

At this point, he was no longer struggling with her. It was a surreal thing to see. 

It wasn't that she got weaker whole he grew stronger, in fact the opposite was the case. Harribel grew stronger with her Reiryoku and Reiatsu focused to the limits of her control, while Itachi abandoned everything else to his illusions. He became weaker while she grew stronger. 

….. 

The first to notice the shift was Ulquiorra and a second later, Baraggan. Though they noticed, they couldn't explain what was happening. 

"His illusions, it's affecting her. Except I don't know how deep." Ulquiorra said with a slight frown as he readied his attack. 

"Let's pound that bastard! What are we waiting here for?" Yammy Llargo, the physically biggest Espada shouted in frustration. He has been itching since forever to fight a Shinigami, especially a Captain. 

"While I will advise against that, it seems to be the only choice." An extremely focused and compressed green Cero formed, its target none other than Itachi. 

"Cero-" 

"Shunkō!" 

As fast as lightning, none of the Espada could react as a fist covered in lightning socked Ulquiorra right across the face and sent him crashing down into Las Noches. 

"Whoo! Sorry for barging in like that, I'm that guy's plus one."

Lightning crackled all over her body as Yoruichi Shihōin stared down the rest of the Espada.

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A/N: Writing fights around Itachi's illusion is so testing and sometimes I wonder if I manage to convey what is in my head through words with the intended clarity to you guys. Maybe that's why his illusions are so bullshit that even Kishimoto gave up explaining the hows and whys, even the whens. 

And on another note, who invited Yoruichi? Seriously who?