Meeting With The Akatsuki

A/N: Summer break is here and I can finally write my life away! This Volume is going to have three main events. While I won't spoil them entirely, I will say that one of these Events will be a War. Personally really excited to write the whole thing, so ya.

Rei was travelling full speed in the direction Itachi had escaped to. Using Flash Step, in instances, his body continually vanished like a phantom on top of a tree branch only to reappear far away on another. 'He got far despite how tired he appeared to be. It would really be a waste to let someone like him get away.'

As Rei continued to move at top speed like this for a while, it was only in that instance when his guard was lowered that he spotted something. It was nearly invisible except for the slightly shine it gave off in the sunlight. "A wire?" Lowering his head, he ducked under the wire before jumping over to the next branch and stopping.

"He set traps?" Rei suddenly heard the slight sound of burning as he looked down. Under his foot was an ignited paper bomb ready to go off. 'Oh?' Rei's entire figure was engulfed in the paper bomb's explosion, blowing the tree he was standing on to bits. Far up ahead, Itachi turned his head and looked back, hearing the echo of explosions.

'Seems someone really did give chase. However they caught up much faster than I expected. Ill have to speed up a lit-' Itachi suddenly heard the sound of explosions fade from behind him. No all sound from behind him was completely gone. He had set traps in places that guaranteed activation. However, there was silence.

'Did they give up on chasing me?' Stopping for a moment, Itachi turned his head and looked behind him. After staring for a moment, his eyes caught sight of something shiny coming towards him. Immediately his guard went up as he activated his Sharingan even in his exhausted state.

Having the Sharingan's aid, he saw that it was a blueish white rod that was flying in his direction. 'Whatever that is, I should avoid it.' Itachi prepared to move out of the way; however, just before he did, he heard a voice. "Bakudo #62: Hyapporankan" Reacting to that voice, the rod flying towards Itachi suddenly multiplied.

In an instant, the one rod split apart and turned into hundreds of the blueish-white rods that covered Itachi's view. They quickly sped up and flew in his direction. Dashing to his right, he tried to get out of the strike zone; however, he was too slow. Despite utilizing his Sharingan, he was too exhausted to dodge properly.

Out of the hundreds of rod's that got stuck into his surroundings, three of them had impacted his body and forcefully pinned him up against a large tree. "Can't move." Despite piercing his body, Itachi felt no pain. Whatever this was, it was clearly used for immobilization rather than attacking.

As he struggled, he heard the sound of footsteps and looked down to the ground below him. Walking slowly out of the forestry, Rei walked into the clearing while dusting himself off. "You set up a lot of traps in such a short amount of time. You got me with a few of them." There were only a couple of scratches on Rei's clothes but clearly no real damage.

"You… All of you don't use Jutsu do you?" Rei looked up at Itachi as he heard the question. "Oh? What brought that on?" Itachi spoke slowly and replied. "None of you weave hand signs yet you can use abilities outside of any Jutsu I've seen. Even my Sharingan can't replicate them. I'm guessing there is something unique to your clan? Not a Kekkei Genkai but something else."

Rei didn't respond right away and then shrugged. "Interesting theory I'll give you a 50% on your guess. Sadly I won't be helping you understand the other half." As Itachi looked at Rei, his eyes began to swirl as his Sharingan morphed. However, in the midst of activation, he heard a voice come from next to him.

"There's no need to use your Mangekyou Sharingan any more than you have." Both Itachi and Rei saw a figure begin to form out of the tree trunk Itachi was stuck to. With one half of their body being black and the other white, they had a venus fly trap-like structure covering their upper body. "Zetsu?" Itachi was surprised as the black half spoke to not just Itachi but to Rei as well.

"We have been observing the situation for quite some time. I must admit this mission has evolved far past what I believed possible." Soon the white half of Zetsu spoke as well, this time directly to Rei. "And you! You're really strange you know? We tried to get past that wall of yours but we couldn't phase through even when we tried going under it."

'What kind of ability lets someone phase through things like that. I didn't sense them until they had appeared just now.' Rei began having his brain develop multiple questions and no answers as he remained calm on the outside. "I'm guessing you two are a part of the same group. Zetsu is your name right? Are you here to save him?"

The white half of Zetsu laughed. "Yes of course he's too valuable to let get captured here after all!" Hearing that answer, Rei raised a brow. "Then I guess I'll deal with you first before handling Itachi." Seeing Rei was focusing on them, the black half of Zetsu spoke. "Oh It seems you're mistaken. We won't be the ones taking Itachi away from you. We simply delivered a message."

Rei showed a slight look of confusion as he heard a deep voice come from next to his ear. "Your prowess is indeed impressive." Rei's eyes widened as he drew Ryujin Jakka from its sheath and immediately slashed at space behind him. The speed and strength of the slash caused the ground behind him to kick up mountains of dust; however, no one was there.

"Quite the reaction speed as well." Rei turned his head back around as he saw a man standing not too far away from him. 'How the hell did he get behind me and dodge so fast.' Rei always had his guard up to the point he could sense Zetsu the moment he began revealing himself. But this guy, he didn't even know he was there.

Wearing a spiral orange mask and the same cloaks that Itachi and Kisame wore, the man spoke. "You may address me as Tobi. Itachi is part of my organization under the name of The Akatsuki." Taking that down, Rei calmed his nerves slightly and spoke to Tobi. "Sounds like you're the one in charge then."

"You can consider it that way. Both Itachi and Kisame were sent to gather information on you to see if you were a potential threat. But considering their current states you have checked that box thoroughly." Rei tilted his head to the side as he smirked. "So what now? If you and Itachi escape will I have to worry about assasination attempts?"

Pausing after hearing Rei, Tobi laughed. "Of course not. In fact I was inclined to ask you to join me, however I can already assume what kind of answer you would give." Tobi proceeded to turn around and walk towards the tree Itachi was stuck to. Walking up the side of the tree, he made his way to Itachi.

"So instead I'll tell you this. As long as you stay out of our way we will not bother you. However, on the off chance that you do interfere." Rei saw a dark gaze along with a Sharingan through Tobi's mask. "I will personally make sure everything your protecting with those walls of yours will disappear into dust."

With that, Rei saw Zetsu disappear back into the tree as the space around him and Itachi began to distort and twist. Rei had dealt with spatial type Jutsu before the fact Tobi could teleport in some shape or form was obvious. When it came to Danzo, he was a hassle due to his multiple lives. However, someone who could teleport was even worse, in Rei's opinion.

Thinking that, Rei gave off a smile towards Tobi and Itachi and waved lightly while whispering. "Bakudo #34: Suterusu Tsuiseki." A fast-moving light that's invisible to the naked eyeshot from Rei's palm and split into two before touching both of their bodies. The light quickly faded from even Rei's view as Tobi teleported away.

"Well that takes care of that." They still managed to get Kisame which would be more than enough to extract information about this 'Akatsuki' group. And they had zero casualties which was also a plus. "I best get back, I'm sure everyones already waiting." Turning away, Rei disappeared with a Flash Step and began to make his way back to the Soul Society.

Under his orders, the place where the battle took place was completely empty, with everyone back inside the Soul Society. 'The Akatsuki were unexpected but it shows that news about me has spread further than I thought. Zabuza and Shisui have made significant progress in raising their strength so obtaining their Zanpakuto's shouldn't be far off.'

Thinking back to when he saw Fuyumi unconscious on the ground, Rei bit his lip. 'At the same time I might have relaxed a little too much when it came to Fuyumi, Seiki and Ren's training. But I was almost positive Genjutsu couldn't affect people with Reiryoku.' The Sharingan was a Kekkei Genkai specialising in Visual Genjutsu, so he could only suppose that was the reason.

"Well whatever the case is, I'll find out more once interrogation starts." Raising his hand, Rei had already made it to the outside of the Soul Society. Morphing the Reishi making up the wall, Rei slipped into the Soul Society, and B lined his way to the Central Building. He arrived in a matter of minutes, and there were already three Shinigami waiting outside of the building's main gate.

"Head Captain Rei you've returned!" The three Shinigami immediately ran up to Rei and informed him. "All High Ranking members are already waiting for you in the Meeting Room. There has also been a report that has been delivered to your office as well as instructed by Council Member Shisui." Hearing that, Rei assumed this was an order put in by Shisui.

Rei simply nodded and dismissed the Shinigami before entering the building. As he made his way to the meeting room, Rei could sense the number of Shinigami being deployed as security had almost doubled. 'Did something else happen while I was out?' Reaching the meeting room, Rei opened the doors and walked inside.

Everyone who was available was there, even Ren, who had been locking himself in his study for a while now. "Rei, good , you're here." Shisui stood up with a smile but then strangely glanced at him. Rei knew what he wanted to ask as he responded first while sitting down. "Itachi got away it seems their group is a lot more capable than I thought."

Shisui didn't know whether to be happy or disappointed as he nodded. "I see. Well currently Kisame is being held in the lowest section of the Prison and is under my Squads surveillance. On the other hand Zabuza and Fuyumi are in the Medical Barracks with Haku watching over them. Physically they're fine and Zabuza should be waking up soon but Fuyumi…."

Rei's face turned a little darker as Shisui told him outright. "I don't know what kind of Genjutsu Itachi used on her, but it put her into a comatose. Healing her Physically was no issue. However, what the reports said, her Mental state is on the edge of a breakdown. Something she saw or experienced while in the Genjutsu shattered her mind entirely."

Hearing that, Rei's expression turned grim along with Ren and Seiki's, who were sitting at their seats not too far from him. Shinigami used Kaido arts when it came to healing. It's a completely different section of Kido compared to Hado or Bakudo, and Rei himself can barely call himself proficient when focusing on his other abilities.

Thus there is an entire Squad, although captainless, that focuses on perfecting Kaido. And even Rei had to give the Squad props on their healing ability. It was part of the reason why Shinigami casualties remained so low despite the hollow's numbers growing day by day. However, the one downside to Kaido is it can't heal Psychological Damage.

Inwardly Rei knew what this meant. No matter how physically strong you were, if your mind was broken, then that was it. Fuyumi might have gotten stronger, but she still doesn't come close to having the mind strong enough to deal with an attack like the one Itachi launched on her. He probably targeted Fuyumi for that reason alone instead of Zabuza.

"Those bastards!" Seiki yelled and slammed him on the table. "You should have sent me with her. I would have killed him before he could even think of hurting Fuyumi!" Ren remained silent, but his eyes showed he was just as angry as Seiki. Everyone there felt tense as Kushina thought to herself for a moment and then spoke up.

"There may be a way to help her." Rei, Shisui and everyone else looked at Kushina. "What do you mean?" Hearing Rei, Kushina responded while thinking. "Well like Shisui said, physical healing wont do anything so that means both Kaido and Medical Ninjutsu would be useless. However there are a few Jutsu that affect the mind and if used properly may be able to help her."

Sighing, Kushina lowered her head. "Of course Jutsu like that are quite rare to come across. I only know one clan capable of something like that and they're in the Leaf Village. And considering what I've heard about our relationship with them…" Rei didn't have to hear her continue as he racked his brain for a moment.

"Kushina you're talking about the Yamanaka Clan right?" Hearing the Clan's name, Rei's eyes suddenly lit up with a spark as he turned to Kushina, who nodded. With no hesitation, Rei stood up. "Shisui you and I are going to pay Kisame a visit tomorrow so make sure he stays alive till then. Seiki and Ren I have something planned for you two tomorrow as well. Kushina you will continue your duties as normal."

Under these types of situations, no one expected Rei to give out those kinds of orders suddenly. "Wait what about Fuyumi?" Ren spoke up as Rei glanced at him. "She'll be fine don't worry." Rei's voice was calm to the point everyone found it slightly freaky. But at the same time, he was one of the people who cared about Fuyumi the most, so if he said something, they all believed him.

Hesitantly both Seiki and Ren nodded as they stood up and left the room, with Shisui doing so as well. As Kushina stood up, Rei looked at her and said something. "Kushina I want you to speed up Shinigami recruitment and take precautions for a large-scale battle." Hearing the words Large Scale Kushina immediately showed a look of concern and turned in his direction.

However, Rei had already left the room at that point.