Chapter 168 - Fleeting Phantoms
"Distance only has meaning in a fight between equals." — Sōsuke Aizen.
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After returning from the Shihōin Clan, Itachi sought out Kyōraku to have the man shed some light on the limited information Yūshirō had been able to share. On the Shihōin Head's side, all they had were speculations about the aim of whatever forces were at play and even with that the most he got was that they might be possibly after the Clan's Sacred Relics – of which Itachi had only the barest information on.
As for why he came to Kyōraku, it was because the man, like Soi Fon, was from a minor noble family.
The little he knew about the Sacred Relics of the clans was that it differed with each clan and some of them even predated the Gotei 13. Some of them could be inherited, some of them were considered Sacred Relics because of how outlandish the abilities they possessed were.
As for what the Relics of these clans were, no one apart from the Head of these families and a select number of elders knew about their existence, much less their importance.
'Another dead end.' After speaking with Kyōraku, he understood why, despite the boy's favorable impression of him, Yūshirō only gave him the barebones of whatever they knew. And even that was him being generous. 'Clans and secrets.' He mused.
Times like these made him miss when he was just another subordinate among many. All Yoruichi had to do was give him a mission and all he had to do was carry it out.
'Simpler times indeed. But I guess that is what makes past memories so fond.' Tsukuyomi said, surprising Itachi for a moment. Ever since achieving Bankai, both Zanpakutō spirits mellowed out and their voices weren't as frequent as they used to be.
They would speak to him every now and then but most of the time they were content with sitting back and watching him live his life through his own decisions.
"Captain!" Someone called out to him.
He recognized the man that ran up to him. He was part of Marechiyo's clique – a group of lazy and pompous noble scions. At least that was how they used to be. Under his leadership, the 2nd Division became the strictest Division of the Gotei – the 2nd Division, not the Onmistukidō.
"Kirata. What is it?" He asked evenly, his voice causing the Shinigami to subconsciously stand ramrod straight.
"A direct summons for you, sir." The man informed him, saluted and waited for Itachi's explicit dismissal before he turned around and left.
He had an idea what the Head Captain wanted to ask of him.
Traversing the distance in thirty seconds, he arrived at the 1st Division and made his way to Yamamoto's office unimpeded.
"Captain Uchiha."
"Head Captain, sir." He greeted with a slight bow.
"The Noble Families. Keep your participation to a minimum and not overly direct. For now at least."
He wasn't surprised by the Head Captain's words, having already suspected something along such lines. It was for this same reason that he was still inside the Seireitei while his subordinates were outside carrying out his orders.
"Central 46?"
Yamamoto's irritated grunt gave him the answer to his question.
He was tempted to ask the Head Captain concerning the Sacred Relics in the custody of the Noble Families but refrained from doing so.
Even if he was the Head Captain, he was not privy to clan secrets. And if he happened to know one or two things, he wouldn't share it unless it was for a specific reason.
A word of caution later and Itachi left the Head Captain's office.
Somehow he felt placated seeing that his bias towards nobles was justified. They were tenaciously adept at making a mohill out of the smallest inconvenience.
If not for this particular issue, he would have been going to the World of the Living in the coming days to deliver Yamamoto's decisions to them, and hopefully bring them back to the Gotei 13.
The caw of crows drew his attention and made him look up where he could see three crows flying around.
He held out his arm and one of the crows perched there and stared into his eyes while slowly tilting its head.
He had to commend that girl. She worked fast.
"Good girl." He said as he petted the crow's feathery hide. The other two crows were from his agents posted around the Seireitei.
There was no new news. They were still at a delicate equilibrium but Itachi couldn't help but feel that the current situation was like putting a lid over a furiously boiling pot of water.
…..
[The Tengu POV]
Under his Captain's direct command, the demon-masked Shinigami slithered through the shadows. He will patiently lie in wait until his prey walks straight into his open maw.
He had no doubt that should he accomplish his directives, silent suspicion from the involved parties would fall on his Captain. And there laid the beauty of technicalities.
They might suspect, they might rage, but what they wouldn't do is say it out loud. On what basis?
The Tengu – a vengeful wraith that carried out his master's bidding. An ominous omen. Such was the identity that the wearer of the mask bore… And once again, he has been let loose to carry out his master's bidding.
Following the disappearing trail of the foiled assassinations, he ventured unseen into the deeper forestation of the Seireitei until the last trail finally ran cold.
With the patience of the underworld reaper, he slowly and thoroughly combed the entire area for even the slightest hint that would point him in a direction.
If he still isn't able to sniff out a trail, he'll wait patiently for any of the Kuchiki, Shiba and Kasumioji to act and then shadow them until he finds his window to act.
Those assassins, with how on guard these Noble Families had been, shouldn't have been able to get so close to their targets without precise help from spies that were close to the targets. If he could figure that out, then they would too. All he had to do was patiently lie in wait, shadow and predict their concurrent actions from the one they were about to make.
After having no success in stringing up any sort of trail, the Tengu receded back into the shadows and patiently waited.
The fortune of his virtue was rewarded hours later when he received a discrete message from none other than Snake.
How the Snake had found him and even delivered a message to him, even he couldn't tell. Out of all the others, the Snake was the one that unnerved him the most.
The shadows around him wobbled as he once again kicked into action. This time his target wasn't one he could miss.
'Kuchiki.'
The message from the Snake contained only one word and from just that word alone he had gotten the trail he'd been looking for.
The Tengu will not miss his strike.
...
[The Snake POV]
He was the most unassuming out of all the masked. His identity as Snake was just as deceptive as the way he carried himself and the methods with which he completed his missions.
His garb was the classic one every member of the Onmistukidō wore, with the only exception being the mask. And even his mask was not as pronounced and eye-catching as that of the others, with the details on its surface being more noticeable with closer scrutiny.
And just like everything about him was part of a greater deception, the mission he was given bore the same details.
'Relay with the Kuchiki.' That was the order, except it didn't simply mean keeping an eye on them. It was his job to either distract or prod the Kuchiki group in the direction he wanted them to go. All while not directly engaging in contact with them.
He also had to establish communications between the Eagle and the Tengu.
With the Tengu shadowing the Kuchiki and Eagle, along with his brood, doing whatever it was that they were doing, the only Noble Family still in the jars was the Kasumioji.
'It's a trap.' He soon figured out as he watched the Kuchiki group being led by the nose with them being blissfully ignorant.
The Tengu no doubt has figured it out too. All that remained for the Snake to complete his mission was to see how the Tengu will act.
Deceptively misleading or not, his mission never changed.
'Relay with the Kuchiki. Let them act as they please.'
All in all, it wasn't the most complicated mission he's carried out.
His form disappeared from where he had been keeping watch and reappeared after a few seconds, his posture never changing as if he never left.
Covered by the shadow cast by the eye slits of his mask, a shrill shine reflected off the eyes behind the mask. Under the gaze of those ensnaring orbs, all types of falsehood and schemes gave the impression of being seen through.
The Snake focused back on his mission but every now and then his form would disappear only to reappear a few seconds later.
Of course his simple reconnaissance mission also involved dealing with the strays.
[Images]
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