Crows x Souls

"This Reiatsu… Even though I don't know who it's from, they seem to be deep in the heat of battle. Not bad. It sure makes your blood boil, doesn't it?" — Zaraki Kenpachi. 

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[POV: With Jin Kariya] 

His entry into the Seireitei was effortless thanks to Sawatari's Baura and with him using Ichinose's invisibility to search through the 12th Division the previous day, he already knew where it was he needed to go. 

He could feel his comrades Reiatsu being snuffed out and while it pained him greatly, he couldn't stop. Not when he was so close. 

Although he did not need to use Ichinose the day before, as the location of the Jōkaishō was already made known to him, but how could he bring himself to trust the words of a Shinigami? Regardless of the man's current affiliations, the fact that he was a Shinigami was more than enough for Jin to kill him or at the very least reject whatever he had to offer. 

Except that he had given them the one thing they needed for their dream. 

Power. 

Of course, the others, like him, had rejected his offer vehemently, not trusting a bit of what he said at that point, but he had proved it then and there. 

The Hollow that had arrived with the man seemed too much like a Shinigami to not be one, especially when he carried his own Zanpakutō. The best of both worlds. 

According to that man, he and the other Bounts were more similar to Quincy and Shinigami with their Dolls and ability to absorb and manipulate Reishi. 

The man had been too convincing, worryingly persuasive too, that after a rather lengthy talk, with the man surrendering his Zanpakutō to them as a show of trust, did Jin finally agree and ordered Mabashi verify the man's claims. 

And they verified it. 

Mabashi, in front of their eyes, eclipsed everyone's strength, excluding his but it had come close, and not only had his Doll become stronger, he could even manipulate and absorb Reishi with ease in the World of the Living. 

Despite his misgivings, Jin took up the man's offer, knowing that the other alternative was looking for his hiding ex-wife and using her special abilities in a way that he wasn't too keen on but could see the potential benefits. 

As for the man's reasons for wanting to help them, he had answered that he despised the very nature of Shinigami. As for why he didn't attack the Shinigami himself with an army of Hollow, it turned out that he did, halving the Shinigami's pillar of strength in one day. All this had been confirmed by Ichinose during his infiltration. 

As for the main reason why he had agreed to attack the Soul Society now and not wait for later, other than the fact that they only had half of their Captains available, was the fact that the man had been truthful about why he couldn't do it. 

"I just need them to take their eyes off of me for a while to finish my own preparations."

So, following his plans and integrating with the nobles(something they loathed, even if necessary) to ensure a higher chance of survivability on their side, Jin finally took his first step towards great power.

He arrived at the location where the Jōkaishō was hidden and swiftly destroyed the flooring covering it. He stared at the glowing heart of power with bated breath. 

It was right in front of him and he wouldn't hesitate. 

He unhesitatingly started the ritual incantation and started absorbing the Jōkaishō, feeling the brimming power it carried flowing into his power, adding to his already fearsome strength. 

It was his fortune that the ritual wasn't a complicated one and that his absorption abilities as a Bount helped a great deal in taking everything in. 

It was like an infinite well of Reishi inside his body, waiting for him to tap in and drink his fill. 

His reverie was cut short when he spotted a crow perched on top a shelf looking curiously at him. Upon seeing the crow, one of the man's warnings rang in his head. 

'Avoid any crow, at least until you've completely absorbed the Jōkaishō.'

While he wasn't overly cautious of the man behind the crows he knew he was still on the clock. He needed at least a full day to be ready to use the Jōkaishō he absorbed to control the rest of the Jōkaishō hidden across the Seireitei. 

"We'll meet again, Captain of Crows."

Calling forth Messer, his Doll, wind wrapped around his body and carried him out of there with a speed he'd never been capable of. 

He caught sight of a few crows training their eyes on him as he flew past them and started sending out wind blades on any crow he saw. He wouldn't take the chance. Not when his goal was a few hours away. 

In a euphoric haze he spread out his arms and with a single tug, pulled the surrounding Reishi towards him-

CRACK. CRACK. 

Pieces of reality as he saw them fell off like shards of a broken mirror, some reflecting a pair of patterned eyes, others reflecting his actions – former actions. 

"What is this?" He looked around in confusion and saw that he was back at the lab, the Jōkaishō already absorbed by him, and yet here he still was even though he was ABSOLUTELY sure that he just left. 

A soft movement caught the corner of his eyes causing his head to snap in the movement's direction to see the same crow blinking confusedly at him. 

Calling for Messer again, the sensation just as it had been moments ago, he shot off the lab, not caring as he destroyed a part of it in his liftoff. He was heading straight out of the Seireitei, no longer wanting to idle around, but that was not to be as, to his horror, the sound of glass breaking and the view of mirrors falling filled his senses. 

"What is the meaning of this?!" He half shouted, not understanding what was happening. 

An illusion. 

'Yes, that's what it is. An illusi-ʼ His thought was cut off as the corner of his eyes caught the same soft movement for the third time. 

"You!!" A vacuum of pressurized wind obliterated the crow but Jin dared not be relieved yet. Once again, this time with faint trembling in his heart, he shot off with both Messer and the Jōkaishō strengthening and enhancing him far beyond any limits he once had. 

'Don't crack. Don'tcrackdon'tcrackdon'tcrackdon'tcrack-'

CRACK. CRACK. CRACK. 

Something else was threatening to crack in Jin's mind. What type of sorcery is this? 

Finding himself back at the lab, the first thing he did was explode the damned crow to a plume of falling feathers and wisps of smoke. 

This time around, he didn't shoot out through the roof instead went through the road he'd passed through when he'd arrived. 

Finally making it out, Kariya bolted along the road and when he was beginning to feel that he's finally escaped, an excited voice reached his ears. 

"Back off, Itachi. This one is mine." He followed the last voice and saw a towering man landing on the ground and causing it to crack. 

He looked around, trying to find this Captain Uchiha but couldn't even find the man and it was only when he turned back to Kenpachi and trailed his eyes to what the man was looking at that he saw it. Hordes of crows hiding among the shadows, all staring at him with beady eyes. 

"You feel strong." Kenpachi said, nodding to himself and then reaching for his sword and giving it two precise swings. "Now don't be as disappointing as the last two."

Jin Kariya looked at the man before him and could feel the great amount of Reiatsu wafting off every pore of his being, without him actively releasing it. 

"You are the second Captain I've directly met, and the first I'll fight." Red Reiatsu matched the golden yellow of Kenpachi, making the man smile. 

"And why are you saying all that?" Kenpachi asked while casually walking towards Jin who was mirroring his actions. 

Mini tornadoes formed around Jin's limbs. "I hope you don't disappoint me." Fist met sword in the middle and a great explosion of air was the result, and it was so great that the integrity of the houses and roads were put to the test. 

Jin increased the bludgeoning winds around him hands to better resist Kenpachi's blade and used his other hand to send an arc of razor-sharp wind at Kenpachi's chest. 

Instead of flinching in pain of disentangling from Jin to better avoid the wind blade, Kenpachi did no such thing, simply laughing even as the wind blade tore a line across his chest that spilled blood. 

Seeing him ignoring his wounds and just blindly pressing on the attack, Jin tried disengaging from Kenpachi but the man's blade slithered so fast like a snake and tore a nasty line from top to bottom across his torso. 

"1:1. Give and take, that's the idea."

Jin said nothing but simply healed himself with Reishi, which caused Kenpachi's smile to grow even wider. 

"Yes! This is more like it." His Zanpakutō seemed to agree and it hummed in delight. The promise of spilled blood too exciting for the ever-silent blade to ignore. 

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