Hibiki v. Raygin (NDE) [DONE]

Most days, life was relatively boring in the fourth division. There were relatively few injured delivered to the barracks on the average day, so there was enough free time to allow for a leisurely lifestyle. This had left plenty of time for Vice-Captain Kamikawa to select an outfit for the day. Today, he was dressed relatively casually, but his standards of casual were vastly different from that of the average Shinigami. While most Shinigami tended to wear nothing but a Shihakusho, Hibiki favored clothing modeled after the latest human world fashions, and they often caused him to stick out like a sore thumb.

On this particular day, the Vice Captain wore a pair of acid washed jeans with holes over the right knee and left thigh. His feet sported a pair of black Nikes with white laces, and standard white tube socks insulated his feet from the shoes. Hibiki’s upper body sported a bright yellow t-shirt that depicts a man sleeping on a desk. From this man’s head, a cloud of many blurred colors erupts forth, and the words “Dream in Color” are visible beside the cloud. His left wrist was wrapped by a simple grey sports watch. The usual silver-framed sunglasses with purple lenses hid Hibiki’s eyes from sight, and an unlit cigarette dangled from his mouth. A sleek black and white sheath holding the vice captain’s zanpakuto was secured to his pants by a nondescript black leather belt.

It had appeared that this would just be another day spent doing paperwork for Hibiki, much to his vexation. Paperwork was one of Hibiki’s least favorite tasks as a Vice Captain, but the fourth squad required a great deal of it. Every patient that came through the barracks had to be documented, and a seated officer was required to look over all paperwork. Considering that the fourth division only had one seated officer beyond the captain and vice-captain, this meant that Vice-Captain Kamikawa was required to do far more paperwork than he ever desired. He had spent most of the morning working on paperwork, and there was no end of it in sight.

Hibiki stepped out of his office to grab some fresh air and was greeted by a hell butterfly. The message it delivered was simple and straightforward. Someone had requested a match with Hibiki. Vice-Captain Kamikawa was to appear at a remote section of forest in Rukongai in two hours if he accepted. The message had come from the Tenth Division’s Fourth Seat, Sakubura Raygin. Hibiki did not immediately recognize the name, nor did he particularly care who had issued this challenge. This was as good an excuse as any to blow off his paperwork! He hastily instructed the hell butterfly to return to Raygin. Upon its arrival, it would let Raygin know that Hibiki had accepted his challenge.

The specific forest in Rukongai mentioned in the message was only an hour away if Hibiki jogged. After checking his watch, Hibiki noted that it was only 1100. He made the decision to grab a light lunch of grilled cheese and tomato soup before heading out. The meal was prepared and finished within half an hour, putting Hibiki ahead of schedule. To ensure he would arrive exactly on time, he set out at brisk walk for his match with Raygin. As Hibiki passed through the gates to Rukongai and headed towards the forest, he kept a close eye on the time. He would pace himself to arrive exactly on time, not a moment sooner and not a moment later.



Hibiki’s watch beeped once to indicate it was now 1300, the moment that Hibiki should be there. A mere instant after the beep, Hibiki emerged from dense woodland into a clearing where he laid eyes on Raygin for the first time. With his energy sensory stat of 100, Hibiki was able to tell that his spiritual pressure was significantly greater than Raygin’s while they were both unreleased, but that didn’t give him much to go on. This had left Hibiki feeling curious, but he wondered far more about why Raygin had chosen him to fight out of all the possible Shinigami. Hibiki was a vice-captain, but most of his time was spent fixing wounds, not causing them.

“Good afternoon Raygin. I must admit, I was happy to receive your challenge, but what made you want to fight me, a member of squad four? Answer me that, and we can begin as soon as you are ready.” With those words, the vice-captain settled into his basic fighting stance. His left side faced forward, and his feet were just beyond shoulder’s width apart. Hibiki’s left arm maintained a guard over his face and his right arm defended his torso. There were no obvious openings in his guard, and his bent knees indicated that he was ready to move at a moment’s notice. It was clear that Hibiki had allowed Raygin the first move. Although Raygin was allowed the first attack, Hibiki had already planned one step ahead. With Raygin’s energy sensory it was likely that he would notice the energy that began to build in Hibiki’s legs. Even if Raygin was to attack immediately, the vice-captain would not be caught off guard.

Reiatsu: 4000/4000

OOC: It should be noted that Raygin has declared that he forfeited the right to attack first in chat.

IC: “Hey Hibiki! Don’t worry, this isn’t for some petty reason Hibiki. It might have made more sense to ask one of my Squad members, but I would have rather done with a member of the Healing squad." This was possibly the oddest reason that Hibiki had ever heard for someone challenging him. Most Shinigami would prefer to fight someone from Squads 6, 7, or 11 because of their fighting prowess. The only reason people tended to fight Hibiki was because they knew he was skilled with Kido, or if they knew he used to be in the fifth. Sure, fighting a member of Squad Four meant you would walk away with virtually no wounds because of their talent for healing, but most people didn’t expect a good fight out of the fourth. It was also odd that Raygin knew who Hibiki was. To most, the fourth division members were all just nameless healers, with the exception of Ishi-taicho of course. For the life of him, Hibiki couldn’t remember ever seeing Raygin before.

“Alright, the reason I asked you to do this is because I want to know how well I can do against someone who is capable of defending themselves without being on the attacking side. That wasn’t the best way to put it..uhm…” Well, now Raygin was starting to make a bit more sense at least. Learning how to fight defensive enemies was definitely important. Raygin’s comment about his lack of social grade earned a slight chuckle from Hibiki. He was indeed a defensive fighter, and did his best work in prolonged fights. Raygin had hit the nail on the head, but apparently he thought the truth was offensive. Before Hibiki could get a word in, Raygin tried to restate himself without sounding insulting.

“I had heard your Zanpakuto is really good at support, and I wanted to see how well it could do if you were being attacked and how well I could do if I am battling someone with skills similar to yours. I am used to fighting enemies that love to get up in your face, but not so much long range and support types. So I figured that this could benefit us both with some experience and practice. And if one of us gets hurt then you're here to help with the injuries.” With this clearer explanation, Hibiki was able to get a pretty clear picture of why Raygin wanted to fight him. Either Raygin was a close combat type that was worried about long range fighters, or he was a long range fighter looking for a comparable matchup. Either way, Raygin was right. More practice is never a bad thing, and they would both walk away from this fight in one piece. Hibiki had been sure to let Captain Lorilad know where he was going before he went to meet Raygin. There was always the off-chance that this was a trap after all. If he did not return by sundown, then a rescue squad would likely be sent to fetch him.



Raygin took up a rather peculiar stance to begin the encounter. Normally, if someone is fighting from a stance with a sheathed blade, they are planning to use Battojutsu, a style of fighting that results in incredibly fast sword swings. In Hibiki’s mind, the problem with Ray’s stance was that it should only allow for a top left to bottom right diagonal slash as his opening move. Hibiki’s thoughts were interrupted, as Raygin’s mouth never seemed to stop moving. “I hope that is a good enough reason. Is it? Because I doubt I can come up with a better one.”

With an easily audible sigh, Hibiki shot an irritated glance towards Raygin for just a moment. It was rather out of character for the vice-captain to show his exasperation, but Raygin had just been talking far too much for his liking. “If we are here to train, then let us train Raygin. In truth, your reason matters little, so long as you have one. While I am a vice-captain, I get the feeling that our fighting strength is about equal since some of my talents are in healing. I have no intention to kill you, but aside from not purposely aiming for your vitals, I have no plans to hold back.” It was immediately obvious that Hibiki meant the last part of his statement. His stance widened slightly, and he began to let his reiatsu flow out unrestrained. Since Hibiki was two classes stronger than Raygin, the effect would be apparent instantly. Raygin would find his knees shaking, and his breathing would only be able to come in short gasps.

Hibiki was the type that would press this advantage in a heartbeat. The release of his unrestrained power would not do a great amount once Raygin got used to it, but this first experience would definitely create an opening. A quick step of Shunpo brought Hibiki across the clearing, and he landed in a fighting stance on Raygin’s left. The moment he landed, Hibiki immediately threw a right cross at Ray’s ribs. Several factors virtually guaranteed the blow would land. The blow came from the side where Raygin’s guard was the weakest. It would take an inhuman feat of speed to get his sword in the way of Hibiki’s fist. Even if Ray was able to do this somehow, his spiritual pressure was so much so much weaker than Hibiki’s that Ray would be the one to suffer a wound. On top of that, Ray’s guard would be even weaker because of the crushing sensation caused by Hibiki’s unrestrained reiatsu. The final factor of Hibiki’s advantage was Ray’s limited knowledge of his fighting style. With an ability of three in mixed martial arts, Hibiki’s skills were only bested by some of the most skilled fighters in the world, even if most assumed a member of Squad Four couldn’t throw a punch correctly. Like most, Raygin only knew of the vice-captain long-range abilites, and the melee attack would likely come as a complete surprise to him. Such an attack would be far from fatal if it landed with Hibiki’s low physical strength. It would likely cause Ray some pain, but would only be likely to leave a large bruise.

The attack was almost completely sure to succeed, but this position would leave Hibiki exposed to a counterattack if he just stood there. With this in mind, he followed through by using the momentum of his punch to spin around his opponent. His rear foot took a step towards the center of Ray’s back, and he pivoted 360 degrees on the ball of this foot. By using the force that this pivot had generated, Hibiki threw a left spinning hammerfist towards Ray’s right kidney. Since this strike was aimed at a more vulnerable spot and had Hibiki’s entire weight behind it, the blow would likely cause Ray to be in a good deal of pain if it landed. The area would likely be bruised, and his kidney may even be damaged slightly. The speed at which Hibiki executed this technique would keep him out of the way of most possible counters to his first strike.

The vice-captain continued to use the momentum he had built up, and stepped once more towards Ray’s right side. There smoothness of the afternoon grass caused him to slide several feet past Ray, putting him just out of sword range. He turned his fighting stance to face Ray, his face a strange mixture of kindness and serious concentration. The look on his face sent the message that, while he was not holding back, he was still not trying to seriously injure Raygin. “While I may not be known for my hand to hand combat skills, that doesn’t mean you should assume I don’t have them. I have said I won’t hold back against you, but I see no reason to use my zanpakuto immediately if such attacks are sufficient.” In truth, Hibiki was far worse with his zanpakuto than his bare hands. His true strength was fighting with Kido, but Raygin would figure that out soon enough.

Reiatsu: 3950/4000
-50 for Shunpo

It was only natural that the first punch landed. With so many factors in play, it would have been bordering on miraculous for Ray to defend himself from that blow. The hammerfist however, was an attack that Hibiki had not expected to land. He still had several elements in his favor with that strike, but surprise was not among them. Without that aid, Hibiki had expected Raygin to be able to counter somehow. This left him questioning whether or not Raygin could actually put up a good fight. That being said, what seat was this guy even? It occurred to Hibiki that he no clue what squad Raygin belonged to, nor did he know what seat he was. The only thing even guaranteeing he was a seated officer was the fact that Hibiki’s reiatsu did not push him to his knees

“I gotta say Hibiki, you sure as good. I haven’t seen moves like that before. Really did catch me by surprise. Ah! You got my kidney pretty hard. Not bad, I am probably gonna wiz red.” Did Raygin really just take his strikes, and do nothing but make a joke about it? Hibiki was aware his physical strength was lacking, but a joke and smile just seemed like too much. Perhaps the vice-captain had underestimated this challenger. With that thought, a smile had blossomed across Hibiki’s face. Maybe he would be able to have some fun with this fight after all.

“I hope you’re ready Hibiki. You told me you were going to fight all out. I will honor you and do the same.” Between Ray’s actions and words, it appeared that things were about to get interesting. “Rip through the skies and cut the wind, Zeroshiki! This is my Zanpakuto, as you can see.” Sure enough, things had gotten interesting in a hurry. With his skill in battle analysis, Hibiki quickly pieced together a few thoughts about Raygin’s release. With blades like that, it looks completely impractical for use in melee combat. He’d be just as likely to lop of his own arm as he would my own. That probably means he’s a long ranged fighter, which means I ought to keep my distance a bit more so I can dodge.

Listen to this

In order to make sure to give him enough time to react whatever Raygin’s initial attack would be, Hibiki left backwards in the instant that Ray changed his grip. He landed roughly 35 feet away, which he thought would be enough room to react. “Hope you’re ready Hibiki.” Hibiki now had distance, and a warning. This was plenty of time to build up the bit of reiatsu he would need for his method of defense. Since Raygin had released his zanpakuto this early, then so too would Hibiki. As Raygin began the motion to throw Zeroshiki, Hibiki’s left arm reached down to grab his sheath and pulled it from his belt. The vice-captain held his zanpakuto, by the hilt with his right hand, horizontally at eye-level and threw the sheath to the side with his left hand. Instead of falling to the ground, the sheath stayed perfectly balanced on the point of the blade, and almost appeared to hover in mid-air. The medic’s reiatsu briefly pulsed a bright white as he called out, “Design, Hitsu!”

The wave of energy quickly expanded outwards, and then instantly collapsed on itself when it reached roughly a foot away from Hibiki’s zanpakuto. The blade was no more, and in its place was a white bo staff with black markings near the ends. From his newly released weapon, Hibiki pulled out what appeared to be a sheet of cloth. With Raygin’s energy sensory skill, he would immediately notice that the cloth was made of spirit particles, and was not normal fabric. The cloth was the same bright white as Hitsu, but over the white was a blue and back Tattersall pattern. This was Hibiki’s defensive ability, and it symbolized his desire to prevent wounds from occurring in the first place. In just a short instant, Hibiki had released his Zanpakuto and created his first sheet of Reikiji.

The vice-captain mentally instructed the sheet to intercept Zeroshiki, and it took off at a speed that far surpassed his own. Sheets of Reikiji were able to move at speeds up to Hibiki’s reiatsu strength, which was currently 600. The sheet of Tattersall intercepted Zeroshiki at around 10 feet away from its origin, but lacked the physical strength to stop the attack. However, Raygin’s attack also lacked the reiatsu strength to cut through a sheet of Tattersall Reikiji. The result was that the sheet was pushed back towards Hibiki, but it was able to slow the attack by around half. If Raygin did not alter Zeroshiki’s flight trajectory at all, the momentum would carry Zeroshiki and the sheet of Tattersall Reikiji into the woods.

This decrease in speed allowed Hibiki enough time to jump to the side and still dodge the attack, but only by a hair’s breadth. He had not been counting on the massive strength of Zeroshiki, and his face showed it with a smile. This was to be a fun fight indeed. Since it was apparent that neither combatant was going to hold back at all, Hibiki decided it was time begin unleashing his own method of attack, kido. The fight was still young, and far from deadly, so a low level spell would suffice. But why use one kido when you could use two? Hibiki quickly charged the Reiatsu required for both of the number four spells. His right hand began to glow white, while his left began to glow orange. First he threw his left arm towards Raygin and called out, “Bakudo number four, Hainawa!” Without missing a beat, he raised his right index finger towards Raygin and called out his second spell, “Hado number four, Byakurai!” The spells raced towards Raygin, and would leave him in quite a predicament if he did not do something about them. Hainawa would bind his arms to his torso, making fighting (and catching Zeroshiki) quite difficult. The Byakurai that traveled right behind it would likely deal rather bloody wound if it struck, as despite being a low-level hado, it was a spell whose unmatched piercing power was something that Hibiki had mastered.

Reiatsu: 3700/4000
-200 for Shikai
-25 for Hainawa
-25 for Byakurai

Shikai: 1/10
Sheets Active: 1 Tattersall

Play this

Hibiki had expected the Raygin to use Shunpo to dodge his kido. It was the natural response, and by far the easiest way to dodge. The purpose of these Kido had not been to hit, but rather to force Raygin to use Shunpo. Now, Hibiki was able to analyze their relative speeds, and he was aware that Raygin was just barely faster than him. Raygin had dodged into the trees, but Hibiki was able to track him rather effectively due to his above average senses and energy sensory. “So, your Zanpakuto is cloth huh? That’s something different I gotta say.” From the sound of it, Raygin is generally impressed with Hitsu. I’ve never had anyone be able to knock away Tattersall so effortlessly, so I suppose the feeling is mutual. “Your strength is nothing to laugh at, but you haven’t even come close to seeing all my tricks yet Raygin. The fun is just about to get started!”

Without missing a beat, Raygin began his attack anew, and Hibiki responded in kind. He sent the sheet of Tattersall to block Zeroshiki only a split-second after Raygin threw it. Between the sheet's speed of 600, and Zeroshiki’s constantly increasing speed, the two met almost instantaneously. The sheet offered little resistance to the increased power of Zeroshiki. While the sheet had far too high of a reiatsu strength to be destroyed, the stronger attack from Zeroshiki was only able to be slowed by 25%. While it was not much, Hibiki’s battle analysis predicted that it would be just enough time for him to execute a counterattack, but Raygin had not been content to just throw his weapon this time.

Raygin had dropped to the ground, and Hibiki had instantly assumed this was for another attack. If he was just going to throw Zeroshiki, then it would have made more sense to stay in the trees where punishing his defenselessness would be far harder. By the time Ray had begun rolling across the ground, the vice-captain was beginning his own attack. He ripped a second sheet of Reikiji out of Hitsu while he began to charge reiatsu for his attack. The sheet that emerged was black as the night, and the only visible parts of it that were any other color were the thin, white, vertical stripes that ran down its length.

Now play this. It's time to get serious!

Unlike the Tattersall, which stayed as a sheet, this Pinstripe Reikiji immediately snapped around Hibiki’s form. The cloth formed into a three-piece suit and fedora, drastically altering Hibiki’s appearance. Before, Hibiki was someone that was easy to mistake for an aloof teenager, but now it was obvious that he meant business. The Pinstripe Bindings had doubled his reiatsu strength to 1200, which also meant that the speed of his Reikiji had also doubled since it was controlled at a speed equal to his reiatsu strength. This new speed allowed him to further slow the rapidly approaching Zeroshiki. He was now, once again, able to reduce its velocity and acceleration by half, as both Zeroshiki and he had doubled their powers since the first throw.

This change in his reiatsu strength had occurred quickly, but not quickly enough to give him much time left to dodge. Even worse, Hibiki saw that there was now a Byakurai coming at him as well. He summoned up a bit more of his strength, and fired off his own Byakurai to intercept it. Since Hibiki had mastered Byakurai, and was a master of kido in general to boot, he did not need to recite the name of this lowly spell to cast. In this instance, the second it would take to shout that one word would make a world of difference, so Hibiki simply opted for a less powerful attack.

The unspoken hado was weaker than if he would have said its name, but it was still fired with SIX times Raygin’s reiatsu strength. With this massive difference in reiatsu strength, Hibiki’s Byakurai cut through Raygin's as if it was not even there. If Raygin did not move or defend himself in some way, a Byakurai of this strength would tear through the fourth seat like butter. If this attack hit, it would punch clean through Raygin and leave a massive wound. With one less attack to worry about, Hibiki’s attention returned to the rapidly approaching mass of Tattersall that was pushed at him by Zeroshiki. The vice-captain was aware that Zeroshiki was becoming more powerful, as he was sure that Tattersall had done more to slow it on the first throw. Not wanting to risk being hit by such a powerful force, he used shunpo to dart to the other side of the clearing. This maneuver left him with a clear view of what Raygin’s next move would be, and gave him around 40 feet in which he could react to it. His position left him at an equal distance to both Raygin and Zeroshiki, so he would be able to respond to whichever threat headed his way equally well.

Based on Raygin’s previous reaction to the Byakurai and Hainawa, Hibiki expected him to use shunpo to avoid an attack once more. The vice captain’s reiatsu built up once more as he readied yet another Byakurai. He would not fire yet, but instead, he would wait until Raygin attempted to dodge the incoming shot. Only once Raygin had avoided, or somehow defended against, the shot already on its way then would Hibiki fire this next attack. He would not give Raygin even a second to recover his guard, but would fire in the first second that Raygin thought he was out of danger. However, if Raygin took the full force of the current attack, then there would be no need to fire another. If the first Byakurai dealt a severe wound, then Hibiki would not be so cruel as to fire another at a wounded ally immediately.

While Hibiki’s attacks were certainly ruthless, he was really beginning to enjoy himself. The paperwork was a mile away, and the stress was leaving his body rapidly. Even though it would seem inappropriate to most, a genuinely happy smile was present on the healer’s face. It was not a smile that signified the love of battle, but rather a smile that showed he was simply happy to be away from the tedium of his normal work. Raygin was a strong enough opponent that he was really able to let loose, but was not strong enough to easily crush him underfoot.

Reiatsu: 3425/4000
-200 for Pinstripe Bindings
-50 for Shunpo
-25 for Byakurai (25 Reiatsu queued for second one)

Shikai: 2/10
Reikiji Active: 1 Tattersall Sheet, 1 Pinstripe Binding

New Reiatsu Strength: 1200

Play this

This was nothing short of absurd. Hibiki knew for a fact that his reiatsu strength was far more powerful than Raygin’s, so how was he able to block the Byakurai with Zeroshiki? It was only after the beam of energy dispersed that he was able to see it. For just a second, he saw that Zeroshiki was coated in Tattersall, but the pattern vanished as soon as Raygin grabbed it. A quick glance at the sheet of Tattersall made it clear that Raygin was not physically taking the material with Zeroshiki, and it wasn’t stealing the power since Tattersall was still effective. The only explanation was that Zeroshiki could somehow mimic the effects of things it hits, but apparently the effect was temporary. The big question was whether or not he could freely manipulate what ability Zeroshiki had active, or if it only happened after making contact. The vice-captain would be sure to pay closer attention to how Zeroshiki changed its appearance from now on.

In the instant that Raygin used a stepping technique to move away, Hibiki fired another Byakurai at the fourth seat. Fortunately for Raygin, his next step of shunpo took him out of the way a split-second before the attack hit him. This second step of Shunpo took Raygin to the forest, and it would be hard to hit him there with a low-level kido. If a small spell like Byakurai was sure to miss, then Hibiki would just need to use a larger attack. This meant it was time to start bringing some serious firepower. Before preparing his attack, he mentally ordered his Tattersall Sheet to keep a constant guard on his back. With this order, the Tattersall would rotate with Hibiki and keep his back protected from attack.

Hibiki slammed Hitsu into the ground at his feet, and began to build up a large amount of reiatsu. He pulled forth another sheet of Pinstripe Reikiji as he noticed Zeroshiki fly past him due to Raygin recalling it. A quick pivot had him facing the correct direction, and he began to chant an incantation. "Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens.” Using the incantation was unnecessary for a master of kido such as Hibiki, but this would ensure the maximum destructive power of the attack was achieved. Since Raygin had taken a moment in the tree to come up with a plan, Hibiki had finished the incantation by the time Raygin reappeared on the ground.

Play This: Vasto Lorde Theme

At the moment that Raygin called out “Hey Hibiki!” he was met with the response of “Hado number 73: Soren Sokatsui!” Hibiki pivoted once more to face Raygin, and the new sheet of Pinstripe Reikiji flew up to his outstretched hands. In the split second before the sheet of Pinstripe covered his vision, he noted that Zeroshiki was not in Raygin’s hands, but it was also not visible elsewhere. It was in this moment that Raygin launched his Hyapporankan, and in the same instant Hibiki let forth an attack that was far more massive than anything Raygin would ever have experienced. A basic Sokatsui fired by any of the captains was capable of causing widespread damage, and likely would have been sufficient here. Sure, Hyapporankan would piece through it and both sides would probably be hit, but Hibiki’s attack was a world apart from a normal Sokatsui.

This attack was Soren Sokatsui, and it had been used with the incantation. Beyond that, it was amplified by both Hibiki’s Pinstripe Bindings and the Sheet of Pinstripe Reikiji that he had just summoned. With this amplification, the Soren Sokatsui had a mind-boggling reiatsu strength of 2400. The result was the stuff of legends. Soren Sokatsui would rapidly expand as it left Hibiki’s hands to pass through the sheet of Reikiji. By the time it would reach its maximum size, it would destroy a large section of the forest. If Raygin did not do something to stop this attack, he would suffer massive burns over his entire body and be put into a critical state of health.

Unfortunately for Raygin, rather than dodging the attack immediately, he chose to fire his own Sokatsui at Hibiki. The Hyapporankan and Sokatsui were both several classes weaker than Hibiki’s Soren Sokatsui, and Hibiki’s attack now had TWELVE TIMES the reiatsu strength of Raygin’s kido. Soren Sokatsui flew straight through Raygin’s attacks as if they were not there, destroying them utterly. With the amount of time Raygin had given Hibiki to prepare this attack, he had put himself into a nearly impossible position to escape from. His kido was completely neutralized, and he had an attack whose sheer size easily dwarfed that large buildings. On top of that, since he had moved back into the clearing, he would find that he was once again close enough to Hibiki to feel the effects of the gravitational pressure. His knees would be shaking, and he would be struggling to not suffocate from the sheer weight of the vice-captain’s power. On top of that, the rapid use of three stepping techniques, as well as two kido would have left the fourth seat rather tired since he was not an adept user of hoho or kido. In this state, it would be nothing short of a miracle for him to dodge an attack so large and powerful that the map of the forest would have to be redrawn to show a barren wasteland.

Hibiki was well aware what his next course of action had to be. He needed to locate Zeroshiki, and find a way to counter it. A quick glance upwards showed it was not coming from above, and so he spun 180 degrees to his left, grabbing Hitsu with his right hand in the process. As he spun, he noted that it was not coming from the left, but instead saw it rapidly closing in from the direction he was now facing. Zeroshiki was moving far faster than it had been before, undoubtedly because it had been sent on an indirect path and sped up along the way. With its current speed of 600, Hibiki would not be able to stop it enough with just a normal movement of his shield. The sheet rose over his head, then he channeled a burst of power to it, and the sheet appeared to simply disappear as it instantly closed the gap between itself and Zeroshiki.

This was High-Speed Reikiji Control, and it was Hibiki’s method of ensuring his defense was always faster than the enemy’s attack. This technique increased the speed that a given sheet moved at by 10 times, but it could not change direction while this technique was active. With his current reiatsu strength of 1200, this meant that his Tattersall Reikiji was now able to move at a speed of 12,000. This absolutely massive difference in speed was enough to slow Zeroshiki significantly, but the raw strength of its attack still pressed the sheet backwards at a speed of 200, and it was only about six feet away at this point. Hibiki ran to the side at his maximum speed of 100, which allowed him to avoid the sheet of Tattersall impacting him by few inches. As he finished dodging the attack, a devilishly handsome smile was across his lips. He was rather confident that this fight was over at this point, but the dust would still need to settle before the outcome was clear.

Reiatsu: 2900
-25 from Byakurai
-400 from Soren Sokatsui
-100 from High Speed Reikiji Control

Shikai: 3/10

Sheets Active: 1 Tattersall Sheet, 1 Pinstripe Binding, 1 Pinstripe Sheet

Play this

The area hit by Hibiki’s attack was utterly destroyed, though Raygin had survived the attack… barely. The defeated fighter let out a scream of pain, and his release instantly faded back into a simple katana. After the dust settled, it was clear that Raygin was a mess. It was times like this in which Hibiki demonstrated why he was a member of the Fourth Division. Knowing that the fight was over, he decided it would be safe to use his remaining strength liberally. He used shunpo once to reach Zeroshiki and retrieve it from the ground, and a second time to appear at Raygin’s side. The sight he was not pretty, but Raygin was smiling somehow.

"Ahahahahahaha! Gahahahaha! Wow! That was amazing! Amazing!! Whoooooooooooooo!!” This reaction was the last thing Hibiki expected, and it caught him by surprise. Then Raygin began to cough up blood, and the confident grin that had been on Hibiki’s face instantly vanished. His face a mask of emotionless calm, he completely tuned out the rest of what Raygin was saying as he began to focus his reiatsu, though he was careful not to let enough leak out to risk injuring Raygin further. The only thing he heard through his concentration was, “Hibiki? I really hope you’re there. I don’t know if I’ve been passed out for long…but seriously if you’re there I could use some help.”

Shit. Shit, shit, SHIT! This is bad. No, this is worse than bad. This is the kind of stuff that gets me sent to jail for years if I don’t fix it. He’s not dead yet, but he’s definitely blind. I’m standing right over him and he can’t see me. If I don’t act fast, that bit where he’s alive might not be the case for long. Hibiki’s reiatsu flared even more, and would now be pressuring Raygin once more, but time was of the essence here. Hibiki quickly ripped another sheet of Reikiji out of Hitsu; this one emerged as a white sheet with a giant red cross emblazoned across it. With a flicker of power, the Tattersall sheet changed into a third pinstripe sheet and zoomed across the battlefield. Meanwhile, the other pinstripe sheet tore towards the frantic Vice-Captain as well. All three sheets aligned on top of each other over Raygin’s limp body. The two sheets of pinstripes were on top, and the Red Cross was on the bottom.

Hibiki placed his palm over the sheets of Reikiji and warned Raygin. “This is going to tingle just a bit.” That was a flat out lie. The pain of reconstructing Raygin’s body to this degree instantaneously would probably knock him back out. While taking an attack hurt, the pain of having an outside energy forcibly reconstruct your body was easily twice as bad. The medic’s left hand gripped his right forearm to ensure his aim did not waver even one inch as he prepared to fire another kido. “Hado number 88: Hiriyu Gekizou Shinten Raiho!” he screamed. The blast passed through both sheets of pinstripe, quadrupling its reiatsu strength to 4800. When this unfathomable blast of power impacted the sheet of Red Cross, it changed from blue to white, and immediately enveloped Raygin. His physical wounds closed instantly, and the pain of having his body reconstructed knocked him back into unconsciousness.

Exhausted from the ordeal, Hibiki let his spiritual pressure fall off, ending the gravitational pressure once more. He still had a few drops of power ready, and began an incantation to make use of them. "Black and white net. Twenty-two bridges, sixty-six crowns and belts. Footprints, distant thunder, sharp peak, engulfing land, hidden in the night, sea of clouds, blue line. Form a circle and fly though the heavens. Bakudo number 77: Tenteikura!" A message was transmitted to everyone currently in the Fourth Division’s Barracks. It simply stated: Forest, Rukongai, bring stretchers. With this message sent, Hibiki let the cost of spending so much strength in only a few seconds overcome him as he fell to the ground, unconscious. His staff reverted to its sealed form, and the sheets hovering over Raygin fell on top of him. His unconscious form was smiling earnestly. He had won the battle, and Raygin would surely live.

Reiatsu: 2050/4000
-100 for Shunpo x 2
-600 for Hado 88
-150 for Tenteikura

Shikai: Ended
Sheets Active: 2 Pinstripe Sheets, 1 Pinstripe Binding, 1 Red Cross Sheet.

OOC: Fight is done and ready for grading.