You again?! How stupid. [R, NDE, CTP Training]

[Zou ۞]

This is a second training thread for one of our favorite duos! Segunda Espada, Kuroi Naito. Noveno Espada, Asuka Hitotoki. Kuroi's pride has recently been insulted. It's really a matter of, "WAIT A MINUTE! I trained that person. Why is she still only Noveno? This is retarded."

Well, that's not what Kuroi would say, but it's the general idea of what he's thinking. SO, here we are again. Back underground in a secluded place in Menos Forest. There are 30 changes of clothes, one for every day. Kuroi even brought changes of clothes too, for himself. He isn't wearing a typical outfit, though.

Kuroi will be teaching Asuka how to use her ressurection better. He'll be training her to a more appropriate level to reach her goal of Sexta. He'll be teaching her some unique battle tricks. He might even teach her a few things to fight with, too. Asuka will be a lot stronger by the end of this.

[Deleted]

It was like fricken' detention.

Asuka felt like a kid who was being confined in detention. She wasn't really going anywhere rank wise. She was just taking her time. Was that wrong? She did it for 40 years you know..It's not that bad. That and she's so young! Did it really matter that it was taking her a decade to get anywhere? Okay. It did. Kuroi was getting stronger like every day. Same with Grimoire and Shinsei. Hell, Adalo made Primera not too long ago! It felt like everyone was growing. Everyone was making progress. Everyone except her, Asuka, who was placed at the lowest rank. Slow and steady wins the race right? She knew Cierro's weakness. She didn't know much about Magnus except for the fact that he was an easy fight. Regardless, she had to be careful and plan to the best of her ability. Her biggest obstacle right now was Andrea.

The Italian male was a completely different story in comparison to Cierro and Magnus. He was far stronger in terms of his reiatsu and who knows how frightening his release was. She'd actually never seen it and that was a bit unnerving to the teal haired Espada. She's seen almost everyone's release. Save for Kuroi and Andrea. Though, Kuroi was supposedly understandable. He usually never needed to release and if you could avoid it then don't. Releasing was almost like a submission in pride for most Arrancar. It was sacred and only deserving of the most powerful enemies. To this day, Asuka could count the amount of times she's released on one hand. Far less than most people. Truthfully, she didn't like her release so she was more inclined to avoid using it even more than most.

Asuka made a point to be extremely early. She was scared enough of Kuroi as it is. Seeing as she was early, she figured it would be best to warm up. She jogged, did push-ups, sit-ups. Anything to get her blood pumping and ready for whatever Kuroi had in store for her. Knowing him, he probably was pissed that she was still Noveno. Which didn't surprise her. Kuroi was always pissed at her no matter what she did. Sigh. Damned if she did good, damned if she didn't. It really was a double edged sword with the Segunda. Unless...you were a certain red head of course. Then you were exempt from his wrath.

Here she was in the Menos forest just jogging around in a circle, waiting for Kuroi to show up. Last time, he taught her some cool stuff. Enma Cero instantly became her favorite. She wondered what he'd do this time around. Right now, she knew she wasn't at the right level to take the Sexta spot. He was gonna help her with that. She didn't think he would but she figured that with his limited patience it was a "I always have to do everything myself" kind of thing. He probably just couldn't stand the thought that a pupil of his is just a Noveno. He was the strongest Espada after all. She was the one tick on his perfect, shiny-shiny record. When she thought of that, she decided on something...

"That comes to an end today..."

[Zou ۞]

The Garganta that tore open instantly within the Menos Forest was a ghastly sight. Simply put, it began only as a thin black line that formed in the air, hovering there. Not torpid in its actions, it expanded within an instant. The enormous blackness was like the entrance to a cave, or the mouth of a monster. Inside, only swirling darkness was visible. It was a scary sight. Garganta were not known for being scenic, after all. There was no precision within it, either. It was just a big fat entrance or exit for monsters to use to leave or enter the fray. Arrancar, the monsters, used these big black messes to get around. The rough edges shimmered and swirled as the Garganta continued to expand. It seemed that its enormous size was an indication in what might just be a growth of strength on the part of the one that created it.

Stepping forth, the monster bared himself, arriving without a single instance of hesitation. Twisted gales were the winds that heralded his arrival, overflowing from the Tartarus that was the Garganta. Closing behind him like an evil pet, it disappeared in a single moment. With the arrival of this man, Asuka would quite clearly know that her fate was in a rather dire situation. She was going to be doomed to a large amount of pain, then. She was going to feel a pain unlike anything she could experience elsewhere. She'd spent a month with him, and he wasn't happy with her progress since then. It was time for another month, this one harsher than before. It was time for torment, a torture fit for an elegy some time in the future. It was time for the one who called himself strongest of the Arrancar to show what the true potential of one could be. It was time to show Asuka what she could be like at her peak!

Black, shiny shoes. They were dress shoes, and they started off his wardrobe. They went hand in hand with his black dress pants, worn to a perfect fit, adequate for his battle needs as well. Socks, they didn't matter, though they were black too. Matching up with the pants, a white, buttoned up dress shirt, worn rather loosely. It looked good on he who had that rough, short, unruly black hair which blew calmly in all breezes, under the circumstances of all situations. It worked quite well with the unbuttoned black blazer worn, two buttons in style, and with the rather majestic black tie as well. The clothing, as usual, was fancy. Noticeably, he'd picked this up years ago. Prior to, he'd worn coats and leather. He'd changed his style quite suddenly for whatever odd reason. However, more than anything else that would scare Asuka, it was the daring black eyes.

Those bold eyes were nothing but black, staring outwards, unblinking. They were not arrogant, but rather cold and emotionless. They were confident, but also in ignorance of what might challenge them. It was not that they were ignorant, nor that they were arrogant, but that those eyes would refuse to acknowledge anything that could pose a threat. Nothing posed a threat to someone as strong as this one. Those eyes were icy, and had no substance to them. There was nothing but a profound gaze of someone with unreadable thoughts, an expression that couldn't be read in the least. His gaze was a tower of insolence perhaps, or it was what separated him from the others. No one had a killing aura like this man. This one had an aura unlike any other. The Segunda Espada, Kuroi Naito. He had arrived.

"Asuka..." Kuroi said. "Your growth is slow. I don't have any intentions of leaving it that way. Coming from my Fraccion, it would be disgraceful of you not to achieve a higher rank than pitiful Noveno, lower even than filth like Cierro or Magnus." Oh, how Kuroi was tempted to show it to Asuka. His improvement as well. He hadn't changed rank, for he'd held this rank for many decades now. He had no intentions of changing rank, though he had traveled at some point to a distant future. In that future, he had been the Primera. Since that time, Kuroi's strength had surpassed that of his "future self." In this manner, he'd become stronger than ever before. It was time to make Asuka improve like that, too. Just as well, he'd do it. But, how to make her improve? Simple, actually. He'd force her to expand her statistic aspects. He'd force her to develop new techniques to keep up with him. If she didn't...she would die. Plain and simple.

Kuroi kicked his foot upwards, and a flash of light erupted. In that next instant, he held a katana in his grasp. In his right hand, clenched tightly, the blade was there. A normal sword hilt, but a black blade. Not just black, but curved at the very start, making it like an awkwardly shaped lightning bolt. He held Ryu No Ketsuatsu Kou. It was the second of his new swords, and it was a cursed blade. It was what Kuroi intended to use against Asuka for this. "So I've heard your reiatsu strength has grown." Kuroi said. "So I've heard you can cut me now. Then prove it. Not if you can take my Hierro, as many can in fact do. Prove that you can defeat my guard, rather than a cheap technique like Hierro. And afterwards, I will make you release, and I will make your release grow, even if it costs you your life."

[Deleted]

The minute Asuka saw that Garganta tear open, was the minute she'd stop her warm-up. She'd done enough already. Enough to break a sweat at least. She took deep exhales as she paced around in a small circle, slowly stopping. You know, because it's bad to just suddenly go into rest mode after a work around. As she paced, Asuka did her best to not panic. She'd seen hell when she trained with Kuroi. What the hell was in store for her next!? LIMBO?! Is that even a level of hell? Granted, she's never been there, but it was horrible to the teal-haired Espada. It was the cause of every god damned nightmare she ever had! She hated it. She had a bunch of goals and things to do this month. One of them overcoming her fear of a certain vicious man who was pretty here. That Garganta meant that the hour of doom was near that Hueco Mundo's very own Doomsday was about to commence.

Kidding. Just kidding...

She paced and as she did so, she made a point to at least acknowledge that the man was there...So she'd look at him. The one thing that made her nearly freeze completely was that dark stare of his. Her own emerald pair held a tone of silent fear as she stared back. That fearsome gaze of his made her feel like he could attack at any moment to which she would move her hands to her hilts. Asuka knew Kuroi for over four decades now...going on to 5 maybe. She couldn't read him like a book but she knew damn well that he'd pull something when she least expected it. It was a recurring theme with the two of them. "Asuka...Your growth is slow. I don't have any intentions of leaving it that way. Coming from my Fraccion, it would be disgraceful of you not to achieve a higher rank than pitiful Noveno, lower even than filth like Cierro or Magnus."

Cierro or Magnus!? Waait a sec..."W-Wait! Whoa Kuroi! I know how to handle those two. It's Andrea I'm worried about! Aha." she said as she took a step back, clearly afraid of what he was going to do next. She gripped her blades tighter. "I get the slow growth part though...That's..my fault. Aha." she said wearily. He'd kick his foot up and she'd see a flash. A katana? He probably got stronger...she just knew it. Not that he really needed to showcase it to prove to her that he indeed was unimaginably stronger. She already knew. If she had power, she wouldn't go around parading it and whatnot. Now, she was in for it. Asuka brought forth her own blades and rushed straight forwards to Kuroi. Not to say that she was going for a frontal assault, but anything was possible. The blades were up, but she had ulterior motives as per usual. Kuroi should even be aware of her having something up her sleeve for something this...

However...

He shouldn't know what exactly it was right? Nah. Last time she checked, his instinct and senses weren't that high. So she was going to go off of that. Gods...she hoped this was going to work. She hoped every time something of her's would work whenever she trained with this insufferable man she called her teacher. "So I've heard your reiatsu strength has grown. So I've heard you can cut me now. Then prove it. Not if you can take my Hierro, as many can in fact do. Prove that you can defeat my guard, rather than a cheap technique like Hierro. And afterwards, I will make you release, and I will make your release grow, even if it costs you your life." Yeah, it's tough love alright. She got closer and closer to him and then she raised her blade and jumped. Instead of striking at him, she slid past him baseball player style and lashed one of her whips at the wrist holding his blade; the blade she raised being the one she lashed at him. The one she didn't use to lash at him was the one blade Asuka kept near her chest.

..Predictable right?

That's what Asuka was going for. Kuroi could just simply move his hand out of the way and safely remain in the same spot. Like he usually would. If not, then he'd deem that too predictable at that point and moved on to something different that she'd have to deal with at a later point. The hand that was occupied was always the most threatening thus, making one more aware of it than anything else. He could be aware of both but normally, one was usually aware of one target at a time and only able to react in time for said target. That's why, when she began to slid past him, while the whip was going for his wrist, almost immediately after, she also made a point to make a deep slice at his ankle with the second blade she kept near her chest. It was a split second thing. He'd need to react to the whip and in that time the blade would be coming for him. Or at least that's what she thought.

He knew she usually use the whip portion of her weapons first and going of the whole "You haven't changed a goddamn bit since I trained you" thing, he might expect it. She highly doubted he expected anything new from her. After all, she knew very well that she was the stain on his perfect record. What can you really expect from a stain? Nothing. That's what. Or at least, that's what she was thinking. Providing it was successful, she'd be behind him on the ground. "...Who the hell lied to you? When have you ever know me to lay a single scratch on you?! Aha! I remember when you used to crush me with your reiatsu." she was referring to his little crucification number decades ago. Ahh...Good memories.

SPOILER: Click to show

Strength - [210] Points (126)

Speed - [400] Points

Spiritual Pressure - [320] Points

Reiatsu Strength - [400] Points (700)

Light Aura - [50] Points

Dark Aura - [50] Points

Instinct - [120] Points

Senses [120] Points

Energy sensory - [80] Points

Healing Expertise - [50] Points

[Zou ۞]

Kuroi didn't move at first, preferring instead to observe Asuka. He knew her attack style. He'd known it for a long time. In all previous encounters, she did two things in key. She tried to use something simplistic to "avoid predictability." Furthermore, her key strategy was always a multi-layered attack. Essentially, she liked to use distraction tactics. Asuka was a key user of distraction. She tended to use strategies which used a distraction attack, and then provided another attack, meant to get off a wound that would be inflicted as a result of the adversary's divided attention. The way to evade it was usually just not to fall for her first attack. Frankly, the best thing that anyone could do against Asuka's strategy was just to avoid the first one completely, so the second one couldn't happen.

This was what Kuroi did, of course. He leaped upwards, high into the air into a flip. His light spiritual body allowed him to soar, moving far over Asuka's whip, and landing several meters away as Asuka slid past him, her blade moving out to where he'd previously occupied. As he'd thought. Asuka had been aiming for an ankle hit, or maybe even the vein and blood vessels in the lower part of the leg. Kuroi doubted the latter of the two of course, since Asuka probably didn't know about such a strategic attack point as that. Kuroi planned to defeat Asuka, though there was no doubt that he would. It wasn't like she could actually beat him, since she couldn't even hurt him. But at the very least, Kuroi would show her a few new tricks, and give her inspiration for some later techniques she could develop.

Kuroi held his right arm outwards, as it held his katana in it. It was fully extended towards the side, and Kuroi was keeping it there. His Hierro, he let dissolve away. He didn't need it if she could cut him normally. It was an irrelevant, useless technique to have active at that point in time. Kuroi knew one thing. Though it wasn't by much, Asuka tended to have a physical strength advantage over Kuroi whenever it came down to striking power. He was about to show her that it wouldn't be like that anymore. "Prepare yourself, Asuka. I will show you a new way to battle. I will show you that crushing your opponent can be done no matter what level you start off at, if you can upgrade yourself the way that I have." He was really going to give it to her, there.

"Your strength exceeds mine physically." Kuroi noted. Kuroi's arm began to steam heavily. His High Speed Regeneration was already in place. Another reason that he'd activated his High Speed Regeneration was that he needed it so he could activate this technique. It was a very useful power. Kuroi's right arm was beginning to heavily, heavily steam. Asuka would probably wonder what on earth was going on in Kuroi's arm. He was using one of his new techniques. "Kakucho Cero: Partial." Unknown to Asuka, Kuroi's physical arm strength was shooting upwards. The Cero he'd generated inside of his own arm was dispersing all of its energy into his muscles, puffing them up on the inside. Other than steaming, the arm didn't give away any notification of what was happening on the inside. However, at that point, just from one, his physical strength went up by a stat margin of 400, from 100 to 500. Asuka would be shocked once Kuroi showed this to her, of course.

Kuroi had other uses for this technique, but for the time he'd use what was already present. Then, it started. His entire body started steaming. "Your speed by default is equal to mine." Kuroi said to Asuka as his body began steaming. "Kakucho Cero." At that point, his body was steaming in an amount similar to the "smoke" that seemed to appear around him when he flared his black reiatsu for everyone to see. The steam on this time around was actually white, though. It wasn't just his reiatsu flaring. Something was actually happening. He'd generated a Cero internally in his body, and dispersed it throughout his entire body, all of his muscles. He'd also directly taken some of his own spiritual pressure, dissolving it away so that he could show Asuka this power of his, which exceeded all expectations. His speed was massively going up.

In statistic value, Kuroi lost 100 spiritual pressure to his speed. In statistic value, he also sacrificed a total of 600 reiatsu to add 300 to his speed as well. Therefore, he threw an additional 400 onto his speed. Basically, Kuroi's speed went from 400 to 800. In a forum's terms, duration of strength increase would be 2 posts. In a forum's terms, duration of speed increase would be 7 posts. Kuroi had done well in improving himself. His eyes were a fiery, burning red at that time as he observed Asuka. His skin seemed to glow red and white in mix, and white steam was ejecting itself from his body. Kuroi knew what he was doing, that much was for certain. Asuka would probably be scared by what he'd said earlier. He'd remarked on her superior strength and her equal speed. It was implications that this would soon be untrue.

"You...aren't on the same level as me, anymore." Kuroi informed Asuka. "At this point, you won't even be able to see me." He looked dead serious about it too. His body was relaxed, but starting to tense up, as if he was going to move. Since he was visibly tensing up, and not giving subtly to it, he gave Asuka a bare few moments to prepare herself for the onslaught that was soon to follow. However, nothing could prepare her for what was coming. Nothing could prepare her for what Kuroi had planned for her in that moment of time. And, just as he spoke those words to Asuka, just as he was tensing up, with his sword aimed at her, Kuroi prepared himself to move. And just like that, he took off.

Kuroi disappeared instantly in a blur. He was gone just like that. His body was gone so quickly that Asuka wouldn't even get a moment to register what had just happened. He'd disappeared, plain and simple. His speed had become twice hers. It was a speed that Asuka had no hope of even getting close to matching. A sword blade slammed into one of Asuka's blades, an intentional hit against her weapon. Suddenly, she'd feel it. A powerful pushing sensation. It was an overwhelming pushing force, massive strength. Essentially, Asuka was feeling the full scope of Kuroi's physical strength. It was blasting her backwards. The instant his katana clashed with Asuka's blade, it slid across the edge, but the force of the blow sent Asuka offbalance, reeling back from Kuroi's massive, raw physical strength. Asuka would be shocked by this.

The lack of balance was also going to be a problem for her. She wouldn't be able to orient herself for the next attack. Kuroi was already behind her in that instant, so fast that Asuka would be losing track of him every few seconds. His blade passed over her head, barely missing, but doing so on purpose. Asuka wouldn't notice until later, but his blade, Ryu No Ketsuatsu Kou, had slid against her blade with insane physical strength, taking into account that katana's properties. Later, she'd notice the blade Kuroi had clashed against had been rendered dull on the edge, meaning it had lost its ability to cut. She'd also notice quite a few cracks in the blade while she was there. Kuroi, after the initial slash above the head, was in front of Asuka again, attacking with one of his new katana techniques.

Kuroi spun in a 360 degree movement, his blade slashing across the air. "Itouryu: Senpuu." Instantly, wind slashed across Asuka's chest, drawing a gash of blood. How did it hit? He was so fast, and Asuka so offbalanced, she'd be unable to respond in time to the speed. On top of that, the wind was devastatingly fast and close range. She wouldn't even know to evade the wind of his strike, which was what she'd feel before the strike itself got in range of her. Kuroi passed his blade harmlessly over her head again, taking a few hairs, the wind having already cut Asuka quite tremendously. Of course, it was a shocking movement. This was not something that Asuka was going to enjoy, quite truthfully, and Kuroi knew it.

In that instant, he decided to show her his Sonido too. Just as well that he should, because Asuka was about to find out firsthand that his Sonido had long since surpassed hers as well. In the instant of using it, Kuroi was gone with such tremendous speed that the shattering and roaring boom of his Sonido was like thunder. Asuka would be taken aback as Kuroi used Sonido to get to her left side, his katana clashing against hers again, shattering the metal blade completely in one swift motion, and then his knuckles driving into the side of her head at a speed she was to be bewildered by, unable to even process for that moment.

It was going to be dazing, of course. She'd see stars, whiteness, and feel intense pain. Kuroi took this opportunity to move his body around, jamming his elbow towards her back, so that he could knock her down to the ground. Naturally, Asuka was not going to enjoy this part of the fight. She'd feel it. The cracking. The creaking. The popping of her spine. She'd feel the intense agony that no other could justify. This was Kuroi Naito, the Segunda Espada. There, in that moment, he was truly proving himself to be the absolute strongest of the Espada.

Kuroi's Remaining Reiatsu: 1800/2000 Reiatsu

Kakucho Partial: 1/2

Kakucho Regular: 1/7

[Deleted]

Oh how she just missed Kuroi so damn much. What was it? The encouraging insults that just spelt tough love or was it the beatings she had no fricken' way of reacting to? Like honestly, she was a sitting duck in the middle of the dark...and it wasn't even dark out. She always knew she was in for it. Nothing about her life told her that she was ever going to get a break. Not from his Fraccion. Not from the other Espada and most certainly, not from Kuroi. She knew it was going to hurt like hell or quite possibly worse. But this was a recurring theme between the two of them and it happened so frequently that it came as no surprise to the Espada with the teal tresses.

Beat him? That's impossible unless you're Sonken Kouhai or Shinsei. Asuka knew she couldn't but it's called trying and she was going to try her hardest to gain strength so she could plow through the ranks with ease. Honestly, sometimes she felt like there was no point in trying with Kuroi. At times, it just kinda made her want to give up in times like these. But then she'd just remind herself that maybe he's pushing her so hard cause he hated her weakness and then she'd remember what she first told him during their first training session. She hated her weakness. She despised it with a passion and that she was going to go on with this training through all the blood, sweat and tears. She told herself that she'd shed as many as it took. If it meant getting there then Asuka told herself she'd do it (but that doesn't mean she'll do everything, just what it takes of course).

"Prepare yourself, Asuka. I will show you a new way to battle. I will show you that crushing your opponent can be done no matter what level you start off at, if you can upgrade yourself the way that I have." Once she heard that, Asuka quickly pushed herself up off the ground. Upgrade, huh? Alrighty then! Let's go on with it! Asuka was more than ready to take the bull by the horns. No matter how threatening, intimidating, frightening, cruel, lethal and harsh that bull was. Yes, Asuka was still scared or Kuroi. Like, he's Freddy Krueger and Jason material put in one. Actually, that was an understatement. Yep. Understatement of the century. Totally goes to show you how scared of him she was. Of course, that didn't mean it was going to deter her from trying and she most certainly wasn't going to let her fear get in the way of her getting stronger. There wasn't a chance in hell she was going to let that happen.

He called out some names that sounded like techniques to her and paid her "Kuroi compliments". All of which, she knew was going to be complete and total bullshit in the next three or four minutes. Hey, she knew damn well that the man didn't waste time. 40-50+ years kinda gives you a good idea of a person. No one said that he had to verbally reveal everything to her. Just by being there and observing his actions one can gather a few things to create a small picture. There was steam emanating from his arms and Asuka shot him a suspicious look. No...she was definitely doomed. Might as well see what's gonna happen instead of trying to fight it, right?

She prepared herself to the best of her ability. Asuka was in a defensive stance. He was there in one moment and gone in the next. The next thing she knew,she felt something slam her blade and it was something she knew was beyond her strength. It was so powerful that she was knocked off balance. Instead of trying to do something, she just stayed still. There really was no point in trying to do anything when he was attacking. It had a sort of domino effect to it. If you get caught in one thing, then life as you know it is over. Everything was literally a blur to the poor girl. When you're in so much pain, you really don't care about your surroundings. You're just focusing on how to make it stop and all Asuka wanted was for the pain to stop.

He was way too fast and somehow, he got a steroids boost but that didn't matter right now. What mattered was why she was seeing stars right now and why everything hurt so bad. Wait. Kuroi. Obviously. Kuroi really didn't need to prove himself, especially with someone like Asuka who knew firsthand about how strong he was. Really, if the last training didn't say anything then you were just being an idiot. "OW GODAMMIT! WHAT WAS THA--Owowowowowwww..!" Normally, Asuka didn't scream like that...but now she was and that was obviously saying something. It was saying that training from hell just upgraded into pure torture.

[Zou ۞]

Kuroi stopped a moment as he let Asuka fall to the ground, onto her back. She wasn't even able to process what happened when Kuroi started attacking. It had all been so quick, and so powerful, that Kuroi had blown Asuka away completely and utterly. Her eyes hadn't been able to keep up. Her body hadn't been able to keep up. She'd had no idea what was happening. She couldn't tell at all what was going on. Kuroi stood there in that moment, gripping tightly one of his new swords. It was only natural. He had indeed been showing off, but it was to make a point, which he would soon make with words. Kuroi was giving Asuka "tough love," just as she imagined that he was. Either way, he had to do SOMETHING to make her stronger, after all. If he didn't, then he could only imagine the level she would stay at.

Kuroi didn't let Asuka know, but he did care a lot more about her strength than that. It wasn't just a matter of pride, after all. She was his former subordinate, his former Fraccion. If she thought back a long, long time, Asuka might remember a few years ago, back when Kuroi first enlisted her into his Fraccion. During that time when Cero Azalea had still been the Primera Espada, she'd mistaken Asuka for the enemy, and threatened her life. Kuroi in that time had saved Asuka, and instead threatened Cero's life. He'd been willing to directly oppose the Primera, who outranked even Kuroi, to save a lowly Fraccion. In reality, Kuroi did indeed care that tidbit for his subordinates. He didn't let anyone know, and he himself didn't even know. He wasn't aware of it, but when it came down to it, he was unwilling to let his subordinates die. He didn't want them to die.

Kuroi had thought long and hard about it, and if that happened, he definitely wouldn't enjoy it. "Do you see that, Asuka?" Kuroi asked her at that time. "You were no match at all for me just now. You couldn't keep up with me. Your strength couldn't match mine. I destroyed you. Surely, you aren't naive enough to believe that I'm the strongest out there. Enemies exist who are even stronger than I am. That Envainar, Grimoire. His strength exceeds mine. Shinsei, his strength exceeds mine. That human that came here a few months ago, Nishiru Tokoheita. I lost to him at the time of his arrival, and this I can admit. It's ridiculous, but he defeated me fairly then. I am not the strongest."

Kuroi was right when he said it. He wasn't the strongest at all. And he had a point to make about it, too. "Yet, you were no match for me just now. However, I have always held back a huge amount of my strength against you. Just now was no different. What will you do when you meet enemies like me outside of training? What about when you meet enemies more powerful than I am?" Kuroi's body was still steaming from the increases that he had given to himself. His sword disappeared suddenly in a flash of reiatsu. Kuroi walked over to an enormous boulder, and slammed his fist into it, punching directly into the boulder. There wasn't any "pause" beforehand. Rather, the effect was instantaneous.

The boulder cracked and shattered. It exploded into a million pieces upon impact, becoming annihilated by Kuroi's single punch the instant he struck out at it. That boulder was in fact absolutely no match just for Kuroi's fist. One punch, and he obliterated it completely. If Asuka had been hit like that, Kuroi would have broken and defeated her right then and there. This much was obvious. "I'll tell you." Kuroi said. "If in real combat you engaged someone like me or stronger than me, you'd be dead right here. Right now, you would be laying at my feet in a puddle of your own blood, destroyed like an animal. You're too weak, Asuka." Kuroi held up his heavily steaming arm. By that point, it was starting to weaken in steam. The increase in physical strength was beginning to wear off. Kuroi still had some lecture to give.

"Your weakness isn't just a stain on my pride." Kuroi informed Asuka. "Your weakness is a stain on yours as well. And a stain on the things that you love, on those that you cherish." Kuroi was strong. There could be no doubting it at all. He'd proven this, but where was he going with this lecture? Well, he got to that rather shortly too. Just as well that he did. It was good, because if he dragged it on too long, Asuka might foolishly tune him out. Kuroi didn't want her to tune him out. This was all for her own good. If she got to the end of the lecture, then surely she would be motivated to try harder in Kuroi's training, and to excel beyond even her own wildest dreams, beyond the scope of her own imagination.

"In the past, when you were only my Fraccion, weakness was still intolerable. However, you were secure in the knowledge that you were the one who needed protecting. But then what about now? You're an Espada. You have your own subordinates now. If you prove to be too weak, then they will die." Kuroi was absolutely right, 100%. Asuka should realize it too. She had loved ones. If she was too weak, she wouldn't be able to protect them, and they would most certainly die. Aimo, Kin, Gen, Li Mei. They would die if Asuka was too weak to protect them when it came time. Perhaps this was another reason that Kuroi was helping to train her. Asuka might come to this conclusion. Was Kuroi worried for Li Mei's safety as well?

"When I was defeated by Nishiru, he told me that I was weaker than he was because I had no one to protect." Kuroi explained to Asuka. "Whether or not that was true, it doesn't matter. He was correct. I was too weak to protect anyone, had that been my desire. At that time, he spared those of us that he defeated. If he'd been a more serious enemy, we would be dead. I would have died. And all of my subordinates would have been killed. I failed the mission." So, Kuroi wasn't flat out admitting that he cared about those Fraccion members of his. He was just saying that he'd failed the mission. It was the closest that he'd get to actually admitting something like that, it seemed. He was basically telling Asuka that if she was too weak, those around her would die.

"Your objective, Asuka, is to rise to Sexta. You also have those you wish to keep with you. In times like ours, filled with constant battle and turmoil, neither of these goals are realistic or possible if you are too weak. What if you need to protect that Shinigami of yours one day? What if you are caught in war, with your Fraccion injured? All of them will die right now if they need to rely on you. You will fail the mission." Kuroi looked down at his arm, which by that point had stopped the extra steaming. It was steaming normally at that point, just like the rest of his body. It wasn't steaming more profusely than the rest. This was actually a sign that his strength boost was just about to wear off. It hadn't worn off yet, but it would. Kuroi could also feel the pain from it. It wasn't a pretty technique. "I have become much stronger since facing Nishiru." Kuroi added. "Because of it, I won't fail the mission again for a long time."

Kuroi ended it by delivering a small, calm, confident smile. It seemed only natural that it would be Kuroi who was giving Asuka this lecture, and also a little ironic. Kuroi tended to abuse his subordinates quite often. Kuroi was the Arrancar who seemed the most heartless out of anyone. It was he who seemed the most negative and two dimensional. And yet, it was Kuroi who was training Asuka. And it was Kuroi who was giving her a lecture, telling her that if she didn't get stronger, she would never reach her goals. He was explaining it to her. He was saying that if she didn't get stronger, those that she loved would die! It was ironic, definitely. "Rest and recover for one day, Asuka." Kuroi said. "When we resume in ten hours, I will show you how to become a monstrosity. By the end of this, you will be five times stronger than before."

-------------------------After 10 hour sleep period----------------------------------------

When the rest period was over, Asuka's training was truly ready to begin. Kuroi hadn't reactivated his Hierro since beginning his rest, and therefore he was at maximum reiatsu once more, but with high speed regeneration active instead. At the same time, Kuroi's body was no longer steaming either. This went to show that his boost had worn off, and was no longer in use. Kuroi stood fifteen meters away from Asuka, the two completely face to face with each other. Kuroi was not wearing his normal outfit at that moment. His clothes were folded neatly elsewhere in the training area. At that time, he was wearing a black haramaki robe with violet sash. His four swords were all sheathed on one side. Three katana blades, plus his Zanpakuto.

Kuroi didn't draw any at that time. He was wearing the same sandles a Shinigami might wear, or a samurai might wear. He wasn't wearing his usual outfit because his haramaki made it easier for him to fight against Asuka and move fluidly so that he could train her. Soon, she'd notice just what it was that Kuroi had in store for her. His plans included many things. The first thing was training her to simply get faster and stronger in general. Next off, he'd show her how to deal with the weaknesses of her release. He knew that she had strong abilities in her release, but he also knew that she'd need to learn how to use them too.

"This is what will happen right now, Asuka." Kuroi informed her. "Right now, I will attempt to attack you. You will attempt to defend yourself." Well, this was a same old routine from before. Kuroi had done this many times before, in the past. However, one thing that was noteworthy was that Kuroi had held back more in the past too. If he was using this training method again, then it meant that he wasn't going to hold back as much against Asuka.

And just like that, Kuroi suddenly blew forwards. He was moving already, one of his blades drawn. The one that he'd drawn out was the one with the shining blade and the black wrapped handle. It was the non cursed one, Ashirein. Kuroi had had that one specifically made for him. It wasn't going to be easy to defend if he was using a sword against Asuka. He was a swordsmanship master. Kuroi moved forwards, blurring towards Asuka. His blade started moving in blade as he did that. He was spinning the blade in his right hand, doing it with great speed. It was spinning towards Asuka as he approached her. The speed at which Kuroi spun it made it seem like a buzz saw. If it hit Asuka, no doubt it would be damaging her as if she got slashed by a buzz saw rather than a katana. "Oni Fukusuha!" Kuroi's voice declared.

What would Asuka do? Kuroi was certainly very strong. How would she defend against that attack. Would she even be able to defend against it? Enough time had passed for her reiatsu to help repair her whips and blades, but could she even protect herself against Kuroi's vicious onslaught? What would happen if she couldn't? At any rate, Asuka had best be prepared for a huge amount of pain that was going to be inflicted onto her. Things were most certainly not going to be pretty, and Asuka most likely knew it as well as anything else.

[Deleted]

Tough love was gonna be the death of her one day. She just knew it. As the Espada fell on her back, pain radiated all throughout her body and it just didn't seem to stop! Breathing was heavy and nails dug into the dirt as she did her best to combat the pain. Anything to lessen it right now...or at least distract her from it. Gah...it was horrible! This was worse than the last training session. Asuka, however, knew that she couldn't be a baby about it. She'd just have to tough it out and see where it gets her. Part of her vaguely wondered if he was just doing this because he enjoyed beating the crap out of her. She'd gotten that feeling out of him from the last training session. Her and her weakness. She knew damn well he hated it. Probably not as much as she did, because it was something she'd been dealing with since the beginning of her hollow days. Even know she's still dealing with it. It pissed her off so much! To let people walk all over her just because they thought she was weak. Ohhh nonononono...that was going to change.

Why did Kuroi choose her as her Fraccion? Honestly. She was Noveno and still pitiful. She knew that as well as he did. Asuka didn't have the Espada personality nor was she as vicious. That is, unless it calls for it. She was so much more different than Chisoku, Miho, Nijuu and Kouen. They were Espada material. She knew they didn't want to be Espada and why...but again, why? They were so much more stronger. She knew she was weak even from when she just began. Asuka could remember the Volante mission with Asa and Shiroi. She was ready to go off with her comrade and bam, the former Primera came straight out of the woodworks, more than ready to slice her open. Asuka remembered the feral look the former Primera gave her. The kind that told her that she was prey. She was the hunted and in that moment before Kuroi was there, Asuka knew damn well she was going to die. And it took her former boss to make her stand down. She hated that. Asuka felt like she should always be able to hold her own in any situation. But she couldn't and it was sickening to the girl with the teal tresses.

"Do you see that, Asuka? You were no match at all for me just now. You couldn't keep up with me. Your strength couldn't match mine. I destroyed you. Surely, you aren't naive enough to believe that I'm the strongest out there. Enemies exist who are even stronger than I am. That Envainar, Grimoire. His strength exceeds mine. Shinsei, his strength exceeds mine. That human that came here a few months ago, Nishiru Tokoheita. I lost to him at the time of his arrival, and this I can admit. It's ridiculous, but he defeated me fairly then. I am not the strongest." That's right. How could she forget about Nishiru! He came here and owned everyone...which explains the drastic behavior change. But still. She'd always thought that Grimoire was on the same playing field as Kuroi. So he wasn't the strongest...but he was amongst them. Asuka could already feel the same old song coming again. Weakness, pride, strength power...it was something along those lines and she probably knew it verbatim too. Green eyes merely looked up to the sky as he spoke. Here we go...again.

"Yet, you were no match for me just now. However, I have always held back a huge amount of my strength against you. Just now was no different. What will you do when you meet enemies like me outside of training? What about when you meet enemies more powerful than I am?" No shit. Asuka remained silent. Of course he's holding a huge amount of his strength back. He'd always done that. Meet enemies like him outside of training? Enemies more powerful than him? "Die of course. Isn't it long overdue already anyway?" She'd always thought along those lines because she'd had so many close calls. Too many and it was unacceptable to someone of her position; someone who held the the title of an Espada. How she'd manage to survive was a mystery to her. She'd narrowly been able to escape death. She'd been so close that at times, she swore he was right in front of her, waiting there...and yet, she clung on to life for the people she loved. Despite her weakness, she was still going to cling on to life. For them, especially.

"I'll tell you. If in real combat you engaged someone like me or stronger than me, you'd be dead right here. Right now, you would be laying at my feet in a puddle of your own blood, destroyed like an animal. You're too weak, Asuka." "Thank you, captain obvious. I couldn't agree more...again." Same ol' sad song that Asuka learned to accept after decades. Did she like it? No. But she knew it was the truth. She couldn't complain, it wouldn't be right of her and she knew it. It was one thing to argue because you don't understand something. It's another to argue out of petty foolishness, just because something wasn't going your way and Asuka was not that kind of person. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying her best to not let the pain distract her. It was still here. Like gum on your shoe. It felt like it was going to be there forever. Augh.

"Your weakness isn't just a stain on my pride. Your weakness is a stain on yours as well. And a stain on the things that you love, on those that you cherish." Asuka's eyes snapped open after hearing that. Okay, so maybe this wasn't going to be the same song all over again. On the things she loved and on the people around her... He definitely got her attention with that one. She thought that he'd start on how pathetic her weakness was. But no...he brought her loved ones into this and he made a really good point. She'll be damned if she tarnished anything just because of her weakness. That wasn't her intention at all! "In the past, when you were only my Fraccion, weakness was still intolerable. However, you were secure in the knowledge that you were the one who needed protecting. But then what about now? You're an Espada. You have your own subordinates now. If you prove to be too weak, then they will die." He actually wasn't talking down to her right now. He made a really good point. She wasn't alone anymore...and while she was aware that his main concern might just be Li Mei, he was right. She had subordinates that she cared for with all her heart and vice versa. If she died...No...She didn't want that to happen!

Asuka remained silent and her breathing got heavier. It was actually sinking in. She didn't move from her spot. Not an inch. She stayed on the ground and listened to him. The pain was slowly dissipating but she'd sit there and listen. "When I was defeated by Nishiru, he told me that I was weaker than he was because I had no one to protect. Whether or not that was true, it doesn't matter. He was correct. I was too weak to protect anyone, had that been my desire. At that time, he spared those of us that he defeated. If he'd been a more serious enemy, we would be dead. I would have died. And all of my subordinates would have been killed. I failed the mission." All of his subordinates definitely would die. She wasn't a fool, she knew Kuroi cared about them. Subtle actions told her this. Regardless, she knew what he was getting at and for him to even say that surprised her greatly. Her gazed shifted in his direction as he spoke. She would have given more of a reaction but the pain was stopping her.

"Your objective, Asuka, is to rise to Sexta. You also have those you wish to keep with you. In times like ours, filled with constant battle and turmoil, neither of these goals are realistic or possible if you are too weak. What if you need to protect that Shinigami of yours one day? What if you are caught in war, with your Fraccion injured? All of them will die right now if they need to rely on you. You will fail the mission. I have become much stronger since facing Nishiru. Because of it, I won't fail the mission again for a long time." Nuh-uh. She wasn't going to fail anything! Not anymore! Well, she'll at least try her best not to. The idea of getting caught in a war and seeing her fraccion die was enough to make the Noveno's eyes water. Yeah, for the first time in a very, very long time, she was on the verge of crying. Sure, as an arrancar, you had to accept that death was pretty frequent around here but no one wants to see their loved one's die. She continued to stay silent as he spoke. She found it extremely unusual that it was Kuroi who was telling her this. Kuroi of all people! Yet, she couldn't agree with him more. This weakness of her was going to change and she was going to put 10 times more effort into her training.

Asuka slowly sat up. Her body felt weak, but it was too bad. It was just the pain that was the worst part about it. "Rest and recover for one day, Asuka. When we resume in ten hours, I will show you how to become a monstrosity. By the end of this, you will be five times stronger than before." She'd give a small smile and nod her head. Resting now was probably the best idea so it was off to the tree tops for sleepy time...for 10 hours that is. By the time she woke up, she deemed that she had the greatest resting period ever. She was more than ready to resume her training. So ready that she had her blades out, ready for the first thing he was going to throw at her.

Unfortunately, the first thing he was going to throw at her was himself and that never ended pretty. Regardless, it didn't deter her. She was going to do her best...or at least try to. Asuka situated herself into a defensive stance and then he'd do something daunting. He'd spin his blade until it was practically the equivalent of a buzzaw. Hm. Wasn't Miho's weapon similar? She had a chainsaw in her release. Maybe all she needed to do was parry it and then counter? That might work. The only thing that was faster than Asuka herself was the blade Kuroi was spinning. Kuroi was still at the stat speed of 400 which was the same as Asuka's. He wasn't using his Kakucho techniques so they'd be equally matched in that respect. She figured that that was all she needed to pull off the maneuver she had in mind.

Asuka coiled the whip chords around her wrist and moved both blades to one hand. Instead of waiting for him to come to her, she'd wait briefly for him to start moving towards her..and then she'd quickly move after him. She timed it, using the blunt edge of both her blades, she'd strike at his blade in an upward manner just before his blade met hers. It was like getting a bolt stuck in a moving cog...sorta. If that makes any sense. This was meant to make Kuroi's blade hand fly up and away from her. Providing she was successful, Asuka would instantly turn on her heel moving to the outside of his sword hand (mainly to ensure that he wouldn't use his free hand to attack her) and closer to his side. Buzzsaws couldn't really move horizontally, he'd have to move them vertically for them to work effectively. She'd slam her elbow into his side with as much strength as she could muster. Hopefully, this was a good start.

[Zou ۞]

Kuroi, after being blocked initially, released his hand from his weapon, which simply dropped. He side stepped Asuka's elbow, reached out, and grabbed his sword again. He sheathed it, revealing that Kuroi was no longer using it for the moment. Kuroi swept his foot across the ground, attempting to sweep Asuka off of her feet, and knock her over. However, whether or not that worked, it didn't matter. Kuroi backflipped, landing on his hands to propel himself off the ground again, further back. He landed back on his feet with a skid, far out of Asuka's range. That was unlike him. Normally, he was aggressive enough to beat Asuka to the floor, and then continue to ravage her. He hadn't done that. Was he trying something new for this training?

The outfit was unlike Kuroi too. He didn't tend to wear such loose clothing as what he had on, and he usually didn't even keep his swords at his side like that. He had some sort of ability which let him keep them inside of his body. For that very reason, he was known to be able to get a sword out in the blink of an eye, and use this to his strategic advantage. And yet, he had them sheathed then and there, and he was wearing those loose clothes. There was no danger of them randomly coming off, but he was surely used to something slightly more fitting, like a t-shirt, or that suit he wore. Perhaps even that leather coat he'd worn when Asuka had first gotten to know him. Come to think of it, she'd never asked him why he changed his fashion to a suit all of a sudden. Though, he got closer to his original look when he started wearing the blazer unbuttoned, and changed from a purple dress shirt that was tucked in to a rough white one that wasn't.

"Strip." Kuroi suddenly commanded, shrugging his shoulders, so that his haramaki shirt slid from his body, falling at his sides to reveal his bare torso. It was athletic, it was muscular, and it was steel. It was a strong body, and one that maybe Asuka would end up admiring, as she'd once done before. People did admire it sometimes, though it should be noted that Kuroi wasn't as well defined as Shinsei was. There was just something that made Shinsei Tan'O seem photoshopped. Still, this was unlike Kuroi. Yet another thing that seemed very out of character. Kuroi hated Asuka's nude form, and he had no problem telling this to her. He'd called her nudist, and gotten on her case plenty of times for being caught without her clothes. Yet there, he was telling her to take her shirt off. What was going on?

Kuroi's training had changed up this time around. After Asuka got over the awkwardness, and if she did take her shirt off as commanded, Kuroi would be able to go through the rest of the training. Either way, he started taking. "For this next part, you will be able to see the movements of my body to the fullest, and I will be able to see the movements of yours." So he was having her take her shirt off because he wanted to see the way that her body moved while they practiced. Well, that was a bit awkward too, for both. They essentially had to stare at each other's bare bodies. Kuroi didn't seem to care, since he didn't see Asuka as a woman, even. Still, Asuka might find it obscenely awkward. It would be enough to freak her out quite a bit.

"I am going to show you now, Asuka." Kuroi said. "My power with the sword. During this training, you must learn how to create strong techniques with your swodrs and with your whips. To become a more competent combatant, you must learn how to master the weapons at your disposal." He reached for his Zanpakuto, unsheathing it then and there, pulling it out from its scabbard. Kuroi then proceeded to slouch a bit. Next moment, his body seemed to liquify as he approached Asuka. The blade could still be seen moving, but every now and again it seemed to resemble fire. Kuroi was using a weaker form of Grimoire's sword technique! This was one that didn't seem to require his Kakucho Cero, so it made it rather efficient for Kuroi. "Jigoku No Yuza Settei Ato: Mazu Katana Yoshi. Kuro Ikari-En."

Did Asuka have to create something like that?! The blade was already surrounding Asuka like fire! It was going to be terrifying for that mere instant, but Kuroi suddenly stopped attacking, ceasing his style. "Oni Fukusuha." Kuroi reiterated. He started spinning his blade around Asuka, his body rippling with power as the buzz-saw like style came back into play. Kuroi was showing off. But he was also delivering a firm example. Asuka's eyes should definitely stay on Kuroi's blade, which he was moving around with great speed and ferocity. While doing this, Kuroi spoke. "With your whips, you must create similarly effective battle techniques. Otherwise, you will lose to physically great enemies, such as the tenth or eleventh squad Captains of the Gotei Thirteen."

Kuroi stopped spinning his blade, jammed it into the ground, and slammed his fist cleanly into Asuka's solar plexus while he had her distracted by his words and by his swords. This was a painful lesson that she'd probably already learned, but Kuroi was giving it to her again. Not only that, but he'd also found the strategy which would cause her to listen the most. "And never let your guard down. If they talk to you, don't just respond. Don't lose focus. Always assume that they will attack you, and always puzzle out how they will or can. Always figure out how you can defend, and always be cautious with your own attacks. Always leave yourself open to release a counter or escape, should their retaliation prove to be too much."

And then, Kuroi aimed his palm at Asuka, while he had her on the ground. A Cero started charging in his left palm, and charging very, very quickly. Kuroi's Cero was huge, powerful, and painful. Asuka should know instinctively that she really had to get out of the way, or things were really going to suck for her. It would be super painful if she got hit, and especially at that close range. "And yet even when in a pressing situation, like against a Cero, keep aware of your surroundings! If your allies are nearby, an underhanded enemy will attempt to harm them too. If they are strong, it won't be a problem. If they are weak, mindless, or merely caught off guard, you must have a way to defend them, if this is your goal. If you don't mind their death, then so be it." Kuroi's Cero shot out. Hopefully, Asuka got out of the way as it hit the ground, blasting up with a huge explosion.

And then, Kuroi extended out his right arm once again, and it started turning red as white and red steam erupted out of it, bursting from the arm. "Kakucho Cero: Partial." Kuroi noted. But, he didn't increase physical strength this time. With the hand holding the blade, he burst into action. Wherever Asuka went, Kuroi moved with blinding speed, following her. And then, with the enhanced speed in his arm, Kuroi lashed out and started attacking Asuka. "Jigoku No Ato: Saisho No Buredofomu: Ikari-En." Kuroi noted. This wasn't custom. His sword seemed to burst into flames surrounding Asuka. This was the real deal. Grimoire's technique. In fact, Kuroi was even faster while doing it. His flames were even more vicious seeming, even more aggressive. And more damaging, if they hit Asuka.

After they closed in, and looked like they were going to hit poor Asuka, Kuroi stopped with the blades. He drew back, and then went into a defensive stance, and his blade began flicking around his body. It was fast, and it looked like a silver dome had formed around Kuroi's body. The blade moved with such blinding speed and fluid motions that the dome looked solid, as if it had just appeared there. "Jigoku No Ato: Shikkussu Sodofomu: Chitandomu." Kuroi noted. "And, with your whips, learn not just how to attack, but also how to defend." Kuroi said. "Any attack you strike out with right now...will be carved by my blade."

Kuroi's Remaining Reiatsu: 2600 Reiatsu

Kakucho Partial - Right Arm Speed: 1/2

Current Right Arm Speed: 800 (+400 from Kakucho Partial)

[Deleted]

Okay. So maybe the elbow strike was a bad idea. A bad, bad idea. Many things have happened as a result of a bad idea and she was well aware of it. Asuka knew he was going to brutally beat the living shit out of her. That's kind of how it usually goes, right? Right. When her elbow reached out she saw him side step and immediately, she knew she was going to have to be on the defensive again. He swept his foot across the ground and she felt herself being knocked off balance, but she wasn't going to fall. She had to save herself! So when Asuka neared the ground, she caught herself with her hands and bounced right back up. By the time she was up, he was...away from her? What? What the... Did the man have a fever? He wasn't mercilessly beating the crap out of her. Confused Espada was confused.

"Eh?...You feeling alright? Normally you'd be snapping each one of my bones in half by now.." she commented, clearly confused by his new approach. In a normal situation, she would have just kept her trap shut. However, this? No. She couldn't ignore it. Asuka absolutely had to question it. There was no way in hell she couldn't. Even his style of dressing was weird. No suit. She was the only one here with the suit. He still kept the same serious persona but he wasn't being his usual aggressive self at all. Not in the slightest! This is was truly bothered her. Did something happen? Well, usually if it did he probably wouldn't let it bother him. Maybe he ate something weird. What if he's drunk? Did alcohol make him calmer or something? She's heard of angry drunks, horny drunks, happy drunks, flirty drunks, sad drunks, crazy drunks....but never calm. She figured that when your mind is all woozy, everything you do was going to be out of wack so she'd never thought of calm at all. He was probably a new species of drunk.

Or maybe he's not a real arrancar!..But he couldn't be a werecow. His actions were throwing her off big time. And what he's about to say to her will have her thinking she's in the twilight zone. "Strip" Asuka blinked. "Say what?!" The time she finally managed to keep her clothes on and he wanted her au natural. "What the fuck? But, I actually managed to keep my clothes on this time..." she exclaimed. This was kind of on the shocking side for the teal haired espada. Kuroi hated her naked? She hated herself naked. Asuka didn't like parading around. Sure, he could do it no problem, but she's a girl. There's that gender difference, you know? It just didn't sit right with her. Hence her feeling awkward. So what if Kuroi's seen her a million times?! It was still strange too. Not that she thought that he had ill intentions or anything, but still...

"For this next part, you will be able to see the movements of my body to the fullest, and I will be able to see the movements of yours." See? No ill intentions. She knew that much already. "This isn't seriously necessary is it?!" she whined. She studied him for a moment her gaze clearly filled with irritation. In all honesty she didn't want to but for a moment, she almost forgot who she was dealing with. This man will murder her in cold blood if she didn't comply. Asuka let out a sigh clearly full of defeat. It was either this or something far worse in the future. Well, on the plus side, it wasn't like she had a crowd or anything to harass her. So that was one good thing about this situation. After a few minutes of attempting to get over the awkwardness, she did it. Just got it over with and tied bits of cloth over the risque parts. That wasn't so wrong was it? Though all she could think was "Great..he can see EVERYTHING. Joy". Can't you sense her enthusiasm? In any case, he pulled out his swords and Asuka kept up a defensive stance, shifting a foot back and keeping her weight mostly to the leg in the back. "Jigoku No Yuza Settei Ato: Mazu Katana Yoshi. Kuro Ikari-En." she heard. It sounded deadly for sure. Sounded like something that was going to carve her open. Asuka was nervous but she was going to have to suck it up like she had to earlier on. It wasn't as easy as last time. One wrong move and she knew she was dead.

She vaguely wondered if she was going to have to re-create that. It seemed impossible. Then again, maybe there was a whole formula to it something. In just seconds, Asuka found herself being surrounded. It spread like wild fire. Flames danced around her wildly and something about it told her that these were no ordinary flames. Asuka felt her her heart stop and her chest tighten as she watched. The more her eyes stayed on it, the more fearful she got. The teal haired Espada would gulp. He stopped for a moment and she already knew that there was no way he was done now. "Oni Fukusuha." This again. The buzz saw technique. She watched his blade carefully; hoping to pick up on it or at least catch something extremely important. Something she'd be able to mimic.

Asuka never told anyone this, but Kuroi was sort of a good person to mimic. Clever little tricks she often used in battle were straight from Kuroi and the girl was ever so grateful. Sure she observed other opponents too; people like her fellow espada and whatever captains in combat she came across...but she used Kuroi's stuff more. For example, that boob squishing technique? The one she used on Cierro when that jerk tried to impersonate Li Mei again? Yeah..She learned it from Kuroi. Or the C-weapon trick, pricking your finger with reiatsu to draw blood while firing a cero. She's used that too. Asuka's done alot though. She was sure she did more but trying to recall all the times she did would take up too much time...so she'd just save that thinking for later.

Asuka was doing her best to watch the way Kuroi used his blades. She even tried not to blink! Okay, that was only possible for a certain amount of time, but she was slowly getting the gist of his technique. Slowly. The blade was moving with such speed that at time Asuka found herself not trying to get dizzy. "With your whips, you must create similarly effective battle techniques. Otherwise, you will lose to physically great enemies, such as the tenth or eleventh squad Captains of the Gotei Thirteen." Asuka looked at him for a moment and simply nodded in agreement. So maybe she didn't have to recreate the same exact thing...but maybe her own version of it? Asuka's never seen the Eleventh squad captain, but she has heard of the Tenth squad captain..and Miho's hate for him. He was JUST a sparkle wizard. Sparkle Wizards were always so cool! Maybe she met a different sub-branch of a sparkle wizard. Asuka hadn't had the chance to explore all the branches of Sparkle Wizards. All she knew was that she had a life changing dream and she could just never see things the same anymore. It was pretty trippy.

Miho hated everything. She was just a hater. A hater that drank haterade like she breathed. It was necessary for her and she understood that part...she just didn't like it is all. How Kuroi deals with her was beyond Asuka herself. Sure she had impressive powers but with someone so mean, Asuka wasn't sure how he just tolerated that. Then again, he always seemed to like those with a more hardened and battle ready personality rather than those with friendly ones. Hum. Guess that's how it worked. Asuka was never one to really be a bitch to anyone. Not without a very, very good reason at least. The girl just simply had too much love in her to really exude any sort of disdain towards anyone the way Miho does. It was strange. Asuka always knew she was the stranger one out of the Espada though. It was only natural. After all...she had teal hair! Not that that really explained anything, but hey! It was a red flag, wasn't it?! Wasn't it!? Exactly.

And suddenly, it was like he just dropped everything and slammed his fist straight to her solar plexus. It came out of fucking nowhere. She half-expected something like this would happen. Half. Of course, the girl wouldn't put it past Kuroi to pull something like this. At the same time, he acted like they were both in the twilight zone. He was acting Weird. WIth a capital "W" and intense red font. That's how serious this was. It was that bad and Asuka really didn't understand why he was acting like that. Sure he wanted to see her do well. Every teacher wants to see their students do well. She just wouldn't expecting something like this from Kuroi especially. Thus, it threw her off completely. She wasn't sure how to really act around him. However, she was taking this much more seriously so she wasn't going to mess around or have any "Asuka-Moments" like she did with that one sparkle wizard when they infiltrated Seireitei. No sir. Asuka was putting 100% into this training.

"And never let your guard down. If they talk to you, don't just respond. Don't lose focus. Always assume that they will attack you, and always puzzle out how they will or can. Always figure out how you can defend, and always be cautious with your own attacks. Always leave yourself open to release a counter or escape, should their retaliation prove to be too much." Asuka fell to her knees and her back was hunched over for a few seconds and let out a cough or two. "Owowowowowww..." she said in between coughs and gasps. Was that it? No way...more had to have been on her way. Kuroi always kept Asuka on her toes. Always. Speaking of which, Asuka moved her feet so that she was on her toes. She knew the expect the sometimes unexpected. Especially from Kuroi. Well..battle wise she did. Personality wise, no. But in this case, she had a feeling he'd go along with a follow up to his punch. Asuka didn't even need to look up. She could sense the reiatsu building. So she'd use the pressure built up on her toes to spring to the side and roll farther away from Kuroi and brought out her whips. Kuroi had insane reiatsu strength but a cero was a cero was cero. It still took time to charge and because Asuka sensed the reiatsu building up, it was ample time for her to escape.

She stood up straight and looked at him with strained eyes. Yeah, she knew what he was getting at for sure. Never again was she going to let something like that happen again. Never. Well...maybe it'll happen here and there but she'll try her damn best to avoid it! "G-Gotcha..!" she said, her voice filled with determination. "And yet even when in a pressing situation, like against a Cero, keep aware of your surroundings! If your allies are nearby, an underhanded enemy will attempt to harm them too. If they are strong, it won't be a problem. If they are weak, mindless, or merely caught off guard, you must have a way to defend them, if this is your goal. If you don't mind their death, then so be it." Well, shit. He definitely didn't need to tell her about underhanded enemies. She's had her fair share of underhanded thank you very much. Still though, she knew what he was talking about. Asuka simply nodded at his statement. She had to be more careful and pay more attention to her surrounding. Rightio.

"Kakucho Cero: Partial." Once he said that, Asuka knew she'd have to start defending herself. Sure Kangaroo hide was the strongest hide for a bullwhip but Kuroi's attacks was something that would carve through it like butter. Even if she released and got bulkier whips, Asuka was sure that her weapons wouldn't last very long. So when he rushed after her, Asuka would do her best dodge. But not just mindlessly dodge. She saw the hand that he used to activate his Kakucho and so she moved in the opposite direction of the hand, spinning around on her heels so that he couldn't use his opposite hand. Regardless, it was extremely hard for her to keep up. Scratch that, she barely could! The speed was of his technique was incredible. "Jigoku No Ato: Saisho No Buredofomu: Ikari-En." At this point, Asuka knew that anything "Jigoku" related would be the death of her. Not just for the simple fact that it was a werecow thing, but that seeing as how Kuroi would use it, he wouldn't hold back against her.

It got to a point where she absolutely couldn't keep up. Mind you....that was only after a few seconds. After that, it got ridiculous. He was going to close in on her and suddenly, he stopped. He drew his blades back and Asuka took a moment to attempt to catch his breath as he did so. Despite this, her eyes never left his attacking form for a moment. Suddenly, he'd just flicker around! It was ridiculous and in no time, it just seemed that she was trapped in a silver dome of some sorts. What happens if she touches it? Actually...as shiny as it was...it's probably not a good idea. "Jigoku No Ato: Shikkussu Sodofomu: Chitandomu. And, with your whips, learn not just how to attack, but also how to defend. Any attack you strike out with right now...will be carved by my blade." Asuka wanted to stare in awe. Not just because of how shiny it was but mainly because of how she was going to figure a way out of it. She absolutely couldn't fathom a way to defend. Not that she was giving up. There was a way. There's always a way. It's just that she couldn't figure it out. Though, that didn't mean she was going to stop and stare. She'll try. It's the attempt that counts right. "...Whoa...Uh.." she gulped nervously. WAIT A SECOND. WHAT ABOUT THE SAW TECHNIQUE HE SHOWED HER EARLIER.

She could try that! Maybe that should do something. Asuka figured she might be unsuccessful but it was worth a shot. And so Asuka would attempt to mimic the chainsaw technique. She wouldn't get it right the first time, but she'd attempt to do something on her first try. So, she'd start spinning her blade and attempt to do so with the same ferociousness and speed Kuroi did. She didn't have Kakucho techniques but she'll do what she can. And then, she'd do something stupid.

She'd strike out at him.

[Zou ۞]

OOC: You should finish your post.

[Deleted]

Finished my post!

[Zou ۞]

+420 TP

Our thread's officially done.