Post by Himitsu Kasumi'Oji on Jan 28, 2014 0:52:21 GMT -5
The seated officer strained his eyes as his gaze passed over the nearly empty horizon. The outer edge of the Rukongai was barely definable as a transparent line from his distant location, and Himitsu decided that this area was far enough. In his blue-highlighted Shinigami robes, he inspected the location he had selected to be his training setting. The ground beneath his feet is made of compact, brown dirt, yet it seemed as dry as desert sand. The powerful sun above him shone brightly and spread its empowering warmth into his pseudo-giant body. He felt strong today, and he'd need that strength to make this exercise as beneficial as possible.
The objective was simple. Before beginning, Himitsu would position a training dummy beside him and release his Zanpakuto. For the first task, Himitsu would test his abilities with Shunpo by transporting himself as far as possible with the technique. From his distant position, he would suddenly pivot his body in a rapid turn with his sword arm extended. Without taking more than a split second to aim, he would fire his Shikai technique Inazuma, Lighting Bolt, at the target. If his accuracy was spot on, it would hit the head of the humanoid manikin. Whether he succeeded or not with Inazuma, Himitsu would activate another Shunpo. This time, though, the Shunpo would have to take him at least a little bit further than the one cast before it. If it makes significant improvement and carries him further past his starting point beside the dummy, he would again spin around and slash his blade at the target. Himitsu would then stand beside the training target and repeat.
He had designed the training to wear him out quickly, and after his third repetition, he knew he had succeeded in doing so. Shunpo after Shunpo, Inazuma after Inazuma, slash after slash. He soon lost count of how many reruns he had done of the training cycle. However, his improvement was definitely visible. His first several Inzaumas had missed their target by several feet. However, gradually, his accuracy increased. He began hitting the target's body as well as grazing its head a few times. Only once did he succeed so far, somewhere between his tenth and fifteenth repetition. It could have been more or less, but he didn't have the slightest clue. Fatigue was like a parasite feeding off his energy and draining his focus. As far as he knew, he was only aware of completing each stage of the exercise before repeating it.
Shunpo was drastically improving. It's growth began exponentially. In his first run, he hadn't made any noticeable progress. It seemed that he returned near his starting point, but he still cut at the target and continued the routine. However, with his second attempt, he returned five feet past the target. With the third run, he was five meters past it and had to move to catch up. From there, the improvement of his Shunpo became more moderate, but he could definitely see the improvement.
However, his slashes at the target at the end of the cycle grew more and more difficult as his usually light Zanpakuto felt heavy in his arms. The small kick with each activation of Inazuma had already began to strain his biceps, making every powerful stroke of his sword even more painful. But he reached a point late in the exercise where pain was too overwhelming focus on. It became a matter of how long he could ignore his muscle's cries of protest against how long his stamina could fight off exhaustion. Either way, the training exercise would be over soon, despite his effort to continue as long as he could.
He must have done the cycle thirty times by the time he had hit his limit. Poured down his face like a river down the decline of a mountain, blurring his vision and acting as a distracting nuisance that made it that much more difficult to focus, especially regarding his accuracy with Inazuma. It was about two-thirds through the exercise that he had finally realized his lack of improvement. All of his techniques had stayed the consistent for the past few repetitions. However, he continued the training with even more determination, striving to see the progression he had been striving for.
But the opposite greeted him instead. He slowly began to regress. Izazuma was drastically losing accuracy not to mention power. The much smaller arrows of lightning were missing the target by multiple meters. His movements were dragging, especially his strokes with his sword at the end of each run. Even his second uses of Shunpo for each repetition had stopped taking him past the training dummy. He had to jog exhaustedly to finish each routine and make up the ground he lost with his shorter Shunpo.
Himitsu knew when he hit the wall. It had punched him across the face several repetitions before he couldn't continue the exercise. But he kept pushing against them, desperately trying to force them back and tear them down. But those walls were even more stubborn than he. They refused to budge and leached on Himitsu's strength until he nearly collapsed. When he was completing the cycle for his final run, he had raised his released Zanpakuto over his head in preparation for an over-head strike.
The Shunpo had put a distance of three meters between him and the training target, and he lunged forward wearily. His movements were sluggish and lost all grace and precision a swordsman was supposed to have. When he brought his blade down, he noticed a Katana's edge sink into the manikin. His Shikai had vanished with his lack of energy, yet his sealed Zanpakuto was even heavier if possible. He knew that if he tried to go on, he wouldn't be able to make it back to his room in the Squad 10 Barracks without at least a night's rest in the Wilderness beyond the Rukongai borders.
Himitsu was beyond exhausted, yet he still had a long walk ahead of him. He slid his blade back into the scabbard at his hilt and began the lengthy return to Seireitei. Normally, he'd take his time and enjoy the untouched scenery around him while toying with thoughts in his mind. But his mind had already fallen asleep and it was his body's duty to return them back to the barracks and join it in a nice long slumber. Maybe after a meal or two. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face as he half-limped toward the Rukongai. He was looking forward to coming back home.
The objective was simple. Before beginning, Himitsu would position a training dummy beside him and release his Zanpakuto. For the first task, Himitsu would test his abilities with Shunpo by transporting himself as far as possible with the technique. From his distant position, he would suddenly pivot his body in a rapid turn with his sword arm extended. Without taking more than a split second to aim, he would fire his Shikai technique Inazuma, Lighting Bolt, at the target. If his accuracy was spot on, it would hit the head of the humanoid manikin. Whether he succeeded or not with Inazuma, Himitsu would activate another Shunpo. This time, though, the Shunpo would have to take him at least a little bit further than the one cast before it. If it makes significant improvement and carries him further past his starting point beside the dummy, he would again spin around and slash his blade at the target. Himitsu would then stand beside the training target and repeat.
He had designed the training to wear him out quickly, and after his third repetition, he knew he had succeeded in doing so. Shunpo after Shunpo, Inazuma after Inazuma, slash after slash. He soon lost count of how many reruns he had done of the training cycle. However, his improvement was definitely visible. His first several Inzaumas had missed their target by several feet. However, gradually, his accuracy increased. He began hitting the target's body as well as grazing its head a few times. Only once did he succeed so far, somewhere between his tenth and fifteenth repetition. It could have been more or less, but he didn't have the slightest clue. Fatigue was like a parasite feeding off his energy and draining his focus. As far as he knew, he was only aware of completing each stage of the exercise before repeating it.
Shunpo was drastically improving. It's growth began exponentially. In his first run, he hadn't made any noticeable progress. It seemed that he returned near his starting point, but he still cut at the target and continued the routine. However, with his second attempt, he returned five feet past the target. With the third run, he was five meters past it and had to move to catch up. From there, the improvement of his Shunpo became more moderate, but he could definitely see the improvement.
However, his slashes at the target at the end of the cycle grew more and more difficult as his usually light Zanpakuto felt heavy in his arms. The small kick with each activation of Inazuma had already began to strain his biceps, making every powerful stroke of his sword even more painful. But he reached a point late in the exercise where pain was too overwhelming focus on. It became a matter of how long he could ignore his muscle's cries of protest against how long his stamina could fight off exhaustion. Either way, the training exercise would be over soon, despite his effort to continue as long as he could.
He must have done the cycle thirty times by the time he had hit his limit. Poured down his face like a river down the decline of a mountain, blurring his vision and acting as a distracting nuisance that made it that much more difficult to focus, especially regarding his accuracy with Inazuma. It was about two-thirds through the exercise that he had finally realized his lack of improvement. All of his techniques had stayed the consistent for the past few repetitions. However, he continued the training with even more determination, striving to see the progression he had been striving for.
But the opposite greeted him instead. He slowly began to regress. Izazuma was drastically losing accuracy not to mention power. The much smaller arrows of lightning were missing the target by multiple meters. His movements were dragging, especially his strokes with his sword at the end of each run. Even his second uses of Shunpo for each repetition had stopped taking him past the training dummy. He had to jog exhaustedly to finish each routine and make up the ground he lost with his shorter Shunpo.
Himitsu knew when he hit the wall. It had punched him across the face several repetitions before he couldn't continue the exercise. But he kept pushing against them, desperately trying to force them back and tear them down. But those walls were even more stubborn than he. They refused to budge and leached on Himitsu's strength until he nearly collapsed. When he was completing the cycle for his final run, he had raised his released Zanpakuto over his head in preparation for an over-head strike.
The Shunpo had put a distance of three meters between him and the training target, and he lunged forward wearily. His movements were sluggish and lost all grace and precision a swordsman was supposed to have. When he brought his blade down, he noticed a Katana's edge sink into the manikin. His Shikai had vanished with his lack of energy, yet his sealed Zanpakuto was even heavier if possible. He knew that if he tried to go on, he wouldn't be able to make it back to his room in the Squad 10 Barracks without at least a night's rest in the Wilderness beyond the Rukongai borders.
Himitsu was beyond exhausted, yet he still had a long walk ahead of him. He slid his blade back into the scabbard at his hilt and began the lengthy return to Seireitei. Normally, he'd take his time and enjoy the untouched scenery around him while toying with thoughts in his mind. But his mind had already fallen asleep and it was his body's duty to return them back to the barracks and join it in a nice long slumber. Maybe after a meal or two. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face as he half-limped toward the Rukongai. He was looking forward to coming back home.
