Ugh, do I -have- to?!? [Joint TT, CTP]

[Shin]

'I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday.'

"Why do I have to do this again?" Shin asked himself, scratching the back of his head with an almost exhausted look on his face. It was genuine, Shin hadn't exactly slept all that well yesterday. To be quite blunt he had gone out, not wanting to stay indoors and act all boring with most of the squad members who he didn't even know. It was actually a decision Shin was regretting because he had completely forgotten that one of his superiors had signed him up to do a training session with one of the other squads. Shin didn't even ask for it, he had to do it because it was a way of keeping the squads more in touch or some bullshit like that.

It was a bright day, the sun was glaring down on the whole of the Seretei and Shin was thankful for that. This wasn't one of the top things he'd like to be doing but it was one hundred times better than performing such a task in the cold. And that meant that he could dress appropriately for training. His Shinigami uniform was loose fitting, the sleeves were loose and gave his arms a lot more breathing room. The warm weather also allowed him to wear loose trousers as well and that was always much better than wearing tight ones when he was trying to do physical activities such as running or fighting. His Asauchi (undeveloped zanpakuto) hung loosely on his left side so it could be drawn. Although, Shin wasn't particularly sure how good his Asauchi it would be if he came up against someone with a proper zanpakuto. He still wore his brown boots, his lucky boots. Shin's silvery hair was tied in a pig tail and hanging over his shoulder, it was long so naturally had to be tied back so no one could grab him by his hair and pull him like a little girl.

Shin wasn't completely sure what he actually had to do, all he knew is that he would be paired with someone from the third division and would have to do some kind of training with them. It wasn't the fact that Shin didn't want to meet new people but did he really have to have it basically forced upon him? It was more of the principle. To make it worse, the Shinigami hadn't exactly been thinking with his brain so ended up actually going out rather than getting a healthy 8-10 hours of sleep and ended up with just a meagre 6. Hence why he had bags under his eyes as he shuffled out of Squad six's barracks and towards the third division's barracks. At the very least the sun was bringing up his mood slightly. It was so warm and it made Shin smile internally, being warm was always good and as such it was a good day to be outside and training.

There were barely any Shinigami from squad six that had been signed up and even so they were leaving much later than he was. Shin just wanted to go there, get this over with, learn a few tips and tricks then go back home. So Shin was carrying himself (very much alone) along the dirty road towards the third division's barracks. He shuffled along the road for what could've been about fifteen minutes before he finally came upon where he was supposed to be; the third division barracks. Since his squad's barracks were owned by the stupidly rich Kuchiki family Squad three's usually huge barracks didn't seem that big or extravagant in Shin's eyes and to be honest he wasn't attentive enough to care, Squad six's barracks dwarfed it.

He took himself inside the barracks.

Maybe instead of complaining I should look at this as more of a good thing, I could actually end up having fun. He thought to himself. The Shinigami smirked at the thought of that. He was good at making things fun after all, he had learned to make his own entertainment through his years of living. Anyway, the training would be useful for a growing Shinigami such as himself. He was a prodigy but many people made it clear that he was still growing and developing even if it was at a stupidly fast rate. 'If he worked hard his potential could be limitless.' Was a phrase he was hearing a lot recently and he heard it a lot in the academy when he was training. Shin guessed it was about time he did something along those lines. God's can't be slacking after all. So, Shin plastered a fakeish grin on his face and met the Squad three officer.

"Ahh you've arrived just in time!" He seemed almost surprised that Shin had actually arrived so promptly on the dot. He was exactly on time and that made Shin chuckle internally.

"So, is my partner ready for me then? Shin questioned, raising his eyebrow that wasn't covered by his sleek black eyepatch.

"Aye, he should be. What's your name?" He asked.

"Shin."

The Shinigami looked through his pad, flipping back and forth across the pages until he finally spotted Shin's name near the middle of the list. "Ah! Right this way!" He said happily and then Shin began to follow him. They went out the back of the barracks and through the training grounds, just when Shin thought that they'd stop they continued right past the training grounds and into a heavily wooded area. The instructor must have spotted Shin's puzzled look and smiled a bit to calm him down. "Don't worry, it's just cos we have a lot of people paired and we want to give you maximum space, it's okay Squad three owns this area." He explained and Shin only nodded in response and continued the journey in silence.

Shin was in no mood for talking, he had to switch his brain on and get into fight mode. He couldn't be caught slacking or slipping in this session or he'd embarrass himself and before he knew it the 'prodigy' would be known as a clumsy idiot. So now Shin was mentally preparing himself, switching his brain on and getting himself psyched up. He was tired but that didn't matter any more, now it was actually time to be serious. If there was two things Shin was serious about it was training and money and this counted as training. He was mentally serious now and mentally preparing himself. They walked for about five more minutes before they finally came to a more open area but still rather secluded spot. Shin took two deep breaths as the instructor nodded him through.

"Grodd is around here." The instructor said and Shin gave him a quick nod. He continued to walk bast the trees until he was finally at the edge of his assigned training area where he finally came to a slow halt. He glanced around. The trees were as tall as giants and were very thick. This forest was almost daunting due to the fact the leaves on branches were blocking out bits and pieces of the sun. It was still light enough to see as clearly as day but Shin would've rather have been training in a place where he wasn't being towered over by weird looking trees. Anything, none of that mattered, all that mattered was the task at hand. All right, it's go time. He would learn something from this or at the very least have a fucking fun time, at least he hoped so or this would be just a stupid waste of time and Shin hated a stupid waste of time... Especially when he had only gotten six hours of sleep the night before just to do it.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats}

Strength - 50 Points

Speed - 75 (113) Points

Spiritual Pressure - 50 Points

Reiatsu Strength - 75 (25) Points

Light Aura - 25 Points

Dark Aura - 75 Points

Instinct - 150 (50) Points

Senses - 50 (75) Points

Energy sensory - 0 Points

Healing Expertise - 0 Points


Total SP: 450 Points

SPOILER: Click to show

{Abilities}

Abilities

-Add more if necessary

To add more, use [li][Insert Ability #X Here] [Insert Level Here]

• Weapon: Swords 1
• Battle Skill: Hakuda 1
• Mental Skill: Strength of Will 1
• Battle Skill: Pain Tolerance 1
• Battle Skill: Battle Analysis 1
• Weapon: Daggers 1

[Beast]

It was the worst day of the month. The day where Grodd did his very best to hide from his superior officers, or lose them in the forest. He hadn't yet been successful, and he was always caught and forced back to the barracks. For some reason, Squad 3 wanted to be "proper" and "clean", words that went through one ear and out the other with Grodd. In his mind, he was proper and he was clean. But still they dragged him into the bathroom, hosed him down violently with Kidou, and then forced some clothes on him.

It was demeaning, insulting, and just plain painful. The thick layer of dirt that Grodd used to keep bugs from biting him and keep rocks from hurting his feet was gone, replaced by stifling cotton and shoes that forced cloth straps in between his toes. It was like walking around with a bear wrapped around you while thorns were inside your toes. Grodd HATED this day of the month out of all of the days. This was the day that his Squad forced him to undergo "Inter-Squad Training" alongside the rest of his squad.

While the other Shinigami didn't care, and sometimes were excited to test their skills on members of other squads, improving as they did so, Grodd hated it. Most times he just sat in a corner and let the other guy hit him a few times so that the other guy would give up and go train with someone else in a 1v2. Usually the Vice Captain against a pair of unseated officers. They would get something out of the day, Grodd would be left alone, everyone would win. But more and more his superior officers made him participate, and the way that they watched him carefully, he knew that this month was going to be different.

So, he stood up tall and didn't let his knuckles drag to the ground as he walked out of the barracks. The officer in charge of training looked him up on the list (though let's be real, everyone in Squad 3 knew who Grodd was and where he would be) and wasn't surprised at all to find that Grodd would not be showcased in the main training grounds, but rather hidden away in one of the secluded wooded areas where he could train with his partner and not embarrass the Squad with his inevitable near nudity and refusal to communicate in a rational way.

The officer shooed Grodd away into the forest that they usually used for Scouting training and told him to report to the standard Mission Staging clearing. This was... actually great news! Nobody followed Grodd, nobody made sure that he was going to be where he was supposed to be or follow the rules that they had set for him. Actually hoping that he could have some actual fun this time, seeing as he wasn't going to have the restrictive officers towering over him, the Shinigami took off in a brisk jog to get to the right clearing.

As soon as he was in the safety of his trees, the clothes came off. First were the awful shoes that didn't allow him to feel the ground, then came that awful dress of a uniform they shoved into him. They had tied it carefully around him this time, so he had to use his assigned Asauchi to cut it off. This left him in just his custom made loincloth. It was necessary, or he would for real be punished for being completely nude during the inter squad training, but this way he was a bit more free, much more like himself.

So, Grodd set himself up in the exact center of the clearing that Shin would soon arrive in. He took the Asauchi, which was more or less useless to him, and plunged it into the grassy earth next to him. He set his feet apart, a bit more than shoulder width, and squatted down with his elbows resting just above his thighs. He held this position with his eyes closed until Shin arrived. No matter what Shin said, Grodd wouldn't reply. He would open up his eyes once the Squad 3 officer announced the partner's arrival, but he wouldn't say anything.

Well, even if he could say anything he might not. The man was completely mute, so he couldn't say anything to Shin even if he wanted to. But rather than trying to communicate in his gibberish form of sign language, he simply remained in his defensive Hakuda position. He was low to the ground, with his feet set defensively, and his arms ready to defend himself. His silence was stubborn, arrogant even, as if he required his enemy to come face him on his own terms rather than going to Shin on his. What would Shin do?

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats/Skills}
Strength - [100 x1.25 (125)] Points

Speed - [100] Points

Spiritual Pressure - [80 x.75 (60)] Points

Reiatsu Strength - [50 x1.25 (63)] Points

Light Aura - [35] Points

Dark Aura - [65] Points

Instinct - [100 x.75 (75)] Points

Senses - [50] Points

Energy sensory - [0 x1.25 (0)] Points

Healing Expertise - [0] Points


Total SP: [480] Points


Abilities



[Boxing] {1}

[Hakuda] {1}

[Pain Tolerance] {1}

[Strength of Will] {1}

[Cold Tolerance] {1}

Damage Recovery] {1}

[Mental Incantation] {1}

[Shin]

How... what... why?

Grodd was very odd to say the least. He was big, that's for sure but he looked so odd. He was almost naked, only having a tribal-like loincloth covering his funny parts. If anything, looking at the man made Shin feel super, super uncomfortable. Naked women? Absolutely fine. Naked stranger man who he didn't know? Absolutely not, not, not fine. It was weird, it made him feel uncomfortable and well it was downright awkward. Did he really have to train with someone that was well... basically indecent? Shin was already sweating and fiddling with his eyepatch, one of the things he did when he felt uncomfortable with a situation.

And then that moment came. Oh fucking hell, Grodd actually noticed him as evidenced when he opened his eyes and looked at Shin. All the colour went out of the Shinigami's skin, he didn't know if it was some sort of embarrassment or just feeling plain awkward. Shin couldn't help but smile nervously and chuckle slightly, at least trying to seem friendly as he slowly (yet cautiously) approached his training partner. "Hi, I'm Shin from Squad Six." He said, still chuckling nervously but trying (and possibly failing) to hide it. Honestly, Shin's comfort levels dropped like a stone the moment he saw Grodd was nearly naked.

What made the whole situation scarier was that Grodd didn't reply, not a single word or grunt and that made Shin even more nervous. Silence meant unknown and unknown meant it could be anything so arcane. For all Shin knew he could be a psycho slowly plotting Shin's unfortunate death in this simple training and judging by his figure it was pretty possible if they were gonna do this hand to hand, just look at him compared to Shin and that's all what needed to be said. He was muscular, wild and scary looking while Shin was skinny. And to make it even worse he was wearing next to no clothes, how could he possibly be sane?

Sure, Shin wasn't shy about his body and didn't feel that anyone had anything to hide but there was surely a limit on such things. Clothes were still a common part of human decency (and no Shin did not count that loincloth as sufficient clothing). When someone was almost naked and freaking everyone out even Shin had to draw a line there. Still, it couldn't be helped; this guy was supposed to be similar to his skill level since they had been paired together. That meant that he could have something to learn from this guy (obviously not fashion tips he hoped).

To Shin's sadness Grodd didn't pick up his sword, no - he went into a hand-to-hand stance. For fuck's sake! Yep, he was doomed. Shin wasn't a fan of hakuda despite the fact he had been pretty damn good at it in the academy. Shin wasn't a fan of using his fists still, he wanted to slice and dice, not punch and kick. Still, it couldn't be helped, who knows, maybe Shin would learn a thing or to from this guy about hand-to-hand combat. Shin looked at Grodd up and down, he was challenging Shin, no words were spoken but Shin knew by his body language and stance. "So, we gonna go for a few rounds, eh? Sounds good to me. He stated, after all this was only a training session meaning they didn't have to go all out. Still, this was a chance for Shin to learn something. So he dropped into a hakuda stance, focused his good eye on Grodd and slowly began to approach his opponent.

[Beast]

OOC: I have something planned to keep this Training instead of being pure PvP.

Grodd could see how uncomfortable the man from Squad 6 looked. He was fiddling with an eye patch while starting to sweat, even chuckling while talking, clues to his distaste for training with men like Grodd. He'd seen all of those signs before. The nervousness, the unease, neither of them were unknown to the man who would rather not be wearing the loincloth at all. Most people looked at him like that, with the small minority that didn't being the people who looked away and pretended that he didn't exist. He was used to being a freak, he was used to being the odd one out.

And he didn't really care.

He had hoped that his partner was going to be different this month, someone who he could actually use to improve himself, but that hope was more or less completely gone. Shin didn't look well built, but was going to fight Grodd using the Squad 3 Shinigami's style of Hakuda rather than use his sword. Which was fine to Grodd, but his physical strength tended to overpower those who weren't ready for it. He had seen that time and time again in the Academy in his Close Quarters Combat kinds of classes. The weak students who were more Kidou inclined were taken down time and time again by his above average strength.

Would Shin be different? Grodd recognized the Hakuda stance that came from a practiced user. It wasn't sloppy or weak. If Grodd had to guess, they would probably be equal in skill in the Shinigami art of hand to hand combat. But he wasn't abnormally talented at analysis, nor did he have refined instincts. All he knew is what he saw, and he saw a good stance. Hubris would lead him to believe that he was superior to Shin merely because of his musculature in comparison to that of the Squad 6 Shinigami, but big muscles did not cause someone to have better Skills.

Shin approached Grodd slowly, but Grodd didn't lurch forward, he didn't rush his opponent, and he didn't even respond. He simply stayed still. His arms were still near his side with arms bent at a 90 degree angle. His fists were clenched and pointed upwards, but other than that, he seemed collected and non-violent. His appearance screamed anything but nonviolence, what with his nearly naked body and martial art stance, with a sword next to him plunged into the ground. But for now, he wasn't doing anything. Was he waiting, or what?

5 posts until Surprise

[Shin]

The Shinigami raised at eyebrow an his opponent. He was staying still, as if he was inviting Shin to come and try and attack him. Shin could only take that as a sign of confidence, and people that confident where either really big-headed or had a really solid game plan. Although, judging by Grodd's appearance and the way he carried himself Shin would be surprised of he could actually form, solid, coherent plans in relation to anything. Although, appearances could be deceiving so he was careful not to jump to any conclusions, that would just get his head smashed in.

Still, the way he was so calm and collected, not even reacting to someone with a solid hakuda stance coming at him was unsettling. As if he was some kind of silent giant waiting to strike. Oh, well then fuck it, it was too late to back out now. He was a few meters away, still approaching and continuing going. Shin was trying to calm himself but his heart was racing with excitement and anticipation. An actual fight, an actual hand-to-hand fight (with someone who was bigger than him) just to train. It was so exhilarating, it had been stressed to him a lot but Shin could actually learn from this! He could actually improve on something he didn't particularly like. After all, Hakuda was an important skill for a Shinigami and Shin was determined to improve it, even if it seemed like Grodd could break his arm in a second.

Now Shin was ready and he was now in striking distance, and this is when Shin's brain when into caution mode. At this point Grodd could strike, grab or kick Shin if he wanted, but Shin could also do the same. Now Shin had to be careful and every move he took was with a pinpoint caution and precision. Would he grab Grodd? That was be crazy, anyone could tell just be looking that Shin seemed to be outclassed in the brute strength department, just by analysing Shin could discern this in an instant. A kick was an option but Shin didn't trust removing one leg from the ground and removing his option of dodging and putting a leg in risk.

So the best option in Shin's mind was to strike.

First, Shin feinted a straight jab towards Grodd's nose. By doing this he was hoping to draw Grodd's blocking and attention to protecting his face. However, Shin's true strike came in the form of his left hand towards his abdomen, his tummy area. Now it was no secret that this guy had muscles and from that it was possible he could be durable since he looked like he could break Shin's neck if Shin got on the wrong side of him. As a result, he would have to aim for weaker spots where he was nice and squishy and easy to hit. The nose was a good option but it was too direct and Shin used trickery as his bread and butter, so he went for the less obvious option.

If this hit it would hurt, however, it would also achieve the effect of winding Grodd. While he did have the strength of an athlete compared to Shin's average strength the gut was still a valuable spot. Even if a professional NFL player got decked in the gut he would be winded, although not to the degree of an average joe. So that's where Shin aimed for. At least that was Shin's logic, for all he knew Grodd could be like a tank but he could only go on assumptions at this point. In reality, if the strike hit it would still wind Grodd but not to the high degree Shin wanted. But hey, a solid hit was a solid hit right? Being winded was never good.

[Beast]

The Shinigami from Squad 6 slowly and cautiously approached Grodd, getting very close before finally acting. With a smile, Grodd was noticeably relieved. He had thought that the man would never attack him, only fearfully stepping closer and closer without doing anything. Shin started with a jab towards Grodd's face. The Shinigami from Squad 3 noticed that the other man was moving quite a bit faster than he was able to move, but that wasn't too big of a problem, for Grodd didn't need to move nearly as much as Shin did.

Grodd moved his head to the side slightly to avoid the face shot, and while he saw the body blow coming, he didn't react to it. The man was already moving his own arm forward to counter the shot at his face, and didn't have the instincts or the motivation to stop the attack coming at his gut. It's not like he wanted to be hit, he just didn't care if he took the brunt of an attack to deliver a blow of his own. That was his style of fighting, and while it could get him in trouble, he usually had the toughness to get through it.

Being faster, Shin's attack would hit first. Grodd's diaphragm would be forcibly compressed by the attack, forcing the air out of his lungs. While most people would cough and wheeze at that, sputtering and possibly even groaning or moaning, no sound escaped Grodd's lips. Shin's hearing was above average, but even he couldn't hear the moving of the wind from Grodd's mouth. There just wasn't any sound. It was as if he had no vocal chords that could even be vibrated by punching him, much less be manipulated to moan or even form words.

However, Grodd was strong. His strength was superhuman, while Shin's was that of an average human. Additionally, Grodd had a higher pain tolerance than the average individual, had a strong force of will that made him stubborn, and could recoup from damage faster than the average person. As a result, while the wind had been knocked out of the Shinigami, it hadn't stopped him from following through on his right hook that was aimed for Shin's face. With both of his hands occupied in attacking Grodd, it was doubtful that Shin could recover to block the attack that was delivered just moments after his own attack. If struck, it was more than possible that Shin would be sent skidding backwards, if not falling to the ground from the superior force.

4 posts until surprise.

[Shin]

Shock.

That is all that ran through Shin's head as his attack landed solidly. Nothing had been done to mitigate the damage, Grodd hadn't moved (or even attempted to dodge), he hadn't seemed like he braced himself, or tensed his muscles to prepare. It had been a solid blow and Shin's plan had worked to basic perfection, Grodd had anticipated a face blow which had left him wide open for a body blow. Shin's fist connected solidly with his mid section, which should have resulted in his diaphram being compressed and him being winded or having a groan or moan forced from him. If everything had gone well then he may have doubled over or something.

And yet I may as well have tickled him with a feather.

Grodd had basically tanked Shin hit which he had thought would have resulted in some proper damage of some sort, and yet it may as well have tickled him; it was frustrating. To make it worse Grodd had decided to retaliate after brushing off Shin's well thought out attack casually. Although Shin was faster, it wasn't by a significant amount , even so he was able to notice that an attack was coming but he noticed it too late, had Grodd been slower Shin may have been able to completely dodge it but he wasn't, they were almost equal in speed. Although, on the plus side Shin was able to twitch his neck in backwards in an attempt to mitigate the damage but the attack still his him hard.

BANG!

Before Shin knew it he was hearing bells and felt as if someone had grabbed his head and smashed it against a brick wall. All Shin did was grunt as he was sent skidding back a fair amount. Luckily for Shin, he had a fair amount of pain tolerance, taking a hit to his cheek (albeit a pretty damn strong hit) could be tolerated and wouldn't impede his fighting at all. Still, Shin didn't have to look to know that his cheek had a massive bruise on it. Had Shin not twitched his neck back to make the hit less direct who knows what it could've become. Still, his cheek bone felt as if it was on fire and even clenching his teeth only worsened the pain. Luckily, pain tolerance.

And yet the Shinigami grinned.

Based on that one small skirmish Shin could tell Grodd was a scary guy, Shin could tell Grodd was a fucking strong guy. Something about that made this training seem all the more interesting. He remembered constantly being told by his academy instructor that it was good to fight people who were better that you, or at least were superior to you in certain aspects of combat and Shin could actually see the sense in that. Firstly, it would allow Shin to see the benefits of improving in those areas (in this case it was physical strength) and secondly, it would allow was much more fun to be able to analyse, predict and out play someone who had Shin beat in an aspect he wasn't particularly fond in.

Although he was grinning outwardly Shin was putting his adequacy in Battle Analysis to good use. Alright, he shrugged off my attack like it was nothing, that shows he's pretty strong, much stronger than me. And that blow, it hurt pretty badly so he's definately strong. That was all he had gathered about his opponent, he was strong; unfortunately Shin wasn't exactly an expert on analysing his opponent and that little skirmish could only tell him so much. Grodd was strong and that's all Shin needed to know. While he hated to admit it that was actually a pretty big disadvantage, this was a hand-to-hand fight. That meant grappling was out of the question and that opened up a whole list of things Grodd could do to him. Although, Shin wasn't despairing, strength wasn't everything after all, he just had to play his cards right as all.

So, Shin dropped into a defensive stance; inviting the unseated officer to have a go at him for a change.

[Beast]

Grodd's fist connected with Shin's face in a solid punch that sent the Squad 6 Shinigami sliding backwards with a growing bruise on his face. Though, despite taking a bit more damage than he received, Shin was still grinning. That was new, for sure. Grodd had yet to meet someone who could smile after being punched in the face. All that meant, though, was that this training might actually be fun. It was already shaping up to be good for the Squad 3 Shinigami, as Shin decided that he would force Grodd out of his comfort zone. Unintentionally, probably, but still successfully.

Grodd's particular brand of fighting, where he was most comfortable and effective, was in reaction and counter attacking. More specifically, making sure the other person takes more damage even if Grodd has to take a little damage in the process. A blow to the body, while potentially crippling due to organs and the wind being knocked out of you, was inferior to a blow to the face. So Grodd traded the blow to the body for a blow to the face. That's just how he tended to fight. But Shin wasn't going to do that again, instead getting into a defensive position.

In his head, Grodd prepared an incantation. While hand to hand combat was his specialty, it wasn't his only talent. With a Shunpo, he would be as a blur to Shin, and then appear to be gone for a moment. Having only one eye was not very conducive to being aware of one's surroundings, and even Grodd could capitalize on that. The Squad 3 Shinigami landed next to Shin, about a foot out of arm's reach, and fired Sho at the man's side. While Grodd's physical strength was superior to his reiatsu strength, the force of the attack was still superior to Shin's strength, so it wouldn't feel good if it managed to hit the Shinigami in the vulnerable side.

3 posts to Surprise

Remaining Reiatsu: 525/600 (-50 Shunpo, -25 Sho)

[Shin]

Shin had already begun to mentally prepare himself for some kind of response or attack from Grodd. This meant he had his mind set on anticipating and reacting to some kind of attack Grodd would throw. However, Shin wasn't particularly sure on what kind of attacks Grodd could actually do: he wasn't sure on his kido, his strengths, his weaknesses, his preferred method of attack, his speed. Firstly, Shin was only adequate at analysing and predicting his opponents movement, and also Shin didn't actually know Grodd. All he had gathered was that he was some kind of brute of some sort who didn't like to talk and seemed to only think with his fists. Not that Shin had a problem with that, but it just made him slightly harder to predict when he didn't talk or seem to show any kind of thought in his attacks.

Still, a look of pure surprise passed through Shin's face when Grodd suddenly turned into a blur. With the instincts of a human (several times the speed of light) Shin could actually process that Grodd was gone, most likely, with a shunpo since that was a basic step technique that every Shinigami knew. However, there had been one indication as to where Grodd had gone, he hadn't spoken (as he was mute and mentally prepared his kido) but Shin had in fact still been able to hear him. This was due to the fact that when he used shunpo it was still a footstep, and this footstep tended to make a 'whoosh' noise (at least that's how it works in the anime) in addition, a footstep would still cause noise and Grodd had no skill in stealth to actually move around silently, shunpo or no shunpo.

Still, although his above average hearing had managed to pick up that Grodd had stepped next to him what Shin lacked was the full speed (he was only slightly faster than Grodd) to properly react to the attack since the kido was fast in it's own right. The only thing Shin managed to do was turn his body about 45 degrees to he was facing Grodd with his arms in a block, shielding his body. And then Shin felt the very strong shove that surprisingly caused some pain, but it was more like a blunt stinger than an actual injury. After all, Sho was more like a very strong shove than an all out strike but still, a hard shove could sting a bit which is exactly what happened to Shin's forearms. Still, all he got out of Shin was a sharp hiss of surprise, he had been expecting Grodd to physically strike him not use a kido.

What made it worse was that Grodd's reiatsu strength was actually enough to take Shin off his feet and knock him to the ground. He only went back a few inches but it achieved the affect of knocking Shin down as he hadn't been able to properly brace himself for the impact of the kido. Still, the Shinigami wasn't deterred despite the fact his grin had been massively wiped off his face. Also, luckily, this hit hadn't caused any sort of bruise to grow on his arms. He immediately got himself back on his feet and exploded. All Grodd would see was a blur and before he knew it Shin was to his right, and not only to his right but he was actually behind him. The back was a natural blind spot that was naturally the easiest to hit.

As soon as the silver-haired Shinigami came out of the shunpo his fist shot out quickly. He had speed faster than an athlete, essentially he could punch faster than Mike Tyson or Muhammid Ali which was pretty damn quick. This time Shin aimed for a natural weak spot in any person, the back of the neck. The neck was naturally a very weak area that is naturally very hard to strengthen, even the biggest fighters could be seriously hurt by a strike to the neck, especially the back of the neck (could potentially cause temporary black outs, dizziness, etc). Of course, Shin was only average strength while Grodd was super human but this strike would definitely leave a mark simply due to the strike being on the neck.

Regardless of whether or not it hit Shin would then slide back, out of Grodd's reach in case of serious retaliation.

Reiatsu: 450/500 (-50 from shunpo)

[Beast]

Grodd caught his opponent off guard with his Shunpo, though the man quickly found in what direction he was headed and turned to defend against the attack and bear the brunt of it with his arms instead of getting struck in the side. If that had been Grodd, he would have rushed forwards into the attack to deliver a punch rather than defend and get pushed aside. However, Shin didn't look too worse for wear, so his defensive tactics must have done something good. Though, he had ended up on the ground, so that was another small victory for the Shinigami from Squad 3.

As soon as he got back up to his feet, Shin surprised Grodd with a Shunpo of his own. He got behind the gorilla of a man and aimed a blow for the back of his neck. While it hurt a lot to get hit there, Grodd didn't experience any dizziness or black out caused by Shin's strike. The attack to a weak spot was potent, in that even the Shinigami with an above average tolerance to pain managed to hesitate from it, but it didn't hinder him from spinning around and aiming an uppercut to the bottom of his opponent's jaw. If that connected, it would hurt way more than Shin's attack to the back of the neck, given the serious difference in strength between the two of them.

2 posts to surprise.

[Shin]

Needless to say, Grodd just kept on finding new ways to frustrate Shin. Shin's attack had worked perfectly, just as Shin predicted, Grodd wasn't able to react to Shin's super fast closing distance using shunpo and then his natural speed to get a quick strike off. Maybe against any other person he probably would have taken a lot more damage, or maybe his strike would have done a lot more but Grodd wasn't a normal person. He was a Shinigami with Shinigami durability. And to add to all that Grodd was freaking strong (much stronger than what Shin had initially assumed), as a disappointing result the strike was solid but was a far cry than what Shin had initially imagined.

It was Grodd's lack of proper reaction that made Shin wary. In addition, Grodd started to spin around which was also a huge indication to an attack that was incoming. However, luckily Grodd wasn't as fast as Shin was, Shin had him beat in the speed category. So, just as Grodd finished his little spin Shin was already a blur, narrowly dodging the uppercut to the jaw that could have done some serious damage. Still, while it was good that Shin had managed to dodge such a strike, he wasn't exactly happy with having to use reiatsu just to avoid a strike. Shin was a firm believer in efficiency beating power and he would have much rather used his shunpo in order to counter attack like he had before.

But hey ho, he really didn't have the right to complain since he had saved himself from earning himself a pretty sore jaw. He appeared out of his shunpo a few meters away from his training partner, Shin couldn't help but chuckle at the close call. He had managed to land a solid blow so that in itself was a small victory. Without wasting another second Shin immediately went back on the attack, moving towards Grodd at full speed before finally appear just at the edge of Shin's reach. He aimed a quick, well-placed jab to Grodd nose before darting back out of Grodd's reach. Simple but effective if it hit, not that Shin was expecting it to but he didn't want to give Grodd another chance to try and hit him with a layered attack, he'd have to keep himself constantly moving if he was to have a chance at this.

Reiatsu: 400/500 (-50 from shunpo)

[Beast]

The thin man was fast, and he was starting to get the rhythm of the fight it seemed. He needed to use Shunpo, but he had dodged just the same. Grodd's blow went wide, hitting nothing but air. The spin had put him slightly off balance, so while Shin was moving back and preparing to attack again, the Shinigami from Squad 3 took a few seconds to set his feet and get his balance again. The nearly naked man breathed in deeply and steeled his mind and body for the next exchange. Not wasting any time, Shin darted at him again, using his superior speed to get into range and deliver a quick strike before trying to dart away again.

If he hadn't already realized this, Grodd wasn't a conservative fighter. He wasn't reserved, wasn't defensive, didn't consider his own self-preservation when fighting. And he was starting to get warmed up. He was starting to have fun. But even as he was starting to enjoy himself, there was a whisper in the back of his mind. "He's not worth your time... kill him..." Pushing the dark whisper aside, Grodd forced his mind back to the fight. Lately his interactions with others, even just friendly sparring, was starting to raise the thirsty emotions in Grodd. And not a thirst for water, but a thirst for blood and killing. As of yet, he had managed to push it away, but if he managed to taste and/or see blood, it might be too much for him.

Instead of defending against Shin's attack, Grodd moved into it. That had the result of his targeted nose being out of the way, but Shin's fist would collide directly with Grodd's forehead and the ridge above his eyes. That blow was enough to put Grodd off balance as his head bent backwards, but his arm was already reaching outwards towards Shin's outstretched arm. The Shinigami from Squad 3 had six inches on the Shinigami from Squad 6, so his longer reach was potentially just enough to connect with his attack. While starting to slip as his legs went forward and his head went backwards, Grodd tried to grip Shin's outstretched punching arm and then swing Shin's thin body over Grodd's head, slamming Shin to the ground while Grodd also slipped and fell on his back. Obviously, Shin would be receiving the greater force in being slammed to the ground by 125 strength.

1 post until surprise.

[Shin]

Of all the weird, foolish, brave, or incredibly stupid things Shin had witnessed this was new. Grodd didn't dodge, he didn't block, he didn't counter, he moved into his hit. But what Shin didn't know is that this meant two things: firstly, instead of hitting that squishy, weak nose (the kind of spots Shin liked to go for) Shin instead ended up hitting his forehead , a hard, less soft part of the head that generally people didn't want to punch. Secondly, as Grodd moved forward, Shin didn't gather as much momentum as he initially planned for to make the hit hurt as much as he could so that was another downside. Outwardly, it seemed foolish but realistically, it actually worked for Grodd since he had so much strength compared to Shin's and he just didn't seem to care about being hurt.

On the other hand, Shin actually cared about being grabbed, hit and swung around like a rag doll. He had survived through evading people so much until they got so tired they wanted to collapse, roll over and die and from there Shin could make short work of them. Essentially, Shin didn't particularly like tanking hits, especially from people who were as strong as Grodd compared to his lithe figure. That's what made Grodd's move all the worse for Shin. He grabbed Shin's arm in an iron grip and Shin immediately knew that he wouldn't be getting out of this one. Shin had already gathered that: Grodd was strong, Grodd was resilient, Grodd didn't seem to give a fuck about being hurt.

It was Grodd getting a solid hold on Shin that made Shin realise just how freakishly strong Grodd was compared to him. Shit! The problem was that Shin was completely unprepared for Grodd to grab him. If the punch had connected with Grodd's nose, it may have been different but it hadn't. And now he was in a rather unfavourable position that was already being exploited. Instead of trying to get Shin in some kind of arm grapple Grodd did something completely different, he essentially threw himself and the Shinigami. "WHOA" Was all Shin yelled as he essentially spun around and slammed onto the ground pretty fucking hard on his back.

Firstly, Shin literally had the air knocked out of him from being slammed onto the ground. As a result, Shin only managed a strained groan as he rolled onto his front and got onto his knees. In addition, his back hurt, if he was lucky it was only some kind of growing bruise but since it was on his back it was impossible for him to actually properly check. Luckily, Shin had some pain tolerance and strength of will (the combination did wonders) so Shin managed to force himself back onto his feet fairly quickly, gritting his teeth and trying to ignore the pain. Any other Shinigami would give up, Grodd was too unpredictable, he had no patterns, in addition he was strong and knew kido (which he could prepare in his head) and he didn't seem to care. The only thing Shin actually had on him was speed which was only getting him so far. Maybe if this had been a sword fight the fight would be going much better but this was all hand-to-hand and as much as Shin hated to admit it, strength was actually a big factor.

But, Shin didn't give up, this was one of the first times he had truly felt pushed (being a prodigy in the academy everything came easy). He was actually being challenged and it was exciting. A God can push through any challenge, a God does not surrender to a mere mortal, they persevere. With that thought hanging in his mind Shin forced himself to grin once again. It was all or nothing, the perfect challenge. Shin's usual tactics didn't work but that's what separated a God from a mere spiritual being. The ability to persevere between challenges.

Shin dropped back into his hakuda stance, he had a plan; a very risky but worth it plan... But to execute it he would need Grodd to be on his feet. I've got you this time.

[Beast]

Shin had been slammed to the ground, and so technically had Grodd. The former was worse for the wear, though. Shin groaned as he got up, the wind having been knocked out of him, and Grodd was as silent as he always was as he picked himself up off the ground as well. While the Shinigami from Squad 6 took a moment to gather his breath and get into his Hakuda stance, the Shinigami from Squad 3 was similarly catching his breath. He had been fighting all out for a little while, which wasn't too hard on his body physically but was a strain on his heart. He wasn't too used to steady cardio. But he was getting better every day. Getting stronger.

As Shin got into his Hakuda stance and prepared to defend against Grodd's attack, a sharp whistle could be heard over the entirety of the forest. Shin wouldn't have been told what this was about, so he might very well be confused, but he would see a drastic change in his opponent's demeanor. Grodd was nervous, scared, and was looking around at the trees. Completely ignoring Shin for the moment, Grodd had both of his hands raised high in the air, giving the finger to the sky and all of the trees. He was completely open for attack, but Shin wouldn't get the chance to do anything. Not when the whistle signaled the start of a different section of the inter-squad training.

"Bakudo #63: Sajosabaku!"

Golden chains erupted from the ground, grabbing Shin's right ankle and winding up all the way to the top of his right leg. If he looked at Grodd, the Shinigami would find that identical chains now were wrapped around Grodd's left ankle and winding up all the way to the top of his left leg. The gorilla of a man looked furious, making all sorts of gestures with his hand at the random patch of dirt that the chains had gone up from. He was signing furiously and at a breathtaking pace. Most of his signs were flipping the bird, interspersed with palms pressed to his chest, palms pressed towards the ground, and curling his fingers around each other. Whatever he was trying to communicate was fairly easy to recognize. General anger and frustration directed at the ground. What precisely he was saying was a mystery to all who saw his bizarre form of communication, though.

"Sajosabaku Mastery: Clutch!"

Suddenly, the chains holding Grodd and Shin started to pull the two of them closer together. From his vantage point in the trees, the Squad 3 3rd seat chuckled as he saw the two of them get slammed into each other, Shin's right leg bound firmly to Grodd's left leg. The man was an expert Kidou practitioner, and had a level of Stealth superior to his Captain. Grodd would never have found him in his hiding place, and it wouldn't have done anything if the unseated Shinigami had found him. The man's mastery of Sajosabaku was pretty famous in Squad 3. Rather than come out of the sky, he could make it come out of the ground, out of trees, out of anywhere he desired. And instead of just binding the whole body, he could isolate it to one part of the body, and even bind an arm to a leg, or in this case one person's leg to another person's leg.

"You know what this means, Grodd, even if you don't, Shin. So let me explain. Now begins the Three Legged Pig Chase. All of the pairs have had their legs tied together, and five greased pigs have been released. It's a Squad 3 favorite training exercise. Pigs in a forest, needing to scout them out, track them down, and catch them. It's all great fun. There are ten pairs of Shinigami this month, and only five pigs. If you guys manage to catch one, you get to sleep inside tonight. Well, not you, Shin, you go back to your own barracks regardless. Have fun!"

[Shin]

Needless to say, fatigue was actually beginning to have a steady, yet very real affect on his body. Sure in the academy they had done the occasional cardio, or long training exercises but unlike most Shinigami, Shin wasn't particularly used to working hard and training for long amounts of time. Truth be told, this was the one time Shin could honestly feel actually and properly pushed to be doing his best. As a result, fatigue was hitting Shin, although not very hard. Mentally, Shin tackled cardio as something he needed to work on as he progressed in the future, there were people stronger than Grodd who would be able to push Shin a lot harder - that was a definite.

Still, before Shin could actually issue any sort of new challenge or thread to Grodd his ears were pierced by the sharp sound of a whistle. Shin had no idea what that whistle meant, due to being a foreigner to this squad but it seemed to change Grodd's behaviour drastically. He went from focused and ready to fight to somewhat panicky and lifting his hands up, as if someone was pointing a sniper at him from the bushes. "Bakudo #63: Sajosabaku!" Before Shin could even process what was going on, he felt something whip around his leg and tighten hard. He looked down to see some sort of searing chains constricting his leg, he took a quick glance to the side to find that the same thing had happened to Grodd.

Confusion and surprised whipped through Shin's mind - what the hell was going on? Grodd didn't seem to be as confused as he was, in fact he didn't seem particularly pleased at all. He was making several kinds of gestures and signs all over the place that Shin could not understand at all. All he could do was raise an eyebrow on his good eye in confusion. Usually that kind of sign language would pique the interest of someone but Shin was no scientist, he didn't really care about trying to find out the meaning behind stuff. He just took it as it came and all he could dissect on the surface was that Grodd seemed to be a weird guy. Not that Shin was judging him, he had given Shin a run for his money after all.

"Sajosabaku Mastery: Clutch!"

"WHOA!"

Shin's body was jerked to the side, his leg pinning itself to Grodd's as if they had some kind of magnetic attraction between them. It made Shin all the more confused and... uncomfortable. Being so close to this guy (who was almost completely naked) when they weren't fighting. Before Shin could question out loud what was going on another Shinigami came out, seeming amused by the situation. Shin had been so focused on the fight he didn't even notice or think to think that someone may or may not be watching them, or approaching them. Either that, or he was just that stealthy which Shin felt weird about.

"You know what this means, Grodd, even if you don't, Shin. So let me explain. Now begins the Three Legged Pig Chase. All of the pairs have had their legs tied together, and five greased pigs have been released. It's a Squad 3 favorite training exercise. Pigs in a forest, needing to scout them out, track them down, and catch them. It's all great fun. There are ten pairs of Shinigami this month, and only five pigs. If you guys manage to catch one, you get to sleep inside tonight. Well, not you, Shin, you go back to your own barracks regardless. Have fun!"

Great, well maybe it was better than fighting someone at hand-to-hand who was obviously bigger and stronger than him but chasing after greased pigs with someone slowing him down was... not a fun prospect. "So er, that way?" Shin asked nervously, pointing in a random direction that went into a random point the forest.