Zero Tolerance

[Amagai Kuchiki]

Thread Title: Zero Tolerance
Participants: Takehiko Kuchiki and Azumi Kasumi'Oji
World: Soul Society
Death Setting: Non Death Enabled
Rating: PG-13
Location: Although most Shinigami hunt down meadows for their training and sparring, Takehiko suggested the idea of training in the heart of a forest, where trees would break line of sight. This would force participants to learn how to deal with sudden ambushes, to hidden foes, to turning the corner just to find an opponent standing right there. And although both of them knew that the other was in the forest with them, nearby even, neither knew specifically where their foe was. The forest's trees raised up far into the heavens, and the heavy canopy blocked sunlight, save for a few trace beams which pierce through at uneven intervals. Most of the animals have cleared out of the nearby area by this point, feeling the dangerous reiatsu.
Special Conditions:
Circumstances: Takehiko, an upcoming name in Soul Society and member of the 3rd division, is sparring against Azumi, the captain of Squad 12. The two met when Takehiko went to see Sozen, and encountered Azumi drinking with him. The two got along relatively well, and Takehiko asked for the privilege of a fight, which Azumi accepted.

[Amagai Kuchiki]

A leaf fluttered, and began to fall past Takehiko's left shoulder. Before it touched his robes however, it was sliced neatly in twain, it's halves breaking apart and each floating on either side of Takehiko's shoulder. Takehiko suppressed a smug smile of self-satisfaction; although the move was incredibly flashy, it didn't actually serve much of a purpose. Well, other than a bit of practice and keeping his senses sharp. And that's what he needed right now: sharp senses, and incredibly quick reaction times. Azumi was a capable foe, and if Takehiko fell even a single step behind her, he doubted he'd be given the opportunity to catch back up.

He had recommended the idea of fighting in the middle of the forest almost as a jest, an allusion to the fact that Shinigami always seemed to find the most convenient meadows to spar in. But Azumi had embraced the idea, and so Takehiko similarly decided to go with the flow. They'd designated a proper set of bounds to fight within the forest, marking trees along the edge with small white flags stitched with Reiatsu, courtesy of Squad twelve. With a bit of energy sensory, it was easy to tell when you were approaching the boundary. With that established, each of them made their way to opposite corners of the area and, at high noon, began to move around within the forest, seeking while hiding, hunting while being hunted.

Takehiko had played plenty of similar war games during his time with Monarch, although the circumstances of those was substantially different than the ones now. Back then, he'd been legitimately afraid for his life at points. As the current moment, he was only scared that he'd lose without putting up a fight. From his knowledge of Azumi, quite a few of her attacks were highly lethal, and he hoped that she'd stay away from those. If she did, he probably had this fight 60-40, although he didn't know enough about her capacities compared to his in order to say for certain. From what he'd seen, she wasn't a hugely physical fighter, if he locked swords with her he'd likely come out ahead. This definitely wasn't a fight to hold back from Shikai however, the second she released he likely would as well.

He shook his head, ending the overthinking. Preplanning was excellent and all, but he needed to get busy hunting. By the time he got involved in battle with her, adrenaline would be in control anyway, and all the preplanning in the world wouldn't do him much good. So he moved swiftly through the forest, minimizing the noise he created by moving slowly and deliberately, and being highly aware of where he was placing his feet. There hadn't been a forest fire in a long time, and the ground was more or less covered with dry leaves, with various levels of depth. On the way to the area, he'd stepped in a gopher hole that had been filled up entirely by leaves, and the noise of it had scared off several birds. He had no intent on making that mistake again, not when he was fighting against someone who could exploit that screw up in a second.

He quickly ascended a tree, using the higher vantage point to his advantage. From up here, he'd notice any and all movement, and especially given the complete lack of wildlife, there shouldn't be any false positives. Of course, she'd be able to spot him as well, but he figured that that was almost a given by this point. Her powers of observation as a scientists would likely be better than his to begin with. The cat and mouse game favored her more, so better to draw her out into the open.

[Azumi Kasumi'Oji]

On the other side of the forest, Azumi slid patiently forward through the trees, sword in hand. She clearly felt Takehiko creeping along through the undergrowth, the distance nothing before her sensory abilities. His reiatsu radiated energy to her like a lighthouse, cool and crackling. Great distance separated them, but distance mattered little when one took the right perspective. Without focusing much, Azumi could discern cursory fragments of demeanor and intent - stalk, hunt, win, serve - pieces all consistent with what Sozen told her of the burgeoning youth previously.

Takehiko's footsteps receded into the estate's interior, leaving Azumi and Sozen drinking on the steps before a beautifully simplistic rock garden. Strange stars uncharted by either Herschel twinkled in the skies above Seireitei. "What's he like?" Azumi took a casual sip from the wine Sozen had offered, naturally a deep crimson served in subtly ostentatious glasses, gold-filigreed rim studded with tiny rubies. The wine rolled smoothly down her throat. She tasted mahogany and blood. "Takehiko is quite loyal. He would burn for the Kuchiki, no question." Sozen took a deep pull from his wine glass, alcohol and pigments sliding across superhuman taste buds like a violin's bow. Azumi noticed more relief spike from the Kuchiki head than usual. The price of fatherhood, she supposed. "Strong?" "Very strong. Methodical, incisive, adaptable." "Captain?" "Oh, soon enough."

Azumi smiled at that. If half the Captains in Soul Society knew the plots incubating inside her mind, they would have their food pre-tasted. She harbored grand designs for Seireitei, designs that might involve more than a little Seat-shuffling. Azumi had to spend most of her previous tenure as Captain excising corruption, reorganizing, building, and ensuring that nobody knifed any of her subordinates, too busy pruning for any fresh planting. She barely even spent any time in the literal garden on her estate. This time, though, things would be a bit different.

Tilting her head back, the Kasumi'Oji head stared up at the stars. She wondered what they were. She'd run the simulations, and unless she and everyone else looking out from Earth messed up the numbers, these stars didn't correspond to any possible vantage point from the physical universe. This meant that someone or something created them after Seireitei and Hueco Mundo, if those were even the same stars - Azumi hadn't collected the data yet. This begged the question: Who did it, and how? And what if the Spirit King wasn't the one who put them there?

Azumi's thoughts returned a strong Seireitei, strong enough to crush everything in its path if only to give her the free time she needed to go out there and find some answers. She needed to send another message to Monarch soon. It was time to set things in motion, time to start burning out hearts and repurposing the ashes. Sozen gave her a speculative glance. Nagato had called it her messiah-face, a sort of wide-eyed, ravenous wonder that made her forget how much killing intent was rolling off of her in murderous waves. "You have that look on your face again."

"I know."

Takehiko's sudden movement jerked Azumi from her reverie. She felt the Kuchiki lash out with his blade, likely just to test his capabilities. Almost deserted, bereft of Kido, largely untread by spiritual beings, the forest gave Azumi ideal conditions for picking out details with her energy sensory despite the distance. She noted the incredible speed of the Kuchiki's movements. Not one to draw close to initially, especially not if he had melee techniques or secret Kuchiki arts to compensate for the modest spiritual power, as seemed likely. Azumi would simply need to turn the terrain to her advantage and overpower her foe spiritually. Fortunately, the environment complimented her skills well. It was time to see how well Takehiko Kuchiki could adapt.

Azumi leapt into the thick undergrowth of tangled, intersecting branches, ensuring that she kept the tree trunks between herself and Takehiko as she landed atop a large branch. As she felt her target ascend to the top of the forest, Azumi held out a hand before her, activating Genesis Art: Oculus. Sacrificing a bit of her life force, she would conjure an eye six inches in diameter wreathed in a barbed, blade-covered shell of blackish-green chitin.

The floating eye she conjured would zip through the air at 800 speed, tracing a path through the trees that evaded Takehiko's sight before deliberately scattering leaves and breaking some decent-sized branches in the upper growth to Takehiko's left. As they flew into the air, rustling, snapping, and crashing noisily as breaking branches are wont to do, the Oculus would zip surreptitiously through the undergrowth again before shooting into the open air on the other side, taking a place above Takehiko. Since it was high noon, this meant the Oculus could easily silhouette itself against the sun, making a glance up at the sudden disruption a potentially detrimental mistake.

As the Oculus completed these actions, Azumi would cast Kyakko, bending light to create an illusionary version of her standing just barely in Takehiko's view several trees over, about ten meters away, well-hidden enough to be believable if the Kuchiki noticed the replica. begin quickly, quietly muttering the incantation for Bakudo 82: Kuyokusari, preparing to cast it as soon as her opponent reacted. She would start by probing the Vice Captain's capabilities, seeing if he merited the use of her more advanced techniques and combinations. This was going to be fun.



Life Force: 3600 (4000 - 400)

Reiatsu: 3950 (4000 - 50)

Combat posts: 1/6

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats and skills}Strength - 50 Points (100 / 2)

Speed - 350 Points

Spiritual Pressure - 400 Points (200 x 2)

Reiatsu Strength - 800 Points (400 x 2)

Light Aura - 50 Points

Dark Aura - 50 Points

Instinct - 125 Points

Senses - 125 Points

Energy sensory - 600 Points (200 x 3)

Healing Expertise - 37.5 Points (75 / 2)

Swordsmanship 3

Pain Tolerance 3

Hakuda 3

Battle Analysis 3

Analysis 3

[Amagai Kuchiki]

As Takehiko scanned the forest, he was vaguely disappointed that the Kasumi'Oji hadn't immediately stepped out. Of course, it would have been stupid of her to have done so, not to mention it would have gone against the point of the wargame, but nonetheless he was disappointed. It meant that he was going to have to try to hunt her down in the dense undergrowth, and given her demeanor, he didn't think that would be an easy task. From Takehiko's few interactions with Azumi, she struck him as someone who was intelligent beyond reason, and who was more than capable of mind gaming even the best. Which meant that she was going to have an absolute field day with Takehiko, who didn't even for one second consider himself a capable mental combatant.

It had been a cold day, and the heavy leaves blocking the sunlight made it even worse. Takehiko had never been in a forest quite like it before, and wished that he could have continued that trend. But training was training, and given his rather limited period of time with his master, Takehiko had decided to make every second count. The mission had been simple, although that didn't necessarily mean it was easy. Hell, Takehiko had originally said that he wasn't capable of doing it, to which Monarch had slapped him. "Second guessing yourself will only lead to ruin," his master chided him. "Your lack of confidence in your abilities other than swordplay is a grave weakness, and one that is easily exploited. You are capable of far more than cutting things, Takehiko."

The movement that erupted in the undergrowth surprised Takehiko. It danced in the corner of his eyes, then burst forward, disrupting the surrounding bush wherever it went. It was moving fast, and as Takehiko tried to track it, he realized that it was likely moving faster than he was capable of. Was Azumi faster than him? He hoped that it wasn't the case, his speed was one of the few things he had left that exceeded his position. Plus, from the way she moved even while walking here, that seemed unlikely. People capable of great speed hold back with each step, and over consider each movement.

Even as he hunted through the great forest for his prey, his mind was elsewhere. Monarch had taught him tricks to keep his awareness extended while being lost in thought, and he tried to use them every chance he got. Even if his body and senses were hunting for his incredibly dangerous target, his mind was reliving yesterday's lesson, which had featured him getting his ass handed to him by his master, again. It had been a hand to hand lesson this time, which hardly seemed fair; Takehiko was a master of the sword, and Monarch could still crush him without a weapon. Taking away that familiarity advantage lead to a fairly predictable blood bath. But even after the dust had settled and Takehiko found himself on the ground, feeling like he'd been run over by an elephant, there was a small smile on his face. Although his master hadn't been direct about it, Takehiko had understood the point of the lesson, and was going to make sure it served him well in the future.

Azumi hadn't used a Hoho either, Takehiko knew how to recognize foot techniques from a mile away, almost literally in this case. Whatever had gone through the trees at that speed wasn't her obviously, but couldn't have been a wild animal either. Besides, the pattern it had drawn, and was continuing to draw, was clearly one meant to distract. Logically, it was something under Azumi's control, but not her. Which meant that the Kasumi'Oji was still out there, waiting to see how he reacted. The noises and motion stopped, but Takehiko knew that it wouldn't last for long. He focused on the last location, trying his best to perceive the distraction behind the trees and leaves. It was moving subtly now, which meant she was using it to set up for something else at a later time, although Takehiko couldn't fathom what. But even just understanding that was useful information, and something to be proud of. Takehiko wasn't winning the mind games, but he certainly wasn't more than a few steps behind either.

When he'd finally come to the clearing where his target was waiting, Takehiko wasn't even nervous. Monarch had made the mission clear: Kill it without touching it, without it seeing your face. Which meant that a simple stealth assassination wasn't an option, or luring it into a trap. No, to kill this Menos and fulfill the requirements of his master's 'homework', he had to understand his foe, and play around it's habits. To know your enemy was a powerful tool, and one that seldom went unneeded. It took half a day of examination before he felt comfortable in predicting the creature's next move, and another four hours before he was able to predict the next two steps. A day had passed before he understood simple routines, and two days more before he was finally ready to set everything into motion.

Just as the distraction moved again, surging upwards, Takehiko saw Azumi out of the corner of his eyes, trying to hide behind a tree. If it wasn't for his vantage point, there was no way he would have seen her. He adjusted his sword at his waist, and tried to plot the easiest path between the two of them. He didn't have even a cursory understanding of most midair foot techniques, which significantly limited his movement options. The distraction hovered high in the air above him now, and although Takehiko couldn't physically see it without turning, he instinctively knew it was there. Azumi's battle plan was like a chessboard: Takehiko didn't really understand chess. There were a lot of things that didn't add up yet. Why did Azumi send a distraction if she wasn't capitalizing off of it yet? How had he spotted her already, especially given that she was capable of playing mind games and using distractions?

One of the few times that Takehiko had gained audience with Sozen, they'd talked strategy over tea and fine piano music. Takehiko had talent for understanding the intricacies of combat, and was excellent at setting traps for his opponent mid swordfight, baiting them into tactical blunders and limb-removing mishaps, but didn't quite get the theory behind it. He understanded the micro level of battle analysis and strategy, but not the macro. So of course when Sozen offered to answer questions, Takehiko had leapt at the opportunity. "What's the trick to it all? How do you avoid making mistakes that end the battle before it begins?" To be honest, he'd been expecting some grand, wise words from the family head that would enlightenment about the inner secrets of the universe. But instead, he received helpful information with only a minimal amount of prenetiousness attached. "Takehiko," Sozen had begun, "When you were growing up, you must have encountered con men, correct? Street artists who play games with cups and balls, and who make you a simple bet: if you can guess which one of three identical cups has the red ball underneath it, you get five times the money you originally pay." Sozen looked at Takehiko pointedly. "Did you ever play?" Once, Takehiko admitted. He thought he'd be good enough to track the hand movements, but inevitably the cup was empty. "So you picked the wrong cup?" There wasn't a right cup, that was the point of the game. Sozen nodded. "Precisely. When fighting against an opponent you believe to be smarter than you, there never is a right cup. Anytime you think you've done something correct, they allowed you to do so. The only time you should believe that you made the truly correct decision is when you hear them choking on their own blood."


He wasn't in control of this battle. He probably never had been. And if he charged right now, he was playing right into her hands. But at the same time, she was more than capable of seeing through any counter tricks he threw her direction. If she had revealed herself, it was because she had a trap prepared. So instead, he'd do something that he rarely did. Takehiko shifted his sheath backward, clearing it out of the way of his hands, which danced delicately in front of him, always pointed towards Azumi. "Oh flame of purification," he began. If she let him complete the Kido, he was more than happy to reduce her to ash. Logically, she wasn't going to, and would have to change her plans. Keep her moving, keep her rethinking, and he would win. At least, that's what he hoped.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Skills Spoiler}
[Sword Style: Iaijutsu] 3

[Weapon: Chain Weapons] 3

[Pain Tolerance] 3

[Strength of Will] 3

[Battle Analysis] 3

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats Spoiler}
Strength 400 (200x2)
Speed 600 (300x2)
Reitsu Strength 267 (400x.66)
Spiritual Pressure 200 (300x.66)
Instinct 150
Senses 150
Energy Sensory 100
Healing Expertise 0

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reaitsu}
1850/2000 Remain

[Azumi Kasumi'Oji]

Azumi smiled as she heard Takehiko's incantation. The tension of the pending clash built slowly around the Soul Reapers as she and Takehiko circled each other. She had taken on this fight as a chance to test herself, as she hadn't fought someone strong in quite a while. Actually, since the Zero Division researchers never had both the time and inclination for sparring and nobody she'd met on Earth had posed any threat, Azumi hadn't faced a real challenge since Urahara and those Vasto Lordes. She quite missed it, the dynamic thrill of a constantly shifting battle, the sense of the world falling out from under you as all of existence boiled down to the enemy and you began to see the entire universe in terms of a means to that foe's destruction.


Yes, when it came to making yourself enter a suicidal state of total war with the immediate foe, the Kasumi'Oji head could literally write the book on it. It probably wouldn't sell too well, though. Bit of a niche market. It occasionally scared her in the quiet moments, the way her entire existence could momentarily transform into a purely destructive effort, going from architect of progress to a vector of total annihilation in an instant. She remembered the long conversations with Monarch about her fear of brain damage, how it spoke more largely of an obsession with control over herself and her future. Sozen had told her something similar about Takehiko, and the calm, measured movements of his tactical approach lent his soul a reek of it. The fear of helplessness.


Azumi remembered one of the conversations, after Monarch had beaten her halfway to death and had her healed. "Why do you need control?" "You know why. Obvious." "Tell me, then." "Everyone else fails, or worse. I surpass them all given time and data. Need control to protect myself and Oichi." "From what?" "Powerful fools. Time. Myself." "Yes, your parents betrayed you and you grew up tough. It's more than that. You want to control the universe. Tell me why. Give me the soul of it." He spoke the last sentence in Japanese, the filthy narcissist. Azumi hated this, the moments when he turned from the stolid mentor figure into the sardonic anarchist smirking at her difficulties, baiting her further into the depths of her own pain. She preferred Miranda.


"Because I can get it right where nobody else can." "There is no right." "I'll get it less wrong." Almost screaming now, incandescent shouts refracted through a prism of focus. Monarch taught her the metaphor. Infuriating. He smiled the worst smile, the wise one, the one that told her she'd strolled right into his trap with no way to beat it. He would chide her thinking momentarily - There are no traps, there are opportunities or some such nonsense. She would set a proximity mine on their training ground sometime, see how he felt about traps then. He'll make you step on it. She laughed at the conversations she had with him in her head. Perhaps this training was driving her insane. Insanity is a tool. Tell the crazies that. You know better, scientist. Assassin. The poison is the dosage. All in her own head, in fractional moments, playing out like traps he'd laid out in her mind for her future self to stumble into. What did I just say about- Dammit!


Haien was an interesting choice. Azumi wondered why Takehiko would choose something so unpredictable in a forest. Why even bother with the incantation? The boost to the Hado's power would matter little against Azumi, so the Kuchiki had decided to telegraph his move. He wanted to force her hand, to lure her in and take her down in physical combat. Cheeky little shit. Azumi mentally saluted him for it. No loss if she let him fire it off, so it mostly came down to how long Azumi felt like preserving his illusion of control over the battle. Options, options.


Azumi decided to let the tension build a bit further, if only for laughs. She began to speak an incantation of her own in answer, as if dueling poetry. "An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. Evil to fight evil." If he'd paid attention in the Academy, he'd recognize the words for Sokaho, quite a powerful Hado. However, in the forest, sounds would rebound and echo wildly through the tree-trunks and sheets of leaves. He'd need some pretty wild senses to detect her there, especially given the misdirection of the Kyakko illusion. If he sought to interrupt, it would probably be by attacking that clone.


It seemed likely that Takehiko would try to interrupt her as she continued the incantation, speeding up the words now - "Fire to fight fire. Hath withstood pain to create many flames..." - speaking at a rate that would outpace him unless he sped up or, more likely, tried to interrupt her. Nobody so deliberate and controlled would allow a spiritually superior foe to play on her home territory, and she doubted he had the Kido repertoire to keep up regardless. At least they'd tacitly agreed upon one thing - this forest would burn before the day ended. Azumi could do quite a bit with the ashes, and the animals would all be seen to, so she felt free to go nuts.


Oh, one other thing. Just a moment or so after Azumi began her incantation, at the critical moment when Takehiko would notice but not quite formulate a response, the Oculus would zip down out of the sky, taking care not to move its shadow and thus betray its position. Takehiko had great instincts, but those instincts needed at least some data to work with, and the Oculus would afford them none. It would bonk him sharply on the head at 800 speed and strength, but just a bonk. Stunning him, not slaughtering. This would probably interrupt the incantation unless Takehiko meant to bite off his own tongue. In that critical moment of surprise, it would zip through the air again, striking him with full power according to the shifting of his balance to trip him from the treetops and drive him into the forest.

Azumi knew exactly what she needed to do in this battle. She owed it to Sozen to push his new operative as far as possible, and that meant targeting the obvious weakness and turning it into a strength. More than that, she wanted to see Takehiko grow strong. It would entertain her, serve her interests, strengthen Seireitei, and overall probably make the world a better place by most standards. To do this, she needed to force him into unfamiliar territory and make him adapt to that. This meant taking away any semblance of agency he might have during this battle. Azumi needed to render the other Shinigami completely helpless. Fortunately, pinning subjects to the vivisection table and carving them open happened to be a specialty.



Combat posts: 2/6

Remaining Reiatsu: 3550 if Soukaho is activated

[Amagai Kuchiki]

"I'm going to kill you." Takehiko blinked at his master. "What?" "I said," Monarch began, enunciating exaggeratedly, "I am going to kill you." His master cocked his head. "So why aren't you afraid?" "Because I don't believe you. There isn't any intent there. Besides, if you wanted to, you'd have done it already. So I can't exactly believe your threat. It's empty, meaningless." And that bothered him, but Takehiko didn't say so. Monarch nodded. "Every time you take an action in combat, your opponent has the ability to read you, to see what you are actually thinking. You'll encounter few as good as me at it, but they are out there. And every time you make an empty threat of an attack, you waste your time and effort. Even if you think that the fake attack will change the tempo of the battle, I can assure you that against a competent opponent, that will not be the case."

As the incantation bounced back to Takehiko, it's origin unknown to him, he realized he'd forgotten his sensei's words, and was going to suffer for it. Getting into a Kido war against the head of the goddamn science division seemed like a terrible idea, especially given how little kido he knew. He abruptly stopped the incantation, letting loose the spell in the direction of Azumi. The Azumi he could see, anyway. Since it didn't seem like she was casting the spell, although he could clearly hear her voice doing so, it was obvious that the one sticking out from behind a tree in his line of sight wasn't the real one, so to speak. He looked around, trying to scrape together a plan out of the information he was given. But before he could formulate a plan, a massive force hit him from behind, sending him flying off the tree. "Motherfucker!" He cursed on his way down.

It wasn't the tallest tree Takehiko had ever fallen off admittedly, training in the Menos Forest with a mild maniac of a master was a recipe for disaster, and Takehiko had certainly endured that for the longest month of his life. Although he hadn't gotten to learning Advance Air Ground yet, a decision that was beginning to prove to be a bad one, he had no intention of dying from a simple fall. Or even getting injured for that matter. Less than a second went by since he dropped from the tree before he sent his chain flying out towards a nearby branch. It quickly caught around the branch, and he was brought to an abrupt halt, sending pain down his arm. Luckily he hadn't built up much speed by that point, and he hung relatively close to the branch, but his arm definitely was screwed up. Perhaps it was dislocated, but he hoped not. He grabbed the chain with his other hand, and pulled himself up onto the branch. He tested his arm gingerly, and winced. Well, he was lucky that he used his right arm, not his sword arm, for his chain. Otherwise he'd be significantly worse off right now.

So, going into the open was a bad idea. But she could monitor him regardless using her sensory prowess. And he still didn't know where she was, despite her yelling incantations and showing body doubles. He'd played the first few moves well, all things considered, but just avoiding Fool's Mate wasn't good enough. And so Takehiko dug deep into his mind, searching for ideas in the form of four simple words: What Would Monarch Do? It was a futile gesture, Takehiko didn't have the sensory capabilities of Monarch, or the deep understanding of the way that combat worked. But he wasn't totally helpless, he had a fair amount of information at his disposal. He knew she had to have been in line of sight from where he was. Not a huge amount of knowledge, given his location, but it contributed. And if she was also in eyeshot of her clone, which would make sense given that it was an important part of a trap, that limited her location some more. And she had to have had a clear shot of him, otherwise she wouldn't have bothered to use Kido. Not to mention that weird eye creation, she'd have used it to move behind him relative to where she was and cover her blind spots. With those four things in mind, he would be given a fairly good idea of where she was. Now the trick was getting to her before she moved, without beelining. The second he started in her direction, she'd know.

What Would Monarch Do? He'd punish her for having the upper hand. He'd allow her to chase him, then whip around the second she got too close. And he wouldn't let a thing as simple as a dislocated shoulder even slow him down for a second. So Takehiko wasn't Monarch, but he didn't pretend to be. With a pause for breath, Takehiko began to move through the treeline, jumping from branch to branch, not slowing down long enough to exert his full weight on the small ones. Whenever there was a gap, he crossed it using his chain, this time on his sword arm. He had to be careful, dislocating that one would require forfeiting the duel. And he doubted he'd made her try yet, so he couldn't afford to give up quite yet. He didn't travel towards her, not yet. Instead, he made a large loop, starting from where he fell, ending in the general area of where he expected that she was, creating an incomplete semicircle. He knew that she'd realize the way he was moving about halfway through, and that she'd likely begin moving along the same circle in order to maintain maximum distance. But at the pace he was moving through the undergrowth, she'd have to make her decision quickly, or else he'd catch up. He might end up running in circles, chasing his own tail, but it was better than nothing. And besides, any move she made gave him more information to work with, and in a game such as this, information was the most vital currency.

[Azumi Kasumi'Oji]

“…of vengeance. And yet, those ephemeral works of art will never be remembered. I hereby offer my blood in an indestructible contract with the flame of atonement.” Azumi remembered learning that incantation with fondness, old pride in the Kasumi’Oji that had invented the words stirring in her recollection. She thought herself terribly clever, etching the memory deeper into her mind by basing a drawing upon it. Only later did she discover that another Shinigami whose name she couldn’t currently remember had filled an entire room of the Kasumi’Oji estate with paintings immortalizing the fable suggested by the words. She would need to investigate the matter after this battle – she’d inevitably recognize the name and end up kicking herself for forgetting, some childhood idol like Gozen Ishida or another dead relative, a Mitsunari Kasumi’Oji type that tied all of the spells they invented into that bizarre tableau of prophecies she found pieces of scattered inside the Kasumi’Oji family garden.

Ah, yes. The Garden of Dead Relatives. Azumi didn’t know which strange ancestor of hers had first though to try it, but the Kasumi’Oji tradition of leaving several spiritual imprints of yourself at various points in your life on the Spirit Tree planted at your birth had certainly caught on. The Garden protected itself, so Azumi knew that everything there would still be intact when she finally made her way back to the Estate. She missed walking through those hidden groves, training and conversing with the shadows of her family members, feeling ancient power brimming inside the Zanpakutou planted at the trees’ bases.

“Hado 86: Soukaho.” Invoking the Kido, Azumi summoned a field of incandescent spiritual flame around her hand. The flames seethed across her skin, flickering restlessly between shades of green and gold as they began to inflict slight burns she had learned to ignore centuries ago. With the incantation, the Kido would take on a Reiatsu Strength of 1080, a concentrated spiritual power exceeding hers and Takehiko’s combined. She’d made it out of many tight spots with this Kido, a personal favorite. It would definitely tilt the battle in her favor, and she looked forward to seeing how Takehiko would react to the asymmetry surging towards him down the line. Azumi spared a sentimental glance at the flames. She always loved watching fire dance and burn.

Sentiment flooding her brain. The first casting on the Executioners’ estate outside of Florence, 1500, a secondhand scroll that had somehow made its way into the possession of her Italian Fullbringer mentors. Pride at the familiarity of the spell inventor’s name. Blue flame stinging callused hands, Leonardo’s enthusiastic applause, her sister gaping up at her in wonder. Then the first defiant blast of Sokatsui, an exquisite spear of blue fire lancing away into the night and searing an afterimage into Azumi’s eyes. Old fears collapsing in on themselves as she gained dominion over the force that almost killed her and her sister years before. She could control it.

As the hyperanalytical Captain sensed her foe’s movements through the forest, she noted to herself that Takehiko needed to underestimate himself less. Azumi felt the Kuchiki begin a hunter’s loop around the space separating them, inviting her to circle to stave off the physical confrontation she had avoided thus far. He made the right moves in principle, but he underestimated his own capabilities and needed to leverage the environment more heavily – don’t just conceal yourself in the forest, break the forest and bend it to your will. Surprisingly, she had felt the Kuchiki injure himself breaking his fall, an unexpected outcome given his physical faculties.

Around this time, the Haien Takehiko had fired moments before would hit the tree beside Azumi, bursting into flame as the force of the impact splintered the wood, weakening it. The Captain would release a fake hiss of pain, as if stung by the fire of the Kido, timing it with the crash of the falling tree to impede her foe’s ability to locate her by sound. Immediately afterward, she would begin tracing a course through the forest undergrowth that would bisect the Kuchiki’s circling arc, lunging from branch to branch with a sword in her right hand and a golden-green fire burning in her left. Takehiko clearly wanted to lure her in. This wasn’t a problem. She would stroll right into his trap and blow it up in his face.

While Takehiko may not have intended it, the Haien he released moments before had started a fire. It would begin spreading rapidly behind Azumi, igniting the tree her Byakko illusion – now dismissed – had hidden behind and working its way outward. Smoke would billow out, beginning to collect in the thick undergrowth as it rose slowly. Given the powerful impact of the Haien and the speed with which the fire would hungrily devour the wood, it would only take a few seconds for the tree to reach the brink of collapse. Right at that moment, Azumi would strike.

The Oculus, already hovering near the top of the forest, would zip down to the tree and smash into the trunk, causing it to fall in Takehiko’s direction. As the burning tree toppled, igniting several other small fires in proximity, Azumi would blast the trunk with Sokatsui several yards past the point that would hit Takehiko on his current course, catching the trunk off-center at a precisely chosen angle. The Sokatsui, an exquisite lance of fire more than a yard across, would blast the tree apart at this point, setting the excess trunk near the top aflame and sending it hurtling down behind Takehiko in an effort to cut off his chances of safely escaping in that direction.

A fractional moment later, several more Sokatsui would lance away into the forest, spearing through the trunks of several trees surrounding Takehiko. The trees would fall haphazardly – Azumi hadn’t cared to direct them this time – but, more importantly, Takehiko would find the logical nearby perches less than supportive as he attempted to escape the burning projectiles around him. Smoke would quickly begin to fill the area as Azumi caged Takehiko in burning wooden bars. Show me your true power, Kuchiki. Show me your Zanpakutou.


Remaining Reiatsu: 3550

Combat Posts: 3/6

[Amagai Kuchiki]

A chill ran down Takehiko's spine as he moved through the undergrowth. Although he wasn't as perceptive to spiritual pressure as some other shinigami, even he could feel the enormous Kido being completed.  Although Takehiko wasn't a huge fan of Kido users, and was slightly disappointed in Azumi's lack of willingness to fight him head on thus far, he knew the spells well enough. He studied hard in the Academy, and had made sure to learn most of the incantations to get a leg up on his opponent. So of course as he ran through the list of spells in his head, trying to match the incantation that Azumi used to one of them, he cursed silently. Soukaho. This was going to be a bad fight. If she hit him with any of the bolts that the spell could produce, he knew that the battle would end very quickly. His durability was largely physical, and a significantly powerful spiritual attack  would ruin his day. And it certainly seemed like Azumi was capable of unleashing one.

Perhaps if he had been paying more attention to the physical world, and less to the spiritual one, he would have heard the crackle of flames, or the hiss of pain that Azumi made in order to fake him out. However, Takehiko's mind was focused on attempting to leverage his own Energy Sensory. He wasn't an idiot, Azumi was miles better than him in regards to understanding how energy flowed and being able to track her targets with it. He didn't for a moment believe that "If I can't see her, she can't see me" or vise versa. What he did know however is that no matter how good she was, concealing Soukaho was going to be a difficult task.

Of course, his obliviousness to the outside world proved to be a grave error. He felt the tree moving before he actually heard it, and wasted precious seconds turning in that direction to confirm his fears. A massive tree, lit on fire, likely because of his Haien, was collapsing towards him. He resisted the urge to curse again, it would break his cover and wasn't exactly fitting of a Kuchiki. His destructive capability was somewhat limited, and he doubted that he'd be able to destroy the tree in time. So instead, he moved swiftly forward, in an attempt to dodge the tree. And that's when it exploded. Of course. It would have just been too predictable if it had landed normally.

Takehiko rolled away from the burning shards of wood that flung everywhere, dodging in between several pieces. He didn't bother looking back, but he knew that the tree would have landed conveniently in order to block off his escape route. He knew this because of the individual who stepped into the clearing, the head of the Kasumi'Oji, his opponent, Azumi. As she sent off more flaming lances to collapse the trees around him, he couldn't help but smile. "Nice for you to finally make it, the real you this time." The trees began to collapse, but Takehiko didn't care. Finally, he had his eyes on his opponent. And suddenly, that's all that mattered in the world. He didn't bother to go the the nearby branches, but instead just Shunpo'd forward past the falling trees, letting himself attain max speed for a moment. He was unbelievably fast, and although his opponent would likely be able to track his movements via Energy Sensory, it was less certain that she'd be able to keep up to defend herself. 

His target location for Shunpo was insider her guard, slightly behind her left shoulder. At the very least, this would make it harder for her to turn on him with Soukaho given that the Kido was centralized around her right hand. He didn't hold back, and with the same fluid motion that allowed him to Shunpo behind her, he drew and slashed along her arm, from her shoulder downward. If Azumi didn't find someway to defend, it was likely that he'd cut deep and reveal her bone for the outside world to see. But his assault didn't stop there. He shifted his body around to her right side, hoping that she'd flinch reaction towards her left, and that he'd be able to stay in her blind spot. He wasn't sure that it would work, but he was prepared to Shunpo back the second that she actually turned to engage. He would whittle her down, slowly and surely, staying just out of range and inflicting injuries on her at will with his superior speed. After he shifted to her right side, assuming she didn't respond, he was going to take her leg. A quickly slice to her Achilles tendon would slow her down even more. He'd force her to release, then counter it with his own. Of course, he wasn't going to save his Shikai above all else, if she did force him into an uncomfortable position, he'd release and take back control of the fight. But he hoped that he'd be able to force a release out of her first.


1800/2000 Reitsu Remaining

[Kento Waffles]

I was bribed to grade this by the prospect of boba.

+230 TP to Takehiko.

+135 TP to Azumi.