A Whole New World [Joint Training]

[Sozen Kuchiki]

OOC: To compensate for my slow posting, gonna shoot us forward! Apologies for weak post.

IC:

Sozen hadn't intervened at all with the Hollows. Rather, he had simply allowed his Lieutenant and Shokan to dispatch them, merely using his speed to disappear to dodge their attacks. Rather than show his own strength, Sozen wanted to see theirs. It was already well documented what level the Kuchiki Head was on. At that point where he could duel on even grounds with Kuroi Naito, if not even greater than that. Himitsu and Shokan... It remained to be seen. Shokan grew at an alarming rate, which was actually, upon some thought, to be expected, given his prior experience and power. Meanwhile, Himitsu had displayed a vast amount of potential. Potential Sozen would like to take advantage of to improve.

Regardless, his son's words still echoed in his mind. Shokan and Himitsu would be a part of Souza's generation, conquering Sozen's old? That remained to be seen. For now, the Kuchiki Head looked at the blood surrounding them, taking note of the ways in which both had dispatched their foes. Shokan, it seemed, in the absence of a Zanpakuto had taken instead to raw power. He would be fortifying his spiritual and physical attributes in hopes of getting his core fundamentals to a point where he might be able to fight on par with even a Bankai without the need for one. In Sozen's opinion, it was impossible, as the mightiest Bankai would always surpass even the Captain Commander's fundamentals. But, they would see.

"These Hollows... They're inadequate, aren't they?" Sozen asked. "I already feel that they're too weak. Watching the two of you defeat them, I think that you may have come to the same conclusion. If that's the case, perhaps we could have the two of you engage in combat against one another, and once in a while I will throw a combat hazard your way to make it more difficult. What do the two of you think?" This was a training method that Sozen himself had used while growing up. He and his younger brother had often dueled while being attacked occasionally by Ginrei. It was a good way to train one's real time thinking. Shokan was also growing very, very quickly. It would be good to test it in full on combat. Plus, Sozen had a feeling Himitsu was hiding something strong, as well.

[Himitsu Kasumi'Oji]

With Sozen vanishing from his place, the third hollow went after Himitsu, timing its movements with the first one that attacked the Lieutenant. They attempted to pierce his body from two points. Himitsu simply stayed put as they approached. After all, they were pretty simple-minded, even for hollow. When they came near, two bolts of lightning emerged from his body, each from the areas that they were targeting. The lightning pierced their masks and slayed them instantly.

Shokan had impressively conquered Shunpo Karin, using it to destroy his own hollow. Hollow-hunting was turning out to be pretty standard, but Himitsu was content. One less hollow in the world was always good. One less Arrancar in the world was always good. Even if they didn’t get the training the sought with these easy fights, the Shinigami were still saving innocent souls. They were doing there job.

Sozen also believed that his subordinates were in need of something more challenging. “If that's the case, perhaps we could have the two of you engage in combat against one another, and once in a while I will throw a combat hazard your way to make it more difficult. What do the two of you think?” Himitsu nodded his head in agreement. Shokan would definitely be more entertaining than hollow. However, how strong could he possibly be? He was developing at an exponential rate, but he still needed time before he could contest Himitsu.

The Vice Captain looked over to the former Kawada Head. “You won’t need to worry about holding back. Throw everything you have at me, Shokan.” Suddenly, a wall of water jumped out of the ground between Shokan and Himitsu without the Vice Captain moving an inche. It was easily fifteen feet tall, holding dozens of gallons. Himitsu pointed his fist at the wave, launching a blast of flames at it. The result was an eruption of steam and fog that hindered their vision. It wasn’t so thick that they were completely blind, but Shokan’s body had become a dark shadow to Himitsu. Furthermore, it was several degrees hotter. The steam had already gotten beads of sweat to form on the Lieutenants forehead and mix with the condensing water droplets. Himitsu had set the scene. Shokan had the first move.

Reiatsu Remaining: 2350/3,000 (-100 for Byakurai x2, -100 for Gouzen Demizu, -100 for Hado #35)

[Shōkan Kawada Ⅺ]

When Sozen had suggested the idea of a fight, Shōkan had agreed heartily, there wa snothing like no holds barred sparring for training. It allowed participants to use their abilities in an environment that simulates an actual battle. This was probably the thing Shōkan needed most of all. Thankfully it was just a spar, so Shōkan didn't have to worry about winning or losing. Sure he had his pride, but in a spar against a comrade it didn't really matter. Besides, as he was now, Shōkan didn't know how he would defeat Himitsu anyway, not that he would just give up, but he would have been hard pressed to come up with a solution. Anyway, Shōkan focused on the battle at hand.

“You won’t need to worry about holding back. Throw everything you have at me, Shokan.” Himitsu had then summoned some sort of mist with a combination of Kidou... Impressive. But, in the end, Shōkan thought the mist favored him over Himitsu. He knew he was only marginally faster than him, if at all. His spiritual power was also swarfed by the Kidou specialist. So the only factor he could count on would be his strength. COnsidering Himitsu was a kidou specialistm Shōkan suspected his strength would be superior to Himitsu's. With this in mind, Shōkan's stratefy would be to get as close as possible to Himistsu, keep it in close range, and pressure him into making a mistake.

When they had been at the Squad 6 barracks, Shōkan had picked up a simply training boken from the dojo as they left. He knew they would be hunting hollows, and had wanted try some of his zanjutsu techniques. Unfortunately, those hollows from before hadn't lasted long enough for him to try them on. He knew this was his chance to try out some of his family's prized tecniques. Lifting up the boken in his hand, Shōkan continued in what he hoped Himitsu would figure to be an idiotic action. He threw it at Himitsu. Using Suisei, Shōkan launched the training sword with the combined might of his strength and speed (472.5). He then follwed the blade, so that by the time Himitsu blocked or dodged it, Shōkan would be in his face.

[Himitsu Kasumi'Oji]

Shokan had the advantage of experience. He had fought Kido specialists before, and Himitsu was nothing special compared to the masters Shokan must have faced head-on and defeated when he was in his prime. He had strategies to help him close the distance and not get zoned by the Vice Captain’s spells. However, Shokan held a horrible weakness too. He was far from the warrior that he used to be. Himitsu had continued growing stronger and stronger, chasing his expansive potential for years. Shokan had only a couple of months of training and was not yet powerful enough to take a seated position in a squad, much less challenge a Vice Captain.

And so Himitsu wasn’t going to be a mage today. He would give Shokan the opportunity to push his boundaries in an unconventional close-quarters battle. Even though the fog blurred Shokan’s figure, Himitsu’s vision wasn’t so obstructed that he couldn’t see the man throw the stick he held. The Lieutenant reacted to the sudden projectile heading toward him by forming an incompetent boxing form with his knees bent and fists protecting his jaw.

When the training sword neared, Himitsu punched outward with all his force. Had he just used his fist, every bone in his hand would break against the force of Shokan’s throw. However, Himitsu coupled the punch with a slightly weakened and controlled Hado #1: Sho, allowing him to throw the stick right back at Shokan, this time with a force and speed of 500. If he could anticipate the sword in time and dodge, then he would have little trouble closing the gap on Himitsu, making the fight a little harder for the mage.

But Himitsu still had a speed advantage over Shokan. When the man neared, the Vice Captain, returing to his original boxing stance, would pivot back with either his left foot if Shokan approached from his left or right if Shokan approached from the right. He would throw a clumsy left hook at the man’s torso, blasting him with another controlled Hado #1: Sho at the same strength of 500. He was going to try trumping the Kenpachi in a fistfight. Sure, he got a little help from his kido, but it was a fistfight nonetheless.

And the entire time, the voice of his Zanpakuto spirit Flex cheered in his head. WHAT A MAN! I’M SO PROUD OF YOU, HIMITSU. CRUSH HIS SNOBBY SKULL IN WITH YOUR BARE FISTS!