Main Division Grounds

Janza and the captain dashed through a thickly wooded part of the division ground, jumping from tree to boulder to anything else in between. All the while, they trade blows of one sort or another. Speed was the main point. None of the attacks were particularly strong, but each move was probing. Each move was to try and gain and advantage or set the other person off balance. Being complacent or taking it easy still could and would be a death sentence.

Maybe there weren't any bone shattering blows, but any sharp blade could be dangerous. Multiply that by several dozen and that was what Janza faced. His foot made contact with the side of a tree just to immediately be assaulted by what looked like four sword chains ( 4 lines of swords tip to tip to tip basically). Janza turned his body just enough for two blades to pass to either side right underneath his arms, followed quickly by another one that came within an inch of his ear. He crossed his two blades, and blocked the last and while pushing it off into two of the blade streams (the one to the other side was pushed upward while the direct blow was deflected). Energy coursed through Janza's legs carrying him from tree to tree with several of those same attacks followed always striking at his heels. Janza ducked under a pair of one, and spun to parry three others. Whenever he found a chance, he would fire of another white lightning kidou or would hurtle any chunk of wood that he could manage. That attacks were endless, but they weren't mindless. Each move was an attempt to push him toward another. Each attack felt like it was thought out and planned out many moves in advance.

The captain was smart, but Janza was able to escape from each trap. One of the worst was when three blades chains bore down on his face while two others came at an angle toward his left. Four others wound around the direct attacks to strike in a staggered pattern to the right. Four more rushed from straight ahead before splitting into two different approaches from slightly below and slightly above. Janza was being pushed backward bit by bit. As he moved, he would wind around trees small and large, anything to momentarily block sight, slow the advance of the blades streams, or mess with the trajectory of the attacks. But, these attacks all were leading toward a hidden pack of sword chains quietly charging energy up lying in wait. The attack was held back until Janza approached a virtual wall created by multiple trees as wide as a house, before thrusting upward to Janza's mid air frame. Janza didn't have time to think, instinct took over. In the split second before the blades would have left him as a gruesome red pile of skewered meat, an incomplete burst of kidou energy blasted him toward one of the larger trees. The longer katana found purchase in the thick trunk of the tree allowing Janza to twist his frame around and put his feed to the tree. This was starting to look like some standard formula... for a split second. This time Janza wasn't moving backward. No, instead Janza used his momentum to slingshot around the gargantuan tree sending him bearing down on his opponent like a rocket.

Janza's sudden turn after a handful of minutes spent dodging around the trees threw the captain momentarily off balance. He/she could no longer focus the blades into multiple streams of fused blades anymore. While Janza spent that time running around, his mind fractured into different parts to solve what this shikai was and how it worked. What he found out was that the greater amount of swords, the less control the captain had. The optimal amount seemed to be a dozen give or take a few. If he/she went over that amount, it also seemed like he/she could exert a different amount of control over the different blades or streams. So even when attacking with nearly twenty in concert, the power of the four that were held back were not diminished in the slightest. The other thing that he found out was that the captain could fuse many blades together to form a bit of a flexible sword of sorts that could wrap around or trap opponents easier. It did relegate the blades not in the front to slashing entirely, but even if Janza dodged a sword length or two, he would still have to deal with edges to the side. And what would happen if the captain had to suddenly break the chain to use closer blades to defend? The control of the blades from the front would slip a bit. An attack in response would be much less effective while defending. The blades now behind Janza would still be dangerous, as would the ones in front, but the captain would have to make a choice between a solid defense or a powerful offense.

What Janza realized was that even if his opponent could choose the amount of control that would be exerted over all of the blades, a larger amount would still be harder for a brain to keep tracks of. From fighting this person, Janza knew that his opponent was thoughtful and considerate of each move. His opponent wasn't reckless. So his opponent would not do a half-assed combination attack and defense, and wouldn't make a move that would lead to virtually certain injury. Instead, the control and power would go to the blade wall, strengthening it so Janza wouldn't be able to blow right by it. And, moments before Janza struck, he heard the blades behind him fall to the ground with varied loud "clunks". A powerful shockwave pulsed throughout the trees when Janza's katana and wakizashi struck the blade wall. Cracks burst along each tree trunk in the immediate vicinity. Rocks at their feet were ground into dust. And the ringing sound that assaulted the ears of the small group of onlookers was like long nails scraping a blackboard. Five small openings appeared in the wall, and Janza knew one of the hidden blades would strike from one of them (since the captain would most definitely want maximum control over the remaining blades. The look on the masked captain's face had to be priceless when Janza chose the correct opening and blocked with ease the hidden blade.

A gentle grin crept up on Janza's face. He remained motionless with one of his blades still in contact with the wall. This deceptive lull was the first time in a while that anyone could get a good look at Janza. Formerly underneath his academy uniform was a black and blue jacket and dark black shorts allowing the bandages on his legs to be seen. They clothing and bandages has been torn at to varying degrees, but there was no blood. The gray scarf around his neck? Spotless.

He is wondering how the hidden aspect was uncovered.

Awesome, isn't it?

Mhmm.

An imperceptible change came over the face of the captain.  Janza could intuitively feel it because he had seen it all of his known life.  This is impossible. Why is this child able to stand up to my shikai with his zanpaktou in a sealed state was the common reaction or question.  It came from a profound belief in the infallibility of one's self and their abilities.  The captain facing Janza was smart and powerful as well.  Very few souls could stand toe toe.  His strength created a blindspot.  Nobody could be that strong was a common belief.  I can't be beaten was another.

Janza knew from an early age how weak he could be.  He had been beaten and mangled left dangling within just an inch of his life.  Hard lessons had been taught in practical manners and in practice.  The impossible had been witnessed.  The utmost sorrow had been presented to him in random places in time and even in a few battles.  Something far stronger and faster than any captain had toyed with him, chewed him up, spit him out, and treated him like a plaything.  His waking mind couldn't picture any of this, but his body remembered.  Something deep down inside remembered.  The entirety of that weight rested on his shoulder, a monument to his sins in a way.

Confidence withstanding, everyone needed to believe in their abilities to some extent, or they would never progress.

This person isn't done.

Could this opponent be holding something back?  Or, was the captain setting something up?  Janza brushed off the second question.  Every move in a fight set up for another one.  That was a given.  Janza felt like there was some untapped potential behind this zanpaktou.  Potential was probably the wrong word.  Maybe this person went for the path that was most efficient.  Avoiding going further could be for avoiding undue strain on the body, mind, or soul.  Holding back could be to save energy for when it was needed.  Janza was facing a tactician, a shady bastard that could manipulate events from the background.  If he thought that the full abilities of the shikai weren't realized, Janza was sure as hell that the captain knew that.

And then he felt it.

Each blade could alter its own reality.  That likely meant that it could alter what it came into contact with or came within close proximity to a certain extent.  Somebody with comparable reiatsu could probably resist it, but that didn't mean that a blow from it wouldn't be troublesome.  Multiple blows could be incredibly dangerous.  And if the shikai could alter the reality surrounding others to some degree, it would be able to alter that of the captain.  the potential was limitless.  What held it back was the user's creativity and own reiatsu.  Regardless, the shikai was part of the captain.

Get ready for an exciting ride.

Every blade but two fell to the ground and the captain rushed backward.  Janza cautiously followed.  As he would get close, his opponent would change direction in a normally impossible way.  His movements were not normal.  It was in the slight twists and turns.  It also came from how feet touched the ground.  And, it allowed for movement in a way were another action wasn't needed.  The captain could be sailing through the air in one direction and could change the trajectory of travel or could twist and turn without pushing off of or against something else.  

Speed changed in random ways from second to second seemingly without effort.  One moment was a blazing fast dash, the next could be slow slight movements.  It was COMPLETELY random.  When Janza had his opponent moving into a corner, the captain slipped past in a blur of speed while altering body shape slightly to avoid Janza's blades.  It was fast, but Janza was never far away.  It made hitting his opponent devilishly hard.  There was always just enough movement to avoid a handful of direct blows in front of the captain, and to bring up a blade to block an attack to either side as Janza disappeared in a shuunpo each time.  Janza needed to be unpredictable as well.  He could use brute force in one instance, speed in another, agile movements in another, and hidden ones as well.  

Janza bore down on his opponent again, raining blows from above at the captain's head and thrusting at the throat.  A metal barrier rose up blocking each successive blow.  The added effect of obscuring Janza's vision was a happy bonus for him/her.  Two blades thrust at Janza from the blindspot to his right.  Janza deftly met the attack and turned it away from him.  He danced around that barrier and faced another directly in front of him.  Janza broke through that one with an eruption of strength.  Breaking through that one, it looked like a dark, wide hallway opened in front of him.  Several blades struck out from behind, directly below and from slightly behind, below, and the left.  Janza blocked a couple, and dodged around a few more.  He twisted and turned past a few more, Jumped over a sweeping strike, and rolled under a dozen more.  The air was becoming thicker with blades with each progressing moment.  Continuing on this path would be detrimental to his health.  Janza quickly chipped away at one of the blade walls and dodged through the gap.

It was time to go back on the offensive.  Constant effort and vigilance was required to protect against the effect of the blades and to avoid the blades themselves.  But, the same could be said for using those weapons to begin with.  He was confident that he could continue for quite a while longer.  But, it wouldn't be safe to mess around with this for a long amount of time.  A single slip up could and would be painful.  Instead, forcing the captain to use up valuable stamina quickly was the best bet.

Janza didn't plan things out exactly.  He just made the pressure build up with an overwhelming flurry of blows surrounding the captain and striking at any point possible.  Janza was faster plain and simple.  Somehow it felt like he was facing multiple people with multiple arms defending against his attacks, though.  At the same time, the blades that stuck from the ground randomly rose up to attack Janza from any direction much like what he was doing, while he followed suit in blocking each blade.  Using speed alone would be difficult at best, so he started to alternate the strength behind each blow both physically and with reiatsu.  And it worked.  Figurative cracks were forming in the walls or barriers.  Janza felt one blade slip past the defense and barely brush against the captains mask.  Several other attacks came close to striking.  But most telling?  Slight spots of blood were starting to show on the hands of his opponent and it wasn't from any blade.  No, it came from pure reiatsu pouring from Janza's attacks.

The captain facing Janza knew that it wouldn't be possible to block all of it completely.  This exchange wouldn't work.  So, when Janza burst through the next wall going toward his target, he saw the way in front of him clear.  

"Destructive Art 90: Hadou no Kyuujuu: Kurohitsugi," a voice whispered at him.

Use up stamina, eh? To be able to use that kidou...

... is no small feat. It would eat stamina alone.

Janza closed his eyes and took a deep breath as the darkness closed in on him. He had walked right into this kidou, one of the nastiest ones. The captain had set it up artfully by forcing Janza to close in and fight through and around many obstacle while leading him to a place with little cover. And, when Janza broke through, there was only one direction he could go. All the while Janza was stretching his physical and proverbial legs. Only two things kept the situation from approaching any kind of scary level. One thing was that the captain had only enough time to cast the high level kidou without the chant (thus producing a weaker version), the other that Janza was so fast that the captain could only manage casting like that.

Dark grayish-blue reiatsu tinged with streaks of red and black poured out momentarily before Janza pulled it back in like a blanket. The reiatsu quickly became the water of his shikai. If he didn't act fast, this would really really hurt. The kidou itself was almost too fast to react, or rather after being set up in that manner it was. There was no running through this, no abusing speed. Either Janza had to endure an immense pain, or he would blast through the kidou. His shikai was perfect for this. As the kidou fully materialized a massive amount of water was pulled into a condense ball around Janza with very little room for it to move closer or one way or the other.

If there was one thing about water, it is that it can contain an incredible amount of pressure. Whether it is something caught inside of it, or the water is contained, there is a lot of power to it. It was this that Janza took advantage of. The kidou was blasted to pieces as soon as it formed. Standing in its place surrounded by a thick mist and debris from the surrounding area was the vague form of Janza. The captain facing Janza wasn't sure what to make of it. What had happened in there? Was the person standing there all but dead on his feet?

"Wrong way." Janza whispered quietly directly behind the captain's back. For the first time the cool composure surrounding the person dropped if only for a moment. Almost like a flinch, the captain slashed sideways with the body slicing into Janza. Only it wasn't Janza. "Try again." Another abrupt slash accompanied with half a dozen floating blades went the opposite direction cutting... not Janza. Two distorted Janza's rested apart from each other in front of the captain, but neither was Janza. Three more around the captain this time, and one of the blades hit something solid to the left. It was stopped just short of Janza's face by two ethereal blades. Janza shrugged it away and closed in on the captain in a deceptively fast speed. Three blades struck at him from different directions appearing to make direct contact, but they didn't hit anything solid.

What is he? What is that ability? Those questions ran through the head of Janza's opponent. The normally cool and calculating manner of the captain was in shambles. Stuff like this was to be expected from other captains. But who was this random kid? How could the black sarcophagus kidou have failed? What was that ability? Te counter attacks repeated several times, each one increasingly desperate.

Janza suppressed a sigh and quietly said, "In case you are wondering, yes this is my shikai, and no I didn't say any release phrase or whatever." He couldn't see the captain's face under the mask, but he could feel the plain shock there. Only somebody that had achieved bankai could use shikai without a release phrase. But bankai was also supposed to be extremely rare. Very few shinigami could claim that ability. And here an unknown wanderer showed up seeming to do exactly that.

Not wanting to believe it, but still uncertain, 50 of the captains blades rose into the air and struck at Janza at the same time. Each blade had the full control of the captain behind it. And each blade struck at different points. But none of that mattered being swept aside in a rolling wall of a wave of water. That was when Janza knew that he had won, his opponent just didn't know it yet.

"BANKAI!!!" The voice was muffled by the mask, making an ambiguous sound, but the result was the same. A massive wave of energy buffeted Janza's face like heat from a forge fire. All of the blades littering the ground converged on the captain half showing a small collection of massive blades and a massive fist. But it flickered. Before it had another chance, Janza vanished and appeared next to the captain. Three small sphere-shaped waves struck the captain. One to the stomach, another to the knees, and the last one to the forehead. The end result was one dazed and crumpled heap of a shinigami at Janza's feet.

"You used up too much..." Janza turned toward the captain with his two ethereal blades moving toward this downed opponent to end it, except for the fact that a girl covered the captain glaring at Janza with the most intense eyes he had seen.

"Don't kill Grandpa!"