Night Time Training

Tatsuya had been running through the forest for a while, looking for a secluded spot in order for a place to train on his kido. He ran for a while longer until he found a small alcove that was very well hidden away. "I guess this'll be a good spot..." Tatsuya came to a stop and reached into his jacket, pulling out the book of kido. He took a seat and began to read through it. As he read he learned that Kidō is the technique that Shinigami use to focus their Spiritual Energy into magic spells of various powers. These spells serve a wide variety of uses such as healing, defense, or combat. Continuing on he also found out that there are two main types of Kidō: binding spells, and destruction spells. Bakudō which are a broad category of defensive spells which block or repel attacks or freezes enemies in place and Hadō which refer to offensive spells which harm an enemy or cause damage. "Ah I get it now...whatever that old man shot at me had to be one of these Hadō things..." A grin spread across Tatsuya's face as he came to this realization. "I guess I'll just have to learn these "destruction spells". Tatsuya continued reading on through the book, learning more about each of the academy kido that he could possibly learn.

Sentence - 13

At this point Tatsuya had read as much as he could about each type of kido and tried to internalize as much of this information as he could. So far he had been paying most of his attention on the destructive spells, for which there were only three spells. These spells were, Shō, which pushes the target away from the caster. Byakurai, which the user fires a concentrated, powerful lightning bolt from their finger. Lastly there was Tsuzuri Raiden, which an electric current flows through any object the user touches and is able to lead electricity, damaging any target that is in contact with the object the current runs through. Tatsuya was intrigued by each one of these spells and the aforementioned, "destruction" they caused but at the moment he knew he cold only concentrate on one of them. Reading through each description one more time he finally decided that he would go the route of learning Byakurai as his first kido. Next to Byakurais description it told him to flip through the book to page 24, which Tatsuya now did. On the page there was listed detailed instructions about how to begin practice on this kido.

The first step explained that the when trying to learn this kido that the user should learn the incantation, which is needed to perform the kido. Tatsuya quickly searched the page, but saw that in the area where the incantantation should have been it had been faded out. Taking another look at the book it seemed that this book was quite aged. Tatsuya sighed, he couldn't rightly learn this kido if he didn't have the incantation to even begin the spell. "Dammit....looks like I'll have to choose another one..." Tatsuya began to flip through the pages of the book and began to notice that a majority of the kido pages had been rubbed out from use, or had faded from age. "Are you serious....none of these pages have the incantations....Guess I'll have to check out the Binding Spells..."

Flipping back to the beginning of the book, Tatsuya began to look through some of the binding kido that were available to learn for academy students. Three of these binding kido stood out to him. The first one was Seki, which creates a round shield that seems to temporarily paralyze and repel whatever strikes it. The second was Geki, which engulfs the target in red light, completely paralyzing them. Though the one that Tatsuya decided to him was the kido, Hōrin. This kido causes an orange hued tendril with spiraling yellow patterns to erupt from the users hand and attempt to trap a target. The end of it remains in the hands of the user allowing them to control the path of the tendril before and after capture. The Kidō is able to connect with another one of itself if both have captured a target and bind them together. Though this wasn't the kido family that he wanted to learn from, he figured that atleast learning this one would make any future attempts at learning kido even easier.

Tatsuya turned the pages of the book to the section that described the use of Horin. The first instruction on the use of this of kido in layman's terms was to recite the spells incantation and become relaxed with chanting it before attempting to go any further. Tatsuya stood up and exhaled followed by some slow inhalation. He then held the book in front of him and began the incantation, "Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat!" Tatsuya had never heard stranger words than the one he had just spoken. The incantation to this sounded sounded so ridicouls that he couldn't help stifling a laugh. Soon enough though Tatsuya got back to the topic at hand. Once again he yelled the incantation, Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat!" Tatsuya continued to speak this incantation, until he felt that he now had it memorized.

Sentences - 33

Tatsuya turned the page of the book and began to read the next step in performing Horin. The next step began to explain that after chanting the incantation that one must concentrate there reiatsu within their hand to form the tendril within their hand. Closing his eyes, Tatsuya began to concentrate, trying to feel the flow of his reiryoku. Holding his hand out, Tatsuya began to channel his reiatsu to a point in the center of his hand. "Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat!" Almost instantly an orange hued orb formed in the center of his hand. Tatsuya admired what he was able to conjure up, but it was now time for the next phase. He then clenched his fist, causing the orb to morph into a whip-like object.

"Heh, that wasn't so hard! I'll have this kido stuff down in no time." Almost as soon as these words were spoken, the tendril shot up Tatsuya's arm, wrapping around it and the rest of his body. The seal now began to squeeze his body, causing him to fall over and land on the ground next to his book. As he hit the ground the kido exploded in a display of light and sound as it dissipated, but it left Tatsuya virtually unharmed, though he was a bit shaken. Looking over to his left, he began to read something that he obviously should have read earlier. Above the next rule it said "READ BEFORE ATTEMPTING THIS KIDO!!! BBE SURE TO KEEP STEADY CONTROL OF YOUR REIATSU WHILE USING THIS KIDO. IF NOT THE KIDO WILL FAIL AND GO BERSERK." Thinking on this what had just happened could have been classified as the kido going "berserk". "I must have celebrated a bit too soon..."

Sentences - 19

Tatsuya quickly stood and dusted himself off, shaking out some of the fallen leaves that had gotten into his hair as a result of the explosion. He had celebrated too early before and lost concentration of the kido, causing it to explode. Tatsuya was lucky, this kido that he was using was a binding spell and yet it caused such a ruckus. Had he have been using a destructive spell who knows what could have happened. For all Tatsuya knew he might not have been standing there any longer. If he was going to prove these teachers wrong about him he couldn't accidentally kill himself in the process, that'd just proving them right and giving them another reason to laugh at him. "I'll have to take this stuff much more seriously..."

Tatsuya held out his hand and once again began to chant the incantation. Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat!" Once again the orange hued orb appeared in his hand and Tatsuya squeezed it. Forming it into the orange and yellow whip from before. Tatsuya then remembered to continually focus his reiatsu, making sure what had just happened earlier wouldn't happen again. Though now it was time to test this kido. He had finnaly figured out how to conjure this thing, it was now time to put it to use.

Looking foward, Tatsuya took further notice of all the the trees that surrounded him within this forest. They were the only targets that he had access to at the moment. Though he wouldn't be able to see its affectiveness on the living, right now the the question was if this kido even worked. It was described as being able to "wrap around an opponent". If that was so then it should be able to do the exact same thing to the tree as it would to another person. With that in mind, Tatsuya lunged towards the tree, lashing Horin towards it. As the tendril of Horin impacted against the tree, it soon wrapped around it and connected. Tatsuya was still holding the tendril in his hand while the other end of lasso was connected to the tree. Tatsuya gave it a few tugs and felt the resistance that he was getting back. This kido was very tough, someone would have to be very strong in order to break free of it without the will of the user.

Sentences - 23

Tatsuya smiled at his progress, this was the first time in a long time that he actually felt a sense of accomplishment. The last time he had felt something close to this was when he killed his first target for money, though looking back on it, that wasn't really something to be proud of. Accomplishing this kido meant something more, it meant that Tatsuya was finally finding a place for himself. Though he may not have exactly liked the people that inhabited Sereitei, maybe one day he could change all of that. Maybe he could be one of the beacons of hope for others who grew up the same way he did. Though these were all kinda weird thoughts to be having just because you accomplished the use of a kido, to Tatsuya, one who grew up with nothing and thought his life would ultimately amount to nothing, this kido symbolized more than he could have ever hoped for.

Tatsuya then held his hand out once more, and screamed the all familiar chant. Soon forming the orange tendril in his hand once again. Tatsuya was about to aim it for another tree and practice with it once more, but as he aimed for the tree, he could hear rustling coming from the foliage about 20 feet from where he was standing. Soon enough the figure of a man walked from behind it. Tatsuya slowly turned and faced the mysterious figure, ready to lash out at him with Horin. "What the hell do you want?..."

Sentences - 12

5th post to master Horin

As quickly as Tatsuya asked the question, the man replied with a tone as snide as Tatsuya's. The man said something about waking up the entire academy. Something that made Tatsuya laugh. "Hehe, you say it like I'd actually give a damn...Just get outta here, and mind your business." Tatsuya then placed his free hand on his zanpaktou in order to get his point across, "It's dangerous out here in the woods at this hour, hate to have you end up missing..."

Sentences - 6

Tatsuya began to grin at the man. Seemed he wasn't about turn around and walk off with his tail between his legs, and in all honesty, that's what Tatsuya was expecting. It had been a while since Tatsuya had spoken to someone who was like him, or rather, similar. This guy was no way shape or form like him, he seemed weak, but he reminded Tatsuya of others that he knew from back home. The same "others" that Tatsuya had no problem killing. He seemed the type to be a smartass, but maybe that was just the sake talking. Either way, if this man took what he was saying as a threat, who was Tatsuya not to make good on it? "Hehe, once again you state things like I'd actually care. What does or doesn't go over "well" with you is none of my concern....But you did make one point that I can actually agree with....I do indeed have a problem with you, and I guess as they say, I'd better solve it." Tatsuya then sprinted torwards him. As he did this he whipped the Horin forward, attempting to connect it with this mans neck and bind it. With his free hand he quickly unsheathed his zanpaktou. A rush of adrenaline began to rush through Tatsuya's veins, it had been a long time since he had a fight, he'd have to be sure to savor it.

Sentences - 14

The kid was able to dodge Horin, by rolling to his left and out of the way of the kido. As Horin flew past him, it impacted a tree that was right behind were the boy had just been standing. Tatsuya maintained his grip on horin and continued to run towards the guy, that is until Tatsuya saw that knives were now flying towards him. It seems that this guy stayed prepared for fights, even going so far as to keep knives within his clothing for protection. It would be near impossible to evade these knives, since Tatsuya was now running full speed into them and the man had thrown them while running. The only direction to avoid them would have to be, up. Thinking quickly, Tatsuya tightly gripped Horin and whipped it downwards. The force caused Tatsuya to be propelled upwards into the air. He then flew up and over the attack, and right into the face of his attacker. Gripping his zanpaktou with both hands he slashed downwards onto the man.

Sentences - 9

Tatsuya was impressed, this man was able to block his attack and even push him back. "Heh, you're doing pretty good..." As Tatsuya landed the man pressed off with his blade to the right and side stepped, allowing him to get behind. Tatsuya attempted to turn but it was too late, as the man delivered a round house kick to his side. Though he was hit, it wasn't over. Utilizing the force that the man had delivered in his kick, Tatsuya used it to quicken his turn and ultimately the swing of his blade. Causing the blade to come slashing down from the mans collar bone and straight down diagonally on his left side.

Sentences - 7

The man was able to evade his slash by using the momentum he had built up from his kick in order to jump back. Though the blade still caused a bit of damage, it was nothing in comparison to what Tatsuya had hoped it would have done. Tatsuya then flicked the end of his blade, shaking off some of the blood that had gotten onto it. But while he was doing this, the man had begun to run towards him. "Already coming back for more?" Tatsuya began to raise his blade, assuming that he would come forward with a strike, but he couldn't have been further from the truth. The man flicked his injured arm forward, the blood from the wound flying forward and hitting Tatsuya in his left eye. Still looking forward with his right eye, Tatsuya saw that the man had disappeared. That was before he felt a slight presence to his right side. Quickly turning Tatsuya slashed downwards with his zanpaktou, crossing blades with the man. "That was a close one, you almost had me ther--"

Before Tatsuya could finish his sentence, he heard a sound reminiscent of darts hitting a dart board. This sound was followed by three sharp pains felt on his left side. From what he was feeling, he assumed that this man had thrown some type of projectile at him, though the question was, when did he do it? "Shit...he must have thrown them after the blood..." Tatsuya used as much strength as he could to keep up his defense against the mans blade, while trying to ignore the pain that was shooting through his body. Blood was beginning to seep from these wounds, and Tatsuya could feel its warmth flowing down his side and soaking his pants leg. Tatsuya continued to stare directly at the man during all of this, "That was pretty good. Though Im sure around here they'd consider what you just pulled to be against the rules." Tatsuya began to laugh and began to cough up some blood. "So before I kill you...what's your name? Need to be able to tell the mortician something about you, since you'll be pretty unrecognizable by then."

Sentences - 22

"Hehe, the names Tatsuya and being careful was never one of my strong points, so I guess I'll just have to take my chances." Soon after this Ryusaki jumped back, going into a flip. Taking the time given from Ryusaki's antics, Tatsuya rubbed the blood from his eye, giving him his sight back. It seemed that this guy felt the need to show off, though in the state that Tatsuya was in he could see why he'd celebrate early. To him Tatsuya was pretty much done for. He was bleeding profusely, and now he was starting to get a bit dizzy. The knives were also still in his side, which was obviously causing some pain as well. But Tatsuya kept his eyes on Ryusaki, trying his best to ignore the pain. He watched Ryusaki up until the point that he initiated his attack, then it was time to act. Ryusaki began to drag his zanpaktou through the dirt. This time Tatsuya was able to pick up on what was going on.

Tatsuya wasn't new to this form of fighting, in fact he was completely used to it from the street brawls that would happen from time to time where he lived. The only reason that the blood caught him off guard was because he didn't expect anyone from here to be fighting in that way, since they all seemed to value "honor" while fighting. This guy's explanation of a fight having no rules actually made more sense to Tatsuya than what was being spread around this academy. Reverting his attention back into the fight, Tatsuya flung himself to the right, and out of the way of the cloud of dirt and debris. Ryusaki had used this time to get behind the cloud of dirt and move himself off to the left. This caused the two fighters to be facing one another. Ryusaki then slid towards him, trying to attack his ankle, combined with a slash upwards. Tatsuya simply lifted his leg, avoiding the kick. He then slashed downward, quickly stepping forward with his lifted leg in order to both stomp on Ryusaki's leg and add more power to his strike.

Sentences - 20

Tatsuya's stomp had landed, though not causing the intended damage of breaking or dislocating his leg. Looking down he saw that it did ample enough damage to Ryusaki's chest, so he wasn't as disappointed, though he was disappointed that he was able to evade his slash. Somehow he still had just enough momentum from his slide that after the stomp his body was still traveling at a fast pace. Soon after this Ryusaki stood and began to catch his breathe. He then grabbed his sheathe with his free hand.

"So, you like to use that as a weapon as well? So be it, lets go!" Even with this exclaimed it seemed that Ryusaki had taken the initiative first, rushing at him and slamming downwards with his scabbard. Tatsuya raised his blade and blocked the blow. Ryusaki then quickly spun around, switching the scabbard with his zanpaktou within his hand. Instinctively, Tatsuya blocked the same hand that attacked him the first time, effectively guarding against the zanpakou, but he was then slammed across the face with the scabbard. This caused Tatsuya to slowly stumble backwards, trying to regain his footing and composure after such a hard hit. The scabbard then dropped to the ground as Ryusaki lowered himself. It seemed as if he had another attack. Tatsuya attempted to slash downwards once again but it was too late. Ryusaki's deceptive attack had landed, stabbing him between the ribs. The speed at which Ryusaki had been moving caused the blade to go in all the way to its hilt.

Pain ripped through Tatsuya's body as he stumbled backwards. Blood began to pour from the wound as his heart rate increased, while the other wounds from the knives that were still embedded began to bleed as well. The world became a fuzz, soon followed by what seemed to be everything around him spinning. Tatsuya took a tighter grip of his zanpaktou. He couldn't let this fight be over, it couldn't be over, not yet. Tatsuya began to cough more violently, this time producing more blood. It seemed that last knife had been his end. Tatsuya then looked forward towards Ryusaki, even though his vision had become so dark and blurry that barely anything was recognizable. "That....that was a good fight...next time, I'll kill you next time....next time...." Tatsuya grinned as he fell backwards, landing on the ground with a thud.

Sentences - 26

As Tatsuya fell downwards his life flashed before his eyes. Albeit it being a virtually short life, compared to what others were capable of living in the spirit world. During his years he had seen, heard, and experienced much. Though Tatsuya would have loved to say that his life was a great one, he was nowhere near lucky enough to say that. In fact his life had been the polar opposite. Living alone, scrounging for the scraps of scraps of food to get by. Tatsuya hated his life, he hated others for seeing his state of living and turning a blind eye, and most of all he hated all those who were blessed with the means to not live a life such as his, but rather than taking advantage of it they simply tossed it aside. All in all his younger life had been consumed by hate, a hate that radiated towards any and everyone indiscriminately.

He began to realize that if there was something in this life that he wanted, he'd just have to take it. This was a dog eat dog world, and right now he was scrounging for scraps. Others weren't willing and even giving an inkling of thought to assisting him. Why should he expect them to? Knowing full well that if he was in that person's shoes, he might not even him himself. Soon enough he began to live on this theory of life, living for himself and no one else. Those who came into contact with them paid with the fine of their purse, and those who challenged him paid with the penalty of their lives. His heart became cold, he held no remorse for others and expected none in return. He believed in karma, and that committing an evil to one person who be repaid with an equal evil back to the perpetrator, but he didn't fear this. He figured that when his time was up it'd be up. If he was to die because he killed another so be it, he'd do what he had to to survive and those that were unlucky enough to stand in the way of that would just be unlucky.

After a few years of this he began to his reputation began to grow as did his gang. Though this wasn't something that Tatsuya had set out to do,with killing people notoriety was something that also grew. His "family", or what others would refer to as his gang had also began to take strides towards growth. It first started with others that he knew from home that also came from a similar background as he did. Tatsuya still held his stance on "everyman for themselves" but for some reason he held compassion for these individuals. He viewed them as being the "same" as him, that is having felt the pain of a hard life. He couldn't just turn a blind eye to them as so many had done to him in his life, so he decided that he would form a family. A family of misfits, in which they'd always have others to be able to rely on, others they could trust to care and look after one another. An ideology like this went far in a place that was as messed up as the 80th district, and soon enough members began to pop up out of everywhere.

Tatsuya's "family" began to run rampant throughout the districts. They used any method available for use to acquire what they wanted and when they wanted it. Rules held no bars for them, everything was theirs for the taking and all that was left for them to do was to take it. Tatsuya began to become around his area. People thinking of him as a ruthless cold blooded killer, and with these prejudiced accusations they couldn't have been closer to the truth. Time was beginning to pass and Tatsuya was becoming darker with each passing day with the sins he committed. Such a personality was fitting for the numerous others that he was leading. They soon even took up the murder-for-hire business, killing many people in the pursuit of profit. People tried to complain to the shinigami who took refuge within the walls of Sereitei, but the listened with deaf ears. Tatsuya could have told these people that the shinigami wouldn't come to their rescue. Who would want to help trash like the people who lived in these shitty areas? For them it'd be better if they all were to die.

Tatsuya and his family continued their reign of the districts, that is until they got bold. They all figured that they had all done such a great job securing all of this territory, why not try to expand? While expansion of a business was all well and good, Tatsuya forget to take notice of the people who actually lived there, the rich. Though, he did take notice of the fact that they were well endowed with financial goods, he forgot to take into account the fact that the shinigami would care about these people. Since the rich were a source of income for Sereitei, affecting them would be cause for retaliation. As they attacked the new district's almost immediately, they were found to have resistance by the shinigami. One by one Tatsuya's allies were slain, leaving only he and a handful of others alive. The others decided to turn tail and flee, while Tatsuya stood his ground.

All these thoughts of his past flooded his mind as he continued his backward descent to the ground. It was as if time had stopped in this moment of time. His body then hit the ground, everything going black after the impact. "You're weak Tatsuya......"

Sentences - 52

Jacob walked briskly through the forest his large feet barely making a sound on the soft ground as he walked along in search of a clearing in which to begin practicing the kido he was charged with learning. As he walked he repeated the incantation for the Hado in his head, when suddenly he heard the clang of steel against steel coming from nearby. Moving with as much speed and stealth that a man of his stature possibly could, Jacob sped off in the direction where he could hear the sound of clashing metal resounding from.

Sooner than he had anticipated, he was within spitting range of the small clearing where a fight between two delinquents was occuring. Slowing down his approach to a near crawl, he edged ever closer to the clearing in order to try and get a better view. As he crept ever closer to the field of combat he coould just about make out the sounds of muffled conversation. For a few seconds the two other students in the clearing appeared to fall into conversation, until with the resouding ring of steel against steel they resumed their bout. All the while Jacob crouched as low as possible at the edge of the clearing watching the two lock horns.

Attack,counter attack and a few underhanded tactics later the student who'd called himself Tatsuya Ankoku finally fell to the ground having collapsed from blood loss brought on by a number of nasty wounds to the abdomen. For a few moments silence descended over the small clearing as the red haired combatant that Jacob knew to be Ryusaki walked over to the colapse Tatsuya. For half a second Jacob expected that Ryusaki planned to make sure that his presumed dead opponent was really dead, but this thought soon passed as the red haired shinigami hopeful simply checked the stricken students pulse. Having obviously satisifed his own curiosity as to whether he had killed his opponent, Ryusaki sauntered out of the glade and Jacob could just about make out the sight of him taking a fairly large swig from a jug as he went about his business.

For reasons that he couldnt explain to himself Jacob stepped into the clearing walking briskly towards the stricken down man. As he did so, a voice in the back of his mind constantly growled at him to stop, turn around and return to his dorm as though he'd seen nothing. Despite his own misgiviings about what he was doing Jacob ignored these thoughts and continued over to the nearly dead Tatsuya. As he reached the man he noticed that a large pool of blood had formed underneath the mans body and it was steadily growing in size. Acting quickly Jacob pulled the knives out of Tatsuya's body, a torrent of blood escaping the no longer blocked wounds. Using the knives he now held in his hand Jacob cut several long strips off white fabric off his robe and wrapped them around Tatsuya's abdomen as makeshift bandages. Even with his shoddy patchwork having been done it was clear to Jacob that if proper medical care wasnt given to his shaggy haired fellow student then he'd be dead from the blood loss sooner or later. So Jacob lifted him off the ground ,careful not to disturb the poorly made bandages, and hoisted him over his shoulder efore heading directly towards the squad 4 barracks. Even as a new student Jacob had heard of their prowess and skill when it came to healing wounds and taking him to them seemed like the smartest decision to make.

Sentences - 21

A disembodied voice echoed throughout Tatsuya's mind. It taunted him, humiliating him with words of the fight he had just previously lost. "Tatsuya....you've become a disgrace, a mere shell of your former self. Think about who you were before you came to this place...." Thoughts flooded into Tatsuya's mind once more. He remembered the power he once had. The fear and respect he had gained. And more importantly, the freedom he had. Recounting these memories started to make him regret his decision to join the shingami. "See Tatsuya, you realize too that you made a mistake in coming here...." Soon though another memory began to play. It was the memory of his family being decimated at the hands of the shinigami. "How could you have joined the ones who were responsible for the pain of those you've lost? Were you that fearful for your own life?" Tatsuya grimaced, was he truly afraid? Did the sight of his comrades being cut down cut his resolve? Tatsuya had always prided himself on the fact that he was not afraid of death. Death was just another stage of life, if it happened it happened, there was no avoiding it. But did the sight of those around him being decimated influence his decision to join these shinigami? "You already know the answer to that, Tatsuya! You have no need to question it.....You were a coward!!! You let the Shinigami waltz in and destroy everything I worked to create!!!" Tatsuya was confused, " "I" what do you mean, "I". Who the hell are you?!"

Tatsuya quickly opened his eyes and saw that he was in a world that was darker than dark. He looked at his hands and arms and realized that his entire body had turned to a snow white color, even his clothing. The voice from before had stopped, almost as if it were thinking up an answer to his previous question. It seemed that whatever this thing was had slipped up, speaking of something it had not meant to mention. "Come out!" Tatsuya's demand was met with silence, that is until the voice decided to speak once more. "Fufufu, are you ordering me? Tatsuya, that is a key difference between you and I. I on one hand don't follow orders....I do what I please and when I please. You on the other hand follow orders to the letter. If you don't believe it then look at what your current occupation consist of. You are a student, a lowly student in an academy that has no respect for you. And yet you follow and listen to what they say obediently. Soon in the background of this world, a memory began to play, almost as if it were on a movie screen that enveloped the entire area. Anger began to rise out of Tatsuya as he watched this, it was his memory of his first day in Kido class. He recounted the anger he felt for the teacher who ridiculed him. He remembered the hate he felt for the class who laughed and sneered at his expense. "Tatsuya, how wretched you must feel....I can barely stand to watch....How about we turn the channel?

With a click the memory faded from the screen, giving way to yet another one. This time the memory was that of Tatsuya's Hakuda instructor, Leeroy Jenkins. The image that began to play was that of the beat down that was handed down to Tatsuya by Leeroy. "Fufufu, I had quite a laugh watching this one.... It must have been very humiliating...." Tatsuya sighed, "Yea it was....what is the relevance of this?" The disembodied voice began to laugh, "There's nothing "relevant" about it. It's simply for entertainment purposes. I love to spectate on your failures. Though, none such failure of yours was a entertaining as what happened earlier. Losing to that...Ryubaki...Ryuwaki...Ryu--" "Ryusaki!" Tatsuya corrected the voice's errors, with an obviously annoyed and angered voice. "Oh ho ho, He must have really gotten to you for you to remember his name like that. Usually you view names as insignificant bits of information. But this "Ryusaki", hes really gotten to you, hasn't he?" Tatsuya rolled his eyes in disgust, "No! He hasn't "gotten" to me. He simply got lucky during that fight, I wasn't prepared that's all...."

Silence ensued after Tatsuya's reply, until the voice began to speak once more, this time in a tone that was completely serious. "Tatsuya, there's no need to lie. It's embarrassing to try and find excuses for what occurred during that catastrophe you call a "fight". You and I both know what happened during that fight and it had nothing to do with not being prepared, or Ryusaki being better prepared than you. You threw out hollow threats hoping to scare that man off, but you knew just by looking at him that he wouldn't back down. You were hoping for a fight, a fight to prove that what you've been feeling about yourself wasn't the truth. And that "Truth" is that you've lost that killer instinct you've worked so hard to hone over your years. You were once a cold blood killer, but now you're just a simple ruffian hoping to intimidate others with simple threats and harsh words." Tatsuya hung his head down in shame, the words that this voice spoke were the truth. During his time here he was getting soft. Although this word was something that seemed out of place within such a serious conversation such as this one, it fit aptly.

Tatsuya began to sob, tears welling in his eyes,"You know so much about me.....how do you propose that I make amends for what I've done! From what you're saying I've betrayed who I am. How do I get myself on track?!" The voice began to laugh, this time a laugh of pleasure, as if it had been waiting to hear these words from Tatsuya. "The simplest thing to do would be to commit seppuku to rid yourself of the shame you've placed on yourself, but I have another idea in mind...." "What is this idea?! Tell me, please!" "In time Tatsuya, in time. For the moment I want to continue with your shinigami studies, excel as much as you possibly can. Do everything within your power to become as strong as you can. Don't let anyone stand within your way, and next time don't hesitate to decapitate them if they do. If you accomplish this, maybe one day I'll let you in on my plan...For now, I take my leave..." As the voice said this, the scenery began to change. The darkness of the background began to literally melt off of the walls, and the white color that had been placed on his body began to melt off as well. "No! What is your name?! Who are you?!" The voice began to laugh, "You'll learn that in due time as well, Tatsuya. Follow my orders and hopefully you'll learn it, that is."

Sentences - 103

Tatsuya made his way back to his previously, "unknown alcove". As he arrived he could see the remains of the fight that he and Ryusaki had. The most obvious one being the blood that spilled from Tatsuya's wounds. Recounting what happened that night Tatsuya began to clench his fist. "I'll kill you, Ryusaki. Just you wait and see..." A devious grin appeared on his face and soon enough he pulled out the dusty kido tome from his jacket. "It's time I learned another kido...that Horin didn't help me much during a fight. I need something that can actually cause damage..." Flipping through the pages of the book he made his way to the Hadou.

These spells were, Shō, which pushes the target away from the caster. Byakurai, which the user fires a concentrated, powerful lightning bolt from their finger. Lastly there was Tsuzuri Raiden, which an electric current flows through any object the user touches and is able to lead electricity, damaging any target that is in contact with the object the current runs through. Tatsuya was intrigued by each one of these spells and the aforementioned, "destruction" they caused but at the moment he knew he cold only concentrate on one of them. Reading through each description one more time he finally decided that he would go the route of learning Byakurai as his first kido. Next to Byakurais description it told him to flip through the book to page 24, which Tatsuya now did. On the page there was listed detailed instructions about how to begin practice on this kido.

The first step stated that one must concentrate there reiatsu within their finger in order to form the energy to be fired off. Closing his eyes, Tatsuya began to concentrate, trying to feel the flow of his reiryoku. Holding his hand out, Tatsuya began to channel his reiatsu to a point in the center of his finger. Almost instantly a blue orb formed at the end of his pointing finger. Tatsuya admired what he was able to conjure up, but it was now time for the next phase. Tatsuya then exclaimed "Hadou #4 Byakurai!!!" Almost as soon as these words were spoken, the the orb expanded and imploded. As he hit the ground the kido exploded in a display of light and sound as it dissipated, but it left Tatsuya virtually unharmed, though he was a bit shaken. "I must have celebrated a bit too soon..."

Tatsuya quickly stood and dusted himself off, shaking out some of the fallen leaves that had gotten into his hair as a result of the explosion. He had celebrated too early before and lost concentration of the kido, causing it to explode. Tatsuya was lucky, this kido that he was using didn't have as much reiatsu flowing through that kido or it could have been worse. If he was going to become stronger he couldn't kill himself in the process, he'd have to become better at controlling these kido.

Tatsuya held out his hand and once again began to chant the incantation. "Hadou #4 Byakurai!!!" Once again the blue hued orb appeared in his hand and Tatsuya aimed it. Tatsuya then remembered to continually focus his reiatsu, making sure what had just happened earlier wouldn't happen again. Though now it was time to test this kido. He had finnaly figured out how to conjure this thing, it was now time to put it to use. Looking foward, Tatsuya took further notice of all the the trees that surrounded him within this forest. They were the only targets that he had access to at the moment. Though he wouldn't be able to see its effectiveness on the living, right now the the question was if this kido even worked. It was described as being able to "fire a concentrated, powerful lightning bolt from their finger.". If that was so then it should be able to do the exact same thing to the tree as it would to another person. With that in mind, Tatsuya lunged towards the tree, firing the Byakurai towards it. As the blast impacted against the tree, it soon exploded. The rest of the tree soon ignited in fire.This kido was strong, someone would have to be very tough in order to live through an attack like that.

Tatsuya smiled at his progress, this was the first time in a long time that he actually felt a sense of accomplishment. Tatsuya then held his hand out once more, and screamed the all familiar chant. Soon forming the blue orb on his finger once again. Tatsuya then aimed it at another tree and fired. This time he added a bit more reiatsu to the blast. As it impacted the tree this time it made a much larger explosion. It seemed that Tatsuya finally had the hang of this kido.

Sentences - 51

Mastered Byakurai

Another Byakurai was fired off, blasting through yet another tree. Tatsuya marveled at the power of the kido. He was able to cause such destruction with such a low level kido, so he could only imagine how truly powerful higher leveled kido were. "I think I've gotten proficient enough with Byakurai. Time to move on to the next one." Tatsuya turned the page of the book to find that the next hadou on the list was, Tsuzuri Raiden. It was explained as being able to create an electric current that flows through any object the user touches and is able to lead electricity. It then damages any target that is in contact with the object the current runs through. Tatsuya was at a lost as to how to actually make use of this kido. He couldn't exactly run the electricity through himself. Well, he could, but that would probably lead to the undesirable result of death. It was then that he got an idea. "I wonder If I'd be able to lead the electricity through my zanpaktou." It was common knowledge that metal was a conductor for electricity. The zanpaktou was made of metal and this kido involved electricity, where could it go wrong?

Tatsuya began to concentrate his reishi, trying to lead it toward his arms and hands which held the zanpaktou. Tatsuya then began to the incantation. "Hadou #11 Tsuzuri Raiden!!!" Silence followed this, and then a small electrical crackle could be heard. It seemed that Tatsuya's idea was headed in the right direction, but he hadn't yet put enough reishi into the kido. Tatsuya once again got into position and called out the incantation once more. "Hadou # 11 Tsuzuri Raiden!!!" This time the zanpaktou began to shake, followed by a bright spark of light before extinguishing. Tatsyua couldn't figure out exactly what he was doing wrong. Was he not putting enough reishi into the kido, or was he simply putting too much into the kido.

He tried the kido a couple more times and each time he acquired the same result. It seemed that with each failed attempt he was either putting in too much reishi or too little. "I just have to concentrate. I'm pacing myself too fast. I just need to slow down and relax." Tatsuya closed his eyes and began into a semi-meditative state. He listened to his breathes and his heart rate. He could feel his reiatsu coursing through his body. He began to spread it out evenly throughout his body. Making sure that every limb got a sufficient supply of reiatsu and not that just one area was completely saturated with spiritual energy. He then opened his eyes and looked forwards at his zanpaktou. He then yelled out the incantation once more. "Hadou #11 Tsuzuri Raiden!!!" As he did this the zanpaktou began to shake for a brief moment. This was then followed by a bright flash of light and the zanpaktou becoming engulfed with yellow crackling electricity. Tatsuya began to grin. He had finally figured out how to control the flow of reishi and bring forth the electricity of Tsuzuri Raiden. He began to swing his blade, testing it out. With each swing the crackling of the electricity popping filled the air. Also with each swing, the electricity on the blade dissipated. Tatsuya continued to swing the blade until all of the electricity had been purged. When this finally happened he held his zanpaktou out once more and chanted the incantation. "Hadou #11 Tsuzuri Raiden!!!" The zanpaktou was once again engulfed with the electricity of Tsuzuri Raiden. Tatsuya then began to dash towards a tree, the current of electricity still flowing through his blade. As he reached the tree, Tatsuya struck it. The electricity dissipated and was then transferred through the tree. Tatsuya could almost see it coursing its way up until it reached the very top of the tree. Every leaf at the top instantaneously combusted, forcing a laugh out of Tatsuya.

Sentences - 53

Mastered Tsuzuri Raiden