Forest Outskirts of the West Rukon

*Tenkai arrived at a destination that he found fitting. He was in an isolated area in the middle of the woods where nobody would find him. At least he thought nobody would find him but if someone did he would handle then when and if it happened. Right now though he was there to train. He needed to commune with his zanpaktou. That was when a problem arose, he had no idea how to commune with his zanpaktou. The only time he had over spoken with it before was in his dreams. He began to think deeply trying to figure out how he could manage it. The only answer he came up with was if he focused deeply and tried to call on it. Sitting down against a tree and putting his zanpaktou in his lap Tenkai closed his eyes and focused hard. He tried to call his zanpaktou out to speak with him and be brought to that place once again. This went on for several minutes to no effect except for giving Tenkai a headache. He eventually gave up on that method and simply stared at his zanpaktou. He began to think to himself trying to figure out how to call his zanpaktou out.*

"Good lord, at this rate I'll never get anywhere. Why won't you just respond to me or do something. I'm trying to reach out to you here!!"

"Well it's about time you fool. I had been waiting for you to fall asleep again so I could bring you back in to your inner world. It seems though that we can commune without that now. So, can you finally hear me calling to you or are your ears still filled with stupidity."

"Yes I can hear you but you don't have to be such a jerk about it. If your going to be like that maybe I just won't talk to you. How do you like that."

"Stop being a damned fool and just listen to me. Close your eyes and let your mind sweep over you. Let go of all thought and just get lost in your head."

"Umm, and why am I supposed to do that. It sounds like your trying to describe to me what its like when you do drugs or something."

"Damn it, just do it you f*&$ing idiot!! It's either that or the next time you go to sleep I am going to beat your ass when you come in here!!"

"Fine, fine, just calm yourself."

*Tenkai proceeded to close his eyes and let himself be free of all thought. His mind began to slip off to another land, it was the place he had been to in his dreams. But this time he could get there without having to sleep. He was called in by his zanpaktou of his own will. Tenkai looked around and saw the spirit of his zanpaktou leaning up against the side of the tree with his arm. Tenkai approached him and stopped when he was roughly five feet in front of him.*

"So I'm here, now what? What do you want me here for."

"You are here so our relationship can develop further. You have become much stronger and progressed forward as a shinigami. As such the bond between shinigami and zanpaktou will grow. Our bond has grown enough so that we can move on to the next step. Now hear my name as I call out to you. My name is....."

Sentence Count: 46

"My name is Oni Kokouo!!"

*The demon roared out his name and made it ring in the air throughout the entire inner realm. Tenkai actually stepped back a bit at the roar of the demon. But that was when it hit him. He had heard the name of his zanpaktou finally. The bond between them had grown enough that they could communicate fully. Tenkai was beyond excited but he wasn't sure what the next step would be. Now that he had learned his zanpaktou's name what was next. Was there some kind of test he had to undergo from his zanpaktou, did he have to learn something. He was completely in the dark as to what the next step was.*

"So, now what? I can hear you now and I know your name. What is the next step that we must undertake."

"Now you must be taught. I shall give you a portion of my powers and teach you how to use them. But first and foremost you must learn how to call on me. Whenever you are in battle and you need my aid call me out by using the following phrase. Unari, Oni Kokouo!!. That phrase will call out my powers in the form of the zanpaktou. It will change and morph and give you more strength. All you must do is call out to me and I will be there to help you. But you must not misuse the power that I am giving you. Call on me only when necessary. On to the next piece of business though. I must teach you how to use my powers for when you are in battle. I shall show you only once and you will be left with that information. Make sure you take it in and remember it."

*Tenkai watched as Oni then reached his hand out and the zanpaktou materialized in his hand. However the zanpaktou that materialized was not that of the sealed version that Tenkai carried but the version of the zanpaktou when released into shikai. It was as black as night and the blade was aflame. Tenkai stood on guard not sure what Oni would do. Whenever someone brandished a blade near him he usually got attacked and he wasn't looking to be attacked with a weapon like that.*

"Pay careful attention as I show you how to use my powers. First of all, this is the form I take when released into shikai. It allows a portion of my total power to be released and utilized by you. Aside from just allowing you to become stronger there are techniques that can be performed once I am released. In total their are four techniques that you can use in my shikai form. I shall show you each of them once, remember them and their names."

*Tenkai nodded and watched as Oni proceeded. He raised the blade up in the air as flames began to gather all around the blade. The gathered flames eventually made their way to the tip of the blade in the form of a small orb. Oni then turned off facing towards one of the endless fields of green. He then swung the blade downwards and the orb grew five times in size as it flew off from the blade into the distance. When the orb made contact off at the horizon it exploded in a display of powerful flames. Oni then turned back to Tenkai to explain.*

"That is called Oni Unari. It is the most basic of the techniques offered to you with my power. However, that does not make it any less useful. It is the quickest to be used in repeat and has considerable power behind it. Make sure you fully utilize all of my abilities. Now, let us move on."

*Oni held the blade out level at his right side as flames began to gather once again. He once again turned off facing towards the endless green. This time however the blade didn't gathered the flames at the tip but instead concentrated the flames all around the blade. Then bringing the blade up into the air he swung downwards with a horizontal strike and then once again with a vertical strike. From the two times he slashed a wave of flames shot forth from the blade and flew out towards the horizon.*

"That is called Yuuen Nami. It is what I would call the go to ability in a tight spot. It has good power behind it and it is a ranged technique. The fact that it fires two waves as well makes it more versatile if your opponent moves out of the way of the first wave. This way you can just slash the second wave at where they are going to be and surprise them. I suppose I should have let you figure that out for yourself though. That is if you would have managed to figure it out."

"Haha very funny, can we just move along with the demonstration."

"Hold your tongue or I might not help you at all. These are my powers after all. I don't have to help you unless I choose to."

"Fine, I'm sorry. May we please move on with your demonstration please."

"That's more like it now. We can move on to the next ability."

*Oni brought his arms out to his side while he turned to face the endless green going off into the distance. With his arms in position he began to do what looked almost like flexing keeping a stiff stance. While he did this a crimson aura began to appear around his body slowly. Eventually the aura materialized more so into what looked like flames. Once the aura had grown enough Oni shot both of his arms forward sending the aura flying out of his body in a large wave of flames. The flames struck the ground creating a small explosion and incinerating the earth that it struck.*

"That was called Makai's Doki. It is one of my favorite techniques. Though as you saw it doesn't have too much destructive capability it does contain a massive amount of heat. Anything that it touches will be severely burned if not incinerated. I would steer clear of the flames once they are fired. And now for the final technique."

*Oni brought his blade up into the air again and flames began to gather on it once more. Once a large amount of flames had gathered he came down forcefully with the sword plunging it into the ground. The excess flame exited from the blade and flowed down into the earth. For a few seconds it seemed like nothing was happening when suddenly in the distance a patch of ground began to glow a light red. With a second from that light appearing the ground had burst into flames and a flaming pillar shot up from the ground engulfing the area with blazing flames. Once the pillar had dispersed Oni turned back to face Tenkai. He dropped the zanpaktou from his hand and as it fell to the ground it slowly dissipated returning back to Oni.*

"That final technique was called Enkou Hashira. In essence it is a massive flame pillar that engulfs the enemy. They usually won't know its coming until its actually coming. You can use your mind to channel the flames beneath the ground as they track your opponents position. The flames then burst up from the ground in the form of a giant flaming pillar engulfing them in the fire and burning them to a singe. This technique is also one of my favorites. Anyway that is it for the lesson. Make sure to use these powers wisely and only call on me when you need help. Also while your not doing anything else you should work on training your shunpou."

"Umm, right, I'll make sure to do that. On a side note, what in the hell is shunpou?"

"Ehhhhhhh, your such a freaking idiot. Shunpou is a high speed technique that is used by shinigami. You use is by focusing your reiryoku into your legs and feet allowing you to propel yourself forward at high speeds. It will be difficult to use at first but as you use it more and more as well as become stronger you will find that it will become easier. Now that we have settled all of that it is time that our visit ended. I shall see you again soon, I can feel it in my bones."

*After that Tenkai's vision faded out again and he opened his eyes up back in the woods of rukongai. He stood up and grasped Oni Kokouo in his hand. He stood staring at it thinking about the power he had just gained. But he also began to think about what Oni had said. He needed to work on his shunpou. Lucky for him he had already learned how to focus reiryoku in certain parts of the body so he would probably be able to do that with ease. Tenkai placed Oni Kokouo into his sash and then began to fluctuate his reiryoku to begin practicing shunpou.*

Sentence Count: 114

*Tenkai began to release his reiryoku so he could manipulate it into focusing on his feet and legs. He then began to run around the surrounding area while bursting the reiryoku focused in his lower torso. Whenever he did this his speed increased greatly but then returned to normal. In order to keep the boost he knew he was going to have to keep a constant burst in his lower torso. Doing that though would cause him to burn his reiryoku quite quickly. Perhaps that was what Oni meant when he spoke of it. When he became stronger and over time as he used it, it would become less strenuous. Practice makes perfect Tenkai thought and began to rush around the surrounding area with a constant reiryoku burst. It was nowhere near as draining as he thought it was but perhaps that was because of the large amount of reiryoku he had. He continued to run and run dodging around trees and flying through the area. It was exhilarating the speeds that he was running at. He never thought that it was at all possible for a normal person to be able to move this fast. He then realized one little ironic detail. The people here were anything but normal. Supernatural powers seemed to be the theme of seireitei. He had found himself to be one of the lucky ones given a great potential of strength. Tenkai had got caught up in his thought and kept running about the area like a speed demon. He still hadn't been feeling the drain that should have been apparent at that point. His deep train of thought had kept him from feeling the effect of the drain and what not. Eventually when he came back to reality Tenkai was feeling an obvious drain to his reiryoku. He began to slow from the strain that the energy drain was giving him. Eventually he just stopped running all together and sat down to catch his breath. In total it had sapped him of roughly half of his reiryoku. He would need to rest and wait for it to recover. Tenkai sat himself down against the stump of what used to be a tree and clsoed his eyes to rest. While doing so he heard a voice from nearby.*

"So, you decided to take a break already. You really are pathetic you know that? You think your so strong and you can't even manage a few minutes of shunpou training."

*Tenkai shot up and began to look around the surrounding area. From around him he couldn't see anyone that would be nearby him. Yet the voice continued to speak to him. At this point Anyone who knew what was going on would call Tenkai a complete idiot for not figuring out who was talking to him.*

"So not only are you incompetent your still a complete idiot. You act like you don't know who's talking to you. Also its not always who is around you but who is with you. But once again it seems you are too stupid to comprehend anything of the sort."

*At that moment Tenkai figured out exactly who it was that was talking to him. Even though he had just spoken to Oni he had already forgotten about it. His mind was too set on his shunpou training to even remember about him. But once again it was Oni that was insulting him and calling him a moron.*

"Why do you feel that it is necessary to always call me an idiot. It would be nice if my zanpaktou wasn't so disrespectful to its owner."

"Owner?!?! You had best watch your tongue you fool. You may think you are strong but the power that I command compared to your own makes you look like an ant!! The next time you think to have an outburst like that again you had best not speak at all. My name is not Oni Kokouo for nothing!!"

"Jeez, didn't know you were so sentimental. Fine then we are partners or whatever you want to call it. It just annoys me that you treat my like I am inferior to you. If you treated me more like your partner then a servant then perhaps our relationship could go along better then it currently does."

"Hah, a king bring himself down to the level of a foot soldier. Never in a million years would I think of you as my equal. Maybe though when you become stronger we can talk about that."

"Fine then, I will become stronger and then I shall defeat you. I will make you see that I am just as strong as you if not stronger!!"

Sentence Count: 53

*With this burst of rage Tenkai focused a large portion of his emotion on Oni Kokouo. Adding to that his ability to perform shikai and his mass of reiryoku he was able to call out Oni Kokouo's manifestation. At first Tenkai was incredibly surprised to see him in his realm. He had thought that it was only possible to see Oni while in his inner realm. Tenkai then remembered something that Kenya had shown him. It was possible to call out ones manifestation when they had or were close to achieving bankai. Tenkai then realized what this had meant. Even though he had just began to communicate with his zanpaktou his immense reiryoku must have given him the abilities to move on to bankai. He was unsure of how he would actually attain bankai though. He had figured it might have something to do with Oni currently being there. The best way to find out would have to be to ask Oni.*

"Oni, I need to ask you a question. Try not to be condescending for a few seconds. I would like to ask you about bankai. I had learned a bit about it from the Captain Commander Kenya but I'm not entirely sure how to acquire it. It obviously has to do with you and your currently being here. But since i know nothing of it other then what I just told you I ask you now if you know."

"Hah, bankai. The notion that you even think you are ready to achieve bankai makes me laugh at your foolishness. I'll tell you how to achieve it. Prepare for the despair though that you will face when I tell you how to do it. The only way to achieve bankai is to bring your zanpaktou's manifestation into your world."

"Well, I already did that as is obvious. Wouldn't that mean that I have my bankai now?"

"If you would let me finish speaking before you interrupt me like some kind of uneducated fool I will tell you the rest. Once you have brought your zanpaktou's manifestation into your realm you must battle with them, and defeat them. Now you can go ahead and despair while I head back to my home. When you are truly prepared to face me then we will talk."

"Wait, so in order to achieve bankai, I have to defeat you? Is that right. Well in that case, lets go. I will show you here and now that I am just as strong as you are. Hell, I will defeat you and prove that I am stronger!!"

"Ahahahahahah!!! You are such a fool!!! But, I suppose if you really want me to beat you into submission then I shall do so right now. Come at me with everything you've got, your going to need it."

*Oni dropped into a simple fighting stance and waited for Tenkai to come at him. He made the 'bring it on' motion with his right hand as it was facing outwards towards Tenkai. Though Tenkai knew he was strong he knew his opponent was strong as well, most likely just as strong as he was. The fact that Oni was practically twice as tall as he was and much larger also made the situation much more difficult. Physically, Tenkai knew he stood no chance again Oni. He would have to use the entirety of his reiryoku to be able to compete with him. That was exactly what Tenkai began to do. He unleashed his reiryoku causing the golden aura to begin to roar around him. The air suddenly became thick with his reiatsu as the pressure being exerted by his reiryoku increased. Oni seemed a bit surprised at the amount of strength that Tenkai actually did possess. Even with his massive body and physical strength he could feel the weight of Tenkai's reiatsu. The reiryoku continued to soar higher and higher as well making the weighted feeling on the environment and his opponent increase. Eventually Tenkai capped out his reiryoku causing the reiatsu to stop rising. The golden aura of Tenkai's reiatsu roared around him showing the monstrous reiryoku that he possessed. Oni began to compensate for the strength of Tenkai's reiryoku by increasing his own reiryoku. A blackish red aura began to fluctuate around him as he increased his own reiryoku. The weight he had felt from Tenkai's reiatsu began to fade away as he was increasing his own. Eventually Oni capped out his own reiryoku as well. It stopped just shy of where Tenkai's was but was barely enough of a difference to place the fight in Tenkai's favor. The blackish red reiatsu that appeared around Tenkai had an almost evil sense from it. It bother Tenkai enough to the point where he got a shiver down his spine. What else could be expected though from a zanpaktou named Oni Kokouo. Tenkai shook off any emotion he had at the moment and charged into battle against his opponent. Oni came barreling in at Tenkai as well with a punch coming down at his much smaller target. Tenkai had his blade coming up to intercept the strike. The two clashed and a blast of energy surged outwards from the strength of their reiryoku's clashing.*

Sentence Count: 63

*As the energy surged outwards nearby trees splintered and the ground below them cracked and cratered. These two genuinely powerful opponents were fighting with everything they had. Tenkai knew he was at a disadvantage since Oni was much taller then he was. The fact that he was taller wasn't the problem though, it was the leverage he got with that. Tenkai needed to find some way that he could manage to gain an advantage. He came up with an idea that very well could work. It was his much smaller size in comparison to Oni that could give him a victory. His smaller size made him harder for Oni to hit not to mention more agile. He could dance around Oni while staying close in making it hard for him to actually counter. Once again though a problem was presented. Oni's skin was as hard as steel making it incredibly hard for Tenkai to penetrated. Whenever he managed to land a blow it only managed to leave a small shallow cut on his body. At this rate he though he would never manage to defeat him. He needed to think of a way to cause more damage to his opponent before he himself was defeated.*

"I told you that you weren't ready to face me! The stupid fool that you are just can't listen to sound advice though. If I have to beat the sense into you then I shall do that. It's either that or you just give up. There is no way that you will be able to pierce my skin. It rivals that of an espada's hierro so your blade will find it extremely difficult to cut it."

"Just shut up!! I don't care what you have to say, I won't let you win this fight!! If your so damn confident in your abilities then why don't you just fight!!"

*Tenkai was letting his anger get control of him. He tried to calm himself so he could keep his wits about him in battle. He didn't need to go into a blind rage in the middle of a battle that he was already on the losing side of. He began to address the problem as he was ducking and countering strikes. If his opponents skin was as hard as that of an espada's hierro then he would just need a stronger attack. Tenkai began to try and focus his reiryoku into his blade to power up his strikes. If he needed to strengthen his strikes and sharpen his blade then that was what he would do. He brought his blade up and came down hard on Oni with a horizontal strike aimed at Oni's lower chest and midsection. Oni was barely fazed at the fact that Tenkai was attacking having been confident in his iron skin. Unfortunately for him Tenkai's plan was successful in harming his opponent. Tenkai's blade dug into Oni's skin with a great deal of resistance but nonetheless cut him. The blade ripped down through his lower chest and midsection leaving a large gash that bled profusely. Tenkai was overjoyed that he now had the right weapon to use against Oni's iron skin. To this Oni responded by focusing his own reiryoku in the areas that were about to be struck. This would harden his own skin for a small portion of time to defend against Tenkai's strikes. The battle went on like this for a while between defending and attacking one another. Both were taking injuries with Oni's being the worse of the two. The fact all he could do was inflict blunt force onto Tenkai left him lacking in actually drawing blood and weakening his opponent. In the mean time Tenkai was ripping through Oni's defense with his reiryoku enhanced blade.*

"So what was that about your iron skin? It seems it's not all that it was cracked up to be. All you need to have is a sharp blade and enough power to back it up and your iron skin is nothing to be afraid of. Heading back to a prior topic I think you should be the one thinking about submitting at this point. Those injuries are beginning to rack up. You've had to have lost a few pints of blood by now as well. I don't mind beating on you a bit more though if that's what you want."

"I would never in my wildest dreams think of surrendering to you!! You are a simply a weak miserable commoner!! A person of noble birth and royalty would never bow down to someone like you. The only way I will ever be considered an equal to you is if you beat me into submission and then beat me some more. I will never let you be my equal!!"

"Fine, suit yourself. Like you said I'll just have to beat you into submission. Beating you some more after that will just have to be a bonus."

*Tenkai then came flying forward at Oni coming in low with an upwards vertical strike. The blade ripped up across Oni's left leg and up into his midsection. It caused him to fall to one knee bringing his face down closer to Tenkai's. The two stared at each other with a fire burning in their eyes. Neither one was going to back down and the only way one of them would win is if the other was a bloody pulp. That concept though both of them seemed to enjoy.*

Sentence Count: 64

*The two continued to clash endlessly destroying their bodies with blow after blow. Tenkai could tell he had more then a dozen broken or fractured bones throughout his body. He figured he had a concussion as well seeing as he got dizzy on the occasion. All of this was making it much harder for him to fight and actually manage to control his reiryoku but he managed his best. Oni wasn't doing any better then he was either at this point. He was bleeding for multiple wounds most of which were quite deep. He was at a major disadvantage since his body was his weapon. The fact that Tenkai could now pierce through his skin made it that much more difficult for him in the long run. How could he manage to attack his opponent if every attack meant getting injured as well. The one good thing that came out of it though was it seemed Tenkai had become slower. He wasn't able to coordinate his moves as well as he would have to like to be able to due to his concussion. He occasionally stumbled by running but quickly recovered and moved back into the groove of things. Though a split second was all Oni really needed to launch an attack. The next time Tenkai had stumbled Oni came down on him hard with his fist. Tenkai rolled off to the side after falling and swinging his zanpaktou into the air. With his dizziness also came a bit of a seeing problem. It through off his vision causing him to see double for a few moments. He swung his blade at what he now saw as the Oni twins trying to strike the incoming attack. He managed to land a glancing blow on the side of Oni's fist cutting open a large portion of his palm and backhand. It though was not enough to manage to stop the attack. The fist landed with great force right into the center of Tenkai's chest causing him to lose his breath and almost have his eyeballs pop out of his head. Once the fist was removed from his chest Tenkai quickly rolled over before Oni had the chance for a second attack. Getting up as fast as he could Tenkai made his way off to the side into the forest to try and lose Oni for a bit. That last hit had taken its toll having had broken at least three of Tenkai's ribs not to mention cracking at least another two. He was hurting and he knew he needed to end this fast. He began to pool all of his reiryoku together and make it flow into his blade. He wanted to land one strike with enough power to be able to finish this fight in an instance. Once he was prepared he came out charging at Oni with his blade leveled to his right side. Oni brought his fist back up and came down to punch Tenkai in the chest once again. Tenkai ducked off to the side narrowly avoiding taking a crippling blow from Oni's powerful attack. Continuing his charge forward Tenkai then leapt upwards towards Oni with his blade ready to strike. The blade cut up through Oni's abdomen and then up through his chest eventually leading out through his right shoulder. Blood shot out from the wound in great amount after the blade had struck. Tenkai managed to land an incredibly deep blow with his attack but was also very drained from it. The mass use and control of that much reiryoku wasn't something he had practiced before and was not fully prepared to use it. But regardless Tenkai had managed to defeat Oni as he was in no condition to keep fighting.*

"Oni, you have lost. Your wounds are too deep to continue fighting like this. Just stop and go back into the inner world and rest. You fought valiantly but you were defeated. I told you that I would prove that I was just as strong as you are. Neither one of us is superior to the other, we are partners, equals. Why can't you see that."

"I have never been defeated....ever. I am the king of the demons, how could I lose. My strength is unparalleled, my authority absolute. Yet you, a simple commoner has managed to do that which I thought was impossible. Perhaps there is more to you then I had originally thought. You may not just be the simple minded shinigami that I had through you were. Maybe we could indeed be, partners. For now I shall go rest, my wounds need tending. As per the agreement in the fight, my power is available to you when needed. You have unlocked the final release to my power, bankai. You may call me out as Kagayakashii Oni Kokouo. When you need me I will guide you through the new powers available to you. Now I shall go to rest. Until we meet again, partner."

*Oni then slowly began to dissipate returning back into the zanpaktou and brought back to the inner world. He would rest there until his wounds were fully healed and was ready to do battle again. In the mean time though Tenkai was exhausted and could use a good nights sleep. He had managed to accomplish that which most shinigami can't do in a life time in a single week. This made him think ever more deeply about his role in the world and why this great power was given to him. Only time would tell. Walking off out of the forest Tenkai headed off back to seireitei and to his squad barracks. He was ready for his rest.*

Sentence Count: 65