What does it mean to be a Shinigami?
Some protect others. Others protect themselves. The reasons for becoming a Shinigami differ from soul to soul. Kururu Nagahiro was someone that admitted to giving their very self to the Third Division – seeking to create soldiers from the souls that wandered through the very entrance in order to become Shinigami. She dedicated her time and abilities to train and hone others selflessly – she was indeed a model for others to follow. Her efforts dedicated to the Third Division did not go unnoticed and her years of servitude were something that separated her from a number of other people. Being such an elder soul, she was efficient in her own rite, and she did what she could as time passed on. She, indeed, was a boon to a number of souls and people alike, blossoming even the works of Asahi Kajiyashiki: The Clown of the Third Division. Kururu Nagahiro was truly a heroine, doing what she could for who she could. And that in itself was worth more than words itself.
Who knew the true reason for the switch in positions other than Honoka Oki? She was the one who set the positions the way they were. Even if she had told something to someone in confidence, it didn’t mean that it was the truth. It was understandable why Kururu would seek to claim her seat back in the very least – it was something that was taken from her and simply given to someone else. Despite her centuries of efforts honing, training, and giving, nothing was given to her. Instead, what she had was simply taken away.
Zhou was not fighting an ordinary soul. In fact, he was fighting against someone that had lived more than triple his lifespan. Someone filled with wisdom and knowledge and was beloved amongst the number of students that roamed the academy. Kururu, to say the least, was someone that had made a difference and was a powerful soul at that. She was legendary. In fact, this being literally had reached the honorary levels of obtaining a Bankai. She was not the same as the mere cannon fodder that loitered through the divisions. Kururu Nagahiro was someone that rose to the occasion with her time and efforts.
But where was she…
During the Second Division Coup?
During the Sixth Division Kuchiki incident?
During the Togabito Incident?
In times of peril that created the legends of today, she was nowhere to be found.
Even when the students were being accosted by the 12th Division with different antics, she wasn’t there to assist or help in the slightest. Despite how much she gave, in short, her only accomplishments derived from training others rather than honing herself.
This is why Zhou took it upon himself to show the fellow members of the school why Kururu Nagahiro was demoted, stripped from her place, and placed lower than a number of the souls that were currently in the Third Division.
Zhou Fēng was bred and born for the Second Division. The entirety of his being was meant for killing, silencing, torturing, and handling out missions as needed to be done. He had learned the merits of fighting, honing, and training his body to become the weapon he was today. There was no dispute about this fact – Zhou continuously grew, and even at the young age he was, he was one not to be trifled with, or at the very least underestimated. In this instance, rather than Kururu using the highest level of her abilities, instead of watching and studying Zhou in order to grow stronger to one day challenge him, instead of trying to see why she was replaced rather than a means of force, Kururu took it upon herself to render Zhou ”...powerless to stop what is about to occur.”
Kururu’s body was trained and honed in order to be durable, but even with that being said, the reishi that one holds within their body can only be trained so much. Even Jinnosuke Uekū was taken out by a simple, yet powerfully constructed Bala. Despite how strong his bones were from being broken and reformed over and over and over again, he too was subjected to being utterly defeated … No… Utterly killed due to power.
Limitations
If Kururu kept her wits about her, she would have not underestimated Zhou in the slightest, and would have fought him at her full capacity. She would have understood that Zhou, someone who would potentially be trained in the arts of assassination, torture, and reconnaissance would do his part in discovering every tid bit of information about a given soul. Kururu had made a name for herself within the Third Division, who she was, how she fought, how her body was constructed, how strong she was, was all documented in some form of degree. Whether through word of mouth, through rumors, and / or even studying the styles of whom she had taught was enough to ascertain a plethora of information about her.
In essence, with this being said, Kururu was an open book and again, Zhou was a reader. Zhou was well-versed in Hakuda to the point where he created his own form to literally strike through a given thing. The organs, muscles, and tissue within her body could only be honed so much, but even then, they were still subjected to the carnage that would inevitably occur. Today was the day that a sliver of Zhou’s abilities would be showcased for those capable of viewing to see.
Kururu’s head did not move, just as it was intended not to. What she saw was that hand grow closer and closer to her face. As she used her water-like pressure that acted as its own barrier for her face, yet still having enough power for “Zhou to hit her”, she would literally feel nothing coming into contact with her face in the slightest. Instead, it was more like a breeze blowing against those silver locks of hers.
Instead, Kururu was bestowed hits to her spine, both of her knees, her elbows, both of her temples. The Shunpo technique he utilized, which were known as Speed Clones, literally were afterimages of what he had already done. These nine strikes while Zhou’s arms and legs were reinforced with his Reiryoku sent these ineffable waves of vibrations through her very body upon connecting with each of these places. With speed, physical power, and spiritual power, he was able to initially push past her flesh, sending these powerful waves with full impact through her arms, through her legs, through her torso and through her head. It was akin to her body suffering an earthquake, with the immense vibrations that were already sent through her body to bounce off of one another. It could have been different if it were one strike, but alas, nine different strikes hit her body…
Nine strikes?
The listed strikes were that of some of the weakest parts of the body, but in truth, the strikes, carefully timed when her muscles were weakened, were that of her Hakusui and her Saketsu in that order. With Zhou weakening her body to that degree, forcing these waves of catastrophic vibrations that only a true master practitioner could even dream of pulling off, she would be in-turn left defenseless to the true nature of his attack.
Zhou was currently behind her. Utilizing his speed, strength, and spiritual power from the built up momentum he had, he had driven both of his hands into those sacred locations – his hands through her body.
With both of his hands covered in the previous Third Seat’s blood. He had ripped them out of her, swiftly returning in front of her as she could literally see those cold silver orbs glancing at the Amazonian woman… that no longer seemed all that tall.
The issue here was that Kururu had reacted to, tried to grab what was literally a speed clone... an afterimage. Zhou’s true location was, indeed, behind her. Even with her attempting to cast Byakurai she’d have to move her arm in order to even attempt to hit him. Zhou didn’t give her time to afford that in the slightest. Zhou was literally in close proximity to her to the extent of being centimeters from her face – with equidistant “clones” of that distance. This would mean that his actions had definitively already occurred before she had even the chance to summon the reiryoku to utilize the spell. The instantaneous and fluid motions of his style and technique bore nor flaw. They were not televised. Each and every action was something that would have, indeed, led to this outcome in its absolution due to the lack of proper procedures to prevent such. She had utilized Reiatsu as Zhou had pushed forth his spiritual pressure and conjuring his reiryoku within his body to perform such feats, increasing his power and ability to pull such an instance off.
Kururu was faced with the muscles in her arms being torn asunder, her bones in her arms shattered and broken, her knees being utterly decimated, cracked and shattered as the muscles and her legs were faced with the same degree of punishment as her arms. Her spine was cracked, the vibration sent literally through the entire length of it – in layman terms,
