[BSD-RP] Soul Society: Southeast Seireitei

[Zhou_Feng]

With ingenuity came compromise, the Clown simply needed to do all he could in order to withstand the singular assault Zhou formed towards him. The singular attack that was aimed towards the individual’s chin. Taking time and precision to form the powerful, but bright ball of Kidō would have been too slow for most people, especially just forming the ball without the incantation. Zhou was currently at point blank range, and for some reason, the shorter Shinigami attempted to not only utter the incantation, but form the blue ball as well. This was nothing short of quick thinking, opting to naturally react with what was in one’s toolkit in order to preserve them for even slightly longer within a fight. Within such a close period, close succession of one another, the Clown attempted to not only use one, but two Kidō techniques with this one barely using any sort of time to actually charge – instead, it was something second nature to Asahi it seemed.

However the intent, the attempt of the creation of the blue ball provided Zhou with an ample amount of time to do what he needed to do. Asahi didn’t move in the slightest when generating the ball, all of his actions would have been done after Zhou’s potential movement. With Asahi not moving an inch, Zhou capitalized on the lack of the Clown’s movements and the Clown’s heavy reliance on Kidō in order to continue his attack without any sort of hindrance to his form, his stature, and without holding anything back. Instead of aiming for his chin, though, Zhou was easily able to alter his arm’s path in case there were any movements from Asahi, even slightly (just as stated before). With him being able to adjust if Asahi moved, the same could have easily applied to the generation of another technique in order for defensive maneuvers.
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"SE-​

No matter how swift one’s tongue was, no matter how much determination one had, there was no way one would have been able to simplistically utter an incantation and form a ball with such proximity without set back, especially with someone whom attack was admittedly faster than a blink of an eye. Zhou wasn’t an idiot; Asahi taught Kidō. There was no way Asahi was going to say anything else, the odds were an incantation. Not only did the spell have to be said while Zhou was striking, again, Zhou was already under Asahi when golden destruction rained down upon the afterimage. Whatever felt from Asahi during this time, whether it had been a breeze or the slight alternate path that the male’s scarf flew, the time to speak an incantation into existence and form into existence took time – and this time Asahi didn’t have. This wasn’t because of lack of ability, again, it was because of the timing Zhou had made to close the distance. With the taller Shinigami in such proximity, interrupting the incantation was child’s play. Forming any sort of technique took time. In truth, Asahi probably would have been better off conjuring his reiryoku and simply performing this attack rather than wasting time with an incantation – the same instance with his previous attack. With a Shinigami that moved quicker than the very eyes could follow, uttering words were just as powerful as they were weak. By the time the male had uttered the first part of the incantation, the very first syllable expelling from Asahi’s mouth, Zhou’s hand flattened, moving skillfully to shoot into the male’s larynx to hinder him from saying absolutely anything else, striking by the time Asahi’s tongue pressed against the roof of his tongue to form the “K” sound. The destructive vibrations that Zhou’s Wave Kata art held were inevitably sent through Asahi’s neck. Once connected, Asahi would be forced to deal with excruciating pain and the inability to say anything else. Upon connection, the vibrations were sent throughout Asahi’s neck and ripping, shredding, and practically terminating Asahi’s vocal cords. If by some miracle Asahi was able to finish the incantation, that would have been his last. Zhou's dexterous hand showed the ability to slide underneath the conjured ball to force into Asahi's neck. Zhou’s body didn’t move, not even in the slightest from his newfound position, waiting to see just how Asahi would recover from such an attack that would take a majority of his toolkit away from him – leaving him only with Zanjutsu and Hakuda.

 

[Vesper]

The attempted word of Asahi was cut short by the redirected strike of Zhou, a consequence of his choice of countermeasure. The blow brought with it the immediate silencing of his speech and a sharp pain overtaking his throat. He could taste his own blood pooling within his maw as a result. Despite this debilitating scenario, he still continued to curve his lips into an expression of enjoyment. The Fifth Seat leaned backwards from the point of impact and snapped his arms inward with his blade in hand, closing that circle he had made between the trinity, upon his opponent's outstretched limb. The male gave but one quick embrace that was fueled with every ounce of his strength. An expression of elation painted on his face with more vibrance than the Reiatsu he formerly had put out.

"W O N D E R F U L!!!!"

The Clown thought to himself as he arched back, his blackened blood seeping from between his visible teeth. When the steel of his Zanpakuto was hammered against the extended appendage it left a resounding...

SNAP

The bones connecting Zhou's arm at the elbow had buckled under the constricting hold of Asahi, bolstered by the blunt side of his weapon. The complete shattering of the limb was timed with him dropping his non-primary hand to level with the other male. Wind swirled before the palm, warping and then exploding into a forceful vortex. The unrelenting gales blew back the now partially crippled Zhou and allowed for Asahi to gain a great distance between them. The tornado spanned wide enough and carried with it enough force to not only connect with Feng but to make sure he had been displaced significantly.

The starry-eyed Shinigami held his blade at his side feeling it jitter a bit within his grasp. He spit the ichor that swelled in his mouth outward towards his side as he readied his next course of action. The substance met with the ground, staining it with its inky color. Asahi nestled his thumb underneath his scarf and closed his grip upon it. He pressed that burrowing digit against his throat and held it in place, reinforcing the flow of his spiritual energy throughout his body. Simultaneously a rosy light bond itself to Minaoshi, consuming the entirety of its frame. The Clown swiped the weapon from the ground, upwards to the heavens. A rush of his concentrated Reiatsu ravaged the path designated by the vertical slash within an instant. The pink mass was locked onto Zhou from the moment of its conception. It destroyed the terrain as it traveled and burst into a brilliant flash of that same light upon connecting with its mark.

Asahi lowered his weapon back down after the attack's release, tightening his grasp as it shuddered within his hold again. His gaze was upon the point of impact of his Kaladanda technique but it was not where his focus was. He instead was mentally clasped onto something else entirely.

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[Zhou_Feng]

Zhou felt his hand connect with Asahi’s neck, and due to this, Zhou knew that this training session was taking a turn for the worse. Despite full acknowledgement of this, Asahi didn’t back down – not even slightly. Instead, there was a painted face of masochistic satisfaction that would have shook most to the core. Did his attack not work? Impossible. There was no way that his Wave Kata could have been countered at such a point blank range, especially with a successful strike. In truth, despite what Zhou originally aimed to do, which would have potentially killed the Shinigami on impact, this measure seemed a lot more acceptable. Zhou had honed his body to a degree that being a weapon was second nature. His overall killing instinct was sharpened, and lethality came just as naturally as breathing. With Zhou being a torture expert, he knew that the resounding pain that radiated through Asahi’s neck was more than just a blow to his overall abilities. The blow to Asahi’s neck also delivered a substantial amount of pain that most would surrender to, but alas, this was not Asahi’s story.

Zhou kept his same apathetic expression, as if he had done something that he’d done a thousand times before. There was not even a hint of worry, fear, compassion, or care. Despite Zhou’s lack of facial expressions, Zhou kept an acute sense of his surroundings visually, audibly, and spiritually. With Zhou’s sharp peripheral vision, he could see the motions of the Clown’s arm moving, practically telegraphing his next attack. The movement was fluid, as clear as day through Zhou’s peripheral vision, and with this clarity, the male’s left arm that was currently extended upwards used another instance of his technique that had rendered the male mute.

While Asahi arched himself backwards, still trying to give himself even some semblance of distance, while bringing the steel of his Zanpakutō downwards, Zhou was easily able to remediate this with pushing that same left arm out, almost like a magnet, forcing it towards and inevitably against Asahi’s wrist in order to defend himself against the attack made by Asahi. Although it was a defensive maneuver, the aspects of Wave Kata were not halted. Using Asahi’s momentum, the momentum that was forced downwards with seemingly enough force to attempt to shatter the bones in Zhou’s arm, Zhou was able to increase the usefulness of the defensive maneuver and practically make it an offensive one. The long arm that was currently still outstretched moved at the perfect degree, the perfect angle, in order to counteract any sort of adjustments made on Asahi’s part. There was no sort of art to Asahi’s movements – the direct attack was akin to something a wild animal did in order to escape their predator. In direct contrast, Zhou’s movement wasn’t televised; it was as if Zhou had moved his arm only when he needed to, timing the connection with ease – displaying what it meant to be a Hakuda master. With minimizing his own actions, the chance that Asahi would have been able to predict Zhou’s counteraction would have been disgustingly slim, especially with Asahi sending that much force towards Zhou’s arm. Instead of Asahi’s intention to connect his blade against Zhou’s skin, Zhou’s arm moved underneath the hand, an easy adjustment. The result of this connection were the bones within Asahi’s wrist being completely and utterly shattered with an intense, distorted wave felt throughout Asahi’s hand. The violent torrent of vibrations were so intense that in most case scenarios, it caused the grip of whatever was within one’s hand to be loosened. In this case, Asahi letting go of his Zanpakutō could go either way. This was due to the clown’s potential vice-like grip onto the blade in order to increase the impact against Zhou’s arm, giving Asahi a slight edge on being able to keep hold of his most valuable weapon.

With Asahi arching back though, after this connection, Zhou moved forward, closing the distance just as fast as Asahi created it. Zhou’s feet had adjusted slightly on the invisible platform he created, moving just as swiftly and naturally as his arm did. Zhou made sure that Asahi didn’t have the chance to utilize his legs against the taller Shinigami by making sure there was as little space as possible for that sort of movement. Zhou wasn’t sure what Asahi planned next, but it was time for him to go on the offensive. With his own sword still being clutched with his other hand and his other arm still connected with Asahi’s, Zhou’s right arm moved with such a swift, and aggressive manner. Asahi’s previous form held his arm upwards (previously stated with his arm having to go downwards to be in Zhou’s direction in the previous post). Zhou’s arm, bearing his sabre shaped weapon, shot in an upwards, left diagonal motion. Zhou aimed to slice underneath the Shinigami’s shoulder, slicing through Asahi’s skin with enough force and impact to cleave the male’s arm and shoulder right off in that instant.

With this motion, Asahi couldn’t solely push himself backwards due to Zhou closing that distance as well, going to the right would have meant connection with the blade, and due to the both of them having acute Hohō abilities, any sort of adjustments would have left Zhou adjusting to that as well. Part of this meant if Asahi decided to travel left, so would Zhou. There were few options and the lack of flaw in Zhou’s form exemplified just what had been through during his time as a Shinigami. With this attack being nearly simultaneous as his defense, there was very little room to even blink twice. In essence, this would leave very little room for responding to such lethality. Zhou’s movements were timed so that if the Kidō was still to be concocted and attempted to be performed despite Zhou’s counter, Zhou’s blade still aimed to sever the arm, due to Asahi’s need to point the arm, and send the powerful torrent of wind towards the taller shinigami. Being able to adjust his arm with Zhou’s movements and counter was something that seemed highly unlikely – practically impossible. Zhou looked towards Asahi with that same expressionless look, as his mind had calculated the possibilities of the match and analyzed what Asahi’s next steps were. As someone who displayed absolute lack of emotions, it seemed like he had a complete understanding of a soul’s body, mind, and spiritual limitations.

 

[Vesper]

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Zhou had made his attempt to counter Asahi's embrace with a reversal of momentum, but it did not meet with the Clown's wrist. Instead the Fifth Seat had broken the intended path by moving his arms upward at a blindingly fast pace, his hands curving themselves forward ever so slightly in the motion. His fingers had aligned with Zhou without any indication of that intent, cloaked within his evasive action, appearing as a natural occurrence born from his movement. This vertical adjustment came with such a breakneck speed that it'd almost appear as nothing but a blur to those with an untrained eye. His maneuver brought with it two additional factors. The first of which was that the arms that were the man's primary offensive tool thus far had uncontrollably snapped backwards behind his back, assuming a position as if they were bond by an spectral rope. It mattered not how much the man struggled against the encroaching bind for it's pressure was cemented by Asahi's mastery of the utilized art. Any effort to break from it would take more time than he had within that moment, especially with what followed. As Asahi's figure had dispersed from where he had been, vanishing as if he had never been there in the first place, six rods of the golden light collided with Zhou's body in what transpired so quickly that its connection came within the same instant as Sai.

The first spell alone robbed him of the usage of his arms, but Asahi made sure that it was not the only thing taken from him. The casting of Rikujōkōrō caused the same effect but applied to the entirety of the body, all limbs practically frozen in time. Asahi knew that even someone of Feng's speed would not be able to handle these two spells that came without a signal nor incantation. The first of which unavoidable once thrown out, the latter of which had proven to work even with it's name spoken upon a target held at blade point by a past user of it. The luxury of being able to abandon words aided in concealed and swift usage, though with reduced strength. Although the spells both took a hit to their potency from the absences in incantations or utterances of their names, they still would prove more than effective in allowing for Asahi to not only gain distance but to prepare his next move.

The Clown gained his distance as planned, albeit without a more permanent incapacitation of Zhou given the thwarting of his limb break. The reduced efficiency of the spells would only buy him a few more seconds beyond what he had already used, so he had to be smart with his time. He slipped his hand within the bottom of his scarf and left it within while he aimed his right hand towards the constricted Fourth Seat. He raised his index and middle finger from his weapon, aiming them at him. Their shape became coated with an azure-white illumination and just as quickly as they were brought to light a condensed beam of lightning shot forward aimed for his superior's left leg. He intended to rob the man of any advantage he may have without risking lethality. The effects of Sai and Rikujōkōrō still holding Zhou hostage, the spell pierced through his knee as if it was a knife cleaving through heated butter. Flesh, nerves, bone, all of which subjected to Asahi's precise aim. The damage to that limb at such a point robbed him of any real use of the appendage. If he intended to persist, his Hohō's effectiveness would likely be cut in half in its effectiveness.

Asahi brought his weapon to his shoulder and rested it against it after completing the spell. He did not remove his other hand from beneath his neck garb, however, instead leaving it there with his grasp around his own throat. The contact brought with it pain but not something that he was remotely bothered by. The concept didn't process the same in his mind after his upbringing, if anything it just served as an alarm system. Just to alert him that something was wrong and needed his attention, but the actual discouragement usually brought on by such a sensation was gone. Though by a precise direction of his Reiryoku to the contact point he'd soon enough feel a relief from the sting.

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[Zhou_Feng]

Zhou looked towards the Shinigami that was around one and a half feet away from him and about two feet higher than him – this being due to the difference in reishi plates generated by the two. Looking towards the Clown, there was a clever trick that this one held, something that most wouldn’t have seen coming – Zhou included. Upon lifting his Zanpakutō, Zhou soon felt himself halt. He looked down at his arms apathetically, him feeling them beginning to twist and contort around his back. Zhou had genuinely thought he would have been able to halt everything based on visual and reiatsu cues alone. Regardless, with being at point blank range with a user of a technique with that caliber, Zhou literally was forced to push himself back, making just as much distance as Asahi made. His very form turned into that of a flicker, literally seeming to remove itself from existence. By the time he reached around 20 meters from Asahi, he had already broken the lower level Kidō on his own. Zhou was definitely accustomed to this technique being used with a visual cue of fingers. In this instance, there was none. Even if so, completely avoiding this technique was something that he just couldn’t do, unfortunately.

The golden beams of light shot towards Zhou though, similar to the first one, would have been unsuccessful as his body faded from his original location right after being struck by Sai. Even with how fast the Kidō had been generated, Zhou was aware of Asahi’s intentions to hinder his movement, and with him being in such a vulnerable position – his arms forcibly pushed behind his back, Zhou made sure that he flashed from his original point, making sure to avoid those golden beams that shot towards him. Without any sort of hesitation, Zhou immediately located Asahi’s location, and if the great lighting still aimed towards him with his adjustment of his position, Zhou literally would fade again, having more than enough time to shunpo from his current location in order to make more distance from Asahi. Being a Shunpo master, Zhou was easily able to avoid such mannerisms, and with the Clown’s reiatsu being spiked, Zhou was literally able to tell where the male was – and avoiding attacks of that nature was completely doable.

Zhou swiftly came to realize his dislike for Kidō as these techniques blew off one after the other, leaving him little time to even gain his bearings. At first, Zhou had been the predator, seeking to render his opponent useless. Now, Asahi was able to push Zhou back not once, but potentially twice. And here, Zhou realized that maybe he was pushing the envelope a bit too much. This was supposed to be a training session, and here he was attempting to carve up someone within his division with techniques that he had already mastered. He was supposed to be growing stronger, not seeking victory. With this realization, Zhou exhaled before his own reiatsu began to spike.

“Open, Shujin Kagi.”

With this, his Zanpakutō that was currently in the shape of a sabre soon manifested into that of a spear, instantaneously. The pole itself was taller than Asahi alone as the blade glimmered underneath the light from the radiating sun. Facing Asahi at such an immense distance, Asahi was physically able to see the navy blue aura surrounding Zhou, bearing gold outlines due to the manifestation of his reiatsu. With this, the male didn’t even run. Instead, Zhou slowly began to close the distance to Asahi by simply walking his direction, simply regal in his mannerisms as the pole pressed against his back, inbetween his arm, still grasped within that same hand.

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