An: Hello again my good viewers, I give you, another chapter to my humble work. I hope you like it!
Diclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
x/ - Squad 13 barracks - Captain Ukitakes office - /x
"Katokaari there is a hollow in the north rukongai district 50 *cough* you should be able to take care of it." Captain Ukitake said.
"Yes Captain, but you should rest. It doesn't sound too good with the coughs." Katokaari said, sounding concerned.
"Don't worry about me. I will be sending Lieutenant Shiba with you. He's going to be your supervisor during the mission." Captain Ukitake said with a smile, as he called in Kaien Shiba.
"Yes Captain?" Kaien said as he appeared in the office.
"I will put you as the supervisor for Katokaari here, I'm assigning him to his first mission as a soul reaper of the Court Guards." Captain Ukitake said.
"Another newbie? Alright, I'll be his supervisor." Kaien said.
"Now, don't take him lightly, Kaien. He just became a soul reaper and he's already learned Shikai." Captain Ukitake explained.
"Actually, Captain, I learned shikai a year ago…." Katokaari explained matter-of-factly.
"You sure are a fast learner. Alright, Captain, we're ready to leave. Just tell of when." Kaien said.
"Leave immediately." Captain Ukitake said.
"Yes Captain." Katokaari and Kaien said in unison.
x/ - On the way to north rukongai district 50 - /x
On the way to the north rukongai district 50, Kaien and Katokaari are traveling by using shunpo all the way. Kaien was surprised by Katokaaris speed. Never in his life has he ever seen a newbie soul reaper move so fast.
"You're pretty quick on your feet, aye, Katokaari?" Kaien joked.
"I could say the same to you, Lieutenant," Katokaari said back. "there is one thing I would like to ask you."
"What is it?" Kaien asked of Katokaari.
"After the mission, I would like to challenge you to a spar, one without wooden swords, a spar using our zanpaktou." Katokaari said.
"Hm, sound interesting, I must say, I'm intrigued of what you can do. I accept." Kain said.
"Alright, after the mission, the barracks' training grounds." Katokaari declared.
x/ - North Rukongai District 50 - /x
Arriving at the site of the mission, Katokaari and Kaien could sense multiple hollows instead of one. Where the mission said that there was only one hollow, there were a dozen of them.
"Looks like Captain was wrong when he said there was only one. Guess we'll have to beat 'em to a pulp." Kaien said confidently.
Without giving a sign, Katokaari dashed to the nearest hollow and slashed it to pieces. Kaien just watched amazed, at how fast his subordinate could kill the hollow, and it only took a second before Katokaari started his slaughtering of hollows.
Kaien just watched Katokaari shunpoing around the hollows slashing them one after another, without breaking a sweat. When it seemed like Katokaari was going to get hit by a hollow, he disappeared and reappeared with his sword in it's head. It only took a minute before all the hollows were eliminated.
Kaien was in awe, never did he ever think that a new soul reaper would ever be able to defeat a dozen hollows in only a minute. It was unreal. Maybe he should look forward to the spar, finally figuring out how strong this Katokaari, is.
x/ - Later at the training ground - /x
After reporting to Captain Ukitake, what happened at the mission, the two went back outside to the training grounds to begin their spar.
"Lieutenant Kaien Shiba, the prodigy of the Shiba. I must say, it's an honor to finally get my chance to spar with you." Katokaari said bowing.
"Such respect, I must say Katokaari, the pleasure is all mine. Now draw your sword and show me the extent of your power!" Kaien yelled.
Doing as he was told, Katokaari drew his sword and charged at Kaien with his shunpo, catching Kaien off guard with his speed. Swinging his sword, in an overhead strike, it was blocked by Kaiens zanpaktou. Vanishing in a shunpo Katokaari reappeared behind Kaien going for a stab.
Expecting it, Kaien evaded the attack by jumping up into the air. "That was a scary attack you used there. You must have come prepared to kill me, but it's going to take more than just a few surprises of your speed." Kaien said with a confident smirk plastered on his face.
"I believe that if you don't come prepared to kill, you'll die," Katokaari answered. "Now activate your shikai, the warm up is over."
"If it's my shikai you want, it's my shikai you'll get! Surge, Nejibana!" Kaien commanded. There was a surge of reiatsu and water. When it all dispersed, Kaien now had a trident looking staff with a screwed end.
Katokaari stood there observing Kaien, waiting for him to attack first. He got his wish a moment later, when Kaien vanished in a shunpo and almost pierced Katokaari through the shoulder, but getting hit because of the burst of water that followed the trident. "That was unexpected. You sure did get faster and stronger activating your shikai." Katokaari said, pleased about how the spar is going to be.
"I think it's only fair for you to activate your own shikai, to show your respects." Kaien said, sternly.
"Don't worry about that, you'll see it now. Reap, Shukketsu-kotsu!" Katokaari yelled. A surge of blood red reiatsu burst through the air, blowing up dust. After a little bit of time, the dust dispersed, and Katokaari had a nodachi in his hand, with a black hilt and the usual guard. The blade itself was black and silver with red gems going through the blade.
There was the sound of shunpo, and Kaien completely lost sight of Katokaari as he reappeared next to him swinging his sword. Kaien evaded it, but got cut in his right shoulder, just barely.
Kaiens shoulder suddenly became too heavy for him to hold up normally. "Ugh… what did you do to my shoulder? Is it some kind of poison?" he asked.
"That, Kaien, is something you'd have to figure out yourself." Katokaari said. He charged again with a shunpo, this time faster than before, which made Kaien wide eyed before he switched his trident over to his left hand and parried the attack.
'Something's up, he's gaining speed, and my shoulder is getting weaker. Just what happened when he cut me?' Kaien thought, studying his opponents sword thoroughly, while parrying strike after strike.
After a while, thinking he should try and get hit once more, just to figure out the ability of Katokaaris zanpaktou, he was cut right in between his ribs. The cut made his breathing harder, since he couldn't feel his lungs.
Kaien shunpoed back, to get a bit of distance between himself and his opponent. "So thats the power of your zanpaktou. When you strike your opponent, you weaken their bone in that area. I realized after you hit my shoulder, it hurt trying to move, because of the muscles crushing my own bone."
"Oh, you figured that out after just two hits? I'm amazed, even though you're the very first to see my shikai." Katokaari said, with a pleased expression.
"I'm flattered, but I guess it is time to end this spar." Kaien said, with a smile.
"You're right, it's time to end it," Katokaari agreed. Powering up, Katokaari and Kaien charged at each other. A moment later, the two appeared standing back to back, turning to the other. "It was a good spar, Kaien. But I guess, I'm the strongest out of the two of us." Katokaari declared with a genuine smile, as Kaiens zanpaktou went back to its sealed state.
"It sure was. I thank you for this spar. Hope to battle you again sometime soon." Kaien answered with a smile, as he fell on his back, with blood gushing from his shoulders.
So, this almost concludes the intro to this story. I hope you like it and please, review to point out my mistakes, but no flame. Me no like.