Disclaimer: The ideas and concepts used in BLEACH belong to Tite Kubo, as well as any regular characters. Most of the characters in this story belong to me. Thank you.


The villagers watched in collective awe and terror as the self-renowned swordsman were fighting two veritable demons. Sasori was busy furiously slashing and hacking away at the still grinning and demeaning Hoji, who blocked every stroke with one hand on his sword. Kagoya and Shin were fighting in a rather bored manner, neither taking the bout seriously and cutting through the air slowly compared to Sasori.

"Come on," Sasori shouted over the clashing of blades, "fight me seriously!" Hoji just dodged and blocked with a playful sneer on his face. Suddenly, Sasori's sword was jerked out of his hand and Hoji face was within inches of his.

"How can I fight you on a serious level if you can't even hold you sword properly." Hoji had caught the blade with his hand and gripped it tight enough to pull it away without drawing blood. He tossed the sword back to Sasori, who fumbled with it before resuming his stance. Hoji walked a few feet away then signaled his opponents forward with a cocky hand gesture. Sasori snarled and extended his arm with an open palm.

"You won't make a fool of me!" He hand started to glow with a fiery blaze. Hoji glared at this spectacle curiously, observing what exactly was going on. He could feel Sasori's energy being poured into his hand and concentrated into a visible ball of light.

"Hiyari…" The ball began to spike forward from Sasori's palm, and Hoji felt a shiver go down his spine. He knew his head was in the way of whatever was about to happen, and that was bad.

"HOU!" A beam of orange light blasted out from Sasori's hand, which Hoji barely dodged in time. The attack was so quick that the only part of his body Hoji could move to dodge was his neck. With his head tilted at a nearly ninety degree angle and eyes wide with shock, Hoji looked rather daunting to the intimidated and exhausted Sasori. Hoji started marching forward with his head stuck on his shoulder.


"My, my. Looks like Sasori's getting serious." Kagoya observed, having heard the blast just moments ago. Shin was starting to get serious with Kagoya, and a break from the action was a necessity that neither fighter wanted to be without. They faced each other and planned out their next move carefully. Shin's eyes were violently shaking, as if he was sleeping with them open, while Kagoya was focusing on one point past his opponent. Both fighters knew how to read an opponent through their eyes, and neither was taking the risk of being found out.

Shin snapped forward and cut across Kagoya's mid-section. Kagoya was able to block it by a hairs breadth, and jumped back to avoid Shin's second attack. With his arm revved fully back, Shin ran forward and prepared to swing, but Kagoya was quicker and delivered a thrust to Shin's head. Shin rolled out of the way to Kagoya's side and counter-thrusted, which Kagoya jumped over and landed several feet back. This fight was beginning to drain them both. Kagoya was panting while keeping his stance steady, and Shin was slouched over sweating.

Both charged at once. Shin was closer to the ground from slouching, so he started a slash that would rise up from the ground to break Kagoya's guard. It worked, and Shin delivered a powerful kick to Kagoya's stomach, which sent him flying back onto a porch. The wood splintered as he landed and he groaned as he got up.

"Looks like I should be getting serious too." Kagoya said with a smile as he wiped the spit off his mouth. Shin wobbled for a moment then pointed his sword at Kagoya.

"Yeah. You probably should." Kagoya snickered slightly at Shin's little remark, then stood back up. He held his sword in both hands with palms flat and open gripping the hilt on either side with the blade facing outward. Shin sense that something was coming, something he had felt before. The overwhelming discharge that the previous shinigami exuded when they released their sword's true forms. The intertwining mesh of two different spiritual fields at once.

"Sing to the heavens and the earth…Tenshiguro"

The blade of the sword morphed and twisted into a new shape resembling a tree's branches. When the light around the sword died out, the form was visible. The entire blade had become white, and each blade branched out from a central rod coming from the hilt. Shin smiled widely and gripped his sword firmly with both hands. From Kagoya's standing, he could only see Shin's wild smile under his darkened brow.

"Something amusing about my shikai?" Shin tried to stuffle back a laugh, but ended up snorting in amusement. Kagoya looked warily at his unmoving, confusing opponent's face.

"So, you know your sword's name too? This will be interesting!" Kagoya straightened his face and pointed his sword forward. The branches whipped out and lashed furiously in all directions, tearing up the ground and nearby walls. He twirled the hilt of the weapon like a drill, and the branches wrapped around the middle rod at various angles. Kagoya took another step forward, drawing back his arm without moving the sword. He grunted and gave a powerful thrust forward, with each branch flying forth like lightning at a very eager and excited Shin.


Sasori was at the end of his rope. After running into the woods and circling back into the village, he was ready to collapse and await his dealer of death. Hoji got a second wind from dodging the Hiyari-Hou (Fire Lance Cannon) and was relentlessly chasing him down, trying to grab him and cut him to pieces. Sasori gripped his hilt, shaking his whole sword and making it clack to break the silence of his hiding. Hoji stomped the ground just a short distance from Sasori.

"Come on out, kid! I promise to fight you seriously now!" Hoji shouted all around him. He satred to walk away when he heard the rattling of metal from behind him. He walked over briskly and pulled away a piece of wood that was covering a small alley behind a house. Sasori watched him from his own spot one house over and decided to make a break for it.

Kagoya can help me! He must be finished with that other guy if he's used shikai already! He can protect me until I can fire the Hiyari-Hou again!

Hoji heard the running of footsteps fade away in the distance. He presumed that the younger sibling was running to the older one for protection, and started to move his own way in the direction of erupting power and energy. Wherever Hoji could see the destruction is where he would find his master.


"So, why are you teaching me all this crap about proper fighting and whatnot?" Hoji asked Shin with a hint of annoyance in his voice. Shin held his own sword up to his eyes and examined it closely before answering Hoji.

"Ours is a mutual method of teaching. I shall teach you about combat," he pointed the deathly-looking blade down to Hoji's nose, "and you will help me learn about my sword."


This memory still puzzled Hoji, as he didn't know anything about his own sword's name. However, if Shin knew something then he was confident in it. A powerful warrior like him wouldn't hand out his trust to any man, and Hoji felt honored that he was selected to train with him. The air around him just resonated with a passion unlike anything that he had felt from any other shinigami.

He really is a piece of work.

Hoji watched from the rooftop as Shin was ecstatically deflecting every attack Kagoya's weapon made.