"So Head Captain Yammamoto, who am I to face next?" Torin asked.
Yammamoto was silent for a moment, then said "Your next teacher has yet to arrive, he should be here shortly"
"I'm here Old Man, but would you tell me why already?" a voice said from behind Torin.
Torin turned to face the newcomer, he had orange hair and wore a standard shinigami uniform with a red rope sash across his chest, he had a large curved blade covered in a cloth sheath of sorts on his back
"You're..." Torin said in awe, he had heard the stories about this person, he was quite famous in the Rukongai for his defeating the gate guardian but not killing him, and even protecting him from an attack from the traitorous captain Gin Ichimaru. He had heard more stories about how he had saved one of the members of his own squad from execution, and of how he had bested Squad 6's captain as well as 3 Lieutenants. He was a celeberty figure in the Seireitei and Rukongai alike
"Ichigo Kurosaki, you're late" Yammamoto said
"Well what do you expect? You haven't even told me why you wanted me to come here, and it isn't like I live here or anything, it's a bit of a trip for me" Ichigo said
Yammammoto didn't respond to the somewhat sarcastic comment "Now that you're here, i want you to help train Torin, he is to be our first replacement Captain, but he needs to be trained in his skills to bring them up to captain level" he said
Ichigo shrugged "and what do you want me to train? Soifon is faster than me, and Shunsui is better with his swords if what Chad says is true, unless you actually expect me to use my bankai on him."
"Soifon is still missing, and your sword is much closer to Torin;s than mine are" Shunsui said
"Soifon is missing? What do you mean?" Ichigo asked with surprise
"They haven't told you anything yet?" Torin asked "We're at war ichigo, Soifon and Squad 2 went to spy on the enemy and we don't know what happened to them."
"What? Why didn't anyone tell me this?" Ichigo exclaimed
"That is not important right now Ichigo Kurosaki, what is important is that your bring Torin's shunpo and zanjitsu skills to captain level as soon as possible" Yammamoto interrupted "will you help us or not? If not then return home and leave the situation to us, this war is no place for a substitute shinigami"
Ichigo scowled, but he drew his sword, the cloth sheath unraveling as he did "Whatever, I'll help, you won't let me do anything else anyway so I might as well do what I can" ge said as he vanished in a shunpo
Torin's eyes couldn't even track Ichigo as he moved behind him. In a panic he spun arounf to narrowly parry Ichigo's slash, Torin could feel Ichigo's immense strength and reiatsu, and he struggled to match it.
Ichigo used shunpo again, now he moved in from Torin's blind spot and stabbed, scoring a hit in Torin's lower back. Torin spun and slashed at Ichigo, but he hit air as Ichigo had already used shunpo again. Torin soon felt Ichigo's blade hit him again, causing him to stagger "Damn" Torin said as he was hit a third time "I can't keep up!"
Torin continued to be mercilessly beaten, but eventually Ichigo stopped in order to let Unohana heal Torin's injuries
"How is this supposed to improve my shunpo?" Torin asked in frustration " all that's happening is me getting the crap beat out of me, I can't even see Ichigo move, let alone keep up!"
"Just keep at it, next time I heal you tell me if you notice any change" Unohana said
Torin sighed "all right" he said as he and Ichigo set up once more.
Ichigo used shunpo again, and Torin blinked, there had been some sort of distortion before Ichigo dissapeared. Torin got hit again, but as he turned he saw the distortion again, this time followed by the sound of rushing air.
Torin got hit again and staggered a bit, but turned and saw Ichigo for a moment as the distortion happened once again, this Time Torin spun and slashed, and his blade hit Ichigo's in a fantastic shower of sparks.
It was hard to tell who was more surprised by the successful block, Ichigo or Torin, Torin overcame his shock first though. With a grunt he pushed Ichigo's blade away and then slashed downward.
Ichigo used shunpo to dodge the counter, but Torin noticed he could see a faint outline of him as he moved away.
"I can see you move now" Torin said as he faced Ichigo, holding his zanpakto loosely in front of him "before I couldn't even see you moving, let alone try and react, but I can see you now"
Ichigo brought his sword into a defensive stance, holding it diagonally across his body.
"So by moving beyond my ability to comprehend and beating me up repeatedly you forced my body to bring itself to your level, is that it?" Torin asked
Ichigo nodded and vanished in another shunpo
Torin used shunpo as well this time and the two met in another shower of sparks. Their reiatsus formed auras around them that clashed as they crossed swords, and each applied the full force of their reiatsu and physical strength in the blow. After a few moments they broke away from each other and vanished in a series of rapid shunpos.
As they used shunpo to move around the battlefield they continued to exchange blows, all that could be seen was a brief flash and a shower of sparks at seemingly random locations, they never stopped long enough to actually be seen.
Torin's sword burst into light as he charged his signature attack and appeared, his momentum carrying him backwards.
Ichigo appeared as well, stopping his momentum and seeing the attack. He began to focus his own reiatsu, dust rings blew away from him as his aura intensified and he glowed with a blue outline, strands of reiatsu seeped off of him as he brought his blade behind him in the beginning of a wide arcing slash. "Getsuga…" he began
Torin raised his blade and prepared to slash downward
"TENSHOU!" Ichigo roared as he slashed, releasing a white crescent shaped arc of energy that shot towards Torin
"Kurisutarubimu!" Torin said as he slashed and released his own attack.
The twin crescent arcs of energy clashed between them and after a brief struggle to overpower each other they exploded, engulfing both combatants in smoke.
When the smoke cleared both Ichigo and Torin were sprawled on their backs, gasping for breath.
"Nice… attack" Ichigo panted
"Not bad… yourself" Torin replied.
After they had rested and healed, Ichigo put his sword away and extended his hand to Torin "Good job Torin, I look forward to fighting alongside you once you've become a captain" he said
Torin shook Ichigo's hand "The feeling's mutual" he said with a smile "good luck defending Karakura Town"
Ichigo left, and Torin turned to face the captains "So we've trained my adaptability, my offensive skills, my speed and swordplay, what's next? Kido?" he asked
Unohana was the one who responded "Ordinarily we would train your Kido as well, but as we've said, we don't have a lot of time in this war, and if the reports on your Kido are true it will take a while before your Kido is on par with the other captains. Though it is important that you gain at least a moderate level of skill with these arts, we have decided to temporarily postpone your training in this regard. You should expect to be summoned to the squad 4 barracks for Kido classes with me in the future." She said
"Alright" Torin said "so that leaves hakuda right?"
"Your hakuda training is voluntary; since you specialize in zanjitsu you do not need training in hakuda at the moment, though if you feel that is a weak area for you then I would recommend you train it on your own time, as it is useful in fighting enemies without killing them, as captains sometimes need to do." Unohana said
"Sooo… I'm done then? We've done or postponed all my training and brought my skills up to captain level… so what's left?" Torin asked
Yammamoto slammed his cane into the ground and Unohana stepped back. "There are two things you must do, One is to take all of your newfound skills and learn to use them together, as well as to gain experience in using them against captain level opponents. The other, which we shall do first, is to achieve the ultimate form of your power." He said
Torin's eyes narrowed in surprise and confusion "You can't mean…" he began
"Yes Torin Inzanki" Yammamoto interrupted "It is time for you to achieve bankai!"