hello guys here is a new chapter for you, but before you start there is a bit of a typo on my part in the story. Haken is actually be Henkan, but more on that latter so read the bottom and enjoy!

Chapter 8: Unknown Powers

Still in the court yard

Brendan's POV

I get ready to charge at Hakumen "I hope you are ready cause here I come!"

I rush forward ready to swing and he goes to block it thinking that it wouldn't have that much more power. A look of surprise quickly forms on his face as the amount of force he put into the block was nowhere near enough as my attack makes him skid a few feet away. 'What kind of power was that!?' he thinks as I ready a charge again and a smile creeps onto my face. He gets serious look on his face as he gets ready to meet me head on 'Guess I can't hold back any more.' We charge at each other and when we connect a small blast of our spirit pressure explodes all around us and into the crowd causing almost everyone instinctively raises their arms.

The only ones that weren't effected was Urahara and Principle Kyōshi. Urahara whistles and puts a hand on his hat so that it doesn't fly away from the amount of pressure we were putting out "Man for his first release this is quite some power he is wielding." He comments casually while the Principle was slightly slack jawed as he couldn't believe that someone who has just unlocked their Shikai could wield this much power.

As we both break away from the clash I use Shunpo to try to rush him, but Hakumen also uses Shunpo and we clash again. We do this a couple of times always appearing just to have our swords block each other then disappear as we move around the makeshift arena formed by the crowd. Many of the crowd couldn't even follow our battle at this point, but we couldn't keep it up and when we collide again the force sends us both skidding away. We are both panting a bit as he looks at his sword to see that all of the symbols have been recharged and a faint smile creeps onto his face "Let's see how you like this!" he raises his sword and shouts "Esuwa (secondary wave)!" and brings his sword down and a wave of energy comes flying at me.

I have just enough time to barely move out of the way and the blast went straight toward some students, but they manage to get out of the way fast enough before any of them got hurt. We quickly resume the match as I charge forward and I start making swings at him 'This is awesome! This sword is way lighter than it looks like it should and I can swing it around with ease without having to struggle.' I think as I swing and spin the blade to block and counterattack. However, the wound on my chest is starting to really affect me as I can clearly see that either he is getting faster or I'm getting slower and my money is on the later.

I jump up to dodge and spin to try to do a vertical slash, but I am too slow and he easily dodges it. My blade sinks into the ground and he takes advantage of the opportunity to take a swing at me. I pull myself down to avoid being sliced in two and my sword only slightly starts coming out of the ground, but I don't notice and I try to use it to spin and aim a kick that he blocks with his other arm. The force sends him skidding and my sword gets pulled out the rest of the way, but I wasn't prepared for that and fall onto my back. Hakumen quickly recovers and comes at me, but I roll to the side to get away and get to my feet as he readies himself to charge again. He doesn't charge yet because we both take a moment to try and catch our breath and I look down at the blood slowly flowing out of my chest 'Damn it! With this wound I won't be able to continue much longer and I'm starting to slow down.' I grip my sword a bit harder as I mumble "I have to try to go faster or I stand no chance at winning."

"If that is all then I can show you just this once without having to prove yourself."

I am genuinely surprised that I can hear Henkan's voice right now, but I quickly hide it to not appear to be open and continue mumbling "What are you talking about?" I ask while carefully keeping an eye on Hakumen.

"It is my special property, I can change my form and give you a boost in certain aspects."

With that I smile "Well then get to it."

Hakumen is giving me a questioning look, but charges at me and that snaps my attention back to him and as we clash Henkan keeps speaking "It's not that simple normally I wouldn't be telling you this, but given the situation I am going to make an exception." Then once we are a good distance apart Henkan continues "You have to channel you spirit energy into me and say Sōga while focusing on my flames."

I start to channel my energy, but before I can say it Hakumen shouts "Esuwa!" again as another wave of energy is sent my way. I jump to the side to dodge and then he charges at me trying to deal a heavy blow. We both try to get a hit in and unfortunately he achieves just that and carves out a gash in my side. I jump away to avoid further damage and he doesn't give chase. "Why?" I look up at him with a look telling him to elaborate "Why don't you just give up? I have clearly shown that I am better than you and yet you stand trying pointlessly to fight."

I snicker "It is only pointless if I don't win." I feel like I have channeled enough spirit energy and focus on Henkan before I shout "Sōga!" (claws and fangs) black flames erupt from the handle and rapidly engulf my sword, but then it shrinks just as fast. Then the flames engulf my body and I shout out in surprise, but Hakumen thinks that it is in pain and smirks believing that I have lost control of my weapon. His smirk doesn't last as the flames then start to move and become concentrated around my arms and legs. Then they dissipate revealing Henkan had transformed into a pair of gauntlets and greaves. The gauntlets are a gray steel like color with what looks like etched in black flames that flow to the hands, that are clawed, from the elbows where the armor protrudes a bit. The greaves were of a similar design except that at the heel of the boot it had seriated edges going up the back an inch. I flex my hands a bit as I inspect my weapons new form and smile as I hop a bit as now it almost feels like I am weightless. I stop bouncing as I look at Hakumen "Ok here I come!" I shout as I run at him with speed that takes him by surprise and I plant my fist right into his face that sends him flying back almost into the crowd. I look at my handy work and smile as I hop in place a few times again as this power just feels incredible.

Hakumen get up and wipes the blood from his mouth "You may be faster but your attacks have gotten weaker." He positions his sword to attack me "You won't be able to beat me with such pitiful attacks." He calmly states as he tries to rush me.

As he comes at me I can't help but smile as it now seems to me that he is moving slowly as he tries to slash me. I easily side step his attack and quickly give him a jab to the face that forces him to take a step back. When he recovers I say "I'm sorry is that too weak for you." I smirk at him as he tries to use Shunpo to try a horizontal slash and at first it looks like he is gonna hit me, but I use Shunpo and appear behind him in midair and give him a solid kick to the side of his head. He gets knocked a few feet away and as he starts to get up I rush him hoping to get another hit in before he can recover. I make a swing at him, but he manages to block it with his sword. As we struggle for a second before I let his sword press forward which makes him stumble and I go to pierce him with my clawed hand, but he barely manages to dodge a direct hit and I am only able to cut his shoulder.

Hakumen jumps back while griping his shoulder while I smile knowing that I caused him some damage. I hop in place a bit again "You seem to be able to keep up with this speed. So how about I kick it up another notch." I taunt as I do just that. I rush at him and he brings his sword up to block, but I go around it and get him right in his gut that sends him through the crowd. He skids on the ground before he flips up right, but I don't give him a moments rest and press my assault. As he rights himself he sees me coming and puts up his special shield right where I was about to hit, but I vanish and reappear next to him as my fist connects with his face. As he goes flying again into the side of the building we were in I smile, but it is weak as I can feel the blood lose starting to get to me 'Looks like I don't have much left.' I clench my fist 'I think I only got one good strike left.'

So I ready myself and just as he pulls himself out of the wall I make my move and rush at him. He slashes at me as I get close I stop for half a second so that he misses me and then I move in with my hands fully extended right in front of him. Just as he is about to strike again I close both my hands and strike with my right fist and shift my stance and even though my strength went down this strike is supposed to allow me to put the energy from my whole body into it. As a result, the strike I give him may have been weaker than it normally would, but it still had more force than any other strike I gave him before and it sends him the rest of the way through the wall.

I just stand there in front of the hole I made panting heavily as the Principle runs through to check on what happened to his student. He runs in to find Hakumen lying in the middle of the arena unconscious gripping his sword that has been resealed. As he breathes a sigh of relief that once again his student is still alive after receiving an immense blow like that. Walking back outside he finds that most of the people have gathered to watch the last fight are waiting for his final verdict or if the fight was to continue. He looks to me and while I am ready to continue I seriously doubt I would be able to put up much more of a fight. He frowns "The winner is Mr. McCarthy." He says in defeat as the crowd erupts in cheers and I relax a bit causing Henkan to be resealed and exhaustion almost takes me right then and there.

My friends rush up to me and right as I am about to fall I am caught by Jaune and Ruby "Thanks guys." I say with a big smile on my face at my victory. The crowd now seeing the battle is over decides to disperse and go back to what they were doing before the fights started having their fill of entertainment.

"No problem man. You fought very hard." Jaune says and then gestures to my chest "To be honest I'm not too sure how you were still able to go on after that wound."

"Honestly I'm not too sure myself." I say as I laugh nervously. I see Ruby eyeing my wound with concerned so I lift the arm she is under and place my hand on top of her head "I'm fine so don't worry about it." she nods a bit before she looks down so I don't see her blush. Of course Yang almost can't resist the urge to tease her sister about it right then and there, but decided that to wait till later and let us enjoy this moment.

Then Urahara approaches us clapping "Well done. Good show. I knew that you were on the verge of release of your zanpakuto. And of course you were only able to achieve it so early because of me." He smiles smugly.

I lift both my arms to stand on my own and walk up to Urahara with a smile on my face "Yeah your right I was able to do that because you helped us." once we are close enough I look right into his eyes and when he is least expecting it I punch him right in the gut "BUT YOU SHOULDN'T PUT YOUR STUDENTS IN SUCH DIRE STRIAGHTS!" I shout as I step back my smile replaced with a scowl "As a teacher should value our safety." Then I remember something Henka said "Also why didn't you say that when our weapons would talk to us you meant literally." I sigh "Honestly if you are trying to train us to be Shinigami… you… are… doing." I can't finish my rant as I pass out on the spot and start falling forward only to be caught by Urahara.

"Geez kid you shouldn't have pushed yourself so far." He mutters as the rest of the group rushes to see what is wrong, but he raises this hand and they all stop "He is gonna be fine he just used his Shikai to much and is now completely exhausted, but he will be fine if he rests." Then rubs the back of his head and laughs "Though for how long I'm not sure." At this everyone gives him a look that easily shows that they are seriously questioning if their teacher really knows what it is he is doing.

Ren's POV

It has been about a week since Brendan fell unconscious and apparently it is a result of over use of his Shikai before he could fully control it or so says our teacher. Though I think that we are all starting to question if he really knows what he is doing. Still we have been going to the academy for some time and compared to that teachers hellish training this doesn't really feel like much. However, we have been learning new things that he has yet to teach us. for one thing we started learning something called Kaido [healing hands] that lets us use our spirit energy to heal the wounds of others. Jaune seems to be really excelling with this technique and, while it is not a fighting technique that I'm sure he was hoping for, I'm glad to see our leader finally finding something he is good at. Also we are learning a few other Hado and Bakudo techniques as well, and like before I have to help Nora study them because she just can't seem to handle it on her own. Which is what we are supposed to be doing right now in the library, but Nora fell asleep on me before we could get too deep into it.

Though seeing her sleep comfortably like this isn't so bad, but sometimes I really think that she would be a bit more productive in her studies and save all of this napping for later. Not wanting to let this time go to waste I pull out my Asauchi to pour more of my spirit energy into it. As I sit there eyes closed focusing my spirit energy as much as I can to direct it into the sword my mind drifts back to the fight. Back then when Brendan unleashed his Zanpakuto Nora looked at him with eyes that scream that she thought it was so cool. Needless to say I was jealous of that, not that I would ever admit it, but Nora was my girlfriend and I have loved her for a really long time. So I guess a part of me just wanted her to look at me with those kind of eyes I just wanted her to think I am cool and to have the power to protect her. I open my eyes thinking that I am not able to focus with such thoughts running through my head only to find that I'm no longer siting in the library.

Instead I'm inside what looks like a very old style Minstral house that I have read about in books. I'm also sitting on the floor that are made out of a very strange type of wood that I don't remember ever seeing before, but reminds me of some of the flooring back in the Seireitei. I look around the room and see that it is decorated very strangely with various paintings and sculptures depicting dragons and flowers mostly. As I look around I hear a cough come from the opposite side of the room. I am surprised by it as I didn't even notice anyone else in the room and the person I find looks to be a young boy, that is probably around thirteen. He is dressed in a kimono with a design of dragons rising and falling through clouds and strangely it almost seems like some of them are moving. He also has green eyes and pink hair that is tied into a ponytail kind of similar to mine and horns growing out of his head that make me think he is a deer Faunus. That is until I see a tail flick behind him that looks very similar to the dragons all around. "You know it is not that polite to stare." He says in a soft voice.

I snap out of it "Sorry."

Then there is a long silence before he speaks again after he sighs "I know that my owner is supposed to be the quite one but this is a bit ridiculous."

He takes me by surprise "Sorry usually Nora does enough for both of us." I bow slightly to him "I'm Lie Ren."

He also bows "Yes I know who you are and it is good to finally talk to you."

I am confused by this "You know me? And also where are we?"

He raises one of his eyebrows "Why wouldn't I? I am your Zanpakuto spirit after all and to answer your other question we are in your soul." He says calmly as he reaches behind him and pulls out a small tea set "Would you like some tea?"

I nod a bit surprised that it seemed he was able to pull that out of nowhere and take a seat across from him "Yes thank you." As he goes about mixing the tea I realize something "So this is what Brendan meant by our Zanpakuto literally speaking to us." He nods as he breathes fire under the pot to warm up the tea because apparently he can do that "Then are we going to play a game like his wanted too?"

He sighs as he lets the tea simmer for a bit "No this is not a game. For it will decide whether or not I will be able to lend you my power." He pours the tea into two cups and sets the pot aside "You see I cannot tell you my name as it is supposed to be something that you already know." He explains as he carefully slides a cup toward Ren.

Ren picks up the cup and takes a sip and finds that it is a bit strong for his taste "You say that, but I'm still not sure what it is."

The Zanpakuto also takes a sip before speaking again "Well I'm afraid that is how this works, but I do wish that it was easier." He sets the cup down and looks at me "However, I can tell you that the help with the answer that I can give you is somewhere in this palace."

"Palace?" I ask and he gestures to the window before going back to sipping his tea. I make my way over to the window and what I see is incredibly shocking. We are actually on top of a huge building that I think is almost taller than Beacon tower. Around the base of the building there appears to be a kind of pond, but I'm not too sure what could be in it and just beyond the pond are walls that separate it from what looks like a city. Finally, off in the distance I can faintly make out another building that seems to rival this one in size. As I gaze out I am awed that I have something like this inside my soul "How am I supposed to find a single word in a place this huge?"

He shrugs "This is not my journey to take, but I have faith that you will be able to do it." he says as he takes another sip of his tea.

As I look around I don't see any words in the room so I make my way to the stair case that is off in the corner and head down stairs. Once I am down I find that every floor below that one is built like a maze and if I wasn't careful I would be lost for who knows how long. Somehow after a long while of just walking around I find myself in what looks like a throne room with dragons swirling all around the edge of the room and the ceiling is painted as if there are storm clouds with rays of light shining through. I am lost in the beauty of it until I hear footsteps start approaching from behind that makes me spin around only to find my Zanpakuto walking into the room "What do you think?" he questions as he walks toward the throne "To me this is the most beautiful place in the whole palace."

I nod in agreement as we make our way to the throne he reaches it before me and takes the seat "So have you figured out what to call me yet?"

I shake my head "No, I have not found your name yet."

He nods in understanding because of the vastness of the palace before he looks up "You know that mural is probably my favorite part. It makes me think of how during a storm light will peak through the clouds as if telling the people below that while things are bad now once the storm ends things can be better." He then looks over to me "You would know that more than anyone else."

Then as I stand there looking at him I realize that this room is the key I was looking for the whole time "Your name is Arashi no Koutei (Storm Emperor)." As the words leave my mouth wind floods the palace and two miniature tornados form around my hands. When they dissipate I have a weapon similar to the ones I had back in Remnant except these didn't have clips and are more smoothly curved.

I look up to see him smiling at me "Now I will be able to help you in your fights. So please call on me when you need me." As he finishes the room starts to fade, but before it fades completely he adds "Also if you just want to talk I wouldn't mind."

As it finishes fading I open my eyes and as if it was all a dream I am back in the real world. I look around and only about an hour has passed with Nora still sleeping peacefully muttering something about pancakes as usual, but for a few moments my sword faintly glows and I smile 'Looks like I finally have the power to finally protect you.' I then lean against Nora for a moment before I sit back up and start studying again. After all someone is gonna have to teach this to Nora later.

There you go guys probably the last one for a while as school is starting back up and won't have much free time to write, but here are some things i would like to say.

First before I forget thank you Rmmer Dall for helping me with the names of everyone's Zanpakutos and the names themselves can be credited to him.

Second about the Haken name thing, that was a typo that i never noticed sorry about that and i will be using Henkan from now on. Oh also forgot to add that the translation for it is transformation

Third I would like to know what you guys think of Ren getting his Zanpakuto and if you want to see the rest of the group get theirs. Leave it in a review and I might open a poll later, but not a big fan of those as not a lot of people participated in the last one I had.

Anyways think that is all I wanted to say for now so let me know what you guys think of this story so far and and stay tuned as I will be adding more eventually. So check you later peeps