“So, am I done here yet?” Ryouta asked the instructor whom he was now quite good friends with.
“No, not quite, my friend,” the fat instructor shook his head. “You have proved yourself against common Hollow, even exercising some ingenuity when you did so, but there is still more to do.”
“And that is?” Ryouta asked with some anticipation in his voice.
“It is possible to channel kidō spells through your Zanpakutō, granting ordinary strikes greater ability. For example, you might want to try using Byakurai to augment your abilities, seeing as lightning appears to be a comfortable element with you.”
Ryouta closed his eyes and tried to focus his reiatsu. He breathed in and out very calmly and deeply so he could concentrate on this task to the exclusion of all else. Ryouta began to channel his reiatsu into his Zanpakutō; they glowed an eerie white color with it.
“Hadō no Yo: Byakurai!” Ryouta felt the familiar rush of power as lightning seemed to congeal and swirl around both blades. Then, he lost his concentration, and the lightning shot out of both ends of the swords to leave smoldering patches on the otherwise immaculate kidō field.
“Close, very close!” said the instructor. “You need to maintain your concentration in order to maintain the spell in your Zanpakutō. This is very difficult- you will be using this kind of thing in battle. If you can’t keep your concentration here, there’s no way you could in battle. If you can maintain it in your Zanpakutō, I want you to attack me, to simulate an actual battle.”
Ryouta nodded and again closed his eyes and concentrated. “Hadō no Yo: Byakurai!” Once again, his twin ninjato glowed an eerie white color. Sweat formed on his brow as he fought to keep concentration. Then a passing Hell butterfly flew by, he got distracted, and again the lightning discharged into the ground.
“That was better,” said the instructor. “Let me give you a tip- you need to concentrate, but not too much, see. You’re an intelligent guy, so I’m sure you can do this. It isn’t necessary to have your full attention on the maintaining of the spell; you just need a small part of your mind focused on it. That way you’ll be able to react in battle situations.”
Ryouta nodded again. This time, he focused on his reiatsu, but also tried to focus on several different things at once; the targets around the field, his instructor, etc. He reached a stage where he was dimly aware of his concentrated reiatsu, but fully cognizant of his surroundings. “One more time- Hadō no Yo: Byakurai!” His ninjato glowed the eerie white color yet again, and this time, they held that way. Ryouta turned to face his instructor, then charged at him, jumped, and came down with a powerful overhead cut.
“Bakudō no Hachi- Seki!” The instructor’s arm came up, and both Ryouta’s blades struck it and seemed to hold there for a second. “Hadō no Ichi: Sho!” The instructor blasted Ryouta several feet away with a small spell.
Ryouta looked impassively at his instructor.
I need to find a way to penetrate that shield, or at least crack it- I wonder… “Hadō no Yo: Byakurai!” His blades glowed an even brighter white. Ryouta focused, getting them to vibrate and travel around the blades at ultrasonic speed. He ran up to the instructor and struck the shield a second time. The intensity of his blow seemed to surprise the instructor, and his eyes widened as his shield began to crack.
“Enough!” the instructor dispelled his shield as Ryouta discharged his lightning into the ground. “What did you do? How did you do that?”
Ryouta scratched his head. “I was reading a book written by Kurotsuchi Mayuri about a group of humans called Quincy. Apparently, they possess a weapon called Seele Schneider that vibrates at high frequency to loosen spirit particles. I thought the same idea would work here.”
The instructor shakes his head in amazement. “I have never seen such a knowledgeable student.”
Ryouta smiled. “Thanks. Later man.” He walked off the kidō field.
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