(Intelligence please. Judges please judge as you see fit. Thank you)

The sun’s rays bathed Kaito’s hair and face with warmth as he strolled miserably placing one foot in front of the other. A few marshmallow clouds stretched over the endless ocean known as the sky. They represented manifestations of different creatures, a puppy, cat, and even a rabbit. There was a heart shaped even. Kaito watched as a young shinigami couple walked together. “How romantic” he thought sarcastically while remembering his own late night only a few days ago. The couple gave each other a slight kiss; the man held her close and she blushed. A hard pressed kiss was given to her shortly after the first which made the girl fall into some bushes in the woods. Kaito sighed as he watched the two struggle to help the girl out of her mess, “I can’t waste my time with such troublesome things like that...sides that girl is way too good looking...it could only make things tougher” Kaito warned himself, “People like me are only fit for the average looking girls anymore than that and I could end up having a complicated scenario..."

Kaito had walked unconsciously to the place were a ryoka named Ichigo and the heralded Captain Byakuya Kuchiki had fought. It was also the same place that Lieutenant Jimbei had sent him just a few weeks ago so that he could learn an important lesson about himself, “So it’s this place again” Kaito thought nostalgically, “It’s been awhile.” A strange force was emanating from this place. It was as if traces of reiatsu were still coursing through the area and Kaito thought he felt them from the fight long ago. “Closing one’s eyes, it was as if one could see into the past and even feel the fight, see it happening in front of their very eyes” Kaito thought to himself. “To think that a supposed legendary captain was stalemated by nothing more than a human, sub shinigami actually” Kaito contemplated. Kaito knew that he would require even more power than what the shinigami Kurosaki, Ichigo had in order to achieve his goal and he wouldn’t give up until he got that power.

As Kaito thought about it, he had made personal improvements so that he could attain the goal which he desired. For starter, he had lost some weight with all of his training and even went from one hundred and eighty pounds, to one seventy-four pounds. He felt good about himself. Kaito’s shinigami robes were also especially clean since he really began taking himself seriously, “I think it’s because I have just been bored instead of just lazying around in the squad area or in some tree..” was the only answer Kaito could come up with. The point of Kaito coming up to Souykyou Hill once again was to gather information about a strange report that had been submitted a long time ago by Byakuya Kuchiki about the substitute shinigami’s reiatsu in their fight. Since there had never been any time to look at due to all the crazy events that occurred at that time, the report flew under the radar. “Now they want to dredge up ancient history and find out what the famous captain reported...how annoying...” Kaito muttered completely unexcited.

Kaito took out the special equipment needed to detect the specific strain of reiatsu that was in question, “This is more painful than anything I have had to do in awhile” Kaito protested outwardly. The only consolation that he had for doing any of this was that maybe he would be able to figure out what had made Ichigo Kurosaki so much stronger than the 6th squad captain. Although Kaito wasn’t interested in his history he was however intrigued by the fact that in the report it said that Kuchiki had the upper hand on the substitute shinigami up until the strange reiatsu made an appearance. “Although this mission is kinda of a pain in the ass, it could very well provide insight into some strange phenomena that may actually be present in all shinigami...” Kaito thought as his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he thought about possible applications of what his findings would be. After setting up the equipment he needed to use he sighed.

“I really need to learn how to detect reiatsu on a higher level…” Kaito thought to himself. He suddenly realized that things were going to be difficult since he would have to set the machine to the find reiatsu reading that were specifically traced back to the time of the battle. Also it had to fit the description on the report, “Apparently there was a reiatsu with a hollow-like texture, but it still retained the essence of shinigami reiatsu at its core. It would be monstrous that such a combination of the races could exist, but...” The concept ran through Kaito’s mind in an intriguing fashion, he pursed his lips slightly at the idea that it could be possible to fuse a hollow’s reiatsu and a shinigami’s reiatsu. Kaito had heard of this phenomenon before, but he never expected that it could be true. "Maybe there is more to the mission than just trying to confirm some old data that wasn't looked at before..." Kaito summarized as he reevaluated the situation.

+2 intel

(Intel please. Thank you judges.)

“Something was close, something new” Kaito thought, this was the kind of reiatsu that he was looking for. According to the machine there was a reiatsu he had never felt before; he tried for a moment or two to figure out where it was coming from. He looked over to the direction of the signature and frowned, “Dammit, that was just another shinigami that I haven’t met before...” the young shinigami sighed exasperately. Apparently someone was mediating and their reiatsu flared up enough for the machine to pick up, “Must be a captain for the machine to pick it up all the way out here” Kaito contemplated. “That’s a good practice, to train the mind” Kaito said distractedly, “Peaceful it can be, at the right times, and if your alone.” Kaito remembered the times he meditated out in the real world. It was much better than the Soul Society. Suddenly he remembered what he was out there looking for and shook his head, embarrassed that he had let himself become so distracted.

He began moving the equipment, yet again trying to pick up on the right strain of reiatsu that fit the description of the report given by the captain. Kaito sighed for what seemed to be the thousandth time in the day, “I’m not the kind of person for this mission” the youngster thought lazily, “It takes patience and concentration, neither of them I have” It was a tedious task to be trying to maintain his composure since he would rather be out taking girls on a date since his dramatic increase in strength had made him popular with the girls ; it also helped that his rank was just a notch away from being second in command. Although he had no bonds that he considered worth protecting, Kaito was very intrigued by the sudden change in girls' mannerism towards him in the recent couple of weeks since his graduation. “I keep getting distracted…this is stupid I have to find a way to get this done so I can do something fun” he berated himself. After fiddling with the machine for a little longer Kaito sat on the ground in exhaustion and frustration as he stared at the sky with a dead look in his eye.

The thing that just didn’t make sense to Kaito was that he still had no idea what he was looking for. He sat on his behind and propped himself with his elbows while he thought about what he was going to do next, “This is so boring…I don’t want be doing this…” Kaito daydreamed. There was a slight breeze that was soothingly blowing past Kaito’s face also brought along a lot of dust with it. Suddenly Kaito found himself spluttering as he tried to rid the sandy taste from his mouth by wedging his thumb on the inside of his cheek and trying to flick the dust particles out. Finally after moments of tasting gritty grime of the former execution site, Kaito dropped back down, flat on his back once again. “What I am I doing here?” the question rang through his mind as he pondered the other things that he could have been doing, but was not doing because of this lame mission. “Lieutenant Jimbei sure knows how to pick the worst missions…” he said complaining to the open sky above him.

It seemed as if things would be more interesting if Kaito had gone to the library instead of doing this mission. It made him a bit irritated with his own lack of work ethic since that was the main reason that he had been forced to do the mission in the first place, “I should have gone out training” Kaito thought miserably to himself. There was no way that he was going to be able to maintain his focus on such a dull mission. Being as it was the weather was great, even on the Soukyouku Hill, the warmth that bathed the place was like a blanket which was complimented by the off-setting cool breeze that swept across the landscape as if it were a mother gently washing her child, wiping away all the grime and dirt away from the troubles of the day. It’s hard to be serious about working on such a whack mission when the Mother Nature was cooperating so well with him today he thought as he grinned with his eyes closed.

As if things were not bad enough for Kaito, no matter how many times he twisted the machine it refused to pick up any other reiatsu except that of a shinigami’s, “Confounded contraption…” Kaito muttered under his breath, “12th squad really should have a warranty on the equipment they provide before they force unsuspecting shinigami to use them” he moaned. He tried re-adjusting the settings of which reiatsu strain to pick up, but the machine would simply pick up on specific shinigami reiatsu and Kaito finally flopped right back down to the sand covered earth that was the Soukyou Hill. He breathed out heavily as he sat looking at the machine with malice in his heart, “I suppose this is the great 12th squad technology at its finest...” he thought. Then he got a curious thought in his mind, “Suppose I set the parameters to look for reiatsu that was unfamiliar to any Soul Society recording” he grinned at the brilliance of his idea as he quickly scrambled up to implement it.

+2 Intel!

(Intelligence or anything that the judges deem fit here. Thank you very much)

The idea that was unorthodox and roughly scrapped together at best worked instantaneously as the equipment began to beep in reaction to a strain of reiatsu that has never been recorded in the Soul Society archives. "That's strange..." Kaito said coolly as he wrote down the data even though he only knew some of what it meant, the other half of the data being completely language to him. The reiatsu reading as best as he could understand them implied that the sudden change in the substitute shinigami’s reiatsu was not only a change in the frequency, but it was also a change in texture, and intensity. "This person...Kurosaki, Ichigo...was he some sort of monster..." Kaito asked as he made out what he could from the readings becoming more intrigued as he understood more and more of what had actually transpired in the battle between the former 6th squad captain and the substitute shinigami.

It occurred to Kaito that there was another type of hybrid out there that he had not been aware of, “It seems Soul Society has a something else to worry about…” Kaito pondered as he examined the data. Although he was not a scientist like most of the shinigami from squad 12, who prided themselves on their ability to tinker with life and twist, change, and destroy life as they saw fit in order to examine the limits to which they could increase their knowledge about things. “Surely the atrocities that occur in the squad 12 ranks aren’t all immoral” Kaito thought out loud. The thing that shocked Kaito was that as far as he could tell the reiatsu strand that was being picked up on was that of a shinigami that had obtained the powers of a hollow. Kaito's frown deepened as he contemplating the meaning of the information that he had just found. Suddenly Kaito realized that he was not alone. A shadow had suddenly made its presence known behind him as he was making his discovery.

Sighing while all the while measuring the person's breaths to whether they were poised to attack as he asked, "It isn't polite to sneak up on people you don't know..." he calmly to the person without turning around to get a look at them. The silhouette of a person shuffled a couple of steps forward in an awkward motion as if the person had been badly injured, “You don’t need to know me. All you need to know is that this area is under the jurisdiction of the 12th squad. To remain here any longer means that you are in violation of this jurisdiction” said the silhouette. Upon hearing that his mission couldn’t be completed because of the jurisdiction that the 12th squad apparently had over the place made Kaito sigh as he turned around to come face to face with an old man wearing dusty shinigami robes. It never occurred to Kaito that the person in front of him would be a weakling, “I don’t believe that the 12th squad would send just any old shinigami in order to reclaim jurisdiction over an area. There is something odd about this old man” Kaito brooded over as he scrutinized the man to see if there were any oddities that could be picked up on. As he did this Kaito slowly allowed his hands to drop to his sides in an attempt to prepare for the off chance that the man would try to attack him for no reason

The old man didn’t flinch or even blink as Kaito looked him up and down trying to see why he felt so thrown off by the man’s presence, “Something about this guy doesn’t sit right with me…” Kaito murmured to himself. He just couldn’t get rid of the feeling that that something big was going to happen, but whether it was good or bad Kaito had no clue which is why he was so bothered by the old man’s posture in front of him. The silence weighed heavy as the two beings continued to stare at each other as if they were statues, neither budging indicating any signs of life. Kaito tried to remain as still as possible so that he wouldn’t miss any movements that the man made that would give away any detail about him. After a few fruitless minutes of staring at the old man in front of him, Kaito exhaled noisily as he removed his left hand from his side and began scratching his head, “Look I don’t want any trouble so if you would kindly disappear for the time for me to leave this area would come at a faster rate” he explained as he placed his right hand in his pocket nonchalantly.

“You, don’t seem to understand. I am not here to negotiate with you. I am here to remove a trespasser from 12th squad ground area” the old man said in a monotone voice without blinking. What had struck Kaito most oddly was the fact the tone of his voice and the manner in which he was telling Kaito to remove himself from the premises claiming that the equipment would be removed and taken care of, “This old guy isn't exactly normal” Kaito thought as he tried to figure things out as they happened since the old man began to advance toward him, “Please remove yourself from the premises. Please remove yourself from the premises” Kaito heard the old man say in the same monotone voice. Finally when the old man had made his way over to Kaito , who was still next to the equipment, the old man grabbed Kaito with such force that it was almost a certainty that his bones would break. At this rate Kaito was now tired of playing the courtesy role of a new student. He sighed, "I guess at some point force is going to have to be used when trying to negotiate with neanderthals..." he said as he looked into the cold eyes that refused to make any contact with him or even notice that him as a living being. Kaito was no longer going to take the old man lightly considering that he had such strength in his body. “Well let’s get this show started” Kaito said with a deadly serious look in his eyes.

+2 intel

(Fighting Skill please. Thank you very much judges)

Kaito was surprised by how firm the man’s grasp was as he struggled to wrench his arm free from the vice grip that the old man kept on his arm. Kaito used his free arm to grab the old man’s arm and then using his grip on the old man as a counterweight he leaned back and brought a flying kick to the man’s head. Suddenly Kaito’s head flashed with colors began flaring up in his head as an explosive pain ripped through his body starting at his knee. At his pain the old man seemed to loosen his grip on Kaito’s arm and Kaito took advantage by getting his arm loose so that he could get a safe distance away from the old man and also so that he could try to make sense of what had just happened. Kaito held his left leg which was still exploding in pain, “What…is he?” Kaito burst out in short breaths which were caused by pain, “This…hardness…Who are you?” he asked at the strange old man.

The old man then jerkily stood up straight and cocked his head in an inhuman fashion to the point where his head was almost horizontal to his body, “Please leave the area, this is squad 12 jurisdiction” the old man stated. Kaito was a bit taken aback by what he had just seen, “What the hell is this guy?” he grunted as he held on to his leg which was now dully throbbing from the pain that he had experienced earlier. Struggling to his feet once more the young shinigami immediately began to go through the different scenarios that could have lead things to the point which they were currently at, but try as he might he was still completely flabbergasted by the old man's presence. Even though it was in his nature to simply give up on fights were he was unaware of the opponent's power, Kaito couldn't simply concede his defeat here today because he felt as if there was something more to this incident that met the eye. Standing up now, he stared out at the old man trying to discern any information from the behavior of the old man that would be at the very least useful in the fight that was upcoming.

After awhile of the old man repeating the same line over and over again about the area being squad 12 jurisdiction Kaito wobbled a couple of feet towards the old man and drew his zanpakutou, “Now, I guess I have no choice, but to take you seriously. Where do we go from here old man...” Kaito said as he put on his best bravado since he was not sure exactly what he was up against. He pointed the blade at the old man with a cold stare and thought in his head, “I’m surprised my blade hasn’t said anything about the situation yet...” but even this thought he shirked away because he needed all the focus that he could muster to survive this fight. Not knowing where exactly was also something that was making Kaito apprehensive as the air washed over him as if trying to lull him into a fall sense of security, but he knew better than to fall for that. Shifting his feet so that he would have a good stance when the time came ready for him to make a move Kaito watched the man waiting for an opening that he would hope would give him the edge in the fight.

There wasn’t any solution that Kaito could come up with in order to counter the old man because the strength that his opponent possessed wasn’t normal and also he didn’t even seem to respond to pain even if he felt any. Kaito transferred his blade to his right hand and held it away from his body, “Old man, you will realize that what you have done is a mistake and I have no intention of showing you any mercy?” Kaito asked the old man, still trying to spark an emotion from him. It was not Kaito’s style to make tough battle statements; in fact Kaito remained quiet during his battle only speaking to make snide remarks in order to aggravate the opponent so that it becomes harder from them to maintain their self control and balance of their fighting style. This is what Kaito was trying to accomplish as he stared down the old man with a ruthless stare on his face, “Show me your anger and I can show you a defeat” Kaito thought confidently. Calculating every moment up until the point where he would attempt to attack the old man Kaito decided that the course of action left was to attack the old man which he immediately acted upon as he broke into a mad dash at the old man.

Still not showing any sign of emotion the old man moved slightly to the left as Kaito swung downward with his blade causing it to crash into the ground with enough force to cause rocks to fly up into the air, but Kaito paid no attention to this as he flipped his hips towards the old man once more. Strangely enough the man's stiff movements had been enough to dodge Kaito's attack so instead of trying a straight on assault this time, Kaito slid his right heel into the ground and planted so that he could gather up momentum as he spun. Instead of striking the direction that he had originally opened up to, Kaito was able to catch the old man off guard, but slicing him from the backside where the old man had least expected the attack to come from. To Kaito's shock the only thing that he heard as his blade met the old man's shoulder was a loud noise as if two metallic objects had struck each other and he then found himself sliding backwards from the force of the blow. There was now a distance between the two fighters with Kaito staring with apprehensive eyes as he stared at the old man with his blade held out from his body, "This old man...he is fighting with recklessness as if he weren't afraid of getting wounded at all..." Kaito observed.

+2.5 Fighting Skill

(Spirit power please.)

The old man, who was dressed like a shinigami, hadn’t moved since Kaito had drawn his blade and to make things even stranger the old man in front of him hadn’t said anything besides, “This is squad 12 jurisdiction. Please remove yourself from the premises” in that same monotone voice every 5 seconds. This was the oddest behavior that Kaito had ever seen from a shinigami or any living thing for that matter, “He doesn’t even seem to respond to anything besides the objective as if he were…” Kaito suddenly had a hunch that made him take a breath because of how incredible the notion that he just thought would be if it were true. He looked at the man in front of him in amazement as he tried to comprehend what exactly he might be up against. Kaito then shrugged his shoulder and heaved a long sigh which he quickly followed with, “Let’s see if you really are a robot. They say even the coldest people bleed the warmest blood”, as he dashed towards the old man.

Sand flew in the air all around him; the space in front of him became hazy as he drew closer to the old man. His reflexes quickened as his legs pounded the ground with incredible force due to the reiatsu flowing through them. The distance between Kaito and his target closed in seconds, “It feels like I’m getting faster…” Kaito thought to himself as he began to make his move. He gripped the zanpakutou firmly with his right hand and launched a slash at the old man’s head; the sun flashed on the sleek blade leaving a bright trail of light in the space that was previously occupied by it. As the blade closer and closer to striking the old man’s head, Kaito watched the reaction of the old man in case he had decided to make a counter-strike or at the very least attempted to move out of the way. The old man simply watched Kaito not even paying attention to the blade that was about to sever his head from his shoulders. “That seems like a mistake…” Kaito thought as he felt the blade finally hit the familiar resistance of striking an object, the same feeling that came before cleaving someone’s head off.

Instead of a head flying through the air, Kaito heard a resounding thud as his blade struck the old man at the base of the neck, “I figured that would be the case” Kaito thought with a distinct frown upon his face. Immediately the old man’s hand moved towards Kaito at a dangerous speed, but Kaito was able to use his blade as a shield as he was pushed away by the immense force of the attack. “It would look as though the 12th squad has been doing some illegal experiments” Kaito said calmly to the old man, despite him knowing that he wouldn’t get a reaction from the person, no, thing in front of him. “Now then robot-san, if you would kindly go back to whatever 12th squad shit hole you came from, I will return to doing my work” was his next remark, again the machine didn’t seem to react to it, and it simply held its hand in the air from when it had attacked Kaito. Although Kaito wasn’t afraid, he couldn’t feel comfortable with the way the situation had turned out. “I better do something or else this thing will just waste more time for me” he thought gloomily. Suddenly the hand was ejected from the arm of the old man, and its trajectory set straight at Kaito.

As the hand came at Kaito, he opened his left eye in disbelief at what he saw, “A monster?!” was the only words that left his mouth as the hand had made its way to him. Kaito rolled to the right as the hand sailed past him, but once he stood up again he had noticed a beeping noise that was persistently getting faster. Kaito’s first thought was that the old man was beeping, but then he realized that it was in fact the hand which was not too far away from him that was beeping. For awhile he couldn’t figure it out and then it hit him why the hand was beeping. His face twisted in shock as he cursed under his breath, “Shit” as the hand exploded only a few feet away from him and the blast engulfed him in a wave of light, dust, and heat. Although Kaito tried to stand up and escape the force of the blast he couldn’t, passing out before he could even do anything. “This turned out to be a waste of a mission…maybe its better that I just die here…like this…” Kaito thought to himself.

At first Kaito felt nothing and he had assumed that he had died and that it was all over. Then after a few minutes Kaito felt an intense heat and pain; a lot of pain. He tried to sit up without opening his eyes because he didn’t want to waste energy looking at himself when he couldn’t stand up, “This is what I get for doing a stupid waste of time mission” Kaito muttered as he was finally able to force his enflamed muscles to allow him sit up right on the ground. Finally he looked to see what damage he had suffered from the blast and was pleasantly surprised. Although his shinigami robes were for the most part blown away at the legs, his upper garments on the right side stayed intact aside from being a bit burnt. His body for the most part was fine although his legs had many burns on them and his entire left torso and arm were uselessly lying at his side so he just assumed that they were broken. As Kaito assessed his injuries he heard a crunch on the ground as if a foot was falling on the scorch-marked earth. Kaito looked up to find that the old man was walking towards him menacingly.

+2.5 spirit Kaito

(Spirit power please.)

Kaito watched as each step brought the silhouette of the old man closer and closer to him, he knew that if he couldn’t find the strength within himself to get up that he would be killed. Although Kaito was able to sit up, he wasn’t sure whether or not he would actually be able to fight anymore. His injuries weren’t severe since he wasn’t close to the source of the explosion, but he had received a considerable amount of damage which left him with very little ability to fight, “Things aren’t looking so good for me right now. I wish my zanpakutou would offer me some strength” Kaito said half stating and half wishing that the latter part of the statement would come true. He stared at his zanpakutou that was in his hand, hoping that something would happen, but as he expected nothing did. Even in this case Kaito simply grinned and looked up at the menacing shadow that stumbled awkwardly towards him through the smoke.

With the last of his reserves of reiatsu Kaito stood up so that he could at least attempt to move should an attack be made upon him. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe he could any longer it was simply that he could feel no strength in his body anymore, in fact even as he was standing his body twitched from over exertion. “Simply standing is too much for my body to sustain at this point, I’m pretty sure that dodging is out of the question” he reasoned out loud as his tattered body shook from the strain of holding its own weight against the gravity that felt undeniable now. The old man now stood in front of Kaito, in his pathetic state Kaito still noticed that despite the fact that he was in, the old man machine had received damage just like he had. At this detail Kaito grinned, “At least it wasn’t a total defeat right?” he asked rhetorically to the old man machine. Then Kaito dropped to one knee, his body refusing to obey his will any longer, “To think that I would die on Souykyou Hill, in a shroud of charred sand and smoke, its so cliché, it reminds me of a bad joke” he chuckled to himself as he awaited the killing blow.

He was on one knee with his forehead pressed against his right knee, wheezing from the smoke that surrounded him and the lack of air that he could squeeze into his lungs. “As a shinigami, one should always prepare to face death if they are fighting for their own ambitions” he thought, “but this is ridiculous. This isn't even something that anyone would take seriously at my funeral.” Kaito looked up one last time to see if the machine was preparing to kill him yet, but to his amazement the machine simply stood there as if awaiting commands from a higher power. “What the hell is going on here?” Kaito asked himself. Despite his exhaustion Kaito squeezed the blade in his right hand and raised it with the last of his strength, pointing it at the machine’s center, “You should never assume that your opponent is finished attacking. It may cost you that metal head of yours…” Kaito bravely spat to the unresponsive machine. “Oh shut up, you will do no such thing to that machine” said a grown man’s behind Kaito. Kaito didn’t have the energy to turn around so he simply asked, “Who are you?” without looking behind him.

“My name is Korin. I am one the head researchers of the Bureau of Science and Research” said the manly voice. Kaito’s frown deepened even more, “Another top dog from the 12th squad coming to punish me for my transgressions, eh?” he thought in his head. From what Kaito could tell that meant that from the guy’s introduction that he was not just a normal squad member. “So, head researcher. That means what?” Kaito bluntly asked the voice behind him while he was panting and struggling to stay conscious, “Are you an important guy or just some nobody that has wandered into a battlefield?” It was after his question that Kaito saw a shadow coming up behind. “Well, in truth I am a nobody since I am not in the public eye of Soul Society like you are, Saruwatari, Kaito” said the voice behind him. Upon hearing his name Kaito’s hand dropped to the ground due to sheer exhaustion. Beads of sweat dripped off Kaito’s face cutting paths of salt through the grime that had covered his face. His body was twitching as it debated whether or not to accept Kaito’s will and stand up again. It chose the latter choice as Kaito dropped to the ground face first.

“Apparently the 12th squad captain wasn’t completely off in his reports about you” sighed as he made his way over to Kaito’s broken body. Kaito could tell that the person speaking wasn’t all that big because his footsteps weren’t that heavy. Although Kaito wanted to turn over and see who the mystery stranger that was talking to him was, “It seems that the 12th squad has been keeping tabs on me” he concluded to himself as he listened to the man speaking to him. “Look at you Saruwatari; you have been given the title of genius around some parts of the Goatee 13 because of your impressive rate of growth. Now you lay at my feet a battered, worn-out shinigami. Did you think that you were better off training?” Korin asked him. Kaito didn’t reply to the man because he didn’t see any reason to answer to the person who was talking to him now especially when he didn’t even know what he looked like.

+2 Spirit Kaito...