Nothing to do in Squad 2...

Kuro found himself standing at the edge of the training grounds of squad two. His promotion to captain starting to lose its impact on him, he was starting to drift back into his bored feeling that he had nothing to entertain himself. Sighing heavily, he decided that he'd pass the time with some training seeing as he had nothing better to do. He stepped out onto the empty training grounds and tried to decide on what he should focus his training first. It didn't take him long to narrow his choices down to something speed oriented. Though his skills were becoming more balanced after inventing his martial arts style and mastering his spirit power oriented zanpakuto, speed remained Kuro's initial talant and his favorite skill in battle.

Thinking about historical figures related to the squad he now headed, Kuro's mind ran across the woman who was probably the fastest and most famous leader or squad 2 in history, Shihouin Yoruichi. The Goddess of Flash as her nickname was, she had to be the fastest shinigami that the soul society had ever experienced. The fastest...a title that Kuro hoped to take for himself in the future. Taking a deep breath, he began to warm up by flash stepping from one side of the training grounds to the other. It was a light and non difficult exercise that allowed him to stretch out his limbs and prepare his spirit power for the real training. After about ten minutes, he stood in the center of the grounds and started concentrating deeply on his spirit pressure.

Kuro's power surged and caused the loose dirt at his feet to swirl in a dust around him like a brown fog. He was about to attempt to learn a technique invented by the flash goddess herself, Utsusemi. It was a technique that combined incredible speed with a hint of spirit power that left an after-image so convincingly tangible that the opponent could be fooled into thinking they had landed a hit on the user after they had already dodged. Kuro wanted to learn this technique to give his speed a better edge against his foes. Most worthy opponents he fought could stay on guard against his dodges and counter attacks. But with Utsusemi, he could get at least one more advantage over them.

Kuro focused his power and flash stepped with a greater intensity than before. His step carried him through the air with a twisting motion so he could look back on his possible after-image. He came out of the step skidding from the speed and facing back the way he had come from. He thought he saw the final trace of an image fading from the area he'd stood in, but he was unsure whether or not it was just his eyes playing tricks on him. He scowled in dissatisfaction and flash stepped again in the same motion. The second attempt and even the third and fourth left him with the same results. He started to think that he was foolish for trying to practice such a technique without a partner. Trying to see an after image of himself was close to impossible. He only could see that same ghostly trace that continued to evade him of his true progress.

Feeling irritated, Kuro bent down and picked up a handful of small rocks, almost intending to throw them immaturely like a child kept away from their desire. But as he stood back up straight, he got another idea. He surged and then concentrated his power again, grunting with effort to focus more than before. Taking one stone in his left hand, he tossed it up into the air above him. The stone sailed a good forty feet in the air before it began its descent. Kuro corrected his position underneath the rock and flash stepped a split second before it came upon him. Skidding again as he emerged from his speed, he glanced back at the stone instead of trying to see his after-image. He smiled with excitement as he observed that the stone did indeed finish its fall slower than it had been falling previously while he himself had not felt any impact. Taking another stone, he repeated this exercise and was rewarded with another success. He kept this training going for two straight hours until he was starting to feel exhausted from focusing his power continuously without the help of his bankai. By the time he was finished for the day, he was even beginning to see improvements in his speed too. He was now able to see a full glimpse of the after-image being hit by the stone before it faded. There were a few failures where the image was not tangible enough to stop the stone, but the successes far outnumbered them and were encouraging to Kuro who was surprised at his early results. He left training grounds and headed for his room to relax and catch up on some paperwork.

A few weeks after his utsusemi training, Kuro returned to the training grounds. He was bored again and was interested in some additional training. He carried with him a large mirror that was as tall as he was. This next training exercise would require it to keep track of his progress. Setting the mirror down in front of him, he stretched himself out with a few minutes of hand-to-hand practice. He planted himself in front of the mirror with his Issui stance and began to execute his normal swaying motion while keeping his eyes on his reflection.

Kuro was trying to learn another technique of speed. It was similar to utsusemi, using incredible speed, but attempted to make multiple images of the user to confuse the enemy. Yoruichi's own protege, Captain Soi Fon, had shown remarkable use of this cloning technique in the past. Kuro had also found an old report from Byakuya Kuchiki that said that an arrancar had shown the ability to perform a similar move. Kuro wanted to use his battle style in combo with this technique to become more elusive.

After he had his swaying motion going smoothly and swiftly, Kuro began to mix in some flash steps. Thanks to his utsusemi training, his speed was faster and he was able to make multiple after-images without trouble when he wasn't trying to make them tangible. But to keep them visible and hide himself among them, Kuro had to continuously flash step which was difficult to do. He also noticed that his clones were spread far out from each other. This wasn't what he wanted. He took a small brake and thought things over. His flash steps were fast, but were taking him across too far of a distance. And his real goal wasn't to use the cloning technique, but to merge it into his Issui sway.

Kuro positioned himself in front of the mirror and began to sway side to side again. He went faster and faster then began to perform a number of consecutive mini flash steps. They weren't as fast as his normal flash steps, but they did what he wanted, only shifting his position slightly left and right. Along with his swaying, this created a minor illusionary effect that blended a group of clone images into a moving blur. He couldn't lock his sight onto which image in the mirror was really him as he continued to shift. This was perfect for his Issui style. It was like a perfect flow that would make it even harder for the opponent to locate him and land a hit. Kuro stopped and left the training grounds, planning his next training exercise.