Concluded Wisdom - Bankai 2

"Kurounin... Aisu... Where are you?"

The zanpakuto that was still grasped in the lad's hand began to glow brightly. Frost formed on its blade and spread to its hilt until the weapon was entirely encase in ice, and then it shattered... and time stopped.

"Wake up." Kurama's eyes slowly fluttered open and he found himself peering into the face of Kurounin Aisu himself. "What- what happened? Am I dead?" He looked about and saw that he was held in place just two feet from the ground, the needles only inches from his body. Kurama slid out of the way and stood up, staring in amazement as everything around him stood absolutely still.

"What is this?" he asked, turning to his master. "You are nearing the end of your journey and yet you still ask so many questions. This is a comforting knowledge, it tells me that despite your experience you don't assume to know everything. The day you stop asking such questions is the day you truly die... What you are witnessing is the final gift I have to offer you. It is the most powerful of all that I've taught you before, and it is also the most dangerous. For with it, you could become unstoppable."

Kurama said nothing, he knew by now that there would be a time for him to speak. For now he nodded, showing that he understood the importance of his master's words.

"This ability is known as Reido. It means absolute zero, the unachievable temperature in which all matter ceases to move. It gives the illusion that time has stopped, but this is only true of the area around you. Time continues to tick all around us, yet you... the beings above on the rooftop, the young student in the alleyway, they cease to move, to age even. If you were able to remain in this state forever, you would be immortal as I am. However, this will never be, not until you have passed into nothingness shall you have the ability I possess."

"What do you mean by that master?" Kurounin Aisu smiled faintly. "When your existence as a soul reaper ends, instead of passing on in the cycle of rebirth, you will become one with me. As I have with my master, and he with his master before him. I am but a collection of the master's past lives, and as I have trained you, you shall train another... as the next Kurounin Aisu." Kurama stared, bewildered at his master. He wouldn't enter the cycle of rebirth? Was this the curse that came with such incredible ability? He wasn't sure how to feel about this, but it was not like he had a choice. It was his fate and he would not waste his master's time dwelling on it any further. "I understand. So if I am not yet ready for this ability, why do you show it to me?"

"Though you will not be given access to its full potential, I am still granting you a portion of its power. This power will let you freeze every molecule around you, even flames, for a brief amount of time. Once you have expended your energy, you will not be able to recover your powers for one full day of rest. It will drain you of even the weakest of your kido abilities, your shunpo techniques, and my own power. You will not be able to commune with me either. It has many drawbacks but for roughly thirty seconds, you will be unstoppable."

Kurama closed his eyes and focused his energy into his hand. A light shimmered and his zanpakuto appeared once again in his grasp. "I assume you were not planning on imparting me with this ability without first besting you, correct?"

"That is the way these things usually work, yes. Are you sure you are ready for your final challenge?"

"The longer we spend conversing, the longer we are altering that poor lad's lifespan. I am ready master."

Kurama used senka to appear behind his master, lashing out with the katana. His master, only uttering but a word under his breath, disappeared from view. 'What? Where did he go?'

"You see, if you cannot move, you cannot react. Not only that but your perception of your surroundings is altered as time for you ceases to pass. In the time it took me to say one word you had only time to make that single action. I however, managed to arrange all those needles into that sculpture behind you and haul myself up into this tree." Kurama glared towards the voice of his master, seeing the faint figure of Kurounin Aisu perched on the branch of a nearby cherry tree. A statue of Kurama, lashing out with his katana stood only two feet away from him. He assumed it to be an exact replica of his stance only seconds ago. Or was it only seconds ago? He had no way of judging the passage of time.

"Alright then, I guess I'm just going to have to rely on this new power to win this fight then. Reido!" Kurama looked around, nothing seemed to have changed. The snow still remained motionless, his master still remained in the tree over yonder. Was time stopped? He strode over to the tree and peered up the trunk, his Kurounin Aisu sat motionless. "Aisu Shaddo!" His zanpakuto burst into the thin shards of ice in which he'd wielded since the day he met his master. He used the energy that accumulated from the Touketsu Reiki ability that technically was still fueling his abilities to create an even larger amout of shards. With these, Kurama made a sculpture of his master, sitting on the branch.

It wasn't exactly the masterpiece his master had constructed but for all he knew that could have taken him a thousand years to perfect. Kurama's sculpture was created out of ice, which he was able to manipulate to his liking... He kind of cheated, but then again, if what his master said was true, he only had thirty seconds to work with. A moment later, his master turned to his side to see the image of himself, chuckling at the expression he had apparently been wearing.

"In the time it took you to do that, I could have been skewered thrice over. I consider this a loss on my part, you have earned this ability. Use it well and don't stray from your path. Remember our agreement, I will not permit you to misuse the knowledge that I have bestowed."
"Thank you master. I will take these words to heart."

Kurounin Aisu nodded, and vanished. The snow slowly began to fall around Kurama and he could hear the sounds of combat in the distance. It was time to get back to the battle...


Call out phrase: Bow before the Frozen Sage!, Kurounin Aisu!

Description of released form: Kurounin Aisu transforms from its standard katana form to a nodachi or, what some refer to it as, a large nihontō. The blade shimmers a light blue and is cold to the touch. One would normally find holding such a freezing cold blade to be painful after about a minute or so but the icy tinge is not felt by the owner. The symbols "すべては氷である" are engraved on either side of the blade.


Abilities:

Ability 1: Aisu Shaddo (Rank 3 Required)

Description of ability: This is Kurounin Aisu's "Ice Barrage" technique. The blade essentially shatters into three dozen long, thin shards of ice that can be controlled by his owner. There are basically two ways to use this technique, the first being obvious. A barrage of ice shards strike at the foe, easily destroyable though can be reformed for another attack depending on the amount of spiritual energy the wielder has remaining. The second is a simple wall of ice, able to block low-leveled kidos and small energy attacks. It increases in power as the user grows in skill with the technique.

Ability 2: Touketsu Reiki (Rank 4 Required)

Description of ability: This is Kurounin Aisu's "Frozen Aura" technique. The area around Kurama begins to decrease severely in temperature. In a moist environment, it will begin to snow. As time passes, the snow will increase in downfall speed and thickness. Kurama can control the snow merely by thinking about it, not requiring verbal or somatic guidance. As long as there is moisture in the air, Kurama's spiritual energy slowly regenerates, allowing for his shikai to fuel itself. This will also increase the number of ice shards that appear as time passes.

Ability 3: Hyousetsu Katachi (Rank 5 required)
Description of ability: This is Kurounin Aisu's "Snow Shape" technique. Kurama will be able to transform into a mass of snow flurries that amounts to the same volume as his body. He can move freely around in the air without others being able to discern him from any other flake of snow. The snow does not take the actual shape of a human and can be spread over an area up to 30 meters wide. They can float freely in the air rather than be affected by gravity but in a windstorm or blizzard it would be virtually impossible to see this. Kurama may return to his human form at any time and repeat this technique so long as there is enough snow in the area to equal his initial volume. If all the snow flurries are melted, they will be replaced by surrounding reishi as long as the temperature remains cold. There is no way to kill Kurama in this state but very possible to keep him trapped in a kind of limbo if he has no way to refreeze the snow flurries that make up his body.

Call out phrase for Bankai: "A master's wisdom is shown through his students. Gaze upon me and understand what it means to be enlightened. Bankai."

Description of the Bankai release: The nodachi begins to glow brightly and is encased in blue ice. The light fades away and the ice begins to split, breaking into two pieces. As the second piece falls, the two pieces begin to glow once more. The second piece grows a hilt and the two blades shimmer an icy blue color revealing the final result, two elegant, yet deadly, serrated wakizashi. Though they are a pair, one measures about 18 inches long in blade length, while the other only measures about 14 inches long. The shorter is held in the off hand, more so as a defensive tool than as a weapon. Engraved on the longer of the two blades is the symbol "氷", on the shorter "雪".

Though it has no purpose in a battle scenario, his robes will also change in appearance. His normal black robes transform into a completely different outfit. He wears set of white silk robes over the left side of his body, the right side is tied to his waist by a faded gray sash. There is a oceanic blue border that comes up the bottom of his robes, as well as the sleeves, about 10". underneath is an entirely black top and bottom with a big "V" collar, the collar and sleeves have a red trim. He is also wearing a long leather belt with two small, blue sheaths attached to it. The outfit is completed by a large pair of black leather boots which come halfway up his calves.

Abilities:

Ability 1: Arainami Aisu (Rank 6 required)
Description of ability:This is Kurounin Aisu's "Raging Ice Torrent" technique. Unlike most of his abilities, this one is solely an offensive technique. When released, a large torrent of water and ice blasts into enemies, covering them in a thick layer of blue ice. Depending on their level of ability, they may or may not be encased in it permanently. If they do manage to escape, they would have already taken moderate to severe cold damage. Once again this is a case by case result, depending on the rank of the opponent(s).

Ability 2: Reido (Rank 7 required)
Description of ability: This is Kurounin Aisu's "Absolute Zero" technique. This ability can stop the vibration of atoms within a fifty yard radius of Kurama. Nothing will be able to move, think, perceive anything. It is as if time is actually stopped and no memory of the events will remain for those frozen. Kurama is the sole entity that can move during the effects of this ability, he cannot pick and choose who gets frozen at this level of experience, maybe after a long few years of practice... Outside of this range however life goes on, entering the area will result in being caught in its effects. The ability can only last for roughly thirty seconds and once completed, will have depleted his powers to such a degree that he will not be able to manipulate spirit energy or even hear his zanpakuto for one full day. During this time he must be resting, whether in bed or taking a stroll in the sun. Any physical activity other than this will cause him to suffer intense pain. Just to reiterate, no kido, no zanpakuto powers, no shunpo, no anything. However he can still hear, see, and feel spirits and spiritual pressure. This is to be used as a last resort ability...

Meh, I know you, and I know you RP responsibly, so <--- Is true, but that range is a bit... Extreme... I'll let some others throw in their two-cents...

PENDING APPROVAL

It is a big range, but such is the nature of second bankai abilities; they're HUGE. So the range isn't such a big deal for me, especially with the time limit to it and the astronomical costs of having used the technique.

My only question is the "lag time" so to speak. Does the absolute zero influence happen to the whole affected area at once? Or does it balloon outward from Kurama which would allow characters (like allies) with fast enough reflexes to get out of the area? (of course they'd have to know what was coming in advance in order to react that fast) That's my only concern. Besides that, I have no concerns.

I don't mean see as it the AoE hits them. I mean after a good 50ft accuracy is crap unless you fire a spray. Keep it at 100yd if you need it. But just seems like overkill if it's a runaway device. If someone is 200-300 feet away and you can't run. Something is wrong. Unless they have shunpo and you don't lol.

Roll on Mr Marly, got my vote.