The Lightning Quickness of “Something Crazy” (Solo)

Part 7 – The Lightning Quickness of “Something Crazy”

A long time had passed since Tatsuya began training on his technique at the Spiritual Arts Academy. As time passed, so did his setting. He no longer trained in the open fields of the sparring grounds. He instead chose an area dense in trees along the outskirts of Rukongai. The area challenged him to make quick, tactical decisions. It also limited the distance he could travel in any given direction. He used the area in a way that made him believe he was surrounded in all directions. He had been training in the area for months, always choosing a different starting point, so as to not get comfortable with the layout of the trees in any one particular part. As before he returned to his self designated training area under cover of darkness.

Tatsuya’s technique was now nearing mastery level as he nearly completed the finishing adaptations. His utilization of shunpo with the technique was for lack of a better word, phenomenal. Though that wasn’t the case when he first started implementing the shunpo technique. The first few weeks he would run into his wooden sword, a frimly planted object, or even worse, completely miss the sword and then fall on his face. Now however, he never missed, even with all the obstacles in the area. Tatsuya finally found a suitable destination in the woods and dropped what little supplies he had, including his zanpakuto. Tatsuya did a quick warm up to get his muscles flexible and loose before setting up.

Tatsuya tied the wooden sword to his sash, which was now in a special casing that acted like a sheath. He had it made a few months back as his training neared completion. He wanted, no, he needed to have it be exactly like a sword if he was to perfect the technique. He set up in a fighting stance with his right arm back to begin his training for the night. Tatsuya steadied his breathing and calmed his thoughts until nothing else existed. He quickly threw a right cross to a left hook and continued to a butterfly kick. As he was in midair he reached for his sword with his right hand and completely drew it from the case before touching the ground. Using the force from the kick, he slashed across the air horizontally and released the sword at maximum extension having it spin clockwise at high speed, parallel to the ground. He continued turning into a backwards right heel kick having it come full circle until hitting the ground.

As his foot hit the ground he quickly disappeared with shunpo and caught up with the spinning sword just as it was about to make contact with a tree trunk. Tatsuya gripped the hilt with both hands and dragged it along the trunk as if he was cutting through an enemy. He stepped past the faux enemy and continued running between a narrow passage of trees. As he ran through the trees one could hear the clank of wood against wood as he hit each tree one time from side to side. Passing the last tree in that passage he threw the sword forward at a spinning upward angle and then used shunpo again. He reappeared in front of another tree and pounded on it with two hard punches and a knee, each blow making the tree shake. He quickly jumped back and flash stepped into the air towards the tree and caught the sword which was right in front of him with his right hand.

Tatsuya swung the sword straight down, hitting the tree as if to split it in half. As he landed on the ground he rolled to the left as if dodging an attack. Throwing his sword into the air during the roll, he quickly got to his feet and proceeded to pound on a nearby tree behind him. After quickly landing a right cross, two left hooks (one high; one low)and a right elbow, he used shunpo to launch himself in the air towards another tree. He used the momentum of shunpo to kick the tree with a left leg side kick and then a back turn side kick with his right leg. The force of the kicks caused the tree to topple over while Tatsuya hovered in midair for only an instant before catching his sword with his left hand in a reverse grip. He then used shunpo to “cut” through the tree with his wooden sword, draging it across the trunk and landing before the tree hit the ground.

Without turning around, Tatsuya stood in the same spot he landed on and waited for the tree to collapse on the ground. The tree hit the ground hard, only inches away from him, causing the earth to shake beneath. Tatsuya returned the sword back to its’ “sheath” while still holding it in the reverse grip with his left hand before beginning to walk back to his original starting point. His form and movements were truly extraordinary. He only had a little ways to go before complete mastery. Indeed, this technique was nothing less than “Something Crazy.”