Kuro's New Finisher (shunko app)

Kuro got up from his futon early one morning with a hardened look of seriousness on his face. Anyone who laid eyes on him at this point as he strode out of his office would assume that he was surely heading out to battle. That is, of course, if there was anyone around to lay eyes on him. It was so early that there were no signs of the sun shining beneath the horizon yet. Kuro walked swiftly off the second squad grounds, tucking his zanpakuto into his robes like normal, and took off with a furious dash after he was outside second squad’s gate. He raced through the Seireitei and its white stone streets, which appeared gray in this dim early morning. A few guard patrols caught glimpses of him as he raced by, but he was long gone before they could even confirm who he was. He kept this pace up until he had bypassed the gate of the Seireitei and made his way into the Rukongai. There, he slowed to a quick jog. He kept moving for hours, the sun finally starting to rise at his back as he went. He ran without rest through the lower districts, moving to the more barren, less populated districts where he could have some privacy. It was about half past noon when he finally reached his destination, the desert field that he had learned his bankai in. He was here for something big: training.

Kuro reached into his robes with the sun beating down on his head and grabbed his zanpakuto, fluidly whipping it out as he shouted in a clear demanding voice. “Show yourself Seishou-seijin!” His blade glowed with a golden light identical to his own spirit power as a shining silhouette separated from it and formed into a ninja garbed man kneeling in a bow in front of him. This was Kuro’s zanpakuto spirit, Seishou-Seijin. An honor bound ninja spirit who never revealed his face, his hidden eyes always glowing with a spiritual light behind his cloth mask; Seishou-sejin had helped Kuro to grow more powerful many times through his experiences as a shinigami. His only quality that irked Kuro slightly was the master/servant relationship that he insisted on between them. After Kuro had conquered him and obtained his bankai, the spirit had turned from the teacher into the follower and demanded that Kuro take the place of leader rather than partner with him. Kuro was forced to go along with this wish, for fear of facing difficulties and arguments later if he did not. As the zanpakuto spirit knelt in front of him, he spoke with a humble voice of a servant ready to serve his master. “Kuro-sama, to what do I owe the pleasure of being called out into your world? In most cases when you wish to converse, you simply visit me in your world. Is something the matter?”

Kuro smiled as Seishou-seijin got right to business. That was a quality he liked. It was true that he often went to his spirit world to talk with the spirit, but today’s training he felt could get more done if performed in the physical world rather than the spiritual. “After the events that unfolded with the vizard Takeru Seo, I find myself plagued by a feeling that I have not felt in a long time. Ever since I learned bankai, I have not felt the need to better myself much further. But the failure to protect Mika and ending up putting her through that terrifying experience has shown me that I am not strong enough yet. I must become stronger if I am to protect those who are dear to me. That is the reason I have called you here today.”

Seishou-seijin chuckled as he listened to Kuro’s words. “So you finally have found your drive again eh? I do not know what you plan to do with me. I have already taught and given you all in my power, but I shall do anything you wish of me if you think I can help.”

Kuro laughed in return to the spirit’s uncertainty. “It’s going to be like bankai training all over again. I need a training opponent to fight against with enough power to match me while I work on learning something new. Figuring your strength, I could think of no one better to help me out. So will you fight me?”

“Of course Kuro-sama” the answer came immediately and obediently. Seishou-seijin picked himself off the ground and started stretching his limbs in a warm up for their match. “Could you please indulge me with the knowledge of what it is that you are aiming to learn?”

Kuro saw no reason to hide his intentions from his zanpakuto. “I have been recently studying the arts of Yoruichi Shihoin, the goddess of flash. I’ve already known one of her techniques, utsusemi, for a long time now, but I feel I must learn more. She had numerous techniques that made her the best hand to hand fighter the gotei has ever known. I know that I can get stronger if I learn more of her techniques. Starting today, you will be fighting me as I attempt to learn the ultimate fighting skill invented by Yoruichi: shunko the hybrid technique which boosts the body’s physical potential by infusing kido directly into the user’s limbs. If I can learn this skill, my strength will grow exceptionally stronger, especially if used along with you and your abilities.”

“That will not be an easy task, Kuro-sama. Yoruichi was a genius of hand to hand fighting and mixing kido with physical prowess was quite an accomplishment for her. You will have to work hard to master such an advanced technique.”

“I plan to do just that, starting right now!” Kuro cried as he stepped forward and delivered a punch to Seishou-seijin’s chest. He felt that the best way to learn shunko would be to try it in the heat of battle. The ninja spirit dodged the initial punch and followed with a karate chop at Kuro’s outstretched arm. Kuro responded by leaping forward and twisting his arm along with his whole body around and out of the way of the chop. He needed to get the feel of kido in his body again, seeing as he mostly used his zanpakuto in battle and didn’t feel the need to use much kido. He held out his right hand and shouted, “Hado # 31: Shakkahō!” Kuro’s power flowed through his body with the familiar feeling of kido spell casting again as a red orb appeared at his palm and fired at near point blank range at the ninja’s face. Seishou-seijin seemed to do the impossible as he reacted with surprising speed and fell backwards to flip out of the way. The orb of energy flew past where his head had been and sailed a ways into the distance where it exploded with a ferocity that kicked up a large cloud of dust and rocks. Kuro grinned as he felt the energy in his body and tried to get a grasp on the sensation. It would be hard to draw out the same power without using an incantation or actual spell. His thoughts were interrupted as Seishou-seijin counter attacked, moving at a speed close to shunpo and lashing out continuously with powerful punches and kicks. Kuro began to weave in a fluid motion as was his custom fighting style and dodged the majority of the blows. He was unable to completely dodge one final right punch from the ninja, which struck with a strength like that of the powered up attacks of the zanpakuto’s gauntlet. It struck Kuro in the shoulder, sending him spinning back through the air. He was unable to stop his whirling helplessness and crashed to the rocky ground in a heap. He groggily picked himself back up, wiping blood from his mouth. As he stubbornly took a ready stance again, the spirit called out a question to him.

“Why do you not fight with my power today? You could avoid the high number of injuries if you would activate bankai and fight with me at equal strength.”

Kuro chuckled lightly. “I’m not doing that because it’s my complete dependence on your power that I want to overcome. I mean you no disrespect as my ally, but if I want to become stronger, I cannot take any shortcuts in this endeavor. I have to match your strength without your power.”

Seishou-seijin nodded with understanding. “I take no offense. In fact, it makes me proud that you want to grow your own strength instead of using me as a crutch. Accomplishing this will give you greater self-confidence and the ability to have pride in yourself without my aid. With that aside, let us continue your training!”

The two lunged for each other at the same time. The sun beat down on them as their attacks and evasions continued through the afternoon hours with little rest. As Kuro continued to fight, he worked hard on drawing out his regular spirit energy and using it as kido energy. When he was used to producing this power, the next step was focusing it into his body rather than using it for a spell. He stopped going on the offensive and began to focus on standing his ground and blocking Seishou-seijin’s attacks while trying to force the power into his arms and legs. This was harder than he had thought which only proved the high level of this technique. Because of his years of using his shikai, Kuro had become a master of using and guiding spirit power in his body. But learning to form it in a different style and utilize it in a different way was proving to be extremely hard. The thought even crossed his mind that his experience might be working against him. He was so set in his ways that this kido energy was being disrupted by his habits of using spirit energy in his zanpakuto. Removing his zanpakuto as a factor had been a smart choice, as it would allow him to fully grasp the feeling of shunko without the influence of it. In fact, he noted that he might have to practice with shunko after he learned it to use it while his zanpakuto was released, as its automatic ability to concentrate the power in his arm might interfere with the kido energy. As these thoughts and plans raced through Kuro’s mind, another swinging kick from Seishou-seijin lashed out at him. He crossed his arms in front of his chest to block the blow and focused hard on drawing the kido energy out and down into his limbs. He felt the power enter the top of his arms and slightly boost his strength as the kick made contact. He was able to better resist this kick, but was ultimately thrown back again. He was growing weary as he got up again, but continued to encourage Seishou-seijin to fight him.

“But master, you are exhausted. Maybe we should pause for now and continue the training in the morning?”

“No…I can feel it…I’m getting close. I just need…..more power!” Kuro concentrated harder and gestured for his spirit to attack him. The sun was starting to sink beneath the horizon and was casting a bright orange glow over the wasteland as Kuro’s opponent closed in on him. He was being truly stubborn, even to himself. His fatigue was at the point that his vision was starting to blur in and out as Seishou-seijin approached. He kept himself focused with one thought that he began to chant with an obsession under his breath. “More power, more power, more power….I need more POWER!” Kuro drew out a larger amount of kido energy than before and pressed it into his body and limbs. The fabric of his shinigami outfit was blown from his upper arms and back, leaving him standing in tattered rags as the power surged through his body and arced up in an electrical appearing white light. He silently noted that it was good that he had left his haori back in his office today. He bent forward and started an immediate counter offensive, dashing at the incoming ninja and pulling back his arm to punch. “I’m sorry Seishou-seijin, but as I’ve just learned this, I don’t think I can properly control it yet…” Kuro raced forward with incredible speed and quickly closed the gap between them. As the ninja launched a right straight, Kuro shifted to the left and let his left fist fly forward with a furious left cross counter. His fist met the spirit’s face and blew him back with a force that would likely have been lethal to a living sparring partner. Kuro stood in shock at the progress they’d made before, exhausted from the ordeal, collapsing onto the desert floor.

Kuro awoke hours later to find he was lying in the middle of the desert with nobody else around. Figuring that Seishou-seijin had gone back to his blade while he was knocked out, Kuro picked himself off the ground, wincing from the soreness that the day’s training had left him with. He began to build a campfire, slowly searching the area and gathering wood. When he had enough dry twigs (which took a long time seeing as there were few trees in this plain area) he built a small flame with a weak fire kido to keep himself warm as he rested and slept. His mind was dancing with pride at his accomplishment. While it was only once, he had managed to perform a shunko attack. He laid back and closed his eyes, planning on continuing this success the next day.

When Kuro woke up again, the sun was shining and the small fire was a charred pile of smoldering embers. Scattering the fire scraps, he grabbed his zanpakuto and called Seishou-seijin out again. The day followed with a repeat performance of the previous day, as did the next day, and the day after that. Kuro was determined to master the shunko. He couldn’t stop training until he was sure that he could do it at any time. On the fifth day, feeling that he could activate shunko effectively enough, he called out the spirit and explained a new plan.

“Today I will fight you while using your gauntlet. The compression of my energy may interfere with my focus on the shunko, so I have to learn how to control both in case I have to use shunko in a hurry while my zanpakuto is released.”

“That is fine. I knew that we would reach this point soon after the progress you’ve made over the last four days. You may start when ready.”

Seishou-seijin took his stance and waited for Kuro to attack. Kuro picked his blade up off the ground and silently released it into his shikai gauntlet. Feeling the power in his arm gathering into the weapon, he focused on drawing out the shunko. The energy quickly raced along his body, but immediately began to shrink in size and majesty as Kuro’s suspicions proved correct and the gauntlet began to filter the power in itself. He stared at his gauntlet clad hand and concentrated with all his might to hold the power back. This was incredibly difficult, like trying to sever the area of his hand from the diffusion of energy through his body. Seishou-seijin spoke up to offer assistance from his position, like he usually did when Kuro had difficulties finding something out.

“I’ve never given you this tip before, because you never had a reason to stop your power from entering your gauntlet, but if you imagine something like a barrier preventing the power from entering your hand rather than just trying to pull it out, you may come to grasp the mindset to further control your power. “

Kuro didn’t know what that would accomplish, but the ninja spirit had never steered him wrong before. He closed his eyes and pictured a barrier in his mind, something like a dam. He opened his eyes again and stared at his hand, imagining a dam like the one in his mind blocking the flow of energy in his arm. He layered the imagination, thinking of the empty feeling of no power in his hand. As he thought of this, he slowly began to notice a rise in the shunko energy in his arms, torso and legs again. He moved his gaze back to the ninja and grinned with a devilish look that showed that he was ready to fight. The spirit returned the enthusiasm and met Kuro with ready fists as he lunged at him again.

The fight went on for hours, Kuro activating and deactivating the shunko in short bursts. This was partially to conserve power, and partially to keep practicing his activation of it. When he felt that he didn’t have much left, Kuro leaped back and held up his gauntlet with another big smile on his face. As Seishou-seijin watched, Kuro removed the mental barrier on his energy and let the shunko energy flow into his gauntlet along with his regular spirit power. The red jewel on his palm shone with a brilliant light that was almost blinding to look at as the gauntlet compressed both powers within it. Kuro bent down and charged at his zanpakuto spirit, his legs filled with kido energy. When he reached his opponent, he struck with a super-fast blow that was boosted past his normal levels by the two powers in his zanpakuto. The ninja’s eyes glowed with extreme surprise as he was blown back with a destructive force. Kuro watched as he flew back with incredible speed and seemed to go into the distance. In truth, the spirit had faded from its corporeal form and reformed itself behind him to stop its backwards flight. Kuro turned with a satisfied smile as he gloated about his new finishing blow. The potential of that shunko gauntlet strike was unpredictable. Seishou-seijin nodded in congratulations and faded from view, speaking as he disappeared.

“Never forget your hard work and accomplishment today. You are no longer a man who has to depend solely on my strength. You have your own wings now. See how high you can fly with them.”

Kuro smiled again, and after the spirit was fully gone, he slowly turned back towards the Seireitei and began what was sure to be a long sore walk home.


Word Count: 3,088

Dragged this out from the dusty hole it's been nestled in in the staff forum. I summon staff to take a look and judge it.

I read it long ago didn't I? Reread it just because I could. Rechecked word count 2,998. Sorry man try again





j/k lol. APPROVED. Enjoy thy Shunko.