Clashing Ideals (Takatsumaru)

A team of shinigami were running through the streets of Karakura town as they tried to put distance between themselves and the enemy they were fighting. As they ran down the sunlit roads, an agonized scream rent the air as one of the stragglers was caught up with and quickly finished. He had not had time to react as a tall man appeared in front of him and effortlessly clove him in two at the waist. He paused in his pursuit to bow in apology to the shinigami's corpse, then turned and continued to pursue the others, who were heading into Karakura Park. They shot into the clearing and tried to think of a way to stay alive.

"Did you call for backup yet!?"

"Yes! But there's no telling how long it will be until it arrives!"

"We're dead......"

All of them froze as the enemy's reiatsu arrived on the park. He was the arrancar Hideyoshi, an enemy of soul society who had been reported by Kuro Akarui as having essentially declared war on the Seireitei. He strode across the grass calmly, knowing that their attempts at escape were futile. His heart was not in this battle. He didn't like to attack those who'd lost their will to fight, but like the last time he had visited the living world, he had orders. And they would be carried out. One of the shinigami's sense abandoned him as he was overwhelmed by his desire to live and he charged straight at Hideyoshi in blind desperation. The arrancar's hand reached back and retrieved the long broadsword from its resting place on his back and slashed the attacker before he had the chance to get within range. A disappointed look was painted on his face as he stepped over the fallen man's body and slowly crept closer to the others, who were still frozen in fear.

"I hope you don't take it personally. I have my orders from my master. You are enemies, and shall die."

Tatsu was in the surroundings of the city when he felt the overwhelming spiritual energy and the shinigami's energy, there was a fight going on and he knew that whoever was there and of good will, was about to get slashed down and not given a single chance at survival, and on the other hand, he knew he had no chance if he joined in the fight. He had to think about this, something about himself shouted at him to help the man, but the samurai held his Zanpakuto in his left hand and shaked..what was this feeling he could feel within himself, was it fear, no...he had been thought to fight this feeling.

The glaring sun was staring at Tatsu, as the samurai started to shunpo at the maximum of his speed, The speed at which Tatsu was moving was unnervingly fast and if he would do a mistake it would probably hurt, but this was no time to think about that. The red haori, he had re obtained after abandoning it was on his back heavily flapping against the wind as the shinigami went higher and higher.

There was only one solution to get there fast enough, and it was to use the spiritual pressure's weight to push him down faster than he could move himself. Finding that about a kilometer up in the sky was high enough, he could spot the shinigami's running towards the park and he wondered if he had the time to even save a few. The samurai propulsed himself down shunpoing himself to go even faster always in the enemies general dirrection. All the fear he had gained was vanished and his courage was shown all around him in a blaze of blue energy. Shunpoing down faster and faster he wanted to save those shinigami, so bad, he was about to throw himself at an enemy that wouldn't show him any chances.

By the time a shinigami was cut down without mercy in the park and the arrancar moved towards the rest of the group, Tatsu was about a hundred meters up, a distance he could clear in just a few seconds, maybe enough to save the shinigami's if the arrancar decided to attack him. Zanpakuto in his left hand Tatsu was aiming to land in between the monster and the shinigami letting them have a chance to run for it.

If everything worked out Tatsu would land hard enough to crack the ground around him and pointing his sword towards his opponent, throwing out the big show to give those extra seconds to the shinigami behind him to realise what had really happened. ''Tatsu Chirako, Rogue Shinigami'' Tatsu waited eyeing his opponent, already at his current maximum, not that his shikai was released but his energy could be sensed yards around. This would be a fight of his life.

Hideyoshi glanced blankly at the arriving shinigami who had rained down from above. He could feel his power and was pleased that it was full of fighting spirit. But unfortunately, he was still weak. "You come into battle knowing that you can't win, but you do so regardless. Why do you act like this? Are you following someone's orders?" He took his blade in both hands and shot forward at Tatsu, swinging the blade straight down with enough force to slice a large gash in the dirt floor of the park. He refrained from using sonido out of a feeling that using such a skill against a weaker opponent would be distasteful. Following up his slash, which was much too obvious to expect to land a clean hit, he released the grip of his right hand and grabbed at the front of Tatsu's robes, trying to throw him to the ground.

"You're much more worthy of my attention than these cowards you support. If only you were stronger, I could maybe enjoy this battle. My orders recently have only left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. I dislike picking on those without power or heart." He raised his sword again. "But my duty transcends all personal feelings!" With this cry, he raised his arms and lifted the sword over his head, bringing it down in a diagonal slash that he incredibly followed with a diagonal slash from the other direction, wielding his large sword with amazing dexterity. The remaining shinigamis on the opposite side of the field watched this performance, wondering how it was possible for Tatsu to last against this opponent.

Meanwhile, a senkai gate opened up back in the town where the call for backup had originally been placed. Kuro raced through the gate, accompanied by 4 members of the onmitsukido. Scanning the area, they felt nothing for a moment, then realized that the fight had moved. Feeling two focused reiatsus over by the park, Kuro sped in that direction as fast as he could. He only hoped that he could get there in time to prevent the complete destruction of the team that had called for help.

Tatsu's greatest strength in a situation like this was to know how to perfectly or almost deflect a hit, it had worked with Kaiyo and he didn't know why it wouldn't work against this one. He listened to his first question and smiled only faintly knowing his answer would gain him a few seconds. ''I follow my beliefs...'' Before his words were over the monster had already charged forward a clean blow coming down on him, he knew he couldn't possibly block that hit, and the enemy was fast. Raising his sword above his head in an angle that would deviate the enemy's sword to the side, if this worked Tatsu would move to the opposing side he had deflected the sword, hoping to stay out of danger. ''RUN!'' He yelled to the other shinigami's behind him hoping they would listen to the rogue shinigami. ''I WON'T HOLD HIM UP FOREVER YOU FOOLS''

Tatsu turned around towards the enemy and the blue energy all but vanished all at once letting his overcoat fall to the ground, leaving nothing but the sound of silence around them. First, his enemy broke it, speaking a line that Tatsu couldn't handle, but he took in a deep breather and let it out calmly. Glaring at him with his deep blue eyes Tatsu only found a single reply to tell the man. ''Awaken...Mizu Megami''

Spoiler:

Tatsu knew what his goal was at this point and his courage was a shining beacon of inspiration, his new, and longer Zanpakuto was risen to block the overwhelming blow. Were it not for Tatsu's obvious dominance in combat over people of his own calibur he wouldn't of ducked under the following blow, but he was still in the fight. Hoping he could place a blow that would end this battle he opened all his defences and attacked at this very moment aiming for the monster's stomach, hoping to crash his sword in a horizontal blow to his stomach.

Tatsu knew the following was going to hurt, if this didn't kill, was blocked, or didn't pierce the enemies defence, it would be all over, and pain would follow, he only hoped the other shinigamies were very far at this point and time.

Hideyoshi had to admit that he was impressed by Tatsu's bravery. Still being so full of battle spirit when facing such an overwhelming opponent was admirable. His face even lit up with a shimmer of respect. But it didn't change the fact that Tatsu's frontal attack had been foolish. Not bothering to block or evade Tatsu's strike at his stomach in any way, Hideyoshi stood as still an unmovable as a rock as the blade clashed on his hierro, leaving no wound. The arrancar's face dimmed again as he reached out and had no trouble grasping at the rogue shinigami at this range. He looked at him, puzzled. "I wonder what these beliefs are that you follow. You chose to fight an enemy that was much too powerful for you to beat, just to save shinigami that you have already abandoned by leaving your organization. Your actions are full of hypocracy. But what I really don't like is your abandonment of your duty. Loyalty to one's master is what a true warrior should never throw away!"

Hideyoshi tossed Tatsu a short distance and prepared to attack with his blade again. He started to swing it down with the intention of finishing the fight. The shinigami who Tatsu had saved through his intervention were still watching, but made no move to assist him out of fear of the enemy. But fate had not decided that Tatsu's time was up just yet. Before Hideyoshi's strike could land, he was blown sideways by a powerful impact on his left side. Standing where the arrancar had been a moment ago, Kuro was now standing with his zanpakuto released into its shikai gauntlet form. He looked around the area and saw the team who had called for assisstance as well as a rogue he recognized from an earlier encounter. Looking at the enemy he'd just attacked, he recognized him too. Extending a hand to help Tatsu up, Kuro issued orders to the backup that had come with him.

"Get the men over there back to the soul society. I'll stay here and deal with these two." He indicated both Hideyoshi and Tatsu as he talked. The onmitsukido members nodded in understanding and shunpoed over to the team who'd been watching the whole fight. As they all left, Kuro turned his gaze back to the arrancar, who had now gotten to his feet. "So we meet again. I must say that your allies have not been making things easy for us. I was rather troubled by my encounter with your friend Demetrio."

"Yes, he can be a handful to deal with. But that doesn't matter now. A battle with you was my true goal today. My master has expressed an interest in your performance against us so far. If you do well today, and manage to survive, you may find yourself meeting him soon." Hideyoshi finished his talk by firing three balas in quick succession, forcing Kuro to weave through them as he tried to close the distance between them. Using sonido, Hideyoshi also took the initiative and charged straight at him. The two clashed weapons as Kuro formed a blade of energy on his gauntlet to meet the arrancar's sword. His blade wouldn't have enough power to injure Hideyoshi's hierro at the moment. He'd have to find a chance to use his brute abilities, or activate his bankai to power his blade up. Of course there was also the possibility of weak points. Kuro decided to keep him busy so that maybe Tatsu could step in and find a way to help.

Tatsu had hoped he would atleast cut the enemy he had a hit on, if only he was stronger this hit would've been a finishing blow, he wouldn't of used this technique. Knowing all of this he knew he wasn't about to surrender, he knew he would keep fighting keep on going untill the very end, he would never be taken alive, or changed into something he didn't like. Before he knew it Tatsu couldn't move, restrained by the Arrancar's overwhelming power over his person, he just stood there waiting for his fate to call down on him, was this the way he was supossed to go? Helping lowly squad members to run away as they didn't even move?

Tatsu listened to the monster yap about its belief and how he should live with honor, saying that to Tatsu who had lived loyal to the very person he thought dead until recently, his life was just a chaotic swirl of endless bullshit at the moment. ''Sometimes...Loyalty requires you to betray to one's you follow'' The samurai was tossed in a general direction that yelled pain at him, using Reishi to stop his fall, it never actually stop until a wall appeared behind him, he thought it would actually hurt but the wounds healed almost instantly as the spiritual presence in the air made his shikai that much more powerful.

Tatsu eyed the monster attempt to finish the fight, his glaring eyes came to an awe breaking moment when his enemy all but vanished within a second to leave place to a captain he had met before on opposing grounds. This was a time of his life, he was still in shape to fight and he could support a captain in a fight to defeat an enemy of the Seireitei. Listening to their quotes it appeared like they knew themselves and that he was strong.

Shunpo'ing out of the Bala's direction, Tatsu changed his Shikai's power to regenerate his spiritual energy instead of healing and he Shunpo'd again, but then he never really lacked any spiritual energy. Appearing beside Kuro Tatsu spoke a single quote. ''Trust me'' Someone who knew Tatsu blade would know that whoever touched it received the beneficial abilities, Tatsu released the hidden blade in his Zanpakuto and handled it to Kuro. If he would take it or even touch it it would make him regain lost spiritual power at a pace of a tenth of all the spiritual energy in the air, which meant a whole lot.

The samurai shunpo'd out of the captain's way before something dangerous might happen, he would be a support in this fight knowing he couldn't damage the opponent. Tatsu shunpo'd back and focused waiting for an opponing, he could still block blows for the captain and he would do so. The next hit the monster would send out, would be blocked or atleast deviated by Tatsu. If it didn't work Tatsu would take the hit like a boss.

The blade Kuro would hold if he accepted to take it, was part of the samurai's handle, which explained why it was so long, only one person had actually seen it in use and it was kaiyo during his training, he didn't really like to use it in battle, but he had just found out the true usage of the dagger.

Kuro and Hideyoshi's clash continued for some time, until they both tried to force each other back at once, resulting in both of them skidding backwards a fair distance from their initial spot. Their eyes remained locked on each other as they watched for any sign of weakness or carelessness. The scene turned surprisingly quiet and calm, though the situation combined with Hideyoshi's reiatsu blanketing the air gave the battle scene an incredibly tense feeling. A light breeze blew through the park, rustling the grass as the standoff continued. Kuro kept edging forward, preparing to break into a charge and start the fight again, but was stopped as Tatsu took a position beside him. Kuro found his request for his trust amusing, as he had done nothing for Kuro to deny him such a courtesy. People never seemed to understand just how easygoing Kuro's mind was. Even if he was a rogue, Tatsu's actions today had shown exactly what kind of man he was. Kuro was proud to be a fellow shinigami to such a person.

Kuro was surprised as he was offered a small blade retrieved from within Tatsu's zanpakuto. He'd never seen a zanpakuto with such an accessory. He hesitated to take it, feeling strange for handling another shinigami's weapon, but decided to go along with whatever Tatsu was planning. The moment he held the small blade, a strange feeling filled him as he felt the energy in the surrounding air beginning to course into him. His own zanpakuto's red palm jewel shone brightly as the power replenished what he'd used so far in the fight and filled the gauntlet with more energy. Kuro had no time to think on the feeling any further as Hideyoshi decided that the pause in their fight had been long enough and charged him. Kuro's energy blade was now more stable and he was able to block the arrancar's blade with little worry or trouble.

"I see your sense of honorable fighting hasn't changed." Kuro remarked as they continued to launch attack after attack in their duel. "You probably could have got a hit on either one of us during the time he gave me his blade."

"Don't insult my pride." came the answer. "I don't need to make use of cheap tricks to defeat my foes."

"You might regret those words." Kuro taunted as he shunpoed to take a position behind Hideyoshi's sword's territory. He was standing almost right on top of the arrancar, right next to his body. Dissolving the blade on his palm, Kuro struck with his zanpakuto's first ability, strengthening the physical might of his left arm as he drove his palm into the enemy's side. Hideyoshi's face contorted in pain as the shock of the blow came upon him. Being thrown roughly by the blow into a nearby tree, he quickly picked himself up and prepared to try a comeback. He didn't get a chance as Kuro shunpoed after him and struck with another blow just as he finished getting to his feet.

"Dammit..." the arrancar moaned as he endured the colossal force of the captain's zanpakuto. "You act with little regard for fairness. You show a sliver of it by waiting until I've stood again, but you show no hesitation in striking before I've fully recovered."

"War isn't a duel. While I show some honor with my enemy's, other courtesies can be overlooked when fighting to help those who are my friends and allies."

"Such selfishness."

"Whatever you say..." Kuro raised his hand over his head and began to focus the recovering energy that Tatsu's blade was supplying him with, "...it doesn't change the fact that you're an enemy who threatens both the soul society and the inhabitants of this world. So I can show no mercy in my fight with you." Kuro focused all the incoming energy into his gauntlet and released it as a large glowing sword stretching high above his head. Leaping forward, he swung this massive weapon down in a cleaving motion that crashed down on Hideyoshi who didn't have the time or the energy to evade. A shower of dirt was kicked up by the attack as the blow reached the ground and disturbed the park floor. Something resembling a small crater was left where lush green grass had grown moments before, with Hideyoshi standing slouched in the middle of it. He had a gash running from his right shoulder down his front to his stomach. He was breathing heavily and spoke with a labored voice.

"I have permission today to use whatever it takes to beat you. To that end..." he held up his sword to his chest like a knight praying before battle, "...sever all bonds, Cortar todos los Espada!"

Hideyoshi's already massive reiatsu sparked even stronger as his body was enveloped in a scary blue light. The light soon faded to reveal the arrancar in his released state. Standing about a head taller, he was clad in metallic grey armor. His sword was bigger, and had the appearance of a massive spiked claymore rather than remaining a simple broadsword. Even its handle looked dangerous now, with the grip built into the body of the blade allowing the bottom of the blade to extend down to the bottom of the weapon, essentially giving Hideyoshi a two sided blade. His right arm was also adorned by a pointed, segmented armor piece that resembled a shield, but also extended past his arm like a lance. In this form, Hideyoshi was a walking, living weapon, just like his name would suggest.

"I'll give you both a chance to consider your next move. Though surrendering and retreating would be your best option."

Tatsu was being pounded on by the spiritual energy present in the air, the only reason he was able to substain all the pressure was because his shikai was skyrocketing his spiritual strength, even though it was very limited at the present point and time. He watched the skilled shinigami and the monster clash against one another as they pushed each other like they were almost rag dolls. Tatsu noticed the surprised man's eyes and smiled. ''Keep it safe, and it'll keep you safe'' Noticing the Arrancar come at the shinigami Tatsu shunpo'd out of the way trying to find out another way to help already, he had basicly no Kido or bakudo's that were good enough to stop someone so powerful.


The samurai didn't lose a single word of their conversation, he knew it was much more wise to actually stand back for the correct time to strike than actually swing aimlessly at a foe he wouldn't hurt, he hope the captain knew that already. Tatsu saw every move the captain did and hoped he would remember them for personal training further in his quest. As for the monster it seemed in pain, they were getting the upper hand this battle had turned in their favor, but on the other hand the trinket in the captain's hand started to reduce its regenerative ability since one of the three people present in this fight had become weaker.

Tatsu hardly bothered about adding a word in, it seemed as if both of these strong beings knew each other for a long time, as for Tatsu his goal was just about half done. If this thing would die and let the remaining shinigami alive he would attempt to leave without having to go through the whole pursuit. ''Not like it started as a fair fight anyhow.'' Although the captain focused on the trinket, it wasn't something that could actually be triggered it just always happened, the only thing that could actually improve its abilities was the improvement of one's spirituyal energy.


Tatsu was crushed down on the ground by the spike in spiritual energy, and by this moment, he couldn't move or even begin to focus on something else than stay alive.
Raising his head to stare at his opponent his jaw dropped in awe as he could see a living weapon ready for destruction.

''Ngh! We've got to stop him'' Tatsu said with vigor only a member of the 11th division would possess. Tatsu's hidden blade would react to the even stronger spike of energy in the air and restore both of their Reiatsu, in Tatsu case since he hadn't actually used it, was still at its Maximum, not that it could actually go any higher. If the Espada was bright, he would notice that he wouldn't win the fight without bringing down Tatsu, but first he had to notice what kind of power he had given to the captain of the second division.

"You fight fair, but you're entirely overconfident!" Kuro remarked as he shunpoed at the now armored arrancar. Since Hideyoshi had released himself, his reiatsu had increased and the wounds Kuro had inflicted on him so far were all healed. Kuro knew that he and Tatsu had to work quickly if they wanted to keep the momentum of this fight working according to their rhythm. He didn't know how strong Hideyoshi's new armor was, but he was sure that his shikai wouldn't have the strength to penetrate both it and his hierro underneath it, even with the boosted strength from Tatsu's blade. So he instead opted to go forward with hand-to-hand combat. He kept a blade of energy extended from his gauntlet and moved in to try and find a favorable position like before. When the arrancar responded with a swing of his sword, Kuro brought his hand up to block the blow. To his surprise however, Hideyoshi's sword cut through his formed weapon as if it were nothing but water and almost managed to cut Kuro's head off. Reacting with reflexes matched by no other shinigami, Kuro managed to shunpo away from the giant sword, taking his distance again and trying to piece together what was going on.

Though it wouldn't have the power to cut through armor and hierro together, Kuro knew that his blade's composition had been strengthened by the replenishing energy from Tatsu's blade. But even still, his weapon had been rendered useless in the face of Hideyoshi's new sword. He needed to learn more about the enemy's power, so Kuro decided to test the waters with his next move. Leaping up into the air over Hideyoshi, he held out his right hand and chanted, "Sever the lines between light and darkness, trap all within the confines of your energy! Bakudo #64: Ultimate Saphire Barrier!"

Kuro didn't use kido much anymore, except for the rare occasions like this one that he required a tool to seal the opponent's moves. Kuro's spell formed a dome shaped barrier of blue energy around the knight arrancar. Hideyoshi stabbed at the barrier with his pointed shield on his right arm, but found the structure to be stable enough to give him trouble in breaking through with force. Unperturbed by this turnout, he raised his sword and swung it down with a powerful slash that cut through the barrier as easily as it had cut Kuro's formed blade. Kuro was starting to realize now; Hideyoshi's sword had the power to cut through things with a power beyond the normal restrictions of a plain blade. It was likely that any solid resistance he was faced with would easily be cut to ribbons by his superior weapon and skills. This would be a problem as it made it almost mandatory that Kuro and Tatsu continue this fight without leaving a single opening against him. The consequences for showing such a weapon an opening could be dire.

Spoiler:

The samurai had to agree that the monster in front of him didn't seem to know just how powerful the captain that was standing before him was, the captain stood there with overwhelming skill and that monster just kept on talking like everything was fine and it knew he was about to win, Tatsu honestly didn't get it. Tatsu noticed that all the hard work they had done on him had vanished with its transformation, which was somewhat a disappointing remark, but that monster had no clue just how powerful Mizu Megami's initial power actually is, at the moment it was regenerating power, but as soon as one of the pair would take damage, he would reveal the powerb to the arrancar hoping to become its target, which would help the captain land the hits he needed, even though it would be very painful.

Tatsu's eye's widened as he stared at the clean hit about to land before the captain vanished with god speed. Tatsu's brain was already trying to imagine what the power's property was, and what it actually did, so he could abuse the weak points of this monster, but he had no idea yet, it happened so fast he couldn't register all the information at once. Staring at the captain using kido, made Tatsu think how powerful that would be in his hands, knowing well he would most likely never lack any spiritual energy for the rest of his life, he made a well point to ask this man for training.

Seeing the barier appear around his enemy Tatsu stayed calm and stared at what was happening, it seemed like for a second the barrier would hold, but then the monster swung his blade and the kido vanished like the reflection of a sakura tree in a pool filled with kids. Tatsu found it hardly believable that such a power existed, it seemed to him like it had the power to go through spiritual matter like the captain's blade and the kido that had appeared in front of him. It was clear to Tatsu that the captain's weapon was made of nothing else than spiritual energy, giving a glance down at his own blade and looking at the sky wondering if he could fight under such spiritual pressure Tatsu summoned his courage forward and spoke his ability forward. '' Reiki Naoru '' With those words, the spiritual energy regeneration was gone, and the new effect had still to show itself, but it seemed like Tatsu was confident enough to charge Hideyoshi head first. He hoped that his judgement was right his main goal was to hinder the monster's movement so the captain could land a blow that would force him to retreat or even better, defeat this outter world beast.

Tatsu hoped that his diagonal blow, that came at lightning speed would hit his opponent, the first strike was actually aimed at the monster's blade to see if it would go through or not, the others were defencive strikes aimed at body parts you are somewhat forced to block, such as the eyes, the throat. He knew he wouldn't go through the armor and had no kido's to stop its movement. He hadn't talked to the captain about this but he hoped this was the right choice.

Kuro saw Tatsu charging in, and while his first reaction was to intervene, he decided that they could do something together to beat Hideyoshi. The armored arrancar was raising his blade to slash Tatsu as he approached. Kuro wasn't going to just let that happen. He shunpoed behind the enemy and pointed with his right hand, aiming at Hideyoshi's raised sword arm. "Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat! Bakudo #9: Hōrin!" A orange and yellow tendril of spiritual energy stretched from Kuro's position towards Hideyoshi. At Kuro's direction, it wrapped its other end around the wrist of Hideyoshi's left hand, allowing Kuro to pull back on it and prevent him from swinging his blade down on Tatsu. As a result, Tatsu's strikes were uninterrupted as Hideyoshi was shocked by the binding move Kuro had used and was unprepared to counter in any other way. The strike at his sword did nothing but glance off, neither weapon being damaged. The following attacks were more successful, his right eye being stabbed. He pulled in his chin to prevent a successful strike to his throat, blocking it with his helmet, though Kuro wondered if Tatsu's blade would have even been able to breach his skin. Groaning in pain from the wound to his eye, Hideyoshi pulled back his right arm and stabbed forward at Tatsu with his pointed shield. Kuro prevented this attack by pouring his spirit power into his gauntlet and increasing his physical strength. He grabbed hold of his bakudo with his left hand and pulled with all of his boosted might, bringing Hideyoshi backwards and off balance.

At this point, he dropped the bakudo and clenched both of his fists. By forcing Hideyoshi to fight on two fronts, they were beginning to find soft spots in his defense. Kuro decided that he'd power up at this point and prepare to make his next move count. "Bankai!" Kuro's power spiked as his body was enveloped in a pillar of yellow energy for a split second. Emerging from the light clad in a black and gold ninja attire, he began to focus his power and wait for Tatsu to help him out and present him with another opening.

Tatsu knew this was his time to shine, he knew that with a power like that the captain wouldn't be ableto beat the monster on his own or he liked to believe,, although no facial emotion betrayed his inner feelings he stared at the creature all the while feeling the immense spiritual pressure on his shoulders, he knew this fight had to be over quickly or that thing would outlast both of them with its overwhelming strength. Feeling almost overjoyed that his attack worked on a monster that much stronger than him. He hadn't see all the effort the captain had done to protect him until he saw the beast try to strike him for a second time which made him shunpo out of the way, easily dodging the threat with the captain's help.

Seeing as the captain released his bankai Tatsu found himself forced to stare, he was only using his shikai and he was this powerful, Tatsu thought that the captain was already using his bankai, it made him shiver, up to now the both of them had used similar power but the captain had been gifted with such stronger power it made Tatsu almost feel discouraged. He knew that someone without a strong power couldn't become captain. Shaking his head, forgetting his thoughts in dismay he focused on the fight knowing that the captain was powered up he knew he had to somehow restrain the beast..or make it attack him, which was a very dangerous gamble...but one Tatsu was willing to make to fall yet again in the good favors of the seireitei. There was something working so well between Kuro and Tatsu maybe this was a meeting of fates to get the both of them closer, perhaps they could become friends, Tatsu would surely try. Facing his enemy for half a second Tatsu charged in again, sword arm ready to block or deviate the enemy's attack, knowing all too well that if he would get hit, he probably wouldn't get up.

Tatsu hoped the other shinigami's were far by now, he somewhat wish this fight was already over, facing someone so powerful was something he hadn't hoped for, he didn't know someone powerful enough to defeat it would come in play, of course beating this thing would make him fall into good graces specially if was a strong enemy of the Seireitei.

Tatsu's charge was more dedicated to get attack, attacking the beast straight in its field of view, making sure it was pissed at him for piercing his eye, he knew that if the captain was to land a blow that had to count he would need more than a single second of opening so Tatsu reached for his sword sheath and took it in his other hand, a style he didn't use, he knew that if he would use his strongest fighting style all the time people would start knowing it by heart and no longer be impressed when he would use it.

In the end Tatsu was up close and personal with the beast, fearless of what destruction could be brought to him, he felt like he had nothing to lose, if a blow would be launched his way, he would block with all his might with both sword arms hoping it would be enough.''You'll never get through us, your inhuman nature and will to destroy forces us to kill you here and now''

"You arrogant man! Don't get ahead of yourself in thinking you can destroy me!" Hideyoshi's pride seemed stung by Tatsu's declaration, since he knew that he was basically stronger than Tatsu in level at least. But in the corner of his mind, he had to admit that Tatsu's dedication was no weaker than his own. He raised his blade and powered up a strike that would easily cut through a diamond as though it was nothing but paper. He would take out this shinigami first, then move on to the target he'd been intending to face from the start of all this.

Kuro saw the two of them closing in on each other. Tatsu's zanpakuto had amazing abilities, but Kuro felt that they made him a little careless in his feints. He wasn't sure if the zanpakuto's healing abilities would be able to save him from a full attack of an arrancar of Hideyoshi's level. So he had no choice but to intervene. The good part about it was that Hideyoshi's attention had been completely taken away from Kuro, so he had the time to think of his next move. As Hideyoshi's blade was raised above his head and began to glow, Kuro made his decision as to what was the best way to land a meaningful injury on his and Tatsu's opponent. Guiding spirit energy into his bankai ninja boots, which operated the same as his shikai gauntlet by compressing and focusing his power, Kuro shunpoed between the two of them as the arrancar's blade began to come down.

"Shunko!" Kuro shouted as a blast of electric looking white light ripped from his back, tearing through the fabric of his ninja outfit, leaving tattered strands of it hanging down his backside. The power coursing through his arms now was of a kido nature, a secret technique that he had learned a while back, but had yet to use in actual combat. Raising both his hands, Kuro met Hideyoshi's blade and used the shunko energy to meet the blade's force equally, bringing the strike to a stop with what appeared to be no strain. The arrancar seemed confused by this, and that gave Kuro the opening he needed. "You should know that a smart fighter goes after the strongest enemy first!" Pulling his left hand back, he poured all his leftover shunko power as well as a bunch of his normal spirit power into his left gauntlet. The two energies mixed as they were concentrated within the gauntlet, and Kuro brought his hand thrusting forward as he released the power to push his physical strength to new heights. His hand smashed into the center of Hideyoshi's breastplate, resulting in a crashing ring that boomed out like an explosion as the armor appeared to disintegrate at Kuro's touch. The excess force carried Kuro's hand through the broken armor, striking Hideyoshi's bare chest with a powerful blow that sent him flying backward, crashing into the same tree he'd hit earlier.

Hideyoshi didn't move for quite some time. Kuro wondered if he'd been knocked out. His curiosities about his foe's condition intensified as the fallen arrancar's body shone for a moment before revealing itself in his sealed human form again. After laying against the now leaning tree for a few seconds in this state, he groaned and slowly got to his feet.

"I am defeated today. The two of you showed great teamwork and strategy. But I cannot allow you to kill me. I still have much to do in service to my master. Like I said before Captain, you may find yourself meeting him soon." With this, Hideyoshi held out his hand and began to open a garganta to take himself back to Hueco Mundo. Kuro relaxed his body, letting the tense feeling of battle leave him as he decided to just let the adversary escape for now. He was sure that there would be other matches in the future.

Just as Tatsu had planned, hideyoshi seemed like a man that was driven by his pride, just like the samurai himself, he somehow knew where to launch his insults to make sure the monster would drive his attacks towards him, he only hoped the captain would be fast enough to end this fight with this massive openning he had given him. Seeing the blade in the air, risen to kill him in a single sweep Tatsu prepared to evade.

Tatsu knew this plan was almost suicidal but he had put his trust in the captains abilities, he knew that if they didn't work like this this fight wouldn't of went as well as it did. Tatsu's eyes didn't see what the captain was doing, they were focused on that huge blade being prepared to come down and crush him like a mere bug. Although Tatsu was a very couragious man and he indeed trusted the captain to a certain degree, he hoped he would see results in his strategy, a hint of fear could be felt in his own heart at this point.

The samurai heard the captain shout, a word he hadn't heard before some technique that left him flabbergasted when he could feel its energy. Tatsu dared turning his head to see a white light surging from his ally, this was truly a turning point in his life, at that point in time he knew what he wanted to do and what he needed to achieve, this man had faced a powerful foe to save a ryoka that could've easily been sacrified. The samurai had absolutly no clue what that technique was but it was sure epic in awesomeness. The captain was suddently in between the shinigami and the monster and had seemingly blocked the blow that had been suposed to kill the fairly young shinigami. The monster seemed dazed by this display of might and had no clue what to do next, which was not the case of the captain which was already chaining with another move that would end this fight. After a little speech that said how stupid and primitive this monster was the captain landed a blow that ended the fight in a single hit, the arrancar was already flying back coming to a crashing stop.

Hideyoshi came back to his feet slowly, admitting defeat, although the captain didn't make no move to end the fight, Tatsu wanted to slay his enemy, but he made no move, he knew not to scare a beast, and he followed the captains lead, a large black portal oppened and closed soon after the monster had stepped through, Tatsu turned his glance towards the captain and offered an honest smile. ''Guess you are doing good, its been a while'' He said while sheeting his sword, hoping he could make an ally, or even a friend on this day.