Brawling with a chance of thunderstorms (shunko training app)

Kuro sank through darkness in a free fall. Moments earlier he had been sitting in his office deciding what to do with his day. The captain had found himself bored again and without aim in his life. Coming to the conclusion he should train, he had closed his eyes and drawn himself into his soul world. As his descent came to an end, he was standing in the same old moonlit forest clearing that he had visited several times before. With a light rustle of the grass behind him, his zanpakuto spirit appeared in the normal submissive knelt position it always took when greeting him. Kuro turned around and began the conversation with no regard for Seishou-seijin’s servitude, for he had given up on talking about it.

“You know why I’m here.”

“Of course, I am merely a part of you after all.” The ninja spirit replied.

“Then there’s no need to discuss it further. It’s training time!”

Kuro leapt back from Seishou-seijin as he got out of his lowered position and prepared to fight. The aim today was shunko training. Kuro was still new at using the technique and wanted to better his skill level. After he had adequate distance from his spirit, he generated the necessary kido energy in his body and sent it flowing through his limbs. White energy began to silhouette his body and arc up over his head and shoulders while crackling like lightning. As the energy burst from his body, the clothing on his upper back and shoulders was shredded off by the violent release. His clothing hung on his body tattered as he rushed at Seishou-Seijin with shunpo. The zanpakuto spirit also approached him, simulating a real battle while in the safe confines of Kuro’s soul. The two of them met in the center of the clearing and started to clash. Kuro’s natural speed and strength was greatly increased by the kido energy flowing through him. But his zanpakuto spirit fought as his equal like always, unhampered by Kuro’s speed and strength and piling on as much pressure as needed to bring about satisfactory results in Kuro’s training. When Kuro threw a hard left punch, the spirit ducked and returned fire with a right jab. Kuro swayed out of the way and brought up his left leg with a high kick that was blocked by Seishou-seijin’s retracting arm after his jab. The spirit was the last to attack in the clash, striking with a left punch as strong as Kuro’s first attack had been. Kuro saw the attack and brought his right hand forward to meet the attack while releasing a sizable amount of kido from it.

“Hanki!” Kuro exclaimed while the movement of the spirit’s attack was halted, bringing his punch to an end. Kuro tried to follow through with an attack of his own, but when he threw his left fist again, the ninja spirit caught ahold of his wrist. “You’re empty.” The statement was true, for in Kuro’s move to utilize his kido energy and stop Seishou-seijin’s previous attack, he had used up the rest of the shunko energy he’d produced. The energy was no longer dancing around his body, and he felt strangely fatigued. He sank to the clearing’s floor to rest for a few minutes. The moon shone down on him while he reflected on the short spar. His usage of the shunko energy was still erratic and uncontrolled. He had probably put out more energy than necessary to use hanki earlier. On top of that, gathering and coursing the kido energy in his own limbs was still a mental control exercise that was new to him. He had produced such a finite amount to begin with that it was no surprise it had been used up so fast. He clambered to his feet after only a few valuable minutes of rest.

“I can still go.” He stubbornly insisted his readiness to his spirit, who looked back at him silently with its piercing glowing eyes behind its shinobi mask. He only nodded to Kuro in acknowledgment and resumed his fighting stance. Kuro immediately set himself on gathering more energy for shunko. He had been a user of plain spirit power for so long that suddenly using a technique that did about the same thing with kido energy was something that took some getting used to. The energy made a strange feeling as it flowed through his limbs and arched over his back again. When he was satisfied with the amount, he dashed for his opponent. Kuro tried to hold back on the energy output this time. Though it was kido energy, the principal of how it was controlled and directed was about the same as his own practices with his zanpakuto. Kuro’s mind was skilled in controlling such a flow. Instead of letting the power leak out continuously, he kept his mind on containing it and lengthening the amount of time he could keep it in his body. The energy blasting out of his body lessened its jumps’ height and the silvery aura that encompassed his figure grew thinner in its brilliance. The spar resumed with both fighters striking and evading a large number of attacks. With the boost of the kido energy, Kuro found his movements were not only quicker, but also sharper. Combining both speed and strength in this one energy as a source, his attacks cut with precision and deadly force. When he was satisfied with the current amount of progress, he decided to end the training in his usual way: with a show of something flashy. Kuro quickly gathered what shunko energy he had left in him and thrust his fist forward while releasing all of it at once. White kido energy resembling a mass of white lighting hados jumped from his outstretched fist and assailed the ninja spirit opponent. The blast blew Kuro’s partner back away from him and across the whole of the clearing, landing on the opposite edge. Kuro walked up to him as he got back up, then the two exchanged a quick bow of appreciation. “When I need your help for training again, I’ll be back.” Kuro remarked as he concentrated and brought himself out of the soul world, leaving behind an empty clearing as the ninja shot off into the dark forest surrounding it, out of sight once more.


Word Count: 1061
Shunko duration training