At The Speed Of Thought (Shikai)

Walking through the stores of the Sereitei area, Kaito was looking for any new books that had come out that maybe interesting to read, but unfortunately he could find nothing of the sort which made him quite irritated as he walked down the shop aisles. "I woke up just so that I could go sight seeing? What a waste of my time..." he cursed himself for being so gullible as to think that he would be able to get his hands on any of the good books that there had been rumors about. Kicking the road as he walked Kaito strolled through the area with his head down despite many people noticing him he refused to respond to any of them since he wasn't at all in the mood to be playing around with foolish people who are looking for autographs. Walking around with a gloomy cloud hanging dangerously over his head, Kaito tried to stay away from people, but then he heard the grunts of a little boy along with the jeers of grown men. Deciding that he would check out what was so exciting just outside the market place of the Sereitei Kaito walked around the corner of an alley to catch two shinigami beating up on a boy who apparently came from Rukongai.

One of the shinigami raised their fists in the air once again as if to strike the boy, but Kaito instantly appeared beside him with the man's wrist caught within the grasp of his left hand, "Just what do you believe you are doing? This is a small child...Don't you have other things you could be doing?" he asked with no emotion in his voice. Most shinigami would have been appalled by the two officers in front of him, but Kaito himself felt as if in the grand scheme of things it didn't matter whether or not their actions were right or wrong. The shinigami whom Kaito had in his clutches managed to wriggle free after many attempts at struggling only because Kaito had let him go, "You...you're that 3rd squad brat that everyone calls a genius..." the shinigami spat with venom as he glowered at Kaito while clutching his wrist. The other shinigami stepped in front of his partner with his eyes squinted as he sized up Kaito, "I don't sense any of the super powerful reiatsu that I have been hearing about..." he said jeeringly to his partner. His partner for the first time seemed to pick up on this fact as well as a smile spread across his face, "Maybe it's just all rumor about the famed Kaito Saruwatari after all..." he said cracking his knuckles as if to intimidate Kaito.

With no signs of emotion on his face, Kaito's image disappeared as he flash stepped over to the boy who was still curled on the ground behind the two shingami, "This is no place for a soul like you to be...you should leave since these two want to start something so bad..." he sighed to the youngster at his feet. At first the boy refused to remove his head from the protection of his arms, but once he realized that the person standing over him had no ill intentions he shakily stood up. Bowing his head the boy stammered, "T-thank you very much sir..." before he looked at the other two shinigami with a worried look on his face as he tried to come up with a way to get past the two bully shinigami without getting his head knocked off. Once again faster than any of the people around him could perceive, Kaito flash stepped in between the two shinigami and drove an elbow into the side of the shinigami on his right which was then followed by a swift roundhouse kick to the shinigami of his left's head. The shinigami nor the boy knew what happened within that instant except that Kaito had done something and the other shinigami had ended up upon the floor clutching places that they had just realized began to hurt, "Now take your leave or else I'm just going to leave you to them..." he told the boy.

The boy broke into a run as he ran past Kaito to safety and sighing while shaking his head Kaito regarded the floored shinigami out of the corner of his eyes, switching between the both of them to make sure that they didn't try anything slick, "To think to shinigami...supposed protectors of souls and the Material World...beating up on a small child..." he sighed. One of the shinigami scoffed as he attempted to rise once again, but found himself wincing as he propped himself up on his arm, "...And just what are you? The savior of all things that are just? Is that who you are? Some self-righteous punk that believes that he is always doing the right thing? Eh, Saruwatari-sama?" he asked mockingly. Kaito didn't even really even hear the shinigami's rebuttal as he had already begun walking away halfway through the shinigami's monologue, "Think what you will, I don't care about justice...in the end logic washes away such petty concepts like that..." he said over his shoulder. It seemed as if his response angered one of the shingami because they immediately sprung up from their fallen position and Kaito could hear the panting that was emanating from their being, "Then what?! Who do you think you are? Just stepping in other people's way like that?! Eh?! Answer me?!" the shinigami screamed.

Kaito stopped and turned towards the two shingami with a completely uninterested look in his eye as he responded, "I hate people like you that believe that through loud words and alot of bodily fluids you can make someone rethink their philosophy on life..." he said unenthusiastically at the shinigami. It was as if his last words were the final straw for both shinigami who had been shaking with rage as soon as he had started speaking because they immediately drew their blades and lunged at Kaito while screaming bloodly murder. Sighing Kaito pushed off his left foot and quickly found himself in between the two shinigami as they were in mid stride, "At the very least...think about how you are going to defend your stance before brainlessly rushing in..." he commented as he backhanded one of the shinigami in the face. The shinigami's body skidded through the dust as he remained sprawled while clutching his face, but the other shinigami was intent on trying to prove his point and Kaito had really had enough of these two ingrates so he kicked at the shinigami's right knee taking away his center of gravity. The shinigami's expression on his face as the Kaito and him seemed to float within the construct of time told the young shinigami that he had already broken the other shinigami's resolve as he ducked then drove an upward palm thrust into the shinigami's chin.

As the last shinigami's body struck the dirt weightlessly Kaito seemed to experience something that he could only describe as an out-of-body moment as he stared at the two defeated shinigami that lay construed upon the ground in front of him, but then the ground and the world around him seemed to waver. Suddenly everything from the trees, the ground, the sky, and even the shinigami deformed into a sort of world where all of the roads were made of stained glass which was thereafter surrounded by only darkness. Kaito shuddered as recognition washed over him, "This place...where that thing..." he began to say as the memories of his special training with the old man came rushing back to him, but this time he didn't feel an evil presence surrounding him. It was then that Kaito knew that the place that he had been in before and was in now was not the dwelling of the specter that had attempted to take over his existence, but rather was the confines of his mind although he still didn't understand what he was doing there at the moment. As he began to sort through the possibilities of why he was where he was he felt the gentle brush of another consciousness within his mind; it was different yet at the same time felt as if it were a familiar feeling.

It was a being that was powerful of that Kaito was sure, but he wasn't able to discern what the being's intentions were much less find it for that matter as he remained stuck upon one of the many beautiful paths of stained glass feeling this amazing presence around him. Suddenly Kaito was aware of a shadow that began to loom over him from behind and the shinigami slowly turned to bear witness to a floating asteroid that was somewhat shaped like a demon's skull, "W-what the hell is this..." was all he could think as he felt the amazing presence deepen. As things had taken him by surprise enough suddenly the asteroid's jaw and cheekbones cleaved apart revealing an eye that seemed to capture everything within its gaze. While Kaito didn't know what to make of this entire scene, he couldn't help but allow his jaw to drop so that it was slightly agape as he stared at the being that loomed above him like an omen, "Just what in the world is this aura I'm sensing from this thing?" he wondered. It felt as if he could feel the being's hunger, but it wasn't the vicious, savage kind of hunger that comes from needing to eat rather it was the kind of hunger that came with an intense desire; a hunger that would consume everything around it without discretion if not kept in check.

A deep, resonating voice began booming within the station of Kaito's mind, "Why do you ignore me? Kaito...what is your desire?" the voice asked him and it took awhile for Kaito to realize that despite the fact that the thing in front of him had no mouth it was still speaking to him. "Ignore you?..." Kaito started to say as he shut his mouth and took a couple of steps forwards, "That would mean that you are my zanpakutou's spirit then..." Kaito said conclusively as he finally came to a stop. There was no answer which made Kaito smile as he closed his eyes and placed his index finger upon his chin, "Geez..." he sighed, "...you really are my zanpakutou after all...you refuse to answer responses that are completely irrelevant to your question and what you want to find out, eh?" he said knowingly. It became very clear that he was closer to his zanpakutou than he had ever been before and he was going to take this opportunity to learn its name so that he could continue his search. Opening his eyes again as the smile faded away, Kaito responded to the zanpakutou spirit, "I haven't been ignoring you...I simply decided that my search is more important that searching for a light when I don't even know where the bulb is...and as for you second question...you should know that if you truly are my zanpakutou's spirit..." he said trying not to allow the waver of confidence to show.

The eye's pupil seemed to widen at his response, "Kaito, in order to obtain control of me you must know that I'm looking for a something that is separate from your own quest yet at the same time it would be achieved once you find what you are looking for..." the voice told him. At first bewilderment was all that filled Kaito's being, "How could I know what this massive, disambiguate figure is thinking after just making contact with it for the first time?..." Kaito wondered to himself with a slight sense of irritation. Suddenly Kaito found himself floating up towards the eye of the spirit as he had unexpectedly been encased in glass, but he showed no signs of his surprise as he was now on the same level of the veined, red eye of the being in front of him. "It is easy to know what you are looking for....but to know what you seek is truly a sign that you are going to have the will to continue hunting for what you seek..." the voice emanated in his head, "So what is it that you seek..." was the final question. Sighing, Kaito stared daggers at the being in front of him since he was now tired of playing cat and mouse games, "I have no time for your questions or games...in truth I have decided that I want power since it is only with that it would be possible for me to obtain the reason for life that I seek..." Kaito sharply said.

As if there was something about his response that meant something, the glass bubble that he had been trapped in shattered allowing him to fall back to the stained glass floor which Kaito landed upon in a crouched position as his stare's intensity didn't lessen in the slightest bit. He had enough of the being in front of him and his irritation seemed to be spreading out from him onto the rest of the environment in the form of some type of corrosion, "I see...you're will is taking over the place...you really are something then after all..." the voice said slowly. "So this is my will eating away at my own mind's dimension?" he scoffed at the spirit's explanation, "No...not eating...you are finally taking control of this territory and along with it you have taken the right to request my powers..." the voice explained. "My name is...Á Bao A Qu..." the voiced boomed as a blinding light seemed to emanate from the center of the pupil's eye as the entire place began to shake violently, but Kaito couldn't see that as the light forced him to bring his hands over his face to shield his eyes. Once he was able to open his eyes again Kaito found himself back in the place where he had fought the two shinigami and knocked them out, but they seemed to had arisen once again ready to fight.

Sighing Kaito raised his right hand to smack himself in the forehead when he realized that he was holding his zanpakutou in his hand, only it wasn't his zanpakutou, at least not the way that he had remembered, "What is this? Is this the released form..." he thought expressionlessly. The blade was the same length, but it was now obisdian black and the hilt had changed from a standard hilt to something that resembled an eye, "I see...so you finally have decided to come out and play with me..." he thought. Suddenly he felt the same consciousness of his zanpakutou at his side once again, "Allow me to give you a freebie...place you sword into the ground and channel your reiatsu as you allow the power of logic to take hold of your being...then you will receive the first of my powers..." the voice instructed him. Again Kaito sighed since he didn't think that he would need to go so far against guys that were weaker than him without his zanpakutou, but he did as the spirit had instructed him to do and suddenly he could feel reiatsu pouring out from somewhere that was a part of him yet not a part of him at the same time. "So this is what you meant Ryouta..." Kaito thought as he looked up with the glint of his zanpakutou's hunger in his eyes burning a brilliant purple within his crimson eyes.

Suddenly pink tinted mirrors arose around himself and the shinigami that had been dashing at him in a dome which completely surrounded all three shinigami, "You already know how to use this technique Kaito...now do it...and let us move on from this point searching for what is truly important to us..." the voice said. "It looks like I'm going to have to agree with you on that point..." he said with a smile as he eyed the confused and now fearful shinigami, "Sorry you guys...let me introduce you to my zanpakutou, Á Bao A Qu...and better yet I'll show you the first technique as well..." he added darkly. His normally violet reiatsu swirled around him with in tints of magenta as his reiatsu now mixed with that of his zanpakutou's, but he still held back to less than 20% of his full power since he wasn't aiming to kill the shinigami. "...its name is...Makyō Hyōshō...with that said..." Kaito leaped back into the mirror that was directly behind and felt himself become absorbed into it. As Kaito stayed within the mirror he could feel the reiatsu from his zanpakutou and his own slowly melding together, "I will tell you what this technique does...remember how fast I was before? Well...that's nothing to the speed you're going to experience now..." he said as he raised his blade up along with the other images of himself in the other 20 mirrors.

The mirrors' surfaces flashed with the light of reiatsu and Kaito exploded forward at the two helpless shinigami with the burst of speed that the technique had given him slashing both of them within the span of no more than 1/100 of a second before leaping back to the mirror on the opposite side of the dome. Kaito turned while he was in the safety of his mirror to witness the shinigami fall helpless to the ground completely unconscious from the wounds they had recieved, but Kaito knew that they would live since he hadn't aimed to kill. On his command the technique was dispelled and the mirrors shattered into pieces that faded away before they touched the ground, "So this is the ability of my zanpakutou...interesting..." he thought as he strolled back to the 3rd squad barracks. He was going to stop by the 4th squad area to alert the medics that the two shinigami needed help and then he would have to go sleep since he was tired of walking around aimlessly attracting trouble towards him. "In truth..." he said to himself as he walked with closed and his head raised to the sun, "I don't think I used more than 10% of my reiatsu there...Oh well..." he decided as he shrugged his shoulder and continued off into the sunset with his new power.

Shikai:

+2 to Spirit power, Speed and Fighting Skill.

Call out phrase: Omoi O Terashimasu (Enlighten the mind), Á Bao A Qu

Description of released form:
The blade goes from looking like a standard zanpakutou to one that is obsidian black with red triangles along the edges of the blade leading all the way back to the hilt. The guard changes as well to that off an eye that has the blade focused in the center so it looks as if the blade sprouts out from where the pupil would be. The hilt changes to having the main colors of black and red wrapped around it.

Abilities:

Ability 1:
Makyō Hyōshō (Demonic Mirrors) : Using his reiatsu, Kaito can create a dome of twenty-one mirrors made out of pink glass to trap an opponent. Twelve remain at ground level, eight are placed above the first twelve and angled toward the ground, and the final mirror is above the rest and facing the ground. Kaito can then enter one of the mirrors and instantly transport to another mirror. While moving about he bombards the opponent with attacks at very high speeds, such that the rest of the world appear to be moving in slow motion compared to him. If the mirror Kaito is in is broken, he can leap out of one of the fragments and continue his attack or move to another mirror. The technique requires a large amount of reiatsu to maintain, so Kaito's movement becomes progressively slower the longer he maintains the mirrors. The number of posts that Kaito is able to use this ability is determined by his current spirit power divided by 12 after which case he must dispel the technique and wait for at least a one post period.

+ 5 speed for the specified amount of time above.

okay looks good just try and not be too godmodly with your ability and people don't usually ass any +stat points to their shikai, but i left you waiting for far too long and i can sort that out with everyone else...
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