Unlock the Second Gate

Kuro sat down in the middle of the forest with his zanpakuto in his lap. He hadn't tried communicating with it many times before...when it wanted to talk to him, it had drawn him into his own soul or sent its spirit out to talk to him. Kuro was curious to learn more from his 'master'. He closed his eyes and focused on clearing his mind. It was a difficult task. His head was full of various worries these days. The elevating war in the soul society, the progress of his training.....he worked hard to let go of all of them for a few minutes.

He suddenly felt a soft breeze. He opened his eyes and saw that his setting had changed. He smiled as he looked around the familiar moonlit forest clearing where he'd first met his zanpakuto's spirit. He stood up and walked out into its center, looking for a sign of his spirit. He didn't have to look for long. The same ninja dressed person was coming out of the dark forest surrounding the clearing, just like last time. The spirit, Seishou-seijin walked up to Kuro and spoke in the same echoing voice as it always did. "I was wondering when you would come Kuro. Your power has been steadily increasing lately and you've put more practice into the use of my ability."

Kuro answered with a sort of longing in his voice. "Yes, I want to become stronger. A war has broken out in the soul society and I need strength -"

"To win the war?" Seishou-seijin interrupted Kuro's answer with an interrogating voice. It's eyes glowed brighter from behind its mask and looked at Kuro intensely.

"No...I don't know what I really want to happen. I have feelings all over the place on that subject. I...I just want to be able to fight. I want the strength to protect people that deserve it. If I don't get any stronger, I'll just be in the way."

Seishou-seijin's sharp gaze softened a bit as its eyes' glow dimmed a bit. Like always, Kuro couldn't tell what it was thinking behind that ninja mask, but it didn't seem to be mad at him. It turned its back to Kuro and walked a few paces away. With its back still turned it spoke, "Your resolve to your duties is shaky, but I have faith that you will find an adequate answer for yourself one day. Your resolve to your will however....that is strong. Your power is a sword that fights to protect the innocent around you. And that sword must by tempered if you want it to protect more easily."

Seishou-seijin turned back to face Kuro again. "The exploding palm skill I taught you last time has the potential to become far stronger. But you will need to gain that power by yourself.” With these words, the spirit charged at Kuro without warning and thrust its palm at his chest. Kuro knew that Seishou-seijin had to put no effort into his powerful strikes, and he didn’t want to take such a blow so early in their match. Surging his strength into his feet as quickly as he could, he shunpoed to the side and dodged the thrust. He gathered energy in his hand and suddenly felt the weight of his shikai on his arm.

“You’ve grown accustomed to fighting with that weapon. I won’t force you to fight without it.”

Kuro grinned at the spirit’s generosity and swung his left arm forward in a powerful punch. Seishou-seijin caught Kuro’s hand and was pushed back without losing his footing. He started walking slowly closer to Kuro and spoke up with his usual teaching. It never seemed like he tried to force Kuro to find things out completely for himself. He was like a master guiding Kuro in the right direction, and Kuro was the student following his teachings and inheriting his skills.

“Your skill with the exploding palm is wonderful, but you need to let it out more. The initial form of the skill is like the releasing of the flood waters behind a dam, but does the river stop there? How strong is your flood my student!?”

Kuro did not understand. He didn’t wait for Seishou-seijin to reach him and instead chose to charge him first. Performing a quick shunpo, he closed the distance between them in an instant and aimed another concentrated thrust at Seishou-seijin’s stomach. The spirit did not flinch, but did not counter attack either. Kuro glanced up into its eyes and shrunk back away from him, feeling the weight of the spirit’s experience glaring down on him. He was sure that he had hit him with a valid exploding palm strike, but its power seemed to stop right when it hit him. Kuro didn’t know what to do.

“You are disappointing me son. Is this truly all the strength your resolve can acquire? What happened to that strong will that wanted to protect people? Unless you can find your resolve without faltering and knock me down with your next attack, you will never find the strength you desire. You will always be a weak failure who can do no more than wish.”

Kuro’s face whitened in shock. His zanpakuto had never talked to him with that kind of harshness before. It was true that he wanted strength. And nothing was going to stop him from getting it. He poured his power into his left fist continuously. As he concentrated on the power, he saw those he wanted this strength for in his mind’s eye. Shin and the rest of the villagers in the Rukongai, his friends in the gotei like Kaiyo, Crowe, Saroki, and Ryouta, maybe he even owed some of his progress to the hollows he’d met that time. They had all helped him come this far, and it was for them that he wanted to improve even more. With that thought, he finished concentrating his energy. The jewel on his gauntlet was glowing brilliantly. He had not put this much strength in it even during the training exercise. He charged at Seishou-seijin one last time and hoped for a miracle. He pulled back his open palm and slammed it into the ninja’s chest, releasing all of the stored up power at once. But as the impact exploded against his foe, something else happened. All the extra power that Kuro had built up in his strike was flowing out of his gauntlet in a powerful, narrow laser blast. It reminded Kuro of a hollow’s cero, but only as wide as his fist. The blast forced Seishou-seijin away from Kuro, pushing him all the way out of the clearing before ending in a large explosion out of Kuro’s sight in the dark forest.

Kuro was slumped over, panting. Seishou-seijin had been right. The dam metaphor was perfect for his power. After releasing his strength from inside his body, he could bring it out of his hand like a raging river set loose to wash over his enemies. The spirit walked back to the clearing, but did not approach Kuro. It spoke from the edge of the forest. “The skill you have just learned has no name, for all you have done is learned the completed form of the skill I originally taught you. Use both variations often, for when you completely master them both, I have more to teach you. Go now and show me greater improvement so that you may fulfill your desires of supporting those you wish to aid. That is all for today, my son.”

Kuro wanted to talk with Seishou-seijin more, but before he could say anything, the moonlit clearing disappeared in a flash and he found himself standing back in the Rukongai forest all by himself. He looked down at his fist and felt a small sense of accomplishment for the progress he had made today.

Ability 2: Kibaku Hirate - Completed form

By storing up more power in his gauntlet, Kuro is able to fire the concentrated energy out of the jewel on his palm in a similar style to a hollow's bala.

*stamps with shiny new coloured stamper*
ABILITY APPROVED