Captain battle. Powerful as a bitc*!

Lee had been fidgeting with his pen and book, like he always was. He sat solemnly and quietly in the corner of a small room in Seretei which noone really went to anymore. It was an old warehouse that held old black shinigami robes that hadn't been used in a long time. 1000's of years, it could have been. lee didn't mind, this was one of the only quiet places that he could find. He had been here for hours, just drawing. It was really, surprisingly, only on one picture, though. The page was heavy with ink, different colors and different patterns. Layers and layers all on this one page. Layers and layers gone to one line. He decided that today was an important day. He had scheduled for a battle with another captain. Seeing as he had just learned his bankai, and had just been appointed to 5th division captain due to Kaji's promotion, Lee thought he'd give himself a test run. He had used his bankai only against noone really. He needed to test it out in battle. For once, Lee was extremely enthusiastic to show off his power.

As Lee drew more and more, he wondered how this guy fought, and if he would give Lee a hard time. He sure hoped so. His name was Kyouken Shikyo, but that was really all that Lee knew about him. The rest, he supposed, he would have to find out in battle. Lee finished his page. What it looked like, was a lion with large spikes coming out from either side of him, and large wings that also had spikes on them. There were lines and fancy details coming from every aspect of the creature. He decided it was the best drawing he had accomplished so far, and would use it in battle soon. He stood up, and dusted his robe off. He began to cough pretty violenelty. Supposedly, he picked up a lot of dust laying in their for as long as he had. He sighed, but the sigh followed up with a smile. This was going to be a great day. As he began walking to the door of the warehouse, he slipped his drawing book right inside of his robe pocket. He pushed open the door, and was instantly blinded by the light. He forgot, quickly, that he hadn't been outside in some time.

Lee began walking nervously to the appointed place. This captain was much older then him, and probably a LOT more experienced. Lee had never fought someone above Vice Captain rank. Hell, Lee barely even fought at all. This would be a rare experience for him indeed. And an interesting one. Lee stopped at the corner of the large destined area for the battle between the two captains. It was extremely large, in that, they would have a lot of open room to fight. There were large stones surrounding an area that took up about the size of two football fields. Lee walked through a couple of meters, looking around at the place and nodding. He took a piece of gum out of his shingami robe pocket, sliding a piece of it out of the package with his teeth. He read the label on the plastic that surrounded the stick of gum, for he had forgotten which flavor it was.

"Sour Apple, my favorite!"

Lee said this before completely unravelling the piece of gum. He did all of this to mentally prep himself. No anger was the best way to prep himself for a battle. He couldn't be furious and berserk. He had to be calm and relaxed, or else his creativity and precision would be off, by a lot. That's all that matters when drawing, right? Especially drawing large creatures in mid-air, that become animated as an attack. Lee began chewing the piece of gum as he put his back to the wall and closed his eyes. He smiled as he heard the birds chirping. Would this setting change soon, to something less beautiful? Probably. Lee let his back slide down across the stone he was positioned on. he took a nice relaxing position while sitting "Criss-crossed applesauce".

here he comes.

Warm, a bit of clouds passing by the sun, but blue skies. Wonderful weather for a battle. It was quiet to Kyouken, not only a external sensation but internally as well. Although, he was not expecting to be challenged, he did not mind the sudden invitation to a fine battle. A friendly spar or a deadly fight, whichever it was, it would remind him well of the past battles he has fought against the hollows; and his own kind as well. The rush of drawing his blade, blades clashing metal upon metal, some swings making contact innocently being swiped and swapped at due to lack of precision while some connected with flesh and muscle; ripping, shreading and tearing through the bodies of that the blade makes contact with. He was not much of a fighter. In the past, he tried to avoid fighting as possible. He was a peaceful man but it was rather inevitable to believe that such methods of thought could actually stop the warfare that he went through for all of his life.

His hands were hidden in the long white sleeves of his haori, covering the appearane he had underneath it. It drapped downward to his ankles, but moved gracefully as he walked. He was thinking maybe he shouldn't have worn it today. After all, removing it from his body would lead onward to the ground, the ground would get it dirty and he would have to wash it yet again. He would have to wash it long and hard. Nowadays, haori's of captain status would get dirt and dust on it constantly. Constantly, he would scrub long and hard to make it considerably white and in its former glory.

Ah, he was thinking too much again. He suppose he couldn't help it. Getting to be his age, he thinks alot more than usual. In the young days, he would daydream and think all the time. Now, no longer young internally, he would think about things ahead, things in the past and things in the present. Was it because he was older and he had to think about such events or rather did he choose to think about these things? Whatever his reasoning, it made sense to him and only made sense to him.

He truly had to focus on the fight now. There was no time to waste. Time is precious, remembering a quote from his former master. Closing his eyes, he begins to think. But first not about fighting, just emptying his mind. Clearing all thoughts and process. There was only one objective, one mission, one day, a few minutes; A fight between a young captain. It isn't to say that he would be haughty and disregard his opponent because of his age. He has learn from the past that even the young ones have there advantages. Its the old ones, who believe that they are wise and stronger because of the experience they had, gives them the advantage. A vital weakpoint in strategy for those around his age. He would play his cards safe, watching him as he goes. Analyze him thoroughly. A good shogi match started like this he thought to himself. Quite frankly, he was correct.

The pathway began to change; once walking on a wooden path now turned into stone, his body adjusted as his eyes were still closed. He sensed another presence. It was a faint presense at first but soon came prominent as he walked closer and closer to the presence. He open his eyes. Ah, now there was something of a sight to see. A arena that was 200 yards in both length and width with several large stones placed randomly around the area. He had not realize it before the but the small stone path had turned dusty and filled with dirt. He appeared the pathway was a short way to the arena itself.

He took his hands out of his haori and sighed. It was a cold sigh. A sigh that could be seen from his direction, regardless of how far the captain, Lee, was. The moment he took another step forward, the small arena itself had gotten a bit colder. Kyouken's reiatsu had not overwhelmed the area, but rather changed the atmopshere around him. His dark ice blue eyes almost wandered the area, scanning the area, scanning the rocks and scaned Lee himself. As expected, Lee was a very young captain. Although by appearance he could be just a few years younger than Kyouken's appearance, however he knew and Lee knew that there was a gigantic huge distance. Kyouken was on one side of the world while Lee was on the other; the age gap itself is a large body of ocean that kept them seperate with each other

One was young, unexperience but full of life, ambition and unseen talent; the other was older, wiser, experienced yet the life was gone from his eyes and his talent has been seen by most. The older shinigami knew of him but the younger generation have read upon him but not one of them have experienced a full on duel with him. There have been a few who have seen his Shikai and there was only the captain commander and one other person who have seen his Bankai. What made it interesting was would this be the day he would release his zanpaktou in battle?

A smile appeared across Kyouken young appearing face "I suppose you are the one that called me to this duel" he said in a very calm and extremely cool voice "I have to actually thank you. If you didn't give me an invitation, I would've went to the library and read there most of the day before returning back to my other studies" (his other "studies" include a ridiculous amount of physical training to the body) "I believe you are the young 5th division captain that had just been promoted. I congratulate you on it. It is good that we are getting more of the youth in the Gotei thirteen who show promise and ambition to the table. Balance of experience and youth is, as they say, a nessecity"

He sighed yet again. A cold breath came out. "So, let us pressume that we are playing a game of shogi. Please, I will allow you to go first. Not as an act of charity or kindness but as I said, a shogi match. I do enjoy a good shogi match"

Lee swallowed his gum, his eyes not widening, but being in a bit of a mental shock. Lee still looked straight ahead of himself, seeing the large stone pillar on the other side of him, but his mind was somewhere else. Not only had he sensed a large spiritual pressure closing in on his position, but had it really become colder all of the sudden? Lee slowly looked to the side, trying not to cough from the sudden swallowing of his gum. What he saw was a man who didn't even really seem much older then Lee himself was. Well, through appearence, anyways. Appereance, however, seemed to not play much of a big factor in Seretei, or so Lee noticed. Lee took note that this man just seemed old. Like, if you were to even try to look into everything about him and his past, you would go crazy. Lee stood up at first glimpse of the captain who had made his way into the large arena that they would battle in. Lee began to smile, not really feeling any sort of intimidation anymore. oddly enough, he was in a large, now cold arena; With an experienced captain who already let off a formidable reiatsu.

But because he was here... As his zanpaktou's manifestation was say, "Since you are here, make the best of being here. Everything can be destroyed and created again, don't let fear be a factor in your behavior." Lee replayed the quote over and over again in his head again, looking straight into the eyes of the captain before him as he began to speak. Lee's secure mood was now replaced with one of enthusiasm and temptation. He wanted this battle to start... He wanted to get to the good part. Lee listened with joy at what he had to say. Atleast he wasn't one of those old people who became an asshole over time due to their belief that they knew more then anyone. He sounded incredibly... Nice, and understanding. A bonus, he even commented on his youth, and congratulated him. And even thanked him for the invintation! Lee was just about to thank the man before him for even showing up. Hell, Lee was the one who had just been promoted, giving short notice to what seemed to be a legendary man. It would be hard to fight this guy with any resentment or anger in mind, which was only good for Lee.

He wanted to play things as a strategist. He wanted to play this out with calmness. He wanted to test out his abilities, to there fullest potential. Lee then saw that this man perhaps wanted the same thing. He suggested that we play the battle as if we'd play a game of Shogi. A game of strategy that was taught to him by his grandfather in his early ages. Lee was too good at the game for his own good. If only he was that good at battling? Maybe he should... Hmmm. Lee thought about this remark for a bit, while forming his own. play this like a game of Shogi. Was he being fugurative, or literal? Lee couldn't tell, but he supposed he should take him literally. If so, Lee had the perfect idea, but it involved him to do something that shinigami usually don't do, especially Captains.

"It is really a pleasure to meet you, Kyouken." Lee said, feeling the urge to use the suffix, "Sama", but remembering his formalities as a captain. It still didn't feel at all natural to be considered "Sama", for Lee. He almost felt like he wanted to go back to where people didn't rely on him, or envy him so much. Lee liked being powerful though, after hundreds of years of... Not being powerful. Lee obviously didn't know what he wanted.... "And, did you say that you wanted to battle as if we were playing a game of Shogi? Yeah, you did! Well, here we go! Good luck to you, Kyouken. I look forward to seeing what you can do!" Lee said with a small bow attached to his dialogue.

After his small bow, he jumped back and stared at his opponent. While keeping his eyes on his opponent's, he extracted the sword from his sheath, and prepared to go into shikai. That's right, he was going into shikai on the first move. But, this would be the only way that he could make his move the way he wanted to. This was the only way he could make his move as a "Shogi" type move. He would set it up the way his opponent wanted, and what Lee might consider to be a new battle strategy. With this, he would have good defense, and offense, leading up to what he was waiting to practice: Bankai.

Lee put both of his hands on his zanpaktou and focused his energy. "Draw, Suminako!" Lee yelled, with his eyes closed. From his hilt, to the tip of his blade, a blackness creeped across. His whole blade was black, but nothing had really changed about Lee's appereance other then that of his sword's. He was just Lee, however, the aura around him was much different. Unlike many other shikai releases, Lee's did not release a large blast of spiritual pressure. However, it did release something much, much different. His spiritual pressure was released through something much more artistic. Lines of color were flying from his person, a rainbow of color shining from him. This would die down after a few seconds, for some reason.

Lee began drawing with his sword furiously into the air while his opponent was still standing where he was. As he drew, he continued walking to the left and creating more and more beasts. Lions, tigers and bears, oh my! No, there were no bears. Lee thought of them to.. really not have any advantages. Lee stood in the center of all the things he had drawn, claiming himself as the "King" of the Shogi match. Around him were two ferocious lions. Although they were ferocious, and indeed fast, they were to be destroyed within one hit, like everything else he had created in shikai form. He also had two quick falcons, and two ground-hogs.

Lee looked around, and then looked at Kyouken. The game of Shogi was about to commence. Lee pointed forward, as two big lions growled and ran forward at the opponent. One came from the left, and one came from the right. About two seconds behind them, was a screeching falcon rushing towards the opponent in black and white. If the lions did not land a hit on the opponent, the bird had an opening.

Lee appeared not only youthful but as expected ambitious. This is what Kyouken admired about the young, espicially those who rise in rank and do not let it hinder them when they fail at such. He's been here and he remember watching the most ambitious shinigami who would rise in the rank but would loose it when they couldn't get any higher than fifth or fourth seat. He remembered being third seat in the twelth division, vice captain in the second division almost a few hundred years later to this position. He doesn't, however, remember being ambitious as Lee. He saw the calm and coolness but also a nervousness in his step. It was not out of fear but out of excitement and thats what drew Kyouken's attention. The smile on his face did not fade one bit, he only waited patiently for Lee to attack. To draw the first move. He was considered the white piece while himself, was the black.

Everything that had happen; the moment Lee drew out his zanpaktou and released it; the lions and tigers and giant falcon doing a full out charge at him. Very useful of his zanpaktou and his tactics. The pawns were moving out to rush over to the king piece, Lee was the king in this match and Kyouken had a feeling that this sparring match, itself, will have many twist and turns. Kyouken was now thinking quickly but his body reacted faster than his mind. He bends downward and jumps up in the air, avoiding the land animals but he was still not out of the clear. Flipping in mid-air, his hand was on the hilt of his zanpaktou. His grip tighten; his face, once smiling, now with a very calm facial expression and demeanor. He pulls it out swiftly, almost unseen to the eye. The blade shun in the light as he continued to flip backwards over and over before he parried himself to stop fliping. He was holding the blade in a unfamilar stance. The blade itself was away from him, holding the blade in what appeared to be in a 2nd division styles. This gave proof that he was once in that division

Even as he was floating downward to the earth quickly, he took mental notes of what Lee was doing. He saw beforehand that he was drawing away, creating creature after creature to make it appear like a shogi board. He brough lions, tigers, falcons and beast he could not make out due to him thinking about what to do next. He knew right away that when the lions were charging with intense speed plus the falcon dodge, there was intent that he was trying to see what was his weak side as well as find out what his first course of action was to do. He did not want to him any of his hand to hand mastery yet because he had no intent on using hand to hand yet. He would save that for later usuage. Simply using hand-to-hand was not going to work out as of yet. He had no idea what these creatures were storing inside of them; simply punching, kicking or even swinging his blade to destroy them would not better him in this position. Instead, he would turn the tables as to what Lee and his creatures could do.

Falling to the earth, he landed behind one of the large boulders that was placed in the arena. He could use this for cover he thought to but the lions could go around it quickly and the falcon could easily manuever through the air. Instead, he would use the boulder as a means for attacking. Taking his zanpaktou, he makes work on the boulder itself. His arm and blade was moving at such speeds, cutting through the blade as if rock was just mere butter to him. In a few seconds time, the boulder had turned into hundred pieces of rocks that were floating to the ground. To Kyouken perception, the rocks look as if they were floating slowly. He knew that his adrenline was kicking in, his breathing had increased due to the speed and bit of force he was using to cut through the boulder in such a short amount of time, his muscles were throbbing and he could almost feel the blood rushing throughout. But he wasn't done there.

The arena itself felt colder than it should be. Lee's reiatsu, once molding and mending with Kyouken's reiatsu, was now seemingly overwhelmed by his cold reitasu. Lee would be able to see his old breath as the temperature was begining to drop. Kyouken begins to around the area of the once standing boulder now turned to dust. He was creating momentum for himself, trying to build more and more until the world around him was beginning to look like a twister, for he was creating such a thing. Kyouken was generating a twister around the once dropping rocks now floating in mid-air. The dirt and dust around him created the effect that a twister could create. It wasn't a large one, only reaching up to fifty meters in height and fifteen meters in width, but that was all Kyouken needed. As the hundreds rocks begin to spin in the small vortex, they began to come out of the twister with great speed. The hundreds of rocks were not just aiming at random directions but also in the direct line of the creatures Lee had created and Lee himself.

The momentum of the rocks were hell bent into causing not only physical damage to Lee but causing damage to the effected area as well. Some of the rocks had pelted into the ground as they had great weight in them. It caused the ground to crack as the rocks made small impact crators around it. This was something of a plan that Kyouken had in store. He did not know what methods of shogi Lee had been taught, but he knew there was three simple keys into winning a game of shogi: Time, Space, Material.

Lee was definetely in for something else then he had expected at first. What Lee had expected was that the lions would fall, and the falcon would have a sure-fire chance at damaging Kyouken. This was definetely not the case. Kyouken had done a simple jump up into the air, followed by some well-performed flips. Where he landed was behind a rock which was a few meters away. Lee's expression changed. Was he hiding? No, that couldn't be. He was a captain of more experience, who couldn't have been afraid of these creations. Both of the lions could be killed in one swing. Lee knew that Kyouken had to be doing something else behind that boulder, but what exactly? Could he be charging a fatal attack, could he be-? Just then, the large boulder that was once there had begun falling into smaller rocks and dust. Lee knew now, that he definetely wasn't worried about his defense against the creatures, for he had just destroyed it. He had just destroyed the entire rock, with his sword.

But why? What was he doing? There was nothing that Lee could even begin to imagine that would make this of any use. That's when he saw Kyouken running around the objects. He was running a bit slow at first, but after a while, Lee could imagine what he was trying to accomplish. He was going to create some form of twister, or so it seemed. Creating a twister from scratch. How fast was this guy? Well, after a while of him running around the rocks, and his ink beasts that were left in confusion due to no further orders from Lee, he saw that he was indeed very fast. A full on twister was created, and headed right in the direction of Lee and all of his creations. Lee didn't get to worked up over this, for if he did, he couldn't execute a defense against it. He knew exactly what to do. Lee began drawing a very large bird, about 5 times the size of the falcons that he had set out to attack.

When he finished up the last detail of it, it's tail, the bird screeched loudly into life. Lee had no time. As he had gotten up onto the large bird, taking a seat on it's back, he flew up in the air. While departing, signalling the ground moles that were left behind to, well, go underground, Lee noticed his first lion creation going under and into the twister. A very faint burst of ink could be seen now swirling around in a plethora of rocks and dust. His pawn was taken. This shogi match was like the queen versus the king and it's pawns and castles. Lee (The king) controlled many weaker pieces, (The ink beasts). And then there was Kyouken (The queen), the strongest piece by himself.

Lee signalled his second lion to run away and take cover, while he signalled the two smaller falcons to follow Lee's course exactly. From an outside view-point, it looked as if they were flying straight into the twister. They were about 20 meters high, and about 10 meters away from it. As they got a bit closer, they turned, and went the opposite direction of the twisters pull. The twister twisted right, while they flew to the left of it. At there highest speeds, they rushed around the formidable twister over and over again, dieng it down a bit each time. On the travel around the large tornado, something happened that Lee quite expected. One of the large, boulder-like rocks that had flew out of the tornado hit one of the birds. The rock carried the pasted black creature to the ground, and when it hit the ground, the beast exploded with ink, leaving the rock covered in dark material. Lee only had one falcon following him now. On about there fifteenth run around it, the twister had completely died down, leaving only a big trail of broken rocks and dust. Lee and his creations were positioned at an almost floatation still 20 meters in the air.

Holding his palm out to the animals and beasts that he had created, signalling for the one that was left to stay where it was, Lee looked down at his opponent. What move to do next? Lee then had an idea. Lee pointed upwards, still looking down at Kyouken. The bird flew about about 50 meters into the air, almost completely unseen. From groundpoint, you could probably see one black figure that was circling in the sky, waiting for their chance at action. They were more like Shogi pieces then Lee had ever realized before. They were his to command. They had no heart or brain of their own, only offense and speed.

Once the one smaller falcon had done it's job and were now up in the air, Lee began his attack. With his over-grown bird, he swooped down at high speeds towards Kyouken. His sword already extracted, he held it like a knight would a javelin. Straight in front of him, directed at his opponent. However, when he got about three meters away from Kyouken, he jumped off the bird, and flipped over Kyouken. Lee was now facing his opponents backside, while the large bird was still coming at Kyouken's front-side. Lee made a vertical slash at his opponents back, aiming to cut him there. The bird aimed to pierce him in his stomach, with its beak.

Kyouken's orginal intent were to see how much control Lee had over the animals by making an attack that would aim for not just one but everyone one of them. He could see that he had full control over the animals. He may be young but his abilities were most effective. He was setting himself up, using the creatures he created as a wall for his own little shogi board.

However, there was always something up his sleeve with an attack such as the twister manuever. While running in that place, he was able to see the lion backing away, dodging the incoming projectiles. The projectiles did not have any specific course but it would give him an a tactical advantage. Kyouken looks to see the falcons that were swooping around the vortex. The vortex itself was dying down, not a surprise to him, however what did made it curious was the fact that the birds were able to move at such speeds to make the twister die down in such a quick fashion. Seeing that they were light and easy to move meant they were also feasible for cutting and swift attacks. He wasn't a heavy swinger or attacker but he knew he had could use the moment of his speed in his arm to cut through it; it was how he was able to cut through the rocks without using any physical strength. He would make another mental note at that.

Lee had then jumped on the back off one of the falcons, moving upward into the sky high enough to make it appear as a dot was moving around in the sky. A head-on aerial attack Kyouken thought. What was the purpose of such an attack? The mental note he took just only a moment ago then reassured him yet again as the dot that was now circling was now growing closer and closer before Kyouken could make out that the falcon was doing a nosedive at him. He could see Lee, his blade straight out, ready to pierce him with a haunting black blade. He was a knight on a winged chariot and Kyouken was the target. He did not move; he did not need to move.

Lee was getting closer to him, Kyouken did not move but his body was ready to react. His muscles were warm, blood passing through every current in his veins, pumping blood through his heart and lungs. His eyes begin to dilate, his breathing only increased not to the fact of exhaustion but from the amount of adrenline that was flowing. He was right there; he could almost breath in his scent. Lee did an unexpected move and jumped off the bird. As he was landing behind him, his mind didn't have to think for him, his body had already reacted. Both arms were already heated, he began to twist his legs so he could spin. Just like he did to the boulder with ease, he swings the blade rapidly. Even through his assassin style stance, he spun around and around, blade was moving in a rapid, unseen like fashion.

The slashes were quick enough to not only parry the one strike attack from Lee but also parry and cut through the falcons beat. The hand that was holding his zanpaktou in his hands were furiously moving around as Kyouken spin in a very fast motion. He continued to spin through a 360. 720. 1080. 1440. They were four fast spins that could not equal the amount of momentum from the vortex but it was enough to parry a two second defensive barrier around him, just using his blade; it would be enough for Kyouken. He was slashing his blade in all directions: diagonal, horizontal, vertical, parellel. All of which was so meshed together by the eye that it appeared as one revolving ball of silver spinning. The defensive maneuver. The king had castle, using his zanpaktou as a wall.

He did not know the outcome of Lee's predictament. He did not believe Lee was prepared to see that while he was moving upward in the air, Kyouken did not take any notes about his animals that he had created. The parry itself was very close to Lee's body, he was only inches away from cutting him in the back. Did Lee expect him not to be ready? The king should not come out an attack a open queen, even if a trap was plan to take the queen out, he did not put in mind that his blade was still in his hand; the same blade that swiftly made haste on the boulder in seconds flat. Kyouken also realized that if he did a sudden attack from the ground using the falcon would've been a more favorable attack rather than a short break in-between to get in the air so he could make a aerial attack using gravity as a speed increaser. He had experience this once, rather this would not be the first nor the last time he has seen this attack.

This captain was really something. A twister like move, Lee thought while riding around in the air, was atleast a shikai leveled technique. For him to create that twister by running around some rocks was something that was truely amazing. Lee's attack was foiled again, and always with such a simple technique. Lee was, although he slightly expected this, a bit dissapointed that Kyouken had not even bothered to go into Shikai state. Here Lee was, already in his shikai form and already making moves and strategies based on trying to eliminate his opponent, and Kyouken was creating twisters and stuff without even trying. Or was he trying? The look of calmness on his face never seemed to fade, but maybe it was just permanent. Lee would hate to think that he was only boring the captain before him. After his many attempts to impress through attack, had he failed? No, Kyouken probably just had a reputation to defend, or, hpefully he did.

Lee's sword was parried away, but not to extent where he would go flying or anything. The parry defense actually didn't effect him so much because of the momentum he got while swooping down at high speeds on his giant bird. Also, along with the momentum of the flip, the parry that kyouken had created had only just barely worked. Lee liked to think that Kyouken was using his sword, however, through appearence, Lee really had no idea what in the world was going on. it looked as though Kyouken had created some sort of dome shape around him. As Lee's sword bounced off of the dome like thing a few inches, Lee landed solid on the floor. The next two things he saw would come as quite a surprise, and make him react quickly.

First, Lee noticed that his falcon beast was put to an end, by a defensive move. His beak had been chopped off. Lee knew what would happen after that. His ink figures needed every part of their body to function. Any dismemberment and it was... *poof*. And that's exactly what had happened. The bird created a small blast of ink a few feet from his opponent. Lee was a bit scared, for he was now facing Kyouken, and Kyouken was facing him. They were about two yards apart in distance, and a second or two away from attack. But the large bird had exploded into ink substance. Did it hit Kyouken? If it did, it wouldn't really matter very much anyways, seeing as it would splash on him from behind. It wouldn't distract him as if it came at him from the front. As a amatter of fact, he might not even feel it. The self-destruct was useless, and maybe Kyouken was catching onto that. If he kept hitting them with projectiles and turning away from them, the effect wouldn't work.

Lee was now put up with a stimulating, and challenging task. he had aggresively began to risk his life, putting the king directly in front of the queen. Lee had no time to think of this like a Shogi match, he just had to stab the muthafucka. He was, infact, right in front of him. And after he had just parried that way, he wouldn't have much time to strike or defend a second later. But then Lee remembered something else; something that may've really been a turning factor in this match. His ground-moles were still... underground. They just followed Lee's position exactly as they usually did in battle. Suddenly, Lee had an idea. He wasn't sure how it would work, but he had high hopes of damaging, or atleast bringing his opponent into shikai.

Lee jumped back a few yards, almost as quickly as he had landed away from his opponents parry to his attack. Lee's ability to think elaborately in such a short amount of time, and his dexterity, helped him with this. As quickly in his jump as he landed, and slid back a little, he stomped loudly on the floor. The moles knew what this meant. But how could Kyouken know what this meant? He couldn't have. About two seconds after he had stomped on the floor, the mole had popped right from under the ground. With his two very sharp claws, he had jumped out and directly at Kyoukens backside. He aimed his claws to scratch inwards and upwards through Kyouken's back. Lee had run away again, while this was happening. The thing going at Kyouken's back could be destroyed with a large sudden burst of reiatsu, or a light attack even. But how would he know to? That, was the question.

Lee was unharmed, thankfully. He did not know the distance between him and his blade but any closer and Lee would've been cut up. He did not show the relief he had in his mind, only remaining calm and peaceful. How he did was another story. Any other closer encounters like that would've automatically made anyone, experience or unexperience, have a bit of stress roling in their minds by now. The close call, the distance between the blade and the bird attacking him at once; one travelling at high speeds, the other vertically slashing at him. This was becoming something of a twist. This was not like his normal workout, it was actually less then what he does normally, however it was the fun about it. He was having fun, he did not know how Lee was reacting to it.

He saw that Lee was just a few feet away from him and it was only natural for him to jump back just from the slight fear of getting slashed by the zanpaktou. He saw a moment; a moment in Lee's eyes that was scanning the whole situation, trying to figure out what his next move could be. Anything close, Kyouken could counter; anything from a distance, Kyouken could close the gap with the speed he had. Lee was overwhelmed by the speed of his blade for Kyouken had that advantage. Kyouken was not as strong, physically, but he made it up with the skill and speed he had. Kyouken was still on guard however when he jumped back. He had remembered that he could still attack from afar. If the situation called for it, he would easily use shunpo followed by a assassination technique. This would be for the easily checkmate. But Lee was a captain, whatever captain commander saw in him made him believe that he could handle such captain status. He wasn't a vice captain, nor a third seat member, so it couldn't been that much of a pushover. There was something about this that made him feel a bit uneasy.

Lee had jumped back, making a loud stomping noise when he landed on the ground. What did this mean, Kyouken did not know. He could put two and two together to figure out what that meant but that was not an luxury this old captain had at the moment. The ground stired underneath him; it was coming from behind Kyouken. It was coming in fast, fast enough that it had already came out of the ground. Kyouken did not need to turn around cause he heard the earth getting grinded upward into the air as the beast sprouted out. Kyouken did not move, rather he did not want to move cause if he did, the effect of his zanpaktou's ability wouldn't of worked as well. He was not able to see the beast coming, but he knew well enough that his zanpaktou, shinikyuui, could see it.

The groundhogs sharp claws were ready to shred and rip at the old captains body. The beast itself wouldn't have gotten even four or five inches in length between Kyouken as a shield, as tall as Kyouken himself, came out of Kyouken's blade. The shield, in its entirely, was very blue to a point of a bright illumination. It was extremely beautiful as it had many colors and shades of blue, heavenly to even glance at it. The claws hits the blue shield that arose from ground in a very instant. The ground would've bounced off it like a ball bouncing off a brick, seeing as the groundhog itself had enough energy to sprout out of the ground to strike him and would fling elsewhere, dispersing into the black ink it once orginally was.

The shield was still behind him, his hand was still holding that blade in the assasination style. This was the reason why he held it in such a manner. His connection between Kyouken and Shinikyuui was great enough for them to work together as one whole. It was as if the zanpaktou was his eyes behind while he was the front man. It explain may things, why he didn't turn around when Lee landed behind to attack, why he didn't turn around when the groundhog had attack him on his backside. Kyouken godly calm face open his mouth and then said "Tranquil effect". The illuminating blue shield then dispersed, not in an exploding like manner but as if a balloon had popped and water had spread evenly around the effected area. Kyouken was close enough to Lee that this would have the entire on him the most. The tranquil effect spread across the entire, what would happen next was something not even a young captain would've expected

The area almost appeared to get warmer somehow, it was very comfortable for Lee now. No longer did he feel the very cold reiatsu that was coming from Kyouken. It was now very comfortable, too comfortable. The beast themselves, one breathing in such an agressive manner were now calmer, much more relaxed and would almost feel relax enough to sleep a forever sleep. They would not have the willpower to stay up because of the tranquil effect ability and Kyouken's reiatsu. As for Lee, it was an entire different tale for him to even conjour in his mind. Lee would feel relax, regardless if he could or could not resist, it was not a threatening type of attack nor did it even seem like an attack. It was way too relaxing, how could one thing actually be an attack?

Lee's blood would begin to settle, slowing down not to the point where he would feel sleepy but just enough to make him feel, again, calm and relaxed. His muscles would feel less tense, as if he had just gotten a massage from a well trained massage therapist or a trip to a relaxing hot springs that would cleanse his body of inpurities plus loosen the muscles. He could be in a fight stance and try to raise his adrenline and blood to a high, but it would only cause an inbalance in his body as the tranquil effect would begin to overwhelm him. It was not harmful, it had no intent to attack, it was just peaceful; which was exactly Kyouken's idea of how to use his zanpaktou's ability.

Kyouken had disappeared, using shunpo to get behind Lee but to not strike, only to get him in a position where he did not have a choice. To Lee, his shunpo seem almost unreal for even a shinigami of his status. It was not because Kyouken had increased his speed, it was because in Lee's perception, he appeared faster because of the turbulence of adrenline that he could be trying to kick in and the tranquil effect that was trying to calm him. He position himself with two fingers pointed at his back, his blade was still position behind him. Lee would be able to feel the heat from his hand as Kyouken was preparing to fire a Byakurai spell into his back. It was in-between the center of his shoulders, the position where the soul chain, a weakpoint for every spiritual being, was at. Even if Lee could use Shunpo, odds are it would be slowed by just a fraction; enough for Kyouken to perform the same move over and over again.

"The tranquil effect ability is to calm the opponent" Kyouken said "Its purpose is not to damage or even hurt the oppoent. In honest, it appears as if it does nothing to them. In actuality, it does exactly what I say: Calms the opponent. Nerves are relaxed, muscles are loose, the blood and adrenline rush is back to a normal consistency. Well, it's a bit lower right now since the tranquil effect is still occuring. It appears that I move faster during this, but only in acuality, the adreline had decreased making your mind think I was moving faster. I realize I had that speed advantage to you and you had no idea what my zanpaktou had in store. I had that advantage until now"

He sighed "This is an interesting position I have you in. The moment you move, I break the soul chain that all beings have and you wont be a captain any longer. It would definitely be a shame. Lets make a decision. My next move will allow me to release my kido spell into your back and through your chest. Either killing you or destroy the chain. Whether you want to continue or not is up to you. But like in the game of Shogi, this is a definite checkmate"

[OOC: Sorry about the wait, GN. Lots of school stuff, and finals. I'll be posting more often this weekend.]

Lee surely did not know what to think about this. One thing was for sure: He wish he had picked a different captain to battle. It wasn't that Lee was un-interested, but he was actually a little bit scared. Had he really pulled off all these moves without even entering shikai? Insane. This was crazy, lee thought. So far, he had already pulled off the twister move, no shikai, and then a shield of water. Soon, he was to find out that an even more pwerful technique would come about. Of course, he still wouldn't be in shikai. Lee decided that he was definetely not going to lose to someone who wasn't in shikai state. That would ruin his reputation as a captain, as well as his pride. If it took his life, he would make this captain enter bankai when he did. Lee was simply amazed at how this captain could react to all of this stuff without seeing it. Lee assumed that this man couldn't see into the future, so how could he even see the ground hog coming from behind with such speed? How was he too know that? Lee thought about this for a bit, as the captain seemed to stand there, with things slightly warming up. The man hadn't turned around when Lee hadn't attacked. The man seemed so calm when all attacks came. Was this another power to have when not in shikai mode? Being able to see everything? Lee still didn't know how he did it, or which item he could see through. Lee was losing this game of Shogi, to such techniques as a spin. Lee dived down with a giant falcon, setting up a double sided attack, and it was stopped by a spin.

As Lee was only a good 15 meters away from Kyouken, he began feeling different. He wanted to get up and form his next attack on his opponent, but he simply couldn't. Why? Lee felt fine, actually, a little bit more then fine. He felt like he was back at home on earth, with his lemonade on a nice hot summer day. He felt so calm, so relaxed. As a matter of fact, he felt too calm, and too relaxed. He felt too much like laying on the ground and taking a huge nap, or just relaxing. However, his strength at least allowed him to stand. His strength allowed him to move, if only slightly. But his strength did not allow him to think as a strategist, or even make an attack. As if he were drunk, Lee began stumbling forward, swinging his blade in every which way, still having the intent to damage his opponent. Everything seemed a bit blurry, and Lee didn't know what to do. Suddenly, the captain performed a shunpo to get directly behind Lee. The captain stopped stumbling all over the place, and became stiff. His facial expression, his eyes were very wide, but his mouth remained closed. This was indeed, the oddest, weekest, silliest... and most effective technique that Lee had ever been in. It was as if everything was being effected. From his mind/brain, to his heart. His muscles were easing up. Even his blood seemed warm. His skin felt warm. Everything felt just the perfect warm. His nerves were calmed. Any more comfortability, or pleasure, and this would have been ecstacy. Lee could here the jumbled up words behind him, and Lee became a little bit more serious upon hearing them. Lee had to think, or the stuff that Kyouken was saying may become true.

This practice fight had turned serious. The man was really about to break his soul chain, making him not a shinigami anymore. Right when he had become captain? Hell no, that wouldn't happen. The alternative was that lee would die, which he wouldn't have either. What happened to a shinigami when they died... Lee still didn't know. But, he wouldn't have it, nonetheless. He was happy with his poisition as of now, and Kaji had entrusted him with it. Lee tried to bring mind over matter to the situation. What could he do? It was like trying to brawl with someone on a spa day. Lee thought back to kyouken explaining the technique. He said that... It was to calm the opponent. The technique wasn't necessarily made to harm him, but to... calm him. "Nerves are relaxed, muscles are loose, the blood and adrenline rush is back to a normal consistency." Lee thought about this for a little bit. What could he do? His mind wouldn't be able to uphold like this for long. He needed to stall until the attack had let up. After thinking for about five seconds after Kyouken had finished his speech, Lee had formed an idea. This was perfect, and he would think that kyouken would realize that as well, before he had even started the technique. Before Lee opened his mouth to reply to kyouken's threatening speech, he let out a little chuckle? Why had he let this chuckle out? Not because he was going to get his opponent into an extreely impossible situation, or because something was funny. But this tranquil effect just made him feel so happy inside, and he had to let that out. Damn this wonderful technique to hell.

"This is brilliant, I have to admit. This technique has the same effect as a poison would, except, when you cast it on your opponent, they don't quite have the will or drive to get rid of it. Rightfully so. I wish you would just leave me alone right now so I could sleep, but that's not what I asked for in the beginning. This has to wear off soon, and until then, I won't be defeated. I won't be defeated by this technique, I promise. I believe, also, that you forgot something. Hahaha! This technique is effective on me because I have nerves, and mind, blood, muscles, and every other internal organ that this is effecting. My creations, however, are ink. They have no muscle, no nerve, no mind. The only thing they have... is direction, from the King piece."

After he had said this, the last one of the two remaining groundhogs had jumped up from the ground, to scratch Lee's back a bit. Why had he done this? It was only a little wake up call, almost as if to say, "Welcome to the REAL WORLD, JACKASS!". This was no the threat though, it only allowed Lee to realize that the effect was already dying out. His last remaining lion had jumped up from one of the giant stones, moving swiftly, but silently onto his opponent from an aerial view. The lions directions were to bring the opponent down at any costs, aiming to scratch and bite him as much as possible on the way down. This time, Lee would observe his opponents reaction, to see if he could someone how see in all directions, or what exactly was going on with that. In front of Kyouken, Lee began falling. It looked as if he were about to fall to the floor, but that was only a misleader. Conjouring some inner strength and will-power, Lee shunpo'd to a safe position, behind a giant rock. The technique was waring down, and soon it would be gone. While sitting behind the rock, Lee lifted his sword up to draw a horse. A black stallion, because black was the only color they could be as of now. Lee restlessly climbed onto it, still slouching a bit. The horse galloped out of the safe position, only a few feet. The lion was just about to land on his opponent. The opponent sword was out, but that's all he had noticed. Lee watched, feeling more and more into reality by the second.