Three Days Graduates

**Date Started:** 9 August, 2021
**Date Completed:** 30 November, 2021
**Previous Role-Play**: N/A
**Next Role-Play**: Rules of Nature
**Users Involved:** User:GuyCivic, User:ComicMaster619, User:EmperorSigma, User:Nearó\_Unlimited
**Setting:** Shin'ō Academy
**Characters Involved**: Garou Ikinobiru, Soichiro Tenma, Aya Jūsuke, Ninigi Yamakage

## Spar

"Yo dude, my man, bro. I’m not kiddin’, seriously the new Teach’ was smokin’, y’know? Like not like, cigarette smokin’ but HAWT, y’know?” The voice came from one of a blonde man leaning up against a large tree whilst talking to another man of similar age. Both of them were dressed in the typical white and blue clothing you’d see from students of Shin’ō Academy, currently occupied with the day’s assignment of sparring. Or at the very least one of them was: "Would you shut up already and just fight me?! I don't care about some new teacher this late into the season, we’re graduating soon anyway so what’s the point?!" This one coming from another young man with brown hair, evidently from the same school as their clothing matched one another.

"But dude! WHAT IF SHE’S SIN-..."

"Like you’d ever have a chance with those scrawny arms!" The voice interrupting him came from one of the nearby trees, it was definitely femine, yet as the students peered over they couldn’t spot the woman in question.

“Oi, twat, show yourself and tell me that to my face!” The blonde student called out, eyes peeled, hands reaching for his blade as he spoke. It wasn’t until he’d get closer that his eyes would catch movement from up above, glancing up towards one of the trees and noticed a pink-haired woman with the same clothing as himself but with the exception of the red under skirt that their female counterparts carried. Yet this one had parts of her clothing torn off, revealing bandages across her chest, making her appear more like a roughed up monk than that of a Shinigami student. It didn't take long for the brown haired student to pick up his friend’s glance, eyes turning wider upon seeing who it was sitting atop of the tree.

“Oi oi oi, let’s go dude..!” The brown haired student spoke out, tugging at the man’s shoulder in an effort to pull him away.

“YO WHAT? NO! Why would I back off fro-...”

CRACK!

Before the blonde student could finish his sentence, the sound of a tree branch being torn off its trunk echoed across the forest as he’d look back up to see the woman descending from that very same tree-top with her new weapon in hand. Reaching for the blade still sheathed across his belt, yet it was to no avail as the tree branch would find itself burying itself inside his skull as he’d begin pulling it out.

“Auugh FACK!” The blonde student called out, backing off a few steps from where he stood, almost tripping as he did. Prompting his friend to grab hold of him to prevent the man from falling. Lifting his hand to touch the now throbbing pain that spread his forehead, before looking down at it as the red liquid that now flowed from it was too obvious not to ignore.

Without saying another word, the two students turned on their heels and started making their way to the academy. They’ve had enough training for the day.

“Who the fuck was that bro?” The blonde one inquired as he ran, hand still covering his wound.

“Fuck if I know Jūsuke, or something. Let’s just go”

Sighing, the pink-haired woman would drop the tree branch that she’d equipped herself with, slinking down to the ground as her legs crossed one another.

“No guts. Again…” Jūsuke spoke out into the open. Suggesting that this had not been her first victim of the day. Maybe she was going about this the wrong way?

From the crowd of students making their way through the forest, the various trees loitering the grounds provided sufficient cover for them while rushing to meet any possible opponents this morning, their attention single-handedly being directed to one student in particular as he waved through the group he was distancing himself from, his stature barely at hip length, with nothing but an asauchi nearly twice his size on his person. Carrying it across his back, the cat-like student made no effort to maneuver or move past them with any sort of care, the hilt and body of the scabbard hitting them against their legs as he reached the gate.

“Bfffwa! Who let their pet cat on the grounds,” one student muttered, “What were they thinking, do they really believe some damned cat can take out a hollow by itself, what a joke!”

“(Sigh) not a sense of tact between the lot of them huh,” the feline muttered to himself, “appearance matters very little when ability and technique are taken into consideration for this drill, you jumping to such a conclusion just proves your inexperience.”

“WHAT?! Hell you say you—”, before the student could finish uttering another word, the feline pounced off the ground, rapidly running across the nearest tree in search of his first opponent. Jumping from tree to tree, his small stature, though an inconvenience at times, made it easy for him to move nimboli, zipping through the air very swiftly before running across another student ahead of him. Brushing past one such student who was for some reason planted on the ground, his sword hit her smack dab across the backside of her head as he made a leap right past her.

“Hmmm? Consider it good fortune that it was me who found you first, anyone else would’ve jumped you while lazing around.” Unsheathing his sword from his scabbard. “Huh? Are you going to lay about all day or what?”

“Oi..!” Rubbing the side of her head at the sudden impact, the pink-haired student glared her eyes at the source, quickly dissipating her frowned expression to one of confusion with a mixture of intrigue at the sight of the feline that had bumped into her.

“Cocky little kitten, ye?” Her eyes wandered back from whence the feline had travelled, or at the very least guessing as much given the cat’s current position and from where she had been struck. Noticing the scratch marks left behind on one of the tree trunks… The feline had been quick on his feet, certainly knowing how to get around.

“Why would you care if I sat here? No one around here got any guts anyway, just running away at the first sign of trouble, might as well sit this one out.” Jūsuke spoke back as her eyes would once again travel to the feline in question, this time taking an extra peek at the ridiculous difference in size the cat had when compared to their weapon.

“You any good with that?” The pink-haired continued, raising one of her hands to point at the weapon.

“Are you?”

A male’s voice asked from right behind Jūsuke in a taunting, playful tone, just as the sharp shwing of a blade being withdrawn from its sheath followed after. Behind Jūsuke stood a tall young man with bright red hair, messy at the top with a tail that hung at the back of his head. There was a dog-like smile on his face as he looked down to his fellow student with his blade drawn, holding the sheathe in the other hand while it leaned onto his shoulder. His shadow casted over the young woman as he gripped the handle of his katana tightly, glancing back and forth between the cat and Jūsuke.

A young Soul dressed in a Shihakusho sat with his legs crossed on top of a giant rock. His eyes were closed and his sword laid flat on his lap while the World around him seemed to have gone silent. His mind wandered off into what seemed to be an abyss before finally redirecting its view to nearly create a new plain.

There, the young Soul stood tall in front of a shadow figure who’s body was mostly composed of a mist, obscuring its view from not only any onlookers but the young boy himself. The two simpler stared at each other for a few moments, but they said not a single word as they went on with their evaluations of each other. The wind blew past the duo and the insulating sensations lightly tapped against his ear drums.

The young boy clenched the hilt of his sword and leaped back a short distance, creating a gap between himself and the figure. Quickly, he took off running towards the figure in a burst of speed, swinging his sword over his head, before stepping out of the figure’s front sight to appear at his side. However, with almost no effort, the figure simply lifted his arm revealing a sword identical to the boy’s, easily blocking his attempts at an off guard attack.

“Tch,” the boy grit his teeth, holding his blade against the figure’s, trying to win this battle of collision. He pulled his sword back and unleashed a flurry of strikes at the figure that he simply blocked, letting off a rain of sparks around the two like droplets coming from the sky. “You’re making this more difficult than it has to be, you do know that, correct?” The boy asked, pushing his blade against the figures, to throw himself back.

“I’m? Me?” The figure asked, his voice vibrated throughout what seemed to be a dimension. “No, you’re still naive. You are not understanding how this works at all, Ninigi.” The figure went on to say.

As if they were copying each other, they both held their swords out of front of themselves with the tip pointed at the opposite person. In unison, they both stated, “Whisper in the wind, Kazehara!” It was the release command of their Zanpakutou and upon uttering the sword's name, a gust of wind generated around their figures as they both shot towards each other. Again, they exchanged blows neither one giving the edge to the other. They battled for two hours before the battle had finally come to an end and the area faded to black.

Ninigi exited his psyche and returned to the real world. His face was drenched in sweat and there was a slight cut along his left cheek. Standing to his feet he looked up at the sun and noticed he had lost track of time.

“Oh no!” He exclaimed, running off from the back of the Shin’o academy to the front where he noticed the class had been starting their sparring matches. Quickly he blended in with the rest of the watchers, fanning himself and wiping his forehead with his Shihakusho to rid his sweat.

“You? Cat? Kitten? Seems I can't catch a break today, another fool I have to contend with, how problematic,” he hissed, his hair standing on end as a small growl rose from his throat, rubbing his eyes with one hand. Drawing his sword at its full length, it almost seemed comical at the height difference between the two of them, the feline barely at hip length in comparison to the female. Taking on a readied stance, his sword was dead-on pointed at the female. Is attention immediately being drawn to the other bystander, his feline eyes sizing up what could possibly be another opponent for him to face should he choose to take on the female.

“If you need to call me by anything aside from ‘cat', my name is Soichiro. Soichiro Tenma. And what am I to call you? Fool seems to be the most apt description at the moment.” Looking from all corners around him, numerous trees had them surrounded for the most part. With what he could see, it was just the three of them alone, being the only students in close vicinity to one another, separated from the rest of the other students.

Getting on all fours, Tenma darted across the ground in rapid succession, running into various bushes to try to disorient his opponents as to where his current whereabouts is, using the surroundings to provide some cover in such an enclosed area. Running up the side of a tree, Tenma began to cut up all the dead branches from the nearby trees, giving off the impression that he was in several places at once, the branches falling to the ground near where the pair were standing. Jumping from tree-to-tree, Tenma began to murmur an incantation, “*Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!*" After uttering the last word, Tenma pointed his right hand toward the area his opponents were in, a red sphere of energy began to form, the temperature rising sharply as he held it close and fired it straight at them. “Hadō #31. Shakkahō!”

The red haired man was the first to react, having kicked himself backwards to disappear in a flash for a second or so, only to reappear metres from where he was last seen with his weapons still in hand. He looked between the direction of where the Kido attack had come from and Jūsuke, having broadened the gap between him and his supposed opponent. He brandished his blade and spun it around his wrist before bringing the sheath of the sword from his shoulder to point at jūsuke whilst pointing his blade in the direction of where Tenma had fired from. Tension was rising between all three students, all it took was someone to fire the first shot for them all to begin crossing blades.

“Finally. Now we get to the good bit,” the man smirked before assuming a readied position.

He leaned forward with both his weapons pointed in their needed directions, hunched down while keeping his eyes in the middle of his arms. His feet remained firm on the ground, though his heels looked slightly lifted, as if they were ready to move once more. His hands were tilted inwards so that they were horizontal, while his fingers squeezed tight on the blades and sheath’s handles. It was as if he was asking through his body a question, a question of who was going first. But for this question, he already had an answer, an answer he was more than eager to provide depending on the response Jūsuke was willing to give.

Matching up to the dog-smiling student's dissapearance, yet albiet more frantically and messy comprared to the graceful movements of Soichiro given her seated position, Jūsuke's legs would unfold and her arms stretching out and stretch upwards as the rest of her body would follow suit, flipping backwards as her form would then flicker from view and appearing back up the tree top from where she had previously attacked the earlier students. Seeing the red Kido from the other student scorcing the place she once sat to the point of having created a destroyed crater in its wake. Her expression was plane compared to the others, no smile or eyes of determination, just boredom. Reaching and clasping out what could only be the sound of her sword, looks like she had left it up there, before she'd once again leap from the tree and land halfway to the red-haired man, murmering words underneath her breath as the travelled.

With her incantation now complete and extending her index and middle finger outwards as from where she now stood, "Hadō #1. Sai!" In an effort to not only punish the red head's confidence but also in hopes of catching the pacing cat in its travels as to reveal their position, the girl with the hair complexion of red and pink would still be holding onto incantation as she now started making her way over to red-haired man. The other hand would travel to grasp the hilt of her sword as she approached, making it clear of her intentions to end the fight in just one quick cut. Yet... As she approached, it wouldn't be until the last moment that her body would flicker in place, not for moving out of the way by to further obscure her intent, as her right leg, not a sword, would thrust itself up and make its way to the side of red-haired student's neck. Still maintaining her index and middle finger as best as she could whilst obviosuly aiming to incapacitate her opponent before moving on to the next one.

Tenma's attack had missed, a fact that didn't escape his expectations as his true target had landed on its mark, the blast of kido incinerating the floor and lighting all the dead branches he had cut earlier on fire, resulting in a cloud of smoke now quickly enveloping their vicinity as the fire spread across the neighboring brush. Noticing the large gruff-looking man under the woman's seal, he had to give credit where credit was due, smirking that she knew anything at all given their first meeting. Raising the same hand as before, Tenma fired several more volleys of kido, directing them to the red haired man currently immobile, "I might as well take advantage of this opportunity," he murmured, firing one more orb almost the size his own body toward the woman.

Staying as close to the ground as he could thanks to his stature, Tenma hid in the burning smoke, dashing on all fours in a feline-like manner as he raced behind his Shakkahō, leaping forward with his sword drawn in one hand and his scabbard in the other, simulating a duel wielding style as he pointed his blade head first toward the woman's back, his sword turned to the back in order to avoid any fatal damage, considering that this was a simple drill after all.

The last thing anyone had seen of the red haired man was his arms being forced behind his back from the Hado, a simple technique, but an effective one at the very least. The thing that seemed different to most cases that students had seen when learning, however, was that he was still able to hold his blades as his arms moved to his back, and his legs remained balanced and ready to move. He gave a smile to Jūsuke before his face disappeared behind the smoke, and the blasts of kido came his way shook the area around him, with the smoke cloud mixed in to an even larger dirt cloud that surrounded his area. The feint sound of moving at rapid pace lied behind the loud pounds of collision from Tenma's attack, as an eerie silence followed after every projectile had flown its course. The only thing left that made sound, was the mad-dog giggling that crept up as the cloud momentarily died down from all the action happening within in.

As her foot swept the air and missed its mark, the momentum was too great and held no grace to hinder its course as she continued driving it home, resulting in Jūsuke's attack hitting the ground beneath her instead. Its impact causing small tremors to form across its surface, making it appear as though she had launched a hammer rather than a limb at the red-haired student. Yet even as it landed, the impact of Soichiro's ball of kido finally struck at the back of her unbalanced body, its blunt and explosive force sending her body forward from her position and falling a few meters away and onto the ground. Gritting her teeth rather than reeling out in pain, Jūsuke would look up from the dirt and into the smoke that surrounded them, only just now spotting that Soichiro was going for her and seeing how his trajectory was off. Must've counted on them remaining there.

"Jihehehehehehehehehehehe. Where are your swords, little kittens?"

The cloud quickly settled for a moment, only to reveal the red haired man standing with the smile on his face and scorch marks and indents on the ground around him. There was only a few seconds to see that the ground took most of the beating from Tenma's volley, with a couple projectiles catching the man in the torso and the arm from the way his garments had been damaged. Not to mention that his arms were now brought forward after the use of Jūsuke's kido, the joint attack while effective in hitting, was also effective in awakening the red haired man in a bestial way. His ears perked up and flicked as he moved his head towards a certain direction with a glint in his eyes. He shoved the sheath forward and released a small burst of force that blew the smoke in that particular direction away, giving him a clearer sight to Jūsuke and Tenma as the cat approached, before he slashed in a diagonal motion from bottom to top with enough strength to send a crescent of sharp air moving towards them, with Jūsuke in particular. The crescent moved through the ground, but only tore up some grass and specks of dirt, powerful enough to send a message, but appropriate level for something like a drill.

As the dust and smoke cleared and she spotted the red haired student yet again, still working her way up after having being knocked down moments prior, Jūsuke's eyes peeled at the man's air pressured attack. Unable to get back on her feet in time to perform any form of Hohō, the woman simply opted to launch her body out of its line of fire and extended her hands as she did. Placing both of her limbs down and letting the rest of her weight being carried through, Jūsuke curled her body forward and performed a somersault. Turning on her heels as her performance ended and she stood back up on her feet, exhaling a loud sigh as she starred back at the red haired student and keeping her eyes peeled for the nimble cat.

"Is that all you fuckers do? Stay back and flop your wings as you hope to get into the Kidō Corps or something!"

"There's no strength in your words, city rat. You've only used the cheap Kido tricks so far," The red haired man spat at Jūsuke.

Darting midway through his pounce, Tenma could feel the sheer air pressure headed its way here, taking note of the woman trying to get away from from the red-haired man's attack. His tail flicked back and forth as his instincts told him to evade, doing his best to stand his ground from the overwhelming pressure, knowing full well he and the woman were in the same boat. Recollecting his composure, he began tracing his hand through the air, Tenma weaving his kido across two trees surrounding the woman, "Kyōmon", he spouted, erecting a barrier between the openings of the trees to form a sort of cage to prevent her from escaping or evading the man's attack, a practical spell used mostly for general self defense now serving a different purpose. Preventing her from running, Tenma placed himself right behind the woman, his stance readied incase the barrier gave out and she escaped, rushing her down if things went sideways.

"I'll use whatever I have available, don't start crying when same can't be said for you."

"I'll say this one more time," The red haired man giggled before resuming the same stance from before with his body turned to the side, "WHERE ARE YOUR SWORDS?"

The man struck his blade through the space before him with power, having repeated the process he had done prior to create another strong crescent of sharp air that flew towards Jūsuke. However his blade did not stop and quickly moved down to strike in a similar fashion horizontally, creating another crescent that followed right after to land a second hit. They had similar force and strength to the one the man had fired earlier, but seemed to carry a more fiery look from the way they flew through the air, possibly due to the emotion that the man had put into them when creating them. The way he threw his arm across from one side to the other seemed a little bit more wild than the first, which was precise and quick. Yet even though he had more emotion than the first, it seemed as though the Shinigami knew when not to cross the line. At his point, there was an obvious change in the battlefield, where Jūsuke was to now suffer the consequences of her teasing of both Tenma and the red haired man.

"You sound like a character in a novel," Ninigi said, soaring through the sky as he flipped towards the ground. Though he hadn't been facing anyone, his words were clearly directed towards the red-haired man. Ninigi was late to the sparring due to his own training he partook in on the side, but he refused to be completely excluded, especially in a match that challenged his sword. "Don't request something if you're incapable of handling what comes when that request is granted."

Removing the green hilted sword that was lined by white diamond-shaped designs along it from its sheath, he held it out in front of himself with both hands. "*Whisper in the wind, Kazehara*!" He spoke his Zanpakuto's release command into existence. As he did, a sudden gust of wind blew over the sparring around all over the Shinigami in training, kicking up debris into the air to form into something akin to that of a tornado.

"Jihehehehe, you've only just joined the party, and you already go unseal your zanpakuto!?" The red haired man sneered as he looked as the tornado began to build up with excitement.

Lifting his hand, he forced the tornado in front of himself as it continued to grow more violent. In just about a minute, the tornado had grown so violent that it danced and moved as if it a tiki performer on an island resort. "Tatsumaki!" He exclaimed, calling out the techniques name while guiding it towards the man of red hair.

The tornado was strong, violent even and effective to use in a place that was so dense such as the forest around them, but a minute was a minute too long for the red haired man to sit and watch as Ninigi prepared his attack. He had begun to move through the area with Shunpo, having flash stepped from tree to tree, each step followed by the slash of his sword that struck through each trunk as splinters and pieces of bark splashed around the area. One by one, several trees had fallen within the minute it took Ninigi to build the tornado, several trees that would slam the ground with ferocious might and shake the area each time one had toppled over. By the end of the minute, he had unknowingly gained distance between himself and Ninigi, and much of the area cleared out. The strength it took to slash through each one in quick succession before moving onto the next was a sight for a last year student such as him, but he had already proven himself to be different to the others earlier on. It wasn't much distance, but it was enough to see Ninigi order the newly violent tornado his way, slowly picking up some of the trees he had struck down that would spin within its body.

"Eat shit, shorty," The red haired man said as his eyes narrowed.

The trees that had become caught up in the tornado had caused the tornado to become a bit more destructive than it originally was, as the tornado began to launch these cut trees out of its body and into the area around them. Some had shot out and impaled the ground and rain dirt and grass, others slammed into other trees that would topple over after to shake the earth some more. However, others began to fire upon other students, as a tree could be seen flying towards another pair nearby seperate from Jusuke, Tenma, Ninigi and the red haired man, had only just noticed the flying trunk in time to prepare a barrier to protect them. The drill's area had truly turned into a battleground, something the teachers probably weren't expecting nor wanting to happen.

One tree had shot towards the red haired man in particular, who prepared his blade and struck forward as the bottom of the log met his sword, slicing the tree in two as it moved into him, prompting no need for the red haired man to move at all. His mad dog laughter battled the loud rushing of wind of the tornado that was beginning to cause chaos. At the same time, another tree flew directly towards Ninigi, the product of both his and his new opponent's recklessness, flying towards the young student and threatening to impale him clean through.

Following the small creature's movement as it paced overhead, Jūsuke lowered her posture as her right foot pressed itself into the ground, shaking it back and forth in anticipation to strike at him. Only to have her eyes widened as her own reflection took form in front of her, with one kido after another, it clear even at this stage that she was up against someone beyond her skillset in this category. Yet her attention was quickly redirected to the red haired student as he called out, turning her attention in the mirror to man in question before moving around to lay witness to his next attack, or the alteration of it to be precise.

Flickering on the spot, Jūsuke disappeared for a moment only to appear again in the next. Yet it wasn't further up ahead, but rather overhead as she could be seen on the side of one tree before flickering over to the other. Her moves taking her one step closer to the top with each one, eyes gracing back towards the ground momentarily to see if any of the others were pursuing her, now spotting the new student that had joined the lesson.

"Ought to keep that guy occupied for a while." She spoke out loud as she reached the top of one of the trees, Jūsuke's gaze reverting back to where she last saw Tenma upon realizing that if anyone, he'd probably be the one gunning for her.

Taking his time to compose himself, Tenma inhaled deeply, his whiskers twitching at the appearance of an entirely new scent arriving not too far ahead, serving his purposes by keeping the angry gorilla busy while he chases the female student headed the opposite way. With the powerful air currents at display flinging all manner of rocks and dirt up, it seemed too unnatural to be just a coincidence, *what's doing this? Is it Kido or...*he thought, taking it as a sign to circling around the source. "So, another fledgling joins the flock, last thing I need is any more distractions," he uttered, his focuse now directed squarely on his target up ahead.

At this point, after everything that had transpired, he could've easily looked for another opponent and moved on, not faulting himself for wanting to cut his loses after such a difficult set of circumstances, but his pride for the most part would never let him live down the fact that he couldn't at least take down a single after all the effort he had already invested into this fight. Sheathing his sword back into its scabbard, Tenma gripped the handle hard, his face contorting barbarously in frustration as he hurried along the trail she left behind, making no attempt to hide himself, as if to alert her of his presence on purpose.

Reaching the nearby grove of trees, Tenma traced her scent along the farthest tree from him, examining it from head to toe before bringing his Zanpakuto to rest on his right shoulder, "tell me fool, were you planning to lead me on some wild goose chase hoping I'd quit half way through? If so, that is easily THE saddest way you could have possibly won."

Taking on a martial stance, he did so not only to disorient her from his particular way of fighting, but to try a different approach than before, as Kido had for the most part been a dead end given the speed she was capable of moving, needing to compensate with his reflexes and instinct at close range-combat. "Are you listening ugh...damn, I don't even know what to call you."

Shifting her body back and forth along with the tree top she was clasping onto as the feline student reached the peak and started speaking out, a visible grin would start emerging as he did and it would only expand overtime. Waiting until Tenma had finished fumbling on his words before opening her mouth to reply, "A.J." Her body now shifting a bit more towards her fellow student, "And don't you forget it.. you hear!?" A mixture of giggles would escape her mouth after her exclamation, trying her best to suppress her joy by the looks of it to keep them closed, giving way to the rows of white teeth that would be clear as day even from this distance. "If that's all you were expecting from me that you sure must be disappointed a lot." It would at this point be quite the.. odd sight to behold as she continued to swing back and forth, treating the tree top like a spring rider. "But that's okay now that you followed me! Now I can show you how AMAZING I am!"

And with those words, A.J. would move along the tree's trajectory and pushed her body forward, causing creeks and splinters to echo from its entire trunk as it clearly risked simply cracking under the woman's movement. Yet as it flung back and the woman's smile would still be as wide as ever as she emerged back up and met Tenma's gaze, only to change her footing and grab hold of the tree's peak whilst lowering her body as it descended. "I AM AMAZING..." Disappearing on the opposite end from the feline student's point of view and amongst the surrounding forest and her voice along with it, before the tree would spring back up several times faster than before and be treated like the makeshift slingshot she had hoped it would. But the woman that was suppose to emerge from the other end like an iron ball was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, a silhouette flickered in front of Tenma before revealing A.J. once again but now with her arms reaching out to try and grab the feline from each side. Hoping to be taking hold of his clothing and keep him from going anywhere while her forehead would come crashing down and strike out, literally head-first, against her opponent as she'd would bellow. "...RIGHT!?"

"Crazy woman!" Caught off guard from her gymnastic stunts, the speed at which she had arrived from her jettison was completely unexpected, catching him dead-on as her grip tightened around his school uniform, almost gorilla-like in strength, that for a moment, Tenma had forgotten she was human, but rather some sort of beast in the guise of a student. Without any time to counter, he used his legs to pull himself out of his kosode shirt with his claws, slipping through his loose fitting clothes by using his diminutive stature to slide out as soon she attempted to land her headbutt. The pressure from the encounter was extraordinary, the power, combined from the momentum she had gathered from the initial run as she bobbed her head sent a powerful blow through the air, pirouetting like some sort of bullet, that as far as he was concerned, would have left him in a condition he was sure he wouldn't be able to recover from. Now shirtless, Tenma quickly landed on the ground, kicking into a full sprint on all fours as he raced between her legs, sliding across the earth as he spared no time to strike while she recovered from her previous attack.

Pushing hard against the earth, Tenma drew his sword, his movements motioning in similar fashion to Iaijutsu, in order to deliver an upward diagonal slash across her back, putting as much power as he could into the attack in order to close the gap as fast as he can.

Ninigi stood still as the trainees mixed their own moves with his technique. He had no expression on his face, but he was sure thinking what he wanted to express. "Ignorance is bliss." he said to his classmates, lifting his hand as he created a wall of wind that simply blew the attacks directed towards him in the opposite direction. He ran across the ground, tapping against the ground with his toe vanishing through the use of his Shunpo teachings, reappearing on a nearby tree branch. Ninigi placed his hand against the tree trunk and looked down to his classmates who were getting into battles of their own. He simply sighed and rolled his eyes.

"What do you mean, already? Osamu-sama taught us to treat these matches as if they are battles on the battlefield. Therefore, in this case, I will use my power to ensure you are defeated." Holding the hilt of his blade, the sword itself began to vanishing leaving nothing but the grip behind. Tossing it into the air, Ninigi placed his two hands together and opened them as if he were creating a mouth.

"Then you bore me, small one," The red haired man said as he sheathed his blade, "I'll reserve my potential for the true warriors."

Holding this pose for a moment, he spoke. "*Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat!*" In the middle of this makeshift mouth a orange-hued sphere generated with a yelling pattern spiraling around the sphere. It began to mend and mold before turning into a single stream of reiatsu like a tendril aimed towards his opponent. It moved at face speeds, splitting the wind apart as it traveled towards his target. "Hōrin!" He calmly stated, calling out the name of the Kidō. His potent reiatsu flared through the spell as he sought to ensnare and trap the red haired man.

Born of nobility, Ninigi possessed great spiritual pressure and though he was a student of Shin'ō Academy, that was simply by choice as he had his own personal instructor back at home. There, he was taught how to control his spirit energy in order to form various kidō. Unlike many of his classmates, it was as if he had been receiving double training to help hone his skills.

At the same time, the sheathe that the red haired man held in both hands began to radiate particles of energy from its surface, as a red layer of energy covered the entire container. With the tendril of reiatsu coming his way, the red haired student lost his dog-like smile, and instead embraced the tendril's point heading towards him. However, his anticipation was quick, and he swiftly struck forward with the butt of the sheathe in the direction of Ninigi's Hōrin, both points meeting one another as a collision of reiatsu exploded around the red haired man's front, as wind blew around him and the earth shook with fierce might, yet he stood as firmly as the rest of the trees around him. Ninigi's control of his spiritual pressure was precise and well attuned, but he was up against a man that was willing to use the destructiveness and force of his wild, untamed power to counter his own. The mad man that stood before them had disappeared, and in his place stood one that seeked a battle he had not yet received. Both attacks cancelled one another out, both the power they used each being similar on the same level, despite both coming from completely different backgrounds.

"The little one has power," He said as he pointed his sheath towards Ninigi, "But you seemed to have ruined its taste with all that training."

As he said that, the ground around the red haired man suddenly cracked under pressure, splitting into many formations and turning the floor around him into unstable and difficult terrain. He didn't move and instead looked to Ninigi with sparrow like eyes, before he proceeded to bring his foot up from the ground and stomp forcefully. One of the pieces of the ground unlodged itself and flew up into the air, hovering for a second or two in front of the man's torso. With his sheathe out, still layered with red reiatsu, he struck the piece of rock horizontally, flinging the rock forward at a speed not as fast as Ninigi's Horin, as the force he would have needed to do that would have destroyed the rock before it even left his vicinity. As the rock travelled to Ninigi, some reiatsu seemed to have latched onto the projectile, causing a trail of red to follow its course.

With her hands still clutching onto Tenma's clothing, A.J. raised both arms in front of her as to provide the only protection that came to mind at this moment, as she soared across the heavens and plummeted into the earth below, digging through dirt and rock as they formed into a small crater around the woman as she first made impact. The fall would see her body tumble and whirl across the earth, causing a streak of torn up grass to litter the path of which she travelled before she'd finally lose enough of the momentum to have her regain some sense of what's around her. A.J. would dig her hands and feet into the soil as a response and threw herself back into the air, only to whirl and find her footing yet again. The woman's uniform was now torn in several places as even its right side had seemingly been torn off branches, showcasing the bandages strapped across her torso, and streaks of dirt would be seared across its surface, but her body or clothing showed no signs of crimson liquids or any apparent injuries to speak of.

Wasting no time reflecting on it however as A.J. looked out towards the battlefield, of which she would regretfully be drawn to first spot the chaos that was ensuing on the other end by the new arrival and the red haired student, before seeing the flicker of white fur and the glint of a green accompanying it from the corner of her eyes. Turning to face it, her eyes would turn wide at the realisation that the figure was already gone and the new sensation of what could only be described as a soft coat nibbling at one of her legs... Only to have it being replaced by the sudden cold surface of a sword, cleaving its way across her back using its blunt surface, causing its shivering touch and its meaning to sink in just as harshly for the female student.

Yet surprise would turn to frustration as seen by A.J.'s gritted expression and unwillingness to stop there, turning around from where she stood and reached out for the white feline. But before her hands would be able to reach her fellow student however, the flickering image of a man several times their age would appear between them, before returning the same method she had used on Tenma earlier and sunk his skull into hers.

"What the fuck! I wasn't done fighting!" A.J. called out as she could be seen staggering backwards and reached up to cover her now throbbing forehead.

Before her stood a short man with a bulky stature yet sharp features all across his face that made him look like he had been chiselled down from stone, it was Kuze Futoshi, one of their teachers in Zanjutsu and aiding overseer during this event. Starring down at the woman with his red and yellow lit eyes and ever serious expression as he spoke out to her complaints.

"Perhaps not. But would you have been able to say the same thing should your opponent have used its other end? This fight is over with Soichiro Tenma as the winner. Now, get back with the others and wait for the remaining students to finish!" Before even letting either of them say another word, be of complaint or otherwise, Kuze would disappear as quickly as he had arrived. Suggesting at how many students were still at large in their skirmishes even this far into the lesson.

"Fuck..." Were the only words A.J. would utter as she'd continue to rub her forehead, a mixture of anger and disappointment lingering in her eyes even as she still held Tenma's uniform in her hands.

"Hagh...agh...huff...." Trying to catch his breath, Tenma felt a tremendous weight lift off his shoulder, the panic and jitteriness of the moment that had him moving in all fury now settling down, leaving him with some clarity as the rush of adrenaline had now begun to fade. Letting go a sigh of relief, Tenma fell on his rear end, letting go of hi9s sword the instant he landed, one moment staring off to the instructor at the corner of his before, vanishing entirely a full glance later, his thoughts resting on his closing remarks. Directing his attention, his eyes were focused squarely on A.J., "he may call this my victory, but in my book, it looks to me more like a draw. I couldn't defeat you, and you couldn't finish me off, it seems only natural we settle this another day," he remarked, his voice, though not as vocal as the red haired girl, expressed just as much sense of dissatisfaction at how their duel ended so abruptly.

Getting off the ground, Tenma wiped his hakama off for any dirt or dust, making his way to A.J. so that he could hopefully get his shirt back, if she was in a giving mood, picking up his Zanpakutō from the floor.

"*You call that a fight? Come on, come on, come on! Smell the roses, this is you're chance, no one's going to look, and she's just standing there, practically begging for it. Just a little off the top, grab it tight, take a swing, and I'll handle the rest dumbass...*"

"WHAT—," peering from side-to-side, Tenma looked all over for the source of the voice, the tone practically whispering in his ear, his grip tightening on his Zanpakutō. Taking a few sniffs, Tenma couldn't so much as find a single flower out of place, as the only two scents loitering the area were A.J. and himself. The voice faded just as quickly as it came, as if carried by the wind, leaving without a trace. "Such a vulgar tone," he repeated, brushing off the voice from the back of his mind, turning to face the woman, "did you hear that?"

Staring back at him with one eyebrow perking above the other, confusion seemingly plastered across her face given the man's remark even as A.J. stretched her arm out to give Tenma his clothes back. "No? I didn't hear anything. You sure you didn't hit your head on the way down?"

Yet even as she handed the man's garments back, she couldn't help but to stop herself just as she was about to pass it over. "Oi... Tell me this much at least. Are there more people that fight like you..?" As she finished speaking, even if she'd received an answer or not, she'd finally give the student back their clothes as A.J. then proceeded to kneel down on all fours, stretching her limbs out in a manner to try and mimic the way Tenma had been running across the battlefield.

Raising his hand, Ninigi commanded the wind tornado with his guidance to quickly dance its way in front of him to protect him from the rock that had been traveling. The wind that made up the technique had been passively increasing in speed and as such, once the rock came into contact with it, would swallowed up and hurled out of the tornado in the opposite direction, crashing into the nearby ground creating a large crater in the ground from just a simple rock.

"Such power behind that strike against the rock, I'm honestly surprised that it was not destroyed." Ninigi said in shock as he watched the rock damage the training ground. "You've always been a brute, Garou." He went on to say, sighing as his shihakusho's sleeves fluttered up thanks to the violent tornado. "But," Holding his hand at his side, the hilt of his blade flipped down from the air and landed perfectly in the palm of his right hand. "Now that it's just you and I, I'll be sure to play my cards in the proper manner."

Ninigi removed his free hand from the trunk of the tree. Waving at the wind as if he were casting a spell, Ninigi created over twenty crescent shaped wind blades that slashed through the air and aimed at Garou. Four of those twenty crescents were not necessarily aimed at Garou, but instead the ground around him in a square-like shape which broke through the canvas and seeped to the ground, though with the bombardment of the others, he wouldn't have been able to truly pick up on it. "**Kazenagu**!"

Garou looked with dissatisfaction and held his ground, as he held his sheathe forward with both ends held tightly in his hands, pushed forward before his body as a lowly shield for the brunt of the wind crescents. Every one that Ninigi had sent directly for him met their mark, each one blasted into the body of the red haired shinigami and his closed weapon, each one failing to bring him down but began to noticeably wear him down. Bits of clothing became frayed, his skin underneath began to show, yet no blood seemed to appear from any of the marks. After the first ten, it was only then that Garou began to show some lee way, as each simultaneous hit caused Garou to slide back inch by inch, even as he tried to hold his ground. The red haired man lifted an eyebrow as he felt his feet drag through the dirt, lifting it higher and higher each time he felt the dirt drag around the sides of his ankle before the barrage came to a stop.

"I may be brutish, small one," Garou said as he remained still in his stance with his sheathe out in both hands, "But I've enough patience to not give a taste of everything in a drill like this."

As Garou took his first step back, he finally noticed that the ground around him had sunken in from the work of Ninigi's other crescents. There wasn't much it could do due to there being a lot more ground underneath, and especially from the cracked ground around it, the earth essentially only piled over itself. At this point, Garou had sunken a foot or three, but to try and climb back up only exposed him to another attack from Ninigi if he tried to recover. Well. That was if he was had normally climbed the vulnerable height. In a flash, Garou flash stepped from his spot within the ground to the back on normal level, holding the sheathe close to his chest in a more relaxed manner. There Ninigi could see what his barrage had done to his fellow student, and see how he had also managed to hold his ground from the attack; as particles of reiatsu drifted off from his skin, not as many as that came off his sheathe a few minutes ago, but enough to be just noticeable when actually looking for them.

"You never showed me a sword. But just more kido tricks under the guise of a blade," Garou criticised as he looked to Ninigi with condescending eyes, "You city rats all seem to be the same."

Ninigi heard Garou's words and simply blew hot air from his nostrils. Leaping off of the tree branch he had been using as a pedestal, the dancing tornado withered into thin air as Ninigi gracefully landed onto the ground. Wind traveled from the never-ending sky to the hilt of his Zanpakuto before forming into the solid metal that made up the blade. The young Shinigami waved his hand around the air as if he were surrendering before kneeling down to tap onto the solid Earth three times. He then placed his Zanpakuto on his hip and walked towards the rest of the students and teachers.

"I surrender." Ninigi said simply, "I've seen what I needed to see."

Garou could only groan at Ninigi's words, before making his way back to the students. "And yet I haven't," He thought out loud to himself.

## Hunt

With the initial drill settled, all the students gathered back to the academy to prepare for the final lesson of the day, some changing to new sets of clothes to replace their tattered uniforms caused from the previous session, while others took the time to rest for the final part of their class, packing boxed lunches as the upcoming lecture was the talk of the day, as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year students waited eagerly for the next lesson. The instructor for the the remainder of the class was an older gentleman, very stern and tall, his features rugged as if to exemplify his age and experience went hand-in-hand, all the while glancing at this years students. Packing lunches, the class for today had finally been allowed access to the world of the living to start the intermediate portion of their training, a privilege only saved for the older students hoping to join the ranks of the Gotei 13. Quickly filling the school rooftop, all the classes lined up in formation to await the arrival of their guides, consisting of 6 year students already familiar with the routine they were expected to take part in and pass to the best of their abilities.

Before the class could commence, one of the senior students passed around a lottery box containing a random assortment of marks and symbols, "before we start, each one of you is required to draw a single ballet from the box," she petitioned, handing the boxes out for the students to distribute among themselves.

"What kind of game could they be playing? Regardless, they couldn't have made this anymore interesting," Tenma muttered, the box finally coming into circulation for him to draw from. Without any thought put into it, he simply thrust his hand into the lottery box and drew at random, grasping at the first sheet of paper he could grab. Donning a new uniform, the loose fitting sleeves kept his hands out of sight, mainly keeping his Zanpakutō tied across his back as his tail shuffled back and forth, his ears perked at the whispers and words spoken between his class.

"My brother told about this part of the lesson," echoed one, "the world of the living, you believe it!," said another. Tenma couldn't help but feel the same enthusiasm as the others, after several years in the academy, it was finally their turn to start actual hollow combat, the idea causing his eyes to sharpen and his mouth to contort into a smile, making his fangs visible.

"Beh. Hollows?" Garou could be heard from within the crowd as he rolled his eyes.

After all the the lots had been spread among the students, one of the senior students stepped forward to address the class, the female alumni wearing a strict expression, elevated her voice to be heard above the commotion and ruckus, "I want to remind you that this trip to the world of the living is a privilege, and not a right. I expect you to treat this exercise with the same seriousness as you would the real thing." Stepping aside for the head instructor, the class followed him attentively, drawing his sword at shoulder level whilst balancing it in front of him, using it to in similar fashion to a cane while grabbing the pummel with both hands. "Today we're going split up into groups of three, everyone take out the lots you drew earlier when we first assembled, and find the two students with the same mark as you have."

Looking down at the small piece of paper that had picked her partners for the day, the young Shinigami woman clenched her first around it and curled it into a ball as A.J.'s gaze shifted to that of the crowd surrounding with a set of wide eyes. She lifted herself up from the ground momentarily as she stood on her toes, trying to get a better look but to no avail, and instead crouched down to her knees as she was on the lookout for a certain someone. Her eyes narrowed as A.J. continued searching before finally spotting the feline student that she'd fought during their last exam. The wide stare remained the same as she was about to make her move, only to halt herself mid-way standing up as even from this crowd, A.J. was able to spot Tenma's own lot -- the one that had defeated her was being paired with someone else. Her eyes losing its vivid gaze and instead shifted back to the regular, more irritated look, as she raised herself off the ground and stood up again.

Yet even as she stood up, the woman's eyes perked up again as the figure next to her was holding a piece of paper that was identical to her own. A.J. shifted her sights to the black haired student and his red eyes, realizing that he was the same figure that took up the fight against the dog-man from earlier. Lifting her hand with the wrapped up lottery ball in front of him, pointing at it before shifting her finger to point back and forth between her and Ninigi, "Looks like we're in the same team for this one."

A low growl escaped his mouth as his hair began to stand on end, a familiar voice belonging to someone he hadn't even seen in so much as less than an hour ago, squinting in disbelief that the two of them had run into each other again, but at the same time, amused at the odds of it occurring so soon after their fight. To his relief, she was paired in another team, "It'd be too soon," he whispered, his gaze wondering around the crowd, looking for his teammates. The first being a somewhat simple looking fellow, more nervous that he felt comfortable with dealing, but when it comes to being sortied like this, there wasn't much he could do. Still looking for the final member, he looked all over for their group's sign, only to stop dead in his tracks after finding the last ticket belonging to the stranger right in front of him. "huh?," he stopped, glancing at his lottery ticket only to peer right back at his own, "they match." Frozen for a moment, Tenma felt somewhat conflicted over the man they called "Garou", his tail restless as he snickered at himself, "hehe, glad to see someone else'll be your punching bag for a change," Tenma nodded, outstretching his hand to show the red-haired man his lottery ticket, both holding the same symbols, as if to signal him into their group.

"As long as you watch my back, I'll watch yours," Garou nodded.

Given the nature of the exercise they were about to take part in, Tenma felt more assured than he felt he needed to be, as he was more than familiar in the way he fought, and their third partner could provide the needed back-up if things got bad. The feeling only got stronger the more he reminisced about their earlier squable, almost breaking out in a cold sweat at how close things ended.

"Now that everybody's found their groups, we'll brief you on today's exercise. An advanced party of 6 year students has already entered the world of the living and constructed a temporary barrier. Once inside that perimeter, each group will engage in practice combat with dummy hollows." Unsheathing his Zanpakutō, the instructor thrusted it into he space ahead of him, giving it a quick turn as if acting like a key. In the exact same motion, the older man declared loudly, "Open!" Just as quickly, a large gate formed from the air in front of him, creating the Senkaimon for them to travel through.

The senkaimon had opened, the shutters unveiling what appeared to be a constructions site situated on the rural area of town, far away from anyone or anything that could possibly get caught in the cross-fire. The moon was in full display in the night sky, only adding to the mystique that was the human world that they were witnessing for the first time, the only thing keeping them grounded for the most part was the night air only and street lights that helped illuminate just how deserted and remote they were, the artificial light shinning across the heavy machinery and laid about tools helped paint a clear picture as to why this area was chosen for the final part of their training. With a single gesture from the professor, several of the senior students left for key positions at in the area, weaving spells as some recited chants, enacting a barrier that stretched far and wide, surrounding the main site and half built buildings in the surrounding areas.

"Each of you will be accompanied by one of the senior students and a seated officer to your designated evaluation site, you are to be expected to treat this exercise as if your life were danger, which it will be." Taking out a circular ball, a small hollow skull was etched on the surface of the sphere, the instructor quickly crushing it into his hands and throwing the remains out into the wind. Before long, what started as a low howl erupted into a full-blown cavalcade of hollow screams resounding off the barrier and walls, signifying that numerous hollows were mere minutes away. "What you just saw was a type of hollow bait, no need to worry, its only meant to to attract low-level hollows, and it'll only be in effect for roughly an hour." From the simple display alone, it was more than evident that what he had used was a type of bait meant to draw in as many hollows in their nearby vicinity for the use of training, a line of thinking that some thought bordered on the psychotic.

During his discourse, hollows of various shapes and sizes began to line up from across the barrier, leaving most of the young shinigami terrified and weak at the simple visage of these hungry creatures from behind what is essentially a display window. "If your going to fight the enemy, it best that experience it first hand. Each group will charged with eliminating and purify one hollow under the supervision of a senior officer, and will be evaluated based on your performance." Signaling to the other seated officers, the teams began to break off into different parts of construction site, with the senior students undoing the barrier and allowing several hollows to roam around, held down by a simple spell from the seated officers, "Bakudo #1: Sai!" some murmured, with a simple hand gesture, the hollows were restrained, not allowed to move an inch until the students were ready.

*This is insane* Tenma thought, the idea that students had to fight hollows, even at this level, was unthinkable. But it in some way, he could sympathize with this line of thinking, if they had to fight under these circumstances, it was best to do it in a controlled environment, no matter how extreme it may be. "Never thought we were fighting ACTUAL hollows today," he said nervously, his face breaking out into a smile with a simple bead of sweat running down his cheek, taking out his Zanpakutō in preparation of their fight. "If you give them half the fight you gave us, we'll probably make it out in once piece, unless you want to run," his eyes peering back to Garou in a playful manner.

"If I'm going to run, it'll be towards them," Garou tilted his head towards the hollows, "Just make sure you don't get in the way."

The red-haired student unsheathed his blade and flicked it to the side, the loud schwing of his blade having slid out from its scabbard rang outwards through the air around him. His teeth bared similarly to a canine's, hid slightly by the excited smile on his face as his eyes lit up at the sight of an enemy. Garou then proceeded to look back to Tenma with the smile still plastered on his face as his sword waited eagerly by his side.

"You reckon you can keep up?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Funny," he answered, unsheathing his sword as he glanced at the hollows, the shinigami taking a quick look at the students to verify they all ready.

Ninigi kept what he truly wanted to say to himself. *"Just as expected,"* he whispered to himself, referring to the fact that the students were assigned to deal with Hollows. *"Hollow Hunting, a Shinigami's favorite thing to do, right?"* He said, letting out a sigh. He then stiffened himself and readied for whatever there was to come after. "Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?" He asked the rest of the group in the most sarcastic tone that he could before shaking his head left and right and sighing yet again.

Before they could begin, the instructor glanced at the teams, noticing that several of the students had resigned from taking part in today's drill, the thought of preforming a live training exercise on actual hollows was too much for some of them to handle, leaving some open spaces in several of the teams for an uneven set. "With the lack of members in several of the squad formations, we'll be re-adjusting your groups accordingly," the instructor commented, motioning for the senor students to reassemble the teams based on a new series of lottery tickets.

Much to his chagrin, Tenma's new ticket was one of the few that was changed in the new drawings, losing his advantage with pairing off alongside the brute, and in turn throwing in his lot with another student, and too his surprise, Aya of all people had the exact same ticket.

With all the groups separated and in their own examination area, Garou, and his three members were isolated to the far north side of the site, comprised of mostly half built buildings and construction beams strewn about half hazardly. With senior students upholding the barrier, the only thing standing between them and the hollow was the simple spell. The hollow in question was relatively small to what one would expect. At a first glance, it was more than evident that it was freshly turned, as it was mindlessly howling and flailing around, absent of any rational thought. It was for these reason that it made for the ideal opponent for someone still in the academy. But the most distinct feature was the reptilian shape and design it had, the mask bearing the resemblance that of some pre-historic lizard, the length more than 9 feet gave it an almost serpentine look thanks to its slender form.

The shinigami took a moment to observe the squad of four, signaling to them that they were about to begin. "Remember, survival takes priority over in this drill, no sense winning if if you're not going to make it. If it looks like things are going side-ways, I'll intervene. Until then, your performance here with reflect your final evaluation." Signaling to the student, barrier behind them was shut closed, leaving the four of them locked in. Loud crunching and snaps reverberated off the crumbling walls, evident that the hollow was breaking its arms trying to free itself from the Bakudo spell, spewing saliva past its cries, melting the ground wherever it landed on. Staring down the examinees with an intense voraciousness, its eyes reflected pure unbridled hunger and nothing else, like that of an animal stalking its prey, its sole purpose was to fill its stomach with whatever it could find.

"Release!" Screamed the shinigami. The spell came undone. The instant it did, the hollow's arms snapped back in place, mending its broken bones almost as instantly as the spell faded. As if to make up for the time it was binded, it made no attempt to slow down its pursue, scratching and clawing up the ground with its hands and feet while its tail flailed around like mad, charging head first for red headed soul, swinging its large tail by the point forward, hoping to skewer him whole.

During this exchange, the third man of their group was shaking something violent, the terrified expression soliciting to the instructor for help, just barely able to hold onto his Zanpakutō past the shaking. "I-I can't do this...w-what do they expect us to do, we're still in the academy!"

As the final group reached their designated site, consisting of Aya, Tenma, Ninigi, and another young man that sortied into their group, the location was comprised of scaffolds built alongside a damaged 12 story building, being the remains of what appeared to be an old hospital, still being demolished as evidenced by the tore down walls and beams holding what little was left. Much with the others, they were accompanied by one of the senior students of their class and a seated officer using a Bakudo spell to restrain their opponent for the evening. Even for a low-leveled hollow, the proportions were extreme. Extremely obese with what could be passed off as muscle mostly accentuated in its arms, its shape was relatively human-like, its frame just as wide it was tall, nearly 10 foot tall, breathing raggedly to break off the spell holding it in place. The mask, from what one could make out, was the a misshapen form of a human face.

With his hand still gesturing to hold the hollow in place, he turned to examine the students about to tussle with this creature, nearly several times larger than even their tallest member, didn't help alleviate his concerns, regardless on whether or not it was measly hollow. "Listen up, as soon as I undo the spell, you're on your own. Depending on how well you do, that's what you're getting for a final grade. If you feel its too much, I'll step in and take over." Catching a glimpse of the young academy students from the corner of its eyes, the hollow's breathing became more agitated, recognizing the quality of their souls was much higher than what it ate here in the human world, trying with all its might to leave its position, the floor cracking and breaking from added pressure.

With everything it place, the shinigami echoed "Release", unbinding the hollow to move whoever it felt like it, while the shinigami stepped back, leaving it to focused entirely on the students. The instant it was free, the hollow's first instinct was to dig its fingers into the ground, carving out a large chunk of the ground and carrying it overhead, and lunging it to the group.

"I got it!" A.J. called out to the others whilst she was getting down on all fours, only to stomp her back legs into the pavement below and shove them forward from underneath her body, all the while her hand helped lunged the young Shinigami forward. Launching herself across the air and right towards the incoming boulder, A.J. crashed into the upper area of the big lump of rock with both her feet. Yet she would only find herself tilting the rock over, causing the young soul to slip off its surface and end up on the other side — meaning that the impact did next to nothing to stop the the stone from coming for the other students.

"FUCK!! SPREAD OUT!" A.J. called out yet again, having made a serious error in her own capabilities and control for that matter, she could only hope that they others did indeed run away, find cover or find a way to deal with the boulder entirely.

With the rock flying overhead, Tenma stretched himself as far to the ground as possible, thanks in part to his extreme flexibility and short stature, his chest stuck straight to the concreate floor as the chunk of rock flew right past him, their third member not so lucky. Trying to block the stone overhead, the slab of solid stone landed smack-dab at the center of his sword, knocking their team member through the air at an astounding distance, hitting the nearby wall. Before Tenma could see if he was okay or not, the hollow was now sufficiently amped up, the sudden movements of the squirming vermin drawing its ire even more, now pressing its attack a step further. The large and clumsy moves of the obese hollow carried with it an unnatural weight, the floor almost unable to support his girth as he charged ahead with its right arm raised up against the young girl, breathing raggedly as if it had overworked itself with what one could consider "sweat" starting to moisten its skin.

"Stay down, you're not good to anyone dead so leave it to us!" Tenma exclaimed to their team member, staying behind to tend to their comrade, concentrating his spiritual energy to as high a degree as he could muster as he weaved several hand signs into he air, erecting a barrier around the third member should the hollow come for the weakest link.

Little did they know this Hollow would have its actions halted by the actions of their lingering teammate. "**Tatsumaki**," The calm voice of Ninigi Yamakage carried along the wind as a towering spiral of wind danced into existence and shuffled its way towards the Hollow, wrapping around it and swallowing it. Upon doing so, many wind-like blades would slash and thrash through its skin leaving wounds all over its body causing blood to fall top the ground like a shower of crimson rain.

"Running in with brute force first was the decision of a brute," Ninigi said to A.J. knowing that his words would travel.

"Call it whatever you want your lordship!" The woman called back to the other student, clicking her tongue in annoyance as she'd now found herself on the opposite end of both the hollow and the others. *Fuck me. Yeah, it didn't work but I didn't see him doi-.... NO. FUCK ME! FOCUS A.J!!*

Shaking her head as she couldn't afford to be distracted in a time like this. With or without the supervisors nearby, a lot of things could go wrong if she didn't pay attention. A.J.'s gaze shifted between that of Ninigi and the lump of flesh that stood before them, waiting to make sure that the other student's wind blades would dissipate before taking a step forward. Upon doing so her body would flicker in and out for a moment before appearing several meters ahead, just below the hollow in fact, and make another leap for it as soon as she appeared. This time propelling herself across the air and straight for the beast's head, performing what feats she could with the Kazaguruma technique, with one leg ahead of the other as the other planted itself into the hollow's mask and one of the yellow eyes that gazed from it.

Trying to follow it up by using the creature as a stepping stone, A.J. kicked herself off the hollow and try to land roughly around the same spot from which they'd arrived. Her eyes constantly shifting to try and make out where everyone was currently located at this moment in time.

Stopping mid-way through its attack, the bombardment of slashes had left their mark on the obese hollow, trying in vain to swat away whatever ethereal blades were assaulting it in a confused rage, stomping all over the ground as their area of the construction site began to shake, Too distracted to take note of the small shinigami coming in with her very own attack back-to-back to Ninigi's. The techniques had connected, but not in the way either of them would expect. The blades had cut its skin, but merely scratched the surface, the thickness and amount of mass the hollow possessed had resulted in superficial wounds that slashed at the first layer of defense it had, crying out to find the aggressor responsible for the attack. Aya's caught it off guard for the most part, the Kazaguruma she used landing directly on its head, its mask cracking and bloody gurgles overshadowed by the loud crunch from what one would think was its neck. As soon as contact was made on both fronts, the hollow's sweat flew in all directions, tainting the walls, floors, and everyone in the surrounding area who was close enough, the hollow landing straight on its back, somehow secreting even more fluids. At first glance, the hollow's head was smashed in, nowhere to be seen while it stood motionless on the ground. It had appeared that the academy student's had won, but just as the instructor was about to motion them to return, a violent cry bellowed from the downed creature.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A hollow's signature scream reverberated across the walls and the building's hard surface, its head resurfacing from its body, eyeing the academy students like prey as its eyes sharpened, now fully aware of their abilities.

Tenma watched in astonishment that it had survived both Aya's and Ninigi's attacks, illustrating the stark contrast between a shinigami and an academy student. *They wouldn't have given us this kind of opponent if they didn't think we could beat it* he thought. With his preparations complete, no longer bound to to stand by the sidelines, drawing his zanpakutō with both hands ready to charge in, noticing a particular smell lingering in the air thanks in part to his feline senses. Nearly stepping on the mysterious fluid that the creature had lunged everywhere, Tenma's face reflected his shock, recognizing the strange scent, immediately back tracking to distance himself as much as he could from the hollow, regrouping back with his teammates. "Don't touch the fluid!"

Before another word could leave his mouth, a miasma began to form around them from the surface of the cement, the rock and construction equipment that had been doused by he hollow's sweat had started to melt, breaking apart as what stood up as a solid earth was reduced to nothing but melted sludge, pooling around the the hollow's feet, slowly spreading to swallow up the ground before long, transforming what initial stood as a construction zone, now into a dense swamp.

With the warning from his teammate still fresh, Ninigi prepared himself to make his next move and boy was he lucky to have Tenma notify him. His Zanpakuto still in hand, Ninigi clenched its hilt and looked to the Hollow that began to move forward. "Whisper in the wind, Kazehara!" He activated his shikai in just three words. Through his mental commanding, window began to generate from the sword which gathered around his body and began to lift him up into the air in a form a flight. Spreading from himself, the wind branched out and covered his teammates gathering underneath their feets to lift them up into the air granting them the same flight he possessed.

Eyes narrowed he took note of the melting cement. The entire area had become a swamp domain for his bidding. *"If he's created this with this mist, then I'm sure he's also able to manipulate it. This'll put us at a bad advantage considering I'll have to focus my Zanpakuto solely on keeping these two from the ground."* He thought to himself.

"You two will be granted flight so long as I can maintain it. However, what I'm going to need is a bit of a distraction and a way for you two to get him to either stand still or move in a linear path."

"Whoow..." A.J. couldn't help herself from being astonished as she had suddenly found herself hovering in the air from Ninigi's Zanpakutō. Her ears perked up at the man's request however, evident even further by the wide smile spreading across her lips in response as she turned to look at the hollow before them. "If that's all you need then you got it.. Hell! I'll even use my Zanpa~!... UP!" With those words, the woman took off into the air and ascended up even further than they already were. She didn't quite know if she was maneuvering out of her own will or if Ninigi was the one sending her flying.

Souring to even greater heights until A.J. had found herself in a position where she could look down at the others to resemble something more aking to ants. The young shinigami locked eyes with hollow, still grinning as she grasped the hilt of her Zanpakutō and unsheated the sword from its scabbard for the first time today. Only to crouch down from where she was standing in preparation and let her body fall forward. It wasn't until it looked like she was about to fall over that she kicked the air, using the reistu at the bottom of her feet as a make-shift pressure plate and was propelled through the air in a rapid pace. It wasn't until halfway down that A.J. would shift her otherwise narrow descent to immediatly swing her arm out and throw her Zanpakutō towards the hollow, the motion only following suit and cause her body to rotate forward. The spinning motion replicating the same somersault that she had performed earlier during the their battle, increasing both the speed and power behind her descent as she'd essentially made herself into a make-shift meteor.

Just a few moments passed before the blade finally struck the hollow, imbedding itself with ease into the creature's skull as a result of the built up velocity from its travels. Yet its owner would enter the frey almost immediatly afterwards as she'd plummet into the hollow afterwards with her legs stretched outwards. Yet not so much as making direct contact with the beast, but rather planting both feet at the guard of her blade with the hilt between tucked safely inbetween. The impact sending a mixture of not only raw power from the veloctiy and strength of the woman's limbs, but also that of using herself as a literal hammer to the nail that was her Zanpakutō into the hollow's skull.

Wild as it was. If this didn't outright kill the beast, then perhaps it'd be enough to keep it in place for whatever else was going down around here at this time.

The hollow shrieked in full-blown rage, flailing around as fluid began to swing everywhere wildly, its eyes glowing an intense yellow fever that was entranced at the insect that had stabbed it in the head. With the sheer size, the blade was all but stuck, and as if to respond to this threat, the hollow began to excrete even more acidic sweat from all the pores of its body. The air was filled with nothing but toxic fumes built up from everything his sweat had melted, his domain spreading even further the longer he remained active, sweat now pouring passively while he got his next attack ready. The young woman was only safe from the vicious onslaught for as long as her Zanpakutō would keep itself solid, which would not be long as the metal blade was starting to cinge and rust. With the point of impact bursting with blood in all directions, the hollow outstretched its arms, lunging for the student from both directions with the intent to crush her to death between its large palms, and melt whatever was left. And after, he would deal with the rest of flies buzzing around.

“No! Aya!” he screamed. Without a second to waste, Tenma didn’t have the luxury of time to recite an incantation to use one of his Kidō spells under normal circumstances. Having to resort to Eishōhaki to speed up his casting. Although he was ahead of his class when it came to Kidō, Tenma had yet to fully grasp the concept of the technique beyond what he had read and the conclusions he had reached for himself. He understood the theory behind it, it was similar to muscle memory, skipping out on the first part of the casting and compensating for it with diminished effects. Raising his Zanpakutō horizontally in front of him, Tenma created a bright yellow sphere that appeared directly in front of the weapon’s edge, widening itself along the length of his sword. The instability of the spell was all but evident, his Kidō was static and unbalanced, phasing in and out of reality in disproportionate ways, swelling up as if it were to explode at any moment. After a moment, he acclimated to this variation of casting, the spell stabilizing, much to the surprise and joy.

“Ninigi, I’ll hold it down while you finish it off.” With a Zanpakutō capable of using its second release, he was the only one with the destructive capability to finish it in one single blow.

“Hadō #32: Ōkasen!” Tenma yelled, proceeding to fire a horizontally wide ray, creating an arc of yellow energy that was headed for the hollow at blinding speeds. With Aya’s position to consider, she was going to receive the full brunt of the attack alongside the hollow, taking them both out in a matter of seconds. However, Tenma was more than aware of this fact, and planned accordingly. Clenching both hands together, the source of the ray’s energy began to change, transforming the straight ray into ropes that extended in multiple directions.

“Bakudō #4. Hainawa!” Using Eishōhaki again, Tenma changed spells midway through his attack, altering the composition and nature of his Hadō so that the yellow arc of energy transformed from a beam to large Reishi ropes of the same size and magnitude of his attack. Altering the arc of yellow energy into a crackling cord to bind the hollow in place, Tenma raised his hands up into the sky and swung downward, the large wire following the same gesture in order to lasso the giant. Under normal circumstances, Hainawa wouldn’t have been fast enough to reach the hollow before crushing Aya, but using a beam of energy to get there was another thing entirely. Wrapping around the Hollow’s arms, the rope proceeded to envelop its body next, the creature was immobile, mere inches away from crushing Aya into oblivion. Thrashing around, the Hollow tried in vain to pull the binding apart, the Reishi rope more than secure from the additional layers he had provided. “Now!” With the beast bound, it was more than enough time for her to escape, clearing the path for Ninigi to finish things.

While his teammates worked effortlessly to create the opening he needed with their explosive attacks and kido spells, Ninigi stood back and gathered his spirit energy together. In that brief moment he entered his Zanpakuto's mental plain. There, they had a small discussion regarding his next course of action. To be so young and so talkative with his Zanpakuto was no easy feat, but that was a topic for a later discussion. Right now, Ninigi simply needed to gather enough spirit energy and syncronize it with his Zanpakuto so that he could deliver what he had asked his teammates to stop for him.

Tenma gave him the greenlight. He quickly opened his eyes and held his blade up directly in front of his face as though he were praying to it. A burst of spiritual pressure emit from his body in a brilliant green flash. Falling back to the ground once his feet made contact with it he quickly turned his blade upside down and stabbed the bladed end of it into the ground where it pierced through cleanly. The grounded area that had become their battlefield would begin to shake slightly, but with the adrenaline rushing through the Shinigami no one would have felt it. Like a snake in high grass something slitered underground until it finally reached its destination directly underneath the Hollow which had been being held down.

Ninigi couldn't afford to mess this up. This was the greatest oppurtunity throughout this battle he would ever get and he was well aware of this. He wouldn't mess it up. "**Pillaring Wing**," he mumbled to himself. The ground directly underneath the Hollow and Tenma would begin to quake. Moving his left hand around as if he were swiping at the air, he commanded the wind around Tenma and A.J to carry them along the distance bringing them both back to his side, safely from what was to unfold. In the next breath, a burst of wind broke through the solid ground in the form of a pillar which completely engulfed the Hollow. The winds within the pillar weren't just a collection of gusts. They were small blades of wind which combated together and rotated around each other to create a pressured pillar of wind. Despite their natural defenses, this Hollow was on the lower end of its ranking and evolution which meant the constant asssault from the various wind blade would without a doubt penetrate its sturdy skin before ultimately ripping the Hollow up to shreds.

"Collapse." He ended, the pillar began to shrink in size, compacting itself into a small construction squeeze the Hollow that was within it. Once it go too thin, the pillar would shatter breaking into small burst of wind which would send even the nearby trees to lean over.

Suffocating from increase in pressure, the Hollow shrieked and clawed at the collapsing pillar, to the point where pressure became too much, it's form compacted and crushed beyond recognition, as viscera and blood splattered across the wall. As soon as the attack began to fade, the mauled remains of the Hollow came spilling out, as the acidic fog and residue began to fade, all but confirming the Hollow's passing from this world to the Soul Society. Astounded at the display from all three students, the proctor clapped his hands, motioning to the senior student's to lower the barrier, signaling that today's test was done. As the Hollow vanished in thin air, he examined each one of them, closing his eyes to gather his thoughts in order, taking in everything that had transpired, and evaluating them based on their performance. After a moment, he had them line, with the older student taking their fourth teammate away for medical treatment.

"Aside from your teammate,your performance today was beyond exemplary for 1st years, even those in the advanced course. To be perfectly frank, the talent that you displayed throughout the course of this test puts into question whether or not your ability is wasted as students of this academy. The latter of which will be discussed on a later date.”

Starting with the Aya, first the instructor had a list of notes he was taking, going over his overall impression and the marks that most caught his eye. “Aya Jūsuke, the display of Zanutsu, and in particular Hakuda, exhibited a level of mastery that one wouldn’t expect even from a seated officer of the Gotei 13, best illustrated in the use of the Kazaguruma, an advanced technique that would be beyond any traditional academy student.” The instructor was more than confident in his final thoughts regarding her sheer fighting abilities. Compared to some of the other students that had enrolled this year, including the senior students, Aya outclassed them all by a large margin and then some. It wouldn't be that strange if she was considered for a position in one of the divisions that fostered this kind of talent and given a seat near the top, at least between the 3rd to Lieutenant seat, such as the 11th Division or even the Stealth Force. Her grades in today’s exercise were nearly perfect marks.

His attention turned to Ninigi, the one student that gave him the best surprise of the lot, and stood high above all the other senior students by leagues on skill alone. “Ninigi Yamakage, it wasn’t your skill or talent that impressed me. No. It was something much simpler than that. To have achieved Shikai at this stage demonstrates true talent, a quality that most Captains look for when choosing a Lieutenant. Your achievements today have more than proven that.” The simple fact that he can use his Zanpakutō’s second release before becoming a student was unheard of, demonstrating an intuitive nature that fostered years of mastery at such a young age, his Shikai was testament to this fact. At this level, Ninigi’s choices were endless, he could apply in almost any department and he would most certainly succeed with the position of Lieutenant.

The last student that stood at the end of the line was the shortest of the trio, but his abilities were no less grander than the other two. “And last is Soichiro Tenma. For a student, much less a first year, to be able to use Eishōhaki, and alter the nature of a Hadō spell while in mid-use, and transform it into a Bakudō spell, showed innovation and creativity beyond even my years. At this point, there’s nothing more that the instructors here at Shin'ō Academy here can teach you, your skills would be better suited for a much higher calling.” Considering his feats during the initial portion of their training during the sparring section, Tenma’s area of expertise could only be elevated by those belonging to those cut by the same cloth, his talents not suited for the Gotei 13 per se, but more aligned with those belonging with the Kidō Corps. If he trained enough, he had no doubt in his mind he could easily make it to Vice Kidō Chief or higher, a level that was equivalent to Lieutenant among their ranks.

With his evaluation done, the instructor left them to their devices, allowing them to regroup with the rest of the class, not before making several additional notes, unveiling a Hell Butterfly as he opened the Senkaimon on his end, “Unlocking!” Extending his sword into the middle of the air, a large gateway opened, leading them to the Soul Society. However, as the initial butterfly guided them home, the instructor let go another one, this one conveying the test scores and evaluations of all the students that took part today. The instructor couldn’t help but reminisce about swimpler days. With the Vanishing, the overall military prowess that the Soul Society once had was even less than half. With the rising need to fill the npower vacuum left behind, it wasn’t too uncommon to see the academy implement and adopt harsher practices in order to elevate the quality of their new shinigami, today’s test was but one example.

“Live Hollows...what else will they think of?” It was for this very reason the academy was on the lookout for very particular students that met a certain criteria, and this year's batch were something else. So much so he had to inform the rest of the faculty.

## Another Day

Classes resumed, the day after that entire ordeal made its rounds across the academy, rumours spreading of students facing Hollows, and that some were still hospitalized. This both horrified some, but excited others, the standard to become a member of one of the divisions is much higher than it was years ago. With some sense of normalcy returning to their class, everyone that took part were, in the middle of a written exam, the stress in the air leaving the room vacant of any noise, as they toiled away at the exam sheet.

“It's not just about pretty words and fancy swords, this test makes up more than 60% of your grade, I’d take this seriously if I were you.”

The silence in the room was broken by the sliding door at the class exit, the class staring off to check who interrupted the session. Much to their surprise, they were Shinigami, each bearing different badges, with the addition of several mysterious hooded figures waving through the crowd of officers. The instructor glanced at the clock, checking the time to verify if it was time, “I see it’s time already. Tenma, Ninigi, Aya, your presence has been requested, please follow the escort that has been provided to each of you.” Gasps broke through the muffled whispering and gossip that flooded the once quiet auditorium, aach of the students taken to different classes within the academy’s various departments, secluded from one another with several instructors and what appeared to be senior seated officers of various different divisions making up their entourage. It was evident for anyone watching what was going on. On occasion, the most highly talented Shinigami have the chance to be admitted to a division, or even granted a seated position with a division before completing the full curriculum.

This was one such occasion, as the three of them were being scouted from various divisions, each offered the chance to become full-fledged Shinigami before graduating. Although all three were taken in for different reasons, the underlying purpose was all the same, “before I begin, let me be the first to tell you, welcome to the Gotei 13.”

As humble as he could be, Ninigi bowed his head in thanks. "Appreciated." He said simply. Ninigi had worked hard in his first year, putting in extra hours honing not only his physicals skills, but his graded work as well. He was the youngest of the main branch Yamakage Clan and had a number of expectations he lived up to. He had no intentions of letting down the people who believed in him the most and they would see that with this very ceremony.