Searching the Wastes

Thu Jun 23, 2011 5:21 am

DAIGORO ITO; 2-3+; 1-3+; 0-4+
"The best offense... is a damn good defense..."

Silence. That was all the redhead heard. Silence, and the sound of his foot-falls, crossing the deserted ground at speed. He had been tracking key Kokuryuteshi members, in an attempt to see one thing, and one thing only. Who had replaced him? Were they worthy of it? The redhead shook his head slightly, sprinting through the wasted grounds with a determined eye. As he was now a traitor, he had to be careful. He didn't just have the Gotei 13, but Kin's men to watch out for now. He couldn't afford to be so... lax. Then again, he had the means to fight off most attackers. The fist covered by the glaive clenched slightly, and Daigoro Ito continued to consider his options.

The blade at his side moved with his own motions, and he smiled softly. While he said that he had betrayed, it was more a desertion. He had left the Kokuryuteshi in order to keep his sanity about him, and yet... this seemed so much more disturbing to his mindset. Daigoro shook his head and jumped to the side, avoiding a branch that happened to be sticking out of the ground.

"K-uh..." He had only just noticed that one. If he was any more lost in thought, he'd--

"Woah!" His shin collided with another piece of wood sticking out of the ground, and he tumbled over. React... react! His arm instinctively shot out, and he managed to bound with that arm, springing himself back onto his feet with a light sigh. He looked around him, and noticed that the entire area was like this. He'd have to move slower from now on - and that would mean that his lead - the man's eyes moved into the distance - would be long gone. Ah, well. He took a seat and reached into his uniform, bringing out a small, wrapped, onigiri package. He smiled softly, unwrapping the package and lifting it to his mouth with closed eyes and reddened cheeks.

"Itadakimasu~" Was the cheerful tone that escaped his lips as he brought the ball of rice to his teeth and took a hearty bite. Oh, that was heavenly... He took a good few more bites, before swallowing the rest whole, and laying down on his back with a satisfied smile. He brought an arm out beside him, and held it up into the air, studying the Glaive on his right hand. He spread his fingers and then clenched his fist, smiling confidently. He may no longer be with anyone, but he was sure that out of everything, he would be able to survive. As long as he trusted his instincts, and those he found that he could rely on, he would certainly survive to fight another day...

Thu Jun 23, 2011 5:50 am

”For such a wanted man, you seem strangely lax.”
The voice shattered the silence around the desert, despite not having been raised above a normal conversational level. It was the weight behind the tone that broke that silence. Roughly 20 feet from Daigoro stood a man in a simple tan suit. His brown hair was cropped short, and his grey eyes seemed to be picking Dai apart, analyzing the details. The man’s stance was unnervingly casual, hands resting in his pants pockets, weight distributed evenly; he looked like a man about to conduct a business meeting rather than..well whatever was going through the mind behind the emotionless mask.

The strange thing was the lack of any spiritual power radiating from this new being; maybe a little, but nothing that remotely seemed threatening, or at least that was how many had interpreted it. Kaiedo had made sure they suffered for that folly in the end. He could have probably baited nearly anyone if he acted meek and weak like the lack of power suggested, but the way he held himself spoke of his ploy. All the same, better to keep the hand hidden than to lay the cards on the table for now. For now, Kaiedo was interested in this being; Daigoro Ito had defected from the Gotei 13 to join the Kokuryuteshi only to then defect from it as well. The Monsuta found themselves allied with K-World; it was only tactically advantageous to figure out what enemies it might have and what drove people away from it as much as draw them towards it.

”Daigoro Ito; why did you desert both the Gotei 13 and Kokuryuteshi? Are you simply interested in making enemies?” Kaiedo asked, his tone unchanging; neutral, as though he was asking the difference between two ties hanging on a wall. Only one other noise accompanied the whistle of the wind and the words from the normally silent Vizard; a rattling sound of metal on wood. Within its sheath, Gekimetsu rattled and raged; he screamed at Kaiedo to simply draw and strike. As usual, the cries and pleas of the Zanpaku-tou fell upon deaf ears. Kaiedo only drew when the time was right, and when he could find his answer no other way.

Besides, from what information he had gathered concerning this man, the first of many who he would have to find, using brute force against him could be unwise in the end. He could afford patience for now; while he had information he was willing to wager that Dai had little to none concerning both who he was and what he was dealing with. This was a tactical advantage that he would not squander by jumping into the fray so easily. So for now, he stood there and waited as the wind kicked up about the pair.

Thu Jun 23, 2011 4:39 pm

Daigoro Ito; 2-3+; 1-3+; 0-4+
"The best offense... is a damn good defense."

”For such a wanted man, you seem strangely lax.” The redhead's eyes widened in an instant. S-someone... He could only but turn slowly to face the tall man that stood near him. He had been followed? Impossible. There was no way. His eyes narrowed suddenly, and he frowned in annoyance. The man felt weak to him. But there had to be something else there, right? He got to his feet and shook his head, the frown turning to a slight smirk. His eyes opened back up, and he placed his hands onto his hips, tilting his head to the side.

"Oh? Someone who knows of me? Well, you're either new to the Kokuryuteshi, or you are allied with them." He smiled softly. He hadn't seen this larger man before, so he had his suspicions about him, and placed a single hand on his zanpakuto on the right hip. This wasn't a threatening motion, far from it. Daigoro had simply placed his hand on his blade to make completely sure that he was ready for anything. If this man became a threat, then he'd react. He sighed, and studied him a bit further.

Grey hair, large frame, looked pretty strong. Certainly a man to be respected for his power. However, he still couldn't sense much to do with his Reiatsu. That was certainly... strange. But maybe that was a trick? Because, as far as Dai knew, not many people would realize that he was alive.

”Daigoro Ito; why did you desert both the Gotei 13 and Kokuryuteshi? Are you simply interested in making enemies?” The man's tone was unchanging. He was acting like this was a simple business transaction...

"Gee, you even know my name?" His voice was slightly sarcastic, but he was unamused. That wasn't good. And the guy looked like a gun attacker. Which made life more difficult, especially if he was to be pulled into a fight. No, no. The man's face and eyes hardened, his demeanour sobering up.

"I deserted... for my own reasons. The Gotei 13 and the Kokuryuteshi... For some reason, I can associate myself with the morals of both of them. And yet, I can't find myself to follow their leaderships. The Gotei 13, while valiant, are fighting a battle to destroy the Hollow. Something impossible like that doesn't interest me. If I could save the Hollow, end the war, bring some sort of peace, I'd do it. Which is what had drawn me to the Kokuryteshi." The seal that once fully stopped his strength crackled slightly on his right hand. "Kin had given me the oppurtunity for more power, the ability to build my strength so I could protect everyone I could, maybe end this war. But I'm not cruel, I couldn't be like this. Even though Kin's ideals asked for final peace, it didn't seem right, to me." He shook his head, and stared at Kaiedo through defiant eyes.

"I'm not interested in making enemies, friend. I'm simply trying to find a place in this world." The sound of metal rattling on wood met his ears, but he decided against further investigating that bit. He didn't know enough about this man, and yet this man seemed to have information on him, which was never good. It gave him an advantage in battle, but he had to wonder. How much did he know? Was he aware of the Counter, or Assimilation? For he had never used those abilities in battle, nor had he needed to. So he hadn't felt it necessary for Kin to be aware of those...

Mon Jun 27, 2011 3:24 am

Kaiedo stood in silence as Dai answered his questions without giving much reaction to any of the particular answers. He picked up on the sarcasm of some of the answers easily enough sure, but he didn’t rise to it or against it for the time being. It was a shame the man had deserted the Kokuryuteshi; he would have made a good ally. He spoke his mind plainly, motivated by logic more than random emotion. If he wasn’t marked as a traitor, he may have tried to recruit Dai for the Monsuta; however, he had made himself a traitor against K-World already. To do so would be to put some strain on the ties between K-World and the Monsuta, something that would be less than beneficial for the time being. K-World had many resources that were of use, and backing to work on particular goals; simply put, they were too valuable an ally to go counter to their ideas…for now.

Which was what had brought him to this man in the first place; half of knowing an ally is knowing that ally’s enemies. This man had joined then left for valid reasons; more importantly, he had the strength to leave. Many believed Dai to be dead though, and he was doing nothing to change that opinion. Kaiedo didn’t particularly plan to do anything to harm that façade either; it served no benefit for the time being. It was useful information he would use later when he or the Monsuta needed a bit of leverage. Gekimetsu continued its rattling while he stood there, ignoring the Zanpaku-tou for the most part.

It was Dai’s last line that stirred a real reaction from Kaiedo.
“I’m not interested in making enemies, friend. I’m simply trying to find a place in this world.”
A shadow of a smirk played across Kaiedo features for half a moment.
”Aren’t we all?” he asked aloud, letting the words hang like wind-chimes in the desert air for a few moments.
”I am Kaiedo, Second in Command of the Monsuta. You are correct in that I am technically an ally of the Kokuryuteshi. I come here no on business concerning that, however. I have come to seek a favor from you, Daigoro Ito.”

Kaiedo shifted; it was a subtle motion as his left foot inched back less than 2 inches. His left hand was suddenly drawn from his pocket; the rattling of Gekimetsu was silenced in a moment as he grabbed hold of the hilt, bringing that blade to stillness finally.
”I wish to see your power.”
His left index finger was extended, pointed out towards Dai.
”Byakurai,” he said in the same simple tone he had used for the entirety of the conversation so far; the bolt of energy fired straight towards Dai’s check, where his heart would be located; though Kaiedo wasn’t interested in actually killing Dai, if the man could not stop an attack like this then it could not be helped. If he could not stop this attack, then Kaiedo had wasted his time in seeking this man out as well.

Mon Jun 27, 2011 4:52 pm

DAIGORO ITO; 2-3+; 1-3+; 0-4+
"The best offense... is a damn good defense."

He was watching Kaiedo as he spoke. There were very few reactions that this man gave, each of them just as nonchalant and non-caring as the last. Daigoro smiled slightly, thinking to himself that this man may indeed be someone that he may not be able to trust, but he certainly wouldn't be one to simply turn around and kill him...

”Aren’t we all?”

"..." A few seconds of silence ensued after that, and Dai's eyes widened slightly from this. What was he saying...

”I am Kaiedo, Second in Command of the Monsuta. You are correct in that I am technically an ally of the Kokuryuteshi. I come here no on business concerning that, however. I have come to seek a favor from you, Daigoro Ito.”

"..." Wh-what? His eyes widened further in shock. Someone... someone from the Montusa? Montusa... he rolled that word over in his head several times. Mon...tu...sa... Oh. That Vizard organization that was now allied with Kin, right?

"What sort of favor?" His eyes moved from their widened position to being narrowed. Now he was interested. His eyes picked up a subtle motion on the man's part, and he sighed softly. Was that what he thought it was? His right hand moved away from his zanpakuto for now.

”I wish to see your power.” His breath left him for but a half-second. The man's index finger was pointed at him.

”Byakurai,” Geh. His mind returned to it's calm state, and he reacted in an instant. His right arm went up to his heart, the Glaive covering it with it's back pointed towards the shot of energy. He quickly focussed his Reiatsu into the mechanism in the Glaive, creating a small targe shield on the back which the Kidou collided with. He grimaced as it shattered, and then Daigoro jumped back.

"Ah. I see now." He smiled softly, and reached into his uniform with his left hand, sliding a small card out and flicking it around into his fingers. He slid it along his arm for a second, placing the card into a slot within the Glaive.

"Execute!" He raised his hand up, preparing his Reiatsu for use of a Kidou.

"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!" The energy gathered, creating a red ball of flame on the palm of the Glaive.

"Glaive Seal Level 31. Shakkaho." The energy finally gathered, and fired a cannon of red flames directly for the Co-Head of the Montusa.

Don't need to go all out. Don't need to go all out. Don't need to go all out.

Tue Jun 28, 2011 4:22 am

It was interesting how this man wore his expressions so clearly on his face, how surprised he was by Kaiedo’s words, and just how calmly he reacted to the bolt of electricity that was launched at him. He reacted with calm swiftness against the attack, forming a shield with the use of the glaive The first attack yielded a great deal of information for the Second in Command; weaker kidou like he had just used would do little if Dai was capable of generating that shield multiple times. It was also interesting how the man seemed happier, almost more at ease now that a battle had started. Granted, this was not a true battle; Kaiedo had no intention of dragging this too far at the moment. He wanted a gauge of this man’s abilities, not to grind him to dust. Dai slipped a card into the glaive, and began an incantation for a mid level Hadou. He merely stood there as Dai jumped back and counter attacked.

Then he vanished for a moment as he used Shunpo to retreat a handful of feet out of the blast zone of the kidou. However, when he had reappeared, his left hand was held out towards Dai; a crimson light suddenly engulfed Kaiedo’s hand before the Bala launched forward towards his opponent. The decoy away, Kaiedo moved with a second Shunpo, up and over the area where Dai was, hand outstretched once more as more crimson light appeared in his hand. This time it was a cero, and it crashed out over the area from above, destruction rained down from on high. It was only when Kaiedo launched these attacks that, for a brief moment, his Reiatsu could be felt; destructive and heavy even now. However, only a bit could be felt; most of it was drawn directly into the attacks.

He was never one to waste energy. He landed on a platform of Reiatsu as dust was kicked up from the attacks, sand flying about. He was well aware that such simple attacks wouldn’t kill Dai. If he had been going for that, he would have just shoved a blade through the man when he had arrived and Dai hadn’t noticed him. For now, they were getting a feel for one another and their respective powers. The large man’s silence hung about him like a shroud as he stood there, watching for his opponent’s inevitable counter-attack. Some would have taken the chance to gloat, taunt, or goad while there opponent was presumable blinded by sand or injured from the attacks. He was not that careless. He reached out with his senses, waiting for Dai to make the move.

He didn’t have much data on how Dai fought, other than the fact that he was a defensive fighter. The lengths to which those defenses extended hadn’t been fully tested before Dai had left the Kokuryuteshi, whose database Kaiedo had garnered most of the information concerning this man. Gekimetsu had fallen silent in its sheath by now, awaiting its chance to be drawn for this particular fight. Eventually he would draw his blade and move to melee combat, a field he may well hold an advantage on. However, he wanted to probe the defenses first, figure out what exactly he was dealing with. If he could, he wanted to draw Daigoro into Shikai before resorting to his own Shikai or his mask. He didn’t plan on moving to Bankai for this little scuffle. Then again, plans change when they needed to.

Wed Jun 29, 2011 4:42 pm

DAIGORO ITO; 2-3+; 1-3+; 0-4+
"The best offense... is a damn good defense."

Keh. His half-hearted attempt at a counterattack had failed. If he was serious, he could've brought out the high level card - but he was certainly not serious about this man's intentions right now, as the man appeared to be as well. He sighed softly, and placed his hand on the hilt of his zanpakuto, preparing for anything that may or may not occur. Of course, something happened. A bala was fired, and Dai managed to move quickly enough to have it skim his back. The redhead grimaced, and turned quickly to face Kaiedo, the man who then fired a Cero. Fine.

He slid his zanpakuto out of it's sheath, releasing it wordlessly, and having it double in length. He smirked, and focussed energy down the blade.

"Seishou-Hakaisha." Those two simple words caused the glow on the blade to increase, and cut directly through the Cero that was fired at him, splitting it and sending a pair of Reiatsu blasts past him, exploding the ground behind him. It was clear that Dai hadn't moved from this position. He closed his eyes as the dust spread up around him, keeping calm, listening for any sense of movement from the larger man. There seemed to be nothing right now, and so... he used the dust as a cover. He opened his eyes and began to move through the dust, diving randomly to the side to try and stop anybody from seeing his movements properly. He spotted Kaiedo jump up onto a platform. This caused him to stop and watch carefully with a small smirk. There was never much he could do in terms of attacking, but maybe... He withdrew his shikai and slipped the zanpakuto back into it's sheathe - hopefully Kaiedo hadn't noticed him release and destroy the Cero.

He disappeared, and re-appeared in front of Kaiedo with a small smirk on his face.

"Here." He slipped the small balls out of his uniform, and cast them off at Kaiedo. They were small Kidou bombs, and would explode on contact. He placed a foot on a platform of Reiatsu, and disappeared, before re-appearing above him, slipping more bombs out and throwing them, disappearing once more and appearing behind to throw the rest of his fifteen kidou bombs at the man. He disappeared one last time, and reappeared on the ground below, staring up at Kaiedo. The Kidou Bombs were weak. Kaiedo should be able to survive them.

Mon Jul 11, 2011 4:05 am

Kaiedo’s ears hadn’t missed the call that signaled Dai’s action, and his sharp eyes picked up the change in weapon as he sliced the Cero in two; he only got a glimpse of it though as the dust was kicked up around Dai shortly after, the man now obscured from his vision. He didn’t bother to move from where he stood in the air though. He had made the first move, now it was time to see what kind of retaliation the man would launch against him in response; think of it as a game of cat and mouse. He picked apart what he had observed thus far in his head in the moment he had been afforded; while he didn’t know the full extent of the abilities, he knew that Dai’s Shikai allowed him to sunder the cero cleanly. There had been an increase in energy for a moment before it had been cut and Dai had seemed unharmed by the action. The blade had lengthened in the form he had used to cut the attack as well, so that was something to keep in mind. It was also interesting to note that Dai had stood and countered the attack with one of his own instead of simply fleeing the area as most would have. Slowly, he was painting a better picture of the man in his head.

Not that he needed a picture; Dai was there in his face again, and with a series of movements had unleashed a volley of small round objects. While he couldn’t be sure what they were, he knew it was probably not within his best interests to touch them as Dai maneuvered around him and unleashed more and more of them. His plan was already set; his grey eyes darted up above him for a moment as he picked his path before shooting straight up, past the two sets of bombs that had been thrown from the sides, making contact with just a few of the bombs from above as he pushed up and threw the small cloud of bombs that was falling from above. They detonated as he carried them up with him; while not pleasant, he had felt worse; his object had been to clear the three or so he had hit from the rest of the pack. His right hand was extended out and down in Dai’s direction.
”Tenran.”

The kidou blasted forward, the tornado of energy connecting with the bombs before ever reaching the ground, which caused them to detonate. However, the kidou kept going, now a tornado of explosive energy propelled downwards towards Dai. He knew that the attack had too much range, too much telegraphing to connect as he had wanted, so he’d make the next move. His right hand wrapped around the hilt of his blade, and he was gone. Shunpo carried him towards Dai, appearing behind the man as he drew his blade, making use of the drawing of the blade to attack as well. His attack was no simple slice though; he swung with power behind it, like Urahara Kisuke had instructed Ichigo to attack when fighting vice-captains and higher. Coming from someone who had been releasing little energy thus far, it might have caught a slower or stupider man unprepared, but from the way Dai had fought thus far he doubted that would be the case this time around. All the same, he had gathered a decent picture of how the man’s kidou skills were. It was time to see how his zanjutsu stacked up.

”Is this all?” he voiced. His words were used sparingly, and rarely for a taunt like he had just done. It was another form of probing though; how exactly would Dai react to such words? More than anything, Kaiedo was out to answer 2 important questions; what kind of power did Dai possess, and would he become a factor in future Monsuta operations? If he was not going to become involved in their affairs, then it was nothing more than having knowledge of other powerful people that the organization may eventually come into contact with. If he was to become an adversary or ally, then it was important to know how much force would be needed to remove him, or what kind of power he would bring to the table. Thus, Kaiedo observed while their fight went, making mental notes and calculations all the while.

Tue Jul 12, 2011 7:04 pm

DAIGORO ITO; 2-3+; 1-3+; 0-4+
"The best offense... is a damn good defense..."

Again, a failure of an attack. He realized that this man wasn't going to be easy, and he had never expected it to be so. With a sigh, he watched the few bombs that hit him explode, and then saw him aim down at Dai himself. Hm?

”Tenran.” Another Kidou, ne? The redhead sighed again, shaking his head. He prepared himself to slice through it, before stopping. Why had Kaiedo disappeared from behind the force of wind? It took him but a second to think it over, and he grimaced. Shit. The feeling of a sudden burst of Reiatsu behind him caused him to react suddenly, and he brought his zanpakuto out of it's sheath - letting the foot-long blade collide with the man's power strike, after turning around suddenly of course. He gritted his teeth from the force, keeping the zanpakutos together out to the side.

”Is this all?” The redhead was silent at these words. An attempt at taunting? The man's voice wasn't right for taunting, really. It was too flat. It sounded more like a serious question, than an attempt to goad an opponent into attacking. His hand was holding the blade in it's reverse position, and his eyes were calmly looking at Kaiedo, as if this was nothing to him. After finally thinking it over, he closed his eyes briefly and looked back at Kaiedo with benevolent eyes; no visage of anger or battle-thirst.

"'Is this all?' Are you trying to goad me into doing something? I have little doubt in my skills. Why would you need to force me into acting rashly? It's not like I'm taking this fight as anything more than a simple spar." His mouth twitched and formed a kind smile - Dai was certainly not acting like this man knew he was wanted and alive.

"Or are you?" He sighed, and suddenly did something unexpected. He switched hands on his zanpakuto, holding it up with his left hand - equal strength being exerted on the push as if it was with the gloved hand. He nodded, and pulled back his right hand, focusing Reiatsu into it and pushing it in a punch for Kaiedo's stomach. The extra Reiatsu would force the punch to become more powerful than a normal one of Dai's.

Wed Jul 13, 2011 5:50 am

||K - A - I - E - D - O||
Searching the Wastes Scaled.php?server=683&filename=kaiedopostimage2

||M - O - U - I||
________________________________________

[E.H. POSTHUMUS - KALKI]

If you value you life, heed this warning; beware the fury of a calm man.
________________________________________

[D E S T R U C T I O N]
===========
[R E I G N S]

Dai reacted calmly, as though the words had meant nothing. He was shrewd enough to either keep his emotions in check or simply had no interest in truly settling into this fight. That was a tad disappointing really; Kaiedo had set out to discover exactly what kind of power this man held, and instead he wasn’t making much headway. Unfortunately, it might have to be him that took the first step of escalation then, but to go about that would be to attract more attention unless certain precautions were taken. He did note that he had forced Dai to react quickly; he hadn’t expected such a swift change from kidou based attacks to melee combat. He filed this information away for the time being, though it wasn’t exactly new information; if you did something so many times then changed tactics, then it usually throw people off.

Thus far, Kaiedo had concluded one thing for sure about Dai; he was a wildcard. He didn’t act like he was wanted, didn’t act like he was thought dead, and wasn’t revealing what kind of power he actually had. There were a good couple similarities he could draw between himself and Dai if he wanted too, but he didn’t both with it now; Dai had begun to move. He switched grips, relieved his glove hand of the blade, and threw a punch towards his stomach. He could block it, redirect it, or try and take it, but all of those would only serve to lengthen the amount of time the two of them would take before things got set. Instead of dancing around the subject, it was time to get down to business.

Kaiedo vanished with the crack of Sonido, appearing a few meters away from Dai, his coat caught in a sudden gust of wind from his movement. His left hand was held up as he looked at Dai.
”I came here to see what you were capable of who you were. I see now though that it will take more coaxing to get there. Bakudo #76, Bokasu Be-ru.”
There was a sudden rush of power around Kaiedo that flowed outwards across the ground. Without the incantation, the energy rushed a mile outward in all directions before suddenly rising straight up. With this energy a strange dome appeared; the world beyond seems to become just a tad duller in color, muted if you would. If anyone had been tracking the faint energy signals the two of them had been putting out, they would have seemed to vanish as though they had left the realm. Those on the ground nearby might feel differently, but it didn’t matter all the same.

Kaiedo lowered his left hand, his hair being brushed by the wind for a moment as his grey eyes took in the man before him.
”Those beyond that barrier will have a hard time detecting either of us, regardless of how fierce this battle becomes. I’ve not interest in being interrupted,” he said, as straight to the point as an arrow to a target. He plunged his blade into the ground before removing his jacket from his broad shoulders revealing a simple black undershirt. He placed the jacket down on the ground before retrieving his blade once more. It was strange for Kaiedo do remove his jacket; normally he didn’t bother with worrying about such things as his clothing when it came to battle. Was it because he didn’t feel that Dai would attack him while doing such a thing? Was there something else? Kaiedo’s face was carefully arranged in a mask of sorts, concealing any thoughts that lurked behind those grey eyes of his.

There was something brewing behind those eyes though, like a tiger seen in the grass for a moment before vanishing once more. He allowed himself to feel the weight of his blade as he stood there. Then he allowed himself to hear the blade’s words, and he listened.
”Terrorize, Gekimetsu.
With those two words the absence of spiritual pressure that had surrounded him like a cloak was torn assunder, his reiatsu suddenly lashing about like a caged beast recently freed. The analogy was not far off. His blade glowed an angry red as its shape suddenly deformed and grew, piercing the ground at the low angle he held it at. When it had finally settled his reiatsu came back in check, though no longer hidden; his strength could now be felt for what it was.

There was no need for words now. The energy he would have wasted on them was now used for more productive measures. Shunpo carried his straight back towards Dai, though he stopped just out of range of where the strange weapon he had seen Dai use earlier would have been able to reach, and brought Gekimetsu upwards with a swing, releasing a wave of angry red energy towards the Shinigami. With the distraction of the red glow and the suddenness of the attack, Kaiedo moved once more, using such things to his advantage. The goal was simple; he had upped the pace of the duel now, and unless Dai was quick to catch up he would be left behind and wounded. Kaiedo stood upside down on a platform of reiatsu; he thrust forward, another wave of energy rushing forward towards Dai. Neither of these had been Zenkai attacks, by no standard weak but not the full force of Kaijin that Gekimetsu was capable of.

The cero he had fired earlier had been cut in half by Dai’s Shikai from what Kaiedo had gathered; just how strong was that weapon though? What could it cut through? Would he be able to cut through one of these attacks? Both of them? Did that mean his physical defenses would be weaker? If that was the case he’d have some kind of answer for that from what Kaiedo had both learned from archives and from their duel thus far. While he had stepped up and put more pressure on the Shinigami, he was still probing; Dai was a defensive fighter by nature from what he had learned, so it was important to understand how strong those defenses were and what he was capable of doing with them. Already he had begun to get a feeling for what Dai was capable of in a sense. However, the more important question was what would Dai do with his power?

His left hand came up again, a prick of golden light suddenly forming.
”Rikujokoro, Seki.”
The six golden rods of kidou flew towards Dai; these served a dual purpose for Kaiedo. Firstly they would hold Dai in place long enough to move in for the next strike; if he had to place the part of offense, then he would provide a relentless offense for Dai to hold out again. Secondly, they revealed the Shinigmai’s location once more to Kaiedo. Meanwhile, the small ball of blue energy appeared at the back of his hand. He pushed off of the reiatsu platform, drawing in energy from the surrounding area which took the form of a glowing aura around Gekimetsu. He closed distance rapidly with his opponent, before launching his next attack. He swung Gekimetsu upwards once more, this time within range of making physical contact with Dai.

That was only the surface of the attack, however. During the swing, he released another Zenkai attack, the wave of destructive energy following the blade. Should Dai simply break the bakudou and retreat backwards, he would be pursued by the encroaching wave of destructive force. Kaiedo was well aware of the fact that Dai might have broken out of the Bakudou before he had gotten here, and the possibility of an attack from behind was always possible; it was one of the central tenets of the Shino Academy to strike from behind where the enemy was weakest. If he felt anything from behind him, he would continue the swing and thus the arc trail with a roll of his shoulder, the end result of such being that Dai would be faced with the same wave of death coming at him as a counterattack. The same would hold true for an attack from directly above.

On his left hand the shield kidou he had activated earlier remained, awaiting a use. Should Dai’s inevitable counter-attack come from the left, he could bring the shield to block before attempting to slice the man in half with Gekimetsu. If the attack instead came from the right, it was little adjustment to bring Gekimetsu in that direction with the same energy wave from earlier. While Kaiedo exhibited little emotion, the energy coming off of Gekimetsu stank of bloodlust and wanton destruction, quite a clash with the man’s demeanor. However, it was obvious he was serious about this; he would find nothing from simply jumping around anymore. Though he had come up with countermeasures for everything stated before, he doubted that Dai would do anything so predictable. Thus, he had would have to change his tactics then and there to stay in control of this battle.

Searching the Wastes

Searching the Wastes

Re: Searching the Wastes

Re: Searching the Wastes

Re: Searching the Wastes

Re: Searching the Wastes

Re: Searching the Wastes

Re: Searching the Wastes

Re: Searching the Wastes

Re: Searching the Wastes

Re: Searching the Wastes