The Evening Wind [Training, Bankai]

"Do what you wish...Taichou." said Bankai.

He knew this was getting serious. And again he wished he could kick himself that he did not train harder. As he thought before, he would have to make do with his sole weapon, his sword. He noticed the obvious that taijutsu as before would be if not difficult, nearly impossible with this new spike armor the Captain donned on his person. The only place that did not have the spikes was his face. Also he was not sure of the ability of this spike armor the Captain had. But initially the Captain's face would have to be his target because he himself had no armor to counter the spikes. He remembered from a kid that when he went to the hot springs, his rubber dragon floated away in the hot water and he could not get it. And before he could jump in, his mother stopped him and told him of the danger and how he would go about getting the rubber dragon.

Bankai kun, the water is too hot for you my son. Use something that would keep you safe and you can still get your toy.

She then handed him a stick and he easily tapped the dragon until it floated to him and he picked it up and got his toy. Bankai now realized that the same principle could be used here. Even though he himself could not touch the Captain, he would use his weapon to 'touch' him. With that thought, Bankai waited for him to come closer and timed it carefully. The Captain's movements were not difficult to read since they were not unorthodox. With the first swipe, Bankai raised his weapon and already pushed the handle of the blade under his arm pit allowing it to start to fall as he jumped backwards just enough to be outside of the Captain's reach. While the Captain was in mid attack even if Bankai was a couple feet away, the length and weight of the sword would still not be able to greatly injure the Captain with his armor but still it would make the Captain see his capabilities

Kotaro was advancing towards Bankai fairly quickly, but the Lieutenant was still able to pull off an effective counter. Before he could execute even his first swipe, the blade of the Lieutenant was hoisted towards the sky. It was simple to predict the attack would be a vertical slash downward given this fact, so Kotaro was swift to jump about a meter to his own left. Sure he was still in range to be cleaved if the Lieutenant repositioned where he was swinging, but given that the Captain was faster than the Lieutenant, after his sidestep he'd be able to approach Mr. Misaki's right flank before he could be struck. A bit of strain having to increase his pursuit speed, but he moved no faster than his natural limitations, barely more than 75% of his maximum speed. Once to Mr. Misaki's side, the Captain would swipe towards his side with his coat of needles on. Wild and savage like a rabid animal, the spines he wore threatened the exposed flesh Mr. Misaki had.

Hoping for his strikes to land, they were four in number, but not for more than a second did Kotaro's eyes leave the monstrous cleaver that his target wielded.

850/1,500

Bankai knew some sort of sacrifice had to be made if he were to land a decent hit on the Captain. As the Captain moved it for his hits which Bankai thought would land sooner or later, he should sacrifice his body a bit. So instead of evading and changing the massive cleaver towards the shoulder and neck area of the Captain's body. There would be a great chance that the Captain would be struck as well since he was in mid attack and nothing else mattered to Bankai at this point. And landed they did as his body skidded on the floor and blood; his own blood could have been seen seeping on his clothing. His sword fell; he was unsure of where it fell but it was loud as it crashed into the ground kick up a plume of dust. He had one eye closed from the impact of the fall and tried to open it. If the Captain tried to attack him in this position then the fight would be over for him. He got up slowly but his knees did not buckle or his legs were not shaking. His left hand was over the wound as he tried to put pressure on it. He glanced at his sword that was two meters away from him. He looked the the ground and saw seven drops of blood of varying sizes.

Hmmm. My own blood.

He was breathing heavily as his body tried to cope with the blood loss. He did not know how the Captain would react next. Did not matter to him though. He gave the Captain his best at this point. Hopefully he would realize that.

Kotaro didn't quite understand how a weapon of such tremendous proportions was redirected in such a manner to strike him as he struck the Lieutenant, but alaps it had happened. His armor of hair cuticles shielded him from the blade of the blow, but the brunt of the attack and the force it had was still a factor to be taken into account of. Knocked a fair distance away, about a good 7m, Kotaro had a bit of a hard time catching his balance from his irregular aerial positioning from being hit with a weapon of such weight. It was a given that the Captain would stumble as he forced his feet to the ground to avoid being knocked to far away, but even then he had lost his balance as the blow was just too much. The fact his movements were a bit sluggish from the suit of armor also worked against Kotaro's will as he fell to the ground, but into a roll. Just like he was taught, he rolled for a good two or three times, then pressed himself to his feet. Steady in a solid stance, it wasn't until he tried to move to attack the downed Lieutenant, that he felt the pain from the blow he had received. Like a pickaxe it stung at a key focal point, then the pain shot throughout the struck area. The assaulted area wasn't anything too big since not only was his armor covering him, but it was only the thin surface area of the blade's edge hitting him.

He would surely have a nice tender bruise to poke at at the end of the day and some aches and pains for a few days to follow. A few drips of blood falling from his crimson suit of spines, Kotaro then analyzed the damage he had done to Bankai to see he was unarmed and he was quite winded. "That was quite the fishy trick you pulled on me Lieutenant." The Captain still wasn't sure how it all happened since he was at such a close range, but nonetheless it did happen. Taking his time as he approached the distant Lieutenant, he gave him time to do what he was going to do. May it be surrender or pick up his blade again, the choice was all his, but the Captain wasn't out of the fight yet. No where near it in fact, given the amount of chakra put into his armor the blow was tanked quite nicely and it felt like he had taken nothing more than a decent punch straight on, though the stinging sensation was something a bit odd, possibly from a few broken spines stabbing him form the pressure of the blade.

1,315/1,500

Having no time to acknowledge the Captain's words as adrenaline rushed through his body as he lunged for the weapon yet again and rolled into a defensive stance. But barely because the weight of the weapon was getting to him because of the blood loss. And he could not move his hand from the wound because the blood loss would be more. He lifted his sword to his shoulder and spread his legs until they were shoulder width apart. He knew this next move would be his last in this fight. If he had the right equipment or even a jutsu or two he would have been more of a challenge in this fight. But against people like his opponent, there is only so much one could do with just a sword. That armor was tricky too, because it nullified his taijutsu that was going to be his support in this. He could not afford another hit from the Captain's claws either. That gamble had paid off with a others in which Bankai actually cleaved the man in two with his sword but of course it did not work even as half as he had planned. From the looks of things the Captain was not even phased by his assault. It unnerved him and it pissed him off and still his face remained as impassive as ever. He suddenly straightened and placed his sword back in his hook on his back and stood there looking at the Captain. He knew this was indeed over.

"It has been an honor Taichou. I hope the next time we meet I will be better than how I currently am. I have no regrets. I did my best."

ooc: thread closed
my words - 2400 words

Kotaro watched with genuine curiosity as he saw his Lieutenant move for his blade. Seems like all the Soldiers of Hanagakure aren't your run of the mill people to be taken lightly. The Captain was more than happy to trade blows with Mr. Misaki once more. Crouching back into that feral stance he favored oh so well, Kotaro was ready to leap like a feline animal that lived in a safari hunting a wild mammal of some sort. Chakra readily flowing through his coat of spines, just as the balls of his feet were about to leave the soft grass of the training fields, he saw the Lieutenant move his blade to his back. A brow was raised, but then he figured it meant that the Lieutenant was surrendering. It was a good fight given the subordinate hadn't used anything other than the massive blade he swung with relative ease and it was a spar Kotaro enjoyed. It wasn't that often the Captain actually got to exert himself this much in a spar with another, so he really appreciated what the Lieutenant offered him. "I enjoyed every moment of it, be sure to patch those wounds up." His smiled as the man departed, but stayed to finish a bit of training of his own.

1,532/1,500
Mastered Needle Jizo
[Exit]