Flashing Before Your Eyes

There wasn't much need for reason to do such a thing, since Tsuyo new from the get-go that he needed to continue training himself, pushing his ambition to grow strong further, and further. That's why, on this beautiful early morning, just as the sun rose up over the horizon, Tsuyo had been outside, hovering over the trees as he waited for there to be something other than moon and/or starlight allowing him to see at all.

Within a few moments, now able to see the individual treetops, the branches, leaves, pines, all the foliage had been clarified much better than before, and now the first shuffling of his feet brought him forward with a rapid burst of movement. Utilizing his flash step, Tsuyo was here to improve upon his skills in Hoho so that he could become more evasive in combat., but also just plainly more mobile. The faster he got, the better, and that's why there was no hesitation as he forced himself to make a second step forward in the distance, traveling across the air above the treetops of Karakura's forest.

After moving forward for dozens of feet, reaching a distance that would be better measured in meters, Tsuyo brought himself forward just as swiftly as he had stopped all of his forward-moving momentum with the flash step in a sudden moment, reaching the maximum range he could with one step. Allowing this momentary stop to provide him with ample time needed to make a change in direction, he managed to kick off of his right foot soon after, his feet fluttering from their position on the ground, as Tsuyo's third flash step brought him sharp to his right, cutting towards a river he saw in the distance.

Moving forward, kicking off with as much might he could muster, the explosive burst that was his movement moving forth in his desired direction caused a fair deal of strain to begin rising in his legs, particularly the ankles and calves. He could tell that the strain would only intensify, maybe even tenfold, and he would have to stop his training to rest. However, until he could barely help but collapse due to the pain, Tsuyo pushed himself to move farther, and faster, as he slowed down before needing to kick off with another Shunpo step.

This time placing his left foot down to be the one to initiate the use of his flash step, Tsuyo made his fourth dash forward, finally moving at a speed that he did not recognize, seemingly faster than he had gone before. But with this newfound speed, there also came increased wear and tear on his legs, along with a sharp pain in his left calf.

Shaking off the pain, as Tsuyo continued in his direction towards the river, he was beginning to feel his body sweat, attempting to cool itself off as his right foot came to touch down, only to flicker and send him rocketing in the direction he had been going for three or so flash steps now. Moving with an exciting pace towards the river, Tsuyo's eyes widened as he noticed that he was moving just a little faster than he had expected, or wanted.

Skidding towards the river, he had fortunately faced it longways, skidding on the top with his flat sandals, making a wave and plenty of ripples along the water's surface. Now that Tsuyo had finally came to a complete stop, he bent his knees to bring himself closer to the water, cupping his hands together as he made a bowl, or cup-like gesture with his hands, getting a cool, refreshing drink of spring water; his favorite.

Kneeling there at the river for quite some while, he was surprised to notice a pair of dear, seemingly a mother and it's fawn come to the river edge whilst Tsuyo was there. Taking a few more drinks using his cupped hands, the refreshingly cool spring water rejuvenated him enough to continue his training now. From his kneel on the right leg, his foot still pressed against the water's surface, Tsuyo kicked off of it with immense force, allowing the build-up in pressure to improve the rate at which he propelled himself forward.

Creating a crater in the water that soon caused a large omni-directional wave to spread in every direction 5 feet high, the deer scampered away from the area, startled by the one known as Tsuyo, who had now brought himself raging upwards with great speed. Allowing himself to continue that direction until his momentum and speed were lost, he timed his left foot to kick off so that he may change direction from upwards, to his right.

Finally coming to what he considered to be a stop, moving at what was a walking pace for a spiritual being such as himself, Tsuyo pushed off with his left foot, once again utilizing the Hoho technique that provided Shinigami, and even Vizard like Tsuyo some of the best mobility and evasive maneuverability they could ask for. To his distaste, however, there was a sharp, prickling pain in his left calf just after kicking off with his flash step.

Moving in that direction with plausible speed, noticing that the pain had not hindered his speed, and neither the potential distance traveled. Instead, as he continued to move forward, he could tell it would simply come to a point where the pain would override his ability to concentrate on using the technique.

Proving his theory correct, and furthering the grief that was inside Tsuyo during this training, as he began to slow down, he prepared to kick off with his left leg once more, instantly realizing he was only going to aggravate the pain that much further. As his body ripped forward, moving at what Tsuyo felt was an even faster speed than before, all of the energy from moving this fast seemed to put a lot of stress and tension on his calf muscle, which had now been pulsing with pain that made Tsuyo's left leg twitch and wince in dissatisfaction.

Using his right leg to push off of as he came to a complete stop, allowing himself to catch his breathe while he wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead, brow, and face, Tsuyo propelled himself further, noticing the strain now starting in his right ankle, instead of the calf.

As he was flung forward with the momentum of his flash step, there was no telling if there was a speed increase when compared to the prior step, but it was definitely better than his first step of the day, and that's what mattered. Not only did Tsuyo need to push the speed of his Shunpo, but also the consecutive amount of times he could use it in rapid succession. Yet, consistency was also a part of the question, as Tsuyo pushed off with his right foot once again, noticing he was beginning to come to a near stop.

Leaping off his right foot once again, the strain caused a slightly disturbing noise in his right ankle, the force applied not only sending him at a considerably fast speed, but also swiftly causing his right foot and ankle a considerable amount of pain. As he glided for what seemed to be forever, the pain simply growing in intensity with each heartbeat, Tsuyo used his left foot to stop, noticing that if he pushed himself any further, it would likely end with some sort of injury. Deciding that it would be a good idea to put his Hoho training aside, he wondered what else he would seek to accomplish, as he descended down into the Karakura forest.

A recent conversation with his Zanpakutō spirit eluded to Tsuyo about what his being a Vizard actually meant. With this temporary crutch, there was actually much more to be discovered in terms of how it would change Tsuyo's life directly, and how it could possibly turn into a beneficial factor for Tsuyo to put to use. As his feet touched down to the earth, the soft grass and soil acted as a cushion to his sore legs and feet.

Bringing his right hand before his face, Tsuyo had been instructed how to manifest his Hollow powers, which would require their signature "mask" to be brought forth, before Tsuyo could properly perform anything else.

End of Hoho training.

With his right hand gestured with the palm open and fingers spreading out to make a generic handprint before his face, Tsuyo attempted collecting, or ushering the Hollow from within, at least it's powers, it's uniqueness to Tsuyo. After a short moment, Tsuyo could actually see the material, Reiryokou of some kind, collecting, and condensing into a solid gray layer before his face. For a split moment everything went black, before an intense, light blue vibrant vision peeked through the mask he had dawned.

Staring out at the many trees making a wall before him, Tsuyo began to feel what his Zanpakutō spirit had been talking about, the power and it's luxuries, but also it's tempting nature. Pointing his right hand out, making a sort of chop-like gesture, his middle finger was the point of concentration as a small orb of red energy began to form, radiating the light blue hue his eyes had with something close to a dark purple. Looking at the small orb as he formed it, the amount of energy and the ease of the technique seemed rather negligent, until he saw what it did when it snapped the rather thick tree branch 5 meters in front of him, his aim still needing some work.

Not only that, but with extreme speed this small red mass of energy delivered it's strike, causing Tsuyo to scoff with interest. Aiming again at the tree, trying to keep the blast on a straight route for his target, Tsuyo attempted charging the "bullet" as his spirit referred to it, waiting for it's results once more.

At the time of fire, Tsuyo could tell it had reduced the amount of recoil, or kickback that it was displacing upon Tsuyo, who had now been able to make a much more stable, and precise shot on the tree. Embedding deeply into the bark and crisp white wood, it crunched in with it's entire mass concealed within, not quite able to put a hole through the rather thick tree, or knock the upper section off from it's point of impact. Dissipating soon after, another scoff sounded off from Tsuyo's lips, this time with a much more distinctive tone and manner that depicted immense dissatisfaction.

A slight crackling noise was made aware to Tsuyo, who could feel the bottom portion of his mask, being the chin, starting to chip in one moderate-to-severe fracture running up the middle. In disdain, his already extended right hand began to manifest something much larger in size, taking a considerable amount of time for Tsuyo to muster up the energy to conjure such a creation. Within the delay of time, the size of this orb expanded quite past that of a single tree's girth, which is when Tsuyo decided to cut it off.

Now trying to maintain the energy, it was futile as it shot off near instantly, exploding nearly a second after being released from Tsuyo. Sending a large red arcing wave into the forest before him, it would likely incinerate anything within a certain range. As the fruits of his labor came to pass, black, scorched tree stumps plotted the area before him, along with plenty of ash scattered around in white, grey, and black. Yet, to his many flanks there were more trees to go around, and as Tsuyo swung one-hundred and eighty (180) degrees, his right hand began compressing the raw energy once more.

Concentrating on this mass much differently than last time, there was almost a diabolical sense within Tsuyo, who felt as though destroying the foliage around him was the best way to test out his powers.

Destroy everything in sight.

As the compelling amount of energy he was bringing forth grew and expanded, Tsuyo attempted to squeeze it to his bidding, to condense, and concentrate the power within to make a much more potent end product with his Reiryokou. With the moments he took to create this "Cero", Tsuyo had actually added on to the time needed by adding this task, and as he fired it off, the results were nearly just as dissatisfying.

As the large red ball of energy in his right hand came to it's "peak", Tsuyo looked at the horizon that was filled with trees, and allowed himself to be rid of this pesky attack. Sending it off with plausible speed, it slapped into a couple trees, stretching out and reaching further away from Tsuyo as the delayed explosion took place soon after.

Wreaking havoc upon the entirety of the forest, Tsuyo watched as his Cero decimated yet another considerable portion, a large red light being refracted into the sky. Wondering if anyone would take notice of his presence, his mask made another loud shattering noise, as he felt something hit his foot.

A few gray pieces of what he assumed to be his mask laid on the floor, Tsuyo's left hand bringing it up to where he could feel his chin and mouth, now uncovered by his Hollow mask. He wondered what he had looked like, but with the time he had left coming to a halt, Tsuyo brought both of his hands forward to conduct his Cero more evenly and controlled. Almost like a positive and negative current, the two flows of Reiryokou circulated and brought forth a much deeper scarlet ball of energy, nearly half the size of his last one.

Not only that, but the time allotted was also nearly cut down by such a fraction, allowing Tsuyo to look at the remaining third (1/3) of forest there was left. Somehow, Tsuyo had managed to leave the largest tree unscathed, which dwarfed him with it's thick white bark by roughly 15 meters. He couldn't help but think of one of the terms people used to coin in the Seireitei, and how ti applied to this situation.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

With his smaller, condensed Cero waiting idly for Tsuyo's command, he dispersed the energy and released it upon the giant of the earth. Unrelenting as it was, the forest did not stand much longer, another large red hue lighting up the sky as Tsuyo noticed his use of the Hollow's powers within him was getting somewhere.

As he noticed another portion, being the left cheekbone of his mask dropping to the soil beneath him, Tsuyo had wondered just what more he could do, and if there was time to do it. Making his way to a few scorched tree trunks standing lower than head height, Tsuyo aimed his hands towards their own respective targets, trying to fire off the smaller "bullets" (Bala) towards his targets simultaneously, if not as close as he could get them to be.

They were much easier now that he had handled the larger masses, and firing them off seemed to be near second nature as he watched the first shot miss it's mark. However, the second one, which was just a second behind, smacked into it's target directly, sending it into a flurry of ash and burnt pieces of wood. Looking at another batch of five trees that were just high enough to hit, his distance seemed something near that of 10 meters as he began firing off his blasts of Reiryokou on his own whim.

The first 2 shots hit their targets and knocked them to pieces, but the third one had somehow slid past the intended target of Tsuyo's, and hit a completely different target meters back, irrelevant to Tsuyo as he continued the other two shots. The next one had nicked it's target, only taking half of it down.

Considering that a miss, Tsuyo sought to make the last shot count, as the furthest tree away was rendered to but dust. Without even noticing all the drain as of yet, due to the mask he was wearing still present on his face, the reality of his fatigue soon came into play as Tsuyo felt his mask crumble completely, the light blue tinted vision of his going away to reveal the normal clear sight from his bare eyes.

Collapsing to his knees, Tsuyo could tell he had just expended much more Reiryokou than he had thought, and the tiresome feeling had already begun to bring such an ache to his bones, muscles, even his mind and head feeling rather dull and senseless, almost as if beaten thoroughly from the training. Allowing himself to collapse there, he would pick up his training whenever he could, which would be as soon as if woke up, should there be nobody around to take note of all the damage he had caused.

Just before the blackness took over, Tsuyo asked himself something now that he could think clearly without the need to keep shooting the surroundings before him, hearing a daunting voice responding to him, as if to answer...but the voice was shaky, wavering...it's tone also changed from that of a solemn man, and that of an angered spirit.

Did any good come of this?

Yes, of course.

End of Cero/Bala Training & Thread