Jinzen training with Kuregi

The door to Mayonaka's room was closed in his Seireitei room as he sat on the ground with his Zanpacto on his lap. He was perfectly still, concentrating, in a deep state of meditation. He had told the others of his squad not to bother him, and the window and blinds were shut, the room dark. With all distractions taken out of the equation, Mayonaka was capable of having a decent session of meditation with Kuregi.

Inside the Inner World of his Zanpacto, it was black. Everything was black. With all of Mayonaka's abilities being based in the shadows, if he was perfectly used to the black, then it wouldn't affect him, and he could fight as if it were never there. His opponent, however, would not be so fortunate and would be distracted by the lack of light or vision. Kuregi kept him on his toes during their time together, being as hard as he could on him to make him as strong as he could be.

Mayonaka stood in the darkness of his soul. There was no specific ground, no specific walls. He stood suspended in the darkness. It was quite hard to see without any light, but he was used to it. Jinzen was something that Mayonaka practiced often. Kuregi was a being of humanoid shape, about the same dimensions as Mayonaka, but completely black, darker even then the rest of the inner world, if that was possible. The only thing that could be really well seen about Kuregi were his eyes, which were a dull yellow in the darkness. His eyes could be well seen, but they did not glow or create light, they did not disturb the perfect darkness of the Inner World. Though Mayonaka had never seen a clear definition of his Zanpacto Spirit, he knew it well. "Hello Kuregi." he said to the being, a formal start to what would hopefully be a fruitful training session. No matter how long it took, Mayonaka was going to become stronger today. Anyone who would disturb his meditation would see a rare side of Mayonaka, his anger.

"Hello Mayonaka. I sense something different with you today.Could something be on your mind, perhaps?" the dark figure without a clear outline before Mayonaka said. His tone was the usual one, rather cold, slightly sarcastic, but all the while wise. A strange person, Kuregi was. And someone that Mayonaka relied upon for power. Although Kuregi's lessons were not very straight forward, they were still of utmost value, and with some slight thought very useful.

"There is something on my mind Kuregi. I come to you today in the search of greater power. I need training to become greater. I believe that you are the best person I can turn to for that training Kuregi. Before I seek the aid of another for training, I need to improve the most I can on my own, with you by my side of course."

"Then train. I am not stopping you from doing this, I never have. Think of what you need to improve upon, and improve it. One at a time, train in the fields you must train in, until one by one you become great in them. At that time, when you have completed such training, you will have done all that you can do on your own, and must seek the aid of a greater person."

Mayonaka could think of something he needed to improve upon. The most basic ability of his first release, the ability to melt into the shadows. It was his primary way of fighting when using his Zanpacto unsealed. He would disappear in the dark, and appear somewhere else, delivering a rapid and hopefully devastating attack. What needed work, however, was how fast he moved in the dark whilst not being seen. He needed to get faster with his use of Shunpo in the dark, so that it might seem like he could appear at any place within the dark at any moment. If he could create uncertainty in his foe, then he would have yet another advantage over his foe, something that was always welcome in a fight.

As Mayonaka melted away, the yellow of Kuregi's eyes was the only thing visible in the entire area. Appearing behind Kuregi, Mayonaka's sword was blocked. Kuregi had quickly spun around and deflected his attack. "Too slow." Kuregi taunted. Moving back a little, Mayonaka created some space between them. Disappearing again, Mayonaka appeared slightly below Kuregi on his left side. Attacking again, he was blocked for the second time. "You think you can catch me at speeds like that? Come now, you don't think I'm that easy a target, do you?" Kuregi said, taunting Mayonaka again. Mayonaka faded once again, deciding that this time he would try something else to try and hit Kuregi. He appeared by Kuregi's lower left side again, struck, disappeared, appeared by Kuregi's upper right, then melted and reappeared behind Kuregi, then above him, by his right, then one final time right in front of Kuregi. The barrage of hits did not seem to work though. Kuregi had deflected every one of Mayonaka's six attacks from all different directions.

"If you wish to overwhelm me, then you will have to be faster then that. I managed to block each hit. The key to beating a defending opponent by using speed is to attack faster than the defender can defend."

Without a word, Mayonaka disappeared again. He would need to get better at appearing in different spots around his foe; he would have to get quicker. The way to do that would be to try again and again, until he started getting better at it. No matter how long it took him, he would do it. When he managed to land a hit on Kuregi, he would be faster. Knowing Kuregi, that would not be an easy task. He would not go easy to make Mayonaka feel better about himself. There was nothing like that here. Kuregi tried to be Mayonaka's opponent, so that Mayonaka would be able to have a worthy opponent to train with, and actually be able to get stronger. Looking Kuregi in the eye, Mayonaka faded to black. Almost as soon as he was gone he was back, right beside Kuregi on his right side. Striking quickly, Mayonaka repeated the tactic of disappearing and reappearing somewhere else again and again, always striking once then disappearing. Ten hits were deflected before Mayonaka had an idea. Following his eleventh strike in rapid succession, Mayonaka did not disappear but immediately struck again. This blow did little, but it did do something. Barely, just barely, Mayonaka had hit Kuregi before Kuregi deflected the sword. Kuregi was quick, but had been caught off guard by the sudden change in strategy amongst a barrage of attacks.

"I have hit you Kuregi. It was but a scratch, but I have still succeeded in striking you."

"Yes, however, could you do it again?"

As the words left Kuregi's mouth Mayonaka was gone, his blade appearing before him right in front of Kuregi, but being stopped. Many times, over and over, Mayonaka sparred with Kuregi, trying to hit him. Every now and then, Mayonaka would throw in a double attack, but this tactic did not work on Kuregi a second time. For hours, Mayonaka tried to attack Kuregi. Swords clashed in the blink of an eye, Mayonaka getting more and more accustomed to this technique. His attacks were within milliseconds of each other, yet Kuregi always blocked him. Until one time he wasn't quick enough. Appearing on the exact opposite side of Kuregi than his previous hit, Mayonaka's sword made contact with Kuregi just barely before being deflected away by Kuregi.

"Very good Mayonaka, you are excelling well. I must admit defeat for this occasion. Do you feel that this is enough for one day, Mayonaka?"

"I believe this has been a great help to me Kuregi. Many hours were spent here, and I feel more confident in my abilities. I thank you once again for your help."

Feeling good about what he had accomplished in their session together today, Mayonaka sheathed his Zanpacto. Opening his eyes in Seireitei, Mayonaka took his Zanpacto off his lap. Standing up, he sheathed it and opened his blinds to look outside. He felt like taking a walk now. Leaving his room, he walked outside, enjoying the scenery, all the while with a better sense of confidence. He was getting closer and closer to his goal of power.