One Lump or Two

Oh boy, this would prove to be more of a challenge than she had thought only a few minutes ago.
The stab, augmented by a release of energy from the tip of her blade, was not really mastered by her, but she had grasped the concept. However, it showed the one big problem, Hanako had: her control over her energy.
Not that she lacked any control whatsoever, no. She was able to raise or lower her output, she could form energy balls and perform kido, albeit mostly lower ranks. What she was lacking was refinement. It wasn't simply something she was extraordinarily talented in, which she had to accept was a normal thing. Even back at the academy she had to realise that a lot of students were much better at, for example, kido than she was. On the other hand she had outmatched a lot at physical combat. With time, Hanako managed to overcome her frustration about not excelling at everything and rather turned her attention to what she actually was good at. And it seemed a good tactic, for a time. Only that now it bit her in the rear end.

Hanako watched carefully as Jaeden explained the next two forms. She instantly decided to try the third first. It was in a way similar to the first form: channel reiatsu into the blade of the sword and release it. From the looks of it, this form was both easier and harder than the first. Easier, because it was no longer necessary to concentrate the energy only to the tip. Harder, because this time, the reiatsu needed to stay focused long enough, to form a projectile.

Again, Hanako started with concentrating until her reiatsu formed a visible, icy-blue aura around her body. Then she extended the aura also around her sword. Then she formed the aura only around the sword. Finally, she condensed it enough that only the blade was surrounded by the blue energy.
All in all, these four steps took her again a very long time. When she was finally satisfied, she was breathing heavy, sweating, and her hands shook ever so slightly. The additional weight on the blade wasn’t helping either.

Finally then, after what seemed hours -it might as well have been. As was usual with her in intense training-sessions, she lost track of time and her surroundings- Hanako tried to release that energy in an attack for the first time.

She took a stance, back turned to her two fellow-shinigami, for saftey reasons. As Jaeden had done in his demonstration, Hanako held the sword in the lower position on her right side, to perform an upward slash, which would hopefully direct the energy into the sky.
In her mind she visualised her reiatsu flowing through her body: it started in her feet, flowed through her legs and her body, swirled around her heart, and then raced into her arms, made her palms tingly, and wandered through the hilt into the blade. A gentle breeze seemed to move her Shihakusho and then her blade glowed in that bright blue, as a thin coat of reiatsu formed around it.

With a quick movement and a step forward, she pulled her blade upward, slashed the air before her. In the same moment she ‘flung’ the reiatsu outward, like water on the sword, she wanted to get rid of. And much in a similar fashion, the reiatsu didn’t form a coherent projectile, but a wave of energy, that followed her slash and travelled only a few meters, before it dispersed.

Hanako was somewhat disappointed in herself, when she lowered the sword. Again, she didn’t do it right. However, after a few seconds, some of that disappointment was alleviated: She could see that on the ground before her feet there was a clearly visible scratch. She squatted on her heels, to take a closer look. Yes, indeed, it was a scratch in the ground. No gash or something dramatic. But it was perfectly in line with her movements and it hadn’t been there before. It was just slightly warm.
So, no ranged attack yet, more a extension of her blade. But it had a lot more effect than her first try of the stab, which had released the reiatsu in a visually impressive, but harmless, puff of light and dust.

For a few moments, Hanako took a break to think about these techniques, all while she went to the side of the area to have a cup of water. Yes, maybe it was a bit harder for her to control these techniques. But they had so much potential. the stabbing technique, for example, enhanced the tip of her blade far beyond what her normal strength would do. It concentrated spiritual pressure to maybe even penetrate hard armor or slightly stronger pressures. It was definitely worth the effort.

When she returned, she approached Jaeden.

“Excuse me, Jaeden.” she said. Meanwhile, her breathing had returned to normal.
“Could you give me a tip on how to concentrate my reiatsu in front of me to form that shield? Concentrating it on the tip or the edge of my blade is hard enough for me, as it is. But there I concentrate it in something that is connected to me. I have a physical channel through which it can flow and I can visualise it because I feel it. But how can I solidify my reiatsu in thin air? Solidify enough to act as a shield, that is.” She added, because manifesting her reiatsu in the form of an aura around her was something almost every Shinigami could do.