Hot Wind And Hot Heads [Fuuen, Nao]

After fighting Shishiyuki, she was so enamoured with her skills that she simply had to climb that strong too. That way when she became that strong the toughest guy would surely be easier to find and even if he didn't then she would be so much closer to finding out what could be unbreakable. That's why she'd joined up to this here Gotei, naturally there was only one division worth serving and that was the one with Shishiyuki(-senpai) in it.

She'd been recommended going to the Shin'o Academy but with her own self-taught Hakuda and Hoho, no one really wanted to take her on especially when she insisted that she didn't wanna learn stupid kido stuff. One thing that she couldn't tell them to back off on though was the zanpakuto and so she agreed to do a few weeks of zanjutsu and general shinigami training. Hell butterflies and konso, you know that stuff.

Now she was happily an unseated shinigami and doing her best, it had taken her a while but she had discovered a nice little spot near the seventh division barracks. Well, she called it a camping ground. They lived in tents but she didn't mind that! This nice little spot had a stream, nice trees and was pretty private. It was the perfect place for her to train away and try to figure out this katana stuff even though her spear was nearby and on hand.

"One, two, three. Again!"

She chimed to herself as her own little cadance with the sweat on her brow. She'd been doing this for hours now and the day was surprisingly warm for it getting colder this time of year.

Work with the 7th Division had certainly suited Fuuen quite well the past few months. Traveling about, dealing with those Hollows he came across, it was all quite pleasant for a traveling swordsman such as him. Of course, he'd also been traveling on his own for much of that time, but it seemed that his next assignment was with a partner. Well, that was peculiar, and admittedly, even a bit disappointing. No matter, though. After asking around for who exactly this Sawachika Nao was, he found himself walking toward her little corner near the division's grounds, and watched her katana drills for a few moments before actually speaking up.

"Terribly sorry to interrupt, Miss Sawachika, but I've been assigned as your patrol partner for our next outing."

Could he have commented on her form? Her questionable usage of a blade? Yes. He even thought to do exactly that, however briefly, but that would have been rude, and Fuuen didn't believe in being rude right out of the gate. Better to step into that more politely, hm?

"My name is Fuuen. How goes your training, if I may ask?"

"My freakin' what!?"

What was this partner crap he was talking about? Nao didn't sign up for some guy to wander around with her. Maybe if it was Shishiyuki then that'd be cool, they could even spar or something! Then she could try and keep getting strong enough to beat her martial art with her Sanzen Koken.

Whatever, back to the matter at hand. The shortstack appeared in a flash in front of the taller man and looked up at him with a scowl. She didn't need a babysitter or anything, she'd learnt plenty and could definitely accomplish her duties by herself. That was the way of Sawachika Nao! She was the indomitable Sawachika that broke everything to seek out the unbreakable structure.

"My trainin's goin' fine. I don't like this sword though, I prefer my spear. You can't go wrong with a naginata, hehe."

"Patrol partner. We'll be in the wastes, and solo patrols aren't allowed there except for the higher seated officers."

Personally, Fuuen would have rather liked a solo patrol, if only because that meant he could easily spend a bit of time with Yugiri. They hadn't quite seen much of each other lately, after all, but he wasn't going to get terribly hung up on that. For another time, perhaps.

"Not a fan of the sword, hm? What is it about the spear you find preferable? I've never been especially partial to one, myself, though my school never relied on it when I was first a student."

Of course, Fuuen hadn't exactly stayed with his school long in the first place, but that wasn't relevant. He'd learned the sword first, and it had stayed with him through these centuries.

That's dumb! That's so dumb! What an infurating situation, Nao didn't want some partner to have to drag along. This guy didn't even feel that strong so that made sense but she was strong you know? Real strong! Maybe she should go challenge Shishiyuki again and if she could beat her then she could be a high-ranked seated officer.

Okay maybe she shouldn't fight her to win, Nao wasn't that dumb... Maybe if she lasted ten minutes in the ring with her then she could be! That'd be really good.

"Damn it. I guess, it makes sense. Never been to the living world before so if you know the way about then that's fine."

Nao pouted to the side and glared at the nearby body of water. It'd be real nice to have snuck in and taken a dip but then this guy showed up. She could still do that but she didn't really want this guy being weird about it.

"It's reach, it's shape! It's perfectly suited to any situation whether I'm out in the open or confined in a building. I can thrust or sweep and it's far more powerful and versatile than a sword. Really we shinigami should have a zanpakusou rather than a zanpakutou!"

She declared with a puffing out of her chest in pride at that wordplay there.

"Oh? Far more powerful and versatile? I would imagine that would depend primarily on the wielder, wouldn't you say? I think it seems quite dismissive to simply state the spear's superiority in all situations."

Fuuen's smile suggested he wasn't especially upset by her judgements or anything of the like, even when one considered the sword on his back. After all, he wasn't a violent man, or quick to anger, and perhaps this young lady knew something that he didn't. It was always worth testing, after all.

"Personally, I'm quite fond of the sword. Would you care to do a bit of comparitive testing?"

A simple bout between comrades in the Gotei was perfectly acceptable, in Fuuen's eyes. It wasn't violence for its own sake, after all, but an expression of the art being shared with another. And, admittedly, he felt that his blade was growing a bit dull. She seemed to have the spirit that could face it.

Well, there it was. He wanted to issue a challenge? Nao would never back down from one of those! So putting down the asauchi the newly appointed unseated member took a quick leap. Reppearing in the same spot after a moment with her naginata in hand.

"You're on! Sawachika Nao, Creator of the Sanzan Koken!"

She took up a stance as she declared the match was on. The intense ocean blue eyes going from childish to a piercing gaze that conveyed absolute seriousness, she would not lose now. She would defeat him on all three fronts like a tiger attacking its prey but for now, everything was eeriely still about her.

No flare of her reiatsu or motion. It was just her sharp eyes fixed on him like a stalking predator waiting for its moment to pounce on him.

Drawing the Yuudachi from its sheathe in the blink of an eye, Fuuen took up his stance, remarkably orthodox despite the sheer length of the blade. His friendly air had mellowed into the cool, studious air of a master swordsman, and his eyes were focused only on Nao's form, her every movement.

"Fuuen. Inheritor of the Ukiyo Hakkei, and creator of the Fugaku Sanjūrokkei."

In much the same way, Fuuen's spiritual presence changed not one iota as he focused on this battle, but the tension of his form spoke just as deeply. It was clear even at a glance how quickly he was considering the avenues of approach, how deep his attention was on the fight at hand, and he did not step until he was absolutely certain of his next technique.

17th of the Thirty Six Views, Soshuu Enoshima. With one step, Fuuen lowered his blade, the tip nearly touching the ground, and then swung it in an upward arc, in a path that would surely cut through Nao if she didn't evade. However, as he swung, the edge of his blade coated itself in the ambient energy of the area, and the ground itself was sliced even without the sword touching it. Invisibly, but certainly detectable by spiritual sense, the length of the blade had grown rather drastically. A backward step would likely only lead to further injury, and that was to say nothing of the shards of earth from below that would fly toward his opponent.

Nao remained still as a waiting tiger in the midst of staring down the attack that was coming towards her. It would take more than that to impede her and while she was more than capable of slipping off to the side to avoid it she would not bend at his whim. She would not move for him!

Sanzan Koken - Kochōkyō. Nao's eeriely still presence which was almost non-existent flared. Not so much that he could gauge it well, it was so refined and controlled that for only a splint second she had summoned an equal amount of energy from her own to touch and cause the attack to harmlessly dispel about her.

In that moment of her energy once more receding it had instead been consolidated inwards, gathered her power, and she launched herself at him with her naginata in lieu like a tiger crossing a river with a single leap.

Her polearm making the distance well before she would arrive. The sweeping blade ready to place itself dangerously close to his neck if he wouldn't counter it.

She was certainly skilled, and the speed at which her naginata moved, the way her musculature shifted, told him a great deal about her strength. Against other opponents, Fuuen might have thought to parry the blow, but this was certainly a powerful foe that he didn't wish to meet head-on. His blade swiftly moved to his side, held horizontally as he ducked and moved to take one step past Nao, taking advantage of her blade having already begun to swing. 35th of the Thirty Six Views, Shinshū Suwako.

As he stepped, his blade stayed at the ready, moving to cut through Nao's side if she wasn't careful, but the blade staying even with the ground as he stepped made it simple to recover after he'd completed that dodge. He briefly contemplated the foe he was facing, running through every style and every technique that he knew, but he didn't have time to think terribly long. If she would throw herself at him regardless, then it was only natural to let her do so.

Fuuen's stance shifted, his blade pointed down toward the ground and his eyes seeming unfocused as his whole gait became almost reserved in nature. But, in truth, his attention was on all of Nao in her entirety, rather than any particular facet. The 8th of the Ukiyo Hakkei, the Returning Consort stance, intended to draw in an opponent and retaliate as swiftly as possible.