Bloody Knuckles

Yuri simply tilted her head to the side as she watched the other woman retrieving her weapon. Yuri herself closing her eyes to consider, gently reaching up without looking and resting her hand on her own zanpaku'to. "Hm. Is that right? We can use our Zanpaku'to. I assume you're able to control your spiritual pressure?" She noted, as she drew her own blade from her scabbard and gently ran her finger along the edge of the blade, and then TUGGED, as if to slit her own hand open, but as Hono would see, having dropped her spiritual pressure, the blade's edge dulled, keeping her from drawing blood.

"But as for your question. We'll go with everything. I need to see where your talents lie after all. I don't intend to train anything specific. You've already probably been doing that. A .... precise and concerted effort doesn't seem to work in your case Hono. I'm going to assess what you need to improve on. And we'll go from there." She pointed out, her eyes still closed as she gently let the tip of her zanpaku'to tap the ground at her feet. A smile growing across her lips.

"Farewell. Sesshō Sagisōshiha." She recited calmly, a soft crackling sound creeping across the blade as the weapon slowly turned a pale white. Of course, Hono wouldn't see anything. But a root would grow from the handle of her zanpaku'tro and start creeping into Yuri's palm, growing into her body and worming it's way up through her forearm and up along the bone, snaking through her body. Something that had once upon a time disgusted her, but she was quite used to it by now. All the same, Hono would still feel that sudden overpowering weight from the woman before her. A spike in spiritual energy that weighed down on her in response. As if daring her to act.

"I assume you've been trying to achieve shikai. Let's see how you do against mine." She noted with a casual smile. Those eyes still closed, as if she intended on fighting Hono with them closed.

Yuri smiled, her eyes certainly picking up on the sudden shaking in Hono's legs as he girl put on a brave fac e. Oh? Was this not the girl who attacked Elyss? And yet she was trembling under Yuri's spiritual pressure? So then Elyss was either taking it easy on this girl, or Hono found Yuri somehow more intimidating.. She'd find out of course. All in time~

As Hono rushed in, those blood-red eyes watched the woman's approach closely. And she slashed as well, her own blade flashing out and bulling into Hono's own weapon. Yuri exercising her FULL brutal strength to aim and SLAM that blade down and into the ground, that finesse adding to the force behind her blade to try and bury it into the grass. In seemingly the same instant, she twisted, bringing up her leg to execute a sudden, sharp hook-kick to the girl's head. Of course, she did adjust it. Rather than simply bashing Hono's head at full force, at the very last second,hooked her foot around Hono's head and then finished the kick, aiming to SPIKE the woman into the ground aggressively. A seemingly vicious move, but one that would be much gentler than an actual kick to the head, especially with the strength brimming through Yuri's body.

"That's it? Come on. Show me some of your creativity, Hono. Haven't you been ambushing people or something? Show me what you're good at. Show me what you Excell at." She insisted casually, her voice almost sounding bored as she egged the younger woman on. Pushing her to crank things up a little.

The girl was still thinking too much. Yuri needed to push her into that fight or flight mode. And see what it was that Hono defaulted to when she felt like she was in danger. That true, earnest kernel of survival beneath all that bravado.

Yuri smiled, watching as Hono collided with the ground. Making a mental note of the girl's injury, all while maintaining that menacing smile. The girl would be fine, she'd probably have to use a bit of Kaido to make sure the girl didn't bruise too badly, but there was nothing dangerous. Truth be told, she was a little surprised to see Hono just ragdoll like that. Hm, was she not particularly sturdy? She hadn't hit the girl THAT hard. Hm.

But, as luck would have it, she got to see the girl peel herself up from the ground. Yuri smiled just a little wider and brightened up. "Atta girl. You can do it." She hummed, her voice still holding that menace even as she encouraged Hono. Her voice coming off as taunting as the younger shinigami promptly, went in for a Feint. Hm, not bad. In the very moment that Hono feinted, Yuri's spiritual pressure would SPIKE. Slamming down on Hono just as the woman swung and that blade would flick. Yuri moved, of course, just in time for that blade to nick her shoulder. With both of them controlling their spiritual pressure like this, the cut was incredibly shallow, practically a scratch. But it was enough. Enough for thin little fines to crawl out of her skin and cover up the wound. A bright, pale flower slowly peeling out of her skin, as if to tie off that wound before blooming open, leaving that thin cut gone entirely, leaving only a flower growing out of Yuri's shoulder.

"Not bad~" Her compliment instantly followed by a slash aimed across Hono's chest, aiming to cut clean through the girl's shuhakusho and slash her. Similar to Hono's own strike, the actual blade would fail to cut in any significant way. A thin little scratch across her chest. But that cut wouldn't JUST be a cut. If Hono didn't avoid the slash, she'd instantly feel something moving along her skin. Almost like something growing into her skin. But of course, if she actually looked, she wouldn't find anything. Currently, at least. Well, nothing other than a particularly painful little scratch.

"Tenacity is a pretty good thing to have. But many hollows have some nasty abilities. even acidic claws or teeth. Come on Hono. You're a shinigami, you have more than just your sword." She pointed out.

"Oh?~" Yuri smiled all the wider as she noticed Hono taking the sudden appearance of the flower in stride.Usually there was a lot more alarm. But Hono seemed to be pretty unconcerned, save for her reaction when she was cut. But that just grew a slightly wider smile from Yuri. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't employ the use of her Zanpaku'to's special ability. IT was in very rare instances that she needed to PUSH a student with a bit of urgency that she would use such a thing. All the same, watching as Hono talked about being able to cut her made Yuri sigh in soft, wistful enjoyment. "OF course you can. I'm not exactly invincible or anything. Nobody is. Even if some in the Gotei would like to think that they are." She pointed out casually enough, her eyes flashing when Hono promptly followed up with that thrust.

She grinned, widening her stance and flashing a grin, fully prepared to simply hit that thrust head on, only to perk a brow when Hono suddenly switch to a sweep. Yuri's brows raised. A brief expression of ...interest. Before she promptly vanished on the spot. Pushing off a small spirit energy platform she'd made in the air to vanish. Appearing behind Hono and aiming to ram her elbow between Hono's shoulder blades, knocking her forward, but not winding her as she had this time.

"And you're never going to get any better unless you start practicing with it. Simply because you're not as good with something does NOT mean it shouldn't be in your arsenal. Even a poor excuse for a shunpo can get you out of a pinch. Even a Level One Kido spell can catch the enemy off guard. Shinigami have MANY tools at their disposal. Simply abandoning any of them just means you're not operating at your full potential." She stated firmly.

It would be then that Hono would feel it. Something sliding across where she'd been cut. Slowly stitching her wound shut. Vines growing through her skin as, slowly, a flower would also begin to bloom at the center of her chest. Painfully breaching the cut in her chest. And in the very same moment, Yuri would raise her hand, and promptly collect reiryoku at the tip of her finger, energy twisting bfore firing. A thin bullet of spirit energy firing off to hit Yuri square in the chest. She wasn't exactly an expert in Kido herself, she was very well versed, but hardly enough to go inventing Kido of her own. And in truth, this was more just reiryoku manipulation than a true blue kido spell. Just something she'd instinctively come up with. All the same, it was small and fast, aiming to catch Hono off guard during the distraction of the vines and flower growing. IT wouldn't punch and holes in her, but it would break the skin between her clavicles if it hit. Draw just a tiny bit of blood.

Yuri almost rolled her eyes a little at Hono fixating on that comment. But well that was just part of the girl's personality. She cricked her neck as she watched the girl stumble, only to catch herself after being struck by the elbow. A thoughtful peer of consideration given to Hono as the girl seemed to consider her situation. Good, at least there where wheels turning in that head of hers. That smile only widening as Hono's slash was interrupted by the sudden searing sting of those vines digging through her chest. And as Hono suddenly lunged again, Yuri's zanpaku'to rose to catch that blade, her brows raising as Hono's sword got a bit closer to her face than she expected before the scrape of their blades stopped it.

But it was still stopped. Even with all of her effort. Hono was pushing herself to be faster, but Yuri was fast as it were, and that had been before she'd unleashed shikai. With a powerful TWIST, she aimed to knock that blade to the side before she aimed a firm kick straight to the girl's chest, aiming to knock her back and knock the air from her lungs. A soft fragrance from the flower itself would fill Hono's senses, helping her keep her focus even despite the pain and the hits.

"Don't you think they're pretty? Sesshō Sagisōshiha. It's a Flower that feeds off of death. When you're injured even from a punch. Cells die in the hundreds or thousands. And all that death makes the flowers grow. It helps me and my allies heal. And in my enemies....well.." She held her hand up, a vine slowly growing from her palm, before sharp thorns SPRANG from it like switchblades. "But well...tortuing you with that isn't exactly responsible for a teacher. No, My Shikai will ensure that what few cuts either of us receive will heal almost immediately. They also produce a bit of energy as they asborb te death of your cells. To make sure you can keep going." She explained casually enough. No point in letting Hono freak out about it being something more nefarious.

"And of course...." She suddenly FLUNG her weapon, throwing the blade with a flick of her wrist, the blade spinning toward Hono's upper body. At least, at first. And then, mid-flight, the weapon suddenly dropped to her leg-level and slashed at Hono's thigh. Followed immediately by Yuri shunpoing in and aiming a knee into the woman's chest, aiming to knock her back and stagger her with a sudden powerful burst of Reiryoku, a Hakuda strike that would send Hono flying far more forcefully than Yuri would normally be able to muster. And one Hono skidded to a stop, Yuri would close the distance, but not to attack.

She'd simply sigh and shake her head. Disappointed that even after trying to urge Hono to get creative. She STILL only tried direct combat. Not even an attempt at a shunpo.

"This is the power of a shinigami working with her zanpaku'to spirit. A shinigami is never alone. Hono. Even now, there's someone at your side." She explained, and nodded down to the blade in Hono's hands. "You don't have to do everything yourself. Hoho. Hakuda. Kido. You sword. Even your comrades are all things that can help you. Don't you think you've spent enough time ignoring them?"