Big Cat Hunting [Kanae, Igendai]

CAPTAIN NAGOSHI KANAE

Though not aiming to kill the man, not that she didn't have an urge to, Kanae was still surprised to see her attack deflected by a measly Third Seat. It wasn't some light tap with her weapon, she had used a significant burst of speed and power to injure him. Perhaps he's more capable than I thought. she thought silently to herself as her sword struck what Tosatsusha surmised to be his Zanpakuto.

Kanae frowned at Igen's complimentary words. Coming from a Third Seat, who still managed to block her attack, it was practically an insult to someone as old and powerful as herself. She had no illusions about her own abilities, if the Captain Commander is anything close to the predecessor Kanae knew that woman was almost certainly her superior. At the same time, she wasn't some humble or meek underling afraid to be honest about her capabilities. She was absolutely certain she was superior to Igen, and even as he seemed to be taking the fight's genesis in stride, Kanae was imagining ways of tearing him apart.

Violet eyes followed Igendai's every movement as he Flash Stepped back into the fray. Kanae had enough time to draw her Zanpakuto again, though this time in defense as she parried Igen's initial attack sending sparks across the battlefield. His follow up proved far more dangerous as the black tendrils shot out to slice through a much larger area than just his elbow would have alone. To not be overwhelmed by the attack, Kanae slammed her sword against the stripes in order to be pushed back as they extended from Igen, causing her feet to skid across the ground. She hated to be pushed back by this man, but it certainly beat being sliced up by his strange power.

Refusing to remain on the defensive, Kanae shot forward like a missile, Flash Stepping her way to and past Igendai's left hand side; at the same time, she drew and slashed with Tosatsusha at his hip, an attack previously used on her predecessor, Arkin. She hadn't quite been able to split him in two then, now to see if Igen would be any different.

MURDER QUEEN | END POST

Igen's eyes focused, locking onto the Captain as she raised her weapon to block the attack. And immediately, seeing the stance, his heart suddenly raced. His instincts kicking in. But too late! Even as Kanae had only just endured the sudden viciousness of his strike, the woman was almost instantly upon him. His eyes failing to fully follow her as he felt a sudden tension. Those black stripes crawling along his body. Enveloping him completely, leaving his entire body decorated in those black lines as a slighht ripple of spiritual energy coursed through him.

FWASH! Spllt!

This time that scraping of blade against Zanpaku'to was accompanied by a wet splatter. His Zanpaku'to had curled in to protect his body. But the sheer speed that Kanae had been capable of was more than Igen could just react to, and that blade lanced along his side before the stripes could slide in to keep it from hewing through his body. Though his frame was sturdy. Even before his stripes spilled in, that slim, feminine frame was startlingly dense, and the blade would struggle to simply cleave through him like butter, but rather had to bite in before being shoved off by the dark stripes of his own zanpaku'to. An instant later they SPRANG out! Sharp blades erupting from his body outward, A brief instant of flailing around him before snapping back to his body.

KACHAK!

All at once, the ground around hm was dived, squared chunks of ground crumbling from being ripped apart by those stripes as Igen skidded back, gritting his teeth, as no doubt Kanae would be treated to the sight of blood along his side. That bare backless shuhakushi certainly didn't do much to hide the wound, though just as quickly as it had been made, it vanished, and Igen was panting just a little as he skidded to a stop. "Alright, you really weren't kidding about not holding back." He barked out a nervous smile, briefly glancing down to his hip toward the smear of blood. Saved by his own caution.

Kaido - Jinjashō. A Technique he himself had come up with. A preemptive Kaido which saturated his body with healing energy before an attack, so that upon injury, the wound would heal as quickly as it was made. And if nothing else, Igen was an exceptional healer. But well, he was quickly realizing that he wouldn't really be able to contend with Kanae as he was. Those stripes slowly thickened, giving a wild look to the young man as that symbol slowly crawled around his neck to stamp itself over his throat. Proudly showing off that symbol of his Zanpaku'to.

王

"If you don't mind me asking. You seem a little ...intense all things considered. Isn't it a little hard for your subordinates to learn when you push them so suddenly?" He ventured, thinking back to what Shishiyuki had said about the Fourth. And why it seemed inferior to that of the past. She'd spoken of comraderie, the joy of battle, and pushing one another to improve. But certainly that wasn't a vibe she got from Kanae. It almost felt like the woman was more interested in stamping him out than a fight. Indeed, if he Hadn't been as tough as he was, he might have been cut clean in half. Hm.

He took up a ready stance. Those black stripes no longer hiding, preemptively wound around his body like armor as Igen focused himself, and the air in the entirety of the arena suddenly grew deathly cold. The plumet in temperature followed closely by frost crawling along the ground at his feet ominously. "If you don't mind. I'd like to see if I can push you Captain. " He grinned, those pupils of his slitting vertically as stripes curled over his knuckles like claws.

CAPTAIN NAGOSHI KANAE

Her sword struck true, but Kanae felt as if she had slashed through stone rather than a person. This didn't surprise her however, not after dealing with those infuriatingly durable Fourth squad members Arkin and Rio. It appeared she had another sturdy one to deal with in Igendai, a fact which drew her ire as she softly hopped backward to avoid those black stripes again. Her attention was immediately drawn to Igen's hip as the injury she had just gifted him began glowing before it was seared shut and healed by what she recognized as Healing Kidō. As his wound healed Kanae's lips contorted into a wide smile, a feeling of glee creeping into her mind at the realization Igen was proficient with Kaidō.

Accompanying Kanae's foreboding smile came a tilt of her head as she processed Igen's question. She thought it was a silly question, and gave her answer without further delay ""Learn"? You think my purpose as a Captain is to teach? No, little Igendai. My purpose is to kill. I, and my fellow Captains, are collectively Soul Society's executioner's blade. We are pointed in the direction of the realm's enemies, and that's that." Though Igen's question was sincere, Kanae broke into a girlish giggle as the answer was all too obvious to her. "'Hard for them to learn'? How silly! You're a funny one, Igendai Gyakusuma!"

The air chilled around Kanae as her amusement at what she perceived to be Igen's naivety was replaced with annoyance at the temperature change. Bothersome tattoos, healing magic, and unseasonable weather. What else do I have to look forward to? Kanae wondered silently to herself. Upon Igen's request to try pushing her, the violet eyed Captain sighed and dropped her hands to her sides before granting him permission to try "Oh well, if you're so determined to practice self-harm then I guess it can't be helped. Come, Igendai Gyakusuma, do your worst."

MURDER QUEEN | END POST

His own smile faltered ever so slightly. And ....well.HE began to understand the sentiment of Lady Ai and Shishiyuki.

What had she just said?

Of course he knew that she was from an older time. Practically ancient. But surely, even then, Captains still led and nurtured their squads? Surely? The very idea that Captains were nothing more than executioners didn't sit well with Igen, and after a moment, a bright INTENSE pink glow of reiryoku filled his eyes as a soft, crackling noise sounded. The sound of fost creeping along the ground at Kanae's feet as the ground of the training grounds froze. A sharp BITING cold that washed over her and frosted her breath as Igen's Reiryoku coiled up along his frame. A slow, steady sigh escaping his lips.

"You know. I really was a poor fighter. I was decent. But I still didnt' have much more than my fists to show for my effort. It wasn't until some veterans from the old Eleventh Division helped me out that I learned what I'm about to show you, Captain." He murmured. That intensity burning from his eyes as the reiryoku suddenly exploded from his back and shoulders. Showing the true reason for that backless shuhakusho as the are behind him suddenly flooded with pale pink energy, ice caking the ground immediately behind him before his body vanished in a blur.

In an instant, he closed the distance between himself and the Captain, that freezing flare of light red reiryoku twisting around his body as he struck with a downward chop as that freezing energy cascaded down alongside the strike, causing an explosive burst of ice as he sought to bring his open hand down on her shoulder, the roaring energy of Shunko amplifying not just his speed, but his strength as well, intent on cleaving down and slashing a shallow cut down the line of her shoulder to her hip. Hardly a lethal blow of course.

After all, Igen wasn't here to maul her.
Just see how she handled being pushed.

CAPTAIN NAGOSHI KANAE

Kanae noticed the frigid temperature right away. She could feel the chill dig all the way to her bones, something she felt was more annoying than inconvenient. She had no worries about this inferior man's spiritual pressure having detrimental effects, and was more preoccupied with the confusing elements of his abilities he had shown thus far. As he spoke to her about learning from her squad's spiritual predecessor, Kanae thought to herself what a shame it was she never got to skewer that obnoxious Yachiru Unohana, first Captain of the Eleventh.

Some day we will have to hunt that animal and put it down, Tosatsusha.
Just so long as we get to hear her scream.

Kanae tilted her head to the side at Igen's words. "Oh? How long ago did they serve in the Eleventh? Did they know the founding Captain?" she asked, fishing for possible leads for finding the woman she hated the most. Her thoughts were interrupted by the roar of spiritual energy brought to life on Igen's back and shoulders, denoting a significant shift in the Third Seat's power. She was able to deduce the energy Igen gave off was around that of a fledgling Bankai, thanks to her deep connection with her own Zanpakuto and understanding of Reiatsu. Whatever this technique was, it was a powerful one capable of going toe to toe with even a Zanpakuto release.

"Interesting."

Though noticeably faster than before, Igen's chopping hand would find itself under threat of being lobbed off as Kanae's sword was swiftly brought up to meet it. As for his other hand, she had an answer for that as well as her left hand shot up to block his outstretched hand with the back of her wrist. At the same time as their clash a tremendous explosion of spiritual pressure burst forth from both Kanae and Tosatsusha, working to counteract the radiating cold and prevent them from being turned into an ice sculpture. Refusing to be pushed any further by a mere Third Seat, Kanae swiftly brought her right leg up by tilting her entire body backward, then sought to land a straight kick directly onto Igen's chest with enough power behind it to shatter ribs.

MURDER QUEEN | END POST

A smile flashed across his features. "I don't actually know!~ But I don't think either of them is THAT old." He noted with a sheepish chuckle. Though for all he knew he could be wrong. Nobles lived a long time after all. But even so, he didn't allow that thought to distract him. There was only one saving grace: That the woman had not yet released.

The sudden flick of her blade collided with that shell of coursing blue reiryoku along his body. Biting into the shell, but not managing to cut through as the cold spread along the length of her blade, icing the surface as that blade pressed to his wrist, but failed to cut through that shell of reiryoku. A tension coursing through his frame as her hand slapped in. And the back of her wrist promptly would be stabbed, twin black stripes from his Shikai lancing from his palm, aiming to puncture the offending limb. And in the very next moment, as she launched herself upward, aiming that kick toward his chest, that foot would suffer a similar fate as stripes punched forward from his chest, intercepting the incoming kick and aiming to sink up and through the woman's heel. Delivering with them that freezing stab of reiryoku.

He was pushing her. Those incredibly fast movements which normally would have simply overwhelmed him were slowed trying to punch through that freezing shell of energy, and his Shikai was able to surge in and counter.

If nothing else, Shunko was perfect for Igen. Complimenting his existing capabilities, and accented by the close quarters nature of his Shikai. And with that explosive burst of strenghth, he was following her. Matching her. PUSHING her.......... in her base unreleased form at least. The instant that the Kick had connected, he surged after the woman and twisted. The air around him suddenly blurring as his frame seemed to split into three, that Freezing energy coiled, rearing back like a snake about to strike.

Closing Fangs

An explosive burst of speed, Hakuda amplified by his Shunko and Shikai, as those stripes congealed along his body, and emerged from his palm in a long black blade. Three instantaneous strikes, aimed to slash her twice across her chest, and once horizontally across her shoulders, A sudden BOOM of spiritual energy as he propelled himself as such speeds that the strikes left afterimages. And if he succeeded, there would be a sudden loud PATTER all around them, of blood freezing into pellets before it hit the ground.

CAPTAIN NAGOSHI KANAE

Disappointment rang through Kanae's mind as Igen said he didn't believe the people she questioned him about were old enough to be from the Gotei she knew. Then again, from what she had read in the Seireitei's archives that woman had managed to serve as Captain for a very long time. There was still a chance they knew her, or maybe even had an idea as to her whereabouts.

A line of questioning for another time, Kanae. First lets put some fear in this child.
You surprise me, Tosatsusha. You don't usually want to stop at just fear

Ice on her sword and hand were of no consequence to Kanae, whose powerfully caustic acid immediately covered both in a sheen of green. What did bother her was the pressure and stabbing pain she felt on both her hand and heel. Her own voluminous spiritual pressure was surging out to meet Igen's protecting her from the worst his icy power had to offer. Stabbing couldn't be prevented the same way however, and blood dripped down her wrist and leg as both were held vertically.

With a show of force, Kanae pushed herself off Igen and spun through the air like a cyclone before landing a distance away. She knew staying in close quarters as things were would come back to bite her. Her violet eyes scanned her strange opponent who seemed to possess powers she had never come across. One thing Kanae could deduce from the extremely differing abilities was the freezing energy Igen wrapped himself in did not come from his Shikai. Perhaps a Demon Art of some kind. Hmph. Annoying. she thought, trying to understand how a measly Third Seat like this could manage such a significant power up.

There was no time for Kanae to sit and think as her challenger quickly followed their clash by staying on the offensive. She watched his every move as he appeared to use some kind of martial art technique to appear as three, waiting to time her own attack at precisely the right moment...and that moment came when Igendai rushed forward and aimed three strikes at her all at once. Within the second between Igen unleashing his attacks and them reaching their target, a pulse of spiritual pressure exploded outward as if a bomb had gone off. In that moment Igen's target vanished, only to reappear behind him just as quickly, her sword drawn and held in front of her. The much heavier Reiatsu hanging in the air indicated she had released her Shikai, which she had done as she swung her Zanpakuto in myriad slashes across Igendai's entire body meant to cleave through his freezing energy and skin.

"Hanya Jincho-ryu: Sazaeta."

MURDER QUEEN | END POST

WHEW! OH BOY!

The intensity coming off of the woman was WAY higher than he'd expected! The way she simply shrugged off that freezing air was enough to raise his brows, but even MORE than that, it was that sudden response. The way that Kanae pushed away from him was easily dealt with. A sudden explosive burst of speed, shunpoing after the woman, when she turned her attention back to him, he was already in the midst of chasing after her! But well, even with that precise attack of his, he paused when he was caught off guard. Not by the attack, no, this was very much a counter he expected, and as that blade lashed out along his frame, those stripes exploded from his back, that vast winged coil of freezing energy connecting with the incoming flurry head on.

But that explosion of energy was what caught him off guard. And as she unleashed her shikai, he could FEEL that blade biting through that frigid energy. But more concerning than that was energy that suddenly was bearing down on him! The explosive increase in strength and speed meant that what little purchase he'd been able to make. That brief moment of somewhat being on par , or well...FEELING on par with a woman much stronger than him? That was gone.

Thin lines suddenly specked his back, a few stray slashes that managed to strike between those black stripes and cleave into his flesh, before the force sent hi m into the ground with a loud bang. A concussive crack sounding as he was launched into the ground, a sudden plume of debris as he gritted his teeth! WHEW! Alright that was a lot! In an instant he could feel two things. First and foremost was that any hope of keeping up with the woman had just gone out the window. But more than that? This woman seemed aggressively intent on simply stomping him out. No doubt she would be moving in for another attack? Tch.

He took a moment to peel himself from the freezing ground, huffing softly, and muttering under his breath as he did so. An incantation.

CAPTAIN NAGOSHI KANAE

With separation created between herself and her fallen opponent, Kanae took a moment to aggressively shake off the feeling of cold permeating her arms. Thinking back, this wasn't the first time she had come across this strange energy-molding Zanjutsu technique. Her own underling Tentō Zefā demonstrated a rudimentary form of it when he and others in the squad challenged her on her first day. Though his didn't involve being able to freeze things. This version is more annoying.

Kanae observed Igendai muttering something quietly to himself. She believed he was either cursing about the situation or preparing to cast a Kidō spell. Either way, she was unconcerned. Her dagger gaze was trained on Igen but her mind was elsewhere; Kanae was distracted momentarily by visions of a horrible raven-haired woman like the visage of death, an insurmountable hurdle of her past. But then she didn't have a secret weapon...now she does. Someday I'll flay you. Every inch of your skin will lie at my feet.

Back to the battle, Kanae had not missed a thing as Igen continued their quiet chanting. She spun her Zanpakuto in a slow circle before placing it back in its holder, giving the Third Seat ample time to finish their spell and put their plan into motion. "I'm waaaaiiitiing~."

MURDER QUEEN | END POST

No Followup?

Igen was almost caught off guard when he noticed Kanae simply remaining at a distance as he recovered from his flight straight into the ground, looking up and aaaaaaaah alright maybe not at this angle. He turned his head a bit to the side as he flashed a lopsided smile up to his opponent, deciding to just ignore the angle.

"Ahah, I apologize, I didn't expect you to give me much room to breathe!" He admitted. Putting on a big smile before slowly widening his stance and bringing his hands together. Fingers curled inward, as reiryoku promptly began to twist inward toward his palms. Those icy wings flaring as the energy coursing through his frame was dragged inward and compressed into the space between his hands, a steady sigh as those black stripes similarly wound along his frame, collecting to cover his arms and hands as the collecting energy compressed, and he suddenly sank a full meter into the ground. That super dense reiryoku suddenly weighting him down, causing a loud crunch as the ground beneath him caved slightly.

"Kaido Level Fifty Six, Shinju Kyōen.神獣 饗宴 (Divine Beast Banquet) ." He recited, before raising himself up to his full height and parting his hands, holding that lump of concentrated reiryoku over his mouth.

Ulp!

He promptly swallowed it, a loud gulp sounding as he promptly imbibed the concentrated energy he had prepared. And in the very next moment, he shot up and towards Kanae like a mortar round. A sudden burst of speed as he aimed to lunge, those black stripes emerging from his hand, forming a drill-like spiral over his fist as he aimed to strike across her shoulder, the sudden explosive burst of speed and force causing a loud crackling BANG to echo through the area as he unleashed the attack.

Of course it was a Kaido technique, one intended to compress reishi and reiryoku into a concentrated nugget which would then be consumed by a patient, causing a burst of energy that would quickly heal wounds and give a burst of physical potency in the short term. One Kanae would notice as those flaying strikes that had littered his body with small cuts promptly vanished in little coils of steam. Healing energy he was definitely going to need now that she had unleashed her Shikai.