One Plus Four Equals Five. [Erika, Rio]

No sooner had freedom been acquired did it disappear from her grasp, the smallest gap was exploited by Erika's tiny size to slide along the ground and dig her fingers into the paved ground to twist and heave herself up onto her feet with all the grace of an acrobat to face the foe.

In the face of adversary she smiles at the oncoming attack. Too familiar is the move that obliterates the opponent with brute force. She will meet it with the very same kind of attack by launching at the oncoming attack with blade aimed to meet the fist head-on.

Fudō Zettou (不動絶刀, No Motion Peerless Sword).

The moment that Rio's fist would come into range she adjusted her blade, empowered with resolve and spirit this was amongst her most simple and potent sword techniques. She had based it off the simple rule of balance, a force could be negated with an equal one so when her adversary came into contact with the blade's tip there was a moment of silence. Everything came to a standstill in this moment of two forces colliding before the overwhelming force of each blow needed somewhere to escape.

As if running away from the sword and fist, all of that explosive force struck and blew the cage in half to let the light shine in between them like a dividing line. The neutral expression she wore seemed indifferent about the clash except her golden eyes which kept issuing challenges.

Your move. Give me everything you have and I'll meet each one with my swordsmanship.

Amazement colored her golden gaze within the space of a single second. Fist and sword collided, one opposing force rose to meet the other. The explosive force from their thunderous collision carved a dividing line between them, splitting the obsidian cage that threatened to trap them both in half. Were she of less sturdier composition and frame, Rio no doubt believe that counterattack would have swept her away within the exploding whirlwind.

Moving so gracefully, striking so thunderously, Erika was truly a warrior worthy of occupying a position as the captain commander's right-hand woman. She had certainly never doubted the validity of that before, though. This was merely physical proof given radiant form. The golden eyes of the Shihoin met with the golden eyes of the Shinigami of Ten-Thousand Swords. The indifference in Erika's eyes stood in stark contrast to the prideful flame that burned within her own. A challenge for a challenge.

No matter. Whether by way of my fist or my zanpakuto, I will break through your technique.

Transmuting one half of the broken cage into a catapult at her own back, Rio propelled her body forward to roar in for thunderous double-fist strike at the woman's chest, channeling reiryoku through her knuckles to amplify their impact. To impede Erika's performance, she warped the other half of that cage into a long chain that sought to wrap around her shoulders. Earning her freedom as she did, Rio wondered amusedly at how Erika might react this time.

She didn't need to glance behind her to know what was coming. Her sensory skills were second to her swordsmanship after all and rather than wait for the chains or counter them, Erika took a step forward. Her petite figure remerging from the dash past Rio's side for an attack, it was the kind of action that could be missed if she blinked.

Soutou: Kinno Sensen [双刀 金ノ閃々, Twin Sword: Golden Flash Twiceover].

The sword flashed gold before splitting in two, with one left in her hand to continue to cleave at Rio's abdomen the second sword had only the speed and momentum of the swing but nothing to guide it. It could've struck anywhere.

Reading Erika was pointless when the second sword had been left to determine its own pathway through Rio.

Committed to her strike as she was, Rio's perception was the only thing that allowed her to recognize that Erika swiftly shifted from one position to another. In the blink of an eye, Erika's first blade roared down to crash against the Shihoin's frame. There would be no immediate counter to throw the strike off course.

Of the two, Erika was potentially faster, for one, and Rio felt confident enough in her resilient frame that her abdomen would brave the storm of her attack. In a position like this, that was the only option left to her. Rio pressed forward, shifting her abdomen against the blade in an attempt to push her back, even as it cut along her skin.

An obsidian blade hovering at her back expanded outward into another cage to surround them. Makeshift in nature, it was employed to keep her in place as she shot a fist forward in an attempt to strike her across the face. It was entirely possible for the cage, hastily constructed as it was, to be shattered again, but Rio was gambling on the minute possibility that her attack might strike true and leave Erika reeling.

Blood was all she caught a glance of as she exchanged blows. The fact she was caged didn't bother her, the fact that her opponent's hand struck her cheek to send her crashing through the metal cage was obsolete. Even as she soared through the air away, the swordswoman threw the blade in her hand into the ground to land on the base of its handle after a midair recovery.

Her face was bruised, the kind that would swell up after their bout had concluded but physical trauma was easy to deal with for someone who had been through centuries of conflict and battle.

The sword was a foothold, something to launch off with her shunpo, and after conjuring two more katanas she once again disappeared with her speed to blitz her opponent from the front and slash down the front of her in a clean "X".

What a resilient opponent. The expression of steel calm was nothing short of extraordinary. Rio's fist collided with her face, Erika's katana cut through Rio's flesh. Erika was expediently impressive at taking her attacks in stride, a fact that was equal parts exhilarating as it was frustrating. Ah, what a brilliant display of adaptation. She truly was worthy of the Vice Commander position.

In what could only be described as an efficient recovery, Erika vanished from the top of her hilt, reappearing with twin swords in hand. At such a sudden movement, Rio couldn't even erect a barrier this time, choosing instead to shift her arms into an upright guard to shield herself against the swords drawn together in such a seamless arc.

Two red lines were created amid that attack, piercing the Shihoin's flesh as she readied herself for another attack. Dropping her body downward at a lower angle, Rio shot upward to unleash a two-handed palm strike at her chest. She expected her to evade, naturally, and so, with one remaining blade at her back, she motioned her hips to guide it at an angle where it could form a small circular wall of sorts to keep her from shifting backward.

Once more she expected her to retreat but she underestimated just how willing Erika was to take hits despite the fact that her body wasn't as durable one would expect from her experiences. She twisted midair, swords that had drew blood began to sweep so that they'd snap against Rio's hands but try to wound them in the process.

She wasn't a hakuda user but Erika knew how to use her body, the force of the blows twisting her with the means to throw her away at an angle that made her try to get one good kick into Rio's head before the spin she had sent herself into became too unstable and threw her into the air above.

Once again, relent proved to be the furthest thing from Erika's mind as those twin swords dug into her flesh. Rio found that tenacity praiseworthy. Naturally, she had no intention of backing down either. This was, after all, a battle to gauge her talents for the upcoming conflicts in Africa.

To show her anything less than her best would be a grave error, an affront to her pride as a Shihoin and a proud vice captain of the combat division. As Erika earned a degree of freedom from kicking her foot off of Rio's head, Rio decided to follow suit as she drew the obsidian blades back to her person, transmuting them into a catapult that blasted her body through midair to meet Erika directly.

This time, she decided to add a little flare to her offensive this time, employing the greater depth of her hoho to create speed clones as she unleashed a coordinated array of hakuda techniques. Erika's offense was exceptional, and Rio found herself wanting to competitively test those reflexes of hers.

"Ban..."

She at her opponent coming to meet her, a new sword in hand as she hovered in the air with the many afterimages coming to greet her. She could do that too, but Erika would demonstrate that there was a battle between bodies and minds, for now she'd deceive Rio on the mental front.

Had she been using her shikai all along? If she knew bankai it would be reasonable that all her swordsmanship was a product of her shikai, but Erika also had no reputation as having knowledge of Bankai either.

"...Kai."

Swinging the sword in a wave at her incoming opponent, her sword projections would rain down from around her. Numbers against numbers it would be.

Bankai. (万回, Ten Thousand). A technique named purely for deception. There was no sudden increase of power but she would test the vice captain's reaction to the fake out nevertheless.

Erika was relatively unfazed by the speed clone offensive taking place. Multiple swords were drawn up above to match the number of clones, but something caused Rio to turn her eyebrow upright in curiosity. Bankai? A final release state? Since when did she have that? If so, was her Shikai in activation the whole time? A myriad of questions, much like the blades that now hovered above her during her seemingly endless sequence of shunpo, now raced to the forefront of her mind.

No, it was foolish to go overthinking things. If she had truly activated her bankai, regardless of her nature, Rio only had to keep applying a relentless offense. After all, it wasn't as if she could match Erika Bankai for Bankai, anyway. Tetsumaru already required dedicated effort to maintain in shikai, and the preparation time for Bankai was simply out of the question, to say nothing of the terrain issue such a release presented.

In other words, regardless of the nature, the only option left to her was to maintain her assault. No, more than maintain---increase. Rather than find herself paused or stilled by that release phrase, Rio aimed to press an advantage as she sought to match that wave of sword projections. Several clones followed the graceful movements of her fists as she aimed to maintain her coordinated pressure on Erika. If there is something else to this release, she'll simply use her obsidian blades to counter. That was all there was to it.