Strength out of Weakness: The weakness strikes back

Snopy stepped out of the Senkaimon into the area he usually trained at. There were unnecessary distractions in the Soul Society. Here it was just a serene clearing in the forest with a river to one side if he needed water. Today he felt a little Hoho training was in order. Speed was one trait that Snopy was quite proud of. However, since his death he was somewhat lacking in that area. Though it wasn't exactly the same as being fast naturally, his flash step would get him anywhere he needed faster than anything else would. He stretched for a moment before starting. His stamina isn't what it used to be, so he would have to take frequent breaks to get anywhere.

He decided to start slow. He would flash step halfway across the clearing, then back. Snopy stood on the end and then Shunpo's too the center of the field. Due to his low strength level it wasn't a speed to be proud of, as it took him a few seconds, and he only traveled about 50 meters. He was a little upset that he also already felt his legs were tired. He shook it off for a moment and then Shunpo'd once more, back to the other end. Though he had only gone twice, he was breathing quite heavily. He was moving as fast as he could, so it was only natural he would grow tired. Yet the sheer lack of ground covered for the time frame was upsetting.

When he was alive, he could cover that distance in that time without using special techniques, and he never grew tired. Snopy had stopped next to the river, so he leaned down and took a sip. He splashed some water on his face to keep cool and then stood back up. Turning back to his training, he Shunpo'd once more, arriving at the center of the field again. For the first time in years, Snopy would actually have to push himself.

Snopy stood at the center of the field for a minute, trying to catch his breath. He realized that going at his absolute fastest speed would be detrimental to making any progress at all with his Hoho. If he paced himself things would probably turn out for the better. He stopped for a few minutes to catch his breath and let his legs recover. He took the chance to grab his canteen and drink some of the water in it. He didn't drink all of it, as he knew it would probably cause him to cramp up. Once his legs had recovered sufficiently he went back to work.

He continued to Shunpo halfway across the field and back. However he had reduced his speed by about half. This was a fairly slow Shunpo, but it was still faster than regular running. Now that he was pacing himself he felt like he could get a lot more done.

Running back and forth was a rather dull thing to do, so Snopy began to distract himself. He began to simply observe his surroundings, rather than have his mind focused on the tedium of repetition. He listened to the sounds of the forest around him. The wind blowing through the trees, the gentle movement of the river, and the sound of birds. The area had a certain peace about it, one he rarely saw while alive. He was used to areas being overrun by hollow, but here there wasn't a hollow in sight.

As his mind began to drift, he felt himself relaxing. Snopy began to notice that as his body relaxed, it became easier to Shunpo, it felt more natural. It seemed to take less effort. Before he knew it 15 minutes had gone by. His body began to feel a little tired so he decided another break would be in order before he tried again. He sat down in the cool grass and pulled out his canteen, taking a sip of water.

Snopy stood back up and cracked his neck. After taking a few moments to stretch he went back to training. Snopy hoped that with all the work he was doing, that he would gain a little bit of stamina. Getting tired too quickly could easily get him killed in the long run. He increased his speed a little bit, to about 60% of his full speed.

As he Shunpo'd back and forth he couldn't help but feel his mind drifting again. He began to think about his comrades from back when he was alive. He laughed to himself, as he knew they were a strange group. Snopy missed those days. He missed his old comrades, many of which he believed were dead after they seemingly hollowfied. He also missed his old power. He used to be immensely powerful. In fact, his powers rivaled the Captains of the Gotei 13. However, when he was killed he was stabbed in just the right spot to lose almost all of his power. For a moment he stopped and caught his breath, before going back to his training. He had lost count of how many times he had gone back and forth. Though he could tell it was getting just a little easier.

He did 6 more laps before he decided to take one last break. He grabbed his canteen, now light without water in it. He drank the last few drops and went to refill in the river. Snopy went to splash water on himself to keep cool. He didn't sweat much so his body would feel very hot. He did one last stretch before looking out over the field. In a few minutes he would push himself one last time for the day.

Snopy took in an extremely large breath as he prepared to train his Shunpo one last time. This time, he was just going to do laps around the clearing until all strength had failed him. He would be extremely sore, but it would be a huge help in the long run. Hunting hollow and Oda knows what else would require him to not be a little weakling. He paced himself at about half of his main speed as he began his first lap. His mind began to drift to other things as he did his laps. One Snopy was a marksman, and was for the most part, a loner. Though loner might not be the correct word. Two Snopy could go long periods of time without human interaction. Yet his entire life he had been around friends and family. Four, five

He shrugged it off, as he usually did. If there was one thing he learned, he couldn't go very far without an extremely perky and happy anime cliche of a girl following him. six, seven, eight Snopy stopped thinking for a moment, and that is when he realized he was beginning to lose strength. nine, ten...eleven...twelve............thirteen He began to feel himself losing speed. It was getting harder to keep going. Fourteen...fifteen...sixteen Snopy's strength was waning and he felt he would be done soon. Seventeen...eighteen Just before Snopy reached his nineteenth lap his strength gave out on him and he collapsed. He lied on the ground for a couple minutes as he waited for his legs to gain a little strength back. Once he did, he made his way to the river and stuck his feet in. He let out a long sigh as he just sat back, letting the strength slowly return to his body.

Hoho training complete
Yet another glorious step towards 4-2