The Speed of Silence

It had been a few months since Nisshō Asakura had started his Zenkai training and he was starting to get the hang of it, and about to start the hard part of continuous training to actually obtain his new found power. As he walked through the, he sensed someone was nearby and by the feeling of the spiritual pressure, not someone he knew.

"Who is that?" He wondered as he stealthily crept towards the target.

The area he would walk through was a heavily forested one. Trees, shrubbery and grass dominated the landscape nearby the massive structures known as the Rocky Mountains. The only thing that broke what would've been a tense silence was the sound of chirping birds resting high within the treetops. While the Rocky Mountains had tourists by the millions, this area was particularly deserted. Nothing was here but the wildlife.

At least, until now.

As Nisshō walked, he would notice it out of the corner of his eye. A darkened figure could be seen in a section particularly thick with trees and foliage, moving parallel and opposite of the direction that he was moving. Because of the leaves and branches, details on its visage could not be seen. But the spiritual energy detected was coming from that direction. It was clear that the figure was the target that was being looked for.

Then, it stepped behind another tree, and the spiritual signature detected would abruptly vanish off of Nisshō's spiritual radar.

"What the....?" He asked as his senses were well trained and honed by his years of service with both the Gotei 13 and Royal Guard, he scanned again only to be blocked by something. "Ugh, this blows, where did he go?" He questioned as he used his Hohō to move silently throug the immediate area. This prey was not going to ellude him for long.

It was the start of a hunt.

The figure seemed to match him move for move as it was pursued. Its movements were sporadic, irregular and sudden. Sometimes, it would appear off to the side as it moved from tree to tree. Sometimes, it would be moving in front of Nisshō from a distance away. In all cases, it was keeping its distance from its pursuer, clearly not wanting to be caught. At the same time, however, its direction didn't seem to be aimless. It was as if the figure was heading towards a certain destination, even though all that was ahead of them were more trees and foliage.

However, this chase would be shorter than expected - for in the midst of it, the unexpected happened.

BOOM!

Within the re-appearance out of a Flash Step movement, the area in which Nisshō was in was suddenly consumed in a violent explosion. The power was comparable to the explosion of an AGM-11 Hellfire missile, capable of blowing apart anything unfortunate enough to get caught within its radius. The explosion was spontaneous, sudden, and had not come from any projectile or other outside source. It was obvious that a trap had been set, and the figure had leaded its predator straight towards it.

It was a question of who was predator now and who was the quarry...

Upon hearing the boom, Nisshō non-verbally released his Bankai Hanshaha Kōgō, using his shield of sound to take the brunt of the explosion as the remainder of his Bankai took hold.

"You let your guard down..."

SSSSSHINK-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM!

Within the moment of his Bankai's release fully formed, two dormant Kidōs that were laced within the Kidō trap emerged in a lightning-activated display. Up from the ground, a thick yellow knotted chain rushed up and bound him, from his heels to his shoulders, while simultaneously six yellow rods of equal binding energy were launched to strike his body from all sides, totally ensuring immobility of the target. And to finish...

"...Kurohitsugi!" from a both cloaked and unseen position a good distance away, a black field of energy formed around the former Royal Guard, with a fifty meter radius around the decimated formation of the forest. Within that field, violet-black particles of black light rose up within an instantaneous manner, forming a towering black coffin apparition, and upon its formation, produced the equivalent of half its potential. Enough power would be ensured to shred and obliterate nearly any form of defense projected by Nisshō.

Upon coming into contact with the spells, his barrier was seen, sparking as it was grinding against the binding spells. Looking up, Nisshō saw the level 90 hadō surrounding his body. "Whoever these people are, they are good....... but not good enough," As he said this he used the sound of the hadō forming to form a reverse suction effect, blowing it backwards, causing it to shatter.

"Anything else?" He taunted as he stood in the air, clad in his Bankai.

"He's good. Well, Qilin," Kōjaku spoke through his telepathic link with his partner, formed from the basis of a passively active Tenteikūra that he marked upon his covered left forearm, "should we show ourselves or prod him a bit more? It doesn't seem that our traps will have the intended affect, considering he activated his Bankai..." "Might as well. Considering how quickly he evaded my trap, he's shown he's got very good senses. Let's cut to the chase..." Was the response back to Kōjaku.

On the outside, however...

"I'm liking this guy already..."

Here was where the first of the assailants would make themselves known.

As the energized coffin was shattered, the figure Nisshō had been pursuing before decided to make himself known to his target. Calmly, he stepped out into view and allowed his visage to be taken in. It was a man with black hair tied into a ponytail, hazel eyes and tanned skin. He wore a strange variant of the Gotei 13 Captain's uniform, but it was clearly official. In one of his hands, he held a sword of an entirely blackened color while the other was resting behind his back. He wore a composed smile on his face as he regarded his target, his gait speaking nothing but nonchalant attitude despite the situation they both were in.

Looking at the man he smirked and felt the intensity of his spiritual force. "So those were your traps huh?" He asked as he reverted from his Bankai, choosing to use his Shikai for the ensuing battle, these figures had started. As he looked at him, one could hear a high pitched whine as his blade started to vibrate very quickly, the whining getting louder.

"Actually..."

Kōjaku followed his comrade as well as he spoke, retaining an equally smooth gait as he smiled toothily upon seeing his enemy with his own, narrowed eyes. Wearing a standard long sleeved Captain's Haori, the garments underneath he wore were violet and noble in texture and appearance, clearly divering away from the black-white uniform standard to Soul Reapers. With a tsuba-less violet hilt and scabbard Zanpakutō wrapped around his chest with a violet silk-strap, matching the violet high-rise ponytail, fastened by a satin-white ribbon.

However, unlike his partner, Kōjaku was more than obliged to answer his target of interest's question, "they were both of ours...Nisshō Asakura."

"So you know who I am?" He asked as he chuckled, his red hair blowing in the winds and his Shihakushō being the only thing he wore in his shinigami state, discarding his two haori, one with a 9 and the other a 0 on the back. Looking at them he simply vanished from sight with Shunpo and appeared behind them, poised to attack. "Those who know of me, would never attack me, without fear of dying where they stand."

Reaction, reflex, prediction and accuracy were necessities.

Beforehand, Qilin, as he was referred to, would have to take into the account the high-pitched whining that Nisshō's sword was producing. This was where more subtle use of his spiritual energy came into play. He built up reiatsu within both of his ear canals to act as earplugs, blocking out the loud sounds of that his Shikai was making. It was a precaution to ensure that he would not fall into any potential traps his opponent could set up in retaliation to the ones that he himself had set.

During the movement, Qilin allowed himself to act as well.

In a smooth and fluid motion, he twisted his body around and pointed the tip of his blade just as Nisshō was coming out of the Flash Step, resulting in the sword being pointed at his forehead. Each movement was made with accurate prediction and perception, his senses locking on and tracking his target's movements. Even so, he couldn't help but note the man's immense speed. The Flash Steps used seemed more akin to teleportation than anything else, and anyone else certainly would have been fooled by it. But he had much more experience than that.

"Glad to see we're exceptions of the bunch..."

In sync with Qilin's movement, Kōjaku spun on the heels of his sandals, kicking up a flourishing exhaust of dust in his wake as he grasped the handle of his Zanpakutō, but did not draw it. Retaining his smile, he had allowed his eyes to take in Nisshō's earlier demonic appearance as well as the power obviously had surged from him, warping the atmosphere visibly around him. Having also noticed the incredible Spiritual Power projecting from within his core, something that caused Kōjaku's spine to tingle in anticipation.

"That's some Bankai you got there, Nisshō-kun," Kōjaku spoke with barely contained excitemnt, but spoke all the same with a cool, smooth tone as he clicked the blade an inch out of its sheathe, "mind giving me a lasting impression of it? I'd hate to forget such an ugly mug before I clean your act up..."

Causing his blade to come into contact with Qilin's created a large spark barrage, and as it did so he smirked. "So you can track my movements? Interesting considering I am the fastest soul in the Soul Society." He commented as he darted a look at Kōjaku. "If you're lucky you'll see it later," He said smugly as he pushed off of Qilin's sword cutting into its blade slightly. "This is one of my Shikai, Hanshaha Shijima, the vibrating cutter."

"!!!"

Qilin's eyes widened slightly when he saw Nisshō's weapon start to dig into his own weapon. His mind clicked, taking in what had happened now and before. Prior to the first explosion initiated as well as the Kidō released by Kōjaku, he had seen the very same effect making up the barrier protecting him from the Bakudō spells. As he saw it up close and heard Nisshō, he could identify what exactly he was dealing with. This wasn't just a blade of extreme cutting power. This was a sword that used intense vibrations to force its way through and break an enemy's defense. An anticipating grin came across his face.

Then, while their blades were still locked, he summoned an unspoken Tzusuri Raiden spell.

In the midst of parrying, he sent the yellow bolts of electricty from his own blade and through Nisshō's in an attempt to damage and paralyze him at the same time. Then, after focusing reiatsu within his blade thick enough to create a thin aura around it, he thrust himself forward and began an aggressive attack on his target's form. The black blade was swung in fluid and lethal motions, its owner's swings exhibiting that of a master swordsman. The aura was made to forcefully slow down the blade's vibration level with heavy friction, reducing its cutting potential and keeping his own weapon intact.

"They always did say," He spoke, even as he continued to clash with Nisshō. "I had an eye for detail!"

Taking opportunity of his comrade's assault, Kōjaku kept one hand on the hilt of his Zanpakutō as he initiated a stunning-pace series of Flash Steps of his own, appearing in multiple directions around his opponent in a simultaneous, blurring fashion. Doing this, he swung out his two forefingers, beginning to discharge dozens of Byakurais, all of them retaining an incredible penetrative and electrical power to counter any forcefield created by Nisshō's sonic-based Zanpakutō. That, and he forcefully guided the arcs and currents of his Kidō to ensure that they would fall within the gaps within Qilin's attacks, making sure there wouldn't be a single opening for him to evade or prepare a counterattack of his own.

Taking in a breath, Nisshō quickly focused his reishi in the base of his throat before firing firing his Hypersonic Screech at Qilin, pushing him away from the attacks being thrown at him by Kōjaku. Spinning on the spot he continued to fire the screech as he spun in place, folding his Wall of Sound around his body, before quickly using Teigo Hanshaha to boost its power. "This is getting annoying fast" He thought as the screech grew ten times louder.

"Ngh--!!"

Although he was forced away by the force of the scream unleashed by his enemy, Qilin managed to right himself and flip back onto his feet. Although he could feel the vibrations press against his skin, the concentration of spiritual energy within his ear canal had saved him from having his eardrums busted. He could only hope that his partner had provided himself with equally effective protection. After all, they wouldn't have sent him with a partner if the situation didn't require it.

As he squinted his eyes, he could feel the vibrating spiritrons of the wall restoring itself around his body. Not only was he forcing an omni-directional attack, but he was also ensuring protection in the midst of a counter-attack. He narrowed his eyes, thrusting his sword out as if attempting to cut through the vibrations being launched towards him. But in reality, he was about to unleash a much more dangerous ability.

If this was a challenge, then it was going to be accepted with zealous eagerness.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

There was a total of four explosions, equal in size but great in power to the very first that had been unleashed. They had been set off in a chain reaction, using the very vibrations directed at Qilin as a tracer path to hit the very source. The last explosion consuming the area where Nisshō was, incinerating trees to nothing but ashes and dust. In the wake of the destruction, Qilin had his eyes narrowed in concentration and his stance prepared. Anyone more foolish would've assumed the man had been killed with that alone.

But he knew better than to assume...

Having seen Nisshō's quick successions of sound waves coming, preemptively, Kōjaku propelled himself up into the sky, a good twenty meters away from the majority of the parallel-aligned sonic projected vibrations. Arriving just above where the crop of explosions were occurring, Kōjaku unsheathed his sword and spun it around in a rolling arc, creating a an immense fissure of shredding and pressurized wind. Within the apex of the explosions, he then hurled the massive column wind, lighting it aflame with Haien, as well as funnel a fierce thunderous force of Raikōhō upon the same point of impact...

WHOOOOSH-C-CRACK-BOOOM!!!

...it would cause such an incredible explosion, that the entirety of nearly three city blocks of the forest's landscape was uprooted and obliterated by the force alone. The all-consuming flames of Haien would ensure scalding, ebbing damage, while the micro-burst affect from Tenran and the instantaneous surge of electrical energy upon point of impact would create a nearly impossible force to counter, even for Nisshō.

Being hit by the attacks, knocked Nisshō off balance causing his spin to halt. As he stopped spinning he was hit by the lightning and he let out a scream, but this soon turned into a laugh as his skin started to peel off, and revealed a demonically red undercoat. As this happened his eyes turned to something resembling a hollows as his hair turned white. "The power of Hell.....its breathtaking isnt it?" He asked as he took on his Fallen form as the air around his body started to hum, as every pore on his form expelled high speed vibrations.