Imparting Wisdom

This article, , is a prequel chapter to Bleach: Cataclysm, and follows Kentaro Hiroshi and Shiju Shūdō. Timeline-wise it occurs in the immediate aftermath of the Collapse.

"I'm sorry to drop this on you but if I'm going to do this then I need to be at my best. I need to finish my training." Kentaro declared.

Akiye, dressed in white trousers and a green sleeveless top over a white undershirt, merely nodded her head in recognition. She took his hands in hers and kissed him before turning away from him.

"Just be back as quickly as you can. These people need you... so does Kay."

"... I know, thanks."

With that Kentaro flash-stepped through the rubble-strewn streets of what remained of Nishiendo. He took in the destruction and devastation with an open heart. Every stab of pain and regret served to stoke the fires of his resolve: he would end this chaos or die in the trying. There was just one thing to be done beforehand however. Once again Kentaro was going to take on the role of trainee.

When he touched down he did so in a deserted patch of grassland with the smoking ruins of Nishiendo as a backdrop.

"Thank you for agreeing to this." Kentaro said, turning his attention to figure whose back was turned to him.

"Not a problem, Kentaro." Shiju said, clad in his dark blue haori as he turned to face the man who addressed him. His face was a bit solemn, but he still retained a small smile on his face. "I can at least do this much for a fellow practitioner of the Yuengiri, right?"

Upon saying that, Shiju loosened the tension in his body slightly. The weather was rather breezy, causing his haori and hakama to bellow to the right momentarily. "So, you have asked me to help you but..." Shiju analyzed Kentaro after looking at him from top to bottom, "What do you need help with?"

Kentaro, as usual, was without clothing on his upper half, though the fabric of his high-waisted trousers billowed freely in the wind. He looked emotionally drained; though that came as no surprise. His mother and brothers where dead and Kentaro was the one who had abandoned the latter two to save Akiye and Kay.

"As you know I left Horiwari to travel the World of the Living before my training was finished. I can manifest the Battle Aura... but it pains me to do so. My training in reaching out and manipulating the souls was also incomplete. My father ensured I knew the teachings and basics, so essentially the advanced applications are what I have yet to grasp."

"Ah...I understand that. I faced the same dilemma." Shiju reminisced on the independence of the final aspects of his training, "But...in that sense, I can guide you on how to reach mastery without constant guidance."

Shiju rolled his shoulders, loosening his body once more before drawing his blade with his right hand and holding it near his waist, with the blade pointing upward. "Before we do anything else, I need to see how you are progressing with the current use of your Battle Aura. Although...more specifically, I need to see if you still retain the required harmony...especially after what has recently happened."

"I'll admit... finding Calmness has been difficult, but here goes!"

Violet-coloured spiritual power momentarily surged along Kentaro's body! When the display receded the entire left side of the young man's face and body was covered by a black flame-like pattern. He curled his lip and clenched his fists as though the very action was painful to him.

With an exhale of breathe the pattern disappeared and Kentaro returned to normal.

"Damn it!"

"Hah, I had the same problem for a few days..." Shiju recollected his despair, before abandoning it from his mind. Closing his eyes, Shiju's mellow, gold spiritual power began to exert around him in ribbon-like shapes. Opening his eyes, this display of spiritual power quickly dispersed across the environment, leaving no more than what appeared to be an almost tangible white cloak of energy that spiked up his hair at the same time.

"It's difficult, I understand. But you can't rush these things, Kentaro." Shiju remembered what Yoshiaki told him long ago, "Calmness can only be attained when you immerse yourself in a state where your thoughts are absent from everything except peace. Even should tragedy come before you, your mind should never be cluttered with thoughts of conflict..."

Kentaro, taking onboard what Shiju was saying, also remembered what his father done in times of difficulty. Kenji would often close his eyes and level his breathing whilst placing his hand upon his Zanpakutō's hilt, as if he where seeking comfort. Kentaro did the same now.

After a short period of time his eyes snapped open suddenly!

His spiritual power did not surge along his limbs this time. Instead it was calm, composed, with only a slight fluctuation to be had. As this occurred Kentaro assumed a meditative pose upon the ground and laid his Zanpakutō across his lap. The markings resurfaced only this time they covered his entire body! He maintained them for a few seconds before allowing them to recede once more, which was met by a long exhale of breathe.

"There we go." Shiju dissipated his own aura with little effort, the cloak of energy receding into the environment as reishi particles. "It seems you know what to do, no? Constant meditative practice. Although, should you ever encounter conflict...you won't get that same opportunity. So keep calm and steady at all times. Would you like to continue refining your Aura or do you believe you can understand the pinnacle of the Yuengiri?"

"... I think we can proceed. Now that I know what is required I can refine it during my weekly sparring sessions with Hawke."

Kentaro returned to his feet looking a little more calm and composed. The stoop had left his posture and he was now carrying himself straighter and with more poise. In many ways he looked like his father did many years ago.

"Please, lead on."

"Hmmm..." Shiju pondered for a moment, sheathing his blade and raising his left hand, letting his palm rest on the air. To most it would look like he was a little bit insane, but Shiju was in fact being completely the opposite. "It seems this is truly a good place." Shiju opened his eyes and placed his arm at his side again.

"Tell me, Kentaro. Did your father ever teach you about how the Yuengiri 'borrow'?" Shiju questioned with a remarkably inquisitive tone.

"He did but he never demonstrated it to me in actual practice. I left before he ever had the chance." Kentaro admitted. "But he explained it to me at length. The spirits in nature... we can draw upon them and take them into our being to form a temporary bond, and then return it when we have achieved what we needed to do. My father stressed that respect was key in this process."

"Precisely." Shiju responded with a small nod, "The Yuengiri can only borrow. Should they attempt to steal, the connection will be broken off." Shiju, instead of talking, decided to demonstrate an example.

"Watch." He said. Suddenly, his center of gravity was completely disoriented and Shiju fell, back-first, towards the ground. However, he kept perfectly calm. With his eyes closed, suddenly the environment itself prevented Shiju's fall, the souls merging within the earth to create a solid arm which pushed Shiju upwards and back to his original position, before returning into the ground in its natural state.

"What you just saw was not Fullbring, nor was it Kidō." Shiju stated, "That was me borrowing the power of the souls around me to prevent my fall and help me stand up." Shiju then drew his zanpakutō and held it at eye-level, horizontally. "Think of these souls as your zanpakutō. They are independent beings whose power you borrow in order to achieve. Do not subjugate them. Simply ask, and you shall receive. In terms of how you can communicate...that is something that cannot be taught. But...I'm sure you'll feel it."

"You mean...! So that's what happened!" Realization finally donned on Kentaro.

He reached out his hand and knelt on the ground with his right hand brushing the blades of grass. As a demonstration of his own Kentaro nicked his finger on the blade of his Zanpakutō and then reached out with a calm mind to his surroundings. In seconds the wound closed up without leaving so much as a scar behind.

"You see, when I fought my uncle Suitai Shiba I was on the back-foot from the start, but I was confident that I could win. You could say I was calm because of that. I didn't understand it at the time but I ended up overtaking him, in so short a time, I actually thought that he'd been holding back the entire time. He wasn't. Now I understand! I bolstered my own abilities without even knowing it."

He returned to his feet with a wide-eyed look.

"...Wait, for real?" Shiju's tone suddenly switched from that of a teacher to one of amazement. "Dude, what? It took me so long to get the feel for it and you're saying you got it unconsciously?" Shiju grumbled, "Goddamn it Yoshiaki. Always preventing me from going into live combat..."

"Don't feel bad. I pissed my father off all the time by how fast I grasped something." Kentaro admitted. "He told me once I was no fun to teach."

Realizing what he was doing, Shiju snapped out of his grumbling mode and returned to what he was saying. "Well, then...if you've understood the fundamentals of borrowing, there really is only one more thing left for you to learn. Although, admittedly, I can't teach you this..." Shiju looked downwards, as if digging up something that was a lot better forgotten.

"Got any hints?" Kentaro asked almost cheekily.

"Well, the skill was dubbed Armory by Van Satonaka and fellow practitioners. I'm assuming you're familiar with them. While it was mastered by Van and my friend, Ashido Kanō, given both of their statuses following recent events...it might be impossible for us to truly go to the extents of mastery over Yuengiri."

Before Shiju went even more melancholic, he shook his head, "But that doesn't stop us from being innovative, yeah?"

The name sparked a memory in Kentaro.

"It was mastered by Van and refined by Ashido so it could be taught within the Yuengiri Academy, but the person who actually conceived the idea itself is still alive: Rozeluxe Meitzen. I had a few dealings with him in the past, but I don't know where he is currently. All I know is that he survived the Collapse; He was in the World of the Living at the time."

Kentaro began pacing at this point.

"I can't thank you enough for this, Shiju. Truly. Now I can finally push forward with what I need to do."

"Oi!" Shiju shouted, completely losing his previous composure. "If...you find this Rozeluxe guy...mind giving me a shout? I...want to inherit the legacy that my friend had left behind. I'll help you in return with anything, I promise!" Shiju pleaded towards Kentaro, losing all forms of dignity in order for a single request.

"Can do." Kentaro declared, looking towards the heavens. "It's a promise."

End.