The Game of War

The Mountains' Range
The most northern part of Mt. Myōbu was all but quiet, the sound of rattling metal and the sport of a battle drowned out all other sounds. Standing with his Zanpakutō in hand, Hyōsube smirked as he easily blocked the sword strikes of Rōshi's blade. Hyōsube couldn't help but lifting his head as he blocked the strikes with a limp wrist.

"It's pretty nice today." Hyōsube chimed. He knew he annoyed Rōshi by engaging in small talk and wanted to see his response.

Rōshi remained silent, lost in his sword strikes. His eyes were glazed over a thick amber as he moved the sword with precision. Hyōsube took note of this.

Quickly pushing off Rōshi's own sword, Hyōsube tossed his blade up and slammed the butt of the handle into Rōshi's forehead, sending him backward.

Tumbling backwards, Rōshi's eyes quickly returned to their normal color and he quickly understood the situation at hand. Falling into the dirt, Rōshi rubbed his head and grumbled. "Hyōsube-sensei!" he yelled. "I was getting into it!" he berrated.

Hyōsube chuckled, sliding the Zanpakutō back into its sheath. "I am delighted by your passion for the way of the blade Rōshi." he said, sliding his hand into the opening on his kosode. "Tell me, what how do you believe your progress is going?" he asked.

Rōshi lifted himself up and pondered for a moment, running his eyes up and down his blade as he thought. "My grip is too tight and my strikes do not carry enough power. I'm hurting my own wrist by attacking like this." he said.

Hyōsube simply smiled and nodded. "Correct." he said. Hyōsube saw as Rōshi continued to inspect the blade, blocking out the rest of the world around him. "Rōshi." Hyōsube said out loud, grasping the boy's attention.

Rōshi shook his head and looked up at his teacher.

"I am going to teach your the Kiri-otoshi sword-style... do you accept this challenge?" Hyōsube asked.

Rōshi's quickly became overcome with joy. "The legendary sword style, Kiri-otshi!?!" he exclaimed. Giving a spin to his blade from the handle, Rōshi jutted the blade into the ground. "Please sensei, let me learn the Kiri-otoshi" he chimed.

"Let's get to work than." Hyōsube said.

As Rōshi went to grasp his blade, the energy in the air quickly swelled up. A rift ripped in the skies like a weak stitching. Spiritual energy leaked out quickly, shaping into large spiritual hands.

"Sensei!" Rōshi called as he was grasped up by the spiritual hand.

Quick to react, Hyōsube grabbed the blade that was stabbed into the ground and sliced Rōshi free. "Run now Rōshi!" he exclaimed, quickly slicing another hand.

On order, the boy quickly took up down the mountain side. His fight or flight reflex kicked in and he chose flight. Watching Rōshi run, Hyōsube himself was quickly overwhelemed and caught by the spiritual hands. "He's safe..." Hyōsube thought.

On cue, dozens of hands shot forward, aimed directly at Rōshi.

Forced to watch Rōshi run as fast as he could, the spiritual arms didn't let up. They quickly grabbed him, squeezing down on him with great force. Letting out a scream of pain, Rōshi was quickly grabbed and pulled into the void where the arms sprouted from.

"RŌSHI!?!" Hyōsube called at the top of his lungs. Whipped violently, Hyōsube himself was pulled into the void. Seconds after, the void shut closed leaving no traces of Hyōsube nor Rōshi.

Floating around Mt. Myōbu, Ōkami let out a loud yawn.

"Things are always quiet around here!" he yelled. Curling into a ball, Ōkami watched the sun as it reached the peak of the mountain before nodding off.