Clash of Superpowers: Dyan Arashi vs Smirnov Seishou

Slaying Moon
A young man, hair dyed green, was walking through the forest, a large blade wrapped in cloth tied to his back and his eyes scanning the area. He was sure he had felt some strong spiritual pressure in this direction, but had yet to find anything that wasn't wildlife.

In a distance not too far off from the area, a hunt was taking place.

A pack of Gillian-class Menos had been terrorizing the area and its soul population, searching in the forest for any traces of spiritual energy that would be good for consumption. They scoured nearly the entire area, hunting and pursuing Pluses who were unfortunate enough to be there. Like a bird of prey trapping a mouse, these Hollows trapped their victims quite easily, diving upon them and snatching them in their mouths. For them, there was nothing that could stop them, no one that would dare to halt their feeding frenzy.

That is, until they stumbled across one lone man, with nothing but a sword on his back and a lot of time on his hands.

SLASH!

The hunter had become the hunted, once the encounter was set. Pulling out his sword, he had started slaying the Menos one-by-one, each one doused with little effort. That caused the remaining Hollows to retreat. The man smirked as he followed, sword gleaming with their blackened blood.

It would be a grand hunt, indeed.

The green haired man was alerted to the rapid rising and dropping spiritual pressure, and found in that cluster the one he had been seeking. He broke into a Shunpo and arrived in time to see the man cut down another Gillain.

SLASH..

The silver-haired man's eyes widened, a look of bemusement crossing his face. Out of the corner of his eye, as another Gillian victim screamed and surrendered to the death he had given it, he had seen another figure appear, seemingly out of thin air. It was clear that someway or the other, this hunt was going to be interrupted. Yet, he hid his annoyance well as he lowered his blade, body turning to face the man entirely.

"Does he want to help?" He wondered.

"Hollows."' The man thought as one Gillian turned towards him and fired a Cero blast. He quickly jumped over the Cero blast and gripped the blade on his back. The cloth around it unwrapped and shrank down to the tang, revealing an elegant, black and white cleaver. He swung the blade down, cutting the Gillian in half, and it quickly disintegrated.

As the silver'haired man watched, he noticed the pack of Hollows finally fleeing from the area. But, his concern was on the man that came before him. His eyes narrowed, and a scowl fitted his countenance in a regarding of annoyance and puzzlement. "You sure have a lot of nerve, barging into my hunt." He called out challengingly to the other warrior.

"Plenty of Hollows to go around." The other man replied, planting his blade into the ground.

"Who are you?" The man demanded. "A Shinigami like you shouldn't be staying so far away from the Soul Society." The last statement was rather mocking of the man, but his expression didn't show any amusement.

"Isn't it common courtesy to introduce yourself first before asking someone else their name?" The green haired man asked.

For a moment, the silver-haired man was silent, eyes closing in thought. He tilted his head to the side, contemplating the statement before saying in relent, "All right. I'll humor you. My name is Smirnov Seishou."

"Nice to meet you Smirnov." Dyan clapped. "My name is Dyan Arashi."

The sound of his hands clapped together brought a feeling of discomfort in the man known as Smirnov. His scowl deepened. "How funny of you." He stated dryly. "Was that supposed to be sarcastic?"

"Draw your own conclusion." Dyan replied. "On another note, I have been looking for you ever since I got into this forest, Smirnov."

A grim smile fell upon Smirnov's face. Through the trees, a gentle breeze blew against him, but its presence was enough to increase the tension felt within him. His blade stood in his left hand, tip almost touching the ground. "Oh? Are you my little stalker, now?" He asked.

"No." Dyan replied, rolling his eyes. "I've just been looking for someone to fight, and you've got decent spiritual pressure."

Behind his glasses, Smirnov's eyes could not be seen. However, his eyebrows furrowed out of his newly found indignity. "A way to kill your own time? Go find someone else. I'm not going to be used to sate someone else's boredom." He refused, slowly turning his hell as well as his back on Dyan.

"Why not?" Dyan asked. "You seem like a person who likes to fight. You have a sword. You have the time. Fight me."

"Go play with someone else, kid." Smirnov replied calmly. "I have other plans." With calmly gaited footsteps, he began to walk away from the man, his sword blade balanced on his shoulder as he did so.

"What plans?" Dyan asked. "Going on another hunt? I'd think an opponent with a blade would be a much better opponent. Unless you can feel my power, and you are scared to fight me?"

Immediately, the man stopped. His expression was darkened over as his entire body froze, processing Dyan's taunting words. The hand clutching his sword tightened like a vice-grip, his palm aching from the aggravating pain that came to it. The wind between them blew a little bit more, signaling the rise in tension as the strength of the breeze slowly grew and grew. "Scared?" He questioned, turning his head to the side to look at Dyan over his shoulder.

"Of you?"

His own power erupted from his body in the form of pressurized energy. In Dyan's view, the world was nothing but tunnel vision, colors black and white, and his entire FOV shaking violently. Smirnov's own voice sounded like it too was in nothing but a tunnel. He turned completely to face Dyan, a broad smile on his face. "Why would I be scared of my equal? A man with great power as well as a weapon to kill with. In this way, you're just like me..."

He raised his sword up, the tip of it pointing towards Dyan in a threatening manner. "But your words piss me off. So I believe I'd better quell that mouth of yours before it gets out of hand. Defend yourself." One of his feet slid behind him, heel going upwards in a running position.

Then, he pushed off, and a small crater was left in the ground where he was standing. Taking his sword in both hands, he swung down upon Dyan's head once he was in range of the man.

"Now that's more like it!" Dyan grinned, ripping his blade out of the ground and swinging it with great strength behind it to block the strike of Smirnov.

They connected. A fierce shockwave erupted from the collision of cold steel, spreading outward and away from their bodies. Now, the wind seemed like a warning storm wind, their reiatsu leaking out in rapid bursts as they struggled against each other. Smirnov's eyes glared into Dyan's eyes, a loathing respect as well as the realization of a tough opponent on his hands. He raised his sword and swung downwards.

Again.

Again.

And again.

Each blow, enhanced by the physical power of Smirnov's build, was driven repeatedly into Dyan's guard with merciless and unrestrained force. Each strike caused sparks to fly up, almost as if lightning itself was striking the two blades that fought against each other.

Dyan grinned as he kept blocking. He enjoyed close combat, but this would get them nowhere. His blade began to glow and he murmured two words. "Getsuga..Tenshou.."

CLANG!

Upon the last sound of the last letter, Smirnov's sword swung down, the glowing blade down to the ground. It was as if a gun had gone off in the wrong direction; the pent-up energy in the blade was immediately released, but at the wrong target: the ground itself. When it connected, it enveloped them both in its power, as well as kicking up a dust storm.

Dyan was wide eyes for a moment. "Nice move there. Never saw someone do that before."

"Thank you." Through the smoke and debris, his opponent's blade shot out from the smoke, the blade inches away from the distracted Dyan's throat. From the smoke was none other than Smirnov's own figure. His coat had been ripped apart by the blast, and nothing more than his undershirt had remained. The frown had once again returned to his cynical face. "But I don't think this is a proper time to be using words..." He lectured, lifting the blade from the killing position it had on Dyan's throat, stepping back to allow some distance between him and his opponent.

"He's right.." Dyan thought, gripping the cloth on the end of Zangetsu's tang. "He could have killed me right there." He began to twirl the blade, and it made a whirring sound like a machine. Getting in a stance, he threw the blade, the cloth stretching so that he could hold on to it.

Smirnov's eyes watched on as the projectile of a sword came flying towards him like a knife. Yet, he didn't allow himself to move, staring at both it and his opponent with stoic eyes. His entire body seemed relaxed, at least for a brief minute, even as death cam soaring towards his chest.

Then, his hand reached out... and his bare palm caught the cutting edge of the sword. But his palm did not bleed. Even as he gripped it tightly, giving the sword a violent jerk, it did not bleed. Instead, Dyan was forcibly pulled off of his feet and towards a waiting hunter, who raised his sword and thrust it straight towards his blindly charging form.

Dyan extended his hand outward towards the blade and chanted. "Bakudō, Number 39 ENKOSEN!" He summoned a shield of condensed reiatsu, blocking the sword from going any further. Taking this moment as his chance, he tugged on Zangetsu's cloth and it slipped out of Smirnov's hand.

This time, he bled.

He only looked on as his enemy's sword cut through the palm of his hands. He could feel the warm liquid drip from his skin, covering it with a deep crimson. Idly, he let that hand drip blood, hung at his side as if useless. His other hand raised his sword into a defensive stance, and his eyes concentrated once more on his opponent.

Dyan extended his hand again. "Hadō number 34, Kongōbaku!' He cried, firing a large ball of flame out at Smirnov. The moment he fired that he cried out the name of another spell, one more well known. "Hadō number 31, Shakkahō!" This blast was faster than the other and collided with it, merging and creating a large ball of fire.

Maybe he could toy with his quarry a little.

A smirk crossed Smirnov's face as he bent forward, sword pulled into a backhand position. The position was only maintained for a second. When he swung again, that mighty blade of his connected with the firey mass of spiritual energy. But, in the end, it was pure steel and muscle alone that conquered. The sword cut cleanly through the fireball, dispelling it into the reiryoku particles it once was.