Training a Young Shinigami: Ahatake's Training

Class begins
Ahatake was sitting up in a tree resting from his battle with Ryuka. He had fought for so long the parmedics actually took his body away thinking it was in a coma or something. He didn't care. He preffered life as a Shinigami to a human with the exception of his Hollow.

"I'm getting there kid!!" The Hollow's voice cam from Ahatake's concioussness. "Soon all your power will be mine!"

"GO AWAY!!!!!!!"

Suddenly Ahatake felt a strong spiritual pressure coming from around him and called "Who's there?"

Ryan Getsueikirite, a shinigami and captain of the 10th Squad appeared above, in the skies of Karakura town. It had been several months since his previous visit to the small town and he was enjoying the air. His personal mission was to track down and find a boy who had obtained hollow powers before the Soul Society found out.

"He's up there?" Ahatake thought jumping up from the tree into the air and standing right in front of the captain.

"Who are you?" Ahatake asked. "Why do you feel so powerful?" Ryan turned around, looking rather comical at the boy, "Why do I feel so powerful? Well that could be for several reasons. For one, I am a user of bankai and two, Im like you." Ahatake looked confused at this. Ryan snickered and made a motion with his hand, summoning his hollow mask to his hand. "See, I'm just like you." he said to the boy.

"A.... Hollow mask!" Ahatake said taking a look at it. "But what's Bankai?"

Ryan gave the boy a puzzled look and then responded, "Well it's hard to explain. Bankai or final release, is the second stage of a zanpakuto. Since I'm a shinigami captain, I am required to know bankai." Ryan explained making his hollow mask vanish. "But in order to know bankai, one must first know shikai. Do you even know your zanpakuto's name?" Ryan asked, almost sarcastically.

"You named your Zanpakutou?" Ahatake asked looking slightly puzzeled.

Ryan looked dumbfounded at the boy, but knowing that the boy mostly trained himself, this was not a surprise to the captain, "Ok listen up, shikai is first "upgraded" form available to a zanpakutō. To activate it, a Shinigami needs to learn the name of their zanpakutō. This is not as easy as simply picking a name for the blade, as the living spirit of a zanpakutō already has its own name. Therefore, a Shinigami must be able to communicate with their zanpakutō effectively, which requires being able to speak to the spirit within its world." Ryan allowed this to sink in before continuing.

"You can't just start talking to the metal blade so I'll do some exercises with you so that the zanpakuto will speak to you and mabey you will be able to hear it's name." he explained. He took the boy by his arm and used shunpo to transport them outside of the city and onto the rocky shores of Japan's coast. "Okay, your first exercise is to try and cut these two bells off of my belt." he explained, fastening two bells to his belt. Ryan also drew his zanpakuto and dropped into a defensive stance.

"Ok!" Ahatake said his mask forming, knowing he would need enhanced power and speed. "What's your name by the way?"

"My name is Ryan." he replied to the boy, "and what is yours?"

"Ahatake Noriko Kurosaki." Ahatakle replied. "Now sir, let's begin."

Bell test
Ahatake used shunpo to get straight at the captain, aiming staright for the bells with his Zanpakutou.

Ryan arced his blade sideways to block the oncoming attack. "Just for demonstration purposes..." he said pushing Ahatake away, "Let our wrath be known to all creation, Butaimaru!!" he yelled, his blade becoming it's shikai form.

"Such spiritual pressure!" Ahatake thought looking at it. "So that's shikai."

Ahatake used his Zanpakutou to cut his hand and fired a cero out crying "Sangre Cero!"

Ryan slashed the cero in two, "You forget, I'm a Vizard too. Cero is second nature to me. The reason you cannot communicate correctly with your sword's spirit is simple, you are too hollow-like. You rely too much on your hollow powers and it is causing a tension between you and your zanpakuto. Take off that mask for now, we will work on your hollow powers later, for now, focus on harmonizing with your zanpakuto." he lectured charging at Ahatake and knocking him into the ground.

Ahatake cracked his mask. "Yes sir..." he said

Ahatake used shunpo to get behind the Captain and made a swipe for the bells and at the same time slashed at him with his sword.

Water poured from Butaimaru's blade in the form of a shark, which swirled around and protected the captain. The captain then struck out with his sword to clash blades with Ahatake. "You're too reckless! Focus! Try to communicate with your zanpakuto! If you don't...mine might overwhelm yours."

"Water... our natural enemy." Came a voice much different from his inner Hollow.

Ahatake gripped his sword tightly. "If you do have a soul, please trust me." Ahatake thought as he took a swing at Ryan.

Ryan felt a noticeable difference in the power of this swing. It wasn't full powered, but it would be momentarily. He thrust his blade forward again shoving Ahatake off. Ryan's next blow was strong enough to slightly crack Ahatake's blade. "That's it! Focus!" Water poured out of Butaimaru again, completely engulfing Ahatake.

"Trust me." Ahatake thought to his sword, "And I'll trust you. My power is yours."

Ahatake swung again, aiming not for the bells but for the Captain.

"It seems they now hold each others trust. Now for the final push." he thought to himself. Ryan used his free, left hand and balled it into a fist. Green energy formed a horizontal line across the horizon, morphed into a ball and then fired in the form of Ryan's own green cero.

Ahatake tried to duck but was hit full on with the cero.

"This is a Captain's power?!?!?" Ahatake thought to himself. "I feel... fear.... and he's not even using full strength..."

"What is this emotion I feel from you Ahatake?" Came the voice again serious this time. "Why do you fear him? Stand and fight!"

Ahatake was motionless taking in every word. "If you truly trust me..." and Ahatake saw the fierly black Dragon around him, "the call out my name!"

Ahatake cried out as he readied his sword.

"Kaji no Yubiwa!!"

And his sword changed to a golden sword with edges on the side and his spiritual pressure increased.

"Captain..." Ahatake said as he raised his blade. "Try to dodge. I'm not sure I can control this..."

Ahatake swept his blade down sending a gigantic mass of flame at Ryan.

"Now to start the next lesson." he though as Ahatake's flames flew at him, "Bankai!" The captain, erupted with green reiatsu and water. When he emerged, he possessed a serpents tail made of water. His reiatsu had blown the fire away. "Now for the next lesson. I applaud you on achieving shikai, our next step, is to master it. Mastery of shikai is marked by learning an attack and it's name from your zanpakuto. Since you will need to achieve bankai later on, you will need to fight my bankai while trying to master your shikai." he explained.

"All right sir." Ahatake said. ''"Now please let's fight together this time."

"All right," the dragon responded. "You'll learn as you go."

Ahatake released all his spiritual pressure and his sword burst into flame and he grew wings of fire. Ahatake literally flew high up into the air.

Master your power
"Alright I can fly!" Ahatake thought as he was up in the air.

"Focus Ahatake." the Dragon told him sternly. "You must master all of my abilities."

"Right!" Ahatake thought trying to remember how he pulled off that technique earlier.

"Captain try this on for size!" Ahatake yelled pouring a huge amount of spirit energy into sword and shooting out a huge flaming crescent from the tip.

"You learn fast." The dragon complimented him. "Listen and remember this well. An attacks strength differs greatly whether or not you know it's name. That technique is called the enen wangetsu."

"Enen... Wangetsu..." Ahatake echoed. "I'll remember that."

Suddenly Ahatake's Inner Hollow Flashed in front of his face and he heard the Hollow's maniacal laughter.

"Damn!" Ahatake thought, "Go away!"

"Just a little longer kid...."

Ryan chuckled, "So, it seems you just can't knock that Hollow off of ya, huh?" he stated as he approached Ahatake closely and punched his gut, making him unconcious.

Within the Realm
Ahatake soon awoke in a very bright land, where Ryan was sitting down, waiting for him to awake.

"Where the hell am I?" Ahatake asked out loud

"Reiji Maigo." replied Ryan who now faced Ahatake. "This will be the sight of your training from here on."

"I see." Ahatake said getting up and grasping his sword. "Out of curiosity am I ready to learn Bankai yet?"

"Don't ask me, ask him." he stated, as another figure came out from nowhere. "He will oversee that descision."

Ahatake turned to look at the new figure. "Who are you?"

The figure looked over, "You can call me Sei." he replied to Ahatake as he jumped off, meeting the two eye to eye.

"It's nice to meet you Sei, I'm Ahatake Kurosaki." Ahatake replied

"No biggie. But trust me, it won't be that nice to meet me after I'm done with you."

"I'm up to it!' Ahatake said grinning.

Seireitou narrowed his eyes, and lifted a finger at Ahatake's face. "Hado 88, Hiryugekizokushintenraiho." he calmly stated, as the massive attack blew up in his face.

Ahatake jumped back screaming in agony. "What the hell was that for? I was as polite as I could be and you try to blow my head off?!?!?!?!?"

Seireitou sighed, "It's because you are naive. You think you can master Bankai and control your hollow like it's a game. Well let me tell you something, kid. I've been around for a while, and naive people like you... are the first to go!" he called out, as he disappeared, reappearing above Ahatake, holding a Cero in his hands. Without warning, he shot it at Ahatake, straight down.

Ahatake felt it coming and countered by firing a flame crescent from his Zanpakuto to block the cero but was still thrown down by the force. He got up still grinning. "To me fighting is a game. It's like a simple game of chess and these power's I've gained just add to the fun."

Seireitou frowned, as he disappeared and reappeared infront of Ahatake. He layed his hand on Ahatake's blade. "You seem so confident with a sword in your hand. What if you lost it?" he stated, as he took the blade right out of his hands with a series of martial art moves, and also knocked back Ahatake. Seireitou held the blade in his hand, "It's a game to you? So I see, you win and lose? So let me tell you this, if I chose to kill you right now, did you lose a game? Or your Life?" he asked.

"Depends on whether I went down having fun or not." Ahatake said now glaring at Seireitou. "Gimme my sword back."

Seireitou didn't reply, and shattered the blade into pieces. "What's wrong? What happened to that grin of yours, huh? Not so tough now that you lost your sword, huh?" he stated as he dashed at Ahatake, and kneed him in the stomach, and punched him in the face a few times, and finally grabbed his neck. "You are a Fool. A Naive Fool. You think this world is so easy. You know, I lost many of my friends in fights. And hearing you call that all a game, pisses me off to no extent. Learn to stand on your own two feet, Ahatake!" he yelled, as he punched ahole in Ahatake's chest, straight through.

Learning a Lesson
Ahatake coughed up blood and made no movement.

"Pathetic." Seireitou declared, dropping Ahatake to the floor. "A Hollow taking over you would probably be a good thing. A naive fool like you, who doesn't understand the first thing about pain, wanting to dominate death? Yeah right." he stated, "If you want power, then you need a purpose. Power comes in time of need, not desire. It ain't a plaything for you to toy around with."

But then Seireitou saw a cero whizz by him at like 100mph and heard maniacal laughter.

Seireitou turned to see Ahatake being overcome by a Hollow mask and chuckled evilly. "I see, so that's the hollow in you. How disgusting." he replied, as he faced the Hollow-infested Ahatake.

"Actually I owe you." The Hollow said the hole healing slightly. "I've been waiting for a chance like this to take over the boy's body and you made it easier." The Hollow went on laughing again.

Seireitou closed his eyes, and flashed at Ahatake, placing his finger upon the healed chest hole, and stated, "Forbidden Kido: Horokyuusha." and with that, the Hollow began to scream and retreat back into Ahatake's subconcious. Ahatake awoke the following moment, grasping his face in terror. "You're lucky I am here. If that happened, with Ryan, then you would be done for, Ahatake. Now do you see, this isn't just a game. It's your life." he finally stated.

"I get it sir." Ahatake said his eyes changing from black to white. "Can you teach me though?"

"I can teach you many things, but you must decide if you are willing to take it." he asked Ahatake. "If you decide to, then follow me." he continued, as a Garuganta was summoned and Seireitou stepped inside.

Ahatake followed but was slightly irritated as he felt empty without his sword. "I can handle so long as you don't try to kill me again."

Seireitou smirked, "Right. Oh yeah, one other thing. Here." he replied, throwing Ahatake's Zanpakuto back at him. It was restored and back to normal, but before Ahatake could ask, the two entered and reappeared in a new sector of Reiji Maigo.

Becoming a Hollow without becoming a Hollow
"Shouldn't making a place like this be illegal somehow?" Ahatake said tightening the grip on his blade to make sure it wasn't taken again. "Is this a different dimension or one big place?"

"Reiji Maigo is a sector of the Soul Society unknown by anyone. It is like a Rukongai but kept secret by the Order of the Vizards. Feel lucky you are even here, boy." he continued, as the two stopped in the middle of a beach. "Alright, here is where we will continue. So tell me, what did Ryan promise to teach you?" he asked.

"How to master my hollow, Gargantua, Kido, and Bankai." Ahatake said counting on his fingers. "Oh and Shunpo as well. He said he's teach me to master it."

Seireitou looked bored, "That's all? Wow, I didn't think he was such a boring teacher... Alright, Kid, listen up." he began, showing Ahatake his hand, "We are changing it. I'll be teaching you to become a Xiāochú, as well as the techniques Wúpiào, Āoshǎn, Dàn, and Cháxún techniques. Yes, I'll get teach you Bankai as well as Kido. Maybe I'll even throw in some Jubaku techniques in there. You with me so far?" he asked.

"I have no idea what any of those are." Ahatake said looking blank.

Seireitou narrowed his eyes comically, "Moving on. You will learn what they are when you master them. Alright, first and foremost, you need to shatter your blade into pieces. Understand?" he ordered.

"Al...alright." Ahatake said looking confused and poured spiritual pressure into his fist and punched the blade shattering it into pieces. "Now what?"

Seireitou picked up one of the sharp pieces and handed it to Ahatake, "Now, stab yourself with this, and kill yourself." he said.

"O..ok." Ahatake said taking piece and stabbing himself quickly in the heart.

Seireitou smirked, as a large pillar of black energy shot up from Ahatake's corpse, shattering through the clouds in the sky, as Ahatake soon awoke, with his new blade next to him. Ahatake stared at his hands and at his blade's new transformation. "What the..." he began. "Let me explain." stated Seireitou. "When you killed your "blade" and then yourself, you set the stage for your Hollow and Zanpakuto to merge, and keep you from dying. And your soul, in turn, refused to allow your Zanpakuto and Hollow to die. Basically, you kept each other from dying, and resurrected yourselves. Follow me now?" he explained.

Ahatake stared at his new blade. It didn't look much different than his old except it was pure black. "Yes. What now?"

Seireitou sighed, "Boy, you have a one track mind, don't you? Well, anyways, enter your Shikai. You might notice that you are more Hollow like now then a Vizard could ever be. In your Shikai, you will notice that your Hollow powers are far above that of a Vizard. Let's see your Shikai, shall we?" he requested.

"Ok." Ahatake held his blade and and said the words almost unconsciously, "Force my hand at Hell's beckon and Hollowfy me to crush my enemy, Kuǎnwánguó!" he yelled, erupting in a massive amount of reiatsu, as his hollow mask took over his face, but showed that Ahatake was in full control.

Seireitou clapped his hands, "Alright. Good. Now then, let's see your Bankai now."

"I haven't learned Bankai, Seireitou." Ahatake said.

"Yes you have. Via your transformation, you should already know it. Go ahead, try it out." he beckoned.

"You haven't steered me wrong yet." Ahatake began to foucus his power and muttered, "Ban...KAI!"

A large piller of red/black energy overtook the surrounding area, as Ahatake began to shift into his Bankai. His Shihakusho became white, like an inner hollow. His mask remained, but gained two dragon-like horns on it. His body was overflowing in an inverted aura, like his inner hollow's aura. His eyes remained a menacing yellow and black, like a Hollow's. Seireitou stared, "So, how does that feel, Ahatake?"

"Like I can do anything." Ahatake said gripping his sword. "So this is bankai."

Seireitou smiled, "Really now? Let's test that."

The Test
'''"How?" '''Ahatake asked looking confused under his mask.

Seireitou smirked, "By fighting me. En gaurd." he declared.

'''"Alright!" '''Ahatake said shooting a cero out of his hand at Sei.

Seireitou narrowed his eyes, and knocked the cero away like swatting a fly. "More agressive, Ahatake. You aren't fighting with enough agressiveness!" he yelled, shooting a larger cero at Ahatake, with 3 times the power of the previous cero.

Ahatake jumped p out of the way. "What about you?" Ahatake said shooting out a special taladardor cero aiming to pierce Sei's shoulder.

Seireitou swished away, returning at Ahatake's front, with Sei's blade calmly rested at Ahatake's neck. "What about me?" he asked, as he acrobatically, flipped, and sliced at Ahatake's shoulder.