Hollow Clash! Ahatake vs Senkaku!

Above the ruins of the Yuurei Oukoku buildings, a lone Garganta opened up, and a figure stepped out, hands in his pockets. He looked on with slight intrest at the buildings that were under him, as well as constant repair by the civilians. He took a few steps, his head looking every which way for something. Despite his position, and the fact that he could've possibly been seen, he seemed quite carefree. It didn't matter if they saw him; if they chose to attack him, he would simply fight back. He had the power to do so.

Besides, he had a companion along for the ride. His eyes shifted towards it. "I hope the Hollow weren't too hostile." He said calmly. "I would've went another way, if I knew it."

A young woman turned her head to look at him. "Why did you pick this region of the Soul Society, Senkaku?" She asked, her eyes scanning the ruins. "Even I have never been here."

Senkaku looked down, taking in a deep breath. "Kaa-san informed me of this place." He explained to his partner, without looking at her. "It's called Yuurei Oukoku, a supposed utopia of Soul Society. However, it recently got into a civil war that annihilated nearly the whole city. I couldn't help but get a little curious... these things don't happen often in your lifetime. And, since you said you'd be accompanying me..."

Again, the man made her curious. Why would he visit an annihilated city just to look at the scenery. "You came her just to see what state this area is in?"

"No. I came here because even after the war was over, I'm sensing large amounts of reiatsu in the area." Senkaku replied, lifting a finger to scratch his nose. "I'm going to find the source of it. And I'm going to see whether whoever the guy that finished off the Yuurei leader's actually worthy of his strength."

"I see." Seikai replied. "Then this may turn out to be entertaining after all."

Elsewhere, Ahatake was hard at work, along with a great number of others, helping to rebuild Yuurei.

Normally, it would've taken a long time, considering the lack of machines and such as it was in the Human Realm. However, there happened to be a select few who were good with their energy, similar to the Yuurei soldiers. With careful manipulation, they managed to restore much of the area back to its original form. It made the work much quicker and easier, though it left the civilians exhausted.

Ahatake had managed to absorb most of the fires that had been spreading over town, and was getting down to the actual labor part of the job, reconstruction. Luckily, everything was almost done.

"Keep it up, people! You're doing great!" Juushin himself had the liberty of directing the whole thing, giving words of encouragement and orders to the workers alike. Every now and then, he'd instruct someone to go to one place, or a group of people to another. It seemed like he knew what he was doing.

Ahatake reached for bottled water and sighed. "I can't wait until this is all done!" He said, hammering a nail into place as he set the water down.

"It will be."

Beside him, Chidori was using the manipulation of her own energy particles to fix up the ruins of buildings into the foundation they had made up before. She was the one who had spoken to him, Juushin having not paid attention due to his giving orders.

"Yeah. Not much more left." Ahatake said, adding the finishing touches to the building it was on. "And then I can rest."

Chidori allowed herself to smile. "Maybe you can rest now. The rebels are working on the other buildings, so we don't have to strain ourselves..." She offered, taking a seat next to the wall of the building.

Ahatake jumped down and drunk some more water. Wiping his mouth, he looked at Chidori. "Hey Chidori, I've been meaning to ask. Aren't you Juushin's girlfriend?"

The woman stopped for a moment. "Oh, no!" She replied, raising her hands up to emphasize. "Just close friends. We're both single."

"Wierd." Ahatake said, chuckling. "I thought you two were a couple."

Did they really seem like that? A small, faint blush came across Chidori's cheeks as she thought of it. "We don't really seem like that, do we?" She asked, a bit shyly as she turned over towards her work.

Ahatake chuckled again but said nothing. He looked around. The place was really getting better, though he had to say he was responsible for most of the fires. But those were all put out. "Imma take a break." He said to Chidori, and began walking off, away from the construction area.

"All right!" Chidori called back to him, before returning to her own work. She couldn't help but wonder, though; where had Tereya been in all this? For a moment, back when the King died, she had felt the woman's brief, but definitely space-filling presence along with Ahatake. But after he had come out, it had simply... vanished. Had the former Kurosaki abandoned them? Surely, she wouldn't do that to her own family...

She shook her head, taking a seat on the ground once more. The work was getting to her brain...

Ahatake yawned. Life certainly got boring without Tereya. He supposed he'd have to get used to it. He kept walking for awhile, until he realized he was at the beach. He sighed and sat down, looking out at the ocean.

It was unfortunate enough for him to not notice the figure re-appearing behind him, a finger outstretched. It was even more unfortunate that a small sphere of energy formed at the tip, a green color covering his nails and forefinger. It was like a gun to the head of a hostage; point-blank, and ready to shoot.

Without a second of hesitation, the Cero was fired.

It was at that moment however, that Ahatake chose to move his head to get a better look at the horizon, and the Cero sailed past him. He turned, surprised.

For his troubles, he received a promptful kick to his face that sent him tunneling into the sands, off to the side where he had once been. The collision caused a mild sand storm to overtake the beach, enveloping anyone's view from each other. However, through the midst of sand, two figures were standing, one slightly behind the other. The lead figure had a leg raised; the guilty one for attack. Slowly, it lowered the leg and stood still.

"What the hell?" Ahatake grumbled sitting up and rubbing his face. "Who the hell did that?"

"I did."

It was the voice of Senkaku, along with his figure to emphasize as the dust settled back down to the earth. He had his hands into his pockets, a small grin on his face as he looked over the Kurosaki. "Your reaction time is poor..." He commented, sounding slightly like a teacher. "And your reflexes are slow. Were you really the one of the two that was responsible for the Yuurei King's death?" Thanks to his mother, he had done his research before coming.

"Yes." Ahatake replied. "And it's not my fault if my reflexes were slow. I wasn't exactly expecting company."

"And here, with that sword of yours, I thought you were a fighter." Senkaku berated, raising his fingertip to point at Ahatake again. "Now, let's try this again...." Promptly, he unleashed another Cero blast at the Kurosaki, his energy cutting the very air and causing it to disrupt into outward, but small shockwaves.

Ahatake scowled, releasing his own split-second Cero to counter, green and red colliding.

This time, his reflexes showed as the Cero collided. The split-second Cero was enough to stop Senkaku's own, but only for a moment. The more powered Cero was able to push through the weaker energy, but at the last second, Senkaku stopped the flow of reiatsu and dispelled his attack once Ahatake's had weakened well enough.

"What are you?" Ahatake asked. "Vizard, Arrancar, or Xiāochú?" He asked the man.

"Does it matter?" Senkaku questioned back. "You shouldn't be worrying about who your killer is."

"My killer?" Ahatake laughed. "And who's the girl behind you?"

"Seikai Joshin, Xiāochú." The woman replied quietly.

"Never really met another Xiāochú before." Ahatake grinned.

The laugh at his apparent threat caused a twinge of annoyance to stir within Senkaku. But, the Arrancar had only meant the statement to be a challenging remark and nothing more. It wasn't something he could be sure to carry out. All he wanted was to test the full extent of Ahatake's strength. "The matter of fact is, we... or I came here to fight you. So go ahead and draw your sword." He stated dryly.

"Is it possible to take a rain check?" Ahatake asked. "I'm really not in a fighting mood at the moment."

"I don't care. Either you fight, or you die." Senkaku's tone was calm and stoic, but the words emphasized his impatience and coldness of the sentence. He raised one of his hands from his pockets. "So you'd better be readying yourself to that fighting mood." He ignored the voice in the back of his head that repeatedly told him that he was being quite...well... brash. But he would need to get it over with either way.

"Hey can't you control this guy?" Ahatake asked, looking at Seikai. She slowly shook her head an walked over an stood near a tree.

Ahatake sighed as he drew his sword. "I am not in the mood for this."

Senkaku lowered his hand back once again, but didn't move himself just yet. He could've drawn out his own sword in order to put a less insulting aura to the Kurosaki. However, he needed to show his opponent the brunt of his own strength just so he would realize what he was up against. Maybe if he did, he could force the Kurosaki to fight more seriously. And, how he would love to see this man's Bankai...

Senkaku's small smile faded away from his face. As the challenger, he performed the first move; a teleportation-speed Sonido that allowed him to appear off to the side of the Kurosaki. He swung his fist forward in a strong jab attack, with his body lunging forward to increase the power of his attack.

Ahatake jumped back, increasing his speed with Shunpo and landing on the water. Gathering Reishi under his feet, enabled him to walk across the water as if it were solid ground. He extended his hand, firing a Cero at the distant Senkaku.

Running away? How pathetic.

A disapproving frown came across Senkaku's face as he saw the Cero coming for him. His Sonido activated once again, and in a matter of milliseconds, he closed the distance between himself and Ahatake easily. Such was not a miracle for him; his constant reliance of Sonido to counteract his illness had allowed him to improve its effects on the battlefield, allowing him to match nearly any opponent he came across. This Kurosaki would be no different.

He swung his hand again, this time in a backhanded strike.

Ahatake jumped into the air, dodging his opponents strike, and gripping his blade, he shot down like a bullet, his blade pointed at the man's skull. if he missed, the collision with that water would sting.

Senkaku chose not to dodge this time.

The blade collided with his skull, sparks flying down the cut as it ran down the front of his head and down to his torso. The force jerked his head downwards to face the water surface, as well as stir up a few rough ripples from under their feet. He could feel the heat of the blade as it ran down his skin, the teeth sawing his nerves. He liked that feeling; it meant that his fighting instincts were kicking in.

Ahatake jumped back, surprised. "How the hell did you survive that?"

Slowly, Senkaku raised his head up to look at Ahatake with half-lidded eyes. "I'm sure you're not new to the term Hierro." He replied, standing straight once more. It was a rather short remark, but he felt that it was all that was needed to explain. After all, the strength of an Arrancar's Hierro was dependant on his or her spiritual energy. Now, Senkaku had allowed his own spiritual energy to be gauged by Ahatake. All he had to do was wait for him to react.

"So you're an Arrancar." Ahatake said, gripping his sword. "Since I have no choice but to fight, I might as well get some fun out of it. And I haven't fought an Arrancar in at least 50 years."

"Glad to see you've finally decided to enjoy yourself." Senkaku commented, raising a finger towards Ahatake once more. "Anything else would be quite a disappointment." He unleashed another Cero blast towards the Kurosaki. However, this one was more condensed, meaning more power would be put into it than an unrestrained Cero.

A condensed Cero...Ahatake vaguely remembered Hikaru lecturing him on that. He smiled and jumped, the Cero barely missing him as he unleashed his own Cero blast, as condensed as the one he had just dodged.

Dispelling his blast with one hand, Senkaku raised his other hand in order for his palm to intercept the attack immediately. The energy felt like fire in his hands, almost as if he was wielding the blast himself. With a side toss, he diverted its path away from him, causing the Cero to explode upon contact with the water. It was a safe distance away from the two fighters, but as the resulting geyser came down, rain-like droplets fell on both of them.

"You are good." Ahatake said, shocked to see his Cero deflected so easily. He gripped his blade and charged, swinging it down when he was within striking distance of Senkaku.

"I thought you would've learned by now..." Senkaku scolded, raising his hand to his defense so easily. He caught the killing edge, pulling Ahatake closer to him. "That dulled blade will never cut me!" His leg swung up, knee striking his opponent's stomach with unrestrained force. At the same time, he released the sword, causing Ahatake to fly away from him.

Ahatake crashed into the water and sunk lower. He had been momentarily stunned, but was also surprised that the man could catch his blade. He decided the element of surprised was best and charged to red balls of energy and swam away from him, the dark water obscuring him and the energy.

Had the man actually died?

No. From Senkaku's senses, he could still feel Ahatake's reiatsu. But, there was no more attacks being directed towards him, no more strikes at his person. He narrowed his eyes, scowling warily as he looked at the water surface for any sign of movement. But there was none at the moment. He'd just have to be patient...

Ahatake began to lower his reiatsu, remembering that this man could feel his presence. He raised his hand and one of the energy balls shot up at Senkaku. The energy ball broke the surface and proceeded to charge at Senkaku.

"Shit..."

Too shocked by the sudden attack on his person, he couldn't stop the blast from enveloping him in its light, as well as an explosion.

Ahatake raised his second hand and shot up the second energy ball.

It added to the first explosion's effect, waves of water pushed in every which direction due to the culmination of dirt, winds, and heat that was building up where Senkaku had once stood.

Ahatake quickly swam up and broke the surface himself, gasping in great lungfuls of air. He pushed himself out of the water and stood up, gathering reishi under his feet again.

When the smoke had cleared, Senkaku was crouched down, in a kneeling position over the water. His head was lowered, expression unseen from Ahatake's eyes. There were scorch marks on his person, as well as rips and tears of the clothing itself. He was now soaked in the water that had enveloped him, but that was far from his mind at the moment. He allowed himself to raise up and stand straight once more. "Was that it?" He questioned lowly. "Nothing more than a surprise attack?"

Ahatake was surprised to see no major damage on Senkaku. "Barely anything! I thought that would have shaken him up a little!"

"What a disappointment..." Senkaku lamented. "The King must've been weak to have been subdued by your power." With a lowering of his hand, he gripped the hilt of his waiting katana. "I'll guess playtime's over, then...." Slowly, he drew it out of the scabbard, raising it threateningly towards the Kurosaki. His eyes squinted in concentration, his physical and mental preparations coming into play. Then, he used a Sonido to begin his offensive; a diagonal, one-handed uppercut once his cutting edge got close enough.

This time, Ahatake gripped Senkaku's blade, though he did not come off without a cut. "You think I'm weak?" He asked, jerking the blade and forcing Senkaku closer. The moment he was within reach, Ahatake sunk his fist into the Arrancar's jaw, letting Senkaku's blade go.

It didn't work.

Once again, Senkaku's Hierro had came into play and resisted the physical strike to his jaw. A wry smile came across the Arrancar's face. "You aren't convincing me that you're strong, so I guess you could say that..." He said tauntingly, feeling a little at ease. "Though, I don't think you've managed to understand my own strength. Allow me to demonstrate..." With his free hand, he straightened his fingers out, his hand like the form of a dagger. It was time to let go of some of his restraint, if it would get through to this man.

With the dagger of a hand, he punched through Ahatake's stomach.

Ahatake's eyes rolled back into his head and blood spurted from his mouth as the hand pierced his gut. He stumbled back, blood pouring into the water. "Dammit!"

Warm, crimson liquid covered the entirety of his free hand. He held it up to his face, his wrist shaking slightly. He took in a deep, shivering breath before exhaling; the feeling of someone else's blood on your skin, especially at that quantity, tended to have such a sensational effect on the Arrancar. Did it mean he was sadistic? Bloodthristy? No... he just found the feeling to be quite... high. He lowered his hand, staring seemingly in frustration at the Kurosaki. "Here's an idea: stop holding back." He suggested forcefully. "Or do you want the next hole in your head?"

Ahatake growled. A mass of white energy began to form from thin air and seep over his face. As this happened the bleeding of his wound stopped and it began to regenerate.

Self-healing... he supposed that would be fair enough. Senkaku lowered his sword for the moment, allowing his opponent to recompose and ready himself. It would've been dishonorable to attack him while he was distracted by himself. Still, he kept on his alert. If the Kurosaki attempted anything funny, he would be prepared for it.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" A maniacal laugh escaped Ahatake's throat as he looked up to grin at Senkaku, half of his Hollow Mask was on his face. Hollow Ahatake was in control.

Oh...

Senkaku's eyes widened, pupils shrinking as he heard the insane laughter escape Ahatake's throat. Like a rocket, he tore off from the water, rising up in the air rapidly in an attempt to gain some distance between himself and the now Hollowfied Kurosaki. He hadn't meant to make the blow that effective! Was his Hollow really that sensitive? It didn't matter now; he had to put forth his effort in this battle now.

If he wanted to live, that was.

SHIT!

Ahatake gripped his blade. "Running away? How pathetic!" He cackled, and made a huge leap, appearing in front of Senkaku in the blink of an eye. He aimed a punch at Senkaku's face.

In response and in desperation to keep himself defended, Senkaku raised his blade up horizontally in the path of the attack. But it was a brutal blow, either way, causing a shockwave to run through him on impact. He was thrown away from Ahatake, gritting his teeth as he forcefully skidded across the air and back down to the waters.

Ahatake pushed off from the air, extending his hand and firing a gargantuan Cero blast.

It was an intimidating thing to see. But Senkaku, after recovering, kept his cool. He countered with a smaller, but condensed Cero of his own. The concentration of energy cut through the massive blast headed his way and disrupted its flow, allowing for a clear shot to the Hollow.

Ahatake dispelled the Cero with a mere yell and continued his flight down towards Senkaku. "Can't touch this!" He said, vanishing as soon as he was within striking distance, and reappearing behind Senkaku, aiming a slash at the man's arm.

Despite the intensity of his body's functions, Senkaku narrowed his eyes in annoyance at Ahatake's taunt. That relieved some of the fear, replacing it with irritation. He felt the blade once again slide down his skin like a knife against steel, but due to the force, his arm was pushed forward involuntarily. It was only a minor side-effect; he was able to turn around and swing his sword in a counter-attack backhand towards Ahatake.

Ahatake grinned and ducked. Then channeling reishi into his hand, he aimed a punch at the Arrancar's face again.

With a swing of his free hand, Senkaku smacked it away. He was no expert on hand-to-hand, that was for sure. However, that didn't mean he was completely useless when it came to fighting with his bare hands. He had watched such movements from others, mimicking them and using them for his own in the situation that was necessary. As such, he was able to shove the oncoming fist away. His sword hand lowered the blade a little more before it swung under the extended arm towards the torso.

Ahatake caught it the attack time and grinned. "This time you'll feel it!" He cackled and swung his sword at Senkaku's torso.

Thanks to the hand having caught his blade again, Senkaku couldn't evade once again. The sword once again cut him, and his eyes widened in shock at the Hollow's words. Once again, the blow forced him away, his blade cutting through Ahatake's palm involuntarily. But he was able to skid to a stop a considerable distance away from the Kurosaki. However, they proved to be nothing but mere words; his Hierro would take more than only that to shatter it.

"Here's a tip..." He drawled, narrowing his eyes at Ahatake. "If you wanht to cut through my Hierro, use your Bankai."

Ahatake's hand suddenly flew to his mask.

"Shit! Not again!" Ahatake cried, struggling and swiping at thin air as he hand tried to force the mask off.

A perfect window of opportunity.

A feral grin came across Senkaku's face, and he raised his finger again. He couldn't waste the moment of self-distraction if he wanted to finish off Ahatake. The man should've let his Hollow fight until Senkaku himself was truly weakened, but as of now, he had simply opened up a hole in his own defense for the Arrancar to exploit. Without hesitation, he unleashed the Cero attack on his opponent.

The blast hit Ahatake, however, his wild swinging cut into it, reducing the damage greatly. He suceeded in pulling the mask off, and it crumbled to the ground.

"A-attacking an opponent while they're distracted." Ahatake panted. "Kind of cowardly ain't it?"

"Wasn't my fault you chose that particular time to be distracted..." Senkaku countered coolly, and slightly heatedly. He was disappointed that the attack didn't work, but he wouldn't be deterred. Even with the help of the Holow, his Hierro was still unable to be cut after all. Still, he wondered if the Kurosaki himself had heard what he had suggested.

Ahatake pointed his blade at Senkaku. "Force my hand at Hell's beckon and Hollowfy me to crush my enemy, Kuǎnwánguó!" His Hollow mask formed on his face, and his katana enlarged and it's blade became black as the guard glew and changed from metal to fur.

The mask again.... he wondered how powerful it would be now, when it was used in his Shikai. Although he raised his blade in a rather defensive manner, he was still a bit relaxed. It was only his Shikai. Unless he chose to ascend to Bankai, the Arrancar's armor would still be enough to ward off any grievous blows sustained.

Ahatake's blade became enveloped in orange flame. "Let's go." He said, charging at the Arrancar and swinging his blade down, his power enhanced by the flames and his mask.

Defense was necessary.

Senkaku raised his sword in one hand to intercept Ahatake's blazing blade, but the strength put into it forced the Arrancar skidding back. The heat and tongue of the flames licked against his skin, and chills when down his spine despite it. He swung his sword to the right, throwing Ahatake away from him for the moment.

Ahatake skidded along the ground, and cut his own hand, the blood seeping around, swirling into an orb. "SANGRE CERO!" He cried, firing a blood-red cero at Senkaku.

In response, the Arrancar fired his own green Cero, but made note of the type of Cero that Ahatake himself had used. With the enhancement of his own life water, it was guaranteed to have increased in strength. But how much strength? His own Cero was far from the norm, after all.

The two Cero's collided, red on green. They seemed to be equal, neither Cero giving an inch.

It was here that Senkaku decided to speak to him again. "Your Shikai won't be enough..." He taunted in a slight sing-song voice, putting on a smirk to emphasize the mockery. He felt that he only needed enough energy to keep the struggle stable; his words could do the rest, right? Maybe he could blind Ahatake with his own indignancy. The guy didn't seem that smart, after all.

Ahatake kept his Cero going, adjusting his blade in his other hand and pointing his index finger at Senkaku. "Āoshǎn." He said, firing a blast of red energy from his finger tip and it combined with his Cero, pushing Senkaku's blast back.

The arrogance in Senkaku's demeanor faded immediately. "Impossible!!!" he thought, watching his Cero being overpowered. With no other choice, he dispelled the Cero and allowed himself to sink back to the water surface, the powerful blasts whizzing over his head.

Ahatake scowled. "Dodging." He waited for the man to emerge.

He didn't have to wait long.

Like a rocket, Senkaku burst from the water, a geyser following in his wake. As his sword clashed with Ahatake's, the force sent both of them into the air. Sparks flew as their blades clashed.

Ahatake blocked the man's strikes and retaliated with his own, which were also blocked. "You're too good for my taste." Ahatake said, his blade glowing as they entered a swordlock. "Enkou Wangetsu." He uttered the attack's name and flames erupted around them both.

This time, the flames, enhanced by the Hollow's power, managed to have an effect. Instead of the tingling feeling he had became used to, Senkaku felt sharp pains lick his nervous system. Although they were minor at best, Ahatake's Shikai was finally causing some injuries to the Arrancar. His Hierro was beginning to break. That very thought made his heart race, realizing he was losing the advantage. It was becoming more and more clear that this man's full strength would be something to contend with.

Ahatake jumped back, skidding in mid-air, and swung his blade, sending more flames at Senkaku.

With the edge of his sword, Senkaku swung and cut the flames into two, dispelling them. So what if the man had gotten around to scratching him? By the time he'd actually do some damage, all of his own energy would be exerted. He raised his finger, blasting a Cero blast at the Kurosaki.