Shinigami Tournament of Power Stadium

[Bloodedge]

At the end of the final battle of this day, Raizen found himself sat beside his most recent opponent in the stadium. He had expected this outcome of all the Captains' matches, but he was quite surprised by the power each of the three remaining Captains possessed. Even his own Captain had managed to intrigue him, but now, the red-haired 5th Seat of the 12th Division questioned his choice of opponents in the next day's battle. "You're assuming my victory against Noguchi-fukutaichou? Well... between the three, I would have to say my choice is Tamamura-taichou."

Surely enough, the next day would see Raizen felling the 6th Division's Vice-Captain in the finals of the Vice-Captains' bracket, only to stand in the arena the day after to await his chosen opponent.

[Apollymi]

"Naw, you got that one. I got a good feeling about it~ Tamamura-taichou, huh? That will be interesting to see~ I'll be rooting for you, Kumori-fukutaichou~" said the young woman. As their day would end, the next day she'd be rewarded with a win of the 10th Division's Vice-Captain over the 6th Division's Vice-Captain just as she had anticipated. She sat once again, perched on banister of the 12th Division's section, directly in front of the seat she would have normally taken as fifth seat. She was exceedingly interested in this match, though she'd originally planned not to watch anymore after her participation ended, she felt obligated to see how far her most recent opponent could go.

Meanwhile after her Vice-Captain was felled, Tamamura Tamao found her way to the arena. Large sleeves billowing from her Shihakusho, as she carried her Zanpakuto tucked into her obi on the left side, in the standard way. It appeared she'd been called upon in this Wild Card Match up, against the young man she'd seen a couple of times before this moment. "Kumori-fukutaichou, I was a bit surprised that you chose me, though admittedly not as surprised as I was that you beat Shisui... without the use of your Shikai even," she stated finding his choice in opponent to be a bit odd. She thought he might have been more inclined to fight one of the others. That being said, it wasn't as if she wasn't curious enough to want to know the limits of this young man's power. After all, he'd gone through the entirety of this tournament without the use of his Shikai, with the exception of the match up against the 5th Seat of the 12th Division. A match up in which he obviously didn't need the power he'd used to overcome her. Whatever the case might be, she thought the young man interesting enough that she might enjoy this battle. "Ladies and Gentleman, the wild card battle between these two is about to begin. We have before us, the Winner of the Vice-Captain's bracket, Prodigal Vice-Captain of the 10th Division Kumori Raizen!~" she said of that young man before turning her attention. "His chosen opponent, the Captain of the 6th Division, who strikes fear into the hearts of even other Captains, Tamamura Tamao~" the statement made by the announcer made the Captain of the 12th wrinkle her nose a bit. "I wasn't scared, damn it. I just know when I can't win, no need to be carried out on a stretcher like some people~"

[Bloodedge]

As Raizen stood before the 6th Division's Captain, he grinned lightly. The woman apparently thought his decision to face her strange, but thought it to be even stranger that he'd bested her Vice-Captain. "For what it's worth, he was strong. I'm sure that bodes well for the fight we're about to have, Tamamura-taichou," he said. Since the announcer had yet to declare the beginning of this battle, Raizen took a bit of initiative in preparing. He swiftly ripped away the top half of his shihakushou to reveal what he wore beneath: a white mandarin collar kung fu majia that was both sleeveless and backless. For this event, he also wore ballooning hakama instead of the norm, and a pair of tai chi shoes. With his shihakushou out of the way, he revealed a hair-tie which he immediately used to pull his white locks into a ponytail. When that was done, he lowered his arms and performed a few preparatory stretches. "Onegaishimasu."

[Apollymi]

"Oh?" Tamao's response was genuine. She found it strange that someone else would call her Vice-Captain strong after having beaten him. Of course, she supposed this young man was well beyond anything which could be considered normal, the newest 'early graduates' of the academy all seemed to be this way. But it seemed they were simply cut above the rest and the Academy itself had nothing to do with this. Strange as it might be, she got to see preparatory exercises from this young man which she hadn't witnessed in any of his other matches. "Sou ka, so you are also hiding skills then, very well," the woman said. Soon enough the announcer was ready to do what she should do best. "Alright, one last thing before this fight, because of the difference in power between a Captain and a Vice-Captain, the rules stipulate that, Tamamura-taichou cannot unleash her Bankai, doing so would be an automatic disqualification. Nor is she allowed to use her Shikai, unless her opponent uses Bankai, or again, another automatic disqualification~" the announcer said which made the smallest of smiles came to the pink haired woman's face. "I know the rules. I am the one who came up with them after all," she said which made the announcer go pink in the face. "Hai! Alright BATTLE!~" and with that the blonde haired woman disappeared from sight and the Captain of the 6th Division reverted her attention to the young man, who'd gone through a couple more changes in appearance since the last time she looked. "Hmm, is this to indicate some level of seriousness previously unseen? That's curious, come then..." she said waving him towards herself leaving her sword untouched for the moment.

[Bloodedge]

"I wasn't hiding much of anything," Raizen replied. "Using what I had to offer would have gotten me disqualified." With that said, Raizen's stretching came to an end. The timing could not have been better, as the announcer was presently mentioning another rule, which Raizen had recently skimmed before entering the arena this day. Once the announcer disappeared, Tamao gestured Raizen toward her, prompting no immediate reactions from the man. "Mendokusai. Host! If I were to use something with the strength of a Bankai, might I ask that it be considered the same for rulings?" he asked. He would await the announcer's response, but regardless of it, he knew exactly how he would be opening this match.

[Apollymi]

Before the match could even start Raizen was proffering that Tamamura be allowed the use of her Shikai against an equivalent to Bankai technique which Raizen apparently wanted to use. The blonde haired host found herself looking a bit confused and then gave a nod, going to look into what the actual hosts of this event would say. "Give me just like a minute folks we need to check the rulings," she said, disappearing she'd go to both Himotoya and Ayatsuki as they were supremely listed as the people running this event. Ayatsuki looked at the blonde woman and then down at the pair supposedly set up to fight while Benihime turned her attention to her Captains words. "That should be allowable, it isn't a bad idea to include Bankai equivalent techniques. His Kidou prowess alone he should count as a Bankai equivalent, but double check with Saori-chan and see if she likes it." said the pink haired cat woman. There was a quick nod from the host which caused that woman to disappear from in front of Akiko and reappear in front of Saori. Saori was sitting in the Captain's seat of the Tenth Division's section with her face all puffy because this match hadn't started yet. Though she'd picked Raizen herself for her Vice-Captain, she was also curious about the things he'd been working on. When the host went on to explain what Akiko wanted to announce as far as the rulings were concerned Saori just huffed. "Hai hai, if Aki-nee says it's okay then it works for me. Come on, lets see the match." she said sounding somewhat annoyed. About a full minute after her initial disappearance, the blonde woman made it back to the center of the arena. "Sheesh I am way too old for this sort of things folks. According to the hosts of this event, the extension of the rules requested by Kumori-fukutaichou is allowable. If he uses a Bankai equivalent technique, Tamamura-taichou, you're allowed to use your Shikai~" she said. "And with that the match is back!~" and she disappeared once more.

"How considerate of them, Ayatsuki-taichou and Himotoya-taichou are such nice people," she said though her tone was flat she really meant this. As for Raizen's reasons for not revealing any of his other abilities during his other matches in the tournament she could only chuckle. "Hmm, I suppose that is as good a reason as any," she commented lifting her right hand and motioning towards herself. "Come then, you've gotten your wish for leniency in rulings against me. For whatever reason you wanted it, arigatou gozaimasu," she said.

[Bloodedge]

Several moments passed, but at the end of the wait, Raizen's wish was granted. So long as he made use of something which could be considered equivalent to Bankai, his opponent of this round would be permitted Shikai. Phase one of Raizen's plan was, with that, complete. Now, to begin the battle in the face of Tamao's beckoning, Raizen inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. Abruptly thereafter, his arms raised to either side and Reiryoku emerged from his back and arms in thin streams with an electrical consistency. After a moment of preparation, this Reiryoku exploded outward, cackling about and even tearing asunder the arena floor nearby. Following another deep breath, Raizen compressed this energy, granting an electrical glow to his entire body while maintaining a bit of the bulk on his back and shoulders. He seemed more immediately interested in his own state of being here at the beginning, but a slow raising of his fist toward Tamao came with a few words. "Sorry for the wait. It's still hard to control," he said. With that, though, a blast of electrical energy surged from his fist with intentions of engulfing and damaging the Captain ahead of him.

[Apollymi]

Raizen went on to perform an ability which Tamao hadn't personally witnessed but had heard about at the discussion of the new Second Division Captain. A bit of a smile came to the woman's face as the young man's power seemed to rend ground beneath him asunder as well as leaving bits of the electrical energy to fly about without any regard. The woman found her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "Sou ka, you've been training with Han-taichou, I see." she said as electrical energy was discharged her way, aiming to engulf her, which it did, for about a second before her own Reiatsu flared to life nullifying any impending damage. The weight of this woman's energy was enough that it should have been suffocating to the weak, staggering and causing a bit of fear in most, who could withstand its weight. "That is fairly dangerous, I'm a good person to test it out against, but you might be underestimating me a bit, Kumori-fukutaichou," she stated plainly. She moved forward then, intending to rush the young man with her physical speed alone, which was still frighteningly fast, and kick out at him in a swift sweep from left to right with her right leg with enough force that he could potentially be sent flying away from her and into the nearest object which could stop him leaving a massive impact.

[Bloodedge]

"Sort of. I stole the concept of the technique, but I could not get to this level of expertise without a bit of help," he said regarding Shunkou, the technique he had procured via interesting means from the 2nd Division's present Captain. When it was claimed that he was underestimating his opponent in this match, Raizen's expression did not seem to change at all. "Iie. I don't think I've underestimated you at all." With Tamao quickly closing in on him, Raizen raised his left hand as well to prepare a defensive maneuver of some sort. When the pink-haired woman reached him, the kick being sent his way was met by both of his hands. Raizen could tell that this force would have normally been enough to break bones when blocked in such a way, but his Kidou augmented his physical abilities enough that he was merely thrown away. During this movement, he performed a series of backflips to right himself upon reaching the ring's edge. From this distance, he leaped into the air, then unsheathed his sword and threw it with a single motion. It was sent rocketing at a downward angle toward Tamao's head; at the same time, Raizen descended back to the ground and began running toward the woman.

[Apollymi]

A small nod came from the woman to express her understanding of his meaning. This new generation was full of rather odd characteristics among its youth. With this in mind she wasn't really upset by the knowledge that he'd developed this technique of his, and gone to someone who'd also developed it to learn it a bit better. Beyond this he seemed capable enough to at least take the kick she'd offered with all of the force behind it, and still be able to recover and counterattack. "That's impressive," the Captain of the Sixth Division said seeming to find the boy's tactics amusing as he jumped into the air and launched his own Zanpakuto down towards her head her right hand swung upward and knocked if off course as she took several speedy steps towards him, during which she drew her weapon aiming to slash the young man's fore from left to right in a diagonal from his shoulder to his hip. Such a movement surprisingly enough, was done with the blunt side of her sword, and wasn't meant to cut, and instead would come with enough force to shatter the bones of the young man's chest under normal circumstances.