Shinigami Tournament of Power Stadium

[Bloodedge]

"Is it? And here I thought you would be the one to not be impressed by something I've done," Raizen stated with utmost blandness in his tone. When Tamao took off toward him, it became fact that the two were running toward each other while Raizen's repelled sword flipped in the air. His eyes were not initially on his opponent during this charge, but instead, they darted around the area surrounding Tamao instead. When they returned to her, a grin crossed the Vice-Captain's lips. When her sword was drawn, Raizen continued his forward momentum while ducking low and weaving in the direction her slash began in, sending him beneath the arc of the blade and around the pink-haired woman in one swift movement. From her rear, Raizen snatched his own Zanpakutou out of the air and spun around to face her. In doing this, he jammed his blade into the ground and used it as leverage to shift his momentum and raise his body, kicking out with both feet toward Tamao's back to knock her away. "Forgive my rudeness, but I'm acutely aware of your ability to cut me without dealing a fatal wound. I'm sure you know how much time is lost when you switch your blade to its dull side like that. After our last meeting, do you really think I need the additional handicap?"

[Apollymi]

"Oh? A hit that should have broken bones and jarred you didn't. Even I am not that callous," she seemed to find that statement a bit strange. She was usually impressed by the things other people did, she just had a very different way of showing her appreciation for them. Beyond this the young man seemed to find it in him to avoid the coming slash she'd had prepared for him and even launch an immediate counterattack which included planting his sword in the ground and aiming to kick her in her back with both feet to knock her away. Instead of being kicked, the pink haired woman took a couple of steps forward looking back over her shoulder as the young man stated he knew of her abilities and took some sort of issue with the extra handicap. "The time lost is done on purpose. I don't know how much of a handicap anyone needs. But, ask and you shall receive, no complaints about the outcomes though..." the Captain of the Sixth Division as her sword flipped around with a great deal of ease.

Since the young man before her apparently didn't want any more handicaps, she didn't bother trying to give them, she moved with the quickness that she hadn't previously shown her blade moving effortlessly as she swung her blade arm several times so fast that it could not be followed. It was aimed concisely to slice across Raizen's chest horizontally, vertically up his left arm, and straight down his right leg, if this maneuver worked properly, all of them would appear to have happened at the same time.

[Bloodedge]

"That's what I thought you'd say," Raizen said regarding Tamao's decision. Now that her blade was drawn, and being used as intended, Raizen could properly see his opponent in her natural state of preference. When he righted himself, he prepared to take her next assault. 'A swordsman's arrogance... nothing like the previous battle. Frontal attack is the obvious choice,' he thought. With that in mind, the Vice-Captain held out his left hand to create a rectangular green barrier in front of himself. Not only was this charged with the electricity of his Shunkou to deliver a shock upon impact, but another spell was silently melded into the already nameless barrier: the 8th Bakudou, Seki. This resulted in a shield which, if Tamao's attack continued into it, would repel the blade on each impact to prevent the shattering of the barrier itself by preventing her sword from continuing through it. All the while, the barrier would also be delivering the Shunkou's electrifying attribute directly into Tamao's body. Even though the Captain held an obvious advantage in the movements of her sword and the strength of her strikes, Raizen figured this to be an ample defense against any frontal assault she could muster from this range. "No complaints here. I have a certain knack for making up for my disadvantages."

[Apollymi]

Tamao's attack continued, but instead of her initial strike finding its home within the young man's flesh, it instead struck a barrier. Such a thing was almost unheard of. Of course, such a thing came with the widening of the woman's eyes as she found her sword didn't shatter the barrier but instead was rebounded off it adding an electrifying effect as well since the boy was still using the Shunko form he'd possessed since the start of their battle. It would be in this moment that she'd realize how such an individual had come to easily beat her Vice-Captain. Her own body was seemingly paralyzed at least for a few seconds until she raised the output of her Reiatsu. "Sou ka," she jumped back then, no longer following thorough with her attacks for not wanting to be electrocuted any further. She'd needed to force more of her Reiatsu out just to push past the initial feeling of numbness, and while she did this she just allowed the glow to continue to grow. "Alright, that's different," she said choosing to be the first person not to just call the young man clever.

"Almost toppled by my own arrogance, I can't really allow that though..." she said. And in this moment the woman's Reiatsu rose a bit more, flowing to surround her in a controlled pink glow as she let go of her sword at the fore of her person it seemed to be dropping out of arms reach. "Habatake," the energy she was releasing seemed to begin solidifying eventually encapsulating her blade before it could reach the ground. The form energy took seemed to be a demon bird mouth which held the sword connected to the woman's right arm. "Tengu..." she was still a swordsman at heart, and as such Tamao wouldn't lower herself to attacking an opponent from the rear. Instead she simply compensated so that she would not have to feel the effects of the young man's magical barriers.

[Bloodedge]

The use of Raizen's barrier succeeded in deterring the Captain, granting him some additional leeway while his Shunkou faded away. While he had developed some ability to use Shunkou without tiring over recent months, he had begun to feel enough of its effects that he did not wish to risk overexerting himself. "Really now? It would be quite a feat to overcome something like that." What Raizen bore witness to next was the release of the Captain's Shikai. He had yet to face such a thing, and the idea of doing so now was intriguing, to say the least. The sight of the Reiryoku cloud forming a construct to link the woman's sword and arm was one he seemed particularly interested in. Without further ado, he removed his own blade from the ground. "Mezamette..." Raizen's own Reiatsu glowed white around his body, albeit with a purple gleam taking over as his sword transformed into the very same khakkhara he made use of two days prior. "Mugen. Uroborosu." Raizen wasted no time before summoning all six eel-like creatures of black Reiryoku from his weapon. They all spanned around him in somewhat of a defensive swarm, but the head of one in particular pointed toward Tamao. "It's about time. I only held my Shunkou for so long to bait out your Shikai. I'm doing a bit of an experiment."

[Apollymi]

Tamao watched this young man let his Bankai equivalent release fade away after the emergence of her Shikai. He then went on to release his own Shikai, something he hadn't bothered doing against her Vice-Captain, and something that Tamao had only witnessed once, against the young redheaded Fifth Seat of the Twelfth Division. This was something she thought she'd get to see, but not at such an early point in this day. "Oh? I get to see it too..." she said aloud only to have Raizen go on to explain that he was intending to draw out the use of her Shikai all along, for some sort of experiment he wished to perform. She could only assume the young man wished to face a Captain's Shikai, as it was the one thing he wouldn't have normally been allowed without having a Bankai within the confines of this particular event. A smirk came to the woman's face as she touched her face with her left hand rubbing it and seeming to be a tiny bit flustered. "Kids these days are way too precocious," the woman mumbled as she found herself staring at the energy construct created by the young man's Shikai. "Ah, oh well, I suppose there isn't any harm in it..." she assumed this young man wished to test his Shikai and as such she'd give it a proper test. Her stance changed just a bit as she drew back her actual right arm and shifted her right leg forward bending at the knee. The arm which was constructed and holding her weapon also came backwards mimicking it. She then pushed forward at a speed which would likely be unseen to cut the construct which looked at her for whatever reason first, and then aim to cut down all the rest around the young man within the same instant though each strike was distinct and clearly its own from Tamao's perspective. Her point was to test them and see the kind of strength they maintained, without aiming to damage Raizen directly.

[Bloodedge]

"Of course. I'm not so arrogant as to believe I could accomplish anything against you without it," Raizen asserted. With his own Shikai solidified, he held the khakkhara upright with its base tapping against the arena floor. "Onegaishimasu. I'd hate to miss the next Calligraphy Club meeting due to injury." Just then, the swift movements of the 6th Division's Captain resulted in the shredding of one eel, followed instantly by the other five. While this managed to tear them asunder, being mere energy instead of traditional constructs, they quickly reformed. In the case of these creatures, one could most accurately refer to them as individual waves of energy meant for attack, though they were somehow restrained to movement and form determined by Raizen himself. After this concept was revealed by Tamao's actions, Raizen chose to send the group of eels forward with intentions of consuming the woman with all six at once. Much like before, one could note a strange fact about the quality and quantity of Reiryoku in these "blasts," as they somehow seemed more suited to be of "Bankai level" than even Raizen's Shunkou.

[Apollymi]

"I suppose that is a good thing..." the pink haired woman said. As she watched the creatures she'd sliced up float about in a variable cloud of energy before reforming. This made the woman a bit curious, her eyes widening if only for a second because this was not quite the reaction she was expecting. "Well, I could just not aim for your arms," she said completely serious in her reaction. Soon enough the reformed eels were coming towards in her a numerous quality. Initially she seemed to think about cutting them again, but something she noticed about the energy coming towards her made her Reiatsu flare to life. 'That isn't possible...' she thought, the construct on her arm shifting around creating a large shield backed by the woman's own Reiatsu in order to keep them from pressing forward anymore.

But, strangely enough, the woman seemed to be taking a lot of energy to hold back the force of the wave, though she did it. When it finally cleared, she'd be seen balled up, being blocked in by the energy of her Shikai which was thoroughly cracked but still holding. She stood extending her arm and feeding more energy into it reforming the shape of her Shikai's extra bits so that the Tengu was reformed, like an extra wing. "That attack was stronger than it should be, given it is part of your Shikai. And really dangerous, I'm surprised your opponent from the other day was able to get up after that, even with help," she stated as she soon enough dashed forward, her power overflowing as she aimed to use Shunpo for the first time in this endeavor appearing directly to Raizen's left and slashing horizontally into his left side, this maneuver would be sharper than a normal cut, and enough to cleave into the Vice-Captain's side though it would stop before it would reach anything truly vital.

[Bloodedge]

"True. That could prove problematic, to say the least." In the face of his Shikai's onslaught, Tamao met Raizen with a barrier form of her own release. While using this to defend herself, she chose to comment on the unnatural strength of Raizen's ability for its release level. "It is a bit powerful, but also the only attack my Mugen will give me. I figured that was a fair trade," he said casually before moving on to the matter of his former opponent. "I only used two then." Just then, Tamao made use of her Shunpo ability to reach Raizen's left side. His eyes widened when his senses picked up a trace of her, and his left hand rose to prepare a barrier. Sadly, he simply could not keep up with the woman's obviously superior speed, and his blood was drawn for the first time over the course of this tournament as a result. The male's eyes widened further yet as he stumbled to his right, twisting counter-clockwise to aim his left hand and cast a hasty spell. "Haien!" As his hand swept through the air, a sphere of purple Reiryoku formed within it to be launched speedily toward the woman in such close proximity to Raizen's person. Its purpose was to engulf, explode, and incinerate on impact. For an individual of Captain level, Raizen anticipated less than the norm, but theorized that its power would be capable of staggering burns in the event of a proper strike.

[Apollymi]

"Hm, that's more distressing..." she said, given that the young man only had one ability for his release, she could easily assume that it was strong because it was the only form of attack the weapon had. That seemed to be the case with Zanpakuto over all, though there were a few exceptions to this. Even so, the knowledge that he'd apparently taken it a bit easy against his previous opponent was good news for the 6th Division's Captain, who liked the idea of the young being at least semi-responsible with their strength. When the other barrage finished, Tamao found herself being watched by the young man as her sword found its home within his side, that being said she was quite impressed that he'd found her before she'd moved away after completing the action. He even took it a step further, and aimed to defend himself with a rather dangerous kidou spell. Even so Tamao didn't seem phased at all. In fact she simply drew her weapon back in front of her, causing a shift in the shield like ability so that it was before her instead of around her, allowing for a defense from the flames. Within a second of this she'd moved again via Shunpo and could be found at Raizen's right side, swinging her sharpened sword once again, this time at a downward angle as if she intended to cut his hip and immobilize him, being very careful to avoid his arms for the reasons he'd previously listed.