[Training Thread] Discovering his blood type

[Jin HoshigawaEstablished Member]

Artist: Breaking Benjamin - Song: Dance with the Devil - Word Count: 900

Sweat trickled down the young looking mans face. Beads of liquid hitting the dirt filled floor, his Zanpakutō stabbed into the ground being used for support. What was Jin doing here today? Training? Most definitely, but why? He had taken some time after his most recent battles, (with the female Suki, Ara) and the meeting with the taichou, He came to one simple conclusion. If, in the midst of battle, he is ousted by the enemy because of his lack of skill with his sword, or his lack of discipline, skills, style, or sword art, then he has no right to bear the title of the Vice-Captain, or Captain for that matter. He needed to become stronger, and with his affiliation with blood, he had some ideas. But he just couldn't get it, he couldn't get his techniques to work properly.

He fell to his knee with his left arm grabbing his shoulder blade. He was bleeding. Why was he bleeding? He needed blood of course. He needed the fuel for his style, he needed the right steps to be taken, and he had taken those steps. But somewhere in the middle something fell apart. "Vice-Captain! Vice-Captain Jin! We have a package for you!" Jin turned to his head to see two young men running along toward him. They looked like they were struggling with the package. Jin stood, the sweat starting to try out as he flared his reiatsu for a moment. He could see his two squadmates stop for a moment, trying to catch their breath. Jin waved his hands to apologize. "Sorry, but what do you have for me?"

Jin arched a brow as the two men stood in front of him, and dropped the package. Sheathing his sword before he leaned down to one knee again, Jin grabbed the card that was stable to the front. He opened it and with a wild grin a flash back started to take over.

He pondered for a moment, pen in hand with it tapping his chin gently. He needed something for this style to work. A sword? Yes, another sword. And as the ideas started to come together, Jin smirked wild writing them all down. 'To whom it may concern, I have a request. This request is of no small feet, and I will be internally grateful. This must reach Stefan Soan, he is, to my knowledge, the best blacksmith in this day and age. Now, for Stefan. Should this reach you, I humbly request a sword to be crafted. This sword, it must be like none other.

This sword, this masterpiece, needs to control blood in some form or fashion. I've heard stories of your blades, and your talent. So please, do me this favor. Strength is everything now, and I need strength.' He nodded to himself, sealing the letter and handing it off. "See that it gets to him, please." And as the other shinigami ran off, Jin went back to pondering ideas for his new style...Blood art with two swords.

Jin looked back to the letter, and read the little note that was on the card. 'To Jin Hoshigawa. This sword is like no other; it will suck up blood at your command, and can produce twice as much as it sucked up. The gem in the center is where the blood will be found, and it can hold two gallons. These is but another addition. You may call out separate while holding this sword and it will become two swords, each gem now able to hold only one gallon. Finally, to bring them back together, call out combine. Treat Muramasa well.'

Jin nodded and thanked the two shinigami and then instructed them to leave. He needed his privacy if he was going to do this. Once more pulling his Zanpakutō from it's sheath, Jin tossed the card in the air and began slicing it apart. He needn't anyone else know what his sword could do. Now, it was time for the big reveal. Unraveling the string that was holding the box shut, Jin pulled the top off with a wild grin spreading across his features. Yes, this was it...this was perfect! He could feel the power, the strength, the shimmer to the blade. This was Muramasa. Wrapping his hand around the hilt, Jin pulled the sword upw-wait...this thing was HEAVY. It wasn't going anywhere. Sorry zetsumei, you're gonna have to sit this one out for now. Jin stabbed zetsumei into the ground, now both hands on the hilt. He began lifting the blade but this wasn't going to get him anywhere.

YES! Jin smirked, calming himself now with the sword in both hands being held upright. "Separate!" And, like the note instructed, the sword began to glow. Jin couldn't help but laugh, this was amazing. The sword became two swords, but they didn't very much weigh any different, in fact, this may no be the best way to train. Jin took in one more deep breath, and yelled out "Combine!" And again, the card did not lie...the sword was whole again. Jin held the sword in both hands, his eyes staring forward. With his energy focused, he started to suck up the blood on the ground, and the blood on his arm. The sword wasn't filled to it's max but...this sword was exactly, IS exactly, what he needed. This little training session was going to get a lot more interesting.

[Jin HoshigawaEstablished Member]

Artist: Breaking Benjamin - Song: Dance with the Devil - Word Count: 885

Jin had taken a small break once he confirmed all of his new swords techniques, capabilities, and powers. Jin also prepared himself to test, master, and prepare for all of the techniques that he was going to learn for the day. Jin was sitting against the wall in the training arena, a small drink to his side, and a sweat rag to his left. He knew he was going to get wet, and needed to prepare himself for the next couple hours. Finally, taking in a deep breath and placing both hands behind his back, Jin pushed himself up and stood to his feet. His eyes trailed the ground, and then to his feet where his newest toy was sitting. The blade known as Muramasa. It was a blade he had specifically crafted for him, and generously given to him by the man known as Stefan Soan.

Leaning down Jin grabbed the blade, which was still very heavy. He still needed both hands to hold it, and it would certainly take some time to get his strength up to par with this blade, and to be able to use one hand to wield it. Jin picked it up into a swordsman stance, and then walked his way out to the center of the battlefield. This wasn't going to be anything exciting but instead practicing simple sword techniques to get used to the blade. Perhaps trying his best to match his reiatsu with the reiatsu that was already coated over the blade would work, but Jin doubted that. This was just a heavy blade, and going by what Stefan had wrote about it, it wasn't going to be any easy task to master it.

Jin spread his right foot out slightly, turning his body and bringing the blade across in an arch slightly, and slowly. He took his time so he could get a feel for how the blade swung. Anyone that could of been watching would notice that the blade wobbled a bit, but was still stable enough to not let the tip dip low. Bringing his left foot to meet his right foots position, Jin slide his left foot forward, twisting the blade slightly so the tip of the blade pointed toward the ground. As he was ready, he slide his body forward bringing his blade upward in a reversed slashing motion. However, he didn't stop there and quickly turning the blade so the edge was now facing the ground while still in the air. And then, without a second moment of hesitation, Jin brought the blade downward in a typical slashing motion.

He was still having some trouble keeping the blade stable. Perhaps using the blade for more advanced motions wasn't the way to go about it. Jin then decided to keep his body upright, blade in both hands, and in a typical stance for training, Jin readied himself. He was going to do some repeated, normal swings to try and get himself ready. He brought the blade up, by this point already covered in sweat, then swung down. His body slightly moved forward with the swing. This was clearly going to take some time, but he was determined to do so. It was the only way for his style to work, and without his Zanpakutō in one hand, and his new sword in the other, what was the point?

No, Jin was absolutely not having that. He knew that he could split the sword in two, but Zetsumei wasn't just some sword; Jin felt a genuine connection, and not like other shinigami. Zetsumei, and Jin had always spoken, bounced ideas off of one another, and kept their ideas along the same pathway. Had Jin not been with Zetsumei, who knows where he would be right now. No, He wasn't going to give up. Not just for him, but for Zetsumei too. Jin welled up in the eyes, his heart ached at how hard this was, but he felt a weird source of pride too. This was something to be proud of if he could pull it off. There weren't any other shinigami that used blood, and putting into a sword style? Unheard of! Jin let out a loud scream as he kept swinging his new blade, up then down, up then down. It was getting easier, he was getting faster!

Yes! He brought his blade up, and then down again. But instead of repeating the movement, Jin strung his movements together. When the blade came down, he slid his right foot out, and turning his body to follow with his sword coming along. Then, sliding his left foot forward he brought his sword up (while it was upside down) and then turning it right side up (edge facing downward) swung down. Added to this Jin rolled forward and while his right foot was still on the ground and his left knee was touching the ground he grinded the blade against the ground and brought it upward. Falling back Jin placed both hands on the ground and sprung himself up, in the air and then to his feet. Jin took a deep breath, and then shunpoed over to his drink and rag. He was soaked, but the beads that were falling from his face were beads of victory. He grinned wildly at the implication. He was getting stronger!

[Jin HoshigawaEstablished Member]

Artist: Breaking Benjamin - Song: Dance with the Devil - Word Count: 876

Woo, what a day so far. Jin had probably spent the last hour or so working on his simple sword movements with this new blade. This thing was still heavy, heavy but sharp. Jin looked at the ground, noticing that there was a clear cut where he brought the blade up...but wait. Dammit! Jin could only guess that he had already scratched the blade with that little test. He was so in the zone that he didn't even suspect it! This wasn't zetsumei, it wouldn't heal as Jin did. He picked up the blade, but to his surprise, there wasn't nothing wrong with it. Jin had heard stories about the durability to the metal used, but this was...astounding. He grinned, and almost wanted to test just how durable this blade was. No, he needed to focus on one thing at a time. He sighed, took one last drink of water, wiped his head one last time of the beads of sweat, and headed toward the middle of the grounds once more.

Jin looked around for a suitable place to aim his training at. He wasn't ready yet to use both his Zanpakutō, and this sword yet, but there was one technique that he could train right now. He had already sucked up blood so he could use that, and the cut on his arm was healed, for the most part. If he exerted himself too much though, he was sure that he would cut himself open again. There! He internally pointed toward a large rock. That was where this training, and most likely all of the other training, would be conducted. Jin readied himself, the actual execution of the technique would be the most difficult part. He already had the theory done, he had the preparation (for the most part) done, and now it was just time to act.

Jin shunpoed forward toward the large rock, both hands still on the hilt. The rest of the preparation was fairly simple, but needed to be done correctly. Jin focused his energy into the crystal, and after a moment the crystal started to secret blood onto the blade. Now, at the same time this was happening Jin started to focus his reiatsu onto the Blade keeping the blood from spilling. Finally, the blade was completely covered, coated in a thin sheet of crimson, giving it a soft red hue. This was the last bit of preparation needed, but now it needed to be executed, and if it wasn't done right, then he would have to do it all over again.

Jin took in a deep breath, his hips turning slightly to the right, and then he quickly brought the blade upward, releasing his reiatsu, and the blood at once. Or was it? No, Jin missed the timing with the swing and the release. The Blood managed to keep the shape he wanted, but it didn't keep the air time, nor did it go the distance he wanted. He needed to get it to the rock, and to cause it to chip away. Jin wasn't discouraged, this was progress. He needed to fail to succeed, information to test against. He knew this was a work in progress, and thinking of it in any other way was just naive, and would leave to a lot of heart ache.

Jin took the sword up once more, bring his body back to the typical formation. He released the blood from the crystal again, not very much was left, but he had hoped it would be enough for at least two more attempts. He also hoped he didn't need two more attempts, as this was his most basic swing, but he would take what he could get. Adapting was something of a natural talent to the shinigami. He had released his blood a little too early, which is far easier to compensate for than timing it to late. Jin took in a deep breath, readied his stance, and swung! Not yet, not yet! The blade was just about past his stomach, NOW! Jin released the energy and the blood.

Was this it? YES! Jin noticed that the blood, and the reiatsu perfectly mixed together, becoming a combination of both, but neither was so distinct that he could tell them apart. Jin watched the beam had straight for the rock, his hips curling and turning in anticipation. Fifteen feet, ten feet, five feet. Three, two, one! BOOM. The attack made contact and caused much more of the rock to come off than he had expected. If he could tell it was most like a level thirty Kidō in strength. Jin then released something. If used after hitting the enemy and cutting them open, this attack would do much more damage. He suspected that the beam like attack had an edge much like the sword, sharp and powerful.

So this is what it was like. To come up with something, to test it, and to see it fail only for it to then succeed. Was this how all of the captains felt like? Jin grinned wildly, this was spectacular. He lifted the blade and placed it upon his shoulder. He was going to do more, be more, and he would show them all that he was a force upon himself.

[Jin HoshigawaEstablished Member]

Artist: Breaking Benjamin - Song: Dance with the Devil - Word Count: 1163

"Woo, what a workout. Don't ya agree Zetsumei?" He spoke to his sword that laid beside him as the two chilled against the wall, sweat still dripping from his face. He grinned at his sword, and then finally he spoke. I wouldn't know, you haven't used me. Jin laughed quietly to himself as he sipped the remainder of his water. As the droplets soaked his dried tongue, Jin sat the bottle to the side and stood to his feet. His left hand slithering out of his pocket as he grabbed Zetsumei with it. "Well that changes right now! I learned the other technique, but that's the only single handed technique I came up with. Now it's time to learn the others with you by my side."

Zetsumei didn't say anything, he didn't need to. Jin understood everything, and vice-versa. Zetsumei knew everything that Jin was thinking up until that point. To do this, Jin needed to stop using both hands on the sword, but simply switch to his strong hand. He needed to practice with both, and while he wouldn't normally use muramasa in his right hand, for now he needed to. Not to mention, now that he had the timing down for his blood slash, two more of his techniques were capable of being used. Rising blood stroke, and dual blood slash. Both of each use the basis of blood slash, but both of which take one thing that the blood slash didn't; two swords.

The first on the list was rising blood stroke. It was in all actuality, the harder of the two to learn. Dual blood slash was essentially the same, but with two swords instead of one. Finally, shunpoing out to the center of the grounds, Jin took his place once more. The sword was much heavier now, but Jin was capable of wielding it. His arms were tired, but he wasn't going to give up. He knew how the technique would flow, how it would be executed, and so he had had a squad member set up a training dummy while he was taking his break. This dummy was sturdy, able to withstand some damage from swords, but if all went well then the dummy wouldn't be standing for much longer.

He could feel the weight putting him off balance, this was different. He could feel his arms, and even his legs wobble, but he decided to brush it off as nothing. So Jin kept both feet separated by about two feet, his body turned with his right hand, and sword pointed toward the ground with the edge facing the dummy while the left hand and blade pointed behind him. He planned to get the motion down first, and then apply the blood technique. So, with a quick shift of his foot and a twirl of the hips Jin brought the sword toward the sky upper gutting the dummy in the chest to the chin. Then spinning his body around, Jin broug-nope he was going down!

Jin fell to the ground, both swords clattering the ground with Jin on his back looking at the ceiling. He didn't compensate for the weight of the sword weighing him down from the back. He took in a deep breath, and after a moment stood to his feet. He grabbed both swords, and took his stance once more. The blade was truly sharp; it cut through that dummy like a hot knife to butter. It was absolutely insane, and even without any true strength to it at all. When Jin had this sword mastered, it was going to be splendid. Now once more taking his stance, Jin slowly envisioned how the technique should work. his feet shifting, the blade moving up, and then...yes!

He had figured it out, and was now ready. He started in the same fluid motion, hips shifting, sword cutting, but now before bring the other sword up, when his body shifted he cut the other foot back to give him some added support. This, of course, would only be temporary for when he mastered the weight, and the sword. Finally, bringing the second blade, his Zanpakutō, toward the sky he hit the dummy once more. He had practiced this motion, three more times before it was totally and utterly engrained in his head. He was ready to try the added affect. This would require the same amount of blood as before, but luckily he still had some in reserve. Coating the blade in blood, to fully realize this technique, he needed to switch hands. Jin nodded to himself, understanding that the weight difference wouldn't be there, and took his stance; now with muramasa in his left hand, and Zetsumei in his right. Shifting his hips, and then bring his blade up he struck the dummy It's coming loose

The thought crossed his mind, but it was of no matter. Bringing the second blade up, Jin struck the soft material that covered the dummy and inwardly counted until it was time! No...no...no....now! Releasing the blood attack literally moments after striking the dummy, the blood attack lifted it, cutting into it, and sending it flying. Jin watched in admiration as the dummy blasted apart. He grinned and turned toward the rock. Yes, this was impressive, and yes, this was it, but he had one more thing to do. Dual Blood Slash.

Jin sat himself in the middle of the grounds, his right hand holding Muramasa. while his left held held Zetsumei. His heart was pacing calmly, his eyes were closed as he focused on himself, the area, and his target. He controlled his breathing with the beads of sweat slowly stopping. He needed to conserve energy, but this was something entirely different. He needed some more water, but he needed to perfect this move. He needed to make that last step toward perfection. He wasn't going to give up.

He drained the remainder of his blood that rested within the crystal coating the blade with the blood and reiatsu. As this finished, Jin connected the two blades. Coating his Zanpakutō with the blood as well. As both filled with the soft shine of crimson, Jin stared at the rock. He had blood slash down, and this was, in theory, just an addition slash. Taking in a deep breath, Jin rose both of the swords above his head. They were crossing one another to form an X. With his eyes staring forward, focused on the pillar. Then, in a flash, Jin brought both swords down. And as they were about to finish their descent, he released the energy. The beams flew forward, and managed to collide into the pillar. Jin fell to his knee. He was drained, and this training was taking it's toll.

He had decided to call it a day. He had done enough already, and pushing himself any further would possibly kill him. Falling to his butt, Jin fell back taking in deep breathes and laughing to himself. He was doing it. He was REALLY doing it!

[Jin HoshigawaEstablished Member]

Artist: Breaking Benjamin - Song: Dance with the Devil - Word Count: 827

"Yes! I needed that!" The loud statement came from what looked like a well lit room, a figured standing, stretching, and walking as it's shadow could be seen from the clear paper covering the window like structures. Anyone that was paying well enough attention could see that this man was getting dressed, and had in both hands what looked like two objects. These two things were his new sword, and Zetsumei, his partner in crime. Jin had taken a break from his intense training, trying to master his new sword style, and skills.

After finally getting himself dressed Jin grabbed the sliding door and pulled it open. His face completely covered in a wide grin, and his eyes staring forward. It was going to be a grand day if he was able to get the last two techniques down by the end of the day, an even better day if he were able to test them on one of the recruits, but he reserved glee for that later. Jin paused, checking each of his pockets, sleeves, pant legs and badge. Yep, everything was there and ready. Time to get a move on. Shunpoing below, Jin stepped into the training area, his eyes making sure there weren't anyone else around.

With the all clear, Jin set both of his blades on the ground, his arms and legs moving, and contorting as he stretched his body of all knots. He knew better than anyone that going into an exercise, a fight, or even a casual play day and you'd be asking for it if you pulled something. Besides, the time he took to stretch gave him time to think over his technique, how to execute it, and how he was going to manage all of his flips and cork skews with the heavy blade weighing him down. Now, to be completely honest and fair the blade didn't feel nearly as heavy as when he first used it.

Ah, that felt good... He popped in a new position as he stretched out his back. Grinning, he was ready. Jin grabbed Muramasa with his left hand, and Zetsumei with his right. Taking in a deep breath, Jin lowered his position, lowering his upper body and squatting low to the ground. Zetsumei was raised in the air, while Muramasa was lower, running the length of one of his legs. Jin, in a flash, swung his blade to the left quickly pushing off of the ground bringing his left blade down in a slash motion. Without taking a moment to spare, Jin brought his right arm back over to the right slashing with Zetsumei across the imaginary chest. This was quickly followed by Muramasa also coming toward the right, now both blades leveled with one another.

This wasn't the end though, as Jin needed to complete about fifteen more of these combo's with getting tired, exhausted or taking a break even for a moment. And so he trucked on. Bringing the left blade back Jin slashed in a diagonal motion then bring his left foot up and kicking thin air. Each of these strikes taking little more than a second to pass. Then bringing his right blade back across Jin dipped back down and flipped again, but this time bringing both blades down to strike in the center. This is where the rotation would occur. Jin would follow the last six movements, the three slashes, kick, that was followed by two more slashes again, and again.

As the combinations started to come to a close, Jin started to feel the pressure of the movements hitting him. He hadn't done so many combinations in his life, and not all in a row. This was getting heavy, and it was starting to get hard to hold onto his swords. They were getting heavy, and simply dropping them would be a relief beyond comprehension. No you weak bastard! Keep going! He bellowed at himself internally. He wasn't going to lose, and he wouldn't be the one to give up. Jin had too much riding on this training, this power, to give up now! He had one last thing to try, one last thing to muster up before he was going to stop. He had the finishing blow to go.

Finally stopping, Jin positioned his body in front of the air, his eyes forward, and his body set. He quickly leaped into the air, staying a few feet off of the ground with both swords pointing forward, as if they were drilling into the targets gut. However, taking one last moment, Jin started to bring his foot down to touch the ground as he brought both arms outward in separate slashing motions to "cut open the target". Breathing heavily, Jin placed both fist on the ground with both swords still clenched in his hands. He turned his head, and with a quick shunpo, Jin flew over to his water, and his sweat rag. Four skills down, one to go. He could do this!

[Jin HoshigawaEstablished Member]

Artist: Breaking Benjamin - Song: Dance with the Devil - Word Count: 827

Jin had fallen over since his last technique was practiced. His energy was drained, but not in the sense of his reiatsu, or his own spiritual energies. He was physically exhausted. That technique, while requiring no actual reiatsu to complete, is tiring when mixed with the sheer weight of the sword he was using. Hopefully however, this would all end. Jin could feel his strength growing, he could feel his power raising. His understanding of how to move was growing, and he was starting to truly get the feeling that he was becoming better. This was what he wanted, strength to save his people, his home, his friends, and future lovers.

The feeling that was over taking him was like none other. He was getting the feeling that, if he truly believed, he could do something like no other. He has already, he has become strong, he has become powerful. Jin grinned and stabbed the ground with his blade. Pulling himself, Jin looked at the dummy sticking out of the ground. He was going to set that damn thing up again, and he was going to knock it down again. He was going to cut that thing a new asshole and he was going to like it! Jin shunpoed over to the dummy, inspected it closely, and then stuck it back in the ground. It's face was still torn, but Jin was sure that this thing was going to get far worse come a couple minutes.

Walking around, and placing himself just ten feet from the dummy, Jin got down into a similar stance. He knew that this technique would take some time to prepare, but not nearly as long should he be in a fighting situation. As the time limit passed, Jin set himself in a coat of crimson and reiatsu, not either of the swords, not even a portion of himself, but his entire body was now coated in blood, giving him a soft crimson shine. This plus his already red reiatsu made him almost glow red, and most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between him coating himself, or just letting his reiatsu take a more physical form.

Now, this was the trickiest part; Jin needed to move fast enough to release a physical after image, but he wasn't sure how he would recover. Raising from his stance Jin brought both blades outward as if he were about to strike the enemy down but in a moment he was gone, and then back again with a clone created. When he vanished again, not a moment later, the clone lunged forward. He did this once more, and again, and again and then one final time. Jin couldn't do any more, as this was already taxing his body in terms of physical exhaustion, and reiatsu. He needed to finish though. Taking a moment, Jin paused and watched the clones slash at the dummy. They were fast, probably 75% of his original speed, but the damage output was intense.

No time for idle thoughts however, and as the last clone hit the dummy, Jin vanished shunpoing to the front of the dummy. Leaping and bringing both blades up, Jin started to slash downward with both blades simultaneously hitting the dummy down the center. Both swords managed to cut the dummy in half creating three separate clones. However, this skill. It was exhausting. It could be from all of the training he's done before this, or the last technique he practiced, but Jin...He wasn't sure if he was ready to use that skill.

[Ｓᵃ ᶥ ᶦ ˣ ♚Veteran Member]

✖| Clean Up Time!! |✚

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It's been 2014 or even before that!

There for I will be locking this thread, feel free to revisit this and keep on reading!