One Plus Four Equals Five. [Erika, Rio]

Well that was an eventful trip to Earth. She'd left a seated officer in her stead to return in the wake of an attack on the Second Division. Murasaki would certainly have had it handled but she was also interested to assess the situation herself in person. Something about not being content to let everyone else do the work while she sat back on hole duty.

Regardless though she needed to hone herself if she was going to keep up with the threat down on Earth. She'd dealt with Huge Hollows before but these ones were of a different league, the fact she had to rely on assistance from the Vandenreich was pathetic and so she'd test the mettle of these so called combat experts.

Specifically she'd challenge her own counterpart of this division to assess just where each other stood. While she doubted she could find some mountains around to practice her swordsmanship on cutting down there was no harm in looking for some kind of adversary to assist in culling these hollows.

Somewhere within the courtyard of the combat division barracks, Rio was overlooking the training of her fellow division members. She wore a distant expression as she regarded each of them with nods of approval. Her mind was drawn elsewhere, no doubt curious about what had occurred with the second division. The extent of her knowledge went only as far as the public did. What happened? Had they been attacked? If so, then who?

All of these things were certainly cause for concern and curiosity, but golden eyes quietly caught glimpse of the vice-captain of the 1st - Erika Masamune. The presence of woman who was equivalent to a captain in her own right, drew Rio's immediate attention. It was a rare, but welcomed sight, and so Rio approached the woman with common courtesy, offering a polite bow as she greeted the woman, curious about her presence here of all places.

Did she have business with the captain, or perhaps, perhaps... she held the inclination for combat? There were multiple reasons for her presence here, but unearthing them all started with a single question.

"Hello, Vice-Captain Masamune. I didn't expect to see you here today. Do you have business with our captain you wanted to discuss, or me perhaps?"

"I do not, if I needed Captain Nagoshi I would have spared myself the trip up here."

She said it pretty simply but in the way that she spoke Erika had a way of always making it sound like she was condescending towards the person she was talking to like obviously she wasn't here to see the captain because Erika knew that she wasn't here. Not granting Rio a moment to think on it though she quickly continued without missing a beat.

"I am here to see you today. As my counterpart in the Fourth Division which specialises in combat and the present situation on Earth I am inclined to test myself against you."

Erika explained without wasting time. There was a purpose to just about everything she did, and anything that got in the way of that would be cut down for the sake of her goals. She did of course understand if Rio was busy, or not interested. The first one she could understand though the second would've certainly lowered her opinion of the fourth division's vice-captain not taking any opportunity to improve her capabilities in battle.

"Oh...?"

The moment Erika made her intentions known, a great deal of interest pained the Shihoin's expression. She hadn't even paid any attention to the condescending tone, either. There was a slight semblance of surprise, but that quickly vanished without a trace. It wasn't a common occurrence for the vice-captain of the topmost division in the Gotei to challenge another member of equal rank to a battle, but precisely because of that, Rio found her spirits burning with competitive excitement.

Turning to face her division members, she motioned them to end their training for now, directing them to spectate from afar as the combat division created an ideal pathway in the center. She was more than free to fight her here and now, but perhaps she had another location in mind to host their bout. Either way, she was happy to oblige this woman's test.

"I wish to test myself against you as well, Vice-Captain. Any opportunity to improve myself in battle is very much welcomed in my eyes. Do you wish to face me here or is there another location you had in mind?"

"Here will do."

She said as the area cleared, a small motion of her wrists and her hands were clasping swords. Not that she needed both of them though and no sooner did she have them did Erika twist to throw one of them at Rio so that it spun at her fellow vice captain.

Once she had freed up a hand, Erika followed the spinning blade with a shunpo to reappear a small ways behind it and slash her sword. The amount of her spirit pressure generating a shockwave towards Rio to try and blow her off her feet with the force and grant the spinning blade a tailwind.

"Understood."

Rio settled into an offensive stance as the remainder of her division members cleared a path. She would have certainly offered the first move to gauge the woman's skill, but Erika needed no such encouragement as she set the first salvo to her offensive - a whirling blade careening through the air. Her natural reaction to defend kicked in, forcing her into action as she swung her right fist to knock the blade off course.

Or so that had been her intent before her fellow-vice captain vanished, reappeared, and swung her sword downward. The sheer force of that thing releasing a shockwave that threw threatened to throw her off her feet. Rooting herself firmly against the ground like a heavy rock, Rio batted away the blade guided by the tailwind, using her own shunpo to close the distance to strike at the woman from above with an axe kick to the head.

Was that it she wondered to herself. Golden eyes that were normally sharp seemed dull and disinterested at the counteroffensive. Did she want to get cut in half doing something stupid like charging her? No, Erika wouldn't bother with something like that when she wanted to pressure Rio with her unorthodox swordsmanship so she took a half-stance before speaking.

"Gojū Hachi - Fuuryouki (風領域 ("てんらん"); Fifty Eight: Wind Domain)."

Upon the conclusion of her declaration, her reiatsu exploded around her to twist the winds in every direction. The airflow had been thrown astray like the wind was trying to go in every direction at once around her to capture Rio in the use of her kidou-focused swordsmanship. Tenran was taken and modified, the sword was still being used as a medium but the instead of gathering it all in her spinning blade and stopping it. Erika was sending the air around her into disarray by subtly twisting her sword back and forth.

Once she was thrown off the ground and nothing more than a battered ragdoll then she'd test just how well this islander from the south thought she could keep up. It'd be pretty tough to secure any kind of foothold there.

Not good. The battle was just beginning, but already, Rio found herself in less than an ideal position. The counter offensive she employed casually overwhelmed by a superior technique in the form of an overwhelming whirlwind of spiritual pressure, expanding exponentially like a sudden tempest. Much to Erika's expectation, it was difficult to maintain a proper foothold in the air as a result of this blossoming wind. softly gritting her teeth as wind blades lashed and cut against different areas of her body.

It was already becoming visibly apparent that she would have to release her shikai before long in the face of Erika's impressive, yet highly unorthodox fighting style. For now, to take back some degree of momentum, her body radiated with golden reiryoku as she manifested footholds of golden energy under her feet to maintain some semblance of balance.

Once properly equipped, Rio employed Shunpo once again to vanish and reappear before her, this time executing a greater offensive in the form of numerous strikes amplified by flash step to prevent her from swinging that sword as seamlessly as she desired. Part of her envied that she didn't have anything nearly as cool and engaging to offer in return, but this was a spar, and she certainly wanted to prove Erika's equal far more than showing off for a crowd.

Timing was everything, and Erika's Fuuryouki was little more than something meant to weed out weaklings or create an opening. Her opponent would naturally be capable of making a foothold through the troubling situation which was exactly what was counted on by the small swordsman. Those footholds were the metaphorical trigger for the two of them which ended the standoff.

The moment to prepare her offence was the moment when she would be pressured to defend, when Erika's stance shifted and she vanished with a shunpo of her own to greet her opponent. What was previously pure offence had been turned into assistance by the way that she gently moved her blade to ensure that the wicked winds had become a tailwind for her, and a greater problem for her opponent by pushing her away from Erika.

Ittou: Kinnosen [一刀 金ノ閃, Single Sword: Golden Flash].

Surrounded by her reiatsu, the conjured blade appeared gold as Erika blitzed her opponent and the winds settled around them.

An impressive display offense and defense. That was the most apt descriptor for Erika's counterattack. The wicked winds that halted her advances prior were now used as a boon to bolster the swordswoman's attacks. Rio's offensive had barely begun before she found herself dancing on the backfoot by no volition of her own. A repelling force proved to be the least of her troubles as her fellow vice-captain unveiled another trick within her inventory - a conjured blade colored in a golden hue accompanied by a blitzing movement that rendered Rio dumbfounded.

What was truly the most impressive thing about all of this is that Rio wondered if this was the result of her zanpakuto or her otherworldly swordplay at hand. There was no release phrase, only the announcement of technique names. Either way, the only option at this moment was to remain on the defensive and counter her with an offensive, if such a feat was even possible at the moment.

Displaying her impressive hakuda, her arms glided through the air in hurried patterns as she forced her body forward to fight through the repelling force, continuously shrouding her body in golden layers of reiryoku. If she could earn enough distance, there was no longer any doubt. She would have to enter Shikai next. Zanpakuto or not, her swordplay was not so simple to contend against without a force equal in its nature.