Learning and Practicing Hakudo: Iron Dragon Lance

Hayden stood within the forest on the outskirts of Karakura, he felt this was the best place to begin his training and practice of his hand to hand combat. Truthfully, he felt like he should work on some of his Hakudo based techniques- although he trusted his Zanpakutō he could not slack in his training to perfect his mind and body. He had removed the torso part of his shinigami robes opting to take a breath before relaxing feeling the cool air brush over his torso, it was a slightly cold evening but he appreciated that it kept his mind sharp. His eyes gazed about to take in his surroundings of the clearing.

The surrounding area around him was mostly a open circle with the outer brush being most the dense forest and trees, he had got far enough away to be out the city but not too deep into the forest. His Zanpakutō rested against one of the trees easily within his grasp should he need to defend himself against an ambush but today he didn’t feel such a strong hollow presence. He finally thought that the forest wasn’t quite as active so he could begin his training to improve some Slayer Hakuda he had felt within him- he didn’t know why this strange style was connected but once his shinigami powers unlocked he felt the style make itself known with his first Kido: Raging Blast. But he found that this magic or whatever it was extended beyond his Kido but into his Zanjutsu and Hakuda.

He began to slide his left foot behind his body to initiate his stance that he used for Hakuda, it was a unique stance he had adopted within the Academy and to be frank he felt it was like a physical manifestation of his Slayer side. His left foot turned in slightly as his began to center his hips crouching low slightly in a earth or rock like stance, very solid in appearance. His body began to shift ever so slightly as his right foot took lead so did his right side of his body. As he began to focus on his arms he placed his right palmed hand out slightly with a crook in his elbow slightly, his left hand closed into a fist held closely to his chest. In was a strange stance added a lot of potential kinetic energy in his legs and arms. He had dubbed the stance Potentiam meaning ‘Pure Force’ in latin.
Hayden eyes centered on the tree across from him, he had marked it as his target by slashing a large X in it earlier. His eyes narrowed as he began to crouch lower towards the ground feeling the energy building in his legs, he wanted to test out a new type of Hakuda fighting technique he dubbed ‘Iron Dragon Lance’which was essentially a punch he was developing that reinforced his arm to metal like durability while increasing the impact power. The point behind this was to be able to pierce weaker Hollows Heirro or end any opponent that was on his level effectively if he was weaponless or close enough to perform it. As he began to try to focus his Reiatsu he began to push off his legs making a mad sprint as he entered his Shunpo towards the tree as he yelled out his attack.

“Iron Dragon Lance!”

As he yelled out the attack he gritted his teeth as he punched his arm forward feeling a slight crack in his own fist as he hit the tree, he refrained from howling in pain as he began to push forward none the less feeling his arm began to push into the tree. With one final yell he pushed forward as he felt the tree begin to split and finally break in half at the base sending it flying only five meters back sadly. This wasn’t the desired result but a result none the less, as he stepped back he held his forearm slightly as he looked at his knuckles.

It seemed that the man had split two of his knuckles with that attack, despite barely being able to perform the attack he took quite a bit of damage while performing it. His arm managed to come away unscaved for the most part as his knuckles took the brunt of the damage. However, He was not done for the day even though his knuckles were split slightly he could power through the pain- at least till he needed to rest. One could never gain the title of ‘Unstoppable’ one day if he gave into the slightest pain or inconvenience.

As he walked backed to his first spot he dropped his arm as he thought over what he might have done wrong with the attack, he sat down crossing his legs and eyes as he began to focus. His hands rested on his knees trying to focus past the pain he may be feeling within his knuckles opting to simply focus on his own thoughts that revolved around every action he performed while attempting the act. He replayed the events over and over within his head his hand proving to be only a minor nuisance he could ignore as he finally hit some type of revelation. It was the way he focused his Reiatsu all over his arm rather than at the most vital points- leaving his defenses to shallow to properly protect him.

He then began to work over in his head how he could move his reiatsu in such a way to focus it over the front of his fist rather his whole arm to prevent his bones from snapping from the attack. This would prove to be the most challenging part of the whole attack, getting the force behind it was easy enough but protecting himself proved to be the challenge. He always knew that he put a bit too much power into his attacks which proved to be bitter-sweet in the sense he drained him faster but also proved to be useful. He liked being able to harness his raw power behind his attacks yet recognized the dangers behind it- but for this attack he wanted to perfect it so he began to stand up thinking he finally figured out what to do.