Perfecting his swordsmanship

"It's a calm and sunny day outside of the outskirts of the Rukongai, in a forested are with many bushes and trees. As has taken a day off from his duties as a Shinigami and is instead at his old training spot from when he was a student. He is training viciously here,practices his sword strikes on nearby trees like he used to do."

"Man I miss this place...I need to train much more before I even think of becoming Kenpachi one day,as for now however I'll do some old fashioned by myself training. Just like I did years ago in this very spot."

*As he says this he continues to practice his skill and technique more and more,yearning to perfect it to it's fullest potential.*

*Zero momentarily stops training against a tree and lets out a sigh of dissapointment with himself,knowing that many of the people he has known in the past have achieved Bankai and yet he has barely achieved his shikai. Letting out another heavy sigh he stops his training and sits down against a nearby tree in the shade. Holding Kikuichimonji in his hands he closes his eyes and concentrates for a second beginning to use Jinzen to communicate with him.*

"Hey,Kikuichimonji are you awake right now? I would like to talk with you right now ok? I have a few questions to ask you and I need to train anyways."

*The Zanpaktou spirit yawns in boredom having a somewhat dissapointed tone in his voice and not to thrilled to have been woken up from his nap.* "What is it now Zero? I'm trying to sleep here and were not in battle so please leave me be."


*Zero sighs in disbelief over his Zanpaktou's personality,shaking his head in shame as he wonders why he ever got such a Zanpaktou spirit in the first place.*

*Zero,clears his throat for a moment,to gather his thoughts and thinks of what to tell his Zanpaktou about this situation.*

"Well Kikuichimonji. So many of the other shinigami are getting much stronger lately,they've even achieved their bankai by now but we...Well we only have our Shikai. I figured that if we had better communcation we'd become stronger as a team and it would make me better as a fighter in general. How does that sound? Speaking of which we should find someone to spar against,we could practice our techniques together it would be valuable training.

*Zero smirks happily knowing his Zanpaktou is just like him in aspirations,nodding his head in content agreement he smirks and announces out to his Zanpaktou*

"Well then Kikuichimonji, I say from this day forward,we shall train harder than we ever have. Seeking down opponent after opponent as we find a worthy rival of our skills,while building our skills to higher levels in the process. I'm pretty sure one day, I shall become the greatest swordsman the Soul Society has ever known!"

*after leaving my office after finishing a mound of paper work i came to join Reploid for some training*
well hello ^^ i'm sammie lt of squad four ^^
*holds out my hand* it's a pleasure to meet you
may i ask what you are doing out here?

*Zero,looks over surprized and nervous,knowing he's currently not in his barracks,or even in the Seireitei for that matter,he clears his throat and speaks out.*

"I'm Zero Kanzaki,4th seat of Squad 11,and I'm here for some private training cause I've trying to improve my swordsmanship. What is a lieutanant like you doing out here for that matter?"

well i don't like to be cooped up for very long in my office and i just finished my paperwork ^^
so i figured i'd sense out the strongest reiatsu nearby and train a little since i've been out for quite some time
of course if you refuse i'll understand ^^ but you'll never be the greatest swordsman in the soul society if you train all by your self
you have to test your abilities against a stronger opponent ^^ like me for instance
and don't worry since i'm lt. of squad 4 if i severely injure i'll heal you and we can continue ^^

*Zero,calmly,sheaths his Zanpaktou back inside sheath,to let it rest after performing Jinzen. He calmly steps up and smirks at the lieutenant before him,and nods accepting his challenge.*

"I accept your offer,Lieutenant,well I didn't quite get your name sir. I only know your a Lieutenant by the arm band your wearing across your shoulder but that's pretty much it. As I said before I'm Zero Kanzaki, 4th seat of Squad 11."

really? you didn't catch my name? i said once before...
oh boy if your attention to detail is that small this might be a little bit to easy for me
i at least want to break a sweat i see that you have shikai now i want you to come at me
^^ we can disregard rank *i take my lt. badge of and hang it from a tree*
there ^^ no worries zero kanzaki ^^

*Zero is ready to assume a fighting stance,but just as he's getting prepared he gets a call on his Soul Phone.(Pager or whatvever it's called)*

"Well I'm sorry Sammie but I've gotten run for now. I've got a mission going on now and I don't wanna be late for the squad meeting either. If anything I owe you a spar later on.

*Zero calmly shunpo's away from the area,hurrying back to the Seireitei.*

*Zero grumbles angrily,rushing back to his training spot,angrily unsheathing his Zanpaktou,smashing it against some nearby trees.*

"Worthless! Worthless! Worthless! Why can't we get any stronger Kikuichimonji. Why? Everyone is surpassing us each day by day. Captain Zaraki hasn't assigned me a mission in weeks and I haven't achieved my Bankai!"

*Zero,grumbles and breathes in deeply,calming himself down again as he regains his composure and procedes to practice his technique more,gripping the hilt of his Zanpaktou firmly in his left hand as he takes repeated swings at various tree branches,pivoting and thrusting and slashing,flowing into a fluid motion with his strokes.*

"Kikuichimonji! My Zanpaktou! We shall train harder and harder,perfecting our swordsmaship. I Need to be stronger! I want to be the greatest swordsman in all of the Goteri 13!"

*An hour has nearly past as Zero,continues to swiftly swing and slash at the air now,aimming for no target in particular as he steps forward,thrusting and slashing with fierce relentles blade strokes, as he continues his training,trying as hard as he can to perfect his swordplay and improve his skill.*

"I must train more and more,harder and harder! After perfecting my swordplay I'll master my shikai,and hopefully I'll try to achieve my Bankai in no time. I'll be legendary,written down in Gotei 13 history for my peerless skills!"

"You know what, this mindless bragging and boasting isn't getting me anywhere either. Besides I'd look crazy if I was talking to myself."

"*Zero stops after training his zanjutsu for a while,sitting down on the ground as he takes his shirt off,placing his Zanpaktou in his lap and entering a meditative state. As he sinks into a relaxed and peaceful meditative state in his mind,he utilizes the technique Jinzen and begins to calmly communicate with his Zanpaktou.*

*As he goes into a deeper meditative state,focusing his mind,he encounters his Zanpaktou spirit,greeting him with a friendly wave. The spirit of Kikuichimonji is a tall,lean bodied man with long black hair and a face mask covering the lower half of his face,he slowly approaches him.*

"So your Kikuichimonji's spirit huh? You seem like quite a swordsman you know,I can feel your spiritual pressure and I can tell it's itching for a spar too."

"*Kikuichimonji yawns out of boredom casting his gaze towards Zero's direction.* "Oh hey there Zero,I see you've been training your technique today,you know it's really hard to take a nap while your swinging me about wildly."

*Zero lets out a contented sigh*

"Well I'm trying to get stronger and stronger but so many other shinigami are surpassing us. Care for some training with me Kikuichimonji?"

Well Zero,I guess I'm up for a training session tonight,but I don't feel like sparring you,get out of jinzen and we can train our Shikai,how about that?"

*Zero steadies his mind and exits out of his meditative state,ending the Jinzen communication with his Zanpaktou,and gripping it tightly in his left hand.*

"Well it's time to step up my training some more. Lacerate! Kikuichimonji!"

*Zero's standard katana shaped Zanpaktou,grows into a larger and weighty blade,with curved spikes going down the blade and a another curve going down the main blade.*

*Zero calmly,impales the tip of the blade of his shikai into the ground.*

Earth manipulation!

*Zero calmly concentrates his spiritual pressure as he encases himself inside a dome of stone,entering yet another meditative state once again.*

*Zero concentrates his spiritual pressure some more, trying to focus his mind and calm himself to ease into some more intense training later on in the day. Trying to gain better control over his spiritual pressure and gain more control for keeping his shikai active for longer periods of time.*

*Zero silently says in a meditative trance,calmly thinking of future battle strategies to plan against his opponent that work well with his currently achieved abilities. As he is doing this,he steadily maintains a stable level of spiritual pressure to keep himself alive inside the small dome of stone so he dosen't suffocate and die while training.*

*i walk up to zero*
hmm i see that you are trying hard to master swordmanship...
but if you wanna learn hoho then you have two choices me, or the captain of squad 13
we are both skilled in hoho ^^
so i'll let you take your pick

*Zero calmly awakens from his meditation but dosen't seal his shikai or remove the stone dome around him.*

"Sammie I was in the middle of deep meditation,now what is it you'd want from me Captain?"

come now i know you heard me ^^
and i'm just a lt. zero ^^
i can see you still need to master sword skill and hoho
i can help you with that ^^ what do you say?