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| - Kyoufu stood on the same cliff where he had waited for Hotaru to bring him a document on Demonic Activity. He seemed lost in thought, but was simply contemplating the events leading up to the Demonic uproar, which he was tasked with using to the organization's benefit, without a partner no less. So now, he hoped to whatever Gods trod in their Almighty coil of life that Tsuchimikado Shikizaki, the group's worm in the Royal Guard, had the papers, or else the Quads were going to have his head. A breeze rolled past the cliff face, leaves tossing and fluttering in the wind as they were carried off in the distance. Only, there wasnt a single tree for miles, meaning no leaves could possibly have been carried in such quantities. There standing or perhaps sitting on the top of his staff which was planted upright into the cliff, was the spymaster of the Jusanseiza. Dressed in his typical green aloha t-shirt, shorts and sneakers, the man truly did look out of place. The grin on his face said otherwise, as he held out a stack of papers in his outstretched hand. They flew from his hand with another sudden breeze, only to land, in perfect order in Kyofu's. Nodding Kyofu skimmed the documents, but stopped suddenly. While these were the documents he had wanted, it was obvious that their operation had been uncovered with demons making preparations to target them. They had names, locations, etc, and included everything from what they knew to how they acquired it - an informant. What was more startling was the fact that they were going to target some of his own hidden facilities. Correction they already had attacked several of his facilities, this information was a day old, these things already happened. It didnt take long for Kyofu to piece together the puzzle of just who this informant was, the information they had was much too detailed, that it had to come from within, quite possibly and likely that it was handed to them by the very man sent to spy on them in the first place - Tsuchimikado himself. From the corner of his eye Kyofu could see Tsuchimikado waving at him. Not waiting for an explaination, Kyoufu rounded on his comrade. "What the Hell is this?! They magically knew who I had, where I had them, and to top it all of, where I had them?" he took a few steps forward. "I thought you were on OUR side. You gave them information that could put me in the fire that ignites the pan. Oh Gods, if the Quads knew that you just screwed over my mission, I'd be done for. Hotaru didn't even have the information, but you gave them every last detail about what I was to do. Great, there goes my one chance to prove myself. Thank you." he spat on the ground in disgust, drawing his customized raiper. Tsuchimikado waved off Kyofu's claims dimissively. "Look, your plans were bound to fail, sure I might have had a hand in ensuring it, but ultimately this is for the best. Besides, I'm not on your side or anyone elses. Our goals just happen to coincide with one another, remember that." He hops off the staff. He knows when a fight is about to start, and he just sealed the deal so to speak. There was no avoiding this. But then, that was what he planned all along right? "Relax Kyofu, you'll get your chance, just as soon as you stop hounding for one, it'll come. The Jusanseiza doesnt need lap dogs, they need leaders, people who get things done on their own inititiave without crawling back to their master everytime they do a trick or when things go bad. I figured it was time you learned that lesson hm?" He chuckled, as the staff uprooted itself from the ground twirling in the air as it spun right into his hand. He didnt assume a stance, just held the staff parallel to his body, tapping his left foot, as though waiting impatiently for Kyofu to attack. "C'mon, I'll be a gentleman and let you strike first. Afterall I did initiate the first strike right?" Eyes glint beneath the sunglasses with mirth as he smirks, beckoning Kyofu to attack. "Why don't you try hitting me with that ridiculous sword you have there, you might just hit the mark this time?" He says mockingly. Kyoufu smirked before making his move. In moments, he was right behind Tsuchimikado, his blade resting on the latter's right shoulder. With a single, fluid motion, he raised the sword high into the air before bringing it down, hoping to cut of the limb, and thereby making the fight easier. Oddly enough Tsuchimikado hadnt even bothered to dodge. As the blow came down, it hit ---nothing but air. Tsuchimikado had seemingly dropped or rather it looked like Kyofu's blade had connected, but in reality it was the culprit as the very force of the attack literally shoved Tsuchimikado down and away, like a leaf caught in the wind. "You really thought that would hit me Kyofu? I planted the seed of the attack, the child cannot defeat the parent you know." He said mystically. "But you were always such a good solider, doing exactly what you were told, how did that work out for you again?" Another verbal jab. With that he flicked his wrist, releasing the staff as it hurtled towards Kyofu rapidly spinning, as it jumped in the air only to come down like a buzzsaw on the head of Kyofu. Kyoufu blocked with his raiper, knowing full well what the other man was trying to do, and he was pushing just the right buttons. Where did being the perfect soldier get him? High on the Most Wanted lists yes, but he no longer cared about how much his death was worth to another. What he cared about was just being the best at what he did. Even if it meant being the perpetual servent of even worse people, he'd eventually have his time in the sun. With a mighty heave, the pushed the staff away. "I don't know if you ever knew this, but I don't care if it takes forever, but my perfect, flawless plan will come to fruition one of these days." The staff ricocheted off the rapier back into the air, floating there as Tsuchimikado responded. "Thats the problem with guys like you. You never think to make more one plan, its why they always fail. No redundancy, shame really. Now lets send that toy of a sword you have back to the factory." The staff hummed as its glow intensified before renewing its assault. It came splintering down again on Kyofu, smashing relentlessly against his defenses, while Tsuchimikado sat there grinning mid-air. In that moment, four golden chains formed from thin air began writhing like snakes as they attempted to wrap themselves around Kyofu's limbs to prevent him from moving. His death god perceptions would have also alerted him to the spike in spiritual energy surrounding as a barrier formed directly beneath him in a circle; for what purpose he couldnt tell, but it pulsed once as it was created and then once more without any discernable effect. Although Kyoufu sensed the barrier below him, he wasn't focused on that, rather he worried more about the chains that were heading his way. Timing his dodge, he was able to knot the chains and they blocked the staff that once again decended upon him. In his mind, he was debating if he should reveal the redundant part of his plan or not. He simply decided to do it later, once he made sure the sabatour wasn't able to warn a single person. He drew his oddly shaped Zanpakto, a Smith and Wesson .500, and shot a single round, a warning shot, directly at Tsuchimikado. As it was a warning shot, Tsuchimikado didnt have do much to dodge the attack; tilting his head to the side was sufficient enough to evade the attack. If Kyoufu thought that was enough to distract him.....well did he? It was hard to say. Tsuchimikado never did peg Kyoufu as being one of those sane villians, then again, he probably couldnt count himself in that category either. Then again, he had to give Kyoufu credit, the man was willing to challenge his attack. So he obliged. The chains afterall were only a distraction, a purpose they served well. His staff once again rebounds into the air, hovering above Kyoufu before it starts spinning horizontally with increasing speed, kicking up powerful winds. The binding spell beneath him releases the latent magic, as streams of fire blast upward shattering the seal, congregating directly above the spinning staff in a molten white sphere of liquid magma. The white flames make a defeaning roar as they are sucked into the funnel created by Kazemonogatari, transforming into a whirlwind of flames as they descend upon Kyoufu, before they erupt into a fiery explosion of ash and death. He could prepare some contigency but now was the not the time. For now he would wait, observe, and react accordingly. There was such a thing as excessive so no reason to go overboard from the start right? "Burn my heart, Hiyarito." Kyoufu whispered, wanting his release to remain secret. Upon his Zanpakuto's release, a myriad of blue objects swirled around him, saving him from the brunt of the firey death. However, it wasn't enough, as a small tongue of flame singed the tattoo on his left arm. As the barrier he devised to protect himself seperated, he brushed the ashen marks away. "Well, I do believe that you just killed my tat" he said, sending a small group of the strange blue ice-like crystals at his opponent, keeping the rest to defend himself. Of course having an internal monologue while in your the middle of combat is probably not the best of ideas, so when Kyoufu's blue ice crystals came through his space, he was ill prepared to effectively deal with them. Still the instincts of a seasoned warrior are nothing to scoff at. His body is already in motion, before his thoughts finish, nimbly doding the attacks he could, while the others cut across his body, drawing various cuts across his body. When the assault is finished, Tsuchimikado doesnt even appear to have noticed until after the fact. "Oh you attacked, bravo. I was beginning to wonder if you were all bark, no bite." He gestures with his hand, the staff flying into his hand. He holds the staff with a loose grip before flickering from his position. He appears above Kyofu, his body upside, as he swings his staff diagonally, twisting it with a flourish unleashing a torrent of thrusts on his opponents head, the air pressure crushing the earth beneath Kyoufu. The ice blocked a good number of the blows, but the air pressure sent the ground reeling, and Kyoufu with it. Thanks to the ground bucking at the right moment, he was safely out of reach of the staff. He resealed his Zanpakto, but it had changed into a shotgun. Quickly, he flipped to his feet and leveled the gun. Not taking the time to line up a killing shot, he simply fired three times at Tsuchimikado. The three shots tore through Tsuchimikado, ripping through him, but there was strangely no blood. Moments later "Tsuchimikado" disappeared into a hazy mist, indication of a timely "speed clone", as his presence was masked by his immense speed. "Guess who brought a gun to a magic fight? He said, flickering a few paces behind Kyoufu. A single finger pointed towards his adversary as a bolt of white lightning shot forward at his gun. But instead of trying to destroy it, the lightning attempts to wrap itself around the exposed barrel, so he can harshly yank the weapon and by extension Kyoufu onto the ground. The electricity of the Byakurai was intended to use Kyoufu's gun as a conduit to temporarily shock and numb Kyoufu's trigger arm, stunning him long enough for him to be pulled to the ground. Continuing his counter-attack, he darted forward in a green blur, as he launched himself spinning wildly as he slammed a vicious elbow strike towards his opponents back. Kyoufu wasn't prepared for the jolt in his arm, sending him downwards, added with the elbow strike, he was slammed downward. Although he was slightly disoriented from the attack, he used his free hand to keep himself steady while he mule-kicked Tsuchimikado, hoping that his foot would make impact, but given the man's speed, even that was a fleeting hope. Or was it? Fighting the numb feeling in his arm he prepared his gun, turning it into a 9mm pistol and once the gun was ready, he lifted his hand slowly, aiming behind him and firing again. "Yeah, I brought a magic gun to a magic fight. Personally, I think this fits." he said, as the recoil pushed his hand upwards, throwing his aim off with each round his gun squeezed off. Kyoufu's mule kick landed harshly against Tsuchimikado's chin, jolting his face and spinning him back from the force of the blow. He used his new position, to ram a double heel kick into the exposed torso of Kyoufu as he readied himself to fire his arm, though he had the deceny to wait, for the man to finish his mid-fight banter. Call it courtesy amongst villians. They should always be afforded the opportunity for some witty comeback! Due to the close range, it would have been impossible to dodge the speed of these bullets, given that he had already commited himself to his attack, but that was why he summoned a golden dome-like barrier to deflect the attacks. The bullets crashed into it, andwith each successive shot caused it to crack. But, it gave Tsuchimikado just enough time to slip out of the way, as he spun through the air creating a sudden updraft to propell him to the air to dodge the shots that followed as they shattered his barrier. WIth a clear shot to his opponent, he began channeling spiritual energy for his next spell. "This is going to be a little different than what you're used to Kyoufu, but I've always wanted to give it a try!" He says making powerful circular hand motions, yellow lightning dancing between them, before they envelope his body. He shoots forward once more, spinning like a top as yells out, "Raikōhō!" Casting the aforementioned spell and literally wrapping it around his body. His attack is puncuated with a resounding thundreous boom, not unlike lightning itself, as he attempts to slam his body into Kyoufu. Kyoufu smirked as he held his gun up to his head. "Bankai Zetsubouteki Hiyarito." he said as a loud crash that rivaled Tsuchimikado's kido spell in volume and billions of small shards of ice emerged from his head. He continued to shoot himself over and over again, building a litterally endless amount of the icy crystals to block the kido and move around the spinning caster, however it left him panting heavily as he escaped the area where he was standing. As he regained his breath, he cursed the downfall of his Bankai, each shot was not only painful but it drained him greatly. When he could clear his mind of distraction, he hostered the gun and leaned against the tree. With a snap of his fingers, the massive whirlwind of razor sharp ice shards collapsed inward on a single point, leaving only the continued rotation and expenditure of energy on his opponent's part to survive, which was entirely feasible as Kyoufu himself was able to land nary a single hit all match long, hoping to get this, his signature trap, in motion. As ingenious as it was, there was a good reason most Shinigami hadnt gone about the business of wreathing themselves in their own kido. For starters, it was extremely dangerous since it tended to blow up in one's face...literally, and generally while the boon was great, the effect was short lived. The attack needed to be completed relatively quickly to ensure no real harm was done to the caster. Though to be honest he hadn't expected Kyoufu to launch immediately into his Bankai, but then one could also suppose Tsuchimikado was just that deadly of an opponent. So in an odd twisted sense, Kyoufu had unknowingly acknowledge the threat Tsuchimikado possessed, without releasing his zanpakutou. All of this of course meant very little if said opponent was going to be killed by overestimating..or was it underestimating....regardless, using one's trump card so early in the fight was something Tsuchimikado had not anticipated or perhaps it was, and he was just planning on using this opportunity to show off. It was hard to say which was true. So it was with great ease, or difficulty depending on one's whim, that Tsuchimikado found himself within the maelstrom of ice and wind courtesy of Kyoufu's Bankai. Now, even with his impressive speed, he had committed himself to the attack, which meant that even if he were to move at full speed there'd be no guarantee he'd escape unscathed. Luckily he had a handy lightning spell surrounding him. So with a mental tweak, he used the lightning encasing him to bypass the typical synapses of his mind telling his muscle's what to do and allowing him to achieve speeds he ordinarily wouldnt be able to. He slammed into the ground with thunderous force, and in that same instant leapt back as the blades of ice nearly cleaved him in two. He continued moving, dancing through the maelstrom as Kyoufu continued to plant bullet after bullet into his head, releasing tremendous amounts of power as his Bankai reached its zenith. At which point, Tsuchimikado seriously began to doubt the sanity of his opponent. It was as if he were in the eye of the storm, a whirling frenzy of ice and death that awaited him on all sides. His situation wasnt even worse; while the lightning was increasing his speed and agility, it was also very much a destructive spell, so it was also damaging his body the longer he maintained it. As he was literally frying from the lightning, the storm enclosed around him, attempting to skewer him from every direction. He jumped twisting his body counter-clockwise to the spin of the maelstrom, as the ice shot towards him. In a display of impossible agility, Tsuchimikado disappeared into a blur, phasing in and out of virtually every attack, maneuvering around the ice as it clashed against one another. He twirled through the air as one particularly large boulder of ice crashed into another, as he ran across it, darting from side to side as ice continued to rain upon him. When he reached the underside, he slammed a fist into the structure, sending it flying to the side while maintaining a grip on the icy surface. He rode the boulder out of Kyoufu's Bankai attack, landing on the outskirts of the attack. The lightning aura around him fizzling out of existencing, as he landed he landed with a thud, sprawled onto the ground. His body was sporting numerous cuts, and varying degree's of frost covered his body. Despite that he didnt seem too worried about his injuries. He stood up from the ground dusting himself off, though to no avail, his clothes were shredded in various places, and he was missing a shoe. His sunglasses however were strangely untouched. "Whoo, that was a surprise, didnt think you'd use your Bankai so early in the fight. Well," He said pausing dramatically. "Got in any other tricks up your sleeve? Any Last ditch efforts Kyoufu? I hope so....for your sake." Kyoufu sneered, dismayed at Tsuchimikado's survival, although not many ever did it with style, let alone at all. "Actually," he began, "That icy death-trap was my last ditch effort. Knowing that there was no way for me to defeat you in a head to head contest, I set up knocking you into it more or less." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a orange pill and swallowed it. Within seconds, his body was feeling better, as the pill was a temporary energy boost. He turned to better face his opponent. "But when were you under the impression I never made back up plans?" he asked before jumping above Tschimikado, and as he fell from the hight, he began spinning, attempting a spinning heel kick. With his gravity-affected speed, the impact was probably going to be a tad bit painful, to say the least. Kyoufu was bluffing, he'd used up his trump card and they both knew it. Didn't mean that he wouldnt be prepared...or maybe he was looking forward to it? Either way, it made little difference to the spymaster, as he raised his arms, crossing them across one another, just as Kyoufu's attack slammed into him. The earth shattered beneath his feet, a testament to his opponents strength, but the block held true, fending off the assault of his assailant, his own body like an immovable, unbreakble fortress. Rust red eyes tinted beneath sunglasses, as Tsuchimikado's attempted a counter-attack by shifting his hand, to grab his opponents ankle and hurl him to the side. Kyoufu allowed himself to be flung about like a doll. Just before he crashed into a rock, he began chanting, "Rebound from defeat and secure victory. Gomu Tama" Once his spell was complete, a strange rubbery substance surrounded him in a ball shape and he bounced straight back at Tschimikado at high speeds. If one could see his face, he'd be smiling, thinking he caught his opponent unawares. Tsuchimikado was surprised, to say the least. Surprised that his opponent had enough brains to use a kido effectively that is. But you dont get to his age without seeing a technique or two, and not have some sort of counter for it. A barrier shimmered in front of Tsuchimikado, before instantly dissipating no doubt a trap laid for Kyofu, as he leapt back with his held to his front, spiritual energy swirling around it. He didnt even speak the incantation, as the azure of flames of Sokatsui roared to life. This all occured in just a few seconds, long enough for Kyofu to have closed the distance, crossing over the aforementioned area in his trajectory. Golden chains erupted from the ground in an attempt to grab Kyofu midflight, but the true purpose of the attack was to distract, not to bind. Regardless, they would serve their purpose, even if Kyoufu was able to remove or even evade them, it wouldnt stop the sheet of flames that threatened to wash over him, in that next instant. During the commotion, Tsuchimikado would attempt to slither into the background and fade from view, whilst he prepared his next attack. Kyoufu knew stopping completely would be impossible, especially at his current velocity. His initial thought was to extinguish the flames, but the chains would probably be a bigger threat to his survival this late into the fight. I only have enough left to stop those flames or the chains. Choices, choices. When the chains began trying to bind him, he ducked low and rolled to the left, causing the chains to catch on each other and forming a one time barrier against the fires. "Clever. Can't wait to see what else you got." he called out, his voice icy. As he spoke, he drew out his sword and waited for the next move. Wonder what else he's got up his sleeve. Just gotta wait and see.
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