At first, one might have not have expected much from a smaller Shinigami, but looking at one’s appearance alone and judging it thereof was a good way to get one killed. Zhou, being only five foot and four inches for a good portion of his Shinigami career, knew this unprecedented fact from experience. There was no time to exchange words, especially with the garrulous instructor now initiating a severe influx of his reiatsu. It began to overtake the area around them, filling it with a disgusting, happy aura. Euphoria: a feeling or a state of intense happiness or excitement. This was the product of this male’s reiatsu, something that was unseen before, especially to someone like Zhou. This was the very first step towards this one’s mastermind of a plan.
The next step consisted of the creation of not one, not two, but nine images that replicated the clown. Done with absolute ease and perfection, the speed clones generated had a proportional sense of the spiritual pressure spread about them. In a way, Asahi was in all of these locations at once spiritually and visually. With the nature of Asahi’s reiatsu combined with Asahi’s speed clones, this would have been an attack in itself, a mental distraction. One was forced to focus on not only the speed of the clones mixed in with the powerful reiatsu, one had to do so while either fighting or riding the intoxicating degree of power. For a number of Shinigami, this alone would have probably been their downfall. With this distraction, there was one more thing the intelligent instructor decided to do, something that was both nefarious and respectable – an oxymoron that any true Shinigami would be forced to recognize.
With Asahi’s speed clones moving in such a manner, they all had the
exact same form, and that form was the visual representation of the famous Kidō
Hado Number 32: Ōkasen. The voices, the amount of spiritual pressure, and the images were all the same. This, again, was an overwhelming display of ability that the fifth seat displayed. With this level of prowess, again, one would have easily been subjected to such a persistent display of power. Not only had this one mastered such a technique that few would achieve in their multiple lifetimes, he had full mastery of a Kidō technique that held devastating power. Upon introspection, one might wonder exactly what sort of training this male had to endure in order to achieve such great lengths. In all honesty, it seemed that the near half-century this soul lived did not go to waste in the slightest. There was absolutely no need to worry about someone like this, as there was killer intent in his actions. The assessment was that life was a game, and the only way to play it was to win. By death, by destruction, by carnage – it didn’t matter. This was the way of The Clown.
One could have easily used the technique with significantly less power. Instead, the rise in spiritual pressure along with the
full incantation would draw out Ōkasen’s true lethality. With the shift in positioning due to the relocation of one of his speed clones, a shift in his reiatsu pressure occurred, this shift solely being a potential location of the Shinigami. In a way, he further spread out his overall reiatsu. One with lack of concentration would have not noticed the one leaving the area. With the shinigami still issuing yet another deceptive tactic by closing in on Zhou physically, Asahi closed the distance from their original stance of ten meters to two, Asahi had to focus on not only the technique he generated, but also had to focus on maintaining the validity of the clones he generated; All nine of them had to look the exact same the entire time without any sort of break in their composure.
Similar to the very sun that radiated over the grounds of the Seireitei, there was a powerful light radiating downwards. The beauty of the singular ray would have struck awe and envy within his students. One couldn’t replicate this with just skill alone, the mastery of this technique took time, practice, and dedication. Truly, Asahi used a technique a lot would fall to, especially with such perfection in his art. Just as Zhou had suggested, with the full incantation mixed in with the powerful nature from a Kidō master, there was not much to say or even think at this point. Zhou just reacted naturally.
Asahi could see Zhou through multiple angles with the speed clones the shorter male generated, but with his sight, he could visualize Zhou looking about, that is if his focus was on Zhou at all. The male was still standing in the middle of the circle, as if he were trapped by whatever hold Asahi put him in. Whether it was Asahi’s reiatsu’s effect, or if it were him just trying to decipher which to strike, the male simply stood in the middle of the shape that Asahi generated with his clones. That was all the fifth captain would see and perhaps notice with his initial movements, as the powerful reiatsu swarmed the area with Asahi’s imprint, as if the field was his and his alone.
With Asahi’s reiatsu having such a unique effect on someone else, the jubilous state that one might have felt would have differed upon people. It wasn’t just a matter of them blocking out his power – one would have to go through cycles. For instance, from sad to happy, angry to happy, happy to even happier. There would have been an influx just as anything that had to transfer from one state to the other. With Zhou, though, he didn’t overpower the Reiatsu, instead, he accepted it, and the effects on Zhou were definitely different. With one not being able to
feel anything – pain, pleasure, or anything of the sort, the very feeling of overwhelming happiness wasn’t something that had an effect on him. In truth, it wasn’t the fact of Asahi’s lack of power in any regard. Instead, it was just the way Zhou had ended up by happenstance. That very feeling he sought after was literally swarming around him, and there was absolutely nothing that he could do about it. He wanted to feel that radiating warmth of happiness that Asahi exerted with ease, and he could tell that was what the pressure exuded. The thing was though, the pressure itself was like being tickled even though one wasn’t ticklish. Another analogy could be a dosage of drugs to a patient that was a drug addict. The effects weren’t going to be enough to overcome the very means. With this powerful reiatsu, “tickling” Zhou, It was like he could just feel Asahi all around him prodding and poking at his lack of ability to genuinely feel.
One might have thought the lack of feeling was something that Zhou was just naturally conditioned to. If that were solely the case, the amount of reiatsu Asahi exerted would have broken that conditioned hold in some fashions. Although Zhou was partially conditioned, there was something else that had literally blocked his ability to actually feel, something a lot deeper than him simply being subjected to a life of severe, crippling detainment and being subjected to a life-changing experiment. In any case, the amount of pressure Asahi exerted surrounded Zhou with ease. Asahi was greeted in kind with a lack of Zhou’s own spiritual pressure. The taller shinigami was there, but only visually. His spiritual pressure was faint, and soon enough it became even harder to pinpoint and focus on Zhou due to Asahi flooding the area with his own pressure. Zhou shifted his feet slightly. This was done with ease as the male bearing silver eyes witnessed the amount of power this one displayed, and he wasn’t going to compete with such with just exuding his own power – forcing his reiatsu out would have brought nothing of substance to the table at this instant. Still visually, Asahi could see the male standing there as Asahi’s overwhelming power dictated the surrounding land, overcome with pleasure.
The speed clones had encircled Zhou, they chanted in unison, and they all had the same position, expelling what seemed to be the same amount of light. They were like voices in an eerie choir, a family all coming together in such harmony right before the bright sun radiated from all angles, but most importantly, the angle from above. The instantaneous glory shot downwards upon the encircled appearance of Zhou as the very impact was visually … appalling. The radiating spell shot downwards, with its splendor aiming for one purpose, one target, one goal. Everything he visually sought after, occurred. The spell crashed down, the vibrant arc had the utmost of the impression of hitting Zhou’s body, rupturing the surrounding area, a seemingly direct hit from the powerful Shinigami that had not too long ago eaten with the person he had unleashed such an attack against. The very earth was cracked, exploding about, with rocks and various debris flying about. The destructive nature of this technique did not fall on death ears or blind eyes, Ōkasen’s power was nothing to be trifled with.
With such light, with moving at such speeds, and with changing his course, there was a lot that Asahi had to pay attention to. Subtracting Asahi’s potential ability to sense where Zhou was due to Asahi’s reiatsu easily covering that entire area, Zhou swiftly assessed what to do in such a lethal situation, more specifically, from the moment Asahi’s path altered. With or without a visual cue, Asahi’s altered path was given away by his reiatsu. Zhou was familiar with dealing with one masking their reiatsu, and him having to hunt the being down. This led to Zhou having to seek out a target in a number of cases. This time, Zhou didn’t have to do any seeking at all. Instead, Asahi offered his location on a platter. A number of souls in the Second Division utilized Shunpo to varying degrees. At this point, fighting someone utilizing speed clones, having to fight in obscure darkness (visual deprivation of sorts), or fighting someone even faster than himself was something that he had been developed for. With this, Zhou kept a pristine tab on where the male was, and deciphering what path to take came second nature to Zhou.
Traveling from point A to B, Zhou’s very body was undetectable to the eye. He was unable to be seen or heard physically and sensed spiritually. In truth, it was like his entire being vanished; With him being “nowhere”; it was almost akin to being on a plane of nonexistence, the only visual aspect of him was the hint of him being attacked, and even then, that was debatable. This is because the moment Ōkasen truly left the blade, Zhou’s physical body was no longer there. The only representation left was a pristine afterimage of what appeared to be Zhou, along with a piece of his shihakusho . The flawless form seemed to accept his fate, even looking up in the area of the attack, as if his body could naturally handle the attack thereof. Even with such appearances and such trickery from Asahi, the unfortunate fact was that Zhou had grown accustomed to such tactics. What made matters worse, though, with all that attention on Zhou’s form, that complete and utter fixation on ending this Shinigami career then and there, there was a swift rebuttal that struck within the moment Ōkasen struck the created afterimage. With Asahi barely being able to witness the instantaneous wave of power attempting to kill Zhou, the first sense Asahi was able to perceive from Zhou was feeling; Asahi wasn’t given a chance to use any of his other senses to ascertain Zhou’s true location. Zhou’s open palm drove upwards, his body only appearing once his hand connected with Asahi’s chin. Zhou was now underneath Asahi, a plate of reishi being formed to keep his balance as he positioned himself so that his hand shot in between the two arms that were held out for Ōkasen. Zhou’s attack could not be seen, heard, nor could his presence be felt.
This was an attack coated with two different concepts: Hohō and Hakuda. The first of which utilized a Shunpō technique known as Utsusemi to create an afterimage in order to fool the opponent into believing Zhou had been struck down. Regardless, he probably didn’t need it; with the exact moment of the Kidō connecting, there was a retaliation. The key with this technique was speed, timing, and position. Zhou’s powerful legs were able to send him towards Asahi and position himself not only towards the right in relation to Asahi's position, but still underneath the soul. Zhou’s body was sure to move to the right to avoid any sort of collision with Ōkasen. Zhou made careful calculations and adjustments to fixate his body towards the right of the powerful beam of light and Asahi and have enough space to strike the Clown while he stood there. Zhou made sure he was at the appropriate spot to not only strike Asahi, but to do so with his arm being extended in such a way, that the entire force Zhou intended for Asahi’s chin was done so with no hesitancy. During his usage of Utsusemi, the shunpo towards Asahi had Zhou’s left arm pulled back, the muscles in his shoulders flexing, and his upper body curved in the way for the best delivery, his upper half leaned towards the right. Using the momentum of his shunpo, the driving force was something easily able to incapacitate the opponent, but there was more to this attack, something that a master of Hakuda would do.
A unique fighting style known to very few was dubbed “Wave Kata.” With Asahi moving to such a degree, as well as Zhou’s own speed, the upwards attack towards the chin area was something that Zhou probably should have reconsidered utilizing Wave Kata. One could have blamed the nature of Asahi’s first attack, the emission of reiatsu, or the fact that Zhou’s life in the Second Division didn’t truly alter, but the strike came with severe ramifications. Being Wave Kata, at first glance, would just force the chin upwards, rattling the brain, and causing the neck to force back would be the first method of incapacitation, but in addition to this, since his technique literally forced powerful vibrations through the male’s head, it would cause for the very bones in his lower jaw to first crack, then shatter into innumerable pieces. The power didn’t lie in solely striking Asahi’s body, coating his outward body in reiryoku so that it wasn’t pierced or bruised could have led to an even
greater physical devastation. This was because if Asahi’s head didn’t move in the slightest, the entire vibration that would have solely been fixated towards his lower jaw would have radiated through his entire skull, having the exact, same impact – causing his skull to completely shatter. With Zhou being rather proficient in Hakuda, he was easily able to adjust to minor changes to Asahi’s form. Moving left or right would have resulted in his arm following and doing the exact same notion, simply Zhou’s body would have curved in order to adjust his attack to give the full nature of what would be given to Asahi. Moving backwards would have resulted in possibly less, but still devastating impact due Zhou’s unnaturally quick reaction time. With Asahi’s location shooting Ōkasen, Zhou was easily able to close the distance, shift his body, and deliver a potentially fatal blow towards Asahi’s chin.
