Shunsui launched himself forward once again towards Choza.
He had activated his Shikai.
The shikai release of Katen Kyokotsu still required the full poem to activate for him. He was not proficient enough yet to release it with just the name of the zanpakuto.
He knew the poem from the anime and had tried using it to activate his Shikai which had worked.
Every time he wanted to use the transformed state, he had to recite the entire chant.
He hoped that in the future, after more practice and perhaps when he grew stronger, he could skip the poem entirely.
Just saying the name and having the blades shift would be so much easier. For now, though, the long recitation was necessary, and it gave his enemies a few extra seconds to prepare.
As Shunsui closed the distance to his sensei, he expected to take the lead in the attack.
To his surprise, Choza moved first. The large man swung his bo staff in a powerful downward arc aimed straight at Shunsui's right side.
The staff whistled through the air with enough force to crack stone. Shunsui reacted on instinct. He crossed his two scimitars in front of him just in time.
The iron staff slammed into the crossed blades with a loud clang that echoed across the training ground. The impact sent vibrations up Shunsui's arms and rattled his teeth.
Even with the block, the sheer strength behind Choza's swing was overwhelming. Shunsui's feet left the ground. He was launched backward through the air like a ragdoll caught in a strong wind.
Shunsui flew toward a thick tree at the edge of the field. Guy, who had been circling for another opening, saw the trajectory and his eyes widened in worry.
"Kyoraku!!" he shouted, his voice full of concern. The usually energetic boy froze for a split second, afraid his teammate was about to crash hard and get seriously hurt.
Shunsui collided with the tree trunk back-first. Everyone expected him to slam into it and drop.
Instead, to the complete shock of Choza, Guy, and Genma, Shunsui literally bounced off the bark. His body rebounded like a rubber ball.
He shot toward a nearby large rock, hit it sideways, and bounced upward again as if the rock was made of rubber. The strange movements looked impossible.
Shunsui twisted in mid-air. He came down from above like a descending meteor, both scimitars raised high over his head. He aimed straight for Choza's shoulder.
Choza had just enough time to raise his bo staff horizontally. The two massive blades crashed down onto the staff with tremendous force.
The staff bent slightly under the pressure. Choza's boots slid back a few inches, digging furrows in the dirt. The jonin felt the inertia of the attack push against his entire body.
For the first time in the fight, he had to take a real step backward to steady himself. Shunsui landed lightly on his feet, blades still crossed, breathing a little heavier but otherwise calm.
The reason for the bouncing and the tree and rocks doing no damage to Shunsui was simple.
Shunsui had activated one of the core abilities of his shikai. Katen Kyokotsu could bring any children's game into reality, and he had chosen pinball.
The entire training ground that was within his range had transformed without anyone noticing.
The trees, rocks, and even patches of ground had turned into giant flippers, bumpers, ramps, and obstacles made of flexible, rubber-like material. And Shunsui himself was the pinball. Of course, they still retained the appearance of what they actually were while still getting the properties of those objects.
When Shunsui hit the tree, it acted like a pinball bumper and sent him flying with almost no damage. The rock did the same. He had used the environment itself as part of the game, turning a dangerous crash into a high-speed rebound that gave him an advantage.
'It's a pity that no one in this world knows about pinball,' Shunsui thought as he steadied himself. 'Ah, I just experienced a wave of nostalgia. Back on Earth, I used to play it for hours in arcades. The lights, the sounds, the way the ball zipped around. Good times. Too bad I cannot explain it to these guys without sounding crazy.'
Guy saw the opening created by Shunsui's aerial assault. He dashed forward with explosive speed. "Dynamic Entry!" he yelled, launching a powerful roundhouse kick aimed at Choza's side.
The jonin twisted his body to block with the staff, but the force still sent him skidding sideways a few feet. Dirt flew up around his boots. Guy landed in a crouch, grinning wide. "Youthful teamwork is unbeatable!"
Genma took advantage of the moment too. He flicked his wrist and sent a volley of kunai spinning toward Choza.
Choza spun his bo staff in a rapid circle like a propeller. The weapon deflected every kunai with sharp clacks, and the kunai clattered harmlessly to the ground.
Shunsui raised one hand toward his teammates. "Guy-san, Genma-san," he said in his usual lazy tone. "Please stand where you are for a moment."
Guy and Genma obeyed immediately. They froze in place, trusting their teammate completely. Guy gave a thumbs-up. "We are with you, Kyoraku! Show the power of youth!"
Shunsui took a deep breath. He decided to switch games. The pinball environment faded slightly as a new set of rules took hold.
Choza decided to close the distance.
The moment Choza moved, the ground beneath his feet erupted. A massive snake, thick as a tree trunk shot upward from the earth.
Its jaws were opened wide ready to swallow the jonin whole. Choza reacted with pure instinct.
His right fist enlarged instantly, growing to the size of a boulder thanks to the Akimichi clan's partial expansion technique.
He smashed the fist downward like a hammer. The snake's head slammed into the ground with a boom. The snake dissolved into wisps of black smoke.
Before Choza could even wonder how a giant snake had appeared out of nowhere under his feet, he felt movement to his right.
Shunsui had taken only two small steps sideways. In that instant, he appeared directly beside Choza as if he had teleported.
The two black scimitars came slashing in from opposite directions. One aimed high at the neck, the other low at the waist.
Choza blocked the high strike with the middle of his bo staff. The lower blade, however, sliced clean through a large chunk of his armored vest.
Choza felt the cold edge graze his side, not deep enough to draw blood but close enough to make his heart skip.
Shunsui landed lightly and spoke in a calm, almost polite tone. "Sensei, have you not played snakes and ladders as a child?"
Choza stared at him for a heartbeat. The question was an absurd one in the middle of a fight.
A large burst of chakra exploded outward from Choza's body on pure reflex. The shockwave of raw power acted like a repulsive force. It sent Shunsui flying backward again. This time he hit the ground hard, rolling twice before coming to a stop.
Shunsui pushed himself up slowly. He wiped a thin line of blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
The impact had hurt, but he looked more annoyed than injured. He dusted off his pink kimono once more, as if the fight were just a minor inconvenience.
Choza lowered his staff. His breathing was steady, but there was sweat on his forehead.
He looked at the three genin standing in front of him. Guy was still in his fighting stance. Genma had fresh senbon ready between his fingers. Shunsui stood casually, his blades resting on his shoulders.
Choza exhaled slowly. "The test is over," he announced in a firm voice. "You all have passed."
Guy let out a loud cheer. "Yosh! We did it! The power of youth has triumphed!"
Genma relaxed his shoulders and put the senbon back in his pouch. A small smile tugged at his lips. "That was intense."
Choza walked closer to the group. He looked at each of them in turn. Then his gaze settled on Shunsui.
Akimichi Choza was known as the calmest member of the current Ino-Shika-Cho trio. He never raised his voice in anger. He never swore.
He always spoke with polite words, even in the heat of battle. But right now, staring at the boy with the black scimitars and remembering what happened in the past two
minutes, something inside him snapped just a little.
Choza rubbed the back of his neck, looked up at the sky for a second as if asking for patience from above, then fixed his eyes on Shunsui again. In a voice that was half disbelief, half exasperation, he said, "What the fuck was that?"
--------Author Notes---------
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