Smoke and Flames (Event, Private)

Sumoki had been asked to venture into Hueco Mundo and occupy a lower level soldier or two if he could. The task was simple enough, the demand wasn't one that hadn't been asked of him a hundred times in the past and if history was anything to go off of he'd be entertaining it a hundred times more before he finally dropped dead here, joining the hundreds of Hollows and Shinigami plastered in the sand beneath him. That thought along with many others needed to be pushed to the backdrop, at least for now. While normally Sumoki found no one or, if he was lucky, simply found some Numeros to butcher along his path it seemed that for the first time in a while he stumbled upon an Arrancar capable of testing his mettle.

Sumoki smirked, both daggers were already gripped firmly in his hands as he wasn't exactly in any rush to welcome death in a shithole such as this one. His eyes cast dispersions at the man approaching him from afar and he beckoned to him from afar. "If you come a step closer this is going to get very messy very quickly. Thought I should at least make you aware, we could in theory just look the other way."

Now, Sumoki knew this wasn't going to work but.. there was no real harm in trying. He looked to his Zanpakuto, fired up for a fight for the first time in years. "Let's give it our all eh?"

Unfortunately for Sumoki, the response he received was not unlike the usual. "Only you can prevent wildfires.."

Willow stood at the post he'd been assigned with a level of patience and focus not many of his brethren could likely manage. Though fire was his natural element, the Arrancar had always tended more towards cool-headedness in favor of the hot-blooded and emotional responses of his peers. The Shinigami were going to regret having invaded the Hollows' sacred homeland, and was just one piece ready to make sure of that fact. Willow's patience was eventually rewarded (or punished, depending on how you looked at it) by the approach of an enemy in the distance. This person immediately beckoned to him then told him not to come closer, threatening what he assumed was great violence upon his person.

Willow simply raised an eyebrow, his expression a cool mask, his emotions controlled behind his stony mask. "I could say the same to you, lesser filth. Though if you believe I'd ignore your trespass upon the homeland of my brothers and sisters, you are very mistaken." With those words, Willow calmly drew his Zanpakuto, the blade visibly smoldering with heat even in the desert as he swept it before him with one arm, the other holding a hand out as if to balance Sumoki's figure on his palm before snapping his fingers shut into a fist, sparks of flame shooting out of the sides as he quickly compressed a blast of flames into a Bala, balancing the ember-colored orb upon his palm. With a sudden Sonido, Willow appeared in front of, but slightly above, Sumoki while thrusting his palm forward and firing the Cero's worth of flame compressed into the Bala at his opponent. He was going to end this quickly.

Techniques Used:

Sumoki's hopes that this encounter might end with a drinking game or the two of them pretending they hadn't found one another were quickly dashed, and after a large sigh he entered Shikai whilst muttering to himself. "Yeah.. I should've guessed as much."

The Arrancar drew his Zanpakuto in one swift motion and the blade was frankly, a sight to behold. It was smoldering with heat to such a degree that Sumoki could feel it nearly 25 meters away. No doubt this Arrancar was powerful, and Sumoki was going to have to handle this carefully. As the Arrancar disappeared, Sumoki immediately dropped a plume of smoke where his body was and Shunpo'd backwards, the heat from the blast scorched his skin, His entire upper half had probably received first degree burns but he was for the most part unharmed. He allowed the Reiatsu to mask his signature as he slowly crept around in the smoke, hoping to analyze what exactly his opponent could do before launching a counter-offensive.

It wasn't likely that he'd be able to tackle this opponent head on, and so it seemed that an attrition battle was perhaps just what the doctor had ordered..

Willow followed up his blast of flame with a quick slash of his blade, hoping to catch Sumoki before he could evade. He had no such luck, however; and he was now surrounded by smoke obscuring his vision. Willow threw out an awkward Pesquisa and snarled. Nothing. "Now where did you go..."/ Willow muttered to himself while clenching his hands on the handle of his Zanpakuto. With a quick Sonido, Willow jumped 20 feet in the air and fired another ember-colored Bala straight down to create an explosion on the ground and hopefully smoke (haha get it) out this troublesome opponent.

Techniques Used:

Sumoki moved backwards and rolled his eyes slightly, letting the Bala glance off the ground in front of him, revealing the area for a moment before the smoke would close itself back up again. In an instant, the smoke would begin to move itself back towards Willow and that is where Sumoki would jump into action. He placed two fingers over his mouth and exhaled, blowing even more condensed ash and smoke forth from his mouth that was wrapped with fiery embers and burning heat. Once this moved forward, Sumoki would wait for the man to begin coughing and burning, or see where he ended up going from there. Provided he had found a new position, Sumoki would drag the smoke ahead of him before Shunpoing forth, launching a series of horizontal slashes at the chest of the Arrancar before disappearing back into the smoke yet again with a Shunpo.

If the Arrancar wanted Sumoki out of the smoke, he was going to have to fucking work for it.

Willow raised a long-sleeved arm to cover his nose from the smoke the Shinigami was seemingly creating. His eyes tried to scan through the hot smoke, embers slowly beginning to singe his skin and lungs. He was breathing it in now, beginning to cough. Feeling the smoke entering his lungs, a phantom throbbing began to run through his chest where his heart used to be. His mind flashed back to the burning forest, the flames crackling all around him as he struggled to breathe through all the smoke.

"No...! NO NO NO NO NO!" Willow began to scream, lashing his sword out randomly in the smoke. He had to get free, he had to get out! Willow fired a blast of flame forward, trying to rush through the opening he'd created, hyper-ventilating and breathing in even more smoke. Even his flame-resistant body was susceptible to internal injuries. Freedom, he just had to get out of the smoke and he was free!

Well it seemed like Sumoki had triggered some internalized PTSD in the Arrancar, hell for a moment he had almost felt bad for him as he floundered about in the smoke like a fish out of water. "Poor fool.. what a shame this'll be."

Sumoki Shunpo'd forward through the smoke as the man attempted to make his escape, funneling the smoke to the front where the man was attempting to escape to. He snapped his fingers, allowing the smoke in front of him to explode with the Arrancar inside of it, a Gran Rey level explosion like that was a lot to deal with on it's own but now, now came the fun part. Sumoki's daggers were at the ready, and he Shunpo'd through the mans position and made an x shaped slash through the Arrancar, hoping to leave him laying in a puddle on the ground. Provided Sumoki sensed that he had won, he would sheathe his blades and turn the other direction. "Time to move on then.. Sorry about this, Arrancar."