You Were One of My Better Students, You Know.

The grip on his broken tightened as Hachiman's opponent charged, screaming as they prepared to unleash a horrendously telegraphed attack. On the battlefield, such a display may at best have served as a distraction or deflection of ones true intended attack, but in this case, it wasn't. All in all, it was somewhat understandable, if not disappointing, since this was a training period for students at Shin'ō Academy.

As the young man approached him, Hachiman remained firmly in place, not yielding his position despite his opponent's berserk screaming. With a sigh like one from a disappointed father, he swatted the sword to the side with the flat of his wooden blade, stepping to the side as the boy struggled to stop, then whacking him across his shoulder blades with loud thwap. The boy stumbled forward and fell, dropping his broken as he rolled to a stop. "Again with the charging and screaming, Tomoharu. I could tell what you were going to do before you started charging like a mad baboon." Tucking the bokken next to his Zanpakuto, he turned to address the rest of the class. "Right then. Pair off for sparing. Grab someone new this time, don't be afraid to leave a few bruises either. Tomoharu, pair up with Renjiro. Renjiro, show this layabout what he slept through in lecture, and apparently, the last few practice sessions."

"Oh uh... Yessir." A young man from the back of the group wormed his way to the front as his classmates paired off. He didn't look too thrilled, but Hachiman didn't particularly care. The tired instructor walked to the edge of the training room, leaning against the wall as he watched  the students whack each other with bokken, all with varying levels of proficiency.

An unexpected visitors arrival was announced far before the woman herself stepped through into the Academy's training hall. A spiritual prescene that would likely dwarf those around the area. A concern to be sure, though the seemingly casual pace that this energy drew closer seemed to indicate it wasn't a threat and before they knew it, the newest Captain had arrived. Perhaps one of the youngest to take charge of a Squad, and almost certainly in record time too. Rumour and mystery surrounded the announcement, some still couldn't believe it, but here she was.

Akane Makishima, not too long ago a student of this very academy, had decided to visit her old instructor to personally give the man the good news. As well as scout out for potential in the current batch of recruits. While her time in the academy hadn't really been anything to write home about, she had always felt that Hachiman had some sense of faith in her, and it was only fair that he got to see the fruits of his labour.

"Please, don't mind me" She quickly tried to brush aside any attention she may have brought, moving through the room to greet her old sensei as he watched over his students. Most of whom were smart enough to do just that, rather than face the old man's wrath. "It's good to see you again Sensei! It's been a while, hasn't it?" The girl hadn't seemed like she had changed all too much, still polite as ever. Though there was something a little off, as if perhaps she was less reserved than before, no longer as nervous or unsure. It was only to be expected though, it would have been difficult to be mentored by the Captain Commander. Ika Mazi wasn't known for his patience, after all.

A familiar presence was on approach, Hachiman could feel it. So could the students, as they stopped their practice and watched the door. A few were visibly shaken by what was coming, and he could see a chill run down the spine of one student in real time. Part of him never got tired of watching students experience the spiritual pressure of someone of Vice Captain or Captain level, and Akane Makishima definitely had that effect.

Still ever polite, the woman apologized to the class for the interruption, and most of the students knew to get back to work. A few were still awestruck or something along those lines "Nomura, now's not the time to slack off! Get back to it!" The bokken was back in his hand as he whacked the ground twice. The common signal for them to wake up or pick up the pace, and one he'd used for years. As the remaining slackers picked their own wooden swords back up, he was aware that a many of them were just as focused on the captain as they were their training.

Hachiman leaned back against the wall as Akane approached. She appeared to be her usual self, though something was definitely on her mind. Nothing out of the ordinary though, especially for someone new to her position. "It has been a while indeed, Ms. Makishima. Can't say I expected the visit, but I can't complain." His eyes narrowed as he zeroed in on a student who's attention had drifted away from his sparring partner. This changed when he received a solid thwack to the forehead. With a faint smile, he continued. "Though I suppose I should address you probably, right Captian? Lots of buzz about you going around."

Even before she had been brought in from the Rukongai, Akane had been gifted with a veritable wellspring of spiritual pressure. An oppressive aura that she originally had little control over. It was the reason she had been brought in to the academy to learn how to tame this power. That pressure remained of course, but now it was more focused. Unable to be truely hidden, to the point where her zanpakuto had never returned to it's sealed state from the moment she had achieved shikai. Though it was difficult to tell when she had the blade sheathed.

"Well, I've been doing the tour I suppose. And I've been looking for prospective squad members from the next graduating class." She glanced toward the students as they trained, most seemed to be doing their best to avoid punishment while trying to ignore the new comer.

"Oh? And what have they been saying about me?" She seemed quite interested in this specific question. After all, her new Squad tended to favour the strong. Some had even said she had outright challenged her predecessor to single combat for the title. To Hachiman, this was possibly the most ridiculous of the rumours. Akane had been one of the most non-confrontational students, often backing down at the signs of aggression or simply keeping quiet to avoid conflict. Which begged the question how she had ended up leading the most violent and battle-thirsty division.

In truth, the last Captain had been asked politely yet firmly to step down. The agreement was the upstart needed to prove she had the ability to lead such a rowdy bunch, and she was more than happy to oblige. Her more timid nature had since been put to rest and a much more confident persona had formed. "Are they always this distracted?" She couldn't help but notice one of the students paying so little attention he got a solid bonk on the head, and while it was objectively hilarious, it was somewhat concerning.

"Well, a lot of them seem to think they're tough enough for your squad. I tell them to have secondary options in mind, but you know how it is. They think they're hot stuff because they can hold their own against me in a training environment, and they'll take that to auditioning for your squad. The disappointment of defeat and rejection should fix that, though." Hachiman's eyes remained on the training students. He wasn't training Akane anymore, so she didn't require full visual attention like the youngsters did.

He scoffed at the topic of the rumors. Most of them were complete nonsense, but still. People tended to give the rumor mill more credit than it deserved. His voice lowered as he spoke. "Well there's the one where you challenged the old man who came before for his title. Of course us and anyone whose met you would know that's a crock of shit." Hachiman chuckled as he continued to watched the training students."On the other hand, there are things you can address. You're a bit on the young side for a Captain, so of course people say you don't have the seasoning for such a position. That and you're a bit quieter than people are used to for such a Captain. You've just got to prove em wrong, and if anyone can do it, it's you."

He shook his head as the student who got bonked took a bit too long to get his head straight. "No, that's Nomura, he's just an idiot. Got a good grasp of Kido, but I swear everything else just goes in one ear and out the other. I'll probably suggest he end up in the Kido Corp. Any other squad is gonna chew him up. Two clacks echoed across the room as he whacked his bokken against the floor again. They were a bit more jittery than usual, but he figured he knew why. "Of course, you being here might be making them a touch nervous. Some of em are trying harder, likely trying to impress you. Of the ones going all out? Keep an eye on the ones with good footwork even with heightened aggression, they're your best bets. Satou, Ueda, Morii, and Ishimura." with his spare hand, Hachiman pointed out 4 students.

"Is that so?" She looked to the students as they sparred, taking note of any that might show promise. The Fifth Division was generally regarded as a place for those with no other real prospects beyond pure combat. That meant it attracted those of a more aggressive persuasion or at least those with less qualms about running head-first into danger just for the thrill of it. A simplistic view of the Fifth to be sure, but not entirely inaccurate. She inteded to keep this sort of mindset for those under her command, no point changing that part up too much knowing how effective they had been.

She smiled at his disbelief though, it made all to much sense "True enough, though I did have to prove myself before the squad would have accepted me. I didn't want to leave it to interpretation who is in charge now" An interesting turn of phrase that was certain to raise some eyebrows. The truth was that she did indeed duel the previous Captain, prompted by her mentor rather than something she would have done otherwise. "They can think whatever they like, I'm beyond worrying about stuff like that anymore" Those words alone were very unlike the Akane he had come to know during her time at the academy. No hint of hesitation, like a whole new level of confidence.

With Hachiman going on about some specific students. "Hrm, makes sense. The fifth don't really care what you use to fight, so long as you're good at it. Can't count him out, right?" She shrugged, peering over the group that her old teacher had pointed out. "Well, we could find out just how suitable they can be right now? I could lend you a hand in this lesson" It seemed she was suggesting a sparring match, perhaps giving the students a little taste of real combat. "Of course, I'd need a bokken of my own." It could be an interesting distraction from the lesson, most wouldn't see a Captain fighting in person, let alone test their mettle against one without being in the squad.

Despite his hardened serious exterior, the fact that Akane had only gotten more confident over time was heartwarming. Not only had this girl ascended to her position quickly, but she was acclimating to it fairly fast too. Even though this was the kind of thing his training was designed to prepare students for, he still felt a good measure of pride and satisfaction when someone like her soared through the ranks.

Hachiman nodded with her own assessment of the class, though he still figured Nomura was destined for sub par things should his attitude not improve. His thoughts lingered on the offer for a Captain to show these kids what facing a superior opponent was like. If she could keep her reiatsu in check, this would be a valuable lesson. If not, she'd end up crushing these kids with her presence alone. "Hmm. Seeing the strongest opponent they've been up against is me going easy on them, I'd say that's an intriguing idea."

With 3 solid strikes of the bokken against the wall, the students froze. The looked in his direction, hesitantly assembling before the two. Handing the training sword to the captain, he spoke. "Alright. Judging by the lack of focus in this dojo, I take it you've all noticed our guest. For those of you who are weak of memory, this is Akane Makishima, Captain of the 5th Division! And she's come to see how your training's going. This is your chance to impress someone who could blow you away with an errant flex of a muscle. So remember what I've taught you, and keep your heads on straight, literally and figuratively!" He turned to Akane, a slight smile on his face, speaking with a quiet tone. "Remember, don't flatten them. I need a few to make it to graduation."

Akane took the training blade and examined it a second, checking the weight and balance as she gave it a quick flourish, turning the wooden sword to take a reversed grip while the students assembled before them. Providing Hachiman a moment to prepare them for what was to come. She wouldn't really blame anyone for not remembering her, having not made much of an impression back in the academy outside of accidental overuse of her spiritual pressure. "I'll try to leave them in one piece" She then moved out before the lot of them.

"I want you all to come at me with everything you've got, nothing is off limits. In fact, please use your Asauchi during this exercise. Hold nothing back" And with that statement this whole session just got a lot more dangerous. She intended to allow the students to use whatever they had at their disposal to try and combat her. Giving the students the chance to use their preferred method of combat was likely to let them shine the brightest, even when the odds were so thoroughly stacked against them.

Without hesitation, she girl simply walked forward towards the group, turning her blade to a more orthodox orientation while moving closer. She tempered her reiatsu as best she could, using her bokken as a focus to strengthen the weapon somewhat so it wouldn't be simply destroyed against a live blade. Even with this, her aura seemed dangerous and oppressive as she readied for combat. For Hachiman, it was clearly something she had honed from being a completely uncontrolled force back in her academy days. A shinigami's reiatsu was an important tool after all, and Akane had forged hers into something special. "We can begin whenever you are ready. Good luck"

The situation began to dawn on several of the students as they exchanged their bokken for their asauchi. While some looked eager to prove themselves, fancying themselves as the student that managed to give a captain a hard time, others seemed to have a look of grave contemplation, like they'd been issued a death sentence. These students filtered to the back as the rest moved about uneasily. A few more, including the group Hachiman had pointed out to Akane had assembled to the front. "Remember, live blades. Be careful and know where the blade is. Don't need any of you out of commission because the kid next to you can't aim."

Hachiman stood to the side, his Zanpakuto drawn and raised above his head. "Fight!" With that cliche shout, he brought down the blade of his sword, stopping the blade just before it hit the ground. Several students spread out, charging with their blades drawn. Nomura repeated his usual strategy as he charged forward screaming. Satou, Ueda, Morii, and Ishimura seemed to be up to something, but only Morii and Ueda charged with the initial group. The moved around the sides of the charging wave of students, coming in from the sides. Both of them moved in some degree of unison like this was a practiced maneuver, swinging their swords towards the Captain's center of mass.

Hachiman watched the group carefully. Last thing he needed was a few nobles up his ass because their prescious babies got hurt during training. He'd done something similar, though with a smaller group, but he was somewhat nervous that their need to prove themselves might make them careless. He was also monitoring Akane, her reiatsu was fine for now, but if it flared for any reason, she might knock a few of the students flat from that alone. Either way, a valuable teaching moment for all.

Akane smiles, watching the students form up into a group before her, seemingly following her orders with only slight reservations. Not that it mattered to her, none of them came close to having the spiritual potency to do any real damage if they managed to hit her. Though it wasn't the spirit of the fight to just let them uselessly batter away in hopes of scoring a hit that meant something. With everyone ready though, the training session would commence in earnest. Nomura in particular seemed very keen to try and prove himself, screaming like a berserker while leading the charge.

Unfortunately for him, the aspiring shinigami became the Captain's first victim. With little effort, she swiftly dropped low while sweeping the legs from underneath him. The speed of which was little more than a blur to most of the class, if not Hachiman himself, sending the lad stumbling forward toward the back of the room. That left the two of the four the teacher had pointed out moments before. A coordinated strike from either side as she moved to stand from her lowered position. "Strategy huh? Interesting" The girl quipped, stepping swiftly toward Morii to clash the bokken against his blade early in his swing, ruining his balance as well as the spacing for their little combination move. This was followed by a viscous elbow strike to the side of the head, simultaniously pointing at Ueda with a bright flash of gold reishi that sent a near invisible bolt of force at the student. Kidou spells weren't her speciality of course, but 'Sho' was likely to send the other boy sprawling across the room if he got hit.

She wasn't done of course, with her sudden movement across the training ground, she would lock her gaze on the other two, seemingly aiming to swiftly dispatch the most 'dangerous' foes that were Satou and Ishimura. In an instant, she was upon them, Ishimura first it seemed as her speed allowed the girl to practicaly vanish, appearing to strike with the pommel of her blade right into his stomach. So far, Hachiman couldn't say he had ever seen Akane fight quite like this. It looked to him as though she had incorporated some of the Captain Commander's own methods, perhaps a little less violent. She was pulling her punches a little at least, but every hit was going to be a painful lesson to any who happened to fail at avoiding her.

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The first charge had failed miserably, but then again it was a bunch of students versus a trained killer. No one was surprised when Nomura went down with a loud crack. He wasn't getting up for a while. Morii and Ueda had ultimately been brushed aside with Morii taking a knee and Ueda managing to dodge the blast. It at the cost of his balance. After taking a second to clear his head, Ueda would lead a second charge of the remaining students as the captain switched targets. Morii would eventually rise to his feet and runn after them, planning on jumping off a few heads to land a jumping strike.

Satou and Ishimura had another plan in mind. While not particularly skilled with Kido themselves in the grand scheme of things, apparently the captain deemed it to be fair game, so they adjusted their strategy. Each one of them mumbled a different incantation for a spell that would combo well with another, though with the new direction of their opponent, this changed as well. Ishimura was forced to change tactics, instead using a weaker version of Seki in an attempt to shield himself from most of the force of the Captain's swing, hoping that it would also knock her off balance enough for whatever Satou had planned. Not having enough time to change to any effective Kido spell that didn't involve a whole ass incantation, she committed to her current strategy, crouching and firing a blast of Shakkahō upwards towards the captain.

They were trying their best, and even if they were tearing apart the dojo, that was all he asked. Would be nice if he could avoid having a clean up crew fix floors or buff out burn marks, but things were going smoothly. Akane wasn't trying to kill his students, so they'd make it to graduation. There were a few things he was taking note of, but he'd wait to bring those up at a different time. For now, he thought about making this into one last learning experience for Akane herself, contemplating joining in himself. After all, some hollow used swarm tactics, and this could serve as some kind of teachable moment for her.

Techniques:

The others were barely worth mentioning, the various students clearly unprepared to consider challenging a fighter at her level, but the four main advesaries were at least trying to put up a fight. Ishimaru's attempt at blocking a strike with a half-assed kidou wasn't exactly going to stop someone with as much force as Akane could. It was enough to soften the blow, but wasn't enough to set her off balance at all. Instead, she would follow up her strike with a twisting kick to see if she could finish him off. Even while the dangerous red energy blast tore through the air at her.

Here, they would find out just how potent the Fifth's Captain's spiritual pressure was. Without a single motion, Satou's attack seemed to slow and fizzle out before it could reach her. Disappearing as it was snuffed from existence by Akane's power alone. What chance might they have against a monster like that? At least they had spirit though, even in the face of such a threat. "They're doing just fine so far, but lets see what else they can do" She called out, standing back up straight as she pondered where to bring the pain next. Satou was the obvious choice, if she was using spells at that level then it was only a matter of time until something truely dangerous was pulled out. Though the on-coming charge of the remaining students could prove to be a fun challenge. Not thinking about the chance that Hachiman himself could enter the fray.

Techniques Used:

Hachiman nodded as he watched his students try their best. The big 4 managed to last long enough for Akane to have to utilized a few different techniques to disperse and eliminate them. Nomura was as useless as ever, anything else would be deviating from the norm. He was also pleased that Akane had left him with a full class of surviving students. Very good. He wouldn't have to explain to parents why a captain was allowed to paste their students.

He drew his blade, watching light glinting off of the steel of Hiraishin. Maybe he'd jump in after all. Quietly, he spoke to his sword, awakening it's power. "Strike fierce, Haraishin. We have another lesson to teach." With a quick shunpo, Hachiman detached the transformed blade in two, appearing behind Akane and unleashing a flurry of blows against her. If she'd gotten any faster, it would be an annoyance. Of course, there was still a chance he'd catch her by surprise.

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