Welcome to Gaia! ::

Tadashi folded his arms and walked into the training grounds for the 5th squad. Having been referred here by his Captain to train with someone on his level, he'd come over to meet the Third Seat who would be teaching him.

(That's as good a start as any, I hope. Please be easy on me; first Gaia Guild rp ever. I'd like patience >_<. Oh, and, I only have basic moves for now, but let's assume my agility, physical strength, and reiatsu are as high as my stats indicate [still not very high])

Tadashi nodded and grasped the hilt of his sword while his eyes sized up his shorter opponent.

"I'm afraid I only know basic kendo as much as my zanpakuto is concerned," he admitted tonelessly, and without a return of greetings . He wasn't comfortable likely losing to a slightly more experienced adversary in Zanjutsu, despite this being training for the purposes of finally establishing a connection with his zanpakuto. To his shame, he had never successfully communicated with his sword.

"Bakudō #8: Seki," Tadashi said, somehow expecting a reaction like this from the way she had strode forward. A round shield deflected the Hainawa and barely was able to block the Byakurai, which he was prepared to sidestep should the shield not suffice.

Tadashi folded his arms," My Kido is not in question; the bond with my sword is. I was under the impression that I was here to learn something I did not already know." So saying, Tadashi took his blade and held it in ready stance for a moment before charging forward, preparing himself to counter should another Bakudo or Hado appear.

(Though i'm high in Kido and my character is said to be skilled in it and is a Third Seat, I haven't technically learned the Kido above 10 for Hado and Bakudo like they told me i'm supposed to. I'm not even sure how to go about doing that, but just to let you know, my character is good in Kido but he hasn't got the moves yet, its all very complicated)

Tadashi managed to avoid the attack and stepped away. He countered her attack by thrusting forward with his blade angrily, forgetting it was simple training for his own benefit. He broke away after the attack and began to speak.

"Is the zanpakuto not an instrument of great power? If it is supposed to mirror my will, why does it reject me? I want to fight alongside my zanpakuto as others do, yet it does not even speak to me."

Tadashi scowled and looked up at the blade. It did not exactly occur to him that his pride had been the thing that got him into this position in the first place.

"Hadō #1: Shō," he said coolly. Whether or not Eriko managed to withstand the Thrust did not matter - his goal had been to distract her long enough to put some distance between them, and he did. Backing away in an upright position, he brought his sword into a ready stance once again.

'What is victory, child?' asked a voice from out of nowhere. Tadashi blinked in surprise and looked down at his blade.

(I have to stop here for now, good night and see you tommorow)

'What do you mean? Are you saying i'm weak and haven't the means to obtain it?' replied Tadashi in his own mind, now oblivious of his surroundings. Though inwardly delighted to establish contact with his zanpakuto, he was not pleased of the supposed insult.

'Victory is overcoming your opponent in battle and clinging onto your life, victory is the moment your opponent can no longer battle...victory is not, however, what your pride dictates it to be.

'And what's that?' he answered, thoroughly annoyed. To him, winning a battle, whether it be a friendly spar or the killing of a Hollow, was something that gave one superiority and respect. Indeed, it was, so he could not fathom why his zanpakuto disagreed with this statement.

'Why did you not kill her when you had the opportunity?' the zanpakuto suddenly asked. This threw Tadashi off balance for a moment as a shiver suddenly went through his body.

'What are you talking about?' he repeated for the third time.

'Instead of that Hado you used, you could have struck with your sword or used a stronger spell. You could have heavily injured if not killed her,' it explained patiently.

'Why in the name of all that is sacred would I do that? I'm not here to kill her, and certainly not with an underhanded tactic like that. It would be the most dishonorable thing I could do; and utterly without reason, on top of that. Why would you suggest such a thing?'

'This woman is stronger than you, and your heart burns with rage whenever you realize that she's superior, that she is the teacher and you are the student. Killing her would uphold your pride, would it not? So why did you deny yourself this victory, this pride? Why before when your being was set into obtaining victory did you angrily charge forward with the intent of killing her, and then stop?'

Tadashi started to to think his zanpakuto had begun to contradict itself at one point,' What is this nonsense you speak? Are you telling me I must control my anger? Are you telling me I should obtain victory at any means? Are you telling me to kill her for no reason?'

'What is important to you? Your pride, your honor, or your idea of victory in battle? In truth, you should dispense with such things. Pride does naught but feed anger and greed upon knowledge that there are so many that are your superior. Honor is nothing but a weakness in battle that drags you down; instead of making a fatal blow when you had the opportunity, you stepped back because it was a dishonorable thing to do. Victory...victory is retaining your own life after a battle - overcoming your foe is and always should be secondary to this objective.'

Tadashi paused and let the words soak in. He shook his head, confused, and tried to relive the harsh statements to understand them better. To his surprise, the words held merit, despite going against what he believed in.

"...Sorry to keep you waiting," he finally stated aloud, grasping the his sword blade and pointing it forward at Eriko," I'd like it if you could do me a favor and come at me one more time, and with everything you have."

[If it didn't make sense, my defense is that it sounded better in my head. A yup.]

"Bakudō #21: Sekienton!" shouted Tadashi. An explosion spontaneously occured underneath his feet and smoke billowed everywhere, making it difficult to catch sight of him within it. His voice immediately sounded again in response to the bars of light heading towards him, "Bakudō #39: Enkosen!"

The shield blocked the bars of light, and Tadashi quickly moved away from the area the Tsuzuri Raiden was about to impact. He had to be especially careful thanks to Eriko's special ability, and Tadashi knew as well as Eriko probably did that to fight her without his Shikai obtained would take every trick in the book. Just to be safe, as he moved away from his initial area, he cast another Sekienton to further cover his movement.