Chapter 54: Ania's Bankai
Ania stood with Kanzen Bi at her side the very next morning ready to face off against Mitch who already activated his bankai standing before her in his wolf like form while flames danced all around his body. "Alright Ania activate your bankai and we'll begin" "You aren't going to lose your cool like you did against Tom? "That depends on whether or not you're challenging enough for me" he said smirking as Ania held her zanpakuto above her head "Oh I will be more than a challenge, BANKAI!"
Pink reiatsu engulfed her entire body like a seed before exploding into thousands of tiny pink flower petals as she now stood garbed in her Bankai form "Bi Keshin". "Wow that's quite a change" he said bewildered by her new appearance looking like some kind of goddess reincarnated with her long flowing golden blonde hair blowing gently in the breeze and those usual sky blue eyes sparkling even more brighter like a pair of sapphires so enchanting that Mitch found himself getting mesmerized and lost staring at them.
Ania now wore long white pants adorned with various floral patterns and vines crawling up along with a white shirt that cut off midway down her stomach with the number 10 tattooed on the right hand side made completely out of flowers. Her zanpakuto had transformed into a long sleek spear the length of her entire body adorned with tiny petals decorating all along the shaft of the spear and tiny thorns near the tip.
"I have to say you look rather stunning in that form, kind of makes me regret landing a scratch on your skin" he said with a smirk as Ania hurled Kanzen Bi through the air landing it just centimeters away from Mitch's foot as she glared at him "No more jokes don't be afraid to hold back". Shunpoing with a speed he didn't expect she appeared right in front of him picking the spear up "Otherwise you'll end up being the only hurt because I'm more than fine with landing scratches on your body" she said smiling before vanishing yet again with a gust of wind standing back in her original spot.
"Alright but don't say I didn't warn you!" Mitch roared pushing off the ground charging towards Ania and slicing the air as Ania shunpoed away before reappearing behind hurling Kanzen Bi towards his back as it spiraled through the air at a rapid speed. Spinning around at the last second he caught it millimeters from his face dropping it to the ground and looking back up to see Ania had vanished and appeared below him as she scooped Kanzen Bi up thrusting the speed upwards towards his throat as Mitch moved to the side and brought Ashura down towards her head.
Pulling the spear back Ania managed to lift it up at the last second blocking his strike before rotating it in her hand twisting Mitch's hand causing Ashura to fly from his grasp a few meters away. Disarmed for now he shunpoed back shaking his wrist "Not bad you've managed to grasp how to utilize that spear in a short amount of time" looking over at Ashura he lunged towards it only to find Ania's foot already resting on it and her spear pointed down at his head.
"Fine don't let me grab my weapon for now but I'll eventually get it back" he sighed shunpoing behind as he swung a fist towards the back of her head which Ania easily pivoted away from but didn't expect the follow up kick to come so quickly as he caught her in the side sending her tumbling across the ground. "Told you" he smirked casually sauntering over to Ashura "Destructive Art 1: Thrust" Ania pointed the tip of her finger towards the katana as an unforeseen force sent the blade flying further across the ground as Mitch paused and looked over at her smug smile "You really don't want to make this easy?"
Shunpoing forward he split into three clones leaving them to all race towards Ania reigning a series of rapid punches as she nimbly ducked and dodged her way past all of them. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the real Mitch racing towards Ashura as she twirled Kanzen Bi in an arc knocking the attackers back before hurling the spear through the air as it pierced straight through his chest as the tip exploded out the other end and slammed into a rock further away.
While his body began to fall to the floor Ania thought for a moment she had actually killed him but noticed it was just a clone as it dissolved away before hitting the ground. "Then that means…" she thought spinning around only to find all three clones she had been fighting vanished as well leaving her wondering just where exactly Mitch was hiding.
Closing her eyes she went to sense him out but did not have to wait long as a huge force slammed into her back knocking her face first into the dirt. "Just returning the favor" his voice came from behind as she stood back up and looked behind to find Mitch smirking with two fingers extended before he made another mad dash towards Ashura.
"I can get my blade back finally" he thought to himself dashing towards it only to hear Ania chanting as she had her right hand placed out in front of her. "Nearly there" Ashura just lay a few meters away "Binding Art 62: Hundred steps fence" Ania's voice echoed finishing her spell as a rod formed with pure energy appeared in her right hand. Hurling it straight at Mitch into the air it shattered into numerous tiny rods that pinned him up against a cliff face only inches away from his zanpakuto.
Twirling her spear around Ania slowly walked over towards Mitch a smile across her face as she stood a few inches from him gently slapping his cheek "Seems like I'm beating you pretty badly". "Getting a bit overconfident aren't we?" Mitch smirked back "You still haven't landed a single blow on me" "That can change" Ania thrust Kanzen Bi towards his chest only for a huge wall of fire to erupt in front stopping the tip of the spear in its tracks.
Tensing the muscles in his arms and pulling himself forward the tiny rods began to slowly rip out of the wall. Seeing this Ania tried to push the tip of her spear through the wall of fire but found it was not budging in the slightest just as the rods holding him all shattered. Lunging forward Mitch grabbing Ashura off the ground and spun around slicing across Ania's right arm sending her blood spraying into the air and splattering onto the ground as she stared stunned at what had just happened.
"I said you were being overconfident" he slung Ashura over his shoulder as Ania pointed the tip of Kanzen Bi directly at Mitch a swirl of pink and black reiatsu beginning to form. "Juunsui Yuga takes a while to charge up for a powerful attack doesn't it?" "Not in my bankai form" Ania knew this would catch him off guard as the energy blast exploded into his chest sending him flying back onto the ground a smoke trail slowly wafting up from his body.
"In my bankai form I can use the full power of a Juunsui Yuga blast instantly" she watched Mitch slowly stand up a black burnt mark across his chest while he simply grinned at her eyes glowing red "I can't wait to see them all". Gripping Ashura tightly he leapt towards Ania his zanpakuto arcing down through the air leaving a trail of fire behind as Kanzen Bi was swung around both blades clashing midair showering sparks everywhere.
Pulling both blades back Ania was the first to attack this time as Mitch met her blow before they Shunpoed away and reappeared up in the air locking blades together. Vanishing away they darted across the battlefield exchanging a series of rapid blows neither one breaking through the others defense to land a hit before they leapt back on opposite ends.
"You know I didn't expect it to be this hard, you've improved a lot Ania" Mitch said slinging Ashura over his shoulder while Ania bowed at his compliment "Why thank you, I had a very good teacher". "While I appreciate the flattery, it won't get you anywhere in this fight" a huge pillar of flames rose from the ground circling around him as Ania felt his reiatsu begin to shoot up "Guess I better match his power otherwise I'll be ground into dust" she thought to herself flower petals bursting from around her "Now that's what I'm talking about" Mitch said with a grin.
Slashing Ashura through the air three fireballs came racing out as Ania shunpoed past each of them, holding Kanzen Bi up in the middle with both hands she began to twirl the spear as the petals attached up the side disconnected and flew towards Mitch. Piercing into his arm a tiny trickle of blood began to drip out as the petals were lodged firmly in, pulling them free there was a sharp stabbing pain shooting throughout his body as he dropped down to his knee's roaring out in pain.
"While the petals may look harmless and do no physical damage they contain high amounts of venom which in large doses is lethal to any opponent" Ania stood next to Mitch as he coughed up dark red blood spitting it onto the dirt as his body collapsed to the ground and began to convulse. "If you give up, I'll hand you the antidote" Ania crouched down next to him watching him shake and yet he didn't speak "Come on even you can't handle poison".
"Stubborn idiot is going to die at this rate" Ania thought to herself about to hand him the antidote only to see the tattoo's covering his body begin to glow a bright red colour and steam waft off as slowly Mitch stood up completely fine and all the wounds fully healed.
Ania stood bewildered "How the hell did you do that?" "A technique I developed where I pour the reiatsu that is stored in my tattoos into my body and use it to heal any injuries I have". Sweat was dripping down his body though as he dropped down to one knee breathing heavily "It's a double-edged sword though as it consumes a lot of reiatsu and so I'm usually left rather drained".
Grunting he stood back up and took a deep breath "Sorry to have to do this but in order to keep our training going I'll have to use this" Mitch raked his hand down across his face forming the wolf looking vizard mask. Black reiatsu and flames roared up into the air as he cracked his neck and rotated both arms fully refreshed and rejuvenated "Alright let's resume" he spoke in a dark echoey wolf like voice as Ania raised Kanzen Bi up on the defense knowing just how much stronger he was in this form.
Elsewhere back in Seireitei Tom was busy sweeping the training grounds at the 9th squad when he felt two huge forces of reiatsu suddenly clash together rather violently. "Woah that's Mitch and Ania duking it out, I wonder if that's how it felt when both him and I were fighting" he thought to himself staring into the distance while he continued to sweep.