Learning Swordsmanship.

"Alright, tell us about the world" Ichigo said after everyone finished eating.

"It's a rather large world" Zelretch said.

"Mostly covered by sea, there aren't any particular large land masses that could be called continents, so its all islands. "

"The forces of the world are separated into about 3 different factions, You have the pirates, the World Government and the countries."

"Before you start your condemnation, not everything is black and white" Zelretch said.

Jaina had some words to say about pirates. She grew up on the sea, her father was an Admiral.

"There are both good and bad pirates, some just wanted the freedom that comes with it and they like to go on adventures. And others do exactly what the term implies." Zelretch informed the group.

"The countries are mostly good or neutral, they look out for their own interests. They generally are antagonistic towards pirates but will tolerate their existence as long as they don't cause trouble"

"And finally the World government…" Zelretch said with a sigh.

"They are separated into three facets, the Governing body, the Marines, and the World Nobles. The Governing body answers to the nobles, and the marines answer to the governing body."

"The issue is that the Nobles, called Celestial dragons, consider the world their plaything. They literally take slaves and think everyone else beneath them."

"There are other smaller organizations in each part but you can just ignore them for now, The marines are the biggest threat. There are some good and bad but they all focus on their brand of justice. And they are strong." He said to the group.

"The peak of each faction would be strong even by this worlds standard. There are special abilities you can learn in the world I'm going to send you to, you can choose to come back whenever you want so don't rush"

"I will advise you to not eat one of these so called "Devil Fruits", they changed your very nature and the world may not appreciate that when you return" He warned.

"I also got you guys some gifts, since you are going to be going everywhere by ship….." He reached into his bag and pulled out a miniature version of a wooden ship.

"Just pump some demonic energy into it and it will expand in size, make sure its in the water first. And only shrink it back when you are ready to leave"

"I added some…modifications to the ship…have fun finding them out" He said with a giddy expression.

"Also got you some other toys" He said before tossing a bag to Ichigo.

Ichigo held up an odd glass orb.

"What is this?" Ichigo asked.

"Give it to someone and when they break it, a link will form between you and the target for a few minutes. You can then open a Senkaimon to their location" Zelretch said.

"Focus on it and try to bring it into your hand" Zelretch told the Shinigami.

Ichigo focused on the orb and pictured it going inside of them. It was absorbed by his hand and became a tattoo.

"You can bring it out anything you want by focusing on it again" He said.

"Neat" Ichigo said in response.

"The world is rather large and it's a good place to have fun, if you meet anyone interesting…give them one of those and explain what it does. They can call you if they need help or something" Zelretch said with a knowing smile.

"World's name is Pirate World" Zelretch said before vanishing in a gaudy way.

"Everyone ready to go" Ichigo asked his peerage.

After receiving a nod from everyone, he pulled out his jeweled dagger.

"Open portal to: Pirate World"

The group vanished.

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They came to on a small deserted island, surrounded by an endless ocean. It was actually quite beautiful.

They made sure to pack almost everything they would need in their "bottomless" bags.

They made sure to bring many of the items who's name shall not be mentioned in Jaina's presence while she is in reach of her staff.

They had plenty of supplies and rations to last them years. They could just pick a direction and go.

"Guess I should get our ship ready" Ichigo said, pumping some demonic energy into the tiny vessel and tossing it into the water.

It began to expand into its full size.

The flag on the ship was that of a King Piece from chess and the other pieces around it that represented their group.

They all got on board the ship before the realization sunk in….they didn't know how to sail it.

Well…except for one person.

"heheheheh" Jaina started cackling.

"Call me Captain Proudmoore" She declared to her new "crew".

Time passed and the group were sailing with ease through the calm waters.

Ichigo was currently tied to the mast.

He had no so subtly proposed a mutiny. It did not go as expected.

They had finally made their first contact. It was a navy vessel that approached them.

They steered their ship to pull up right besides the peerage.

"Halt, identify yourself in the name of the world government" The commanding officer announced.

"Just a group of travelers, I am Captain Proudmoore" Jaina said with clear glee In her voice.

The Navy soldiers all looked at the group. Their flag didn't indicate a merchant vessel but it also wasn't like a pirate flag.

"What is your purpose in east blue?" The officer said, he wasn't very strong, but the feeling this group gave off scared him.

"Just seeing the world" Jaina gave a vague answer.

The commanding officer narrowed his eyes. He was running their faces through his memory to see if he could match them somewhere, he couldn't place it and they had yet to break any laws.

A crew of unknown and powerful individuals….he will need to report this.

"Though if you can point us to the nearest island.... we would like to resupply and get our bearings" Jaina said, breaking him out of his stupor.

The Navy Officer thought for a moment.

"We're heading there now, it's a small island with a nice little village named Shimotsuki Village, you can get any supplies you need there. You can follow us" He said with a smile.

"Very well, thank you for your offer" Jaina replied with courtesy.

As soon the ships started to move again, the officer got on his Den-Den-Mushi. They need to keep an eye on this group.

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They didn't get very far before they ran into a group of pirates.

Both the Marine's and their ship were in shouting distance of each other.

"Stay back" The captain of the Marine ship yelled.

"These pirates are dangerous, they are wanted for an assortment of crimes for the total of 8million berries" He said.

The captain had a worried look on his face, his crew were not very strong. He didn't know how many of them would die in the battle.

"Need a hand?" Jaina said to the captain.

The captain thought for a moment, this would be a good chance to see how strong they were exactly…

"The Marines would appreciate any help that is given" The captain replied.

"Sarah, if you would be so kind" Jaina said towards the sniper in the roost.

The eyes of everyone present turned upwards to the redhead girl with an unusual looking gun.

Their jaws dropped when a sonic boom erupted from the barrel and obliterated the pirate's vessel upon impact.

"Shall we proceed?" Jaina said with a smirk towards the Captain.

The captain quickly regained his wits and shouted orders at his crew to keep moving.

"Too strong" He thought while making another call.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, they came up to the small island in a couple hours. It was quant.

The captain said his thanks and the group went their separate way into the village. They just looked around and found a restaurant to eat at. The group were treating this as a mini vacation. They had objectives…but they could also enjoy the small things on the way.

They were just wandering aimlessly until they met upon a man, he was dressed in dojo attire. He had the air of a swordsman.

He saw them as well, he noticed their auras and stature. He could tell, they were warriors. They were strong.

"Would you like to spar?" The man asked Ichigo.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. This was a good chance to understand this world a bit more.

"Okay" He said towards the man.

They followed the strange man to a dojo he ran at the edge of town.

He took two practice swords and gave one to Ichigo.

The group sat down and watched Ichigo as he sparred against this man.

They crossed blades.

Ichigo went for an overhead slash, he was used to just overpowering his opponent.

The man deflected the slash with the least amount of effort, just redirecting the weight behind the blow. He shifted his weight slightly and spun his blade around, it was sitting at Ichigo's neck.

The group wasn't as shocked as one would think. They knew Ichigo, he got by through sheer power. His technique left much to be desired. He had been beaten because his technique was nonexistent.

"Do you know why I won?" The man asked Ichigo.

"Yeah…." Ichigo said quietly.

"Would you like to learn from me?" He asked the boy.

This caught Ichigo off guard. He didn't think this stranger would offer to help him for no reason.

"You're probably skeptical, I can feel it. Anyone in your group can beat me easily. But some of you are lacking in an aspect. And when I saw this….a fire was lit inside me, I wanted to teach you all and see what would happen" He said with a sincere smile.

He turned towards Ichigo again. "In pure power, you could stand up with those at the top of the world."

"But that's not enough, you need technique. You saw how easily I won, if someone was only half as strong as you but was ten time your superior in technique….you saw the consequences." He said again.

Ichigo got on his knees and made a bow towards the man.

"Kurosaki Ichigo greets sensei" Ichigo said.

The man gave a laugh before introducing himself.

"My name is Koushirou" He said with a smile.

"My training is going to be tough, try not to die" Koushirou said. The words made the group's eyes go wide.

The days passed.

Ichigo was doing his warmups, a thousands swings with his practice sword. He wasn't allowed Zangetsu until his training reached a satisfactory level.

He relearned everything about the blade.

The thrust, the slash, the parry. He had repeated these actions tens of thousands of times in the past few days. The group was content with their current situation. Koushirou was teaching everyone certain techniques that were of this world.

After the group came to trust the man, they told him of their origins. He was surprised to say the least.

He taught the group specifically about haki and the Marine power called Soru.

He noticed some flaws in their fighting styles and was trying to fill them.

Saber learned Soru, she was fast but it wasn't enough to match some opponents she met. She took to the ability with ease, though it was inferior to Shunpo it was still a very large improvement.

She had tried to add Busoshoku haki to Excalibur…it did not work too well. Excalibur was too special, it refused to be coated and covered. When she had revealed the blade before kenshirou…he had wept. He saw his daughter again among its light.

She could only settle on overlaying it on her body. She took to Kenbunshoku Haki with ease, a warriors battle instincts were very much aligned with how it worked. And lastly…she awakened….Haoshoku Haki.

No one could deny, she had the disposition of a King.

Yoruichi ignored Soru and Haoshoku, she focused purely on Busoshoku and Kenbunshoku haki. She came into them quickly.

Jaina was taking to everything but Haoshoku. She couldn't develop the necessary disposition it required. She was able to move much faster with soru, but it was not able to match the likes of Saber. Same with her Busoshoku since she was not a melee fighter, but her Kenbunshoku was atleast on par.

Tier Also ignored Haoshoku and Soru. She was decent at both Busoshoku and Kenbunshoku.

Orihime was the oddest. She couldn't use Busoshoku, or Haoshoku. But her Kenbunshoku was the best in the group. She also learned the beginnings of soru.

Naruto and Sasuke had the same experience. They tried to use Kenbunshoku, but it fought with their other sensing abilities and created a sensory overload. They learned Busoshoku and soru and ignored the others.

Sarah was ecstatic, her bullets got stronger with Busoshoku. She learned a little bit of Kenbunshoku and soru as well.

Shirou had a hard time with any of them. He barely learned the beginnings of Busoshoku, soru and Kenbunshoku. Some of his weapons were very finicky with accepting the Busoshoku around them.

Rukia had taken Busoshoku to the highest level of the group, it was surprising considering her petite form. It was her biggest weakness, her lack of raw strength. She did learn a bit of Kenbunshoku as well to keep up with everyone.

The weeks turned into months. The group was having fun, they spent time together, trained together. It was calming. The environment they chose to get stronger in was what they needed. Peace and quiet.

Ichigo slaved away at his training. He went through the basics of swordsmanship and then sparred with his sensei.

He never learned any techniques, he was forced to refine his already existing style. He was slowly turning from a brawler to a swordsman.

As more days passed, Koushirou finally pulled him aside to learn his final teaching.

The whole group watched.

They stood below a tree. A single leaf fell down.

Koushirou drew his blade, his aura changed…it became sharper. It was slow, he slowly moved the edge of his blade towards the leaf. Without any force, the blade cut through the leaf like butter.

Ichigo understood what he was being shown. What he had been working towards these past months to achieve.

Something inside of him finally clicked. It was the intention to cut.

He always swung his blades like sharp pieces of metal. He never focused so much on the cutting aspect before.

"Sword intent " Kenshirou said to the group.

"It's the intent behind your blade"

"Every action with your blade needs to have intent behind it, otherwise its meaningless" He said to his apprentice.

"Without the intent, your blade becomes predictable, it's a jumbled mess that's easy to beat. It lacks any sort of technique"

"I needed you to get the basics down before I showed you this. When you utilize your sword intent, you enter an extremely focused state of mind. You pull from all your previous experience to perform the best course of action you set your intent on."

"If you want to cut something, your tens of thousands of slashes you practiced become your foundation"

"In this world, this is the basics of being a swordsman. When your intent reaches the highest of levels, there is nothing you cannot cut." He finished with a smile.

Ichigo stood up and took out his practice blade.

He stared at the leaf falling down.

He focused, he willed his being to want to cut that leaf.

He slowly moved his blade towards it. His thousands of slashes he made the past few months, they all coalescence. It was like his blade was being guided to the optimal path and angle to cut the leaf.

It was the same as his sensei, it was cut through with ease.

Ichigo was standing there, his thoughts on what just happened. It took a moment for him to notice that Koushirou had left and came back holding Zangetsu.

Ichigo grabbed his blade for the first time in months. He felt like a piece of him had returned.

"I now consider you a swordsman" Koushirou said to his apprentice.

"And I think its time for your group to move on, find some strong opponents and keep growing" He said to the group whom he had come know.

"Before you leave though, I'll tell you about whats been happening in the world" He quickly said.

Apparently his other apprentice, along with the crew he joined, stormed into Enies lobby and declared war on the world government.

"So if you see my other apprentice….please deliver my dissatisfaction at his recent actions" Koushioru said with a hint of an annoyed smile.

"Roronoa Zoro" Ichigo quietly said to himself.