"Look at you go, it's almost impressive. How much you suck that is!" I said as I looked down at Tatsuki who was trying to get out of under my foot while I kept applying more pressure to her back and looked at Ichigo who was trying to get back up using his sword as support. "Seriously, if this is how you two hope to go against Aizen and his cronies, I might as well send you guys back home; you would be more useful there."
"You!" Ichigo tried to yell something but, before he could complete his words, he was hit by a swarm of centipede like hollows that dragged him into the air before slamming him down; sending rocks flying around and creating a small crater.
"Simple close combat techniques and Hollow manipulation, that's all I needed to beat both of you." I said with a sigh and looked back down at Tatsuki. "In the terms you guys can understand, I have barely used my Shikai and you guys have already been wasted." I said with a laugh before the air around started to feel hotter.
"RAGH!" Tatsuki roared much like the creature her power were based on and basically became a pillar of flames, making me jump away to keep myself from getting burned.
"Bankai!" Followed by a huge wave of spiritual pressure from where Ichigo was and the Hollows keeping him down were obliterated as the orange haired substitute Shinigami dashed out of the smoke, a black daito katana in his hands.
"That's more like it." I said with a smile as I sidestepped his slash and kicked him towards Tatsuki.
"But still not good enough."
———————
"I will kill him."
"Not if I beat you to it." Tatsuki growled as she rose from her spot on the ground, her claws digging into the earth as she imagined getting them on Cain's neck.
"How the hell are those things are able to hurt us anyway?! Our spiritual pressure should be too much for low level Hollows' attacks to get through." Ichigo said with a scowl as he sliced the head off of a snake Hollow that tried to bite him.
"He's reinforcing them with his own power before sending them out." Tatsuki growled out. Not simply because of the Hollows she had to deal with but because of the one Hollow that they weren't dealing with.
Even while using just Hollow manipulation, he still wasn't going all out on them.
"You are still a novice with using Bankai Ichigo, and you are still far from being able to face Captain level opponents Tatsuki." Cain's voice echoed through the air. "What you both need is the experience of fighting against different types of enemies and this training is the closest thing we have to that." And then the ground beneath them shook and a giant sandworm-like Hollow burst through, a whirlwind of razor sharp teeth rotating as it chased after them.
"That's the ultimate power of Hollow manipulation, the sheer amount of possible moves I can make. You two need to be able to react to any possible threat, especially since you'll be against Arrancars."
She had no idea what an 'Arrancar' was but she swore that she would burn the first one she fought to crisp for the ridiculous training they had to endure.
'But for now', she thought as she focused a huge amount of fire on her fist and then compressed it even further. 'I will burn this one!'
"Hiken!" She roared as she thrust her fist forward and allowed the compressed fire to be released in a huge ray of heat and spiritual energy that engulfed the entire Hollow, leaving behind only a charred carcass that turned back to shadows.
"Hah, hah, hah." She panted as she wiped some sweat off of her forehead, but she could feel her cheeks hurt from how wide she was smiling.
And then a bull slammed into her from the side.
"Tatsuki!" Ichigo yelled as he dashed towards her, slicing through several Hollows before being intercepted by a hawk-like Hollow that suicide bombed on him.
"Here's another hint. Don't stop to celebrate every weakling you manage to deal with. Don't you Japanese have a saying? If you see one cockroach assume that there is forty or something? It's the same principle." Cain said with a bored tone before appearing before Ichigo and kicking him away. "If you two think that you can keep doing the honor duel bullshit you lot did in Soul Society then I have bad news for you. Our enemies are not the kind of morons who wouldn't jump you if given the chance. How you win doesn't matter as long as you win."
He then disappeared right before a flaming Tatsuki could slam down to where he had been.
Then he reappeared and slammed his elbow into her stomach, sending her away, just before Ichigo came back with his sword cloaked in dark reiatsu.
"Getsuga Tensho!" He swung his sword with roar, sending the wave of black energy at Cain, who simply snapped his fingers and summoned a wall of Hollows in the slash's way; tanking the hit at the cost of their lives.
And then an elephant Hollow fell on where Ichigo was, forcing him to jump away, right into Cain's fist.
"Enough pure power to fight a captain, but your sensory abilities are atrocious." Cain said with a snort.
Ichigo skidded across the ground, coughing as he tried to force air back into his lungs. His vision swam, ears ringing, the world tilting as he dug his sword into the ground to keep himself upright.
His heartbeat was too loud.
"Get up." Cain said calmly. "You're not done yet."
Ichigo growled and pushed himself to his feet.
And then the pressure hit.
Not Cain's.
Not Tatsuki's.
Definitely not Ichigo's.
Something inside him surged violently, his reiatsu twisting in on itself like it had hit a wall and decided to break through instead.
"Gah!" Ichigo staggered, clutching at his face as white bone fragments started to appear across his cheek.
A sliver of a mask formed around his eye.
Cain froze. For just a fraction of a second.
Ichigo screamed and grabbed the forming mask, fingers digging into the bone as he tore it free with a wet sound, ripping it off before it could finish forming.
The fragment shattered into white spirit particles in his hand.
"Well..." Cain scratched the back of his head while Tatsuki could only look with wide eyes. "...I guess the lessons over. I guess it's about time you had some remedial classes on that mask bullshit."
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