Demon in the Cherry Blossoms

The air was crisp, blowing through the empty branches of the many trees which surrounded the quite river, all that could be heard by anyone who just so happened to be walking the streets this late was the occasional chirping of crickets and the steady breeze as it whistled on in it's endless journey into the unknown; for no one knew where the wind went as soon as it passed it's destination. A tall man with hair as black as the night sky ran as quick as lightning through the streets of Karakura; certainly someone in such a rush would attract the attention of the passers-by yet not one person turned their eyes towards the blur of flesh as it zipped past, of course who could expect ordinary humans to be able to see a Shinigami when he's not cloaked in the confines of a false body?


The reiatsu resonating from this being was what drew the stoic man from the comfort of his lavish abode which he had been forced into due to unfortunate circumstances, not only was it powerful but it was an all too familiar a presence for him to ignore; having felt that kind of reiatsu while he was imprisoned behind ironically cold steal bars deep within the bowls of Hell itself, it was unmistakeable to those who have encountered such beings before, assuming they had survived the encounter anyway. Slate gray narrowed eyes focused on nothing more than the path ahead of him, not even the frozen wind bothered him as it assaulted his face and any other patches of skin that happened to be unprotected from his simple black and white shihakusho outfit; only focused on the task at hand and nothing more.

With hasted steps the man drew closer to his target, his hand was on the hilt of Senbonzakura in case he would need to react quickly in the event the Togabito would sense his reiatsu and launch an attack; despite this action rarely would he ever rush into a battle without assessing the situation first, and as such he was usually never the one to throw the first punch. His dignity would not allow him to fall to what he feels are brutish levels, like those of Kenpachi Zaraki or the entire division of Eleven, he would never be able to live with himself should something like that ever happen; just the thought of the battle hungry captain was enough to send the level headed man's blood a blaze, yet none would be able to tell simply by looking at that cool outer shell.

Given Byakuya's excellent speed it didn't take him long to reach his destination, he came to a graceful stop ten feet behind the man in question, arriving just in time to see the source of the strong reiatsu punch a hole in the frozen river; he studied his target briefly before he took a relaxed stance which could easily become a defensive stance should the situation call for him to protect his person from harm.

"What are you doing here?" He asked with a calm yet booming tone of voice, deep yet threatening; his over all tone of voice demanded an answer to his question. He wanted information; he wanted to know why the Togabito had been swarming the city like flies to a fresh carcass, he not only wanted but he needed the information so that he could turn it into the Soul Society and hopefully upon gaining the information he would be able to put an end to these attacks. Standing on the ground firm and ready, preparing himself for a battle he had no intention of loosing; he'd be dammed if he allowed himself to fall and wind up getting caught once more.

With inhuman speed Byakuya had drawn his blade from his sheath and instantly blocked the cleaver like blade with ease, not even a single flinch as he saw the blade aiming straight for his head; always so collected, even in the face of certain doom. Sparks flew forth from the blades as the ground together, the sound of metal against metal echoed throughout the completely silent forest; almost as fast as he blocked the incoming attack he dug his feet into the ground and pushed himself away, dislodging their blades as he put distance between himself and the other male. It seemed he wasn't going to get any answers from him, he couldn't even really make sense of what he was told, but it didn't mater to him; he had been attacked and now the time for talk was over."So you do not wish to tell me anything, very well then."

The distance between the two was now approximately five feet, his stance now one of offense as he prepared his attack; his brain was currently in the process of analyzing his enemy and fixed on finding a good place to start, he didn't want to jump right into using kido so early into the battle, since currently he didn't feel it was needed, so for now he knew he was sticking with melee attacks. With that in mind he knew how to proceeded with his turn; First, he completely hid his reiatsu so that it couldn't be sensed at all, not even a little; Then, with lighting fast speed the stoic captain seemed to vanish in thin air, if you blinked he was gone. Next, he reappeared behind the Togabito with his blade cocked back in a seventy-degree angle with a diagonal aim, slashing at him from his left shoulder to his right hip with frightening speed.

If that attack connected, Byakuya would use that same speed to appear in front of the male and slash in a horizontal aim at his chest, starting from his right side and ending just below his left armpit; and if that attack connected, then he would flash to the male's left and slash from his hip to under his arm. However if his first attack failed to connect Byakuya would draw back his blade and prepare to defend from the return blow. His attacks would do moderate damage if they made contact, but the injuries would not be serious; he was just aiming for the quickest way to disable and destroy his opponent in the shortest amount of time possible.