Lee vs Zassou

It was a perfect day. There was barely a cloud in the sky, and the heat with cool-breeze combination reminded Lee of a cool day in the summer-time in the human world. Lee was closing his eyes as he drew, taking in all of the aromas around him, letting it inspire him. He wore his shinigami robe, like always, along with some dark-brown sandals. He kept his bed-headed hair, (he barely ever arranged it to look nicely anymore) which grew to be part of his style. It was still slightly spiky, naturally, but frizzy and angled down.

Lee had been fidgeting with his pen and book, like he always was. He sat solemnly and quietly in the middle of the large training concrete training ground. It was surrounded by buildings, which made it the perfect place to train his squad members in secrecy. Today, however, it would not be a member of his sqaud that he would be working with. A member of the 4th squad named Zassou Okugi had challenged him to a battle. Lee didn't mind, this was one of the only quiet places that he could find, and he had been waiting for a good battle since he had come to soul society. He had really only gotten to his rank based on his special, unmistakable skills.

His battle tactics were great, but had rarely ever been tested before. He had heard that the 4th division captain was somewhat quick, and had an arsenal of techniques. Lee felt he could use some speed training, for he didn't know how fast he could truly respond to things in battle, especially against a fast man such as him. He basically had a lot of potential as a captain, but needed to gain a solid reputation. He would have to beet up on his inferiors without going into bankai, in order to show Soul Society that he was capable of his position.

He had been here for hours, just drawing. It was really, surprisingly, only on one picture, though. The page was heavy with ink, different colors and different patterns. Layers and layers all on this one page. Layers and layers gone to one line. But it was all so worth it. Anything it took to create pure art, in Lee's mind, was up for sacrifice. Anything: Food, water, shelter, and even human beings. Lee could be cold-hearted when it came to achieving great art.

Lee could feel the power emitting from one side of the large stadium, and knew it was the man who had challenged him to a spar. Lee still had to keep his eyes closed until this drawing was over. When he finished, he took a deep breath and closed the book, without even looking at the page after completion. He turned around, and looked to see if he could find the vice-captain.

A soft breeze blew over the tree tops, rustling the leaves and sending a few floating down to the ground. Zassou walked with a confident stride, his hand resting on the hilt of his Zanpaktou. His robes wavered in the wind a bit as he walked. The white pony tail that usually rested on his chest blew in the breeze behind his head, moving to and fro as if of its own mind. Both arms were wrapped in cloth, hiding the blue tribal tattos that spiraled down his arms. His feet were bare foot, also wrapped in cloth. Zassou liked to keep the sandals off so that he could move faster when fighting with no hindrance.

Lower ranked Shinigami waved to him as he walked by and Zassou gave a small wave back. Many people disliked him for his attitude but there were a select few who didn't mind him. Everyone knew Zassou was up to something. The way he held himself gave them the impression that he was on important business. In actuality he was only going to have a friendly fight with the Second Division Captain, Lee Kazura. Zassou allowed a small grin to creep across his face as he moved closer to the training where grounds where Lee told him to meet him. The prospect of a challenging fight always excited the Lieutenant.

Kuromassu was ready for a fight, Zassou could feel it. It had been days, if not weeks, since he and his Zanpaktou had had a good fight. Both of them were excited, Zassou for finding a challenger and Kuromassu for the prospect of blood. Yawning loudly, Zassou ran his fingers through his hair and stared at the sky. It was a beautiful day, perfect for a spar. The breeze was just right and the sun was in the perfect position so that it wouldn't get in their eyes while fighting. Just a wondrous day, in Zassou's opinion.

The buildings that surrounded the training grounds came into view and Zassou quickened his pace. He knew that the man he was fighting had a unique ability, one like none he had ever seen before. It would be interesting to see how the Captain fared against his own unique fighting style. Zassou was used to fighting close ranged and with using his Shikai, due to sparring with his Captain, Faust, on many occasions. Hopefull the Captain he was going to fight would be able to keep up with his immense speed. If not then Zassou would blow him out of the water.

Stepping into the training grounds, Zassou laid his eyes on the Captain. The man was drawing, of all things, and even had his eyes closed. Zassou didn't know how he managed to draw without looking but put it out of his mind. That was a question for a later date. After standing there for a few more minutes, Zassou started to walk towards Lee, a grin spreading across his face as the man rose and looked at him. Laying his hand back on the hilt of Kuromassu, Zassou let out a faint chuckle and waved with his free hand.

"How are you today, Lee? It's good to see you ready for our fight." Grinning more, Zassou drew Kuromassu and slid fluidly into a fighting stance, his blade held with one hand across his chest, guarding it from attack. He would let the Captain make the first move, so he could analyze his speed and adapt to it. Things could get interesting quick and Zassou was ready for a good fight. Lee wouldn't let him down, he hoped, since the man was a Captain afterall.

Lee smirked, while slowly putting his book into a pocket on the inside of his shinigami robe. Lee noticed how the man had already taken out his zanpaktou and gotten into his fighting stance, after asking Lee how he was. Perhaps, the vice-captain's impatience would be his weak point. Or maybe he wasn't impatient at all: maybe he was just eager for a battle, as Lee was. At least he wasn't attacking this quickly: that would make Lee laugh. His eagerness aside, Lee could sense that this man was very powerful, as well as his blade. Lee would fully analyzed this man, before he would speak a word or draw his zanpaktou.

From what he has showed so far, eagerness was not even a valid personality trait. Lee actually could not read his personality thus far, which was a bad thing for him.Mental dominance over an opponent often gave Lee confidence enough to overcome his opponents. This man, however, was showing no sort of personality trait. His grin only showed that he loved to fight: as with most shinigami. He looked to be around Lee's height, and he had blond hair.

The favorite thing that Lee found about this man was his zanpaktou. It was black. Lee's zanpaktou was black, in released form. He hadn't yet met another shinigami with a blade like this one, and he was quite excited to see the abilities that would come from this man. Since Zassou barely put any of his personality into his word choice, Lee figured he would do the exact same. He extracted his skinny, silver blade. This blade was five feet long currently, and would only keep growing. Lee enjoyed skinny long blades such as these, for he had no trouble swinging them.

He grasped his blade with only one hand, then threw it in the air, letting it do a full 360 degree turn, and catching it in the same hand. He then got into his fighting stance, which required him to move back and forth very slowly. His blade was pointing at his opponent, and his other hand was behind his back. He was somewhat of a fencer. Lee closed his eyes and smiled, exclaiming:

"Well, I'm pretty good. It is a beautiful day, anyways!" in a loud voice. "You seem quite ready to move things along, so let's do so, shall we?"

Lee smirked. His adrenaline was leaking out, for he hadn't had a real battle in years. Although this was only training, technically, Zassou and Lee both seemed to have a mutual understanding about this battle. They would go hard. Seeing as Zassou extracted his blade first, but didn't do anything, he must have wanted Lee to move first. Lee would confide to this, although it seemed unfitting. He swung his blade in his hand one last time, than began to run at his opponent. He was only running about half of his full speed, which he suspected to be only slightly less than his opponents. Lee was fast, but Zassou seemed to be known for his speed. Lee was about to find out why.

As he got closer to the vice-captain, he changed his footing a bit. His speed increased the second before he jumped at Zassou. Lee had jumped high on purpose, so as to do a front-flip to get behind Zassou, and send a downward slash at his opponents right arm. This was Lee's usual opening move, and it usually threw people off quite a bit, and hit them. Lee hoped for different things here. He knew, actually, that he was going to get something different. Lee was either about to get a taste of the vice-captains speed, (which he needed to get used to), or his strength. Or maybe he would receive a combination of both.

Zassou stood waiting for the man to attack for what felt like hours. Lee took the time to put his book away and analyzed Zassou for a few seconds. Yawning and starting to bounce from foot to foot with him impatience, Zassou let his grin slip a moment. He liked things fast paced and upbeat. It was what made being a Shinigami fun. The fast fighting, death happening in a split second. Everything was fast paced in the life of a warrior. Rubbing the back of his head with his free hand, Zassou let his eyes slide over the other man. Brown hair topped a strong face that held wisdom and they were around the same height. Things could get interesting with this man quickly. Both of them were built for speed and Zassou had heard good things about the other mans speed.

"I would like that. Now come!" Zassou grinned more and twirled his sword around once. The black blade moved so fast it was like there was only a thin black line in the air. Bringing it to a halt again firm in his grip, Zassou moved back into his fighting stance, watching Lee slide fluidly into his own. They both had very different ways of fighting, one using some type of fencing while the other used more of a quick slashing. Zassou was prepared for an attack, since he knew one was coming soon. Lee rushed at him and as he neared Zassou, the other man sped up and flipped completely over Zassou, landing behind him. Zassou let his instincts take over and moved with his natural speed out of the way of the sword that came slicing down towards his shoulder. His body was like a blur when it moved, in one place at once and then in another. It was almost as if he had shunpo'd although he handn't.

Smiling at Lee, Zassou rushed at the man with a little under half speed. His body could be seen easily and his sword was held in his right hand firmly. Nearing Lee, Zassou jumped from one foot to the other quickly, trying to throw his opponent off and swung his blade fast at Lee's left side. The blade was once more a blur, moving with almost all of Zassou's speed. It wasn't a very hard attack though seeing how he had barely put any strength behind it. Speed was the way he faught and using strength might hurt the Captain a bit if the hit landed.

Lee grinned, and almost burst out in laughter. His excitement was growing, as he not only marveled at Zassou's speed, but the potential of this battle. It was now clear why Zassou had been tied to rumor's about speed. Lee wasn't afraid of it, however. He was fast enough to the point where he could at least keep up with this man. He was a captain after all, and he wouldn't give off the impression that this man's speed dwarfed his own. It certainly didn't. As his long, skinny sword swooped down through a blur left behind his opponent, he looked up again quickly. He had to recoil himself back into the battle, and not lose focus or get excited. Lee's entire style was about focus, artistry, and calamity. If he got too excited, he would get reckless and tired.

Lee picked his blade back up into his hand and prepared for an attack. He got back into his original fighting stance. One foot to the next, as Bruce Lee would do. One hand behind his back, and one hand around his long sword. His grip tightened on his cold hilt as he witnessed his opponent moving forwards onto him. He was moving quite fast, but not nearly as fast as he had moved to dodge his slash to the shoulder. This meant that the vice-captain was not going his full speed. By prediction, he was going to speed up in an attempt to throw Lee off. Lee prepared himself for an attack from both sides, by holding his sword straight out in front of him with both hands.

Lee watched Zassou come at him, jumping from one foot to the other. Lee attempted slow down his movements with his eyes, as his sword came swiftly at his left side. Lee quickly moved his blade to make contact with the wider, but shorter black one. The two blades collided, and sparks flew from the heat created by the fast movement. Lee kept the blades at that point for two seconds, so he could test Zassou's strength. Lee pushed back and forth slightly, and automatically registered that he was dominant in the strength department. He had to use this moment to his advantage, for not many other times in a battle did his strength come into play.

Lee quickly parried the strike off. By pushing his blade against Zassou's with all of his force, he made the blade fly away from him. If it were still in Zassou's hand, it would have dragged him out, giving Lee a chance to strike while he was defenseless. Half of a second after the parry, Lee jabbed straight towards his opponents right shoulder.

Both blades connected with a shower of sparks. The sound of metal on metal reverbrated around the training grounds, bouncing from wall to wall of the many buildings. Zassou gritted his teeth and locked eyes with his opponent. This was an essential moment in the fight. The moment when their eyes locked, allowing them to both see into the eyes of the other, the gateway to the soul some called it. Zassou's icy blues stared into Lee's eyes, analyzing him for the two seconds their swords were together in the deadly embrace. Time slowed down around Zassou as he focused his mind on a single flame, something he should have done at the beginning of the fight. More pressure was added to the blade by Lee and Zassou felt his arm give in to the stronger persons attack. Knocked off balance by the sudden parry, Zassou watched as Lee's blade moved towards his right shoulder, quick and deadly as a viper. Time slowed down more as Zassou moved to the left but not quick enough. The other man's sword entered his skin with little resistance. Groaning in pain, Zassou jumped back, the blade leaving his body and a spurt of blood fountained out from the wound.

Zassou moved the arm around in a circle, testing out how bad he'd been injured. Luckily the blade had missed any major nerves so his arm was fine. All functions were normal and even the pain had dimmed down to a dull throbbing due to him focusing on the single flame. The smile on Zassou's face had vanished and been replaced by a hard, cold look that let no expressions go. Everything had become that much more serious when the Captain had landed a hit on him. Using his full speed would be mandatory from here on out and he would have to try to stay away from locking blades with the other man. Spinning Kuromassu, Zassou eyed Lee warily. The man could be unpredictable, what with the odd style he used and the long blade he seemed so fond of. An easy fight wasn't what Zassou had come for and the challenge excited him a bit even though he didn't show it on the surface.

"Looks like the joking is over. I can't afford to play right now since you're strong. Seriousness is the only thing that will keep me from laying in a bed for the next few days." Zassou said in a firm, confident voice. "Lee, don't hold back now. If you do, then you might not make it out of here completely whole."

Zassou finished his small speech and moved with every ounce of speed his training had given him. He reached the other man within seconds, appearing in front of him like a phanton. This time Zassou decided against a straight slash. Something that easy to parry is what had cost him the blood loss he had already received. Switching things up, Zassou opted to punch at the Captain's gut with his left hand while his sword was held ready to block an attack. He was only punching for now to get the feel of Lee's style, having not fully assessed it yet. If things went as planned, he would have the man figured out within three or four more attacks. If not then he would have to think of something else. Shikai was out of the question. He couldn't allow this man to push him to where he had to release, even if the other man was a Captain.

Lee kept from being too overjoyed with the hit that he put on the vice captain. It wasn't often that he was able to use his strength as an advantage over someone, and this hit would help him a bit throughout the fight. It wouldn't really effect Zassou's incredible speed, however, it would effect his swinging speed a bit, as well as his strength. Lee was winning this battle, but he couldn't get to excited, as stated before. Excitement was his downfall, for he had no sort of rage that came out of anger or excitement, from what Lee himself knew. Perhaps he had never discovered it yet, but he was not willing to take the chance. This would be easier once he accessed his shikai, which he planned on doing sometime during this fight. Although he was strong and fast, his true power lied in his shikai and bankai levels. He wouldn't, however, be accessing his bankai. This was only a training battle.

Lee was about to twist his blade into his opponent's skin, but he jumped away right before that happened. Blood splat out from the wound, leaving a third of his blade covered in it. Lee got back into his regular fighting stance. One foot to the next, as Bruce Lee would do. One hand behind his back, and one hand around his long sword, pointing straight at his injured opponent. As he watched Zassou's face, he seemed to grow a bit more serious. Either that, or angry. Lee braced himself for an outrage or something similar. However, his opponent began speaking very calmly. It was firm, and confident, but it was calm. His opponent's mentality hadn't broken down yet: he was still able to keep his cool. This was fine with Lee. He was more of a strategist, and enjoyed a great challenge.

Lee was still in a calm mood, even a little bit happy after he had landed the hit. He registered all of the words in his head, and then opened his mouth to say something. Right as the sound was about to exit his mouth, his opponent seemed to disappear from the spot he was in, and within a few seconds, was already on Lee's gut. Lee had originally put his sword at a low-level to begin talking, and was completely off-guard when his opponent began running. He expected him to come with the same speed as he did before, which was already a little bit hard to follow. But he didn't, leaving Lee completely stunned. The punch hit his stomach, and he felt the imprint of knuckles across his gut. In that second of contact between a fist and a stomach, Lee coughed. The punch, however, was not powerful enough to make him spit up any blood. The speed behind the punch was enough to send him flying 10 feet backwards. He flew through the air slowly, than hit his back on the floor. He stood up as quickly as possible, taking no chances, and using no time whatsoever to rejuvenate. He stood up and sucked up his pain. The pain he was feeling in no way was equivalent to a stab wound, but he would be feeling it for a little while throughout this fight.

"I'm still winning" Lee thought to himself quietly, to keep himself up. He raised his blade once again, not quite ready for shikai so early in the battle. He shook his head, not ready to exchange any more words. He knew that Zassou was serious, and hopefully Zassou knew that Lee was serious as well. He shook his head a little bit, than began rocking back and forth as he usually did. Zassou was serious, which meant Lee had to be. On a forward rock, Lee burst forward at full speed. He was only a few feet away from him, so it didn't take long for him to reach his opponent. He made a large slash, aiming at the left side of his body.

Adrenaline flowed through Zassou's body as his fist dug into Lee's stomach. The feeling of his knuckles sinking into the man's flesh excited him a bit. Landing a hit on a Captain was feat, even for the best of Lieutenants and Zassou viewed himself as one of the best. He couldn't saying he was doing the greatest against this man but he was handling himself fairly well. Lee coughed and Zassou let a small grin flicker across his face before it faded away into nothingness. Dancing from foot to foot after the other man was blown back by the punch, Zassou watched as Lee landed with thud a good ten feet from him. Zassou hadn't realized he had hit him as hard as he had. Twirling Kuromassu around and keeping his eyes set on Lee, Zassou watched as the other man hopped back onto his feet. Getting ready for the attack he knew was coming, Zassou calmed the excitement that had welled up in him and breathed slow and steadily. Getting too excited in a fight allowed a person to become tired quicker and caused them to miss things a calm person would see.

Zassou stood ready for the attack and it didn't take long for the attack to come. Lee rushed at Zassou with superb speed, reaching him in a matter of seconds and slashing his blade quickly at Zassou's left side. Zassou reacted quickly, jumping back and allowing the blade to miss him by a mere centimeter. The air off the blade caused his pony tail to blow wildly. Zassou was a little suprised at how strong the attack had been before he set his mind at attacking back. As soon as his feet touched down on the ground again, Zassou launched himself with all the power in his legs straight at Lee. His speed carried him quickly back to his opponent and Zassou gripped his Zanpaktou with two hand, swinging down hard and fast at Lee's right shoulder.

Thoughts flashed through Zassou's mind as his blade got closer, everything slowed down in the moment. He wondered if it would be wise to release his Shikai soon but decided against it. Going into Shikai would mean he would have to fight at somewhat of a long range so he could use the threads effectively. As long as he didn't release he would be able to hold his own. Releasing would give him the added benefit of having a huge aresnal of attacks though and he would be able to use them to suprise the other man. Time sped back up and the Zassou felt himself getting closer to Lee. He would worry about Shikai when that time came. For now he was content to fight with no release.

Lee didn't think he would make a hit anyways. He understood now that Zassou was smart, and was getting a feel for his sword combat and his style. He understood before he even made the attack that he was going to dodge it: which way he dodged it would be the set-up for Lee's next attack. His powerful blade almost grazed his opponents clothing. Accepting his miss, he let the momentum from his swing carry him forward and downwards. He was at an angle as if he were stalling at a track meet. His opponent had jumped backwards, and Lee could see his feet completely as he landed. Lee was still falling, but very slowly and controlled. Almost a second after his opponent landed, he was back up in the air again, coming down at Lee. This was perfect. As his opponent came down on him, Lee did a front summer-salt as quickly as he could. He had been preparing himself for that exact move ever since he missed. He could feel the wind of the blade coming down on him quickly. Hopefully the blade had crashed into the ground behind him, or at least left his opponent off-guard, like last time.

As he rolled off of his back, he did a 180 as quickly as he could, his long, skinny sword gripped tightly with both hands. With his best agility and dexterity, Lee made a slash at his opponent's left leg. This was the same principal as his last move: use the weight of the other person's sword against them. However this time he was behind his opponent, and he was facing down.

Air met the sharp blade which lusted for blood. Zassou had been expected the man to dodge but he hadn't been expecting to lose his footing a bit from the strong attack. Off balance, Zassou thought quickly and spun around as fast his off balance body would allow him. His icy blue eyes fell on the approaching blade and Zassou cursed before launching his body up and over the sword, landing a few feet away. If it hadn't been for him turning around the blade would have cut his leg open like it was butter. Deciding it was time to pick the pace up a bit, Zassou prepared himself for yet another attack. He didn't want to go all out and end up destroying this whole training area but he would atleast show off more of his power than he had been.

Releasing more of his Reaitsu into the air around him, the surge of power caused Zassou's ponytail to billow out behind him and the bottom of his robes to flutter a bit. A grin split Zassou's calm face as he twirled Kuromassu around, the blade moving at an intense speed. Glancing up at the sky, Zassou noted it was indeed a very beautiful day but this was no time for enjoying the gentle breeze. The pain in his right shoulder had turned into nothing but a dull throb, not bothering him at all. A small sheen of sweat had appeared on his forehead, not insinuating that he was tired but that it was a bit warm out. Zassou could go for much longer before becoming exhausted and even when he exhausted he would keep fighting until he collapsed.

Realizing he had been standing there for over thirty seconds, Zassou looked back at Lee and the grin appeared on his face again. The man across from him truely was a good opponent. This fight was becoming more and more interesting, the fighting more intense and the injuries more grave. Shaking his head, Zassou disappeared and reappeared beside Lee, using a Shunpo to cover the distance between himself and his opponent. He appeared on Lee's right side and and kicked as fast as he could at Lee's stomach. His foot moved as if a blur, a white after image left of the bandages that covered his feet. Zassou had mustered all of his speed for this attack, so as to maybe catch his opponent by suprise and force him to release his Shikai. If this attack landed then there was a high possibility Lee would release Shikai, seeing how Zassou was striking as hard as he could, using every bit of strength and speed he had.

Lee didn't actually expect to miss this one. The factors as the last hit were all but a little bit different in essence. His opponent was struggling with the weight of his own sword, while Lee was striking him with an even lighter one. Somehow, the young Vice-Captain's speed had saved him again. Somehow, although his blade was moving quite fast, the opponent was able to turn around completely and jump from the attack. This made Lee quite angry, as this attack definitely should have hit. He was growing tired of Zassou being faster by just that much. Lee had to even out the stakes a little bit between their speed. Or perhaps he would have to turn the tides for himself. Here he was considering shikai, as his opponent had jumped away. He stayed in his crouched position for a couple more seconds, not feeling threatened by his opponent's presence. As he stood up, he looked his opponent straight in the eye. He saw Zassou thinking for about five seconds, before he began releasing his reiatsu. This seemed a bit reckless for Lee's taste. He wouldn't do something like this for two simple reasons. First reason being Lee's conduct of not getting too excited during fights.

If he raised his reiatsu levels without going into shikai, he would have no artistic outlet. Only one of recklessness or unstableness. Maybe rage. The second reason was that Lee found it easy to predict an attack with reiatsu raised like that. Not only did it foreshadow an attack, but a large energy could be senses, anywhere you go. This made it easier for Lee to defend against such attacks. Luckily, such an attack was coming. His opponent used his shunpo, rather than his immense speed this time. Lee could tell now that he had gotten used to Zassou's style. Before his opponent had even materialized completely, Lee could feel the reiatsu on his right side. Instantly he put his blade out, but the blunt side of it. He would have used to sharp side, but he needed a boost away from his opponent more-so than he needed a cut on him. As he held the blunt side of his blade towards his opponent, he could feel a powerful attack coming on, even though it was just a kick. Lee tightened his grip, and his blade made contact with his opponents shin. The blunt area of his blade, although thin, would not leave any visible damage to his opponent.

As a result of the hit, Lee slid back on his sandals, about five feet. As he came to a slowing stop, he jumped back about fifteen feet. He let out a few in-and-out breaths, but was hardly panting. This battle, although intense, wasn't even halfway finished. His opponent was proving to be as challenging as he hoped he would be: that meant it was valid for him to go full out, as well ass release his shikai. He grabbed the hilt of his blade with both hands tightly, and settled the adrenaline in his body down. As he closed his eyes, colors began pouring in different directions slowly out of his body. Unlike most shikai releases, Lee's did not release that much of a powerful wind, force, or reiatsu blast. The abstract colors began going faster and faster, leading up to Lee calmly saying, "Draw, Suminako". From the bottom of the blade that met the hilt, his blade slowly began turning black. The colors now began flowing furiously, illuminating the entire training ground with an odd reiatsu. Lee's hair began to settle down, and the colors began to diminish. Lee opened his eyes, and the determined look that he had on before entering shikai was now replaced with an uncaring, un-phased one. His sword had turned completely black. Pitch black.

His opponent's blade slightly matched his own, now. Although Lee was determined to get some more blood on there by the end of the fight. Lee took a glance at his opponent, then let his gaze wander from him again. In shikai state, Lee saw nothing with fear. He recognized threats, but only took calm actions to eliminate them. Lee brought his blade up with one hand, his arm extending to an out-straight. He concentrated for a couple quick seconds, than began drawing quickly. Ink was pouring out of his blade, and into thin air. The ink would stay there in thin air until Lee had deemed it ready. Lee's drawing rate had increased rapidly as a captain. The first creature he created, a lion, only took him about four seconds to draw. Lee would leave this creature in mid air until he was finished with the rest. Over a period of about a minute, Lee had created the following ink beasts: two lions, a pterodactyl, a ground hog, and an eagle.

It had taken a bit of his energy, but he would use these strategically to hurt his opponent. With a stomp of Lee's foot, the creatures began solidified in mid-air. They began to come to life: the lions and the ground-hog falling to the ground, and the eagle and pterodactyl flying about thirty feet from ground level. The ground hog quickly began digging underground, and in a few seconds, was underground. Lee stood where he had first made the creatures, and folded his arms. He was the master again. The creator. He let a quiet smirk run across his face, then let it diminish into an un-phased facial expression.

Lee was now quicker than his opponent, and he definitely planned on using that to his advantage. The ground hog and the two birds remained out of touch, and for the most part, out of sight. The two lions, however, began circling closer and closer onto Zassou. Lee began walking towards him. This fight was about to get more interesting, for if Zassou didn't release soon, it would be his short demise. Lee was eager to find out what his opponent's shikai state was going to be like. He couldn't worry about that now, however, for he had to focus. Lee had one hand on his blade, and the other free, like usual. Although this time, he was not jumping back and forth.

Lee could tell the animals what to do, telepathically. He snapped his fingers as a que for the next move. In perfect synchronization, the two lion creatures ran at the opponent, but then quickly jumped away. The lions were only a distraction, for Lee to make his entrance. Using his full speed, he had come at Zassou with his blade out infront of him, aiming to jab right into his opponent's thigh. Lee figured with the speed and the distraction, it would be hard for Zassou to register what had just happened. Lee felt no fear, for he felt he had back-up. And not only were they backing him up, but they knew exactly what Lee was thinking. Lee forgot the feeling of shikai. He began to remember how much he truly loved the feeling.