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Kuro watched as Fuyu's pet vanished in his inferno. A thin grin appeared on his face as he felt his blade cut into his opponent. He watched carefully as Fuyu began to focus his blue flames into a highly condensed orb that quickly solidified. Kuro tightened his grip around the hilt of his zanpakuto, ready for anything that Fuyu was about throw at him. It was then that the man released a powerful kick that sent the ball flying toward Kuro at an incredible speed. He was prepared to just cleave the orb in half when it came into range but once it was only a few feet away the orb suddenly burst into thousands of razor sharp shards. With amazing speed and Kuro flipped his blade around in his hand and forced it into the sand. The wide blade would serve as a shield from the spikes, which crashed into the side of the zanpakuto, melting instantly. Kuro swiftly pulled the blade from the sand and slid into a fighting stance as he faced his opponent, who seemed to be tending to his wounds. "Is it that time already? I was just getting started." Kuro said with a laugh as he watched Fuyu summon his mask. His smile widened as a sense of anticipation began to grow in the pit of his stomach.

He could feel the shift in Fuyu's power as he donned the face of a hollow. "Bring it on!" He screamed as Fuyu charged a cero. Kuro's gaze followed the Vaizard's movements as he moved above him. "Did you expect me to fall for that technique?" He chuckled as Fuyu released a giant blue cero. "You won't be seeing my mask just yet. BANKAI!" He screamed as an orb of light suddenly enveloped him, followed by a powerful wave of fire that shot over the land, turning the sand into a searing wasteland. The air quickly became dry and hot. From within the orb Kuro could be heard laughing as the tip of a blade could be seen extending from within the sphere, and with one powerful slash through the air the orb exploded sending a giant cloud of sand and debris into the air. The cloud was quickly dispersed by Kuro flowing reaitsu that was causing the usually still air to flow violently around him. He was now standing in a deep crater created by his bankai's release. His blade was now thin and appeared to have reached a length of nearly six feet. The zanpakuto was glowing with an intense heat. Kuro himself was now wearing a battered whit long coat. A long chain was wrapped loosely around his torso. Several pieces of what appeared to be bone-like armor covered his shins, forearms, and left shoulder.

"Stage one, Kaen Akuma Boukyaku." He spoke in a whisper as his crimson gaze drifted toward the oncoming attack. Kuro focused more reaitsu into his blade as he prepared his attack. With a powerful upward strike, he released a giant blast of black fire that shot toward the cero. Kuro raised his left arm and snapped his fingers. The blast seemed to react to his movement as the fire split into two separate balls of flaming reaitsu. Kuro began spinning his finger around in the air and the two balls quickly followed suit, both seperating and began spiraling around the edges of the cero traveling toward Fuyu. Once the balls had coiled around and out of range of the cero the two melded back together and suddenly exploded sending a giant wave of fire toward Fuyu. While his attack traveled toward its mark Kuro returned his attention to the cero, which was now incredibly close. He slid into a fighting stance and with one powerful strike he severed the cero in half. The force of the attack pushed Kuro back several feet but he managed to succeed as the two halves crashed into the banks of the fire charred crater. As his wave of fire closed in on his opponent, Kuro pointed at Fuyu which caused the wave to instantly double in speed. "If you aren't careful you will be consumed by the flames of hell."

As Fuyu formed his blade of ice, Kuro couldn't help but smile. "Finally! I was hoping you would fight me face to face. I really am not a fan of long distance confrontation." He smirked as his opponent took care of his attack with ease, the collision of ice and fire sent a loud crackling sound into the air. It was then that Fuyu shot toward him with incredible speed, coming to a stop within only a couple of feet between them, his sword already in motion. His movements are so much faster than they had previously been. I can barely follow his them. Kuro's mind was racing within the mere fractions of a second he had left before the attack would be completed. His body seemed to react of its own accord as he felt himself flying back at the speed of shunpo, attempting to stay out of range of the attack as a wave of ice was released from the blade, thousands of shards flowing together in a wave of disaster. Kuro quickly regained control over his body as he stared at the oncoming wave. He swiftly raised his hand to his face, his fingers curved like claws as he placed them on his brow and dragged them down. Black reiatsu suddenly enveloped his entire face and began to morph and harden as it took the form of a white mask. The vaizard's mask was moslty plain except for a black line running from the eyes to the chin and two curved horns protruding from his temples, the sharp tips pointing upward. Kuro's usual crimson reaitsu began to grow darker until it was a mixture of jet black and deep purple.

As the attack approached him, Kuro's feet made contact with the sand once more as he prepared to confront it head on. With his mask donned upon his face he felt different in some way. His wounds felt as if they were gone though he could still see the burns and shallow cuts that still littered his arms. The sands seemed to shift like rippling water around his feet as he focused his reaitsu evenly through his body. Kuro quickly grasped the hilt of his zanpakuto with both hands and with a sudden surge of reaitsu he vanished as he sunidoed into the cloud of shards. His movements were dramatically faster and everything appeared as if it were in slow motion as he moved. With his long blade he began cutting away at the shards that served as obstacles in his path. Though he was able to cut down most of the icy shards that proved dangerous to him, he still suffered a few shallow cuts along his arms and legs, though he seemed to be oblivious to their appearances. "It's been so long since I have summoned this mask." He spoke loudly, his voice distorted by the effects of the mask. Kuro suddenly appeared several feet behind Fuyu as his reaitsu became focused into the tip of his blade as he touched it to the sand. A ring of fire erupted around Fuyu and quickly began to spiral upward as it began to form a massive twisting inferno. The smoke from the flames slowly caused the sky to blacken. "Nentenkaimetsu." He whispered from behind his mask as the attack took form. As the flames thickened Kuro began to sunido with amazing speed around where his opponent had been. By using Fuyu's reaitsu to determine his location within the twister, Kuro began slashing wildly into the inferno in an attempt to cut his opponent apart. As he sunidoed he left various afterimages that continued to shift from place to place as he attacked.