Chapter 36 - Preparation Period

The next day Ren woke up, took a shower and then went to the kitchen to prepare the breakfast, and after he was done he yelled "Sakura!! Wake up breakfast is ready".

After a few minute the figure of a sleepy Sakura with a book in her hands could be seen entering the dining room "Good morning Ren..." then she sat and they started eating.

Then after drinking some milk Ren asked "So how is your studying going?" and Sakura replied while pointing at the book "I almost finished reading Introduction to Medical Ninjutsu, and the more I read, the more i think this path will suit me, I have no problem with memorizing lots of stuff, and I think my chakra control is good enough"

Soon they finished the breakfast and Ren then said "Sakura listen, I won't be home for the next month, I will go some isolated place near to train for the last part of the exam, I feel that I need to improve for what is coming" Sakura then nodded and wished him good luck, then she went back to her room to study.

Ren instead went to his room and took the sealing scroll with his supplies for the coming month, then went to his sister's room and said "Sakura, I'm going, remember do not pass all the time studying the book, pass time with your friend and keep training your body and chakra control" to which she replied "Sure, have a safe trip"

And so Ren was out of his house but before going out of the village he remembered something and went in the direction of the Kurama clan mansion, once there in front of the gate was Yakumo with a man with long black hair and a black moustache, he has light-coloured eyes, he is Murakumo Kurama, Yakumo's Father.

As Ren got closer he greeted Yakumo and her father and after chatting for some time he said "Yakumo, I also came to tell you that from today until the next month I won't be in the village to prepare for the final part of chunin exam, so I came to tell you about it and also to..." then all jittery Ren started searching his pocket until he found what he was searching, a yellow hairpin, for and gave it to Yakumo "to give you this, well see you soon" and blushing went away under the murderous gaze of Yakumo's father while Yakumo herself who was staring at the gift with a light blush on her face.

Meanwhile thinking 'Come on Ren you can be in the same room with Pedo-sennin and a psycho Jinchuriki and be somewhat calm, and you run when....' but soon stopped because Ren felt something with his spiritual force but that feeling soon vanished 'Strange what was that? It felt like something was targeting me for an instant' and after another check 'Must be my imagination'

After this small event Ren went out of the village in search for a good place to train, and after searching for a while he found a cave entrance on a small mountain near the village 'This place give me an idea, let's make an underground training ground like the Urahara's one'

And so a day quickly pass and finally with the help of various Kido his work was done, Ren now finds himself sprawled on the ground at the center of his masterpiece admiring the fruit of his hard work.

The training ground is a large room with a ceiling and walls painted to resemble a cloudy sky over a floor of desolate, brown, craggy land dotted with trees and in a more private place Ren built also a small lake to wash and relax himself the water come from an undergound source, Ren of course protected the whole place with the barrier Hachigyō Sōgai (Eight Joined Twin Cliffs).

After resting on the floor for a while Ren decided to seriously start training and so he sat cross legged and put Senbonzakura on his lap and started meditating, soon after a frown formed on his face as the flickering figure of a woman appeared next to him, until in the end he failed,

Then Ren started rotating between Hakuda,Kido and Zanjutsu training, this routine continued until on the fifth day of his training something changed.

We again see Ren meditating with his Zanpakuto on his lap when he suddenly opened his eyes, what greeted his sight was the figure of a tall woman with blue eyes and long, dark brown hair, tied up in the back with a white ribbon in a long ponytail which reaches hes lower back, and a golden hairpin shaped like three cherry blossoms.

She wears a long, light purple kimono with white stripes running down the center and sleeves, which is tied at his waist with a long piece of white fabric that hangs down in two long loops in the front. She wears a red-gold pauldron on each shoulder, which are connected by a golden band with strips of red fabric hanging from it and two interweaved strips of red fabric above it. She wears red, elbow-length gauntlets and red greaves.

She was Senbonzakura in her full materialized form, who looked at back at Ren with a gentle smile on her face and said "You have finally succeeded in your endeavor in materializing me Ren-dono but that was only the easiest part of learning Bankai, now you have to subdue me, and let me honestly tell you, you are not ready yet"

Then Ren got up and draw Senbonzakura from his sheath and said "Well with you trashing me for real this time I'll get stronger faster is it not? But please just do not hurt me to the point I won't be able to recover with Kaido, as we are not in my spiritual world anymore" end up Ren with a slightly scare tone, having flashback of what she did during training in the inner world.

Still keeping the same gentle smile while she tilted her head and formed with some cherry blossom petal an exact copy of her katana form "Well, that just mean that Ren-dono will also get better at Kaido, isn't this a wonderful news?"

And so with a fast Shunpo she appeared behind Ren and swung her sword aiming at Ren shoulder, while Ren turn around and parry the attack and then counterattack with a thrust but Senbonzakura was easily able to defect the blow and once again to a swing, Ren unable to defend himself in time used a Shunpo to retreat.

But he was unable to completely dodge the blow as a horizontal cut appeared on his chest and while the cut was shallow she was still able to draw blood, Senbonzakura then continue with her assault and more and more cut started appearing on Ren's body.

'Shit this can't go on...' then Ren distance himself from Senbonzakura, took his stance and said "Chire(Scatter), Senbonzakura" and soon his katana's blade separates into a thousand tiny, slender blade fragments, which fly away from the hilt, leaving only the sword's handle in Ren's hand, the blades reflect light in such a way as to resemble cherry blossom petals.

And with a swing of his hilt, Ren direct the blades in Senbonzakura direction , and soon she is on the defensive as she dance around with Shunpo evading the blade that keep following her, then she said "You are still not used to my released form, you leave too many opening for me to escape, and another thing while your opponents may not know...." then with the fastest Shunpo yet she appear right in front of Ren, in his Hurtless Area a zone of 85 cm around Ren where Senbonzakura does not cut anything, and swing her katana cutting off Ren's right arm "...I know myself the best!"