Thousand Cherry Blossoms

XXI

He resorted to punching. Izuku pushed his hand away.

He screamed.

A thin, very thin, nearly unseen aura covered his body. His blue eyes turned silver for just a split second. But that split second was enough.

Izuku was startled and Shoto, not noticing, swung his katana at him. A trail of visible cold air followed the swords path.

The katana hit his mark this time. A cut appeared diagonally across Izuku's chest. Blood fell from the wound.

"Izu-" Shoto stuttered and looked at his blue blade dyed red at the tip. His already thin veil of Reiatsu started to become thinner and fade.

"Don't let that feeling fade away." Izuku copied what Sen said, on his orders, and relayed it to a thoroughly confused Shoto.

"What?" Shoto asked. He looked between the tip of his sword and Izuku. His veil Reiatsu started to fade before disappearing.

"Remember that feeling, that strength, that power. Don't forget."
Izuku, again, relayed Sen's message without questioning him once. It was because, just like Sen now, Izuku had also realised that there laid a dormant potential inside Shoto, waiting to burst through like a dam.

This was not possible for a human. Shoto was thoroughly a human.

"wait..." Sen inwardly thought, "I had noticed this a long time ago but staying close with Izuku when the two were children may have caused Shoto's miniscule amount of Reiatsu to break through the barrier that keeps human from accessing the world of monsters. Izuku's Reiatsu must have affected Shoto's and influenced it to some degree."

He crossed his hands, "But an ordinary human, not from a lineage, should not have such a strong Reiatsu. And Shoto's Reiatsu is strong, albeit unrefined and barricaded. But why does it resemble.... Ah, I see, Hisashi. So there was another reason for that process."

"Let's go again, Shoto." Shoto dumbly nodded. Izuku rushed back at Shoto and this time Shoto was on the defensive.

"When cornered, even a prey could become a predator. Will you become a predator or remain a prey."

Clang

Shoto defended himself but was still pushed back. Izuku sighed. No one here could give him a fight. Shoto was good but the gap between them was big. Hisashi was like a sky he could only glance at.

And Vlad was like the sun. He would burn his eyes if he gazed upon his full strength.

Izuku glanced at Mayumi. She was an unknown variable. He did not know her true strength but he could see there was something different about her.

The next hope Izuku had of a good challenge was U.A but that was still a bit far away.

Izuku looked back into Shoto's determined gaze and decided he would help Shoto become a challenge.

He jumped back. "Shoto. This is my strongest move. Don't die." Shoto looked shocked but then nodded. If he backed down now, he would go against what the name of Kuchiki stands for.

"Vlad-san. Should we not stop them?" Vlad glanced at Mayumi and then looked back at the two. He clutched Hoshi close and turned her head so she could not see the climax.

"Don't look away, Mayumi-san."

"What?"

A burst of Reiatsu erupted out of Izuku. The blue aura turned slightly pinkish.

He spread his legs apart. He extended his left arm straight at Shoto, as if to aim. His right hand that held Sen was pulled back. The sword was pointed straight at Shoto in a thrusting motion.

Shoto felt a chill crawl up his spine. "So this is you at your current strongest, huh brother?" He closed his eyes, "I'm still weak. I will not withstand this attack..."

He snapped his eyes open, unnoticed by Shoto, his blue eyes again turned silver.

"I will pour all of my strength in this. My strongest defensive move."

He screamed and put both of his hands on the ground. A silvery aura, very thin, licked his body.

"Aaaaaah!" In an instant, a wall- no, it was too unique to be called a wall. It was a large gate made of white Ice that appeared out of the ground. It resembled a classic Japanese gate made out of wood but instead of wood it was all Ice.

"Brace yourself, Shoto!"

Izuku thrust the blade forward and hundreds or maybe thousands, Shoto could not tell, of petals danced onwards in the direction of the blade.

They swirled in the air as they flew towards Shoto. From Mayumi and Vlad's view it looked like a pink horizontal pillar. That just proved how dense the petals went.

They hit the only defence the vulnerable Shoto had. The petals that hit the wall shattered but the wall started to break.

The gate did well to withstand the power of a Zanpakuto but that was the limit of a quirk.

Izuku let out a cry of power and the gate started crack more and more until it eventually broke.

The petals pierced through and the gate crumbled and started to fall. The petals rushed towards the panting Shoto and cut him all over his body, missing all vital spots.

Shoto screamed and fell unconscious due to excessive quirk usage. His skin was pale.

Izuku stood panting. Sweat dripped from his forehead. He fell down on one knee. His katana shattered into petals and floated away in the wind.

Mayumi and Hoshi rushed towards the two while Vlad look at the training ground. How would he explain their injuries to Madam Rei. He sighed.

Senbonzakura watched over Shoto with a thoughtful expression hidden behind his mask. He was invisible to all, including Izuku.

"This boy has potential." He muttered. "They would be perfect for him." He concluded.

"Alas, there are much more pressing matters to attend to soon." He looked back at Izuku.

"It's time for him to step into the world of adults."