Ayane Kotetsu came to the office to find Katori Sora and Sōsuke Tanuki, handing them a document.
"Professor Katori, Professor Tanuki, these are the regulations for the upcoming swordsmanship assessment."
Katori Sora and Sōsuke Tanuki took the document and read over its contents.
A moment later, Sōsuke Tanuki exclaimed, "The quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals will be held on separate days? And the captains of each division are invited to observe?"
Ayane Kotetsu nodded. "That's correct. So I'll have to trouble you, Professor Katori and Professor Tanuki. You will need to serve as the hosts and referees for these matches."
Sora had no objections, as he had served as a referee last time. However, he had another question: "This swordsmanship assessment... it's a live blade match?"
"The participants are all students. Using live blades seems a bit too dangerous, don't you think?"
Ayane Kotetsu sighed softly. "This was decided by Vice-Director Tsunayashiro."
"This competition is related to the selection of the head of the Swordsmanship Department. To ensure the fairness of the match, I invited the division captains to observe."
"But Vice-Director Tsunayashiro also invited many nobles to watch, and they requested that the competition be changed to a live blade match."
This was Vice-Director Tsunayashiro's counterattack. Under the watchful eyes of the division captains, he certainly couldn't manipulate the results behind the scenes.
However, he believed that as long as it was a live blade match, no student could possibly defeat Sōjun Kuchiki.
Sōsuke Tanuki was speechless. "Is this still a swordsmanship competition?"
The implication of a live blade match was that Zanpakutō could be released!
Sōjun Kuchiki, who had already learned Shikai, was unbeatable in the Spiritual Arts Academy. How could this still be called a swordsmanship competition?
Ayane Kotetsu explained, "This was a request from the Tsunayashiro family. They've changed this swordsmanship assessment into a shinken shiai and invited even more people to watch."
"They also brought in the director of the Central Apothecary to be on standby, to prevent any student casualties."
"This proposal received the support of the majority of the nobles, so I was unable to refuse it."
Ayane Kotetsu reminded him, "Lord Katori, this competition for the head of the Swordsmanship Department will likely draw you into an even larger vortex..."
Sora frowned. For the Tsunayashiro family to do this was tantamount to openly declaring that they must have the position of department head.
If he continued to fight against the Tsunayashiro family, it was likely they wouldn't let the matter rest.
But having come this far, there was no reason to retreat.
It would be one thing if his disciples were less skilled, but if they were capable of winning, he couldn't possibly ask them to intentionally lose to the students of Class One.
"Since it has come to this, it all depends on the performance of my disciples. I still have great confidence in their abilities," Sora said.
Ayane Kotetsu and Sōsuke Tanuki couldn't help but admire Katori Sora even more. The Tsunayashiro family was one of the top noble families in the Soul Society, yet he could face them without a change in expression. This was something an ordinary person could never do.
...
"What! The professor made Golden Fried Rice this morning!" Kensei Muguruma's face was ashen.
"Yeah, Professor said that eating Golden Fried Rice brings good luck. My luck in the draw today should be great!" Kana Azashiro said with a cheerful grin.
The opponents for the elimination stage of the swordsmanship assessment were still decided by drawing lots.
"If I had known, I wouldn't have stayed in the academy dorms last night!" Kensei Muguruma wailed.
He was feeling a little panicked right now.
During the last swordsmanship assessment, his luck in the draw was terrible. He drew Sōjun Kuchiki and was eliminated in the first round.
"You idiot, the professor was obviously joking. There's no such thing as a Golden Fried Rice that makes you lucky just by eating it," Shinji Hirako smacked his lips, savoring the memory. "But the fried rice the professor makes is truly delicious."
"You ate it, so don't stand there making sarcastic remarks!" Kensei rolled his eyes.
"I didn't expect this competition to be a live blade match," Jin'emon Tsubaki said with a serious expression.
That was exactly what Kensei was worried about. Sōjun Kuchiki had most likely already learned Shikai. For students like them who hadn't, there was a qualitative gap in power.
"So what if it's a live blade match? I'm still going to take first place!" Kensei quickly adjusted his mentality.
"Let's do our best together! Let's crush the students from Class One!" Jin'emon Tsubaki was also inspired.
"You think you can defeat Lord Kuchiki?"
"Such big talk!"
"Lord Kuchiki is a master who has learned Shikai!"
"I remember you. You're the failure who got knocked out in the first round last time. No wonder you dare to talk so big!"
"Hahahaha—"
Their shouting attracted the attention of the Class One students, who began to mock them.
Kensei said angrily, "What did you say?"
"Silence!" Seeing that a fight was about to break out, Sora interjected.
Sora used his spiritual pressure, and the students in the classroom suddenly felt their heads buzzing, ceasing their quarrel.
He placed the lottery box on the podium. "Will all students participating in the assessment please line up to draw lots."
The students, intimidated by his spiritual pressure, obediently formed a line, and the drawing proceeded in an orderly manner.
Soon, it was Kensei's turn.
"Number 6!" Kensei's heart leaped with joy. That was his lucky number!
"Who is number 6's opponent?" Kensei looked on with anticipation.
The match-up list hadn't been announced yet. The pairings would only be revealed after all the students had drawn their lots.
"What numbers did you guys get?" Kensei asked Kana Azashiro and the others as they returned from drawing.
"I got number 2," Shinji Hirako said.
"I'm number 26," said Jin'emon Tsubaki.
"I'm number 63," said Kana Azashiro.
"It doesn't seem like there's any connection. I hope we don't get paired against each other," Kensei said.
A few moments later, the match-up list was announced.
All participating students drew a random number, then number 1 would fight number 2, number 3 would fight number 4, and so on.
Just like last time, there were sixty-three participants in total, so someone would receive a bye in the elimination round.
This meant the person with the bye was the student who drew number sixty-three!
"I got a bye again!" Kana Azashiro said joyfully.
Kensei felt like he had seen this scene before. A sense of foreboding grew in his heart, and he quickly searched the list for the name of the student who had drawn number 5.
He quickly found the name for number 5.
"It's rigged—this is definitely rigged!" Kensei wailed.
He couldn't accept it. He had drawn Sōjun Kuchiki again!
And it was in the first round again!
It was very likely he would be eliminated in the first round once more!
Shinji Hirako patted Kensei on the shoulder and laughed, "This must be your destined rival, Kensei!"
He was feeling very relaxed. He had already seen his opponent, some random fodder whose name he didn't even remember.
Jin'emon Tsubaki patted Kensei's shoulder and said earnestly, "Make sure you seize your chance in the repechage. Don't get knocked unconscious like last time."
"Kana is so lucky, getting a bye in both competitions. Is this the lucky koi the professor was talking about?" Shinji Hirako stroked his chin.
"The Golden Fried Rice works! It really brings good luck!" Kana Azashiro laughed.
"That's true. The three of us all got pretty good draws," Jin'emon Tsubaki scratched his head. He had also drawn some fodder whose name he didn't remember.
Kensei deeply regretted not eating the Golden Fried Rice.
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