The competition proceeded in an orderly fashion. Jin'emon Tsubaki defeated his opponent with an overwhelming advantage.
However, even by the end of the first elimination round, Kensei Muguruma still hadn't woken up.
"Why isn't he awake yet?" Kana Azashiro found it strange. The professor had just told them that Kensei wasn't seriously injured and should wake up soon.
"Is this idiot going to oversleep again? The repechage is about to start," Shinji Hirako said, slapping Kensei's face. "Hey, hey, if you don't wake up, you're going to miss the repechage!"
Smack—
After a few slaps, Kensei's face was swollen, but there was still no sign of him waking up.
"What's going on? How can he be sleeping so soundly?" Shinji rubbed his hand. He hadn't held back, but even that didn't wake Kensei up.
"If big brother Kensei doesn't wake up soon, he won't make it to the repechage. I'll go get the professor to take a look," Jin'emon Tsubaki left the temporary medical station to find their Professor by the competition stage.
The matches on the stage were also coming to an end, with Sora presiding over the final one.
Jin'emon didn't interrupt. As soon as the match was over, he immediately went to his Professor. "Professor, for some reason big brother Kensei still hasn't woken up. If he doesn't wake up soon, he won't be in time for his next match!"
"Kensei isn't awake yet?" Sora was surprised. He had checked Kensei's injuries before the medics carried him away. Based on his condition at the time, he shouldn't have been unconscious for this long.
"Is the Healing Kidō of the Central Apothecary this sloppy?" Sora thought to himself.
With injuries of that level, even if he had handed him over to Professor Kobayashi for treatment, he probably would have woken up long ago.
There was a break after the first round of matches. Sora took advantage of this time to go to the temporary medical station to check on Kensei Muguruma's condition.
Upon arriving, Sora first examined Kensei's injuries. The wounds inflicted by Sōjun Kuchiki were all healed.
He lifted Kensei's eyelid and then raised his hand, creating a light source with his spiritual pressure.
"Dilated pupils, absent light reflex..." Sora's expression grew solemn. "Kensei is in a deep coma right now."
"Ah— but didn't you say Kensei's injuries weren't serious, Professor?" Kana Azashiro asked.
Sora nodded. "His unconsciousness was only due to a large amount of blood loss in a short period. He should have woken up quickly after the bleeding was stopped and his blood was replenished!"
"Could it be..." Shinji Hirako thought of a possibility. "Does Sōjun Kuchiki's sword have an effect that causes unconsciousness?"
"That possibility can't be ruled out." Sora checked Kensei's spiritual pressure fluctuations. "This coma wasn't caused by his injuries... There's an abnormal fluctuation in Kensei's spiritual pressure. It's caused by an external factor."
"I'll go ask Sōjun Kuchiki," Shinji Hirako left the temporary medical station.
Sora grabbed a medical kit from the room and drew a sample of Kensei's blood.
As soon as the blood was drawn, Sora's keen spiritual sense immediately detected an abnormality within it.
Sora added a certain catalyst to the extracted blood. A pale white liquid soon precipitated out, floating on the surface of the blood.
Just then, Shinji returned with Sōjun Kuchiki.
"Lord Kuchiki, can your Zanpakutō inject an overdose of sedative into an opponent?" Sora swirled the blood sample. More and more of the pale white liquid appeared.
Sōjun Kuchiki shook his head. "The pollen scattered by Senchidō can cause allergic reactions, but it does not have a sleep-inducing effect. Besides, I did not use the pollen in that fight."
Sora was a bit surprised. Sōjun Kuchiki was quite forthright, actually revealing his Zanpakutō's ability directly in front of his disciples.
Sora said, "Kensei's blood contains an overdose of sedative. This is a common sleep aid. The sedative is the reason Kensei is sleeping so deeply."
"Then it must have something to do with the people from the Central Apothecary. Other than us, they were the only ones who had contact with Kensei," Shinji said with contempt. "Sōjun Kuchiki, did you bribe the people from the Central Apothecary?"
"Could it be that you were scared? Scared that after seeing Kensei learn Shikai, he'd fight his way back from the loser's bracket and defeat you!"
Sōjun Kuchiki's expression became very serious. "I swear on the name of Kuchiki—I, Sōjun Kuchiki, have absolutely not committed such a despicable act!"
"If I am to win, I will only do so honorably!"
Seeing his serious demeanor, and considering that Sōjun's reputation was generally positive, Shinji's suspicions were mostly dispelled. However, he still said, "If it wasn't you, who could it be? There aren't many people qualified to bribe the Central Apothecary. They only serve the nobles, right?"
"This matter has nothing to do with Lord Kuchiki. You all should just prepare for your next matches. I will get to the bottom of this," Sora said.
He already had a guess in mind. This was most likely the work of the Tsunayashiro family.
To avoid putting too much pressure on his disciples, Sora hadn't told them about the Tsunayashiro family's contention for the position of Swordsmanship Department head.
After Sōjun left, Shinji asked, "Professor, will it be a long time before Kensei wakes up?"
Sora nodded. "The concentration of the drug in his blood is too high. It will take some time to clear it out, but the loser's bracket is about to begin."
Separating a drug that had already been absorbed into the bloodstream was delicate work; it couldn't be done in less than an hour or two.
The fact that Katori Sora was skilled in Healing Kidō had already spread. The person who targeted Kensei would not have overlooked this point. This method was crude but effective.
"Looks like big brother Kensei is getting knocked out in the first round again," Jin'emon Tsubaki said with regret.
Sora also felt it was a great pity. Thinking of all the effort Kensei had put in recently, he decided he had to fight for him.
Kensei had worked so hard to learn Senmai Oroshi precisely to prove his strength in this swordsmanship assessment.
Senmai Oroshi was a very difficult sword technique to learn; even Shinji Hirako hadn't mastered it yet.
Sora found Ayane Kotetsu and presented the tube of blood with the catalyst. "Director Kotetsu, my student, Kensei Muguruma, has been unconscious ever since he was injured."
"After my examination, I found that the reason for his coma is that he was injected with an overdose of sedative."
"This is the sedative I separated from his blood. I ask Director Kotetsu to bear witness."
Sora's words sent a shockwave through the spectators.
"How could such a thing happen!" Ayane Kotetsu's expression changed slightly. She took the blood sample to examine it, though she couldn't identify what was floating on top.
Head Professor Yamada of the Healing Kidō department also came over. After taking a sniff, his expression changed. "What's floating on the blood is indeed a sedative!"
"My disciples were watching over Kensei Muguruma in the temporary medical station. They can testify that no one other than the personnel from the Central Apothecary had any contact with him."
Sora turned his head to look at the director of the Central Apothecary.
"Director Amanokado, could you perhaps explain the reason for this?"
"Did the Central Apothecary act under someone's orders to prevent Kensei Muguruma from continuing in the subsequent matches?"
"Or is it that—the people of the Central Apothecary are so incompetent they don't even know how to use a simple sedative?"
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