The number of spectators for this swordsmanship assessment was much larger. Although the captains and nobles were not invited to watch the elimination stage, students and Professors from other grades came to watch. Even Director Kotetsu and Vice-Director Tsunayashiro were present.
Furthermore, because it was a live blade match, Vice-Director Tsunayashiro had also invited people from the Central Apothecary to treat the injured students.
The Central Apothecary was a hospital independent of the 4th Division, serving exclusively the nobility.
The scenes of the live blade matches were far more brutal than the previous wooden sword competition. After the elimination rounds began, students were injured in every match, and the people from the Central Apothecary were incredibly busy.
As the referee, Sora had to constantly monitor the situation on the stage to prevent any students from being killed.
Shinji Hirako walked onto the stage. His opponent was a delicate-looking girl.
The delicate girl seemed to be very popular in Class One. She waved to her classmates in the audience, and they immediately burst into cheers, rooting for her.
"I'm so lucky to be able to fight a strong opponent like you, big brother Shinji." Her voice was also very delicate, making the hearts of the watching students melt. "I'm really scared of pain, so could you please be gentle with me~"
"Huh?" Shinji Hirako scratched his face. "Alright then. Let's get started."
He took the bait! The delicate girl was overjoyed. She was about to say more when she saw Shinji vanish in an instant.
Whoosh—
Seeing Shinji suddenly appear in front of her, the delicate girl quickly said, "Wai—"
But before she could finish, she felt a massive shock to her chin.
Thud—
Her chin was struck by the hilt of Shinji Hirako's sword!
The delicate girl's eyes rolled back, and she fell backwards.
"If I knock you out directly, it won't hurt, right?" Shinji sheathed his Zanpakutō.
"Chizuru-chan—" Nozomishin Ōmaeda wailed. "I will avenge you!"
"Why can't I ever draw an opponent like that!" Kensei watched Shinji end the fight so quickly, full of envy and jealousy.
After a few more matches, it was soon time for the match between Kensei Muguruma and Sōjun Kuchiki.
Sōjun Kuchiki was the most famous student in their year. As soon as he appeared, he was met with waves of cheers and applause.
Even the girls from other classes couldn't resist Sōjun Kuchiki's charm, cheering for him enthusiastically.
Kensei felt that Sōjun had stolen all the limelight and was extremely annoyed. "I won't lose to you again."
Sōjun Kuchiki drew his Zanpakutō and said with a faint smile, "Come at me with your full strength. Let me see how much you've improved."
Kensei was enraged by Sōjun's calm tone and quickly drew his sword.
He used Shunpo to appear at Sōjun's side, unleashing a sudden horizontal slash.
Clang—
Kensei didn't choose to overpower him with force. Instead, he relaxed his grip slightly, allowing his Zanpakutō to naturally bounce away, and he followed the momentum of the hilt to reposition himself.
Kensei twisted the hilt of his sword and aimed an upward slash at Sōjun's back.
Whoosh—
Sōjun used Shunpo to dodge the attack and countered with a slash towards Kensei's right shoulder.
"It's a trap, haha!" Kensei had already anticipated the counterattack; the upward slash was just a feint.
Kensei's slash suddenly changed direction, rapidly cutting towards Sōjun.
Pfft—
Both of them used Shunpo to retreat almost simultaneously, creating distance between them.
Blood trickled down Sōjun Kuchiki's arm and onto his sword hilt.
Blood also flowed from Kensei's shoulder, dripping onto the floor.
Kensei had cut Sōjun's right arm, while Sōjun had cut Kensei's right shoulder.
"You've improved a great deal. I underestimated you." Sōjun Kuchiki's expression turned a bit more serious.
During the last swordsmanship assessment, Kensei was pathetically weak, full of openings.
He never expected that Kensei now possessed the ability to injure him.
His rate of improvement was truly terrifying!
One had to remember that he, Sōjun Kuchiki, had not been standing still either. The increase in his spiritual pressure had comprehensively strengthened his physical abilities, making him vastly different from before.
"Could it be that this guy is also undergoing Shikai training? Or maybe, like me, he has already completed it?" Sōjun couldn't help but wonder.
For a Shinigami of his caliber, his speed already surpassed the reaction time of the visual nerves. In combat, he relied more on his spiritual sense to perceive the enemy's spiritual pressure fluctuations to pinpoint their location.
He had sparred with other classmates. Those whose inner worlds hadn't even stabilized couldn't keep up with his speed, let alone harm him.
Shikai training was a threshold. Shinigami who crossed it experienced a qualitative leap in their power.
That's why he suspected Kensei had already entered the Shikai training stage.
The fight continued. The rules of a live blade match were completely different from a wooden sword match. The latter was about scoring points, while the former was far more brutal. A winner was only declared when one opponent surrendered or was rendered unable to fight.
"I told you, I will definitely take first place!" Kensei roared and vanished again with Shunpo.
Sōjun's spiritual sense detected a fluctuation of spiritual pressure behind him. He quickly turned and raised his Zanpakutō to block.
He saw that Kensei had already sheathed his sword.
"Katori Style: Senmai Oroshi!"
In the eyes of the other spectating students, Kensei swiftly drew his sword, and a flash of light erupted.
But in Sōjun's eyes, that single flash was dozens of sword swings overlapping!
Sōjun rapidly swung his own Zanpakutō, and dozens of sharp metallic clashes rang out in succession.
Clang clang clang ding clang clang—
The relentless barrage of sword strikes made Sōjun's heart sink.
Too fast!
Pfft—
A bloody hole appeared on Sōjun's shoulder and another on his abdomen.
The cheering from the crowd instantly died down. They never imagined that Sōjun Kuchiki would be the one at a disadvantage.
"Is that all the top student of Class One has got? Go, Kensei!!!" Kana Azashiro yelled.
"Keep it up!" Shinji Hirako couldn't help but cheer as well.
"Go, big brother Kensei!" shouted Jin'emon Tsubaki.
The Professors in the stands were also in disbelief. Sōjun Kuchiki, who was supposed to dominate everyone, had actually fallen behind.
"Professor Tanuki, this Kensei Muguruma is Professor Katori's disciple, right? What was his result in the last assessment?" Ayane Kotetsu asked.
"Kensei Muguruma... let me see..." Sōsuke Tanuki wasn't a Professor for this year's students, so he only remembered the ones who made it to the top four. However, he had the previous year's result sheet on the table, and he immediately picked it up to check.
He first looked for Kensei's name in the top eight list but didn't find it. He then checked the top sixteen, and it wasn't there either.
A moment later, he found Kensei's name among the losers of the elimination round and couldn't help but exclaim, "Kensei Muguruma was at the bottom of the ranks in the last competition!"
"He was eliminated in the very first round!"
Yamada stroked his beard and mused, "I remember now. Kensei's opponent in the last assessment was also Sōjun Kuchiki, wasn't it..."
After Head Professor Yamada spoke, the other Professors who had seen that fight also remembered.
Head Professor Shōda nodded. "Kensei's performance in that match against Sōjun was decent, better than the average student. He was just very unlucky to be eliminated in the first round."
Head Professor Nakano said in surprise, "I can't believe the two of them met in the first round again."
"And the level of strength he's shown this time is truly unexpected!"
Ayane Kotetsu couldn't help but sigh, "He's grown so quickly. Professor Katori's ability to nurture disciples is truly astonishing!"
She glanced at the silent Vice-Director Tsunayashiro and Tokinada Tsunayashiro. Both of their faces were extremely grim.
If Tokinada Tsunayashiro were to lift his hand at that moment, one would see that he had squeezed an imprint into the armrest of his chair.
What a useless trash!
Tokinada Tsunayashiro was furious inside.
The Kuchiki family has decayed as well!
To be suppressed by a commoner from the Rukongai!
Tokinada turned to look at the Vice-Director, to see if he could do anything to salvage the situation.
The Vice-Director shook his head and said in a low voice, "Sōjun Kuchiki won't lose so easily. He has already learned Shikai."
If that weren't the case, he wouldn't have pushed for a live blade match.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel pleased with his foresight. If this had been a wooden sword match, Sōjun would have already lost on points.
But this was a live blade match. The fight would only end when one side fell or surrendered.
Sōjun Kuchiki raised his Zanpakutō and said softly:
"Bloom, Senchidō."
The blade dissolved into a sky full of colorful butterflies, dancing in the air.
"This guy really has learned Shikai!" Kensei's heart sank.
But even if Sōjun used his Shikai, he wouldn't surrender so easily!
Kensei used Shunpo to close the distance, but he saw Sōjun raise his hand, and the butterflies dancing in the air swiftly swarmed towards him.
It was clear that these butterflies were not something to be touched lightly. He quickly stepped on the air, leaping over the oncoming swarm of butterflies.
However, just as he was about to thrust his sword, the swarm of butterflies he had just passed turned back at an even faster speed, directly enveloping Kensei.
This is bad!
Kensei felt the spiritual pressure on the wings of these butterflies and couldn't help but tremble.
He quickly curled up to protect his vital points.
The bodies of the butterflies exploded, their detached wings turning into two small blades. The swarm instantly transformed into a sky of beautifully colored blades.
Pfft pfft pfft—
By the time Kensei broke out of the butterfly blade formation, he already had dozens of new wounds on his body.
"Damn it, how can I fall here!" Kensei ignored his wounds. The intense pain was not enough to stop his steps as he continued to push forward with all his might.
He wanted to win, just once!
At that very moment, Kensei's Zanpakutō responded to him.
"I acknowledge you. Please, call my name, 'Tachikaze'!"
Kensei's spirits were instantly lifted.
He ignored the butterfly blade formation swirling behind him, lunged forward, raised his sword, and pressed his left hand on the back of the blade, channeling his spiritual pressure into it.
"Be reduced to ash, Tachikaze!"
Sōjun Kuchiki was shocked. He saw the Zanpakutō in Kensei's hand glowing with a light.
He's performing Shikai!
Sōjun quickly waved his hand, and the swarms of butterflies rapidly converged on Kensei.
But Kensei's Zanpakutō unleashed a violent gale. The wind transformed into sharp blades, forcing back the butterfly blade formation.
He had broken out of the swarm again!
And this time, under the protection of his Zanpakutō, he suffered no further damage!
Kensei took a fierce step forward and thrust his sword.
Katori Style: Shungeki!
It's going to hit!
However, the thrust he delivered did not have the expected effect.
Kensei's body froze. He stared blankly at his Zanpakutō, which had turned into a dagger.
With the length of a dagger, it was impossible to reach Sōjun Kuchiki!
"It... it got shorter!!!" Kensei looked at his Zanpakutō, which had become a dagger, in disbelief.
However, while he was stunned, the butterfly blade formation behind him caught up to him once more.
When the swarm of butterflies dispersed, Kensei was curled up on the ground, having lost the ability to fight.
"To complete Shikai in the middle of a battle..." Sōjun Kuchiki found it hard to remain calm. It was obvious that Kensei had only just learned Shikai during the fight; otherwise, he would have used it as soon as Sōjun had released his own.
"Sōjun Kuchiki is the winner." After announcing the result, Sora went to check on Kensei's injuries. Sōjun had not been ruthless; Kensei still had a chance to make it to the repechage.
Sora was very satisfied with Kensei's performance. Although he lost this match, he had managed to suppress Sōjun before his Shikai was released.
Just as Sora had predicted, Senmai Oroshi had indeed become a trump card in this competition. Even Sōjun Kuchiki couldn't completely block it.
Kensei lost due to his lack of development with his Zanpakutō. Once he could use it skillfully in the future, defeating Sōjun would not be an impossible task.
Personnel from the Central Apothecary came onto the stage and carried Kensei away on a stretcher for treatment.
"Will the students for the next match please come to the stage."
However, no one noticed Vice-Director Tsunayashiro speaking in a low voice to the director of the Central Apothecary: "Director Amanokado, please see to Kensei Muguruma's treatment personally."
Director Amanokado understood immediately and nodded. "Rest assured, I will be sure to treat Kensei Muguruma well."
The Vice-Director glanced at Kensei lying on the stretcher.
You're a good fighter, are you? Then you can sleep until the competition is over!
He didn't want Kensei to recover from his injuries and fight his way back from the repechage round.
Kensei had learned Shikai. Even if he couldn't beat Sōjun, he was still a formidable opponent for the other students.
That was why he had asked the director of the Central Apothecary to personally intervene and make Kensei unconscious for a while, causing him to miss the repechage.
Vice-Director Tsunayashiro appeared to be looking out for the students by bringing in the Central Apothecary, but in reality, it was to handle situations just like this.
What the Tsunayashiro family wants, it will get!
However, there was still a trace of worry in his heart. He knew that Kensei was Katori Sora's disciple, and there were several other students from Class Two who were also his disciples.
If one Kensei was already this strong, what about the others?
He glanced at Ayane Kotetsu and sighed inwardly.
Unfortunately, this meddlesome woman was here, so he couldn't manipulate the drawing of lots.
Otherwise, he could have arranged the subsequent draws to have Sōjun eliminate all of Katori Sora's disciples.
That way, Tokinada Tsunayashiro's class could have secured the top four, or even dominated the top eight.
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