"Collapse, Sakanade!"
Shinji Hirako released his grip. A large ring emerged from the hilt of his Zanpakutō, and five holes appeared on the blade.
He hooked his index finger through the large ring on the hilt. The ring spun around his finger, causing the entire Zanpakutō to rotate with it.
"You bastard, you mastered Shikai too?!" Nozomishin Ōmaeda was in disbelief. Just like Kensei Muguruma, this Shinji Hirako had mastered Shikai in the middle of a battle.
The spectators were also extremely surprised.
"I thought Nozomishin was about to win. Now, it's hard to say," Kana Azashiro said, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Looks like I have another rival for first place!" Kensei Muguruma laughed.
On the stage, Shinji continued to spin his Zanpakutō and chuckled. "I have you to thank for the pressure."
"Too late!" Nozomishin scoffed. "So what if you've mastered Shikai? Your leg is badly injured. With your mobility crippled, even mastering Shikai won't change the reality that you're going to lose to me."
"Now lie down!" He once again raised his club, strode forward, and swung it fiercely at Shinji.
BOOM—
Nozomishin's eyes narrowed. The sensation from the club was not the feeling of hitting a person at all!
"How did I miss?" Nozomishin was slightly alarmed. He had struck the ground.
"Reality?" Shinji's light laughter came from behind him. "Can you even see it clearly?"
Nozomishin spun around quickly, swinging his club behind him.
But he hit nothing but air—there was no one there!
"Damn it, what did you do to me!" Nozomishin scanned his surroundings and saw Shinji still standing in the same spot. For some reason, his perception of Shinji's position had been skewed.
Nozomishin quickly understood that this must be the effect of Shinji's Zanpakutō. "Does your Zanpakutō control vision? No, that's not all... has the direction of my spiritual perception also been changed?"
"Quick on the uptake, aren't you?" Shinji grinned. "Sakanade makes everything you see—up, down, left, right, front, and back—completely inverted."
"Your Zanpakutō is full of tricks too," Nozomishin said, charging at Shinji again. "But if you think just inverting directions is enough to defeat me, you're underestimating me!"
However, Nozomishin found himself hitting the floor once again.
Nozomishin was shocked. "I was clearly moving backward, so how come I still can't get close to you!"
"Forgot to tell you," Shinji chuckled. "It's up to me when the ability activates."
Nozomishin had just been trying to walk backward, but the effect had flickered on and off, causing him to just stumble in place.
"You can't touch me, but I can easily touch you—I'm about to win this fight," Shinji said, slowly approaching Nozomishin.
Even though Shinji was now limping, walking with a hobble, he still exuded an overwhelming sense of pressure in Nozomishin's eyes.
Shinji's footsteps were the countdown to the end of this battle.
"In that case—" Nozomishin waited for Shinji to get closer, then slammed his club into the ground. "Can you withstand another explosion?"
Nozomishin had no other options. He knew that even if Shinji just walked straight towards him, it would be difficult to land a hit. His only choice was to trade injuries again and create a large-scale explosion.
Pfft—
A look of bewilderment appeared on Nozomishin's face. He looked down at the tip of a blade protruding from his abdomen.
"Why... was there no explosion..." Nozomishin finally realized that he had just swung his club up at the sky, not hitting anything at all.
"Up-down inversion... what a terrifying ability..."
As the blade was withdrawn, Nozomishin lost all his strength and collapsed to the ground with a crash.
"Shinji Hirako, wins!" Sora announced the result of the match. Four members of the 4th Division came to carry the two injured combatants away.
After Shinji was carried off the stage, Sora came over to look at his leg injury. It was very serious and would probably require two or three days of rest. However, the semifinals were not held immediately after the quarterfinals, so it wouldn't affect his subsequent matches.
"You fought well. Your Zanpakutō's ability is also excellent. You must develop it properly," Sora said. He remembered that Shinji's Sakanade could invert not only visual perception but also sound.
Kensei and Kana also gathered around.
"Your ability is amazing," Kana said. "It can manipulate perception, just like my Shishoku."
"I almost lost. I'm lucky I learned Shikai," Shinji said with relief.
This year's class was too strong. If his Zanpakutō hadn't responded at the critical moment, he would have lost.
"Rest up well. I hope I get to fight you on the stage later!" Kensese patted Shinji's shoulder.
"There are only four of us left, so the chances of us meeting are pretty high. Ladies, could you please not take me to the medical room? I'd like to stay here and watch the next match," Shinji said to the two 4th Division members carrying his stretcher.
"That's fine. We'll give you some first aid here then," the 4th Division members also wanted to stay and watch the competition, so they agreed to Shinji's request and began to stop the bleeding from his wound.
The battle between Shinji Hirako and Nozomishin Ōmaeda had also greatly surprised the guests in the stands.
Head Professor Nakano remarked, "To think that Shinji Hirako also had his Zanpakutō respond to him in battle. As Professors, we are honored to have such students!"
"Shinji Hirako's Zanpakutō must control vision, and it probably disrupts the perception of spiritual pressure as well," Kyōraku said, recalling the fight. "Not a single one of Professor Katori's disciples is to be trifled with!"
"Another student from Class Two has learned Shikai..." Ayane Kotetsu said in amazement. "This year's class is perhaps the most outstanding since the generation of Captain Kyōraku and Captain Ukitake."
Jūshirō Ukitake said humbly, "Perhaps they will become even more outstanding than we were."
Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni also nodded slightly in praise. "Including this Shinji Hirako, there are now four students in this class who have mastered Shikai before graduation. That's even more than Ukitake's generation. The academy is getting better and better."
The Vice-Director's expression was very stiff. He never imagined that Nozomishin Ōmaeda, who had learned Shikai, could also lose a match.
An unavoidable thought rose in his mind—could it be that Sōjun Kuchiki will also be upset?
---
Special Announcement: Tomorrow, a free file with chapters 141 to 300 of Naruto: Saving the Uchiha will be uploaded, along with another file for I Have Caught a Pokémon from chapter 300 to 450!
-------------------------------------
Featured projects:
Bleach Getting Stronger, Starting from Teaching 300 chapters
Naruto: Saving the Uchiha 300 chapters
The Crime Value System 120 chapters
I Have Caught a Pokémon — 350 chapters
Goddess Training Manual — 800 chapters
Second Generation Villain (Revised Version) — 90 chapters
Detective Conan Fanfic — 380 chapters
The Heroine Wants to Join My Harem — 1050 chapters
I Am the Villain's Father — 400 chapters
----------------------------------------------------------------
👉 Join and support these projects at: patreon.com/LEYI396
— Don't miss a single chapter or any manga translation done on demand!