The matches for each group began simultaneously, and Aizen Sōsuke and the others headed to their respective arenas.
Isshin Shiba was assigned to Group Three.
Many students and teachers were watching below the stage.
The Group Three arena was one of the most-watched, as many people wanted to see Isshin Shiba's strength.
Most people at the Spiritual Arts Academy knew he was Vice-Director Katori's disciple and a promising heir of the Shiba clan, so expectations for him were high.
However, it seemed there were no strong opponents in Group Three. Isshin cut through them like vegetables and was about to clear the stage.
Isshin was now facing his last opponent. His score was already the highest in the group. As long as he won this match, he would become the winner of Group Three with a perfect record.
"I hope you can last a little longer..." Isshin said sincerely. "Don't lose too quickly!"
His words instantly angered the upperclassman across from him.
"I know you're strong... Professor Katori's disciple... the Shiba clan's prized junior... a favorite to win this year's 'Shinken Taiketsu'..." The upperclassman's face darkened. "But don't be too arrogant!"
"Bakudō #30. Shitotsusansen!"
The upperclassman suddenly attacked, and three large, beak-shaped beams of light shot towards Isshin's hands and waist.
"He can use a level-30 Bakudō without an incantation... This upperclassman is very strong!"
"I hope he can beat Isshin Shiba and win one for us upperclassmen!"
Below the stage, many upper-year students wanted to see Isshin lose this match.
First, Isshin's mouth was infuriating; he always started with a taunt.
Second, he had already defeated many upperclassmen, and they felt it was shameful to be upstaged by this first-year student.
"Too slow. If you want to beat me, this is nowhere near enough!" Isshin grinned and disappeared with Shunpo.
The three light beams missed their target and struck the ground.
The next moment, Isshin appeared behind the upperclassman.
"Isshin Flying Kick!" Isshin twisted his body, delivering a side kick with the power of his waist.
The upperclassman was kicked in the back of the head and sent flying.
Thud—
He crashed to the ground and fell unconscious.
Isshin had easily defeated his final opponent, drawing cheers from the audience below.
Although some were put off by Isshin's taunting, a place like the Academy was never short on people who admired strength. Many students still cheered for his victory.
"Isshin Shiba is too strong. His opponents aren't even on the same level!"
"I heard he's already mastered Shikai. We're all students, but the gap is huge..."
"Sigh... I'm about to graduate, and I still haven't mastered Shikai..."
"Isshin Shiba wins, gaining one point." The referee checked the opponent's condition and declared Isshin the winner.
"Was that the last one... I hope I meet some stronger opponents later!" Isshin felt that the competition in this group was too weak.
But in reality, he was just too strong. He had already learned Shikai, creating an almost insurmountable gap between him and the other students who had not.
"All matches for Group Three have concluded. With a perfect winning record, Isshin Shiba is the winner of Group Three!" the referee announced the result.
"Let's go see the other matches." Isshin left the arena.
After all the groups had a winner, there would be a challenge round. The top three scorers from each group would have a chance to challenge the winners of other groups to secure a spot in the finals.
The Group Three matches ended early. Since he had nothing else to do, he decided to watch his fellow dojo members' fights.
Isshin originally wanted to see Aizen's performance first but found that he had also finished his matches.
"Sōsuke, you finished your fights this quickly too!"
"There were no strong opponents in Group Five."
"Same here. It seems the group stage isn't very intense..." Isshin scratched his face. "The upperclassmen aren't all that great."
"The upperclassmen who have learned Shikai are still quite strong; we just haven't encountered them," Aizen said. "The competition in Group One should be more intense."
"Let's go check it out. Let's see what that arrogant guy is made of!" Isshin remembered the cocky young man he had met while looking at the roster.
As expected, the Group One matches were not over yet.
Currently sparring on the stage were Sajin Komamura and Lisa Yadōmaru.
Since it was a point-based ranking system, it was inevitable that every opponent in the group would face each other.
Isshin and Aizen went to look at the Group One scoreboard. Tied for first place were Sajin Komamura and Tetsuzaemon Iba.
Lisa Yadōmaru had already lost once, to Tetsuzaemon Iba.
Sōya Azashiro had lost twice, to Sajin Komamura and Tetsuzaemon Iba respectively.
Therefore, the second and third place rankings were currently held by Lisa and Sōya.
"That arrogant guy really has some skills! Even Lisa and Sōya couldn't beat him!" Isshin glanced at the buzz-cut young man watching not far away, somewhat surprised.
For Tetsuzaemon Iba to be tied with Sajin Komamura, he had to have some real ability.
"Sajin and Tetsuzaemon haven't fought yet. If Sajin can win this match, he'll become the winner of Group One with a perfect record," Aizen analyzed.
"That Tetsuzaemon Iba is very strong. He's skilled in Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Shunpo, and Kidō. Lisa and I couldn't gain any advantage against him. I even suspect he's mastered Shikai too!" Sōya Azashiro explained the intel he had gathered.
"Then it's very likely this guy will make it to the top eight..." Isshin stroked his chin, looking forward to a match with Tetsuzaemon.
"I'll have to challenge the winners of other groups to have a chance to enter the top eight..." Sōya said, dejected. His opponents were simply too strong; he couldn't win even with his best effort.
"The top three in points still have a chance. Not all groups are like Group One, packed with strong fighters. Neither Isshin nor I encountered any opponents who had mastered Shikai," Aizen said comfortingly.
On the stage, Lisa Yadōmaru was struggling to cope with Sajin Komamura's offensive.
Sajin wasn't using any special sword techniques; just a series of powerful and heavy slashes was enough to keep Lisa on the defensive.
After Sajin completed his communication with his Zanpakutō and achieved Shikai, his Spiritual Pressure had greatly increased.
The werewolf clan was naturally strong, and the surge in his Spiritual Pressure made his slashes even more powerful.
Lisa tapped her toes and leaped into the air in a reverse flip, dodging Sajin's horizontal slash.
Sajin's strength was too great; she didn't dare to block his attacks head-on. She could only barely dodge by using her agile footwork and familiarity with his sword style.
They often sparred at the dojo, so Lisa was already quite familiar with Sajin's moves.
Hanging upside down in the air, Lisa pushed off a foothold of spiritual particles and lunged toward Sajin.
"If little Lisa attacks so forcefully, she might be about to lose..."
Isshin commented from below the stage.
Lisa often sparred with Sajin, which also meant that Sajin was equally familiar with her footwork and attack patterns.
This attack had too big of an opening. If it couldn't achieve the element of surprise, it could easily be countered.
Just as Isshin predicted.
Sajin's horizontal slash was a feint. His Zanpakutō suddenly stopped its momentum and instantly swung upwards in a rising slash.
"Crap!"
Lisa had to abandon her thrust towards Sajin and instead aimed for his Zanpakutō.
Ting—
Lisa felt an immense force travel up her blade, and she was instantly sent flying.
"Lisa Yadōmaru is out of bounds. Sajin Komamura wins!" Sōsuke Tanuki announced the result of the match.
Lisa had been knocked away by Sajin's immense strength, flying directly out of the arena.
The arena was not small, bigger than a basketball court, giving the students enough space to fight.
But being knocked out of bounds also counted as a loss.
"What terrifying strength..." Isshin lamented.
In terms of pure strength, even he couldn't compare to Sajin Komamura now.
"I still lost..." Lisa shook her arm, which was numb from the force. "Until I master Shikai, there's no way I can beat them!"
Lisa wasn't too disheartened. She had expected this result. Sajin's strength had increased too much after achieving Shikai; winning was impossible.
"I need to master Shikai as soon as possible. I'll ask the professor for some 'Blade Meditation training' guidance tonight."
There were a few days of buffer after the group stage before the next round of matches, so she still had a chance to grow.
She felt she was getting close. She could already hear the voice of her Zanpakutō. If she could gain its acknowledgment, she could achieve Shikai.
She was just one step away.
The next match was between Sajin Komamura and Tetsuzaemon Iba.
The two were already standing on the stage.
"Pretty impressive! As a junior student, it's not easy to beat my classmates and get this far!" Tetsuzaemon Iba ruffled his buzz cut. "Komamura-kun, you must have learned Shikai, right?"
"That's right," Sajin nodded.
"I've heard your Katori dojo is very strong. My Iba family also specializes in swordsmanship. I'd really like to see your Katori-style for myself!" Tetsuzaemon flashed a roguish smile. "But the two I beat before were too weak. It wasn't interesting."
"How about we both don't use Shikai and settle this with just swordsmanship!"
Tetsuzaemon stated his idea. He also had Shikai, but he didn't want to use Kidō or his Zanpakutō's ability.
The Katori-style was legendary at the Academy, and he wanted to see if it was as amazing as the rumors said.
He had just fought Lisa and Sōya, but their Spiritual Pressure was much lower than his, which he found boring.
Therefore, he was looking forward to his match with Sajin and wanted to compete with him in pure swordsmanship.
"Alright!" Sajin was confident in himself and in the Katori-style of swordsmanship.
Even without using his Shikai's ability, just by sword skill alone, he could defeat his opponent!
"Good!" Tetsuzaemon quickly drew his sword. "Show me your Katori-style swordsmanship!"
Sajin took half a step forward, and a circle of dust gathered around him.
Jintō!
The dust followed Sajin's slash, sweeping towards his opponent.
"What powerful momentum!"
Tetsuzaemon raised his Zanpakutō with both hands, brought it down in a powerful slash that created a strong gust of wind, and scattered the dust.
On the other side, Sajin didn't stop.
Jintō wasn't just about the sweeping dust; there was a slash as well!
Sajin's slash tore through the wind and continued toward Tetsuzaemon.
"Such strong force, it can even tear through my 'Sword Wind'!" Tetsuzaemon's heart tightened. He silently put more power into his hands and adopted his most stable stance to receive the blow.
CLANG—!!!
The two blades collided, and sparks flew into the air.
Tetsuzaemon felt as if the hilt was about to fly out of his grasp; he could only grip it tightly.
He was pushed back by the immense force from the blade, his feet plowing two grooves into the floor.
"What immense strength!" Tetsuzaemon exclaimed.
Just as his attention was focused on Sajin's strength, the previously dispersed dust cloud pressed in on him.
Tetsuzaemon's vision suddenly went dark, and he couldn't see anything.
'Jintō' was also a Kidō-type sword technique. The dust it created had a blinding effect!
"What's going on!" Tetsuzaemon felt a bit panicked.
Fortunately, although he was temporarily blind, he could still sense Sajin's position with his spiritual perception.
But the next moment, Sajin plunged his Zanpakutō into the ground.
He gathered power and slashed.
Ryūkō!
Using the ground as a scabbard, Sajin gathered his power and swiftly unleashed a rugged flash of light.
His Ryūkō was a bit different from Katori Sora's and the others'.
Their Ryūkō focused power into a single point, giving the move immense explosive force.
Sajin's was different.
The spiritual pressure blade he created was not concentrated but scattered.
Countless spiritual pressure blades attached to the gravel kicked up by the immense force and shot toward Tetsuzaemon.
This Ryūkō was like a meteor shower!
In terms of single-point destruction, this type of Ryūkō was weaker than the concentrated version, but its strength was in its numbers!
Sajin had effectively launched a barrage of countless spiritual pressure blades.
Tetsuzaemon was already blind. From his spiritual perception's point of view, he could only see a dense cluster of spiritual particle reactions rushing towards him.
"Is that even swordsmanship?!" Tetsuzaemon couldn't figure out what it was and quickly retreated.
His Shunpo was fast, and he dodged all the "spiritual particle rain."
But the next moment, he heard the referee, Sōsuke Tanuki, announce:
"Tetsuzaemon Iba is out of bounds. Sajin Komamura wins!"
Tetsuzaemon was stunned.
To dodge the "spiritual particle rain," he had retreated beyond the boundary of the arena!
---------------------------
Access more than 400 chapters across more than 7 different novels on Patreon!
For this novel, there are already more than 100 chapters available, and we are only 9 subscribers away from unlocking up to chapter 150!
And many more projects in progress!