A young man with black hair and a determined gaze stood before Isane Kotetsu.
"As a first-year, it's already impressive that you can stand before me," Maki Ichinose praised. "But I'm afraid this is where it ends for you."
As the winner of her group, Isane had naturally defeated many upperclassmen.
And since she was a student who had been enrolled for less than a year, to have come this far was proof of her considerable skill.
However, Maki didn't think Isane had any chance of winning, because he had already achieved Shikai. The gap in their strength was insurmountable.
"How will we know if we don't try!" Isane was unmoved.
"A pointless struggle." Maki sighed softly and drew his Zanpakutō. "Alright, I'll play with you for a bit. Watch closely..."
Maki raised his sword, and it instantly left several afterimages in the air, emitting a rainbow-colored halo.
"Shine! Nijigasumi!"
Maki's Zanpakutō transformed into a blade of light.
"Before my 'Nijigasumi', you have no chance of victory," Maki said flatly.
"Bakudō #9. Geki!" Not knowing her opponent's ability, Isane decided to test him with Kidō.
A yellow, rope-like beam of spiritual particles shot from her fingertip, attempting to wrap around Maki.
However, when the spiritual rope made contact with his body, it passed right through him.
"The Bakudō had no effect, it went straight through!"
Isane was shocked.
Maki suddenly appeared to her left.
A flash of light from a blade.
Puchi—
A wound appeared on Isane's left shoulder.
Startled, she quickly leaped away, not daring to stay in one place.
"Was that figure a fake?!" Isane saw that Maki was still standing in his original spot.
Below the stage, Isshin Shiba quickly grasped the secret.
"Sōsuke, his ability is a lot like your Kyōka Suigetsu!" Isshin elbowed Aizen beside him.
"It is indeed very similar." Aizen calmly raised a hand to block the elbow. "My Kyōka Suigetsu uses mist and water currents to create mirror reflections and confuse the enemy's vision, whereas Maki Ichinose's Nijigasumi uses light."
"This light-type Zanpakutō is just as cheap as a water-type!" Isshin sighed. "To break the illusion, you need to overwhelm it with stronger Spiritual Pressure. Isane's Spiritual Pressure probably isn't stronger than his, right?"
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—
Isane moved rapidly around the arena while using Kaidō to heal the wound on her shoulder.
She had also realized that Maki had the ability to create illusions and didn't dare to stay in one place for too long.
The Bakudō she had just cast had only hit an illusion.
This kind of visual interference ability was extremely tricky.
"Trying to avoid being caught by constantly changing positions?" Maki chuckled. "What's the use of that?"
The next moment, Maki appeared right in front of Isane.
Clang—
In an instant, Isane raised her Zanpakutō and blocked the blade aimed at her abdomen.
If she hadn't reacted quickly, she would have run right into it and been seriously injured.
"Quick reflexes!" Maki's attack missed, and he immediately retreated.
Isane wanted to press her advantage, but her thrust hit empty air.
Just then, Maki appeared again on Isane's left.
"Got you!" Isane's eyes narrowed. She had been on high alert, waiting for him to attack again. "Hadō #33. Sōkatsui!"
However, the blue blast of fire passed right through Maki's body.
"Hahahaha—that was a fake!" Maki appeared on Isane's right side, his Zanpakutō raised high.
Swoosh—
Isane quickly used Shunpo to create distance.
"You're pretty fast..." Maki sneered.
Isane raised her hand again.
"Still trying to use Kidō? What's the point?" Maki said helplessly. "You should recognize the gap between us by now. Stop this pointless struggle! You're wasting everyone's time!"
"Bakudō #21. Sekienton!"
A red light shot from Isane's palm. After it exploded, it formed a massive smokescreen.
The smoke enveloped the entire arena.
The guests in the stands were commenting on the battle.
"Isane seems to be at a disadvantage, but her use of Kidō is very skillful. She can cast so many spells without incantations," Jūshirō Ukitake praised.
"Her Kaidō is even more astonishing. In such a short time, the wound on her shoulder is already mostly healed. It's the first time I've seen a junior student at the Academy with such good Kaidō," Retsu Unohana had already decided to recruit Isane into the 4th Division.
The learning curve for Kaidō is long and requires a great deal of medical knowledge.
Therefore, among the junior students, Isane's Kaidō skill, which was comparable to that of a 4th Division member, was in a league of its own.
"It's because Professor Katori taught her well. Isane learned Kaidō from him," Director Kotetsu's face was flushed with pride. Hearing the captains praise her daughter made her proud of her excellence.
"Isane's situation doesn't look good..." Kyōraku Shunsui said. "She'll lose if this continues. If she can't solve the problem of the visual interference, it will be very difficult to win."
"Don't worry, Isane still has a surprise waiting for you all!" Sora chuckled.
On the stage, Maki couldn't see what Isane was doing due to the smokescreen.
"Cough, cough—you think a smokescreen can block out the light? Naive!" The Zanpakutō in Maki's hand shone brightly, and rays of light quickly pierced through the smoke.
The arena was flooded with a brilliant light, forcing the students below to squint.
"What is that?!"
When the light dimmed and the smoke cleared, the audience saw a new polygonal crystal on the stage.
"Look at Isane's Zanpakutō!" Isshin Shiba's eyes widened as he exclaimed.
The form of Isane's sword had changed.
Its blade was split into three.
"Isane has learned Shikai too," Aizen Sōsuke was also a bit surprised.
"Did she also get tutoring from the professor...?" Lisa Yadōmaru had a suspicion.
"It looks like an ice-type Zanpakutō," Sajin Komamura observed, seeing that the crystal on the stage was made of ice.
The guests in the stands were also discussing it intensely.
"Is this the 'surprise' Katori-kun was talking about? How impressive, to have learned Shikai at this age!" Ukitake exclaimed.
"Isane has learned Shikai?" Director Kotetsu was also very surprised; she hadn't known.
"She just learned it. She asked me to keep it a secret from you, Director, said she wanted to give her mother a surprise," Sora chuckled.
"You! You kept it a secret from me along with her!" Director Kotetsu's face was filled with joy. Isane's performance had far exceeded her expectations.
"I'm growing more and more fond of this child," Retsu Unohana said, looking at Isane on the stage with increasing approva
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