After the dust on the stage settled, a large crater was revealed.
Munehiro Kyōraku was lying in the crater, unconscious.
"Lisa Yadōmaru wins!"
After Sōsuke Tanuki announced the result, medical team members immediately rushed forward to carry the unconscious Munehiro away.
"Lisa's move is really scary!"
Isane Kotetsu came to Lisa's side and began to treat her with Kaidō.
The move was immensely powerful, and Lisa's hand that had thrown 'Hagurotonbo' was also severely injured.
"This hand can't move at all... I can only use this move once every few days," Lisa discovered that her torn-open right hand was now immobile.
"This injury will probably take two or three days to heal completely," Isane judged. "Good thing the semi-finals aren't for a few days, otherwise you wouldn't be able to compete in the next matches."
"I never tried using it at full power during training. I didn't expect the side effects to be this great," Lisa said helplessly.
The Raikiri released by channeling power through 'Hagurotonbo' was far more powerful than she had anticipated, and the side effects were also beyond her expectations.
With her current spiritual body strength, she couldn't yet use it without injury.
After the two left the stage, Sajin Komamura and Tetsuzaemon Iba stepped up.
Tetsuzaemon Iba had been looking forward to this fight for a long time.
He had lost to Sajin in the group stage due to being out of bounds, which had left him feeling terrible.
He had lost without even getting to show his true strength!
He was very grateful to have drawn Sajin as his opponent.
This time, he would definitely defeat him and reclaim his honor.
Sajin once again started with 'Jintō'. A cloud of sand swirled around his blade as he slashed fiercely at Tetsuzaemon.
"The same move won't work on me!" Tetsuzaemon already knew the sand had a blinding effect. "I won't fall for it this time!"
"Bakudō #24. Kazeyo!"
Tetsuzaemon released a rope made of condensed wind from his fingers, which wrapped around Sajin's Zanpakutō.
At the same time, the sand in the air was sucked away by the wind rope.
After losing to Sajin last time, Tetsuzaemon had gone back and thought carefully about how to counter his moves.
For sand with a blinding effect, a wind-type Kidō was the most suitable counter.
After restraining Sajin's Zanpakutō, Tetsuzaemon quickly drew his own sword with his other hand and slashed at Sajin.
"Hah—!!!" Sajin roared, and with sheer force, he forcibly changed the direction of his own Zanpakutō to block Tetsuzaemon's.
Clang—
Tetsuzaemon was shocked. This opponent's strength was terrifying.
Not even the wind rope could lock down his sword!
The two blades met, and they were instantly locked in a struggle for dominance.
Even though Tetsuzaemon was pulling on Sajin's sword with the wind rope while simultaneously pushing against him...
The blade was still being forced toward his side.
Watching the approaching blade, he broke out in a cold sweat.
The guests in the stands were also discussing the match.
"How reckless, choosing to engage in a contest of strength with an opponent from the werewolf clan!" 3rd Division Vice-Captain Chiyari Iba frowned as she watched the two on stage.
Tetsuzaemon Iba was her son. As a strict mother, she was displeased to see him using such an irrational combat method.
"The werewolf clan is rare. It's normal for Tetsuzaemon not to know how strong they are," Jūshirō Ukitake tried to smooth things over.
"This is common knowledge. Even if you've never seen one, you should have heard of them!" Chiyari said sternly. "You should never engage a werewolf in close combat!"
"Speaking of which, this werewolf is the one we met during our 'field trip', isn't he, Katori-kun?" Kyōraku Shunsui scratched his face, recalling the events of last year.
"Sajin is the disciple I took in during that 'field trip'," Sora nodded lightly.
"He seemed to be in some trouble back then. Has it been resolved now?" Ukitake asked kindly.
"It has been resolved. He got into trouble with a noble for saving someone, but they have since 'reconciled'," Sora nodded with a smile.
It was a one-sided reconciliation, because Tomoya Amanokado was already dead.
"This werewolf has a lot of potential. His great strength is an advantage in swordsmanship," Kenpachi Kuruyashiki said, flipping through Sajin's file. "And another one who's learned Shikai... Katori-kun's school is truly full of talent!"
Kuruyashiki stroked his chin. He suddenly had a strong premonition—
Could the semi-finals be an internal battle between Katori Sora's disciples?
"The Katori dojo has truly flourished under your hand, Katori-kun," Retsu Unohana also said with some emotion.
A few years or even a decade was not a very long time for her.
Yet in such a short period, Katori Sora had turned the once-deserted Katori dojo into a household name in the Seireitei.
If the dojo's admission standards weren't so high, it would probably be overflowing with people.
"You've indeed done well. A scene like this didn't even exist when Batsu'unsai Katori's father was alive," Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni also nodded lightly.
In his youth, Yamamoto had also run a kendo dojo and knew Batsu'unsai's father. He knew what the Katori dojo was like in the past.
It had never had so many outstanding disciples as it did now.
"Thinking about it, it's really enviable to have so many excellent disciples," Kyōraku Shunsui counted on his fingers and found that including those who had graduated, the number of disciples with the potential to become elite Shinigami couldn't even be counted on two hands.
"Do you have some secret to finding geniuses, Katori-kun?" Ukitake joked.
"There's no such secret. It's all just fate," Sora shrugged.
On the stage, Tetsuzaemon felt he was about to give way. He suddenly kicked at Sajin's abdomen, forcing him back.
"I'm getting serious now!" Tetsuzaemon wiped away some sweat, ran his left hand along his blade, and shouted,
"Evade the reefs and shoals, become the master of the helm—Nishikigoi Kaiyūduri!"
The tip of Tetsuzaemon's Zanpakutō widened slightly, with a protruding spike on one side of the blade.
After its Shikai release, his Zanpakutō looked like the character "卜".
Sajin Komamura didn't hold back either and immediately released his Zanpakutō:
"Roar, Tenken!"
Sajin's Zanpakutō did not change at all, but a giant hand holding a massive blade appeared above his head.
The hand was enormous. The fist alone was bigger than the nearly three-meter-tall Sajin, giving off an overwhelming sense of pressure.
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