Bleach: Getting Stronger Starting from Teaching at the Spiritual Arts Academy

However, Hirako Shinji did not have information about Ōmaeda Kinosuki's Zanpakuto, so he dared not take the attack head-on and chose to retreat quickly.

The spiked club slammed into the ground, and flames, accompanied by a terrifying explosion, rushed in hastily.

bang——

A large crater was blown into the floor of the arena.

Hirako Shinji instantly understood Ōmaeda Kinoshin's Zanpakuto ability—

It's an explosion!

Moreover, it should only explode upon contact with an object.

He was glad he hadn't chosen to take the hit head-on, otherwise he would have been seriously injured.

At the same time, Hirako Shinji's blade kicked up the dust generated by the explosion.

Dust Blade!

The dust swirled into a dragon, lunging towards Noriyuki Omaeda.

"Useless!" Ōmaeda Kinoshita sneered, swinging his spiked club and striking the earth dragon's head like a baseball bat.

bang——

The earth dragon was blown to pieces.

However, Hirako Shinji had already achieved his goal.

Ōmaeda Kinoshita's eyes widened; a layer of gray floated in them, making them lose their luster.

"What have you done!" Ōmaeda Kinoshita was shocked; he could see nothing at all.

I rubbed my eyes hard, but the dust was still there.

The dust cannot be rubbed off until it becomes ineffective.

The dust blade unleashed by Hirako Shinji not only kicked up dirt from the explosion, but also carried some blinding dust.

Without uttering a sound, Hirako Shinji seized the opportunity and launched a "Shunji" directly at Ōmaeda Kinoshita.

Ōmaeda Kinosuki sensed Hirako Shinji's approaching spiritual pressure and quickly stopped rubbing his eyes.

However, at his level, he cannot rely entirely on his spiritual sense to fight, nor can he accurately judge the distance between himself and Hirako Shinji.

However, he had his own method; he simply swung his spiked club and slammed it into the ground in front of him.

No matter where Hirako Shinji attacks from, he has to get close to him.

Therefore, Noriyuki Ōmaeda chose to detonate the explosives directly at his own location.

Hirako Shinji's expression changed. Ōmaeda Kinosuke was very experienced in combat and reacted too quickly. Almost at the same time as the "Instant Strike" was thrust out, Ōmaeda Kinosuke slammed into the ground.

The "Instant Strike" had already been launched, leaving no time to dodge the explosion created by the wolf fang.

To create a larger explosion, Ōmaeda Kōnosuke injected even more spiritual pressure, making this explosion even more violent than before.

Both of them were caught in the explosion.

--boom! ! !

The two figures were thrown into the air by the explosion and only stopped after hitting the ghost wall.

Because it was a real sword fight, and some students had mastered Shikai, several Kido instructors were stationed around the ring to maintain and protect the audience from accidental injury.

The audience did not expect the match to be so intense; the ring had been completely destroyed by the explosion.

"Ōmaeda Kinoko's abilities are quite impressive..." Kensei Muguruma stared intently at the smoke and dust, somewhat worried about Shinji Hirako.

"It's alright. Although the spiritual pressure fluctuations on the arena are chaotic, we can still sense Mako's spiritual pressure fluctuations." Kana Azashiro was also staring intently at the arena.

Kotsubaki Jin'emon is still receiving treatment, so he is not here to watch the match.

"Oh no, Mako seems to have been staying still the whole time. She must be seriously injured, but Ōmaeda Kinoshita is already able to move!" Kensei Muguruma's expression changed slightly.

On the ring, Noriyuki Omaeda struggled to his feet.

He was also seriously injured in the explosion. The explosion created by Wolf Fang is indiscriminate, and he is not immune to the effects of the explosion just because he is the owner of a Zanpakuto.

Fortunately, he was physically strong, and the explosion of this magnitude was not enough to render him incapacitated.

"That guy can't move now, right?" Ōmaeda Kinoshita decided to end the match before Hirako Shinji recovered.

Ōmaeda Noriyuki walked quickly toward Hirako Shinji.

His vision had returned, the smoke and dust gradually dissipated, and he soon saw Hirako Shinji leaning against the ghost wall.

Hirako Shinji suffered a severe leg injury, rendering him unable to straighten his leg and greatly restricting his movement.

"Your tricks are impressive, but I still won." Ōmaeda Kinoshita snorted coldly, raised his spiked club, and was about to smash it down on Hirako Shinji.

Just then, Hirako Shinji raised his head and grinned:

"Fall down, Nifu!"

Chapter 124 Upside Down

"Fall down, Nifu!"

Hirako Shinji released his grip, and a huge ring appeared on the hilt of the Zanpakuto, along with five more round holes on the blade.

He hooked his index finger around the huge ring on the hilt of the sword. The huge ring circled around his index finger and kept spinning, and the Zanpakuto spun along with it.

"You bastard, you actually mastered Shikai too?!" Ōmaeda Noriyuki exclaimed in disbelief. This Hirako Shinji, just like Muguruma Kensei, had mastered Shikai during battle.

The audience was also quite surprised.

"I thought Ōmaeda Kinoshita was going to win, but now it's hard to say." Kana Azashiro breathed a sigh of relief.

"Looks like I have another rival to compete with me for first place!" Kensei Rokusha laughed.

On the arena, Hirako Shinji continued to spin his Zanpakuto, chuckling, "That's all thanks to the pressure you put on me."

"It's too late!" Ōmaeda Kinosugu curled his lip. "So what if you've mastered Shikai? Your leg injury is quite severe, isn't it? Your mobility has been greatly reduced. Even if you've mastered Shikai, it won't change the fact that you're going to lose to me."

"Lie down!" He raised his spiked club again, strode forward, and swung it at Hirako Shinji.

bang——

Ōmaeda Kōnosuke's eyes narrowed; the sensation from the spiked club was not what one would expect from hitting a person!

"How could it have veered off course?" Ōmaeda Kinoshita was slightly startled; he had actually crashed to the ground.

"Reality?" Hirako Shinji's soft laughter came from behind him. "Can you see it clearly?"

Ōmaeda Kinoshita quickly turned around, swinging his spiked club behind him.

But he swung his sword and missed—there was no one behind him!

"Damn it, what did you do to me!" Ōmaeda Kinoshita looked around and found that Hirako Shinji was still standing there. He didn't know why he had misjudged Hirako Shinji's location just now.

Ōmaeda Kinoshin quickly realized that this must be the effect of Hirako Shinji's Zanpakuto: "Your Zanpakuto controls vision? No, it seems to be more than that... The direction of spiritual pressure perception also changes?"

"Quick reaction, huh?" Hirako Shinji grinned. "Reverse Strokes can make everything you see upside down, left and right, front and back completely reversed."

"Your Zanpakuto has so many tricks up its sleeve." Ōmaeda Kinoshin charged at Hirako Shinji again. "But if you think you can defeat me just by reversing your direction, you're seriously underestimating me!"

However, Ōmaeda Kinosugu found himself falling to the floor again.

Ōmaeda Kinoshita was shocked: "I'm walking backwards, how come I still can't get close to you!"

"I forgot to tell you," Hirako Shinji chuckled, "When I want to activate my ability is entirely up to me."

Ōmaeda Kinosugu was walking backwards, but then he kept going forward and backward, spinning in circles.

“You can’t touch me, but I can easily touch you—I’m going to win this battle.” Hirako Shinji slowly approached Ōmaeda Kinosugu.

Even though Hirako Shinji is now limping and can only walk with a hob.

However, in the eyes of Ōmaeda Kinosugu, he was still incredibly imposing.

Hirako Shinji's footsteps mark the countdown to this battle.

"So—" After waiting for Hirako Shinji to approach, Ōmaeda Kinosuke slammed his spiked club into the ground, "Can you withstand another explosion?"

Ōmaeda Kinosugu had no other options. He knew that even if Hirako Shinji walked straight towards him, it would be difficult for him to hit him. He could only resort to trading blows to create a large-scale explosion.

puff-

A look of astonishment crossed Omaeda Noriyuki's face as he looked down at the tip of the knife protruding from his abdomen.

"Why...didn't it explode..." Only then did Ōmaeda Kinoshita realize that he had actually been swinging his spiked club upwards, without hitting anything at all.

"Upside down...that's an amazing ability..."

As the blade was withdrawn, Ōmaeda Kinosugu lost all his strength and collapsed to the ground.

"Hirako Shinji wins!" July announced the result of the match, and four members of the Fourth Division came up to carry the two injured men away.

After Hirako Shinji was carried off the stage, July came up to check on his foot injury. The injury was quite serious, and he might need to rest for two or three days. However, the semi-finals were not held immediately after the quarter-finals, so it wouldn't affect his subsequent matches.

"You fought very well, and your Zanpakuto's abilities are also excellent. You should develop them properly." July remembered Hirako Shinji's reverse stroking technique, which could not only control the reversal of visual perception but also the reversal of sound.

Kensei Rokusha and Kana Mochi also gathered around.

“Your abilities are amazing,” said Kana Mochi. “You can manipulate your senses, and your sword is the same type as mine, the Four Foods.”

"I almost lost, but luckily I learned the Shikai," Hirako Shinji said thankfully.

This year's students are too strong. If he hadn't received a response from his Zanpakuto at the crucial moment, he would have already lost.

"Take good care of your injury. I hope we can fight in the ring again sometime!" Kensei Rokusha patted Shinji Hirako on the shoulder.

“There are only four people left, so the probability of us running into them is quite high. Ladies, could you please not carry me to the medical room? I want to stay here and watch the next match,” Hirako Shinji said to the two members of the Fourth Division carrying the stretcher.

"Alright, let me give you some temporary treatment first." The Fourth Division member also wanted to stay and watch the match, so he agreed to Hirako Shinji's request and first stopped the bleeding from his wound.

The battle between Shinji Hirako and Noriyuki Omaeda also surprised everyone in the guest seats.

Nakano exclaimed, "Hirako Shinji actually received a response from his Zanpakuto during the battle! We teachers are truly honored to have such a student!"

"Hirako Shinji's Zanpakuto should be able to control vision, and probably even disrupt the direction of spiritual pressure perception." Kyoraku Shunsui recalled the battle just now, "None of Shikatri-sensei's disciples are easy to deal with!"

"Another student from Class Two has mastered Shikai..." Ayane Kotetsu exclaimed. "This year's students are probably the best, apart from the year of Captain Kyōraku and Captain Ukitake."

Jushiro Ukitake humbly said, "They might be even better than us."

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni also nodded slightly and praised, "Including Hirako Shinji, this year's students have already mastered Shikai before graduation, which is more than Ukitake and his class. The Spirit Arts Academy is getting better and better."

Vice Dean Tsunayo's face was stiff. He never expected that Ōmaeda Kinosuke, who had mastered Shikai, would lose the match.

An inevitable thought arose in his mind—could Kuchiki Sōjun also have an accident?

Chapter 125 Four Foods vs. Thousand Branches Butterfly

The next battle was the one that everyone in the guest seats was most looking forward to.

"Captain Kuchiki is truly a skilled instructor. I'm afraid Kuchiki Sojun will soon be your deputy."

Kyoraku Shunsui sighed. Even the five most prestigious noble families have experienced ups and downs, and in the last hundred years, only the Kuchiki family has maintained captain-level combat power.

Judging from Kuchiki Sōjun's performance, he is also a junior with captain-level potential.

If this situation continues for several hundred years, the Kuchiki family will likely become the leader of the five noble families.

“My son still needs some training. I plan to have him graduate next year and then go to the Sixth Division to gain some experience,” Kuchiki Ginrei said with a smile.

He has almost achieved his goal of getting Kuchiki Sojun into the Spirit Arts Academy.

This year's students are a large number of noble descendants. Most of them will go to the Sixth Division after graduation. Having Kuchiki Sōjun enroll and establish friendships with these people can be seen as paving the way for their future.

Kuchiki Sojun has good interpersonal skills and has already built good relationships with his classmates, so there's no need to let him waste any more time at the Spirit Arts Academy.

"My son's opponent made it to the finals in the last assessment?" Kuchiki Ginrei asked with some surprise after checking Azashiro Kana's record. "She's from the Azashiro family... Has the Azashiro family started to value martial arts training?"

"The Azashiro family is still the same as before... no, that's not right... maybe things have changed a bit since that incident..." Kyoraku Shunsui recalled what he had seen and heard when he ate at the Shikatori Dojo. "I do know a little about Azashiro Kana."

"She was Shikatori-kun's top disciple, and it can be said that Shikatori-kun personally taught her."

"Before this, my swordsmanship was about the same level as that of an average freshman."

"So, it seems that Kana Mochi only truly began practicing swordsmanship after meeting Shikagori Nanatsuki?" Kuchiki Ginrei raised an eyebrow. "The last assessment was only two or three months into the semester. How could she have grown to that level in such a short time?"

Kyoraku Shunsui chuckled, “That’s why I say Shikatori-kun is quite skilled at teaching. Of the four we see today, only Azashiro Kana has some basic training. The other three are from Rukongai. It’s truly astonishing that they have achieved this level of success.”