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

Kensei Rokkaku was defeated.

July was not at all surprised by this.

The gap between the two is simply too great.

Moreover, it's a gap in every aspect: swordsmanship, spiritual pressure, movement, and even combat awareness. Kensei Muguruma is inferior to Sojun Kuchiki.

Kensei Muguruma was constantly being pressured and beaten. If it weren't for Souichi Kuchiki wanting to see his swordsmanship, he probably wouldn't have lasted more than a few rounds.

In July, by checking the panel, she saw the difference in spiritual pressure between the two.

【朽木苍纯】

[Talent: S]

[Spiritual Pressure: lv45]

-

[Six Cars Kensei]

[Talent: S]

[Spiritual Pressure: lv30]

Kuchiki Sojun's spiritual pressure was even stronger than Yoruichi Shihouin's, clearly indicating that he had already completed his Zanpakuto training long ago, and perhaps he could already unleash his Zanpakuto.

This does not mean that Kuchiki Sōjun's talent is better than Shihōin Yoruichi's.

The Spirit Arts Academy has no age limit for enrollment. He is actually older than Yoruichi Shihouin and has been training under the guidance of his father, the captain of the Sixth Division, Ginrei Kuchiki, for a long time.

Kuchiki Sojun chose to enroll this year simply because there were many noble students enrolling this year.

Most of these students go to the Sixth Division after graduating from the Spirit Arts Academy.

He will likely select a large portion of the team he will use to manage the Sixth Division from among these students.

As the next head of the Kuchiki family, he will inevitably inherit the position of captain of the Sixth Division.

"Kuchiki Sojun is the winner." July went on stage and carried the unconscious Rokusha Kensei off the stage. He checked Rokusha's injuries and found a bump on his forehead, but it wasn't a big deal.

However, he fainted and probably won't make it to the loser's bracket match that's about to start.

The first round will eliminate half of the participants into the loser's bracket, but in the end only eight people can be eliminated and continue the assessment.

Kensei Muguruma fainted and couldn't even draw lots, so he naturally lost his qualification to enter the loser's bracket and became the bottom of the group in this assessment.

This assessment method can only give students a rough ranking. After all, there are so many students, and if we were to rank them carefully, the competition would become very long.

However, gold will always shine. You can't always get a bad score in every assessment, which would result in someone with real ability ranking very low.

"Honestly, if he hadn't forced himself to use a sword technique he hadn't yet learned, he wouldn't have revealed such a huge flaw and been knocked unconscious." Hirako Shinji rolled his eyes.

"His opponent is very strong." Kana Momoshiro's expression was solemn as she looked at Kuchiki Sojun, who was slowly walking off the stage. She wasn't confident she could beat him either.

"You haven't trained long enough. Just do your best." July handed the two of them over and went back to oversee the assessment.

After the first round of competition ended, the assessment was divided into two examination rooms. Duanmu Zongjie led the students who had fallen into the loser's group to the swordsmanship room next door for the assessment.

Both the winners' bracket and the losers' bracket will each select 8 students to compete for the top eight spots. There will be a rule to avoid students from the same group, and students from the winners' bracket will only be drawn against students from the losers' bracket.

"Please invite Kana Mochi and Tomoya Aman to the stage for a duel."

Kana Mochishiro, who had previously been given a bye, also joined the second round of the competition. Her opponent was a student from Class 1. This student had shaved his head from his forehead to the top of his head, wore a chonmage hairstyle, was short, and had a pointed face and monkey-like features.

"Are you from the Mochishiro family?" Amanmon Tomoya sized up Mochishiro Kana's slightly plump figure.

"Please enlighten me!" Cilantro Mochi was very dissatisfied with his aggressive gaze, and directly drew her wooden sword, intending to teach him a lesson.

"Hehe, not bad, quite the presence." Amanmon Tomoya revealed a lewd smile. He didn't take the girl in front of him seriously. The Mochishiro family didn't care much about training in martial arts. They preferred to spend money to hire strong people as guards rather than recruit their descendants.

"Enough with the nonsense—" Kana Mochi couldn't stand it any longer. She raised her wooden sword with both hands, shouted, and launched a leaping slash at Tomoya Amanmon, "Take this!"

Amanmon Tomoya sensed the spiritual pressure emanating from the other party and immediately felt a sense of foreboding.

He hastily raised the wooden sword to block above his head, but before he could even mobilize his spiritual pressure, Azashiro Kana's sword had already slashed down!

click -

The wooden sword snapped in two, and Kana Mochi's knife struck Tomoya Amanmon's face!

A powerful force pressed down, causing Amanto Tomoya's legs to sink into the wooden floor.

Bang!

The wooden floorboards exploded with a loud crash, sending countless wood chips flying everywhere.

Amanmon Tomoya was also smashed into the wooden floor and lost consciousness.

"Her spiritual pressure is no lower than that of Shikatori-sensei's other two disciples. How come there are so many monsters among this year's freshmen!" Captain Yamada stroked his beard and exclaimed, "It seems the Azashiro family is about to welcome a genius..."

“Yes, the last member of the Mochijo family to serve as a seat official was probably two or three hundred years ago.” Yushoda Hachigen nodded.

"The competition should have been held in the courtyard..." Asido said helplessly. Normally, the exams for first-time test takers would not have caused such a commotion. Today, it just so happens to be raining, so the assessment was held indoors.

"Then I have to learn from this lesson and hold all future open-world assessments outdoors," Nakano said with a smile.

Asido glanced at the expressionless Tsunayoshi Tokina and chuckled inwardly. It seemed that it wouldn't be so easy for this Tsunayoshi-sensei to sit in his position.

With his discerning eye, he naturally couldn't fail to see that Kensei Muguruma, whom he had previously lost to, was also a very promising student.

Kensei Muguruma's strength is not weaker than that of Shinji Hirako. It is not shameful for him to lose to the older Sōjun Kuchiki. If given time to grow, he can at least reach the level of a seat officer or even a vice-captain.

Once such students begin Blade Zen training, their spiritual pressure will grow very quickly, and they will soon leave others far behind.

It won't be easy for the students in Class 1 to get good grades then.

Asido sighed inwardly again, thinking how talented this year's students were.

To avoid affecting the subsequent matches, a new wooden board was laid on the stage to prevent other contestants from slipping.

The match resumed.

Shinji Hirako drew a classmate from his own class and quickly ended the battle.

By noon, the matches in the winners' bracket, specifically the round of 32 to 16 and the round of 16 to 8, had all been completed.

Kana Mochishiro, Mako Hirako, Aoi Kuchiki, and Noriyuki Omaeda did not meet in these two rounds and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals.

Chapter 39 Top Eight

Due to the rule of avoiding opponents from the same group in the quarterfinals, neither Kana Momoshiro nor Mako Hirako, who are both in the winners' bracket, will draw the formidable opponent, Aoi Kuchiki.

The draw for the sixteen students was completed quickly.

"Who did you draw?" Kana Mochishiro waved the slip of paper in her hand, showing Shinji Hirako her opponent.

Kana Mochishiro's opponent was surprisingly Kasumi Gosuke, who had been sent to the loser's bracket by Shinji Hirako but had fought his way back up from there.

"Uh, you drew that guy too? His swordsmanship is too rigid, every move is like a textbook, he doesn't have much combat experience, he's easy to deal with." Hirako Shinji also showed his own slip of paper, he drew Ise Rikka.

Hirako Shinji glanced into the crowd and saw a girl who didn't seem aggressive. She wore glasses, had a gentle and mild expression, and exuded a quiet and dignified aura.

Hirako Shinji had watched this girl fight; she was very skilled at swordsmanship and won every battle through technique.

“Ise Rikka…the Ise family.” Kana Azashiro looked at the note, recalling information about the Ise family. “Ise Rikka seems to be the next head of the Ise family. You’d better be careful.”

"What, is she difficult to deal with?" Hirako Shinji withdrew his gaze.

Kana Mochishiro shook her head: "No, the Ise family is special. Most of their members can't use asauchi, but they are very good at kendo."

"As the next head of the family, Ise Rikka will inherit the 'Eight Mirrors Sword' passed down through generations of her family."

“But the Ise family’s ‘Eight Mirrors Sword’ has been lost, so she definitely hasn’t inherited the ‘Eight Mirrors Sword’ yet.”

"In other words, she hasn't undergone Blade Zen training yet, so you can suppress her with spiritual pressure!"

"Then why did you tell me to be careful?" Hirako Shinji asked curiously.

"What I'm trying to say is, don't fall in love with her, okay?" Kana Azaki said with a grin. "There's a rumor circulating in Soul Society—you have to be prepared to risk your life to fall in love with a woman from the Ise family!"

"Huh?" Hirako Shinji grinned. "What kind of strange rumor is this?"

"No, no, no, although it's just a rumor, it's been verified many times!" Kana Azuma said seriously. "The Ise family is in charge of the priesthood, but it's as if they're cursed. Many men who marry into the Ise family die young because of this curse."

“Okay…” Hirako Shinji scratched his head.

"The fourth round, the first match begins. Please invite Hirako Shinji and Ise Rikka to the stage for the match."

The two quickly stepped onto the arena. Although it was called an arena, the arena in the swordplay room actually had no steps; it was just a long wooden plank laid on the original wooden floor.

Without exchanging pleasantries, the two bowed to each other and then drew their wooden swords.

This time, Hirako Shinji did not wait for his opponent to make the first move, but instead chose to approach at top speed, intending to suppress his opponent with his spiritual pressure.

He learned from Kana Ise that this Rikka Ise might not have experienced Blade Zen training yet, which meant that her spiritual pressure was very likely inferior to his!

Hirako Shinji swiftly swung his wooden sword, unleashing three rapid strikes.

Ise Rikka's swordsmanship was clearly quite good, as she blocked all of Hirako Shinji's attacks.

However, just as Kana Ise said, Rikka Ise had not undergone Blade Zen training, and her spiritual pressure was far inferior to Shinji Hirako. After taking three of his moves, her tiger's mouth was numb from the shock.

Hirako Shinji showed no mercy and continued to unleash rapid slashes.

Thump thump da da da—

The continuous clanging of wooden swords echoed.

Ise Rikka was very cautious, not giving Hirako Shinji a chance to press her attack. Every time they clashed, she would quickly change her footwork and never get entangled with his wooden sword.

However, Ise Rikka's stance gradually became chaotic, and she was soon unable to withstand Hirako Shinji's offensive.

"Drink!" Hirako Shinji found Ise Rikka's weakness, and his wooden sword fell, hitting Ise Rikka's head directly.

Ise Rikka rolled her eyes back and lay unconscious on the ground.

"Oops, I accidentally knocked her unconscious." Hirako Shinji scratched his head. This woman's swordsmanship was excellent. If his spiritual pressure hadn't been so much stronger than hers, it would have been difficult to win this match. He had just managed to force out her weakness, so he couldn't hold back anymore.

"Hirako Shinji wins!"

In July, the competition results were announced, and Ms. Kobayashi, who was in charge of the treatment, stepped forward and carried Ise Rikka away.

"Congratulations, Mr. Shikatori! Your student has made it to the top eight. Looks like I'll have to treat you to dinner," Mr. Kobayashi teased.

"Thank you in advance. I'm really looking forward to Chef Kobayashi's cooking," July said with a smile.