Nozomishin Ōmaeda's towering two-meter-plus frame was extremely intimidating. Standing in front of him, Kana Azashiro looked like a small child being scolded by an adult. Fortunately, they were not ordinary humans, and the advantage of size was not absolute.
Kana took the initiative. She stepped forward, raised her hand, and slashed! However, Ōmaeda did the same, and after the ceremonial bow, he swiftly slashed at her.
THUD—
Their wooden swords collided. Ōmaeda immediately grinned, intending to use the opportunity to overwhelm Kana. But to his surprise, her figure didn't move an inch. She had blocked his blade. Given their disparate sizes, Ōmaeda naturally had a top-down advantage in a blade lock, while Kana had to push upward.
Ōmaeda's eyes widened in anger. With a great shout, he released all his Spiritual Pressure and pushed down with all his might. Kana clenched her teeth. Her two feet, clad in white tabi socks, suddenly pushed off, rising onto her tiptoes. The floor beneath her feet was instantly covered in a dense web of cracks.
BOOM!!!
Ōmaeda was overjoyed. He saw the floor under Kana's feet shatter. This meant she would soon lose her balance and be unable to continue resisting his pressure. However, the reason the floor broke was not what he expected.
It wasn't crushed by his power—it was shattered by the force Kana exerted when she pushed off!
Ōmaeda felt his wooden sword being pushed away by a tremendous force, sending him staggering back several steps. At that moment, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of red leap up. The girls' academy uniform resembled a miko's, with red hakama.
"Crap!"
He snapped his head up. Kana had somehow leaped into the air and had already raised her wooden sword high. Ōmaeda was shocked. He had just stumbled back and hadn't regained his footing. He could only hastily raise his sword to block. This rushed movement couldn't possibly stop her attack. His massive body fell backward and crashed onto the floor.
CRASH—
Ōmaeda was slammed into the floorboards, sending wood splinters flying. "Cough, cough—I underestimated your strength... to think I'd lose to you in the area I'm most confident in. It's unbelievable," Ōmaeda said, climbing out of the crater. He glanced at the mark on his shoulder, knowing he had lost a point. "Let's go again, power-girl!" he mumbled.
"Don't give people random nicknames!" Kana shouted, charging at him again. She parried his incoming slash and used the force from the impact to leap into the air once more.
Ōmaeda's eyes narrowed. He recalled the fight between Sōjun and Shinji, where Shinji had made a similar move. He naturally thought of Sōjun's solution: just block all her subsequent attacks and wait for the opening she would reveal while airborne to finish her in one strike! With his feet firmly planted, he was confident he could block her attacks.
The two then reenacted the scene from the earlier fight. Kana leaped behind Ōmaeda and delivered a quick slash. Ōmaeda didn't get cocky and turned slightly to block the blow. However, what happened next was beyond his expectations.
Kana suddenly extended a foot clad in a white tabi sock and, like a dragonfly skipping on water, stepped on the back of his wooden sword. Ōmaeda didn't understand what she was doing. With her foot there, if he just flipped his blade, the edge would hit the sole of her foot. According to the rules, that would count as a point! He wouldn't miss such a golden opportunity and quickly flipped his blade.
At the same time, Kana grinned slyly. She pushed off with her toes, closing the distance with extreme speed, and thrust her wooden sword at his shoulder. Almost simultaneously, the edge of Ōmaeda's sword flipped over and hit the bottom of Kana's foot, while his shoulder was pierced by her thrust. They had both scored a point at the same time!
Ōmaeda suddenly froze, remembering he had already lost a point earlier. Losing another one meant he had lost the match! "Damn it, that point was too tempting. I wasn't thinking!" he lamented.
Kana had used a point-for-point trade to quickly win the match.
"You are indeed very strong. It's no disgrace to lose to you," Ōmaeda said, shaking his head. "But I won't be so careless next time!"
"Kana Azashiro, wins!"
"Awesome, Kana!" Kensei gave her a thumbs-up. "You ended the fight so quickly!"
"I'm in the finals!" Kana was also excited. This meant she could learn a new sword technique when she got back.
"You all fought very well today. I'll reward you with a big meal when we get back!" Sora said, rubbing her head. "And of course, I'll teach you a new sword technique."
"Yay!"
From the Professors' seats, many were also surprised by the result. "That was unexpected. I thought Ōmaeda would win, haha!" Head Yamada laughed.
"I've taught Ōmaeda. His Hakuda, Shunpo, and Kidō are all strong. He's a well-rounded type. If this weren't a swordsmanship-only match, he wouldn't have lost," Head Nakano said with regret. He was a Hakuda instructor for the Stealth Force and could be considered half a Professor to Ōmaeda.
"Although Kana used the rules to her advantage, it shows her fighting style isn't rigid. I was afraid she only knew how to overpower her opponents, but it seems she can use what she's learned very flexibly," Head Ashido praised.
"The next match will be difficult. The gap is just too big," Tanuki sighed. In reality, many official Shinigami couldn't defeat Sōjun Kuchiki.
After a short break, it was time for the finals.
"You don't have to be too stressed about the next match. Just because you can't beat him now doesn't mean you won't in the future. You are still young and have a lot of room to grow," Sora said gently.
Kana's eyes darted around. She leaned close to Sora's ear and whispered the tactic she had just thought of. After listening, Sora chuckled. "You can give it a try. Good luck!"
Kana nodded heavily. "Well, I definitely can't beat him in a normal fight, so I might as well try!"
Kana Azashiro and Sōjun Kuchiki stepped onto the stage.
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