Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 147 - A Formidable Foe

Chapter One Hundred Forty-Seven

"So fast!" Thirteenth Division Captain Jūshirō Ukitake savored the just-ended battle and couldn't help but marvel. "In a matter of seconds, he used the eruption of his own Reiatsu to break free of a Bakudō in the sixties. That's a speed even some Seated Officers can't match."

"Six-Rod Light Prison has six weak connection points within the ring, and that young lady's Reiatsu was already nearly depleted. The Six-Rod Light Prison she cast didn't have much binding force. The first-year student quickly used his Reiatsu to burst through those weak connection points and break free. Before Hundred-Step Rails could affect his footing, he used Shunpo to leave the arena, soared into the air, and simultaneously pulled the light pillars from his body. That entire sequence must have been calculated well in advance. He was simply waiting for his opponent to play her trump card before evading it. Very rich combat experience." Eighth Division Captain Shunsui Kyōraku, standing beside him, explained to his friend.

"He must have studied the properties of Bakudō in depth." Twelfth Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi laughed with exaggerated relish, turning his head toward Fourth Division Captain Retsu Unohana not far away. "I hear this brat runs off to the Fourth Division every chance he gets?"

"Mm." Captain Unohana nodded. "He seems to get along very well with my division's Seventh Seat, Yui Mizusue."

"Hmph. That little punk really knows how to find an intelligence network." Mayuri instantly understood a great deal. He concluded that Wayne had learned a wealth of information through the Fourth Division's available materials, and then formulated a whole series of strategies from it.

"Rumor has it the students are running private betting pools." Ninth Division Captain Kaname Tōsen spoke up. "And this Tsukishiro Hinamori seems to have become the contender with the highest odds."

"I shall go and purge this." The Seventh Division's big dog, no, Captain Sajin Komamura, said in a gruff, rumbling voice.

"Quiet." Old man Yamamoto lightly tapped his cane on the ground. "Just watch the match." The old man's eyelids, which nearly obscured his vision, remained unruffled, but those sharp eyes carried a trace of quiet appreciation as they watched the match below. After a long moment, in a voice only Vice-Captain Chōjirō Sasakibe beside him could hear, the old man said, "This year's class has quite a few promising seedlings."

"Lord Yamamoto, shall I go keep an eye on him?" Sasakibe naturally understood where his captain's emphasis lay.

"No need." The old man gently shook his head. "Giving a seedling excessive shelter is not a good thing. Let him grow freely."

"Yes, my lord."

With the advancement matches concluded, all of today's bouts had come to an end. Besides Wayne, the battered and bruised Kira also advanced to the round of 32. His opponent had been a physically-oriented senior who could release his Zanpakuto. Although Kira ultimately won through a sneak attack with Sword Gleam Slash, he had been beaten black and blue by the cutting power of his opponent's Zanpakuto in the process.

Momo, however, was not so fortunate. With her Reiatsu nearly entirely drained from the previous match, she lost this bout without much suspense. But for a first-year who had only just entered the academy, such a result was already something to be proud of.

The round of 32 advancing to the round of 16 would be held tomorrow, with every match starting individually. That meant tomorrow could see up to 96 bouts. This was to allow a more meticulous assessment of each student's strength, and to make it easier to administer medical treatment.

Most of those who had made it this far already possessed the caliber of a formal squad member or a lower-ranking Seated Officer. Having ordinary squad members serve as referees was no longer appropriate.

For each advancement match, a captain-class figure would stand by and intervene when necessary. The ones carrying out this task were the current Tenth Division Captain, Isshin Shiba, and the Seventh Division Captain, Sajin Komamura.

That night, Wayne once again visited Seventh Seat Mizusue's quarters. Because she was a Seated Officer, she didn't have to share living space with others, which allowed the two of them to discuss their betting scheme openly.

"You sure are something, kid. Today's matches made you the biggest dark horse on the boards overnight." Mizusue had just bathed before Wayne arrived. She wore a loosely draped yukata, the collar lightly open at the front, her lake-blue hair still beaded with water droplets, her figure languid and graceful. She sat to the side, entirely unconcerned about being watched by Wayne, this "blind man."

"How are the odds? Anything worth making?" Wayne glanced lightly at the view before him, then took a quiet sip of tea and asked calmly.

"Of course there is. But in one match you instantly defeated a sixth-year, and in another you forcibly broke a Bakudō above number sixty. That's made everyone peg you as a very strong dark horse, so the odds aren't that generous anymore." Mizusue sounded somewhat disdainful. Still, across today's two fights, the first had pushed Wayne onto the betting board rankings, and in the second, the eighty-thousand-plus Silver Rings she had wagered had doubled straight to one hundred sixty thousand. A newcomer just breaking onto the board always enjoyed a windfall on their first match.

"Then put out the word that I boosted myself with a secret technique and am now suffering the backlash. Tomorrow I'll fight rough, to drive the odds back up." Wayne naturally had a countermeasure ready.

"Funny enough, I've already done that." A shrewd smile tugged at the corner of Mizusue's mouth. She then produced a stack of papers, dossiers on the remaining sixth-year opponents. "These are your remaining opponents. Take another look. They've already been treated to block Reiatsu scanning. Among them are a few championship seeds. See whether you want to concede any."

Wayne manipulated his Reiatsu to perform a spiritual scan. He could have used his eyes, but he couldn't afford to let that slip in front of Mizusue.

Mizusue had flagged four key individuals. All were favorites to win the championship, and Kitazawa was among them. The remaining three, quite coincidentally, specialized respectively in Kidō, hand-to-hand combat, and footwork.

Combined with Kitazawa's swordsmanship, that covered Zankensoki,all four disciplines, completely.

"This hand-to-hand combat student..." Wayne pointed specifically at this rare specimen.

"Yaetsu Ōtsuka, from a traditional noble family. His ancestors once fought alongside Lord Genryūsai Yamamoto. After his ancestor died in battle, there were no particularly distinguished successors, leading to the family's decline. It wasn't until his grandfather's generation that they began to rise again. The Ōtsuka family has always passed down hand-to-hand combat techniques, and this child is genuinely gifted — the first notable hand-to-hand combat prodigy since former Ninth Division Captain Kensei Muguruma."

"What about his Zanpakuto?"

"Crumbling Tiger. A released form resembling gauntlets, or perhaps fist-blades. It greatly enhances his hand-to-hand combat, and its ability is to multiply damage dealt. According to the last report, his punching force is already enough to shatter boulders dozens of meters across with a single blow."

"What about his speed?" Wayne continued.

"His Shunpo is noticeably slower than yours, but as a hand-to-hand combat practitioner, his defensive strength is astonishingly high."

"Can't cut through him?"

"You haven't even gotten your Zanpakuto yet." Mizusue raised a hand and idly twirled a lock of hair by her temple. "An ordinary standard-issue blade might not be able to scratch him. And I'd suggest you give up on this one. A family already on its last legs — if you snuff out their only hope, watch out for retaliation from the whole clan."

"Mm..." Wayne sank into thought. After some consideration, he decided to move on to the next one.

"What about the one who specializes in footwork?"

"The daughter of the Second Division's Sixth Seat, Kaoru Kuraki. Squarely on the Punishment Force's training track. Her Zanpakuto is called Phantom Butterfly — a rare illusion-type. Its specific capabilities are unclear. According to her own description, it can generate illusions, but the extent of its effect varies wildly even among accounts from those who have actually fought her."

"Another illusion-type?" Wayne's expression grew slightly grave. Perhaps it was a stress response to Aizen, but whenever Wayne encountered an illusion-type, he felt the urge to go all out and eliminate the opponent on the spot.

"You're blind. What do you have to fear from an illusion-type?" Mizusue grumbled.

"Huh?" Wayne's expression stalled for a moment. He suddenly realized he had been putting the cart before the horse. Hadn't he been maintaining the pretense of blindness precisely to counter illusion-types? Fighting more illusion-type opponents was actually to his advantage. And on top of that, Kaoru Kuraki's primary attack method was Shunpo. What on earth was he worried about?

"Yeah... I overreacted." Wayne shook his head, a little rueful.

"What do you mean, overreacted?" Mizusue didn't follow.

"Nothing, never mind." Wayne shook his head. "What about the remaining two?"

"Kitazawa. Kidō-type Zanpakuto, Biting Distance. Its ability is to deploy a locking field on the enemy, reducing their speed and reaction time while increasing the pull of gravity on them." Mizusue began her introduction. "Although it's a Kidō-type, his swordsmanship is very solid. Combined with the debuffs his Zanpakuto applies, ever since he entered Shin'ō Academy he's had smooth sailing with very few defeats. The only two times he failed to claim the championship: once he couldn't participate, and once he lost by half a move. But he didn't crumble — he came back more determined each time."

"That ability is quite something." Wayne thought for a moment. "Essentially a double slow." That made him think of the future ability of Kira's Zanpakuto. The two were quite different in nature, but in the early stages of a fight Kira's Wabisuke would be at a disadvantage. If he could endure through several exchanges, Wabisuke's edge would start to show, and as long as the opponent wasn't someone like Haineko or Senbonzakura, Wabisuke's room to operate would be enormous.

"Against Biting Distance, I don't think you'll win. His Reiatsu is no weaker than yours at full burst, and combined with his Zanpakuto's properties, unless you also have a Zanpakuto."

"Mm..." Wayne pondered for a moment and accepted that at his current level he couldn't beat Kitazawa. It wasn't a matter of combat experience; he was simply outgunned by ability at this stage. Unless Wayne was willing to fight to the death, and had Mizusue track down an Asauchi for him. Even without releasing or awakening it, he could rely on an Asauchi's sharpness and durability to hold his own against Kitazawa, then use his combat experience to land a killing blow. But that was a long shot.

"If I run into him, bet on me to lose." Wayne thought it over. The current rewards weren't high enough to justify the risk, and if fate was cruel enough to pit them together in the round of 16, accepting the loss was the only realistic option. It meant Mizusue wouldn't be able to skim much profit from that bout, but there was nothing to be done.

"That's the only way." Mizusue wouldn't get angry over that. It was far better than betting wrong and losing everything.

"What about the last one — the one who specializes in Kidō?"

"Kina Yagami, granddaughter of the Kidō Corps' Third Seat." Mizusue waved her hand. "The first prodigy girl to master a Kidō in the seventies before even graduating. Her Reiatsu is barely enough to release a Kidō above number seventy once, but being able to master it at all is talent in itself. Reiatsu can always be built up gradually through accumulation."

"As expected, geniuses are never in short supply..." Wayne sighed, but another question quickly surfaced. If this Ranking Tournament could produce so many brilliant stars, why had none of them ever been mentioned in the anime? Why did such outstanding seeds ultimately fail to sprout?

Turning it over, Wayne could only arrive at one conclusion: a tree that stands out in the forest will be cut down by the wind. Precisely because they shone brightly, they were easily extinguished by powerful enemies. Precisely because they were outstanding, they were snuffed out while still in the bud.

It seemed the struggles within Soul Society were not as simple as one might imagine. Calm on the surface, dark currents churning beneath. Wayne turned it over quietly in his mind.

"What's your read on this one?"

"Worth a try." Mizusue gave a measured answer. "You broke free of a Kidō in the sixties quickly enough. Against a more solid Kidō user you should still be able to put up a fight. Kina Yagami is stronger than your opponent today by more than a level or two, but I also know you haven't shown your real strength."

"Alright, then it's settled. Everyone except Kitazawa and Yaetsu Ōtsuka, I'll fight them." Wayne stood up. "Well then, Lady Mizusue, I'll take my leave."

"Go on, go on. I'll get your sister a front-row seat." Mizusue waved him off. "Don't worry about the betting side of things; I'll handle all of that. Oh, and do you want to add more chips? You're in the sixth-year top 32 now. The rewards should be quite substantial."

"No. I'm still not sure of my final ranking, so I can't cash in yet." Wayne shook his head.

"Fair enough. If you keep advancing, the rewards will stack. So work hard~" Mizusue knew Wayne's potential and didn't push him to cash in early. The way she saw it, what if he made the top four?

Leaving Mizusue's quarters in the Fourth Division, Wayne headed to the tavern to find Ikkaku. At this hour, the bar was the obvious place to look.

Arriving at the tavern, Ikkaku and Iba were at it again, cups already in hand, but this time there was a third drinking companion: Rangiku Matsumoto, the current Tenth Division Third Seat.

"Ara, Tsukishiro-kun, you made it. Come, sit." Rangiku patted the seat beside her and let slip a faint trace of Reiatsu for Wayne to sense.

Their encounters hadn't been many, but Wayne and Rangiku had met enough times to be fairly comfortable with each other.

Without hesitation, Wayne sat down beside her and took the sake flask the server offered. He downed a cup together with the three of them.

"Brother Iba, Brother Ikkaku — how did the betting go today?"

"Heh, you're something else, kid. Combat experience that sharp, I honestly don't know how you trained it." Ikkaku grinned. Today's bets had brought him and Iba solid returns, which was part of why they were out drinking tonight.

"Tsukishiro-kun, that's not fair. A scheme this good for making money and you didn't include me? Tonight you're drinking a penalty cup." Slightly tipsy, Rangiku slung an arm over Wayne's shoulder and breathed warm sake fumes at him.

"Ha. I rarely get the chance to see you, Miss Rangiku, so I didn't want to impose. You missed out this time, but here I am now, aren't I? I'll punish myself first."

With that, Wayne drained his cup in one go.

"Have the next steps been worked out?" Iba's eyebrow lifted.

"Yeah, all confirmed. Only these two, you can all bet on me to lose for those." Wayne pulled two sheets of paper from his coat and handed them to Ikkaku.

"Mm..." Ikkaku and Iba studied them, brows gradually creasing.

"Kid, I'll set those two aside for now. But the rest, are you really that confident? We've seen plenty of standout talent among those sixth-years."

"Based on their profiles, I've run the numbers. Win probability is very high." Wayne was perfectly relaxed. And it was precisely that effortless composure that made the three Soul Reapers before him go quiet and serious.

This kid... just how much is he hiding?

➤ Next: The Strongest Underling