Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 148 - The Strongest Underling

The next day, Wayne brought Momo's group to the tournament grounds once more. After a night of rest and recovery, the participating students had regained much of their vitality. Aside from a few who had fought desperate, all-out battles and still looked pale, everyone else had recovered their fighting spirit.

The previous night, Wayne, Ikkaku, Rangiku, and the others had discussed the rules of the betting pool. As long as Wayne wasn't matched against those two remaining opponents, they could bet on him to win. Though the group still didn't fully grasp Wayne's true depth, his visible combat strength was genuinely impressive, so they readily agreed. After all, from just yesterday's match alone, Iba and Ikkaku had raked in a fortune, which drew Rangiku into wanting a piece of the action. Facing this younger version of Rangiku — with her bright yellow scarf draped around her neck, short orange hair, and a figure that had already fully developed — Wayne could only say that at this stage, Rangiku's temperament hadn't yet matured to that of her future self, but her figure had absolutely already met the standard.

At the tournament venue, Wayne and Kira walked into the competitors' waiting room, while Nakai and Momo remained in the spectator stands.

"Kira, for your next opponent, don't push yourself too hard. Just do your best. We still have a long road ahead of us."

"Alright, Tsukishiro-nii." Kira nodded. "Yesterday's match already taught me a great deal. I need some time to digest the new sensations that battle brought me. Today, I'll fight within my limits."

"There's a sixth-year student named Kitagawa Sawa. His fighting style is quite interesting — you might take some pointers from him," Wayne offered as a timely hint. As someone who already knew the ability of Kira's Zanpakuto, Wayne gave this piece of friendly advice, hoping Kira could glean something from it and awaken his Zanpakuto sooner.

"Eh? Alright, I'll keep an eye out." Though Kira didn't know why Wayne said this, he nodded and agreed. After all, it was simply paying closer attention, not anything particularly unusual.

The two parted ways and entered the waiting areas for their respective years. The sixty-four sixth-year competitors were all gathered here, and the atmosphere instantly grew heavy. Everyone's Reiatsu probed in Wayne's direction, wanting to know where this first-year fledgling got the nerve to try and climb up by stepping on them.

Wayne, however, regarded their Reiatsu with utter disdain. Back when Starrk's Reiatsu had pressed down on him until he could barely breathe, he'd still endured it. Now this flock of weaklings, who didn't even reach Gillian-level, wanted to pressure him with Reiatsu? To that, Wayne could only say: you're overthinking it.

Without any haste, he walked to his seat and sat down. Wayne wasn't the least bit intimidated by those threatening Reiatsu pressures. Instead, beneath his eye bandage, he began surveying the crowd. Very quickly, Wayne located the four tournament favorites.

In the center of the waiting room, the well-featured Kitagawa Sawa wore a deeply gloomy expression, his black-hilted Zanpakuto — Shien — clutched tightly to his chest. He looked every bit the wandering swordsman. At the moment, he was resting with his eyes closed, yet his Reiatsu extended in all directions, as if trying to probe every competitor's strength.

At the edge of the waiting room, Kuraki Kaoru, from the Second Division background, was polishing her Zanpakuto, but her eyes darted everywhere, as though searching for openings in every competitor.

Ōtsuka Yaetsu was extremely easy to find. In an inconspicuous corner of the waiting room sat a towering man with his arms crossed, as immovable as a mountain. His features looked as if carved from stone, giving an impression of weight and solidity. Compared to the others, he was the only one truly resting with his eyes closed, seemingly nurturing his intent — his fist intent.

The last one, Yagami Kina, from the Kidō Corps background, the moment Wayne locked onto her, she used Shunpo to appear right in front of him, peering at him with the posture of a curious child.

"Hmm?" As a blind person, Wayne made no visual movement, so as not to give himself away. He merely gave a soft, puzzled sound.

"Is something the matter?"

"You really are blind." Yagami Kina waved a hand in front of Wayne's face, her big, adorable eyes blinking. Clearly, this Kidō expert was a cheerful, upbeat girl.

"Mm." Wayne nodded lightly.

"Hehe, so how do you usually find your way around? Do you ever bump into rocks on the road? Do you ever get hit by hidden arrows shot from the shadows? Do you ever trip over stones that have no Reiatsu?" The girl grinned cheerfully as she fired a series of odd questions at Wayne.

"Reiatsu fluctuations and sound," Wayne answered simply. "These help me avoid getting hurt or bumping into people."

"I see." Yagami Kina tapped her lips with a finger in a thoughtful pose. "Hehe, well then, I'll look forward to our later battles~"

After this brief exchange, Yagami Kina returned to her seat. From then on, no one else came to disturb Wayne.

The group didn't wait in the lounge for long before the start time arrived. The round of thirty-two advancing to the round of sixteen meant each year would have sixteen exciting matches.

The sole advantage of a round-based tournament was that every competitor could get adequate rest. Of course, there had been a few times in Shin'ō Academy's history when melee-style selection matches were held. But that relatively unfair format not only created inequality in strength and interpersonal dynamics, it also led to irreparable casualties.

Because of this, all subsequent academy tournaments were changed to a round-based format. One reason was to reduce casualties, letting these fresh recruits pour their passion onto the real battlefield. The second was to prevent unrest, allowing students to mutually choose the divisions they wanted to join, rather than being forced into the same division through gang-like allegiances.

The thirty-two competitors drew lots randomly. Wayne shouldn't be unlucky enough to run into those two right off the bat, that would be too terrible. And indeed, that was the case. Wayne's draw was number A8, the final match of the upper bracket. Among the four favorites, only Kuraki Kaoru, from the Second Division family background, was in the same sequence as him. The other three were all in the lower bracket. This meant that, if the order didn't change, Wayne could charge straight through to the second-place position. For Wayne, this was nothing short of good news.

As the matches began, pairs of competitors walked onto the arena one after another. Some fights lasted dozens of minutes; others ended in under three minutes. More time was actually spent on repairing the arena and on rest periods. And when it came to those so-called rest periods, Wayne wondered if they were simply there to give the bookmakers time to take bets. On this point, Wayne tacitly approved. Private gambling pools like this definitely involved considerable interests, perhaps even the survival of certain minor noble families.

The old man's willingness to let this gambling pool exist all along, perhaps he had considerations along those lines as well.

After all, the Gotei 13 didn't just protect the Soul King and the Soul Society; they also had to maintain order within the Soul Society. At the very least, they maintained order within the Seireitei. As for the Rukongai... one could only say they tried their best.

The competitors in the waiting room had no chance to watch the other fighters' matches. This was to ensure that each person's fighting style could face their opponent in the freshest state, increasing their adaptability on the battlefield. The reason this hadn't been designed earlier was because, during the preliminary elimination of the weaklings, not everyone used their full strength. Those who did use their full strength in the later selection rounds had no need to advance further anyway.

As the final match of the sixth-year upper bracket, Wayne was in no hurry. He simply rested and conserved his energy in the waiting room. However, his Reiatsu perception had long since extended to the arena, stopping just short of the spectator stands, so as to avoid being discovered by the captains peeking. Naturally, Wayne wasn't the only one doing this; other competitors were doing the same. But they couldn't do what Wayne could, project the scenes of the outside battles like a virtual image. At most, they could sense the Reiatsu fluctuations of the two fighters on the arena and some vague impressions of the techniques being used. While Wayne quietly observed the various competitors, he also sensed Kira's match.

Unsurprisingly, Kira lost outright. Even with a finishing move like Sword Gleam Slash, he couldn't last very long against a senior who had already awakened his Zanpakuto. He was defeated without any suspense.

Soon, the advancement matches for the earlier years all concluded one by one. By the time Wayne stepped onto the arena, the sun was already high in the sky. Yet the students' enthusiasm hadn't diminished in the slightest.

"Is that Tsukishiro Hinamori?"

"The genius first-year challenging the sixth-years?" The students in the stands began murmuring among themselves. If the first challenge match had an element of luck, then in the second match against a Kidō user, Wayne had unleashed genuine, solid strength to win. And he had won with complete ease.

"I heard he's already become a hot-ticket contender on the betting boards. Plenty of people bet straight on him to win."

"But the information I got is that he used some special secret technique to forcibly boost his Reiatsu to win the match. Right now, he seems to be weakened and hasn't fully recovered yet. Can he really win?"

"At the end of the day, he's still just a student who only recently entered Shin'ō Academy. It's impossible for him to possess Reiatsu that high. Maybe he received some Soul Reaper-sama's legacy? That would let him use a secret technique to forcibly raise his Reiatsu in actual combat."

"But I've never heard of any Soul Reaper in the Thirteen Divisions possessing a technique like that. At least, none of the captains or lieutenants do."

"Idiot. As students, how much do we really know about the Thirteen Divisions? Even the rank-and-file members of the Gotei 13 probably don't know everything, right? Besides, there are hundreds of noble houses, great and small, throughout the Seireitei. Who knows if this Rukongai-born genius has already been scouted by some noble family and is being secretly trained?"

The murmuring buzzed without end, a clamor of voices everywhere. Everyone was wondering whether this Tsukishiro Hinamori before them would become the next Kitagawa Sawa. This also caused the match to be delayed from starting. Even the seated-officer-level referee on site was silently waiting, seemingly waiting for the betting pools outside to finalize the odds.

After about ten minutes, the old man furrowed his brow and lightly tapped the cane in his hand. A faint pressure drifted outward, instantly silencing the entire venue. The referee also knew he could wait no longer, so he waved the flag in his hand and summoned the two competitors to the center of the arena.

The moment Wayne stepped onto the field, he saw that the battlefield environment was different.

Unlike the smaller arenas of the earlier advancement rounds, the battlefield had now expanded to encompass the entire venue. This was to give the students better room to perform, and also to ensure the safety of the spectators outside, in case a student used some large-scale, indiscriminate attack. Otherwise, even the Thirteen Division members would struggle to mount a rescue in time.

To Wayne's left was the towering observation platform, where the thirteen captains now sat, looking down upon the arena. As Wayne's Reiatsu swept past, all the captains simultaneously directed their gazes toward him. After all, when Reiatsu swept over them, every captain would react immediately. But then they remembered that this student was blind, just like Ninth Division's Tōsen, and so they abandoned their targeted stares, the other party couldn't see them anyway.

Raising his head, beneath his eye bandage, Wayne looked at those neat twelve white haori and one pink haori. Wayne let out a long sigh. As expected, even his tiny scanning probe drew the attention of every captain. But fortunately, including Aizen, none of the captains projected Reiatsu that carried hostility or displeasure. On the contrary, the battle maniac of the Eleventh Division, Kenpachi Zaraki, projected Reiatsu that carried a faint hint of fighting spirit.

"As expected, the Eleventh Division folks are all battle-crazed lunatics," Wayne grumbled inwardly. Then he focused his attention on today's opponent.

Today's opponent was a sixth-year senior... He could no longer be called a senior, and judging by his age, he was no longer young. A beard traced down from the corners of his mouth and sideburns. Clearly, this was an advanced-age senior.

"The Strongest Genin?" Wayne's mind was full of gripes. A student this old was either a perennial underachiever who kept retaking courses at the academy, or someone who was already advanced in years when they were reborn into the Soul Society. But either way, Wayne wasn't afraid, because long before the match started, Wayne had already gathered all the intel on this Strongest Und, no, this school-uncle named Kuzume Daisuke.

"Tsukishiro Hinamori. Please grant me your guidance." Wayne drew his katana and angled it forty-five degrees.

"Kuzume Daisuke. Please grant me your guidance." This middle-aged man's voice was hoarse, his gaze fixed on Wayne like a pool of stagnant water. His by-the-book demeanor clearly marked him as a student who followed the rules to the letter. The combat strength he possessed today was likely tied to his meticulous, no-nonsense personality.

Kuzume Daisuke's Zanpakuto hilt had already taken on color, clearly indicating he had achieved release capability. His blade was named Miyamotomaru, a physical-type Zanpakuto. Its ability was to produce a sword-cry and sword-pressure when swung, essentially a blade with an infinite Sword Gleam Slash.

However, its power only matched his own level and wouldn't increase much through the sword's release. It was essentially just turning a close-combat weapon into a ranged one.

"Both sides, ready." The referee raised the small flag high. "Begin!"

Swoosh!

Kuzume Daisuke didn't release his blade right away. Instead, he used Shunpo to rush straight at Wayne, the Zanpakuto in his hand swinging down heavily toward Wayne's face.

"Oh?" Wayne was surprised by this senior's fighting approach. He had expected the opponent to release his Zanpakuto first. Seeing the enemy attack, Wayne countered with an upward slash, meeting the opponent's strike head-on with a single blade.

"I've watched both of your fights," Kuzume Daisuke said in a deep voice. "Your speed is extremely fast, and your explosive power is very strong. If I used Shikai right at the start, you would likely catch an opening. And after my Zanpakuto releases, its ability isn't suited for letting you get close. So, I can only seize the initiative first." As his words fell, Kuzume Daisuke used Shunpo to retreat, while his hands formed a seal.

"Hadō #4: Byakurai!" A bolt of white lightning shot from Kuzume Daisuke's finger, hurtling toward Wayne's heart.

Wayne raised his sword to block, the Reiatsu-clad katana cleaving the Byakurai apart with one strike.

"Bakudō #21: Sekienton!" A dense cloud of smoke instantly engulfed Wayne.

"Bakudō #21: Kyokkō!" Before Wayne could escape the smoke, Kuzume Daisuke continued chanting the incantation. Very quickly, a curtain of light warped his body, making him vanish into thin air.

Swoosh!

Wayne used Shunpo to leap into the air, surveying the arena from above, but couldn't spot Kuzume Daisuke's position. However, as a blind person, Wayne quickly realized he needed to use spiritual power to track him at this moment. Then he heard, not far from his side, Kuzume Daisuke's voice ring out once more.

"Dance freely in blade, Miyamotomaru!"

Bzzz!

A sword-cry rang out, and immediately after, a pale-cyan blade-pressure came hurtling straight toward Wayne!

➤ Next: Top 16 — The Fight Begins