Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 153 - The Quarterfinals

The next day, Wayne returned to the Ranking Tournament arena.

The quarterfinal matches were structured the same as the previous days, with one difference: competitors were no longer confined to the rest rooms. Everyone could come to the arena and watch from the sidelines. With only eight matches per year group and five year groups to get through, a single day was enough to cover them all. Following year-group order, the second years went first and the sixth years last. Wayne's newly drawn slot placed him third, facing Ryosuke Nishikawa of the Nishikawa family.

"Big brother, that armband..." When they reached the viewing platform, Momo was the first to notice something different about Wayne. For one thing, his eye covering had been swapped for a pair of glasses, a half-rim single-lens visor pressed tight against his eyes, gripping both sides of his skull as though held by magnets, steady enough that no amount of movement would shake it loose. For another, there was an armband bound to his right arm that she had never seen before.

"This is the Shiba family crest armband," Wayne told her. "I just joined the Shiba family as a retainer."

"Nani?!" Kira's expression shifted to pure shock. One of the Four Great Noble Houses, the Shiba Family, had taken a first-year student from Shin'ō Academy as a retainer? He couldn't have imagined it. But to those watching closely — to certain noble circles — the meaning read entirely differently. It was a gamble, plain and simple. A bet that this young man, not yet fully fledged, would one day soar above all others.

"Tsukishiro... you've already joined the Shiba family?" There was a faint note of regret in Kira's voice. In truth, he had always imagined that once he became a Soul Reaper and secured his place as heir to the family headship, he would invite Wayne to join his house and serve as an elder. He hadn't expected that Tsukishiro — still only a first-year — would already be scouted by one of the Four Great Houses. The thought left him deflated, and quietly sorrowful that such a guardian was now beyond his family's reach.

"It's only a retainer position. After five years, I'll likely part ways with the Shiba family entirely."

"Eh?" A glimmer of hope flickered back into Kira's eyes.

"There's something I'll still need your help with, when the time comes." Wayne's tone was even. "For now, I need you to take care of something. Whether you actually do it is entirely up to you." He leaned forward and murmured a few words into Kira's ear. Kira's eyes went wide on the spot.

"Tsukishiro, you're not joking?"

"That's exactly why I said it's up to you." Wayne patted him on the shoulder. He had just laid out the full details of the betting scheme and told Kira to stake as much of his own wealth as possible alongside him. High risk, but if it paid off and Kira bet heavily enough, the winnings would lay a thick foundation for his path to becoming family head. "High risk, high reward. The choice is yours."

"Mm... I understand. I'll go now." After a long moment, Kira gave a firm nod and ran off. How far he could take it would depend entirely on his own nerve.

Wayne watched him go, then patted Momo on the head without much explanation. The two of them settled into seats at the arena floor and turned their attention to the second years' quarterfinals. Throughout the matches, Wayne patiently pointed out the techniques the fighters on stage were using, and Momo came away from the day with a full and rewarding education, a much clearer picture of how she wanted to develop her own fighting style.

The day's matches moved at an unhurried pace. By the time the sixth years took the stage, the sun was already sinking in the west. At that same moment, Kira came sprinting back drenched in sweat and gave Wayne a resolute nod. The Reiatsu rolling off him — too excited now to fully suppress, said everything. Wayne's lips curved. With this, his plan could proceed without a hitch.

The five-year promise he had made to Isshin Shiba was, in truth, no great challenge at all. It looked difficult on the surface, but Wayne had laid the groundwork long before that conversation. Having Kira join the betting pool, if he won, everyone walked away smiling; if he lost, he could cut his losses and move on. A win would let Kira accumulate wealth quickly, consolidate control over his family's power, and then spend the remaining time working toward what mattered: positioning the Kira family as a vassal house under the Shiba main family. A convenient branch to climb onto. And Kira himself had the raw talent of a future lieutenant, so there was no question the Shiba family would find him worth their time.

Second: find someone who could step into Wayne's role and support Isshin Shiba in his place.

Shiro-chan:?

Toshiro Hitsugaya, internally: Seriously, I haven't even entered Shin'ō Academy yet and you've already mapped out my entire life.

In truth, this was simply the advantage of someone who had crossed over with foreknowledge. Shiro-chan would join Shin'ō Academy three years after Momo enrolled, awaken Hyōrinmaru within a single year, and his Reiatsu would surge at a staggering pace. Then, in just one more year, he would climb to 3rd Seat of the 10th Division. Across a five-year window, even if Wayne did absolutely nothing, Shiro-chan would grow to exactly the level Wayne needed well within that time. The second promise, then, was as good as fulfilled.

Third: Wayne needed to reach lieutenant-level strength within five years. But the reality was that Wayne already possessed the power of a top-five seated officer. If he dropped all concealment and released his full Reiatsu in one burst, he could hold his own against weaker lieutenants and make any fight against them a grueling affair. On top of that, he had already gathered detailed knowledge of many lieutenants' Zanpakuto abilities, targeting someone through their own ability's weaknesses was not a difficult task.

Rangiku:? So I can just show myself out then?

In summary: rounding everything up, Wayne had essentially gotten everything from Isshin Shiba for free. Not only protection, the backing of the Shiba family and access to considerable resources, though those resources were still his to go out and earn himself. The Shiba family would provide a channel at most.

As for Isshin Shiba, the branch house head harbored no ambitions to swallow the main house. He only wanted the Shiba family to endure and flourish. For now, as long as he stood at the front as captain, the family would not fall. His hope was that Kaien Shiba, the main house's young heir, would step up, that Kaien might one day earn a captaincy of his own. A family with two captains would truly cement the Shiba clan's standing and push it further than where it sat today.

With Kira's matter settled, the time for Wayne's own match was fast approaching. He said his goodbyes to Momo, made his way to the sixth years' rest room, and prepared to take the stage.

In the round of sixteen, his assigned opponent was Ryosuke Nishikawa. Of the other competitors worth watching: Yagami China was facing a descendant of a mid-tier noble house, the first match of the quarterfinals. Kitagawa Sawa and Otsuka were slotted into the seventh and eighth matches respectively. If the bracket held without further manipulation, Otsuka and Kitagawa would meet in the semifinals, which meant one fewer threat for Wayne to worry about.

That said, knowing how nobles tended to operate, Wayne suspected they would rather see their own candidates avoid Kitagawa, the likely champion, for as long as possible. Even at the quarterfinal stage, he couldn't count on this crowd of entrenched interests to play by the rules.

It wasn't long before the sixth years' matches kicked off, igniting the loudest wave of cheers the academy had seen all day. This was the highest level of combat on offer, and it showed, far more compelling than watching a pair of second years hack at each other with Asauchi.

Yagami China, as a product of the Kidō Corps lineage, wielded her Kidō with extraordinary mastery. Against an opponent who also fought in the Kidō style, she won in a completely one-sided fashion. Her opponent had just barely gotten a handle on level-sixty Kidō; China had already started chaining multiple level-sixty spells in combination. They simply weren't in the same league.

Wayne suspected this was a deliberately arranged pairing, a chance for Yagami China to sharpen her technique. For the noble student on the losing end, falling to the academy's foremost Kidō practitioner was no disgrace. Face was preserved, experience was gained, and the senior family members standing behind the losing student could use the occasion to smooth their relationship with the Kidō Corps. A convenient arrangement all around.

The second match pitted a Rukongai student against a noble student, both physical-type Zanpakuto fighters, so it came down to pure combat skill. But just as though it had been scripted, the commoner held a slight edge right up until a small lapse at a critical moment gave the noble student an opening. He batted the commoner's Zanpakuto aside and drove his blade into the opponent's shoulder. Match over. Anyone who had placed bets without knowing what was arranged behind the scenes would be losing their money once again.

Third match. Wayne walked out of the rest room at an unhurried pace. Across from him, Ryosuke Nishikawa emerged from the opposite side. The smile on Nishikawa's face died the instant his eyes landed on the crest armband on Wayne's arm. His expression went dark.

"That armband..." Up on the highest viewing platform, a sharp light flickered through the aged, clouded eyes of Ginrei Kuchiki. "Captain Shiba. You move quickly."

"Ha ha ha ha. Young Hinamori and I simply get along well." Isshin scratched the back of his head with a good-natured laugh. He knew perfectly well the remark was a jab.

"Hmph. As one of the Four Great Noble Houses, recruiting a commoner as a retainer — Captain Shiba, isn't investing this heavily in a first-year student just a little premature?" The Kuchiki family was naturally aware of the games the lower noble houses played. They maintained the dignity of their station and considered themselves above such dealings, and so had not participated in the betting pool. As for Isshin Shiba's conduct, Ginrei found it thoroughly beneath him.

"I have no wish to see a promising seed get swallowed up by rot because of circumstances beyond his control. If I can help, why wouldn't I? Besides, the bet I made with him hasn't necessarily been lost yet." Isshin's expression settled into something more serious. Then he turned away from Ginrei Kuchiki and gave him no further attention. Ginrei, for his part, withdrew that probing gaze and turned it back to the blindfolded student in the arena below, beginning to quietly reconsider whether refusing to extend an olive branch, out of so-called noble dignity, had actually been the right call.

The match began. Wayne raised his blade and launched into Shunpo. Ryosuke Nishikawa swiftly backpedaled, chanting the release incantation as he retreated. "Corrode him, Fukki!"

Nishikawa's Zanpakuto was a Kidō-type. Its ability: once it cut an opponent, it released a special toxin that rapidly ate away at the target's Reiatsu. It couldn't convert that Reiatsu into the user's own power, but as abilities went it was still quite formidable. The one glaring weakness was that it had to land a cut to activate.

A Zanpakuto like that would probably yield far greater returns deployed as an assassination tool in the 2nd Division. But as a mid-tier noble, Nishikawa wanted to present himself to the world with flair, not spend his life skulking behind a mask.

So instead of refining assassination techniques, he had put serious work into his swordsmanship. In its own way, that was still a method of making his Zanpakuto's ability hit harder.

In Shikai, Fukki became a two-handed greatsword with a flat broad blade at the tip, built for hooking and dragging opponents to force openings. Against Wayne's katana style, it held a certain edge, one clean cut was all it needed to inject the toxin, and until Wayne purged it, that poison would keep eating away at his Reiatsu without pause.

So not getting hit was the core of this fight. From that foundation, all Wayne needed was one opening, and Nishikawa would go down.

In truth, Wayne wasn't the slightest bit concerned. He had long since studied Nishikawa's ability in detail. Putting him on the ground would be simple. But for the sake of the betting odds, he needed to put on a show first.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Steel rang against steel in an unbroken rhythm. Wayne deliberately eased off his speed, keeping his movements readable enough for Kira and Nakai to follow.

As long as Nishikawa didn't reach for Kidō, Wayne had all the time he needed to give Kira and Nakai a live lesson. Even the captains up on the highest platform had caught on.

"Why is this kid deliberately slowing himself down? Putting on a show for someone?" 2nd Division Captain Soifon frowned. Just yesterday she had been impressed by his decisive, lethal efficiency, and now he was dragging his feet.

"The Kira boy seems to be learning swordsmanship by watching him." The 9th Division captain, responsible for Seireitei's security, offered the observation. More accurately, the reason he was tracking Wayne so closely had less to do with his policing duties and more to do with the fact that he had been gathering intelligence on Wayne for Aizen. That said, up to this point Aizen only had a passing interest in Wayne, it hadn't yet risen to the level of focused attention.

"Looks like young Hinamori has no regard for his opponent at all." 8th Division Captain Shunsui Kyōraku sat back on the high platform, reaching for the nearby teacup and drinking tea in lieu of sake. In front of Old Man Yamamoto, Kyōraku didn't dare drink. Tea, however, was perfectly acceptable. Lieutenant Nanao offered no reproach and simply pushed her glasses up, continuing to refill his cup.

"It's hard to imagine what he was doing before he descended into Soul Society. In just over three months he has developed this level of combat skill and Reiatsu. It seems the academy is about to gain another genius who graduates in a single year." Captain Ukitake had nothing but admiration for Wayne's showing.

"To graduate from the academy, one must still earn the acknowledgment of a Zanpakuto. Furthermore, as far as this old man is aware, this boy has no grasp of Kidō whatsoever. He has carried that deficiency from the very beginning, and there is no certainty that swordsmanship alone will ever allow him to stand above the many fine officers this world produces. The Zanpakuto is the core of a Soul Reaper's combat." Ginrei Kuchiki had no goodwill toward a commoner who showed no deference to the nobility, and consistently pushed back against any praise of Wayne. For a great noble house, family dignity stood above all else.

"We shall see." Ukitake's brow creased slightly at the Kuchiki patriarch's words. But he left it at that.

Down below, the match was already nearing its end.

➤ Next: Sekiyō