Chapter 41 The Huge Gap (Ch 41)

The round of 8 and subsequent rounds did not allow the students to draw their own lots.
At this stage of the competition, Minister Asido has already figured out the strength of the students.
He eliminated some elements of luck to make the subsequent competitions more exciting, and personally decided on the opponents for the students to compete.
This meant that Mako Hirako, Kana Zaraki, Sojun Kuchiki and Nozomi Ōmaeda did not meet in the semi-finals.
The result was just as Minister Asido expected, and the four of them defeated their opponents easily.
The matches in the semi-finals are Mako Hirako vs. Sojun Kuchiki, and Kana Zaraki vs. Nozomi Ōmaeda.
“It’s over.” Hirako Mako’s face fell, “Let me deal with Kuchiki Sojun?”
Mako Hirako had seen the competition of Sojun Kuchiki and realized that this man was no match that she could defeat.
The gap in strength is just too big.
Mako Hirako even felt that Kuchiki Sojun had not shown his true strength in these rounds of competition.
In every competition, he would let his opponent attack for a few rounds first, and then when his opponent was at his wit’s end, he would strike and kill him instantly.
It was as if he was assessing his opponent’s swordsmanship skills.
“You’re lucky. I met this monster in the first round! Hiss—” Liu Che Quanxi rubbed his forehead. The bump caused by Kuchiki Sojun had not disappeared yet.
“My opponent is also very strong. That guy is too violent. He has broken the floor several times.” Kana Zaraki sighed, as if she had completely forgotten that she had also broken the floor.
“There are only four people left in this round. Those who have made it this far are not weaklings.” July came over to encourage them, “The teacher is very pleased that you have made it this far. Don’t feel too burdened, just do your best!”
“I’ll try my best. If I win one more game, I’ll be able to learn new sword skills!” Kana Zaraki waved her little fist and encouraged herself with full energy.
“I will try my best!” Hirako Mako nodded. He was quite satisfied with his results. After all, he had never practiced swordsmanship before. After only two months of learning swordsmanship, he defeated so many students who had practiced swordsmanship for several years.
After a short break, the two competitors stepped onto the stage one after another.
Mako Hirako stared at the opponent in front of him.
Kuchiki Sojun had smooth black medium-length hair, with a hairpin pinned near his left ear to partially tie up his hair.
His eyes were soft and the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, outlining a gentle smile.
He does not have the domineering aura that most of the upper nobles possess.
Although he looked harmless, Hirako Mako felt an inexplicable pressure.
Previously, when Kuchiki Sojun defeated his opponents, the expression on his face never changed.
The competition began, and the two men bowed and drew their swords.
Kuchiki Sojun didn’t say any trash talk, he just looked at Hirako Mako quietly, waiting for his attack.
Mako Hirako did not hesitate too much. He took a step forward, raised his hand, and swung the sword.
Boom——
Mako Hirako’s extremely fast swing of the sword was easily blocked by her opponent.
Without stopping, he concentrated his spiritual pressure on his legs, bent over and kicked his legs, suddenly leaping behind Kuchiki Sojun.
He raised his hand and swung the knife, suddenly chopping at the back of Kuchiki Sojun’s neck.
Boom——
There was another crisp sound, and it was as if Kuchiki Sojun had eyes behind him. He didn’t even turn around, but just raised the wooden sword above his head to block the powerful attack from top to bottom by Hirako Mako.
Hirako Mako used his wrist to make the sword of Kuchiki Sojun bounce up again, and quickly changed his position, slashing at Kuchiki Sojun from another angle.
This process was extremely fast. According to his calculations, Kuchiki Sojun should not have had enough time to flip the blade and block the attack.
The result was just as Hirako Mako had expected, Kuchiki Sojun’s sword failed to block the attack.
Boom——
However, just as his sword was about to hit the opponent, the sound of wooden swords colliding was heard again.
Hirako Mako’s pupils suddenly dilated – his knife was blocked by Kuchiki Sojun’s hilt!
And he blocked it with the end of the handle!
If two people have equal spiritual pressure and equal spiritual pressure control skills, being hit on the end of the handle like this will definitely cause the wooden sword to slip out of their hands.
However, Kuchiki Sojun simply bent his body slightly to absorb all the force of the blow, and the wooden sword in his hand was still held firmly in his hand.
With a smile in his eyes, Kuchiki Sochun flipped his wrist and shook the wooden sword off the handle.
Then, he leaped up instantly, and the end of the handle of the knife hit Hirako Mako directly on the chin.
Mako Hirako only felt a black screen before his eyes, and he lost consciousness before he even hit the ground.
“The Kuchiki family is really enviable. Every generation has such outstanding descendants. This Kuchiki Sojun will definitely be a captain-level strongman in the future!” Minister Yamada sighed. He is a death god born in a small noble family. There has never been a member with captain-level potential in his family. Being able to become a chief officer is considered a great genius. However, the Kuchiki family has geniuses like Kuchiki Sojun almost every generation.
“It seems that this batch of students will have to live under the shadow of Kuchiki Sojun throughout their career in the Spiritual Arts Academy. I hope this will not undermine their self-confidence.” Director Nakano shook his head and sighed.
He remembered that he was in the same situation. He was actually from the same class as Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jushiro, and all the limelight of their class was stolen by these two people.
These two students already had the strength to be captains. It was only because of Kyoraku Shunsui’s eccentric personality that the captain-general kept them by his side for a few more years of instruction. Otherwise, they would have been released to serve as captains long ago.
Minister Nakano glanced at Tsunayashiro Tokinada and suddenly remembered that this swordsmanship teacher was also a classmate.
However, when he was in the Spiritual Arts Academy, Tsunayashiro Tokinada was rather taciturn and a very inconspicuous person.
However, during his tenure in the Second Division, Minister Nakano heard some rumors about Tsunayashiro Tokinada, who seemed to have a bad personality and enjoyed torturing the civilians of Rukongai.
“For someone like you, when you meet a student like Kuchiki Sojun, would you be relieved or jealous?” Minister Nakano thought to himself.
However, Minister Nakano guessed wrong. At this time, Tsunayashiro Tokinada was neither happy that Kuchiki Sojun won the competition nor jealous of his talent. Instead, he felt disgusted.
Tsunayashiro Tokinada looked at the gentle smile on Kuchiki Sojun’s face and narrowed his eyes slightly.
He knew the history of Soul Society and was well aware of how the five great nobles came to be.
I just feel that Kuchiki Sochun’s pretentious look is really disgusting.
Nanatsuki carried Hirako Mako down and treated his swollen chin with Kaido. After finding that he was not seriously injured, he handed him over to the care of Rokuguruma Kensei and Kobayashi Sensei.
“Come on, Kana! You are the last hope of Class 2. I don’t want to see the finals be a civil war within Class 1!” Rokuguruma Kensei shouted to Kana Zaraki.
“I will defeat my opponent!” Kana Zaraki nodded heavily, turned around and stepped onto the stage.