"Hitsugaya Tōshirō wins! Time: 2 minutes and 45 seconds!"
As soon as Sasakibe Chōjirō announced the winner of the match, the entire stands erupted in thunderous applause.
"Tōshirō! Tōshirō!"
"Shiro-chan! Shiro-chan!"
"Aaaah, Hitsugaya-kun is so handsome!"
"Uuu, what the hell?! That Kujō-senpai really lost?!"
Hitsugaya Tōshirō sheathed his sword and breathed a little heavily, but his eyes were full of determination.
He turned his head toward Arata and gave a slight nod.
Teacher, I didn't let you down, right?
Arata felt warmth spread through his chest. This child was truly excellent.
In the VIP box, Kyōraku Shunsui couldn't help but speak up: "Splendid, splendid... The future of this kid is really promising."
"First Arata, then Tōshirō. The Soul Society has successively picked up two great gems."
"A pity the old man didn't show up to watch the match. I was really looking forward to seeing his expression when he witnessed this kid's performance..."
Ukitake patted his best friend on the shoulder and smiled: "With the abilities that Tōshirō has, he'll surely make it to the finals of the academy group. The teacher will be among the judges then. It's not too late to watch his reaction."
"That makes sense! Shishirō, you really understand me~"
Sasakibe Chōjirō couldn't hold back a sigh from the referee's chair.
"With a student like this, the future of the Soul Society is truly bright..."
After the fight, Tōshirō quickly stepped down from the ring, and Kusaka Sōjirō immediately approached him.
"Tōshirō, you were amazing! You don't know how nervous I was watching, but luckily, you won in the end!"
Hitsugaya wiped the sweat from his face, looking a little embarrassed: "No, no… It was all thanks to Saito-sensei's teaching."
"If it weren't for his regular extra training, I wouldn't have been able to do this. That guy, Kujō Shunrō, is really very strong…"
Arata approached with a smile and patted Tōshirō on the shoulder. "Great job, Tōshirō. But this is just the first match of the eliminations. After this, there will be many strong opponents. You mustn't relax just because of one victory."
"Understood, teacher!" Tōshirō's eyes sparkled, as if Arata's praise meant far more to him than the feeling of triumph in battle.
At the same time, the nobles in the stands were whispering among themselves in a hurry.
The defeat of Kujō Shunrō made them somewhat embarrassed, but even more of them were shocked by the potential of Hitsugaya Tōshirō.
"Quick, find someone to investigate the background of this student and see if we can recruit him into the family as part of the private guard."
"Understood, my lord!"
This behavior was not an isolated case. Almost all the nobles who came to watch the match had the same idea – to try to win over Hitsugaya Tōshirō.
Far below, in the underground laboratory of the Technological Development Bureau, Kurotsuchi Mayuri was laughing sinisterly in front of a huge screen, as if observing a perfect experimental specimen.
"Interesting spiritual pressure fluctuations, this kid named Hitsugaya Tōshirō..."
"Looks like he's very close to awakening his Zanpakutō."
...
Hitsugaya's victory over Kujō Shunrō was just the beginning of the eliminations among the top 64 in the academy group.
This close victory allowed him to successfully advance into the top 32, and the following battles were no longer as much of a problem for this talented young man as the first one.
After receiving treatment from the medical team and a short rest, Tōshirō racked up victories and advanced to the finals of Group 1 without much difficulty.
Although the later opponents had their merits, in terms of overall strength, none of them were as comprehensively powerful as his first opponent, Kujō Shunrō.
At the same time, another well-known participant in Group 1, Hinamori Momo, also showed exceptional strength in the elimination matches.
As a second-year student, she was already known for her talent in Kidō. Later, under Rangiku's guidance, her combat ability rapidly increased, and she managed to make it to the group final.
What especially surprised Arata was that the two of them hadn't met in any of the previous matchups. He didn't know whether to call that luck or misfortune.
The result was that both passed through, and the group champion would be decided in tomorrow's group final – which also meant securing one of the top four spots in the academy group.
Group 1 eliminations lasted until evening. It was nearly dinner time when Arata suddenly got an idea – why not take these kids out for a celebratory feast?
"Rangiku, let's go for hot pot!"
"Yay! I want to drink!"
"No problem!"
As soon as they heard that Arata and Rangiku were taking them out for a free meal, Tōshirō, Renji, and the others immediately lit up.
"What? Saito-sensei/Arata–senpai is treating us?!"
"Perfect! We'll eat to our heart's content tonight!" Renji was thrilled, the most excited of all.
Before Arata graduated, he once took the four of them out for dinner. At that time, they went to a luxurious restaurant run by the Omaeda family.
To this day, Renji clearly remembers those attractive waitresses with perfect figures, whose cheongsams were slit almost up to the thighs.
"Slurp…" As the image in his head became clearer, Renji's eyes nearly turned into hearts, and saliva unconsciously began to drip.
Bang——!
"Renji, what perverted thoughts are you having again?" A series of sharp smacks rang through the air – Rukia smacked her childhood friend with all her strength, sobering up the lovestruck Renji.
"W–what… Rukia, what are you talking about?"
"I… I was just thinking about what delicious food we'll have tonight!"
"I wasn't thinking about any kind of services like fair skin, pretty face, and long legs—"
Bang——!
Another smack.
But this time, it wasn't Rukia, but Hinamori Momo.
"Abarai-kun, there are children here, don't talk nonsense and corrupt them!"
"Haai!"
Tōshirō and Kusaka exchanged glances. They had never seen this kind of "violent" Momo before. In their memory, she was always cheerful and lively, never someone who would slap like that.
Arata turned around and looked at this group of pranksters behind him, unable to hold back his laughter.
"Alright, enough joking, hurry up. If we're late, there won't be any seats left in the restaurant."
The second half of the sentence, of course, was completely made up. Since he had an extremely good relationship with the owner, there was always a private room reserved for him in the restaurant, so he never had to worry about seating.
Not long after, the group arrived at a huge hotel in the Junrinan district.
Not only did it occupy a large area and have a sign in giant letters, but even the hostess standing at the door welcoming guests was of "rare size."
"Arata–senpai, this place is so luxuriously decorated!" Hinamori Momo stood in front of the grand entrance and looked up at the large, flamboyantly written golden plaque that read "Golden Cauldron Omaeda."
Two green jade lanterns at the door illuminated the carved wooden porch, and maids in modified cheongsams bustled about carrying copper pots.
"Tsk tsk tsk… Truly in Omaeda style. Even the name is almost the same as their inn, only that one's 'soup,' and this one's 'pot'." Rangiku narrowed her eyes and commented from the bottom of her heart.
Arata took the heavy brass handle, pushed open the door, and the spicy aroma of the seasonings that hit their noses made Tōshirō sneeze three times in a row.
"A-choo! Saito–sensei, what is that smell?"
"This is one of the most popular dishes in the human world these days, it's called spicy hot pot." Arata explained with a smile.
Rangiku smiled and lightly poked Hinamori on the nose with her finger: "Little Momo, careful not to cry from the spiciness later~"
The place was packed, and the steam rising from the copper pots blurred the view.
Omaeda Marechiyo was mumbling behind the counter with his hands on his round belly. When he saw Arata and his group enter, his eyes lit up and he ran toward Arata like lightning.
"Lord Arata!"
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