"After such a long wait, it's finally my turn."
Arata stretched his stiff body from sitting for so long and descended from the stands onto the arena.
"Go, Mister Saitō!"
"Senpai Arata, good luck!"
"Hang in there, Arata! The honor of the Shiba family depends on you!"
Shouts of support came from all directions, occasionally interrupted by some strange words of encouragement.
Hey, what does that mean, that the honor of the Shiba family depends on me?
Arata looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was Shiba Kaien, who had just been "narrowly defeated" by Kuchiki Byakuya. Although he was wrapped in bandages and his face looked a bit pale, his aura was surprisingly strong.
And next to Kaien, Arata spotted a familiar woman, Shiba Kūkaku.
Kūkaku was still wearing her signature red short top and long white skirt with a slit, only this time her pipe wasn't hanging from the corner of her lips. She probably thought she should be a bit more mindful of the Shiba family's reputation in public.
When she saw Arata turn his head, Kūkaku smiled broadly and immediately stood up to encourage him.
"Arata, give it your best, don't end up like brother Kaien and get knocked out in the first round!"
"Kūkaku, you scoundrel, just say 'good luck' and leave it at that, why drag me into it?"
"Hahaha, who told you to lose so badly in the very first match? When you signed up, you even arrogantly bragged that you'd at least make the semifinals!"
"How can a scholar's effort be called a loss? That was a close fight!"
"…"
Watching the brother and sister argue, faces flushed red, Arata unintentionally smiled and gave Kūkaku a thumbs-up to let her know she could relax.
It was a shame Rangiku had to go to the Tenth Division today to organize paperwork and couldn't come watch the match. Otherwise, the two of them would surely have a lot to talk about, and she wouldn't feel so lonely.
As for the tournament itself, Arata didn't actually take any of the other participants seriously, except for Zaraki Kenpachi.
Maybe one or two "dark horses" would appear and make it to the quarterfinals or top sixteen, but their final reach would probably be no more than lieutenant level. That young man Byakuya was already more than enough to block all their paths.
After all, Kuchiki Byakuya had just easily defeated Shiba Kaien. Even if he hadn't yet reached the power he would have as a powerful captain in later years, he was already at the level of a standard captain and could beat these ordinary Shinigami without much effort.
Barring some unexpected twist, the champion, runner-up, and third place in the official group would be decided among Kenpachi, Byakuya, and Arata, it was only a question of who would take the title in the end.
Old man Yamamoto and all the captains were fully aware of that.
When he stepped into the ring, Arata saw his opponent for the first match a white-haired young man with a half-mask on his face.
Hatake Hayato was a Shinigami from the lower-ranking noble house of Hatake. He had never served in any of the Gotei 13 divisions but was included on the list of bodyguards for the Kasumiōji family and was participating in this kendo tournament on their behalf.
"The forty-second match of the official group is about to begin!" Shiba Isshin, who was temporarily acting as judge, had taken over the role from Sasakibe and signaled both contestants, Arata and Hatake Hayato, to get ready for battle.
Arata and Hatake Hayato nodded to each other, then took their combat stances.
However, to Arata's surprise, he saw his opponent pull out from behind his back a long, serrated sword of a very strange shape.
Unlike Zaraki Kenpachi's battered, ragged Zanpakutō, the blade of the white-haired youth looked like it had been machine-carved, perfectly symmetrical teeth resembling wolf fangs, and at the junction of the hilt and blade was a realistic wolf's head.
In the sunlight, the two "pupils" of the wolf's head emitted a frightening red glow.
Arata watched the sword in Hatake Hayato's hand with interest, various assumptions and thoughts running through his mind.
A Zanpakutō like that… could it be a rare "frequently released type"?
Although in the original work only Ichigo's Zangetsu is classified as that type and strictly speaking, Zangetsu isn't even a standard Zanpakutō, that doesn't mean similar types don't exist in Soul Society.
Arata's suspicions were quite reasonable and had a solid foundation.
Generally, Zanpakutō or Asauchi are officially assigned only to Shinigami who graduate from the Shinō Spiritual Academy and join the Gotei 13.
After a Shinigami from a division retires or dies, their Zanpakutō is collected and stored, to later be reissued to the next generation of graduates.
That was a decision made by Central 46 when it was first founded and had been strictly followed for hundreds of years.
However, that's only the official regulation. In practice, all retainers and bodyguards of great noble families are also equipped with Asauchi.
These Asauchi blades are almost all privately collected through various shady channels and then redistributed.
As if noticing Arata's curious gaze, Hatake Hayato unexpectedly raised his sword high to show it off, then openly spoke.
"My Zanpakutō, Kaminari Ōkami, is a Zanpakutō that must be frequently released." The young man's voice was a bit hoarse, as if he'd wandered the desert for days without a drop of water.
"That's right, the preliminary tests of the Fourth and Twelfth Divisions came to the same conclusion." Shiba Isshin added the explanation at just the right time. As the judge, he held the competitor reports in hand.
The section concerning Hatake Hayato was filled out personally by Kurotsuchi Mayuri, and nothing unusual was noted in it.
"I understand. This is the first time I've seen a Zanpakutō of that type in person." In the stands, Komamura Sajin's eyes gleamed with genuine admiration.
After Komamura's comment, the other captains began talking about Zanpakutō as well.
Unohana Retsu placed her hands on her hips, and her gentle gaze passed over the serrated sword in Hatake Hayato's hand. "Frequently released type… The last time we saw a case like that was two hundred years ago. I didn't think I'd see it again."
"Oh-ho, how nostalgic~" Kyōraku Shunsui suddenly appeared beside her, playful light sparkling in his eyes beneath the bamboo hat. "I remember that man, and in the end, it seems he ended up…"
Ukitake Jūshirō suddenly interrupted him with a cough. "Kyōraku! Let's not bring up those old stories."
A rare serious expression appeared on his pale face, but his gaze never left the serrated sword in the ring.
The murmur in the audience grew louder; even Isane, who was tending the wounded, unconsciously looked up.
She was absentmindedly wrapping a bandage around a patient's arm until he cried out in pain, jolting her back to awareness and prompting a quick apology.
"The match begins!" Shiba Isshin's booming voice silenced all the noise. He crouched at the edge of the ring, completely focused, like someone eagerly awaiting good entertainment.
Hatake Hayato was the first to attack. His long sword, Kaminari Ōkami, traced a strange arc through the air, and the friction between the blade and air released bluish-purple electric sparks.
"Kaminari Ōkami no Kiba!"
With a hoarse roar, three wolf figures made of lightning leapt toward Arata, and the shining stone beneath them exploded wherever they passed.
Gasps rippled through the crowd, and a few Shinō Academy students were so frightened they fell from their seats.
Arata calmly drew his sword and raised it in a block, his Zanpakutō spinning once in his palm.
When the wolf-shaped lightning shadows clashed with the blade, he lightly twisted his wrist and compressed the raging electric energy into a ball the size of a ping-pong ball.
"I'm returning it."
The ball of light shot back at even greater speed, and although Hatake Hayato dodged to the side at the last moment, his left sleeve was still blown to shreds.
The bare arm revealed was covered in twisted old scars, some of which were still freshly bleeding.
"Oh-ho? Looks like contestant Hatake often injures himself while training with his sword…"
Arata narrowed his eyes, as if something long forgotten suddenly surfaced in his mind.