Chapter 17 - Tournament Part 3

[In the VIP area]

"Those weights were Kisuke Urahara's prototype, were they not?" Aizen comments. "I remember they never were officially approved for use in the curriculum because the reiatsu control was too hard to manage for a student. It is quite commendable that he was using those the entire time."

Soi Fon became slightly annoyed hearing that name before commenting.

"His flash stepping is still sloppy as he takes too many steps. But his natural speed makes up for the lack of technique in that regard." Soi Fon says as she watches Itsuki's movements. "Ounabara I didn't think you would train your students physically to this extent."

Ounabara shook his head.

"I only taught him basics. Most of the time, he is sparring with Uchiha Itachi. I ȧssume the weights were his idea as well." Ounabara replies.

"Uchiha Itachi. He is a very talented individual indeed…" Aizen states as he watches the fight.

Byakuya remains silent with no input but he couldn't help but feel mildly irritated at Daiki's behavior in battle.

-----------------------

Daiki goes flying before landing on his back. He pulls himself up. 'It's only been 8 months, how is he already this strong!' Daiki thinks to himself.

"Don't get full of yourself just because you landed a lucky hit!" Daiki says as he unsheathes his blade. Itsuki unsheathes his blade in response to Daiki.

A moment passes before both of them charge towards each other. They exchange a few blows before Daiki loses ground. Itsuki uses this opportunity to send another kick towards Daiki's ribs, once again pushing him back. Daiki places his left hand over his ribs while panting. He flares in anger and points his other arm towards Itsuki.

"Bakudo 4: Hainawa!" A crackling energy rope flies towards Itsuki. Itsuki puts his reiatsu into his left hand using it to grab the energy rope before pulling Daiki towards him.

Daiki is caught off guard by Itsuki's action as Daiki is moved from his position. 'Damn.' Daiki thinks to himself. He has no time to react and release his bakudo as a fist comes flying towards him while being pulled in. Daiki is struck in the face and goes flying back.

Itsuki, with his arm still extended from the punch, points his hand towards Daiki who is flying back.

"Hado 4: Byakurai!" Itsuki shouts as a stream of lightning is sent towards Daiki. It hits Daiki in the ċhėst and shocks him as he falls to the ground.

"You-." Daiki says before attempting to get back up. However he is unable to recover, dropping his asauchi and falling back over.

"THE WINNER IS SHOU, ITSUKI!!"

The crowd cheers as Itsuki begins making his way over to the waiting room. He looks at Itachi before beaming at him, " I did it! With my own power!"

Itachi nods and smiles lightly complimenting Itsuki on his win.

---

In the arena, a group of ȧssistants help Daiki up as they carry him on a stretcher towards the waiting room. Daiki laid there crestfallen. He didn't expect to lose to someone who he was able to defeat with ease 8 months ago. As he is being carried out he makes eye contact with Akemi who remains silent. He knew what it had meant. Not only did he lose to someone who stood no chance against him 8 months ago, but he had lost in front of the family head, who had come to spectate.

-------------

[In the VIP area]

"Not bad. He is quite talented." Aizen comments as Byakuya and Soi Fon remain silent.

"That student is not bad. Well done Ounabara!" The headmaster smiled as he complimented.

'Amazing, I know he improved quite a bit, but I didn't think it was to this extent.' Ounabara thought to himself.

-------------

[In the crowd]

"Did you see that? He actually beat a noble student!" Some students discussed amongst themselves.

"I can't believe he actually won."

The students continued their murmurs before the referee walked to the center of the stage.

He waited a moment and looked at the crowd who was quieting down before announcing the next match.

"FIRST YEAR SHIHOUIN TARO VERSUS SIXTH YEAR HIDEKI EIJI!"

Taro looks at his match, he takes a deep breath and enters the ring. He was slightly nervous. He was facing off against a sixth year who seemed very strong based on his previous matches.

"You're right" Taro regains his confidence. He looks toward Itachi for a moment before making his way into the arena.

Taro and Eiji both face each other as the announcer starts the battle.

"May the best man win." Eiji said with confidence.

"Indeed" Taro replies.

"LET THE MATCH BEGIN!" The announcer yells out.

Taro gets in an offensive stance and then charges at Eiji at full speed. He throws a punch at Eiji but Eiji dodges to the side at the last second. He counterattacks with a swift punch to Taro's torso, knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying back. Taro lands on his feet and looks back up at Eiji who is still standing there smiling at him.

"Give it your all Shihouin!" Eiji says to Taro. Eiji gets into an offensive stance of his own and flash steps in front of Taro's face. He performs a round kick with his right foot. Taro sees this and raises his arm to block it.

"Bakudo 8: Seki!" Taro says as a shield forms around his arm. Eiji has a faint smirk as he shifts his weight from the right side of his body to the left, retracting his right foot and kicking immediately with his left. Taro falls for the feint and gets kicked clean across the ring. He lands on the ground and rolls a bit before catching himself. As he tried to get back up, he feels blood trickle from the side of his head and a surge of dizziness hits him. He looks back up to see Eiji right in front of him. He suddenly feels a great pain in his ċhėst as Eiji quickly jabs him with the hilt of his asauchi before collapsing. Eiji catches Taro's falling body and lays him on the ground slowly.

"AND THE WINNER IS HIDEKI EIJI!" The announcer yells out. The medical shinigami pick up Taro's limp body as Eiji walks back to the breakroom. As he enters, he meets eyes with Itachi before walking up to him. He puts his hand on Itachi's shoulder and whispers.

"What was that about?" Itsuki asks Itachi, confused about what just happened.

"It's nothing." Itachi says as he quickly regains his composure.

On the monitor, the next fight was displayed and the announcer called it out.

"THE NEXT FIGHT WILL BE FIRST YEAR KUCHIKI AKEMI AGAINST FIRST YEAR SHOU ITSUKI!"

"Looks like I'm up!" Itsuki walks towards the ring determined. He had won two matches already and felt his second wind going. He sees Akemi walking in the same direction and gives her a determined look.

"If you think I'll be like Daiki, you're sorely mistaken." Akemi gives Itsuki a cold look. The two of them walk out into the ring and get into their places.

"LET THE MATCH BEGIN!" The announcer yells out.

Itsuki gets into a defensive stance but Akemi makes no change to hers. The two stare each other down for a few moments until Akemi decides to make the first move. She flashes in front of Itsuki, catching him by surprise with her speed. She lands a solid punch but Itsuki manages to block it with his arms. Itsuki gets sent flying back and feels his arms tingling from the force. 'I knew she was strong but I didn't think she was that strong!' Itsuki lands but Akemi follows up just as he lands with a kick. Itsuki is able to react in time to the kick and dodges it. Itsuki counterattacks with his own kick and the two of them clash blows back and forth using only Hakuda. As the brawl drags on, Akemi gains the upper hand and lands a solid punch to Itsuki's gut, sending him flying. Itsuki regains his balance and lands to see Akemi unsheathing her blade.

"Why don't we skip the warm up now?" Akemi says to Itsuki. Itsuki responds by drawing out his own blade.

With their last sword clash, Akemi launches a round kick at Itsuki but Itsuki has the same idea and launches a kick of his own. A shockwave of pressure emanates from the kick before both Itsuki and Akemi back off. Itsuki was panting heavily as he had used a lot of his reiatsu for the clashes with Akemi just to match her blows. He looked at Akemi who didn't look tired at all.

'I can't give up now…' Itsuki holds his blade in both hands and focuses his reiatsu into it.

"Hado 11: Tsuzuri Raiden!" Itsuki recharges his blade with electricity and holds it out in front of him. Akemi holds her blade out with one hand and points it at Itsuki.

"I will admit you've done okay to make it this far. But as a member of the Kuchiki family, let me show you the difference between you and I. Hado 11: Tsuzuri Raiden!" Akemi's blade is supercharged with lightning even greater than before. Itsuki flash steps in to strike at her and Akemi cuts cleanly through Itsuki's asauchi.

"When two reiatsu's clash, the greater one will come out on top." Akemi says while looking down at Itsuki who was crouched down on the ground, exhausted from reiatsu usage with his asauchi cut in half. Akemi points her blade straight to Itsuki's face. Itsuki remains silent without moving a muscle. In an instant, Itsuki transitions from his crouched position into a low sweeping kick, catching Akemi off guard as she drops her asauchi. She falls to the ground and Itsuki jumps up in the air to land a drop kick on Akemi. Akemi reacts promptly to Itsuki's slower movements and she faces her palm to him.

"Bakudo 9: Geki!" A red light shoots out and paralyzes Itsuki mid air, rendering him unable to move. Akemi quickly gets back up and puts a palm on Itsuki's paralyzed body.

"Hado 1: Sho!" A great force goes through Itsuki's torso and he is propelled at great speed straight into the arena wall. Upon impact, Itsuki is knocked unconscious.

"WINNING BY A KNOCKOUT, KUCHIKI AKEMI!" The announcer yells out. The crowd applauds loudly as Itsuki's unconscious body is picked up by the medics.

Akemi gets up before blowing the dust off her clothes and makes her way to the waiting room.