Komamura and Lisa Yadōmaru stood at the center of the arena, drawing the attention of the entire crowd.
Their performances in the quarterfinals had been impressive, and debates over their respective strengths were intense.
Even their instructor, Nanatsuki Katori, couldn't say for sure who would come out on top.
If it had been before the quarterfinals, Komamura would have been the obvious pick.
But now, Lisa had also unlocked her Shikai. Her Zanpakutō's ability paired well with the Kidō swordsmanship Nanatsuki had taught her.
Komamura's advantage was equally clear—his brute strength, his mastery over the Dust Blade, and the overwhelming power of Tenken made it hard for anyone to stand against him.
"Let's go all out!" Lisa called as she released her Zanpakutō. "Smash, Haguro Tonbo!"
Her Zanpakutō transformed into a spear-axe hybrid.
This was the first time the two faced each other since both had learned Shikai. Lisa had been waiting for this.
"Roar, Tenken." Komamura wasn't about to hold back either—he summoned the right arm of the Tenken Myōō once more.
Lisa struck first, whipping her weapon forward and thrusting at Komamura.
He quickly swung his blade in response, and the floating giant arm of Tenken mirrored his move, slashing down in tandem.
Clang! The tip of her weapon collided with the massive blade.
Lisa's face shifted slightly. The shock ran through the haft of her weapon, nearly wrenching it from her grip.
'He's as strong as ever. I can't meet him head-on.'
Her Shikai had granted her a significant boost in strength, but not enough to match Tenken's monstrous might.
Still, Lisa had her own advantages—her weapon enhanced more than just power.
Whoosh— Lisa vanished and reappeared behind Komamura, spear aimed straight for his back.
Sensing danger, Komamura swung behind him.
The arm of Tenken responded instantly, slamming its massive blade into the ground behind him.
Clang! Her spear was intercepted again.
In the next instant, three more Lisas appeared—left, right, and above him.
Three massive spears came crashing down.
There was no time to block. Komamura rolled on the spot to evade the blows.
'Her Shunpo is fast—almost on par with Sosuke.'
Komamura's eyes sharpened.
Lisa had always been fast, but her Shikai had elevated her to another tier.
Tenken's swings matched Komamura's own, which made it effective against average Shunpo users—but it lagged behind against the like of Lisa or Aizen.
He retreated over ten steps, trying to widen the gap.
At this rate, he wouldn't be able to keep up.
It was time to go on the offensive.
Komamura stabbed his Zanpakutō into the ground. In response, the giant arm did the same.
"Hah!"
With a low shout, Komamura began to charge his next move, drawing power from the earth like a sheath.
A burst of Flowlight shot out from his blade—raw spiritual pressure wrapped in stone and debris surged toward Lisa.
But that wasn't the real attack.
The arm in the air also struck.
Its blade tore through the land, hurling massive chunks of earth into the air.
Those chunks became a massive rain of Reiatsu-infused stone.
This wasn't a blade anymore—it was a meteor storm.
Tenken: Flowlight.
"Hey, hey... There's no barrier in the sky!" someone in the crowd shouted.
Panic rippled through the audience.
The spiritual particle barrier that protected the audience was shaped like a hollow cylinder—it didn't cover the air above them.
Komamura's attack had stirred too much earth. Some stones had flown beyond the barrier, crashing toward the crowd.
He hadn't expected that. It was his first time using Flowlight through Tenken.
Fortunately, the audience wasn't made up of just Academy students today.
The meteors hurtled toward the area where the Ninth Division was seated.
Their seated officers quickly intervened, shattering the falling stones.
"Komamura's gotten a lot stronger... I didn't know you could use Flowlight like that," said Muguruma Kensei, slashing one of the boulders apart.
He hadn't seen Komamura's earlier matches—this raw application of Flowlight surprised him.
"That's one hell of a move. A normal Shinigami soldier probably couldn't even block one of these stones. These poor kids… When I was in the Academy, I didn't have to deal with classmates like this," said another seated officer.
He could feel the force behind the boulders—his arms went numb just from blocking one.
If those had hit someone directly, it would've been fatal.
Meanwhile, on the stage—
Lisa was in deep trouble.
The flying debris was just part of it—the real meteor shower was concentrated around her.
Electric arcs leapt across her body as she entered Raikiri mode.
This time, she didn't funnel all of Raikiri's power into her weapon. Instead, she used it to amplify herself.
Lisa's speed jumped to a whole new level.
To the audience, a white streak flickered across the stage.
Lisa weaved through the meteor storm at impossible speed.
In a flash, she was already behind it.
"Where did Lisa go?"
"She's up there!"
"She made it through the meteor storm?!"
"She's faster than the meteors?!"
Gasps echoed through the arena.
Most spectators couldn't even follow her movements.
"She's almost as fast as me…" Yoruichi murmured in surprise.
If she didn't use Shunkō, Lisa could already match her speed.
"She might be a perfect fit for the Second Division."
Yoruichi looked thoughtful.
Lisa's abilities were well-suited to the Onmitsukidō.
As the meteor shower pounded the arena, dust and smoke filled the air.
"Flowlight has a lot of flair and power when used this way—but it's got weaknesses too," Yoruichi observed.
"The coverage is massive, but you sacrifice speed. The biggest strength of Katori-ryu's Flowlight is its speed and concentrated force," Nanatsuki nodded.
In his eyes, Komamura's version of Flowlight was a perfect crowd-clearer—ideal for sweeping through weaker enemies in battlefields.
But against a speedster like Lisa, it lacked precision.
"It seems Lisa's still stronger," said Kasumioji Gojō, vice-captain of the Eleventh Division, clearly invested in the match.
He was already preparing for the final match, where he'd face the winner.
Gojō lacked advantages in both strength and speed. He wasn't keen on fighting someone like Komamura.
Judging by Komamura's performance, Gojō found him a real threat.
He actually worried less about Aizen, since his Zanpakutō countered Kidō-based fighters.
"Not necessarily. Komamura didn't just learn two sword techniques from me," Nanatsuki shook his head.
Flowlight and Dust Blade were only part of Komamura's arsenal.
As the dust slowly settled, metallic clangs rang out from within.
The two were still clashing.
Komamura was already bleeding from several wounds—Lisa's speed was too much to fully block.
If not for his tough physique, he'd likely be seriously injured.
'Even Flowlight through Tenken couldn't land a hit… I'll have to use that move.'
Komamura had originally saved it for Aizen, but Lisa's speed had forced his hand.
Clang! He parried one of Lisa's strikes and drove her back with a punch.
Then he twisted Tenken.
The giant blade began to spin in the air.
In the stands, Kensei's eyes went wide.
He recognized the wind pressure gathering around that blade.
"He's using Windchase like this?"
Kensei was stunned—it was a technique path he'd never considered.
Of all the Kidō sword styles their teacher had taught them, Windchase was his specialty.
He had always used it to sharpen and multiply wind blades.
Komamura's approach was entirely different.
"His style really is raw and wild," Kensei muttered.
The arena's energy surged.
The storm winds pushed Lisa to the very edge of the stage.
Tenken: Windchase!
Komamura unleashed the Windchase technique, using the rotation of Tenken's massive blade to generate a violent whirlwind.
The tornado soon enveloped the arena.
It was both offensive and defensive.
The tornado isolated Komamura from Lisa—she couldn't reach him.
But he could expand it and drag her into the storm.
The sandstorm tornado grew larger, pulling in rocks from the ground until it became a monstrous sand spiral.
It looked divine—like Tenken itself.
Some front-row spectators began to regret their seats.
Unlike earlier matches, the barrier this time was maintained by the Kidō Corps, ensuring higher durability.
But the storm soon rose higher than the barrier itself.
Those in front felt a suction pulling at them from the air.
"I think we need to switch to a fully sealed barrier for future matches…"
Ushada Hakugen wiped the sweat from his brow, visibly uneasy.
The barrier was already ten meters tall—normally more than enough.
But this was the second unexpected breach.
It was too late to modify the massive barrier—it was the size of a football stadium.
They could only let the storm run its course.
Lisa struggled against the suction force.
The tornado had already expanded beyond the ring, reaching the outer barrier.
It had formed too fast—there was no room to dodge.
'The sky's the only option!'
A thought flashed through Lisa's mind.
From the ground, the storm looked like it touched the heavens.
But that was an illusion. Its height was limited.
If she could rise above it, she could strike at Komamura from above.
The problem was the turbulence—the spiritual particles inside the tornado shredded any footholds she tried to form.
She had to leap before each foothold disintegrated.
Thankfully, she was still in Raikiri mode.
Lightning flashed as she bounded upward.
But the storm's force massively increased her energy drain.
After a few jumps, the lightning around her dimmed.
"Not good!"
She missed the timing and lost her balance.
The next moment, the storm yanked her in.
The world spun violently.
She was caught in the cyclone.
And then—
A giant blade burst from the storm, hurtling toward her.
Lisa, pulled helplessly by the storm, had no way to evade. She barely managed to raise her weapon.
Boom! She was slammed into the ground.
The giant blade then reversed, dissipating the storm's power.
Slowly, the tornado began to subside.
"The storm's finally over… Komamura is still standing… but where's Lisa?"
The audience peered into the battered arena.
The ground was utterly ruined.
Komamura stood at the center, breathing heavily.
But Lisa was nowhere in sight.
From a deep trench, a hand emerged—Lisa brushed off the dirt.
Huff— She tried to push herself up, but her arms gave out. She lay back, unmoving.
"Wait a second… Lisa's outside the ring!"
A sharp-eyed spectator spotted her.
"Not sure what just happened, but Lisa's out of bounds!"
"Komamura Sajin wins!"
Danmu exclaimed:
"Komamura and Lisa just gave us an incredible duel! I swear I almost thought that tornado was going to suck me in!"
"Shoutout to the Kidō Corps—I'm lucky to still be standing. Being a referee is dangerous work!"
"Congratulations to Komamura Sajin for advancing to the finals! Two days from now, he'll face Aizen Sōsuke in the championship match!"