Rings of lightning surged toward Yadōmaru Lisa.
"Smash, Haguro Tonbo!"
Lisa didn't dare hold back and immediately released her Shikai.
The hilt and scabbard locked together, spinning rapidly—
CLANG!!!
The rotating Zanpakutō struck the incoming ring and deflected it.
By then, Lisa's Zanpakutō had already transformed.
The hilt and scabbard had fused into a single long weapon.
At its front was a wide, flat, paddle-shaped blade, with a black shaft.
Lisa's Shikai didn't have any flashy ability, but it significantly boosted her speed and power—Haguro Tonbo was a status-enhancement type Zanpakutō.
After getting some one-on-one guidance from her teacher a few nights ago, she had managed to form a connection with Haguro Tonbo.
It even gave her a challenge: if she could master a new sword technique before the match, it would reveal its name to her.
She had completed the challenge just in time and successfully attained her Shikai.
On the other side, the ring knocked away by Haguro Tonbo returned to the hand of Kyōraku Munemitsu.
"You actually batted away my 'Furai'?!" Munemitsu's eye twitched. "What kind of monsterous strength does this girl have?!"
Whoosh—!
"Who are you calling a monster?!"
Lisa appeared behind Munemitsu, her face radiating cold fury.
That speed—!
Munemitsu's eyes sharpened. Lisa's Shunpo had clearly become much faster!
CLANG—!!!
Munemitsu barely managed to turn and block the heavy strike.
Instantly, a numbing force shot through his wrist and arm.
Lisa swung Haguro Tonbo again and again.
CLANG! CLANG!
After just two blocks, Munemitsu's ring was knocked flying.
Startled, he quickly used Shunpo to dash behind Lisa and avoid the next strike.
Lisa planted Haguro Tonbo into the ground and used it as a pivot to spin mid-air.
Munemitsu was sent flying by a clean kick, nearly crashing out of the arena.
"Her speed's shot up like crazy!" Munemitsu clung to the arena's edge, his heart pounding.
Lisa pressed her advantage and lunged toward him.
"Then try this!" Munemitsu gritted his teeth.
With a wave of his hand, his single ring split into over a dozen lightning rings.
They moved even faster than Lisa's Shunpo—dozens of rings quickly encircled her.
Lisa was forced to stop and deal with them.
She spun her long weapon, deflecting each flying ring with precision.
She looked like a war goddess descending into battle.
However, every time a ring collided, it released a small electric shock. Lisa's hands were starting to go numb.
Luckily, she had already learned Raikiri, and had some resistance to this level of electricity. Otherwise, she might've been paralyzed by now.
The deflected rings circled back mid-air and came at her again.
Simply batting them away wasn't enough.
Lisa lightly pushed off with her legs and leapt into the sky.
"You're really resistant to lightning, huh..." Munemitsu was surprised she'd lasted this long. But seeing her start to dodge, he laughed. "Still, you can't take too many more! 'Furai's' paralysis will get you soon enough!"
Lisa raised Haguro Tonbo, lightning crackling in her grip.
"I can't fully control this move yet. If you surrender now, it'll hurt less," she said coldly.
"Hahahaha! You're gonna use lightning—on me?" Munemitsu burst into laughter.
Zanpakutō with lightning, fire, or ice attributes were fairly common in the Soul Society.
But common didn't mean weak.
His Furai not only had powerful offense, but also granted him high lightning resistance.
Normal lightning attacks barely scratched him.
For Lisa to attack him with lightning—it was laughable.
Munemitsu raised his hand, and the dozens of rings shot toward her again.
At the same time, arcs of thunder wrapped around Haguro Tonbo, crackling violently.
A terrifying storm of power gathered within the weapon.
Even Lisa's own hands began to split open under the pressure, blood trickling down her fingers.
Seeing this, Munemitsu's scalp went numb. A wave of panic surged in his chest—it felt like an invisible hand was squeezing his heart.
He quickly redirected his rings to intercept.
They formed a barrier between him and Lisa.
And then—like a thrown spear—Lisa hurled Haguro Tonbo.
A bolt of lightning streaked through the sky.
BOOOOM—!! Thunder roared across the arena.
Raikiri: Thunder Spear!
Raikiri was the sword technique Lisa had learned just days ago.
After unlocking her Shikai, Raikiri had evolved in her hands.
The descending Thunder Spear shattered the barrier of rings instantly.
But the rings had bought Munemitsu a few precious seconds:
"Bakudō #39: Enkōsen!"
The lightning-infused spear clashed with a circular Reishi shield.
BOOM!!!
Thunder exploded, kicking up a cloud of dust and shattered stone across the stage.
Thankfully, the spectator stands were protected by a Reishi barrier placed by instructors—otherwise, the students would've been caught in the blast.
"Whoa—Lisa's really this strong now?!" Isshin was stunned.
His impression of her was still stuck on who she was before the tournament—he hadn't expected this much growth.
"Lisa's come a long way," Aizen said with a calm smile.
"I knew she'd been practicing 'Raikiri' in the mountains, but I didn't expect it to reach this level of power," Komamura nodded, mentally marking Lisa as a threat who would require his full strength.
Kyōraku Shunsui frowned. "Katori-kun, you taught her that move? That's way too dangerous!"
It was a good thing Munemitsu had used Enkōsen, or he would've been vaporized!
He'd been ready to jump in himself if the shield hadn't gone up.
With Munemitsu's spiritual body, he wouldn't have survived that attack.
Katori Nanatsuki was also watching closely, ready to step in if needed.
But once Munemitsu deployed Enkōsen, Nanatsuki held back.
"That looks like a variant of the 'Raikiri' technique," Yoruichi mused, rubbing her chin. She was very familiar with Raikiri and immediately spotted its essence in the attack.
"Lisa's Zanpakutō, Haguro Tonbo, seems able to absorb and condense even more lightning. When it unleashes Raikiri after that—it becomes something entirely new," Nanatsuki nodded in agreement.