Shibata was conducting a final verification. If Ayanokoji was truly Amane's eyes, then Amane would undoubtedly act to try and disrupt his plan.
This way, he might be able to use Ichinose as his shield, letting Amane strike at Ichinose's last bit of prestige.
He wanted to tentatively confront Amane once.
If he didn't familiarize himself with Amane's fighting style, or even defeat her once, while having someone to back him up.
If he didn't do this now, when he was in charge and no one could take the fall for his mistakes, he might be completely devastated by Amane.
Ayanokoji naturally perceived Shibata's thoughts.
He proactively shook hands with Shibata.
The next moment, Ayanokoji felt a powerful grip from Shibata's right hand. If it were a girl or an untrained boy, this alone would probably make them cry out in pain.
But for Ayanokoji, this level was like a mere tickle.
Gradually, Shibata's expression began to change.
He had already used more than seventy percent of his strength, yet Ayanokoji's expression remained unchanged, looking as if he didn't even feel his strength.
This made Shibata feel a bit dazed for a moment. He wanted to increase his strength, but he saw Horikita-san standing nearby. If he increased his strength further, the posture of his hand would definitely change, and Horikita-san would immediately see that Shibata's handshake was not well-intentioned.
So, to avoid being seen through by Horikita-san, Shibata had already exerted the greatest possible force while trying to maintain his posture.
To his disappointment, all of it was like a stone sinking into the sea, not even causing a ripple on Ayanokoji's face.
Is he really… that strong?
Shibata felt a little fear and was about to let go when, the next second—
Crack.
A crisp sound suddenly rang out, clear enough for even Horikita-san to hear.
Immediately followed by Shibata's agonizing scream.
"Ah—!"
Shibata's scream immediately drew the attention of many people.
Ayanokoji, however, looked at Shibata with a calm expression.
"Classmate Shibata, are you alright?"
"I, I'm fine…"
Shibata clutched his right hand, intending to tough it out and leave, but after only a few steps, he collapsed to the ground.
Each movement of his fingers brought excruciating pain, and Shibata actually lost the ability to move.
"What just happened?"
Horikita-san still looked puzzled at Shibata, who was rolling on the deck, clutching his right hand.
"Horikita-san, please contact Hoshinomiya-sensei."
Ayanokoji's words made Horikita-san's eyes widen.
She knew all too well what contacting Hoshinomiya-sensei meant.
It meant someone was "injured." Just a handshake caused an injury? Was Classmate Shibata, as a boy, really that fragile?
Horikita-san sighed. Once Hoshinomiya-sensei was informed of Shibata's injury, today's events could no longer be hidden.
Even if classes A and C didn't know the situation, hearing that Shibata and Horikita-san met privately would easily lead them to suspect a union between classes B and D.
Although Class B was recently tricked by Amane, leading them to finish last in the Uninhabited Island special exam, anything was possible in the face of profit.
Amane would also pay attention to what was happening here, right?
How troublesome!
...After examination, Hoshinomiya-sensei's diagnosis was a finger fracture.
And it was four fingers fractured simultaneously.
"I don't understand how Classmate Shibata, you got such a severe injury. In my opinion, it's only possible if your hand was forcefully squeezed from both sides to cause such a serious fracture."
Upon hearing that he had a fracture, Shibata's entire face turned pale.
"If my fingers are fractured, then the soccer club…"
"You definitely can't participate in sports activities. Even with a finger fracture, if you swing your arm while running, it will cause secondary injury, and the consequences will be severe."
"How could this be…"
Shibata closed his eyes in pain. He hadn't expected a small display of strength to lead to such severe consequences. If only he had known… even if he had known, he probably wouldn't have believed Ayanokoji could fracture four of his fingers with one grip, right?
"You still haven't answered my question, how did you get injured?"
While Hoshinomiya-sensei was asking, Mashima-sensei, Sakagami-sensei, Chabashira-sensei, and an unfamiliar woman also rushed over.
Because they heard someone was injured during the exam, Mashima-sensei didn't even bother to eat, rushing over immediately to check the situation. Chabashira-sensei followed because Class D personnel were involved.
As for Sakagami-sensei, he came purely to watch the show.
"Hoshinomiya, what exactly happened? Is Classmate Shibata's injury serious?"
Facing Mashima-sensei's inquiry, Hoshinomiya-sensei handed Mashima-sensei the X-rays of Shibata's injured hand that she had just taken.
Mashima-sensei took one look and couldn't help but take a deep breath.
"How was such a serious injury caused? Did someone use violence against you?"
Mashima-sensei's first reaction was that someone had used violence against Shibata.
But Shibata hesitated.
He was the victim now. If he insisted that Ayanokoji had used violence against him, Ayanokoji would almost certainly be punished by the school.
But the consequences of that would also be quite severe, because he was the one who extended his hand first, Ayanokoji didn't make any big movements, and then he fractured his hand. From another perspective, it would look like he was deliberately trying to frame Ayanokoji.
Class D would definitely come specifically to cause him trouble.
Unlike declaring war on Class B, if Class D declared war on him alone, there would be countless ways to torment him.
So, for a moment, Shibata also fell into hesitation.
"Classmate Shibata, you can speak freely. With us here, the perpetrator will not get away with it."
Sakagami-sensei added fuel to the fire, persuading him, his gaze fixed on Ayanokoji.
In his impression, a girl like Horikita-san could not have caused such severe damage to Shibata's hand, so the only possibility was Ayanokoji, who was also a boy.
"I just shook hands with Ayanokoji-kun, and then my right hand suddenly hurt and became like this."
After much hesitation, Shibata chose a vague statement.
A handshake causing a finger fracture?
Classmate Shibata, are you joking? How much force would that handshake require?
Mashima-sensei thought for a moment and then asked again.
"When Ayanokoji shook your hand, were there any special movements or actions that looked like he was applying force?"
Shibata originally wanted to say yes, but his pride wouldn't allow him to tell such a lie, so he ultimately shook his head.
Seeing this, Mashima-sensei directly extended his hand towards Ayanokoji.
"Ayanokoji-kun, grip my hand firmly."
Upon receiving the command, Ayanokoji, before Horikita-san could dissuade him, gripped Mashima-sensei's hand and slowly increased the pressure.
From Mashima-sensei's slightly heavy breathing, it was clear that Ayanokoji's strength was by no means ordinary.
But after the handshake, Mashima-sensei still shook his head.
"This level of strength is indeed very strong. Ayanokoji, your grip strength probably exceeds 70KG, but with such a gradual increase in force, Shibata would definitely notice and react."
"And a human hand can generally withstand about 80KG of grip strength. This means that unless your grip strength instantly exploded to over 100KG at the moment of the handshake, Shibata's fingers would not instantly fracture due to the inability to withstand such immense force. Only then would Shibata not even have time to react. I think this is also why Shibata hesitated just now, right?"
"However… just reaching 100KG of grip strength requires years of professional training. Possessing 100KG of grip strength already qualifies one to be an athlete in sports. Furthermore, at the moment of a handshake, without any visible effort, the explosive force is only about 60%. This means that to instantly unleash 100KG of grip strength while maintaining the handshake posture, Ayanokoji-kun would conservatively need a grip strength of about 160KG. This is unrealistic for a high school student, so I believe it was not caused by Ayanokoji."
Mashima-sensei's words left everyone present bewildered. Only Ayanokoji and Shibata had had contact at the scene.
If it wasn't caused by Ayanokoji, it couldn't possibly be that Shibata's hand fractured on its own, could it? The previous explanation sounded like it was making excuses for Ayanokoji. If they didn't all know Mashima-sensei's character well, someone would have already stood up to question it.
Seeing the surprised looks of the crowd, Mashima-sensei also realized there was a loophole in his words, so he looked at Shibata.
"Classmate Shibata, has your hand been injured before?"
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