Katori Nanatsuki casually blocked Shihōin Yoruichi's downward slash, calmly commenting on her form:
"Your swing lacks strength."
"Your stance is unrefined."
Shihōin Yoruichi staggered back several steps from the rebound force transmitted through her wooden sword. The impact nearly knocked the blade out of her hands.
"Your footwork is sloppy."
Just as she regained her posture and prepared to charge again, she realized—her teacher was already right in front of her.
The next second, her expression twisted.
Her foot had been stepped on!
"Too slow to react!"
Yoruichi completely lost her balance and fell flat on the ground with a loud smack, her face taking the full brunt of the fall.
Nanatsuki shook his head lightly. "Not a single move worth praising."
Yoruichi pushed herself up, holding her nose. "Katori-sensei! That was against the rules! You can't just stomp someone's foot!"
"Still hung up on sparring regulations?" Nanatsuki massaged his forehead. "You weren't paying attention again, were you? Your cohort is about to start field assessments. What we're doing now is live combat training."
Yoruichi never had much interest in swordsmanship. She often goofed off during class, chatting with classmates or napping in the corner. A real troublemaker.
That said, she never missed a class, even if she wasn't exactly paying attention.
"Huh? So that means I can use Shunpo and Hakuda?" Yoruichi's interest was instantly piqued. She straightened up, the tuft of purple hair atop her head bouncing with excitement.
She'd been used as the poster child for bad examples plenty of times in Nanatsuki's class and had taken more than a few beatings during sparring.
But now—now was her chance to get even!
She was confident that her level of Shunpo and Hakuda would be more than enough to handle a teacher like Katori Nanatsuki!
After all, she hadn't lost a single practice duel against her private tutor in years!
And her tutor was the Vice-Captain of Squad 2!
She firmly believed she had the strength to become a Vice-Captain herself after graduation.
"Of course you can. I'm your acting homeroom teacher and also the instructor for your upcoming field training. For your own safety, it's necessary for me to assess your real capabilities first."
Nanatsuki continued, "Swordsmanship, Kidō, Hakuda, Shunpo, Kaidō—even your Zanpakutō if you're able. As long as it's your own strength, use it."
"Heh—" Yoruichi grinned and jabbed her thumb at herself. "Then I'll show Katori-sensei what real Shunpo and Hakuda look like!"
"Come, then. You may use your Zanpakutō; I'll stick with the wooden sword," Nanatsuki said with a calm smile.
"No need!" Yoruichi barked, and vanished with Shunpo.
The moment she reappeared, she was already behind Nanatsuki.
Her legs twisted around his, ready to trip him with the slightest push.
With a sly smile, she focused her Reiatsu into both palms and shoved hard at his back.
If this hit landed, Nanatsuki would lose balance and be sent flying, likely ending face-down in the dirt.
Victory!
Too easy!
But then—her hands pushed through empty air. He was gone.
Whoosh—
A sharp sound of air splitting rang in her ears. She recognized it instantly—it only came from Shunpo used at extreme speeds!
In her peripheral vision, she saw a wooden sword swinging toward her at high velocity.
Panicking, she raised her right arm to block it.
Thankfully, both her arms were reinforced with Reiatsu, giving her increased resistance.
But just as she thought she had blocked it, another blade approached from the left.
And in front of her, Nanatsuki's figure appeared, slashing down.
Even behind her, she heard another sword cutting through the air.
Four directions. Four Katori Nanatsukis. All swinging at once.
Thwack thwack thwack thwack—
Four wooden swords struck her arms, head, and back.
"Ow!!!"
Yoruichi's eyes welled up from the pain. For a moment, she had no idea what to clutch—everything hurt.
"Yoruichi-san, it seems you're a bit too confident in your Hakuda and Shunpo~" Nanatsuki said cheerfully.
"Hisss—why were there four of you?!" she cried, one hand on her head, the other rubbing her back.
"I just used a sword technique called 'Quadrant Shun Strike'," Nanatsuki explained after a pause. "This move is paired with Shunpo. By moving at high speed between positions and swinging fast enough, it creates afterimages and gives the illusion of simultaneous attacks."
"A combo move between swordsmanship and Shunpo... I didn't expect Katori-sensei's Shunpo to be this insane—it's even better than Vice-Captain Ōmaeda's!" Yoruichi muttered, recalling how many Hakuda techniques also relied on Shunpo.
"Don't exaggerate. My Shunpo isn't better than Vice-Captain Ōmaeda's. From what I hear, he's a true master of Shunpo," Nanatsuki replied with a shake of his head. "The key to 'Quadrant Shun Strike' is really in the speed of the slashes. My Shunpo is just average."
"No way!" Yoruichi protested. "Vice-Captain Ōmaeda's Shunpo isn't as good as mine, and your Shunpo is better than mine—so yours must be better than his!"
Nanatsuki now understood how Yoruichi judged things.
His current Shunpo was only around the level of a standard seated officer.
Even though his Shunpo skill was just Level 50 and his Reiatsu lagged far behind, not every Gotei 13 officer specialized in Shunpo. For many, his level was normal.
And yet Yoruichi couldn't keep up with him at all, meaning there was no way she was stronger than Vice-Captain Ōmaeda.
It was likely that the Vice-Captain had been holding back during their practice matches.
Yoruichi's current Shunpo level was already above many full-fledged Shinigami, but she still had a long way to go before reaching the level of the future Flash Goddess Yoruichi.
"So even Katori-sensei's Shunpo is that strong..." Her eyes lit up with an idea. "I want to join the Katori-ryu Dojo and become your disciple!"
Ever since Azashiro Kana and Hirako Shinji performed well in the autumn exams, word had spread about Nanatsuki accepting disciples.
The top eight new students were eligible to join the advanced training class for a month.
So Yoruichi was well aware of Azashiro Kana and Hirako Shinji—and of Nanatsuki's dojo.
A system prompt popped up before Nanatsuki's eyes:
[Shihōin Yoruichi has requested to become your personal disciple. Accept? Yes / No]