Rukia held the sword with both hands, feet shoulder-width apart, soles parallel and facing forward, right foot in front, left foot behind.
Her center of gravity fell between her feet in the Chudan-no-kamae stance.
This posture is very common in the Ashina Style and other major schools; it is a basic form.
Balanced in offense and defense, easy to attack from and difficult to break through, it is the most comprehensive stance.
Byakuya had practiced the sword for many years, and his insight was far beyond others.
He saw at a glance that Rukia’s lower body was very stable, a level that couldn’t be reached without years of practice.
Thinking of this, Byakuya felt a bit of anticipation, hoping Rukia could give him more surprises in other areas.
“A good stance.
Aren’t you going to attack?
Then I shall make the first move.”
After saying this, Byakuya lunged forward, attacking Rukia’s right side.
Rukia remained calm, parrying with her blade.
She used the special Ashina Style technique ‘Flowing Water’ to deflect the force from Byakuya’s sword, then swung her blade toward Byakuya’s neck.
Seeing his attack blocked, Byakuya was not discouraged.
It would be too boring to defeat Rukia in a single move.
Thinking this, he sidestepped to dodge Rukia’s slash and then swung his sword in a series of rapid strikes.
What is the most fundamental part of the Ashina Style?
It is Deflecting, also known as Ascending Carp—comparing the beautiful deflection of an incoming blade to a carp climbing a waterfall.
But deflecting is no simple matter; both strength and technique are indispensable.
One must either use equal force to parry it away or find the weakest point in the slash to deflect the opponent’s blade with minimal effort.
The perfect deflection combines both, directly breaking the opponent’s posture and causing an imbalance.
However, Rukia wasn’t that powerful yet.
Only the founder of the school, Isshin Ashina, and the Sekiro from the late game could reach that level.
Clearly, the current Rukia had not reached that stage.
She couldn’t directly spot the opponent’s flaws yet and could only slowly familiarize herself with the opponent’s moves, breaking them after they were used again.
Facing Byakuya’s storm-like attacks, Rukia did not lose her balance or reveal any openings.
‘Breath of Nature: Light’ allowed her to maintain her balance well.
At the same time, the combined use of Breath of Nature: Light and Flowing Water allowed Rukia to minimize the threat of Byakuya’s attacks.
Furthermore, Rukia had now figured out Byakuya’s current patterns; as soon as he attacked again, she could quickly analyze the weakness and break it.
Seeing his continuous attacks fail to break through, Byakuya suddenly stopped his offensive and said slowly: “Excellent defense.
I haven’t managed to touch you even once.
Now, I hope you can still defend against this.”
Rukia’s pupils shrank.
He hadn’t used his full strength yet?
She immediately took a deep breath to quickly adjust her breathing, while Byakuya charged again, but this time his power and speed were incomparable to before.
It was still the same moves, the same footwork, and the same slashes, but the speed this time was simply too fast.
Rukia was almost unable to keep up with Byakuya’s speed.
Her arms gradually began to ache, and her center of gravity wavered, on the verge of losing balance.
In the midst of the sustained high-intensity combat, Rukia felt Byakuya’s speed slowing down; it seemed she could roughly deduce what his next move would be.
In this strange state, Rukia caught a tiny opening in Byakuya’s movements.
Using Ascending Carp, she directly deflected his blade.
Byakuya suffered a momentary imbalance, but a single moment is often enough to decide victory or defeat.
Rukia used her elbow to knock Byakuya off balance, then raised her wooden sword high above her head and brought it down heavily—it was the Ichimonji.
Seeing the wooden sword about to hit Byakuya’s shoulder, he regained his balance without any warning and blocked Rukia’s strike horizontally with just one hand on his sword.
At this moment, Rukia, hit by the counter-force of Byakuya’s block, could no longer hold on and slumped to the ground, panting heavily.
A burning pain radiated from her lungs.
The gap between the two was now clearly revealed.
Byakuya was perfectly fine, barely sweating, his breathing still steady, while she sat on the ground overwhelmed, gasping for air.
Before this, Rukia had never maintained her breathing while engaging in high-intensity combat for such a long time.
At this point, Byakuya’s butler opened the dojo door and entered, serving two cups of hot tea.
He then took away the two battered wooden swords and exited the dojo.
“Exquisite swordsmanship and technique.
To think you could force me to use over fifty percent of my swordsmanship ability.
Who taught you?” Byakuya said, handing a cup of tea to Rukia.
“Thank you.”
After thanking him, she took the tea cup.
Looking at the steaming green tea, Rukia took a small sip.
Her eyes immediately lit up as a warm current flowed through her entire body, and even the pain in her lungs and arms subsided a bit.
Seemingly noticing Rukia’s reaction, Byakuya explained: “This is the Kuchiki Family’s unique Spirit Tea.
It has the effect of restoring spiritual pressure and relieving fatigue.”
Taking another small sip of the Spirit Tea, Rukia calmed her breathing and said (preparing to spin a tale): “My swordsmanship style is called the Ashina Style.
It was taught to me by an old man in the Rukongai named Isshin Ashina.
He said he was a Sword Saint from the Sengoku period.”
Byakuya found it a bit strange; someone with such good swordsmanship shouldn’t be unknown even without spiritual pressure.
Hearing Rukia’s subsequent words, Byakuya understood what was going on.
Rukia continued: “Unfortunately, he had no talent for cultivating spiritual pressure and thus couldn’t become a Shinigami.
However, he didn’t care and said it was just for his retirement.”
“He adopted me and taught me swordsmanship after I became sensible.
Until a year ago, when I was attacked by Hollows that had intruded into the Rukongai because my spiritual power was too high.
There were three Hollows in total.
To save me, Grandpa fought them alone.
Using only an ordinary katana, he hacked the three Hollows to death.
He died standing from exhaustion and finally turned into reishi, dissipating into the sky.”
“Later I learned that those three Hollows had already devoured many souls, and their strength was infinitely close to that of a Gillian.”
Byakuya was very shocked to hear this.
To Byakuya, a Gillian was incredibly weak—the kind that would die in one strike without even needing to release his Zanpakuto.
For an ordinary Shinigami, they were opponents they couldn’t stand against, but for Byakuya, they were merely cannon fodder.
But the one who killed these three Hollows was a soul from the Rukongai with absolutely no spiritual pressure and no Zanpakuto—just an ordinary katana, perhaps just a bit sharper than usual.
Yet he had managed to kill three Hollows whose strength was infinitely close to a Gillian.
To what level must this person’s swordsmanship have reached to kill those three Hollows with pure technical skill?
Perhaps he really was a Sword Saint, just as he said.
“That grandfather of yours was a true hero.
Continue to practice this swordsmanship well; do not disgrace his legacy!
Of course, I will not ask you to hand over the Ashina Style; my Kuchiki Family hasn’t stooped that low.
However, how you pass it on is your own business.”