Zoro and Kuina's clash had reached a boiling point. Kuina wielded only a single blade, yet she was not at a disadvantage. Wado Ichimonji kept slipping into the exact gaps that unraveled Zoro's three-sword assault.
"Shave." Kuina's lips curled as she triggered the technique. Her speed spiked. The long blade whirled, and she launched a counterattack straight into Zoro's Three-Sword Style.
Her acceleration was blistering. With the body-refining elixir and Shave working together, Zoro began to fall behind. Sweat sprang across his brow.
Kuina pressed and taunted between strikes. "Zoro, is this all you've got?"
"Hmph, don't you look down on me. I will defeat you." Zoro's eyes narrowed, voice cold.
"I'm counting on it." Kuina smiled, then snapped her arm. "Back off."
Clang.
Blades met. A tremendous force surged through the bind. Numbness bit into Zoro's tiger's mouth and he staggered back several steps.
"How did Zoro and Kuina get so strong all of a sudden?"
"Her speed is insane. With that footwork I can't see where she is at all."
"Terrifying. They are at least on par with the senior students now."
"More than that. I watched last year's final. It wasn't this level."
Around the ring, villagers gaped in open shock.
"Koushirou, your daughter is no ordinary child," Dragon said with a small smile as he appeared just behind the master. "So young, and she's already using Shave. Like father, like daughter."
As a Revolutionary, he recognized the technique at a glance.
"How strange. When did Kuina learn movement like that? And her strength seems higher too. It should not be possible. Zoro's power is off as well." Koushirou, as if he had not heard Dragon, studied the pair with a puzzled frown.
No one knew their capacity better than their teacher. Yesterday, neither had been anywhere near this level. Yet overnight they had leapt forward, and his own daughter was suddenly using a Marine Six Style. How could he not be astonished.
On the floor, Kuina and Zoro collided again.
Driven back moments earlier, Zoro knew his usual forms would not carry the day. He clenched the Zanpakuto in his teeth and breathed, low and focused:
"Bankai, Three-Sword Style, Tiger Hunt."
Last night, after he returned, he had touched the Zanpakuto's mystery and awakened Bankai. It was only a first-step release, but it was enough to vault his power even higher.
Light ran fierce along the Zanpakuto, the soft glow hardening into a keen radiance. Kuina's face tightened. She discarded any shred of carelessness and focused fully.
"Be careful."
The word had barely left her when Zoro sprang high. The three blades crossed and fell, the very secret he had grasped last night, Tiger Hunt.
Boom. A storm of slashes streaked for Kuina.
She did not dare take it lightly. Shave opened to its limit and she slipped aside at the last instant. The strike fell where she had stood. Three gouges carved deep into the floor.
A hiss rippled through the spectators. They were ordinary villagers. A strike like that, they had never seen before.
"Zoro, you've lost." He gathered to strike again, but Kuina, who had just tasted the force of Tiger Hunt, gave him no second chance. Wado Ichimonji snapped up through the opening in his form. In a scatter of blurred steel, all three of Zoro's blades were batted free.
She vaulted. The long sword pinned dirt beside his cheek. "My two-thousand-and-second victory." She sheathed with a faint smile, leaving Zoro deflated.
"Kuina, you're amazing. But next time, next time I will defeat you."
Kuina's smile turned warm. "I'll be waiting, Zoro."
Clap, clap, clap.
"Kuina, Kuina."
Outside the ring, the crowd roared approval at the dazzling duel.
Koushirou's face, however, had gone serious. "Zoro, Kuina, come here."
"Yes, Master. Father."
They answered at once and followed him back into the dojo, leaving behind stunned classmates and murmuring onlookers.
"What is going on. Only one night passed, and you have become this strong." Koushirou was always gentle with the two of them. It was the first time they had seen this expression, and both hearts sank.
They dared not hide a thing and told him everything about the previous night.
…
"This... how is that possible. All of it came from those jars you say?" Koushirou stared, shaken.
"Master, it's true," Zoro blurted. "Mr. Amon is incredible. He is not just a can merchant. He is a powerful swordsman."
"With one sweep of his hand, he sent flying slashes that cut down trees."
Seeing the doubt, Zoro rushed his words.
"Dragon, what do you think?" Koushirou fell silent and looked to the man behind him. As a Revolutionary, Dragon might know more than he did.