Chapter 20 - Recovering (1/2)
The crowd was silent as they watched Eiji's body fall to the ground. The announcer had no words as he waited for Eiji to possibly stand back up and continue fighting.
'So it takes more to push you to your limit and use those eyes again…' Aizen's grin slowly vanishes as he is disappointed he did not get to see Itachi use his eye technique.
”His zanpakuto reverted back to its sealed state. This match is over.” Byakuya comments.
The crowd and announcer spend a few more moments waiting for a possible response from Eiji. The silence is broken by the announcer.
”I DON'T BELIEVE. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! SIXTH YEAR HIDEKI EIJI, WHO HAD HIS SHIKAI WAS TAKEN DOWN BY UCHIHA ITACHI! LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! THE WINNER OF THE FIRST SHINO ACADEMY TOURNAMENT IS FIRST YEAR UCHIHA ITACHI!”
”I cant believe there are two such talents in the academy. One who has already awakened his Shikai this early, and another who beat him regardless.” Aizen says with a smile.
”Indeed” Even the silent Byakuya spoke up. It was indeed rare to find such a talent at the academy.
”He has such an advanced proficiency in Kido, Hakuda and Hiho.” Soi Fon commented.
'I should definitely recruit this student early. I doubt there is much the academy can teach him at this point.' She thought to herself before turning to the headmaster.
The audience cheers as Itachi stands in the middle of the arena looking around. He was a bit uncomfortable with the situation as he stood there. A couple of medical shinigami run into the ring and pick up Eiji to take him away.
”Congratulations Uchiha. Meet me in my office after you have your injuries checked.” The headmaster says to Itachi.
”Thank you headmaster, I will.” Itachi replies as the headmaster leaves the arena. He was a bit surprised. 'I wonder what the headmaster has in mind.' he thought to himself before leaving with some of the medic.
He makes his way over to the infirmary. He notices Itsuki and Taro were both there and sitting up. Daiyu and Kenta were both at Taro's side. They watched as Itachi entered. They looked at him with some respect in their eyes. This first year student had not only won the tournament, but he had defeated a student who had already awakened his Zanpakuto. They had seen the sixth-year get carried in earlier. He was still unconscious.
Itachi sat down and allowed the medic to heal his arm with kido. ”The worst injuries are to your arms. I was able to heal most of the burns and stop the bleeding. But there is still a slight fracture in your arm. However, it's nothing one or two days of rest wouldnt recover. Just wear this temporary sling for today.
Itachi wore the sling and looked at his fully bandaged arm. 'Shikai, what a powerful weapon. Not only did it break my asauchi, it managed to injure my arm to this extent even after I blocked the attack using bakudo. I should be more careful. However, I managed to overcome it without using doujutsu…. It seems I have to elevate my strength further.
”Alright that should be everything. Take care for a few days, alright?” The medic said to Itachi as he packed up his supplies.
”Thank you very much. By the way, how is Eiji?” Itachi asked.
”He should wake up very soon. He is quite the sturdy fellow. He only suffered some mild injuries on his body with the biggest being where you kicked him to knock him out. Anyway, take care of yourself and congratulations on winning.” The medic replied before leaving.
Taro and Itsuki made their way towards Itachi who was sitting down.
”Congratulations, Itachi” Taro followed up. Daiyu and Kenta also congratulated him and they began their conversation.
”Itachi, your skills should definitely allow you to graduate early. You should take this opportunity and speak to the headmaster about it.” Taro suggested.
”Really, you can graduate while still in your first year?” Itsuki questioned.
”Yeah, don't you remember Ounabara talking about it, although it's incredibly rare, it's possible to graduate while still in your first year. Captain Ichimaru of the third division graduated in his first year. There was also Hitsugaya, Toushiro who joined the 10th squad. He also graduated in a single year.”
”Amazing, so Itachi will be able to graduate early.” Itsuki replied.
”That's right. It is difficult but definitely possible. My family on the other hand will most likely pull me out by next year, based on my growth”. Taro said with slight excitement.
”What?! You can do that?” Itsuki questioned.
”The great noble families have a lot of influence, so they are able to do it.” Taro replied. Eiji woke up as the group continued their conversation. Itachi notices Eiji waking up and walks over. Eiji slowly gets up and looks at Itachi.
”Uchiha, good fight. I can't believe I lost despite awakening my Zanpakuto.” Eiji said, slightly ashamed. He worked hard to awaken his zanpakuto yet he still lost to a first year.
”Just superficial. I should be fine by tomorrow. How about yourself.” Eiji said, looking towards Itachi's right arm. ”Sorry, I didn't mean to be so heavy handed, but you were really strong and I had to go all out.” Eiji apologizes.