Deflecting the swing of the sword and the kick takes a quick turn and some impromptu footwork. What is heart wrenching for Zack, has the odd effect of settling Sephiroth. There is challenge in the fight; he can feel the force behind Zack's blows, but there is no challenge directly to him. No attempt to gain an upper hand over Sephiroth himself.

At least none that he can detect. That allows him to settle into the spar without calculation on Zack's motives beyond a guess that this was Zack's way of trying to mend fences.

And so, while Sephiroth does push the other man, he's not trying to punish Zack and perhaps that is a notable distinction. Sephiroth executes a quarter turn, striking up and the right with the Masamune before bringing the sword back around to guard position.