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Home Worst Soul Reaper the worst soul reaper all chapter

the worst soul reaper all chapter

[lwptoc]

1 1

Ren woke up with a splitting headache. He looked around at the small room he was in and let out a sad sigh. The tatami mats on the floor, the futon he was sleeping in, and the sword that was right beside him. All of it was still there.

‘So I’m not dreaming. I’ve really come to Soul Society.’

‘Ren’ was a normal human on earth who was a slight nerd. He had read various manga and seen a few anime but he was never a huge fan. More like a casual interest in them. Even still, he had read several stories and seen several shows about being reincarnated or transmigrated. And that is exactly what happened to him.

He was no longer the same man who was working on his law degree. He was also not a recent graduate of the Shinigami Academy who had just finished his exams to try and become a member of the Gotei 13.

‘Ren’ inherited all of the memories and experiences of the former Ren as well as Lawrence Smith. It was not like he was one who inherited the memories of another but instead it was like the two beings fused souls and had truly become one new individual.

He had taken 3 days to finally understand and accept his new situation but now that he had, he had another issue to face.

He had just taken the examination to be put into the Gotei 13 and passed. The only problem he had was deciding which division to join.

‘I don’t even know the exact time period I am in or who the captains are. Besides Yamato and Unohana, the rest of the captain positions had been switched around a few times. I have no idea what any of their personalities are like or what they have been through before the main series began.

Ugh. Let’s go with what I know.

1st division is under the old man. He has a stick up his ass and is a stickler for the rules. I don’t think joining the 1st division would be a good fit for me.

The same goes for the 2nd. Not sure if Yoruichi is in charge right now, but once she is, it turns very strict since she is also in charge of the ninja/assassin division as well.’

He pulled up two fingers as he began counting the divisions that were not suitable for him. He wanted to make sure that he did not skip over anything.

‘3rd division will be led by Fox-Face and that depressing guy. Not sure I wanna get involved in that mess.

That also leaves out the 5th and 9th divisions as well since Aizen and Tosen are the captains of those. Out of 13 divisions, 5 have already been knocked out.

Oh. Also no 12th division. Whether Mayuri or Urahara, both of those guys are mad scientists. To be under them would basically be me asking to get killed.

Oh. That would also be the 11th division as well. That is the division where the only way that new captains arrive is by new guys killing the previous ones. Those barbarians are far too savage for my taste.

And Byakuya ruins the 6th division with all of his rules and nobility talk. Renji would make it almost tolerable but I just can’t put myself through that. Komamura of the 7th is similar except he is more about honor than rules.

So that’s 9 of them out now. Wow. Only 4 divisions left. Who else is there?

Oh. You have the sick guy and the flirt who both have dual-wielded zanpakuto. the first has to deal with the family drama of Rukia while the latter only likes playing with women. That knocks out both of them.’

Ren was going to keep counting but he realized that he had run out of fingers. He slapped his head in frustration as he realized that most of the divisions were truly terrible in his opinion.

‘Either that or the show just portrayed them really poorly. That just leaves the 4th and the 10th.

The 10th has the kid prodigy and the sexy lieutenant. They had the least amount of inner faction issues by what I can recall. Not including the movies of course.

Wait. Are the movies canon? Are the fillers? I should have paid more attention to this stuff.

Back on track, Ren. The 10th division’s only issue is that they are the first ones who fight the rebels. In fact, I think they get in the most fights out of all the divisions throughout the show. But then again, only the captain and lieutenant are shown fighting. Not really the rest of them.

The other option is the 4th division. Those guys are all healers and I don’t think I have seen more than that one guy fight when he unleashed the red wave. Or was that just the ability he got in that video game?

I think they did something during that late manga arc cause I kept seeing something about their captain but I’m not sure what it is. It’s only their captain though. Probably was just the one that saved Ichigo or held off some bad guy until a stronger captain arrived.

Since I passed the exam, I have to join a division. That means I am left with the 4th or 10th division if I am looking for a place to slack off. Let’s just flip a coin.’

Ren went through his pockets before he found a coin inside. He placed it on his thumb before deciding that the 4th division was Heads and the 10th division was Tails.

He flipped the coin and it flew through the air for a few moments before gravity started to affect it and it came crashing down onto the ground. Ren just looked at it as it touched the ground and saw that his fate had been decided.

‘I see. Looks like I am joining them then.’

>

2 2

Ren walked through the streets as he made his way to the new division he had decided to join. He was, apparently, a big deal during his time at the academy and had the potential to become a captain. There were quite a few seated officers who wanted him to join their divisions since they had an ineffective or crazy captain that they hoped would eventually replace him.

Sadly for them, Ren had already made his choice. Well… he let fate make his choice. And therefore, he was now a member of the 10th division.

Soon, Ren arrived outside the gates of the 10th division. The gates were surrounded by a large white building with red, wooden arches all over it. It also had the 10th division kanji in the middle of the wall.

Ren knocked on the door as he patiently waited for someone to let him in. While he was there, he was thinking about what he heard from the various shinigami as he made his way there.

Besides the Captain-Commander and Unohana, none of the 5 captains besides them were anyone that sounded familiar to Ren.

‘They might just be one of the Vizard. Never paid attention to any of their names. Or it means that I am so much further back than I had originally thought.’

With both of the options, he had hoped for the latter. This was because it meant a long time of peace before the chaos that Aizen and Ichigo brought about came into play.

‘Which gives me so much more time to train and get prepared.’

Ren kept waiting and knocking at different intervals for 30 minutes. Eventually, he got tired of waiting and just walked through the gate, the building it was in, and then the last gate on the other side.

When he made it to the other side, the first thing Ren saw was an empty plot of land covered in grass. On the sides were pathways that led to different buildings within the division.

Ren looked around and found that no one was nearby but saw a building that was twice the size of the other buildings in the area. Without thinking too much, he began walking toward that building as he followed the paths.

As he walked along the path, he would occasionally see some shinigami who were running in different directions. Whenever they saw him, they either ignored him or waved before rushing off to continue whatever task they were doing.

‘Huh. Looks like these guys are busier than I thought. Still doesn’t mean they will be as busy as the medical division who has to heal everyone,’ Ren said as he tried to console himself when he saw that the shinigami of the 10th division were so busy.

He soon arrived at the building that he figured was the officers’ building. He could smell the strong scent of alcohol before he had even entered the room. He opened the door and the smell just assaulted his senses.

While neither of his previous lives was heavy drinkers, they would be able to take some liquor or being in a bar. But this building smelled like it had been soaked in liquor for a few hundred years.

Ren powered through and began making his way to where the smell was the strongest. He walked up to the second floor and stopped in front of a door. The smell was originating from this room.

Ren held his breath before he opened the door and saw a man passed out over the desk in there. All around the room were bottles of alcohol. The man had a white haori over his shoulders as he laid collapsed in a pool of vomit and some other liquids.

‘So this man is my captain? Ugh. It seems like I should have gone with the medical division. I will apply for a transfer later. For now…’

Ren closed the door and decided to look around. He knew that whenever there was a lazy captain, they would have at least one officer who took care of things. He was going to find that officer. Both the lieutenant’s and 3rd officer’s rooms were empty but he finally found someone when he reached the 4th officer.

The man was working on some documents and had his head down. He did not look like anyone that Ren remembered so he figured that the guy must have died before the show even starts.

‘Then again, the other officers were never shown. Maybe he just kept his seat this whole time.’

Ren knocked on the door to make his presence known which caused the man to pause his work and looked up. He had a look of surprise on his face like he was not expecting Ren.

“Wow. You are the first to actually come all the way to me even after having smelled what the building is like, seen the captain, and noticed that the other two weren’t here. Most would just bail and try to apply for another division.”

He muttered to himself about what a gem he had found thinking that Ren could not here but sadly for him, Ren could. He shook his head and put his hand forward to shake Ren’s hand.

“Well welcome to the 10th division. I am the 4th seat and the one who handles most inner division issues as well as discipline. Name is Takeda Moro.”

Ren shook his hand and replied,

“Ren. Hope we work well together.”

3 3

Ren was told about his basic duties as well as given a tour of the 10th division’s barracks. The 10th division had been tasked with entering Hueco Mundo previously and lost many of its members including the previous individuals who held the 2nd-13th seats on the day after Ren took his exam.

Takeda was, originally, only the 15th seat. They had gotten their new 3rd seat from another division while the lieutenant was the previous 14th seat. All in all, the 10th division was pretty much crippled at the moment.

That was why all the shinigami he saw within the division earlier appeared to be so busy. They had to pick up the slack since there were only 30 members instead of the usual 300.

Ren was currently put on standby and would be trained on his tasks in the future when everyone had more free time to do so. There was too much work that needed to be completed and just not enough qualified officers who could teach at the moment.

So once Ren was shown his room, Takeda quickly went back to the officers’ building in order to catch up on more paperwork. Ren did not mind this though. He decided to use this as a chance to visit the division’s library. Ren wanted a better estimation of when he was.

He left his room and followed the path that Takeda had shown him earlier until he entered the library. There was no one inside to watch over the area so Ren just casually walked inside.

He walked from shelf to shelf and got as many books that he could find that related to history. After picking up 8 total, he found himself a seat and began to flip through them.

After spending two days inside, he finally got as many answers as he was going to get. What he found out was that the Gotei 13 had only been around for about 200 years. He also knew that Yamato had killed a powerful Quincy about 100 years prior.

‘But it said nothing about the quincy extermination. Does that mean that they are not willing to write about it or that there was more than one battle between the shinigami and the quincy?

I am no closer to finding out when I am than when I began. Ugh!’

Ren kicked over the chair next to him. He left the books on the table while he took himself to the canteen to get something to eat. Since he had not eaten for a few days, his stomach was crying for something to eat.

When he entered, just like every other place he had been, the place was empty. Aside from the occasional worker who he saw making food in the back, Ren was all alone. He made himself a large plate of food before picking it up and taking it back to his room for the day.

By the time he got back to his room, half the plate of food was already gone. He devoured the rest pretty quickly before he sat in the lotus position and placed his zanpakuto across his legs.

Ren began to quietly meditate as he bonded with his zanpakuto. Ren had been doing this ever since he entered the academy but had yet to achieve shikai or learn his zanpakuto’s name. It was not due to lack of effort or trying but simply due to the uniqueness of his zanpakuto’s spirit. Once his mind was clear, he entered his inner world once more.

Ren’s inner world was a large forest filled with lush, green trees that gave off a strong feeling of vitality. Ren ignored all these trees and walked in a particular direction. He kept walking until he reached a tree that looked half dead.

Ren walked up to it and placed his hand on the trunk before speaking to it.

“Still as silent as always, huh? I’ve been feeding you for about 3 years now and you don’t even make a peep. Makes me wonder if I should keep doing this.”

Even though he said this, Ren picked up the same sharp rock he always did and cut his wrist before letting blood spray on the tree. The blood did not just stay on the tree bark after it touched the tree but was rapidly absorbed by the tree.

It kept absorbing more and more blood until it could no longer take any more in. Then, the blood simply sat on the surface of the tree.

Seeing that his spirit was full, Ren just kaido to heal himself while he looked at the tree that had been drinking his blood for years.

“You just take as much as you want before giving me the cold shoulder. Sigh. What a terrible spirit you are.”

Ren kept teasing the spirit but it would just not respond. He would have thought that the spirit was dead or defective but he could tell the difference in the tree. Every time he fed it blood, he could feel more vitality and life energy gathering at the center of the tree.

Ren put his back to the tree before sitting down and getting into a comfortable position. He decided to take a nap underneath the dead branches of the tree in order to avoid the sunlight on the other side. Ren quickly fell asleep under the shade.

It was quiet in the forest for a while before something occurred. A being emerged from the tree and looked over Ren’s body with no emotions showing in its glowing eyes.

“Master… ”

By the time Ren woke up, he was already outside of his inner world and felt sore all over. He looked outside and saw that it was already morning.

“Wow. I did not expect to sleep that long. Been here for 3 days and still no word of when the old man will send more officers to replace the old ones. I’ll go out and practice for a bit.”

Ren went to the empty training hall and decided to practice his Zankensoki forms. Even though he remembered everything that Ren did, he still thought it was better to experiment with them himself.

The Zankensoki forms were the 4 ways that shinigami engaged enemies in combat. All 4 were taught in the academy but few had truly learned them well.

The was Zan was for Zanjutsu, Ken was for Hakuda, So was for Hoho, and Ki was for Kido. Although it seemed like characters attacked however they wanted in the show, that was just because Ichigo was the main character and never had formal training.

Zanjutsu was the fighting style of using one’s zanpakuto for combat. There were 3 levels to divide users of it. The common shinigami did not even qualify under these 3 levels. Those who had reached rank 1 in this were mostly officers. The 3 ranks were Swordsman, Expert Swordsmen, and Master Swordsmen.

Hakuda was hand to hand combat. This was rare among most shinigami but essential for anyone who worked in the Onmitsukido. Those individuals used their bodies almost exclusively due to the environment in which they had to work. The ranks of Hakuda were practitioners, combatants, expert combatants, and master combatants.

Hoho were footwork techniques that were very advanced. Most shinigami were unable to even use them. There was also a divide between users. Even for those who were at the top rank, there was still a large difference in skill between them. It was also the skill that had the second-fewest number of captains had reached the highest rank historically just due to the difficulty. The ranks for Hoho were practitioners, experts, and masters.

Lastly was kido. These were spells that were used for offense, defense, sealing, or healing. The spells were divided into two main categories: Bakudo and Hado as well as a few minor categories which were kaido, barriers, and seals.

The best kido users were usually in the kido corps and not the Gotei 13 but there were exceptions. The ranks of kido were practitioners, experts, and masters. This had the fewest masters of all the fighting styles.

Ren was not ranked zanjutsu but was a practitioner in all 3 of the other skills which made his skills equal to or above many officer ranked shinigami. No one else knew this however since Ren wanted to keep some trump cards.

‘It seems like my predecessor was wary about the Gotei 13 but I can understand why. From the show and the way these guys act, it is less like the military and more like murim from those Korean stories.

You got 3 high-level people who betray the entire military, 1 who purposefully holds back to have more fun fighting, and then that mad scientist who turned his own subordinates into bombs.

Even though I am not sure about the current generation, I’m pretty sure I should try to make sure I do not stand out too much.’

He began to train his Zankensoki in the lonely training field. For the next few weeks, that is all he did. Train, eat, sleep, and enjoy time in his inner world.

After a few weeks, Yamamoto had dispatched more shinigami to replace the dead officers. After they had all arrived, Ren was finally trained for the duties of shinigami as well as being sent on missions or given tasks.

This continued for the next 100 years of a constant repeating and boring life. Boring if he did not count the few occasions he had to hunt down hollows.

— 100 years later—

A man with purple-blue hair stood with his hands clasped behind his back with his zanpakuto hanging on his back as if he was just on a leisurely stroll. The sword seemed like any other zanpakuto in its sealed form with a hilt that appeared to look like a star.

Behind Ren were 6 shinigami who had their swords drawn with fearful looks on their faces. This was because in front of them and Ren were 20 hollows.

The group was just sent out to check out a disturbance that the Central 46 had detected. Everyone thought it would be 1 maybe 2 hollows at most. No one was prepared for 20 hollows.

It took groups of 3-4 shinigami to take out most ordinary shinigami while officers could take them on solo. This was why Ren led the 6 others on the subjucation mission. But when they saw that they would face over 20 hollows, the rest of the shinigami had looks of fear in their eyes.

“This is a bit more than we were expecting. You all can retreat and go get back up. I will hold them off here until you return.”

One of the shinigami immediately replied

“Ren-sa…”

But he saw Ren turn around and shake his head. Ever since he was given the position of 20th seat, he had made all those in the division call him…

“Lord 20th. We can’t just abandon you.”

5 5

Ren nodded. He was pleased to be called Lord 20th. He never liked official titles that all the other captains or officers were given.

“You all will just die in vain here. We also do not know if there are any more and the messenger might get ambushed along the way. Just go. I will be fine by the time you return.”

The other shinigami looked at each other before nodding and running back to Seireitei as fast as they could. Several hollows tried to chase but a large blue barrier appeared behind Ren. If they wanted to give chase, they could not do so immediately.

“Haha fine. We will just kill you before we go and consume so more souls,” said a large hollow that resembled a featherless bird that was twice the size of Ren.

The hollows began their assault and all closed in on Ren. Ren was able to dodge them all casually with his hands still behind his back. He would bend here, duck there, shunpo over there. No matter what the hollows did, they were unable to land an attack on him.

This continued for a few minutes before they all stopped and looked at their prey in a new light. They could all see that the shinigami they initially thought was weak was in fact very dangerous.

Seeing none of them continued attacking, a faint smile appeared on Ren’s face.

“Well since you are all done. I guess it is my turn.”

Ren made a few hand gestures and the barrier that just covered the one directions soon surround him and the hollows from all sides. Then a red aura began to form around Ren with his Zanpakuto having an especially dark red aura around it.

“Blood for the blood god! Skulls for the skull throne! Khorne!”

——-

20 minutes later, the shinigami who had originally left Ren behind were returning along with 20 more unseated shinigami and 2 officers, both lieutenants. They had left a message for someone else to inform a captain immediately but they did not want to be too late and rushed ahead.

When they had arrived, they saw that Ren stood in a similar position as to when they left with no hollows in sight. Everyone looked very confused.

“Where did the 20 hollows go?” asked the female lieutenant ask she had her zanpakuto ready to slay some hollows.

Ren gave her a small, friendly smile before explaining, “It was only a single hollow. It had a special ability to create very powerful illusions. It could even give those illusions the ability to give off energy.

I was only able to find out after I had kept getting attacked from a single direction and not all of them.”

The others nodded at their words. It was not the first time that they dealt with hollows with strange powers. Some of the more powerful ones had unique abilities similar to a shikai’s. The shinigami did not think much of it before they began to return to Seireitei.

They met the captain of the 3rd squad along the way and informed him that the matter had been settled. The captain looked Ren up and down before congratulating him and taking off in another direction.

When they arrived back at Seireitei, Ren and his squad members split off from the other shinigami before returning to their barracks to report what happened.

Ren let his men go rest while he went to the officers’ building to fill out all the paperwork. Or at least he was supposed to. He simply left the form on his lieutenant’s desk. When the lieutenant returned and read it, he spat out the coffee he was drinking while he had a look of frustration on his face.

‘No matter how many times I yell at him about this, he never learns his lesson. This incident even involved the officer of 3 other squads and he dares to watch this? I will definitely teach him a lesson this time!’

“Ren!!!!” he yelled before he ran out of the building to try and find Ren but he knew it was of no use. The only person who could find Ren was the 4th seat. Otherwise, no one would ever be able to find him if he did not want to be.

What was written on the report was:

[

Mission Report

Date: Today

Original mission: Recon/Lunch

Enemies?: A few insects but no one that deserved to be called an enemy was present.

Summary of what occurred: Wouldn’t you like to know? Oh, yeah. Guess you would. I was planning to take my subordinates for a light jog but then noticed I forgot the lunch. I asked one of them to go back and get it for me but they all went since they did not want to leave that burden to anyone of them. I let them be while I waited by a tree. When they returned, they brought back not only the lunch I made but even more, people to enjoy it with. But before we could eat, it started raining so we had to return early.

Notes on subordinates: One did not call me Lord 20th at first but we had that corrected.

]

6 6

And just like he knew would happen, Lieutenant Sharu was unable to find Ren. But this did not upset him. In fact, he decided to use it as an opportunity.

Ren had risen up to the rank of the 20th seat about 50 years but had never been very active in the division. He would only take on missions when he was forced to and never engaged the other shinigami unless he had to.

Even with his personality, most of the weaker shinigami did not mind him nor did half of the officers. Ren was the type that did the bare minimum but when he did work, he completed all of his tasks perfectly. He was the only officer who had never lost a shinigami on a mission as well.

As for the other half of the officers, they did not like Ren’s laid back attitude. While they could not complain about the work he did, they would constantly complain about the work that he refused to do.

Whenever a mission sounded too complicated or difficult, Ren would decline. He also would not respond to threats. Whether it was with violence, finances, or even with demotion, Ren was unafraid of it all.

Sharu had warned Ren several times about the way he had filled out mission reports and had even reported it to the higher-ups who had given Ren numerous warnings. With his latest act, Sharu finally had an excuse to deal with Ren.

Soon, a meeting was called for all officers of the 10th division to show up and was given by the captain. This meant that every officer who was not on a mission was forced to attend.

Without a choice, Ren had to come to the meeting but he already figured it had something to do with him. And when he arrived, his guess was confirmed. Sitting in the meeting room were 12 individuals including Ren, the lieutenant, and the captain.

As soon as Ren took his seat, Sharu stood up and pointed at him.

“He needs to go! I am tired of dealing with his terrible attitude, lack of regard towards decorum, his refusal to try his best like every other member of this unit does, and simply the fact that he is unqualified to be an officer!”

Many people let out sounds of agreement when they heard this. Of the 12 people present, 9 were in the camp that did not like Ren, while only one of those who liked Ren’s attitude was present. The other two people present were the person in question and the captain who had to remain neutral.

Sharu had truly picked an excellent moment to strike at Ren. Most of his supporters or backers were away and he truly had nothing to say to defend himself against the accusations. But Sharu did not want to make it that easy for him. He did not want Ren to get away with just a slight punishment.

He wanted him out of the division. So he put the pressure on Captain Hayato.

“Him not taking this potential disaster seriously is my last straw. I can not stand to be in the same division as him. Either he leaves or I do!”

“Same here!”

“I agree!”

“It can only be this way!”

No one else was expecting to take things this far but they were already on the rollercoaster so they had no choice but to go along with the ride. The rest of the officers threatened to leave the division for another.

This put Hayato in a difficult position. Ren had not done anything truly wrong but he could not afford to have his officers poached away by another division. Of the ones threatening, 3 of them were in the top 5. They were the elites of his division.

Hayato let out a sigh before silently remembering that he would owe Ren a debt for the wrong he was about to impart on him.

“Ren. I am sorry to say this but it seems that you are no longer welcome in the 10th division. I will write you a recommendation to any other division and recommend you as an officer to compensate you for your loss. I will also give you a bonus in the form of your salary for the next 10 years.”

These words were barely comforting to anyone else who heard them. Most shinigami were rich compared to other souls. They also had dangerous jobs so they would be paid extra. Officers were paid even more.

Even with all this money, most barely spent their salaries since they got free food and lodging from their divisions while the hobbies one could pick up would never be very expensive. So 10 years of salary sounded nice, but Ren had most likely saved up more than that easily during his past 100 years in the division.

As for the recommendation, that was even more of a false offering. Anyone who had been forced out of their squad by almost half the officers would have a hard, if not impossible, time trying to get the position of an officer once again.

But to everyone’s surprise, Ren looked very calm. As if the situation had nothing to do with him.

“Fine. Please write me a letter for the 11th division,” he requested in a calm voice that seemed unnerving for the situation he was in.

As for why he agreed so easily and without a fight, it was very simple. His zanpakuto spirit.

7 7

Khorne was not like most zanpakuto spirits. Because Ren remembered Khorne from Lawrence’s life. Not from Bleach but from another universe. Another thing he was a casual fan of. Warhammer 40K!

Khorne was one of the 4 chaos gods who represented blood, war, and murder. His domain covers the most basic and brutal of sentient emotions and actions, such as hate, anger, rage, war, and killing. He was not just the god of mindless violence though. He was also the god of martial prowess and honor. Thus, many prayed to Khorne before battle.

Of the 4 chaos gods, Khorne was the oldest and most powerful. He had come into existence before the others were even thought about. He had seen their birth and what each represented. And he hated it all.

Even though he hated all 3, he hated two of them especially. The tricker god, Tzeentch and the pleasure god, Slaanesh.

Tzeentch because he was a magic user and expert one at that as well as his use of subterfuge. Khorne hated most magic with a passion and preferred to take his enemies on head-on and let the winner be decided by martial prowess and not intelligence.

Slaanesh because he was his polar opposite. Slaanesh represented inner growth and pleasure while Khorne wanted outer strength and ability. Slaanesh, let his followers experience life to its fullest while Khorne wanted his followers to die willingly for his cause.

This is the official reason that most were told. But insiders such as the other chaos gods and their champions knew there was another reason.

Slaanesh had killed one of Khorne’s most loyal and devoted followers when she rejected his advances. Khorne would eventually bring her back to life and marry her but the debt of blood must be paid.

As for the Khorne that was his zanpakuto spirit, it was very similar to the original god. It had a very similar look and personality. Ren was unsure if his soul as Lawrence corrupted or changed the original spirit but once it fully awakened, he was shocked by who he saw instead of some spirit or fae.

Khorne was a being that demanded blood and skulls. It said that the ones of shinigami and hollows were far better than any of the beings it had tasted before.

It was like a quincy though. Khorne would take souls out of the reincarnation cycle where they would be consumed by him. This was the only reason why Ren went out on missions at all, to keep Khorne satisfied.

But Khorne cared not just about eating souls, using blood to fill his rivers, and skulls to raise his throne. He was also very picky about other things. Such as when Ren used kido.

Recognizing it as magic, Khorne would throw a fit and may not even allow Ren to use his shikai if he used too many kido spells. Ren believed this was due to Khorne’s dislike of Tzeentch in his past life or true self. Whatever the reason, the pair agreed on 10 kido spells per year.

Ren also had to train like hell. It turned out that the original reason that Khorne did not awaken was not due to the amount of blood he was being fed but instead because of Ren’s low level in all 3 of his combat skills (Khorne ignored kido). All 3 had to be at the practitioner level before Khorne would awaken.

Khorne had been nagging Ren for years to leave the division and find more opponents so he could fill his rivers with more blood and have his skull raised higher. Ren did not understand what was going through Khorne’s mind but he did not care too much.

He was growing bored of his repetitive lifestyle so did not mind leaving the 10th division. He was just waiting for the right time. And they had definitely provided it.

So Ren packed up his few belongings, collected his bonus, his recommendation letter, and left the place he had called home for the past 100 years behind.

He had to travel around Seireitei in order to reach the 11th division. They were located on the outer edge of it and located in the east while the 10th division was in the west. He did not mind the walk. He had barely had any time to relax in past few years since Khorne had forced him to reach the expert grade in all of the combat forms.

As he was walking through the streets, he took in the view of the various people walking around: the nobles shopping, academy students hurrying around, and shinigami taking breaks. It was truly looking peaceful.

Just as Ren had left the busy market district he was just in, he ran into 3 familiar faces that almost crashed into him. All of them were wearing the academy uniform with the girl in red hakama and the guys in blue.

One of the males was a man with tanned skin who had a mustache on his face and glasses. The other male was a young man who had blonde hair and dark circles under his eyes. The last was a young black woman with purple hair in a ponytail.

‘Wow. These must have been super old because I’m pretty sure the plot does not start any time soon.’

” /51678851834631794/comments?orderType=1&replyId=”>19 0

8 8

The three looked at Ren with different levels of shock in their eyes while he also had some shock in his eyes. These 3 academy students were not just anyone but some of the most formidable people in Bleach in the future. Ren was actually a fan of two of them while he knew enough about the other one due to his relationship with the other two.

The glasses-wearing guy was Ren’s least favorite of the trio and would become the leader of the kido division. This was a division made up of only powerful kido users who could use their spells with such efficiency and power that normal shinigami would have a hard time going up against them even with their zanpakuto.

And as the leader of the kido division, his skill spoke for himself. He could take on captain level opponents without ever unsheathing or unleashing his zanpakuto. This was none other than Tessai Tsukabishi.

The blonde man would be even more famous. He started off as just the childhood friend of a very famous person but would become one of the best scientists and inventors in all of soul society. This was Kisuke Urahara.

He would graduate around the same time as Yoruichi before becoming a member of the Onmitsukidō alongside her. Even though he seemed lazy and unmotivated, Yoruichi had promoted him once she had risen through the ranks and put him in charge of the Detention Unit.

Many were against this decision due to his personality but he had proven himself capable. To be in command of the Detention Unit meant that Kisuke’s skills in hakuda and kido were great. Inside the prison, no zanpakuto was allowed to be carried, even by the guards and wardens. This meant he had to subdue some of Soul Society’s most dangerous criminals with his bare hands.

After being in command there for an unknown number of years, Kisuke was recommended to become captain of the 12th division by Yoruichi. After passing the Captain Proficiency Exam, he became the captain of the 12th division without any issues and led it for a number of years while showing several inventions that revolutionized Soul Society. He would accomplish much more even later in life.

‘Even though he did all that, the one ‘stain’ on his career in my opinion is the fact that he released Mayuri and even given him so much power.’

The last and only female of the group was Yoruichi Shihoin. Ren would be lying if he did not say that she was one of the women he had a crush on in the anime. But it was not just because she was beautiful but she was powerful and also had an amazing background.

Born into a noble family, she entered the shinigami academy unlike most other nobles and made her way through it with flying colors. After she graduated, she became a member of the Onmitsukidō against her family’s wishes but still rose to the top position while never forgetting her friends.

As for her abilities, she was given the nickname ‘Flash-Step Goddess’ because of how skilled her hoho techniques were. In all of Soul Society, only 2 people have been comparable to her without relying on external techniques or abilities.

And all 3 were standing in front of him. Ren could not help but look them over a few times. But to the trio, it felt like they were being stared down by a beast.

All 3 had unusual instincts that would save their lives or help them out in situations in the future. And those instincts were telling each of them that the shinigami who had neither a lieutenant badge nor captain’s robe was more dangerous than most of the shinigami that they had seen before.

Neither side moved for a minute or so. Ren finally stopped staring them down before he nodded at the group and resumed his journey. He walked away without even looking back at them. But before he could walk to far, he heard Yoruichi call out to him.

“Wait a sec!”

Ren stopped and turned around but did not walk back towards them. Even though he was a fan of them, he was not the type to go fanboy crazy.

Seeing that he seemed to recognize her but still did not bow to her status made Yoruichi have a positive feeling about the shinigami in front of her. So she decided to ask what she felt.

“My instincts tell me that you are strong. Like super strong. I wanna see for myself just what the difference is between us. The 3 of us vs you. What do you say?”

Ren held his chin with his fingers as he thought for a moment.

‘They are definitely not my match at the moment but still don’t mind sparring with them a bit. I can even say that I had beaten all 3 of them in the future no matter how strong they get.’

“Sure. A week from now in the east forest. I should be available then. Until then,” he said as he waved and ran away. He wanted to leave a mysterious impression on the group.

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9 9

Ren made his way toward the 11th division while thinking over all the information he knew about them.

‘Besides the fact that they are the close combat division and seen the most combat out of every division, they also have the strongest captain after the old man. But what I can’t understand is, how was Zaraki able to take the title of Kenpachi.

These guys are currently on their 4th Kenpachi but I don’t dare to underestimate this bastard. How the hell was that crazy bastard able to get the position?

Actually, I think the answer is pretty obvious. Including the fillers, I think there were at least 3 different rebellions during the year or two that the show took place. I can only imagine how many took place in the hundreds of years beforehand.

One of the Kenpachi’s must have joined a rebel group or had been killed by the rebels. Either way, that must throw off the 11th division’s captain system. Zaraki’s predecessor was most likely not a true Kenpachi but a false one who did not truly earn his title.’

Ren kept thinking about the differences in Kenpachi as he made his way to the 11th division. It was such a strange thing to see the Zaraki from the anime who seemed so powerful look really weak when he saw the Kenpachi of the past.

He had seen both the 3rd and 4th Kenpachi in battle during his past hundred years. Both had gotten the approval of Khorne who even wanted Ren to go out and battle those two monsters.

Ren arrived at the 11th division barracks and the gates were not closed.

Actually, that was wrong. The gates had been torn off the hinges and thrown away somewhere. Ren walked inside since there was no one to stop him. He walked straight ahead since he had been there a few times. Every now and then he would have to deliver some information to different divisions so he had visited many before.

As he walked towards the officers’ building, he saw a bunch of men fighting each other or working out while shirtless, gambling, or eating like some savages. Of the occasional woman that he saw, they all looked closer to men than women.

‘They really don’t give off the feeling of a military division but instead some bandits who are backed by the government. They suit Khorne’s style though and I have no major complaints.’

When he entered the building, he made his way straight toward the main office. While it was called the main office, it was actually a large dojo that had 3 desks in it for the few officers of the division that did paperwork.

When he entered, he saw 3 men who were sending each other death stares and nearly had their zanpakutos drawn. It seemed like a fight was about to break out.

Not wanting to delay his chance of getting his officer position cause the people in charge got injured and knocked unconscious, Ren coughed loudly to announce his presence.

The trio looked at Ren and he took that as his signal to walk forward and hand one of the men his recommendation letter. The man he handed it to was 2 meters tall and had scars over his arms and face. He wore white haori that seemed to be ripped all over with one of the sleeves even missing.

That’s right. The man Ren handed his recommendation letter to was not just any officer who was about to fight with some other ones. It was, in fact, the 4th Kenpachi and the man who currently held the title of the strongest shinigami, Kenpachi Kojuro.

Captain Kojuro opened the letter and read through it quickly before he threw it to one of the other men. He also read it before throwing it toward the third who quickly read it before throwing it in a trash bin.

These other two men were the lieutenant and the third seat of the 11th division. Each of the three looked at each other as if communicating silently before they looked back at Ren. It was the captain who spoke up.

“We don’t have a spot for the 20th seat but our 12th seat just got himself killed. If you can beat the 13th seat, it’s all yours.”

Ren wanted to say that he was surprised to hear this but he was not. The 11th division lost the most officers and captains in the quickest amount of time. They would lose an officer at least once every 3-4 years while they would get a new captain about once every 100 years.

“When do we fight?”

Hearing his reply, all 3 of the others had savage smiles on their faces as they reevaluated Ren. Ren did not look like a warrior nor did he give off the aura of a warrior but with his words alone as well as the look in his eyes, it was easy to tell that he was good at fighting.

“Haha. You two will battle in 5 minutes. I suggest you get ready,” the lieutenant said before the three of them ran out while shouting different things at their members.

“Figth for the 12th seat in 5 minutes!”

“Koda! Get your ass out here if you want to get the position of 12th seat!”

“Come see what the disgrace of the 10th division can do, you lazy bastards! He thinks he is better than all of you and can become an officer just after he has arrived!”

Ren walked calmly out of the officers’ building and not minding the three. It was better to say he was distracted actually.

Whenever Khorne saw a powerful opponent he wanted Ren to fight, it would appear in spiritual form behind Ren and silently follow him while giving a stare that could chill the souls of adults and scare children to death.

And Khorne had appeared the moment that Ren saw the captain with the stare growing more intense with every second.

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10 10

The training area was filled with over 60 shinigami of various sizes all looking at the arena in the center. All of them had come to watch the battle for the 12th seat to see just how strong the newest member of their squad was.

On one side was a tall-ish man with periwinkle hair that would shift from looking purple to blue depending on how the light hit his hair. On his back was a zanpakuto with a red sheath. The man stood casually with his hands in his pockets as he looked at his opponent.

The shinigami in the arena was a man who looked to be in his 40s and had a muscular build that resembled a gorilla. Instead of the katana that most shinigamis’ zanpakuto were in their sealed states, his was a large nodachi.

Koda was the name of the officer who looked like a gorilla and wanted the position of 12th seat. It was a rule within the division that the higher your rank, the more missions you were allowed to take on. Koda had already reached his limit for the month so the only way he could take on more was by raising his rank.

He was much weaker than the previous 12th seat and above officers so he did not dare battle them for it. But with the death of the 12th seat, his only rival for the position was the 14th seat who he had beaten in a duel the previous day. He was expecting to be given the position but did not expect Ren’s arrival.

So understandably, he was pissed. Especially when he saw Ren’s body. Ren did not look like the type that fought often and looked more like a scholar instead.

“Oi. This is your only warning. The position of the 12th seat is mine. It can either be mine either before you have an arm and leg broken or after. The choice is all yours.”

Ren looked surprised at these words before a smile appeared on his face and he unsheathed his zanpakuto. He held the blade in his right hand and pointed it at Koda.

His answer was clear.

Koda unsheathed his sword as well before holding it with both his hands as he pointed it at Ren. Koda unleashed a large amount of yellow reiatsu. This caused most of the weaker shinigami to take a few steps back but the officers all ignored it.

Ren who was the focus of this reiatsu also did not seem to mind it as he released an equal amount of reiatsu toward Koda. This caused those with excellent senses to raise their eyebrows. Ren did not just release a similar amount of reiatsu but the exact same amount.

This meant that his true limit was coincidentally the same as Koda’s or that he had read Koda so well, had such a large amount of reiryoku, and had such excellent control over his reiatsu, that he could imitate and counter Koda’s.

Both possibilities sounded equally insane since many captains did not even have the ability to do that. Captain Kojuro saw that both men so ready so he decided to start the battle.

“Let’s get this started!!!”

As soon as the words were said, Koda rushed ahead and slashed down on Ren. Ren deflected the blow with one move as if he was swatting away a fly. He was not even pushed back by Koda’s large frame.

‘Ugh. That was just lucky. Let’s see how he handles my Storm Set!’

Koda did not take this lying down and began launching many attacks toward Ren. His ‘Storm Set’ was just a bunch of attacks launched as fast and with little thought as possible to overwhelm his opponent.

But each of his slashes and cuts was deflected. No matter how strong or weak, fast or flow, thought out or instinctual, none of them were able to pierce past Ren’s defenses.

Koda continued his assault for another minute before he knew that if he continued this way, he would end up losing the battle. Koda using shunpo to back away rapidly and get to the spot where he was when the battle started.

“Bury, Inugami!”

A large amount of reiatsu surrounded Koda. When it dispersed, Koda could be seen holding a spiked club similar to what an Oni would be seen using. This would intimidate most but the only thing that Ren could think was…

‘Wow. Bury, Inugami? That is a cruel joke. What kind of messed up person says that?’

Koda shared toward Ren while raising the club above his head and bringing it down toward Ren. The club seemed to triple in thickness while the spikes seemed to shine even brighter.

This was the special ability of inugami in its shikai form. It would not only strengthen the club and the spike but would also cause the club to grow larger and heavier. This made it excellent for crushing attacks.

But the club that was supposed to crush Ren was held back with a single sword. Koda actually let out some cold sweat because he had used his strongest attack but it had been unable to even move Ren, let alone hurt him. Koda backed away and tried to surrender.

“I sur…”

Before he could finish, Ren shunpo’d in front of Koda and swung his sword 3 times before backing away and sheathing it. When the sword was sheathed, both of Koda’s arms, as well as his legs, were cut off with a large amount of blood being sprayed everywhere.

The amount of blood that covered Ren and the arena was surprising. Kojuro and the other members did not find the scene very dramatic with many of them beginning to cheer. They loved to see a good fight and Ren had certainly shown them a large amount of power.

“The new 12th seat of the 11th division will be Ren. Congratulations!

Someone go and get a member of the 4th division over here or bring Koda there fast. He needs his limbs to be healed as fast as possible but make sure they leave scars so he learns his lesson.”

——–

Author’s Note:

Is the cover of this novel showing Old X-gene of fate for anyone else? I have it as a death butterfly but still showing old cover in my library.

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11 11

The officers were very impressed by Ren and most wanted to fight him. He was able to beat the 13th seat with ease and had even done it without releasing his shikai. No one in the squad disliked a powerful member.

Ren sheathed his sword and walked towards Captain Kojuro. He wanted to know more about his duties and what to expect. Right after Ren approached, Kojura clapped Ren on his shoulder in a friendly manner but Ren felt as if a club kept hitting him.

“Haha. You have great strength and even greater potential. I will be sure to sharpen you into a fine blade. Your first mission is with me. We will head out tomorrow morning to do a bit of weeding. I suggest you get prepared and get a good night’s sleep.”

Ren nodded and left for the dorms. If they were anything like the 10th division, the dorms would be numbered with the officer in charge of that dorm having the best room inside of it.

He soon found the 10th dormitory and went inside to find the officer room. Once he did, he entered without a word and sat down on his bed. Ren could finally relax a bit.

He looked at Khorne who had been staring at him this whole time with a look of frustration.

“God!”

“Yes?”

“You know that’s not what I meant. Stop staring at me. This is not a place where we can fight willy nilly. By challenging the captain there, it means that I would have to kill him.

In order to kill him, I would need to at least unleash my shikai. And by killing him with my shikai, our secret would be found out. We can’t let soul society know about what we can do. Yet.

Once we get powerful enough, it does not matter whether they know or don’t. I will fill your realm with rivers of blood and plenty of skulls.”

Khorne seemed pleased to hear this and returned inside of the zanpakuto. With his spirit gone, Ren could let out a sigh of relief.

‘Finally! I need to find out a way to suppress that guy and make him my loyal servant or at least bring his ego down. He seems to still believe that he is the god from the warhammerverse and not just a part of my spirit.’

Ren spent the rest of the afternoon going over his various goals and plans as well as doing some reiatsu training. His reiryoku was incredible but the amount of reiatsu that he could unleash was not even 10% of it. He had a long way to go.

It was not until morning that Ren finally finished his training but he did not even think about sleep. Instead, he got out of bed and went toward the officers’ building to wait for Kojuro. He was curious about what mission that the captain needed to personally go on but he knew he would get his answer soon so he did not let it consume him.

Kojuro swaggered into the room and was surprised to see Ren already there.

‘So he is the diligent type then. We could use a few of those in here.’

“Good. You’re already here. Let’s go then.”

Kojuro turned around and started running toward the east side of the division. Ren could only follow along. After Ren caught up, Kojuro decided to go faster while he jumped over the division wall. Ren sighed and caught up. The pair kept repeating the act of speeding up until they were running at their top speed while also throwing in the occasional shunpo until they arrived outside of Seireitei.

They met up with several individuals in weird outfits that hid their entire body and face. Ren had sent them a few times before so he knew who they were.

‘The Kido Corps. And them being here means that we need some powerful Kido. And being on the edge, I’m guessing we are heading somewhere dangerous in order to not endanger the center of Seireitei. So that means we are most likely heading to Hueco Mundo or Hell.’

“We are going to Hueco Mundo to kill a being called an arrancar. These are hollows that have torn off their own mask to gain a human form and a zanpakuto. Most of them are pretty weak and can only be compared to a low-rank officers but this one had killed off two vice-captains in the past year along with the squads they were with.

He always left a single survivor to spread the word of what he had done. The Onmitsukidō had finally tracked him down. We are going in, killing him, and getting out before any more powerful hollows arrive.

Any questions?”

Ren shook his head but was inwardly shocked.

‘I thought Aizen created the Arrancar. Maybe his are stronger or consistently stronger since each one of his Espada was able to take on at least one captain while the fraccion were still pretty dangerous and could take on lieutenants.

If one being able to kill a lieutenant is rare, this guy should be the rare outlier.’

As Ren thought about who they were going to face, a black portal opened up for Kojuro and himself to enter.

“This barrier will be reopened in 3 days. The Onmitsukidō have already marked the location on the other side so just make sure you arrive back there on time and you will be able to make it home,” said one of the Kido Division members.

Neither Ren nor Kojuro responded. This was the usual practice when entering Hueco Mundo. Soul Society did not want to risk any hollows forcing the kido corps to let them go free in the so it was more like a military unit dropping in before waiting for an evac from a helicopter.

The pair entered the portal and ran along a bridge of reiatsu for a few hours until they had reached the other side and landed in a white desert under a night sky.

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12 12

The duo stood on the sand and watched the black portal close above their head. When the portal was gone, all they could see was the full moon and the stars in the sky. This was the usual sight of Hueco Mundo since it would always be night there.

Kojuro pulled out a compass that had an arrow made out of red reiatsu and was pointing in a certain direction. Kojuro started running that way and Ren had no choice but to follow along. He hurried to tear off a piece of his uniform and tie it to a nearby tree before he hurried to catch up.

The pair ran for a few hours until they finally saw their target. They had seen several hollows but most were standard hollows with a few gillians every now and then. Their target was the only human looking figure that they had seen.

The man had a muscular build, black and orange hair, and a bone mask that covered the left side of his face. The man was naked from the waist up with bone armor covering his entire lower body as well as a striped tail. He had a hole in the middle of his chest where his heart should have been. In each of his arms was a thick and large tonfa.

The first thought anyone would come up with when they saw him was that he was similar to a tiger.

‘He is in resurrecion already? Actually, seeing the destruction around him, he most likely just got out of a fight.’

The arrancar turned and looked at Ren and Kojuro who were looking down on him from a sand dune. Both sides just stared at each other for a few moments.

“It seems that my acts have finally gotten some proper attention. I have been waiting for one of your captains to come along. Guess it took two dead lieutenants to finally happen but it did,” he said while looking at Kojuro’s white haori.

He turned to Ren and said, “I don’t know what your rank is but since you are not a captain, I have no need for you. Leave if you wanna live.”

Neither shinigami was really bothered by his words but both unsheathed their zanpakuto.

“This guy is already in his resurrecion. That is comparable to bankai or shikai depending on the arrancar. Begone with the thunderclap! Kirin!”

Lightning began surrounding Kojuro’s body. When it dispersed, Kojuro’s upper body was bare. All of his scars were glowing neon blue as if lightning was about to shoot out of them. His zanpakuto had transformed into a large blue and black guandao.

Kojuro and the arrancar charged towards each other. When their weapons clashed, a large amount of lightning and reiatsu was released. Ren looked on from above since he wanted to see how strong the man who took the name Kenpachi was.

The pair clashed once, twice, three times. Each time they unleashed more and more reiatsu. The duo did not battle with elegance or grace but instead fought like savages. It was a comparison of raw strength instead of ability. And the weird thing was, Kojuro was winning.

With every blow, although neither was injured, both sides would get knocked back slightly. But with every knock back, the arrancar moved twice the distance as Kojuro. This made Ren shocked.

Shinigami were more about technique. They compensated their weak bodies with zanpakuto, kido, hakuda, hoho, and other means.

Hollows were more animalistic and cared more about physical abilities. Although the rare hollow had special abilities, the rest used their pure strength to kill shinigami, quincy, or anyone else that they came across.

Even arrancar who broke parts of their masks to gain humanity were considered more beast than man. And their bestial traits, their raw strength usually surpassed shinigami by a large margin.

So for Kojuro to be able to overpower a tiger-type arrancar in their resurrecion with only his shikai, that was unbelievable.

‘No. It’s actually not. Even after all these years, I still have not gotten over it. Zaraki and his predecessors were really weak. This guy. This is a true Kenpachi!’

Just as he thought that another clash occurred. But this one ended with Kojuro breaking through the arrancar’s defense and landing a blow on his chest. This caused a large gaping wound to appear on his chest.

The arrancar backed away and stared at Kojuro in rage.

“You dare! Rondando La Montaña!”

Black and green wind began to gathering around both of the arrancar’s tonfa and formed small tornados around each one. He let out a roar before charging toward Kojuro with the intent to kill him with a single move.

Kojuro pulled his guandao back as if it was a spear he was ready to thrust.

“Umi O Utsu Inazuma!”

Blue and purple lightning ran along the length of the weapon before gathering at the tip. Kojuro dashed forward and let his zanpakuto meet the tonfa of the arrancar.

This time, there was no explosion. There was no clash. There was energy wasted and unleashed upon the environment.

Kojuro’s attack was able to pierce through the arrancar’s attack, cut apart his weapons, and stab into his chest before unleashing the lightning within its body.

The lightning ran its course through the arrancar’s body as it began to glow blue and purple before being destroyed from the rampant energy running through its body.

‘So this is what it means to be the strongest. I could probably take him on if I used by shikai but if his bankai makes him 5-10 times stronger just like anyone else, I’m not sure if I could beat him with just my shikai.

No, I definitely couldn’t. I would need to use my own bankai to match his. Even then, I’m not sure what other abilities he has. This place is full of weird abilities.

My best bet would be to kill him before he could unleash either of his abilities to give myself the best chance of winning.’

Even after seeing that fight, Ren still thought about his chances of battling. No matter how strong Kojuro was, Ren knew that he had to eventually take the title of Kenpachi. He needed a surname afterall.

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13 13

Kojuro let out a breath of frustration after he had just killed the Arrancar. He had expected a better fight from a being that could kill off two lieutenants and the members that they brought with them.

‘This guy was probably a Gillian that accidentally tore its mask. This could not be an Adjuchas if he could not even force me to use the full extent of my shikai.’

Kojuro turned around and was bout to tell Ren that they could return to the pickup location before he saw the look in Ren’s eyes. Ren’s face looked calm as if he did not mind the battle that occurred or was not surprised by the battle, but his eyes said that the battle had excited.

Kojuro could see that Ren was measuring himself against either Kojuro or the Arrancar in his mind. Trying to see how well he would fare or how easily he would beat either of the two.

‘This kid sure has balls. That is the look of someone that thinks they can win. And he is not staring at the ashes by my feet. This little bastard is staring at me.’

Kojuro let out a laugh which broke Ren out of his thoughts. He could tell by the look on Kojuro’s face that he had been caught. Ren let out a small laugh and was about to make an excuse but before he could say anything, Kojuro beat him to it.

“Don’t even try to deny. You think you can take me. I will gladly prove that you can’t.

Since it is just us and we need to survive after the battle, we will limit ourselves to our shikai. The time limit will be 30 minutes. What do you say, 12th seat?”

Ren knew that he had been caught. He also wanted to see if his guesses were correct about how well he would fare against Kojuro and learn more about his zanpakuto.

Besides the main ones in the series, Ren had not seen any other ones so he was curious about the limits of a true zanpakuto without nerfs or powerups due to the power of friendship. Ren unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Kojuro to give his answer.

“Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne! Khorne!”

Red reiatsu surrounded Ren in a cyclone before coming to a stop. When the reiatsu disappeared, Ren stood there with his sword and sheath no longer present. Instead, he wore red, fingerless gloves on each of his hands. Each of the knuckles had a small, black spike on it.

“Pick a number, Taichō. 1-4.”

Kojuro did not understand why he had to pick a number but decided to go along with it.

“Hmm. Must have to do with your zanpakuto ability. Do you need your opponent to actually pick a number to use it?”

“Nope. Just giving you a chance to pick. I could also choose on my own.”

Kojuro nodded. If it was the former, he would be severely disadvantaged against other opponents.

“Hmm. I choose 1 since I am the number one, then.”

A creepy smile appeared on Ren’s face. Kojuro chose the number that was the worst matchup against him. The palm of the right glove began to glow as a rune lit up on it.

“Fine then. Gift Of Arms!”

4 ethereal weapons appeared behind Ren. They were a black and red long sword with a few long jagged spikes coming out from various parts of it, a spear with silvertip a few smaller blades behind it, a great sword that looked pure white, and a great ax that dwarfed Ren that was made of blood, brass, and bones.

Ren’s shikai had 4 different abilities that each did something very different. They were each called gifts. These were based on the 4 Gifts Of Khorne. The original Khorne would bestow these on his believers who had done excellent work for him or killed many of his enemies.

The first gift was the Gift Of Arms. The version that Ren’s zanpakuto carried allowed Ren to use 4 different weapons that were wielded by champions that had served Khorne with each weapon having a unique ability.

Ren held the black and red sword in his right hand while he held the spear in his.

“Aghhh!!!” he yelled while charging toward Kojuro with his sword. Kojuro let out a shout of his own as he charged toward Ren.

The initial clash between the two was just like it was between Kojuro and the Arrancar. Both sides clashed with neither gaining an advantage. But Ren was smarter than the Arrancar.

While the sword had been knocked away, Ren attacked with the spear. Kojuro hastily blocked with his guandao. He knew that while he would be pushed away since would not be blocking properly, he would still not be injured by Ren.

But the force of the blow did not come. Instead, Kojuro saw the spear pass right through his guandao’s body and neared Kojuro’s chest. Kojuro tried to retreat rapidly using shunpo but he was still wounded by the spear stabbing into his body deeply.

When he landed nearly a hundred meters away, Kojuro looked down at the wound on his chest. While it was not something that would slow him down, most shinigami would be at half their fighting strength. He looked at Ren with eyes that asked, ‘What the hell was that?’

“This spear is called Slaupnir. It can pierce any defense. It does not simply cut through defenses but avoids them all together by becoming a phantom-like weapon.”

Ren decided to give Kojuro a short explanation without going into full details and telling the weakness of the spear. The weakness was that it could only phase through things that the blade of the spear had touched. If anyone wanted to parry it, they would need to stop the shaft.

Kojuro did not ask anything else. He knew that it would foolish for Ren to explain the weakness of his technique and had only told him since he saw Kojuro use one of his abilities against the Arrancar.

“Don’t think this little injury can stop me. Round 2, 12th seat!”

“Bring it, Taichō!”

” /51744776092970320/comments?orderType=1&replyId=”>19 0

14 14

Ren charged with his sword brandished to take the initiative with a shunpo. He had already let Kojuro have it once but would not allow his captain to have it again.

“Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle!”

Kojuro held up his left hand and pointed his palm at Ren. A yellow ball of electricity formed in front of the palm with a few discharges coming out of it.

“Hado #63: Raikoho!”

A beam of energy shot out from the orb and rapidly approached Ren. Since he was already mid-step, Ren could not move to the side and could only try to block the attack. He crossed his spear and sword across his chest while hoping for the best.

‘Fuck you, Khorne!’

The blast hit Ren directly and created a cloud of dust. Kojuro used that as a chance to charge forward and begin his counter-attack.

“Umi O Utsu Inazuma!” he yelled as he charged into the smoke cloud. Kojuro had already sensed Ren’s position and knew where to strike.

Ren pushed through the smoke with his blade and appeared before Kojuro. Ren was covered in burn marks all over his body and although none were too severe, he was still injured a good deal by the last attack.

He swung his sword and covered it with a large amount of pure reiatsu as he was about to clash with the lightning-clad guandao. A small smile appeared on Ren’s lips.

“Roar!”

The sword vibrated for a moment before a loud roar came out of it. The roar stunned Kojuro for a moment and caused him to lose control of his body for a moment. Ren took that chance to slash and stab toward Kojuro’s undefended body.

The stun did not last as long as Ren was hoping and Kojuro was able to soon recover as he stabbed toward Ren’s heart.

Both shinigami stopped their attacks before they landed since they were not trying to kill the other. Ren had his sword on Kojuro’s neck and his spear was against Kojuro’s heart. Kojuro had his lightning-tipped guandao against Ren’s waist which would have been a killing blow if what he saw from the Arrancar was true.

The match between the captain and the 12th seat of the 11th division had ended in a draw. This surprised both the combatants who were sure of their victory.

‘He definitely has another ability. He was going to use it but he decided to change his mind at the last moment.

That means it is something that is useful for a life and death situation and is his shikai’s trump card. May even be his zanpakuto’s trump card in both forms.’

‘This kid only used two of his weapons. Those other two must also have special abilities. As for what 2-4 options are, I’m afraid to even ask.

Sigh. I knew he was strong but did not know he was this strong. Why did I have to invite him on this mission? The next generation is catching up so fast and I don’t know what to do about it.’

Both men had accepted their loss without any bad feelings between them. There was even respect when they looked at each other.

They sat back to back on the ground to catch their breath and try to recover their bodies as quickly as possible. They were in dangerous territory and fighting right then had been foolish but neither regretted it. Both had been able to fight a nice opponent.

“I know some basic Kaidō but not sure if I can heal your injuries. Or even all of mine.”

“Hmm. No need to worry. Besides, we have other stuff to worry about.”

Just as Kojuro said that 10s of Gillian and several Adjuchas coming out of nowhere. The pair were surrounded on all sides.

The duo shinigami stood up and held their weapons out as they saw all the enemies around them. Both let out a small groan of disappointment.

“Can you loan me that spear of yours? You got extra weapons after all.”

Ren tossed the spear up in the air and Kojuro caught it with his left hand. Ren put the greatsword in his right hand which caused the temperature to rapidly rise. The greatsword was not just painted white but instead covered in flames so hot that they were white.

“Haha. You had something like that on you? You could have forced me to use my other two shikai abilities if you used that.”

“I don’t have the best control over this weapon. But desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“Haha. It is good to know your limits. Let’s make a competition and bet since we tied in battle. We shall compete for kills. Every Gillian is 10 points, Adjuchas is 100 points. Any random hollow we kill is 1 point.

Oh, yeah. If you use bankai, you lose 500 points.

If I win, you must challenge the lieutenant and become my second in command. If you win, I will assign all your paperwork to another one of the officers. What do you say?”

“I always wanted an assistant. But I don’t want just anyone else to do my paperwork, I want you to do it. Feeling confident, Taichō?”

“Bring it, boy!”

With that agreement, the ambush where their lives were on the line had been turned into between the two. And it had officially begun.

—3 days later—

Two men in shredded clothing that was covered in blood were standing beneath. A black portal opened up above them which the two immediately entered.

“Make sure that you don’t get left behind. I don’t want to lose my new lieutenant that easily.”

Ren made a grunt of agreement. They each made a bridge of reiatsu for themselves as they ran through the portal.

15 15

It had been a little over a week since Ren had returned from Hueco Mundo along with the captain. Just like he had promised with the captain, Ren went to the 4th division to get some healing for his body before he challenged the lieutenant to a battle before the entire division. Ren used the gift of arms during the fight and beat him by using just Bloodhunger and Slaupnir.

With his victory, none of the other members had an issue with declaring Ren as the lieutenant of the 11th division. Ren spent the rest of the week learning about his new responsibilities as well as the missions that his sub-division was in charge of.

It was called a sub-division but the only member was Ren since he had not invited anyone into it. His main job was to work with the second and third divisions on missions that required cooperation between the divisions.

But that was all in the future. Ren was currently standing in a forest. Ren had his back up against a tree as was waiting on the trio who challenged him to arrive.

Soon, the three arrived. Each of them was no longer wearing their academy uniform but instead had on kosode and hakuma of different colors. Each one of them wore their zanpakuto on their waists and seemed as if they were prepared for battle.

Ren was about to greet them but before he could say a word, he saw Yoruichi disappear and try to cut him with her tanto but he was able to see through her moves easily and dodge them.

The other two did not stay still and began their assault as well. Kisuke charged ahead with Benihime and cut towards Ren a few times but the lieutenant dodged each slash effortlessly.

‘So guess no one here knows how to be polite. I thought that they would be like Team 7 in their younger years but these guys are more like Team 10.’

“Bakudō #4: Hainawa.”

Ren heard Tessai say from the background and saw the kido spell shoot toward him. Ren did not dodge but instead released his reiatsu in the direction of the rope to destroy it before it even made contact.

The spell was easily destroyed but Ren felt as if he used too much energy to do so. Even as the spell was destroyed, Yoruichi and Kisuke kept attacking from his sides to try a pincer maneuver.

Yoruichi focused on using hakuda and hoho while occasionally threw in her zanpakuto. Kisuke, on the other hand, was using a perfect mix of kido, hakuda, hoho, and zanjutsu. Neither was able to land a blow but were at least able to keep Ren on his toes.

‘Mmm. I could have used 70% less and I would have most likely gotten rid of that thing. These kids will be great for teaching me how to hold back.

They have excellent team work though. If I was a normal shinigami they would have overpowered me instantly. They might even be able to take on an officer with their teamwork.

Sadly for them, I know that I am captain material which makes me far outside of what they can handle.’

Yoruichi tried to perform an axe kick on Ren from above but he easily parried the move with one hand.

“Your moves are both powerful and fast but you leave openings because of that. Against weaker enemies or those who are equal in strength, you have no need to worry. But with anyone who is faster or can tank the attack, you are just asking for death,”

Ren said before striking her in the abdomen with his palm. Yoruichi felt the wind get knocked out of her as she flew backward and crashed into a tree.

Kisuke got distracted when he saw Yoruichi injured and let his guard down which made it even easier for Ren.

“Don’t get distracted in the middle of battle. Worry about your allies after you are sure that you will survive.”

Ren shunpo’d in front of Kisuke before giving him a palm attack to the gut just like he did Yoruichi. He was also sent flying and crashed into a tree.

Tessai saw that the battle was going downhill so he started chanting to use the most powerful spell that he could. Ren appeared in front of Tessai before he could finish even the first verse.

“Chanting when the opponent is faster than you and you have no allies to distract them? Very foolish for the kido prodigy of the Academy to make,” Ren said as he grabbed Tessai’s face and shunpo’d in front of a tree before slamming his head into it.

Ren stood back and admired his work. Yoruichi had broken through her tree and landed on the ground behind it. Kisuke was stuck in his tree and left a human-shaped crater within it. Tessai let a small dent in the tree from where his head was struck.

Even though each of them seemed like they took a heavy blow, the three were actually much better than they looked. Although they would not be getting up anytime soon, they would be fine with some rest and a trip to the 4th division hospital.

Ren pulled out his zanpakuto and carved up the earth to leave a message for the trio when they woke up.

[

Nice try. It was some decent exercise for me.

I don’t mind kicking your asses biannually or semiannually. Whichever is correct here.

Anyway, get some medical attention and I will see you in 6 months here if you dare to show your faces again.

Sincerely, Lord 2nd of the 11th Division

] >

16 16

The trio woke up within the next 20 minutes and saw the note left for them by Ren. They felt upset, embarrassed, helpless, and some admiration.

Upset and embarrassed because they were the ones who challenged Ren but they were unable to land even a single blow as well as each being taken out by a single blow. Helpless because they realized that Ren was not only a member of the 11th division that focused on close combat but was an officer of said division.

The trio did not know this before because Ren was not a lieutenant when they first met and he did not wear his lieutenant badge for the sparring session. They thought he was an officer before but did not know how powerful he was.

The trio also could not help but feel admiration for Ren. They were each a genius with a large amount of pride but they were beaten so easily and effortlessly. No matter how much they disliked losing, they did not mind losing to someone so strong.

“So are we gonna meet him again? We only came here because of Yoruichi this time. I don’t wanna get my ass kicked so hard twice a year,” Kisuke asked Tessai. He already knew Yoruichi’s answer but wanted to hear the opinion of the third member.

“I’m indifferent. While I don’t want to get beaten up as we did before, this man is an excellent sparring partner.

He knows just how much energy and effort to put into each blow to take us down without killing or severely injuring us. This means that we can go all out without having to worry about being killed in return.”

Yoruichi hopped in between the pair who wanted to continue discussing.

“No need to talk about it. Just like the note says, we can either show up or not. He will be here. I’m gonna use this as a chance to get some real combat experience against someone who does not care about my status and will not hold back.

I can definitely break through my limits faster if I take this guy on. And since you are my two friends, you must come with me. We go through thick and thin together.”

The pair of guys shared a look before grieving about their future being punching bags. Although both were willing to accept the sparring sessions, they were planning to only visit 1 every year instead of both. But with Yoruichi, they were going to be forced to go to every session.

For the next few years, until they had graduated from the academy, the trio would meet with Ren twice a year at first before it was upgraded to once a month to get training/ their asses beat. But with each battle, Ren would give them advice on their fighting style during battle or would answer questions that the three had.

Yoruichi and Kisuke had even awakened their zanpakuto during their time at the academy which had never been heard of. Tessai may have also been able to awaken his zanpakuto under the pressure of constant combat with Ren if he did not get pulled out of the academy and brought into the secret academy of the Kido Corps.

When Tessai left, both Yoruichi and Kisuke were depressed for a while since they could not see their friend for years. The Kido Corps members would be very restrained in their movements and actions unless they became high ranking members.

They were also depressed since they had one less member to back them up while they were fighting Ren. Tessai would usually provide a decent distraction/target to let the pair get an opening on Ren. But with him gone, the pressure on the pair had increased by a large margin.

But they did not care too much. The trio had learned to get along and respect Ren as an authority figure and had even addressed him as a teacher. After 5 years, the pair graduated from the academy and joined the Onmitsukidō which meant they had less time to see Ren.

Ren on the other hand also felt delighted to teach them. By teaching them, he was perfecting his control of his reiatsu and even gained new ideas of how to fight from watching them.

Ren would go between being a teacher for the trio to being the lieutenant of the 11th Division. He much preferred the former since the members of the 11th Division were those who lacked in intelligence for the most part.

They were truly battle addicts who had no thoughts outside of battle or training. Ren could not truly say he was much different though.

With the trio, Ren could talk about various things. He also learned more about how the noble families worked and the political powers.

Ren had also grown much closer to Kojuro and had truly accepted the man as his captain. The duo would often spar since they were almost equal in strength. At least to Kojuro’s knowledge.

Ren had seen the limits of Kojuro for years and realized that he had surpassed him. His reiatsu much stronger and with Ren’s perfected shikai, he could beat Kojuro’s bankai if he was careful. Due to their friendship though, Ren never challenged Kojuro for the position of captain or title of Kenpachi. He did not wish to kill his friend.

But after 30 years of his repetitive life, a change finally occurred. Kojuro was challenged for the position of Kenpachi by the lieutenant of the 5th division.

17 17

A large number of shinigami were gathered in the training area on the outskirts of Seireitei. This is where the official duel for the position of Kenpachi would be held. At least a third of all shinigami were present as well as 6 captains including Kojuro. These were the captains of the 3rd, 4rth, 5th, 8th, 9th, and 11th divisions.

The 11th division captain was Kojuro was he had to be there. Since the challenger was from the 5th division, their captain was also needed. The captain of the 5th division was a man who did not look like anything special.

Retsu Unohana, captain of the 4th Division, was present as the referee and to ensure the survival of the winner. Most matches were close battles and would end with one member dead while the other was on the brink of death. Unohana’s job was to ensure that only one captain-level individual died that day instead of two.

The remaining 3 captains were just there to watch over the battle for entertainment officially. The battles for the 11th division’s captain position were always interesting to view. They also wanted to see just how strong those who wanted the title of Kenpachi truly were.

The unofficial reason and true reason they were there was to keep the peace. If anyone tried to interfere with the battle, the three other captains were to kill anyone who got involved in the battle.

The person who challenged Kojuro was a young woman who appeared to be in her early 20s at the oldest but no one thought that was her true age. She wore the standard shinigami uniform and had her brown hair tied up into a ponytail.

She stood opposite of Kojuro with her zanpakuto already in its shikai form. Her shikai was a traditional scythe that most would think about when they thought of the Grim Reaper. Kojuro stood opposite of her with his guandao ready.

“Little girl. This is your only chance to stand down. Once this battle begins, it will only end with the death of one of us.”

The woman readied her weapon as she bent her body forward like a predator ready to strike its prey. Kojuro also readied his weapon and aimed it at the girl.

“Fine. Let’s do this then.”

Unohana raised her right hand before looking at each fighter. She looked at the girl first then Kojuro.

“This is a match between shinigami Suzuka and shinigami Kojuro for the position of captain for the 11th division as well as the title of Kenpachi, the strongest shinigami.

The battle will be to the death. Anyone who interferes with the battle shall be executed. Are both fighters ready?”

“Yes!”

“Mmm.”

“When my hand drops, the match shall officially begin!”

Retsu looked at both sides one last time before her hand fell. As soon as it did, both combatants used shunpo to close the gap and clash with each other. And just like with the battle with the Arrancar, the clash produced a large amount of pressure and reiatsu.

All of the weaker shinigami fell to their knees or even collapsed on the ground due to the sheer pressure that the two individuals were giving off. A few had even gotten injured just by being in their presence as the pair exchanged blows.

Many officers were also having a hard time in their presence. They could feel just how dangerous the two people in the center truly were.

Only those with captain-class or above spiritual power were able to be in the presence of the pair comfortably. But even they knew just how strong the pair were battling were. The captains of the 3rd, 8th, and 9th divisions looked at the pair in the center like they were truly monsters.

The only person not staring at the two shinigami battling was Retsu Unohana. She was looking at Ren. No matter how all the other captains looked, they still felt intimidated by the pressure the two were giving off. It was only Ren and Retsu who looked comfortable with the pressure. This showed that their spiritual power was greater than the other captains.

‘It seems like the lieutenant of the 11th division is also a monster. He might even be more deserving of the title of Kenpachi than these other two. In fact, he gives off a similar feeling as ‘him’.’

If Yamamoto or any of the older captains heard her thoughts, they would be shocked. To be praised by Retsu Unohana was something rare. This kind looking woman who was the best healer in Soul Society was not just a simple medic.

She was in fact the very first Kenpachi who was unbeaten by anyone. The number of individuals who knew about this and were alive numbered barely 1000. She had only given up her title for reasons known to less than 10 of those 1000.

Her eyes never left Ren. No matter how much lightning, reiatsu, or dark energy was released by those who were fighting. What did take her eyes off of Ren was when both those in the arena said the same thing.

Kojuro and Suzuka were both covered in wounded. Suzuka had cuts and burn marks all over her body while Kojuro had rotting skin from all of his wounds.

“It seems I have underestimated you. If I want to take your title of Kenpachi, I will need to go all out.”

“Hmm. I also looked down on you. But after we go all out, you better be prepared for what I unleash.”

“”Bankai!!!””

18 18

The reiatsu in the air increased by a large amount as Suzuka and Kojuro entered into their bankai states and there were blinding lights. When the lights dispersed, neither of the pair looked the same as before.

Suzuka now wore a hooded black robe similar to a traditional Grim Reaper while also wearing a skull mask over her face.

Kojuro’s guandao had changed from its black and blue colors into a green and gold form. It also had a dragon’s head holding the blade as it came out of its mouth. Kojuro’s outfit changed into a green kimono that left his right arm bare.

Even though neither of them had a major change occur to their bodies/weapons, the captains could tell just how powerful each had become.

“Shine through the stormy night!”

“Drown in the abyss!”

A bright, jade light filled Kojuro’s half of the arena while darkness that no one could see through had filled Suzuka’s. Unohana hurried to create a barrier around the arena. There was one previously created to protect against stray attacks but the moves that the pair had just unleashed would easily destroy the first barrier.

And just as Unohana had expected, the first barrier did not last more than 5 seconds before it shattered to pieces. Luckily, her second barrier was ready to hold back the move.

“Jade Dragon’s Wrath!”

“Death Comes For All!”

No one could see what was happening in the barrier but they could hear the roar of a dragon as well as the chattering of bones before a loud explosion occurred. After that, the people who were conscious could hear the laughter of the two people battling.

Blow after blow was traded. The number of injuries on each of them grew. It would have been a truly horrifying sight if anyone could see it. But fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the sight was blocked.

It was only when one of the two died that their element took over. The jade-green light started to recede as darkness took over. Soon, the entire interior of the barrier was pitch black.

“Enough, Suzuka! End your technique!” Unohana yelled.

Suzuka must have heard her because the darkness started to fade away. The first to appear was Kojuro. Or what was left of him at least.

All that remained of Kojuro was his skeleton and the asuachi that used to host his zanpakuto spirit. The skeleton had several parts that were broken due to damage in the battle.

Suzuka appeared afterward. The young woman’s entire upper torso and arms, as well as part of her legs, had burns that still had green lightning shooting out from them. There were several deep cuts on her body and even one of her eyes was lost due to an attack.

It was easy to tell just how narrowly Suzuka had won the battle with the amount of damage that was inflicted upon her. She was barely alive as it was.

Unohana dispelled the barrier and jumped into the arena to heal Suzuka. With her help, Suzuka’s life was soon out of danger but the new Kenpachi still needed more attention to be fully healed. Unohana had a job to do though.

Unohana stood in the middle of the arena and began to declare the winner.

“With his death, Kojuro has lost the position as captain of the 11th Division as well as his title of Kenpachi. With her victory, Suzuka has earned the position of captain of the 11th division as well as the title of Kenpachi.

From this day on, let her be known as Suzuka Kenpachi, 5th to the name, and the Strongest Shinigami!”

Everyone took a moment to digest that new information before the captains started to cheer. With the captains taking the lead, the rest of the shinigami present all cheered. All except for one.

Ren was looking at the dead body of his friend. He felt angry and frustrated. He knew that Kojuro would eventually die but he still did not wish to see others cheer at his death.

—–Night before the battle—–

Kojuro and Ren were sitting across from each other and drinking sake. Both knew that it might be the last night that they could hang out like this. Only those who were confident or foolish challenged a Kenpachi.

“Ren. Let’s make another bet. This is a bet on whether I live or die tomorrow. I’m betting that I will die. And I’m sure that you are betting that I live, correct?”

Ren nodded silently.

‘Of course, I am betting that you will live. What friend bets that the other would die?’

“In all these years, you have never won a bet against me. What makes you think tomorrow will be any different? Doesn’t matter. I will lay the terms.

If you win, for the first time ever, you must challenge me for the position of captain. You have been slowing your growth by staying as my lieutenant. It is time for you to spread your wings.

As for me winning…”

—-After the battle for the title of Kenpachi—-

Ren jumped onto the stage after Unohana had finished her speech. Seeing this, the other 4 captains also jumped on stage to prevent Ren from doing anything foolish.

“What is the meaning of this, Lieutenant Ren?” Unohana asked

“I made a bet with Kojuro. If he died, I would take up the mantle of captain for another division. I’m here to challenge the captain of the 8th division for his position!”

19 19

All the shinigami who were preparing to leave stopped when they saw Ren jump on stage. They had no idea what he would do. Ren always followed the rules and never created any trouble while he was in the 11th Division.

When they heard that he was challenging the captain of the 8th division, they were even more shocked. There had never been two battles for the position of captain in a single day before. It was completely unheard of.

The captains were just as surprised as Ren. They even thought that it would make more sense if he challenged the new Kenpachi or the captain of the 5th division to get revenge for Kojuro. The fact that he challenged another put a positive impression of him in Unohana’s, the 3rd division, and the 9th division captains.

The 8th was upset he was being challenged and did not have a positive impression of Ren. The positive impressions of the other captains would crumble if they heard Ren’s thoughts though.

He truly wanted to kill the girl to get revenge for Kojuro or kill her old captain to repay the debt that he owed her. He did not challenge the girl, not due to a sense of honor but because he did not want to disgrace Kojuro’s legacy.

As for the reason he chose the 8th, it because he knew the future and fate was against him. He could not challenge the 11th due to honoring him and he could not challenge the 4th since he knew Unohana’s true identity after hearing it from Kojuro. He also was not that great at Kaidō and did not want to kill patients.

As for why he could not challenge the 3rd, 5th, or 9th division captains, it was due to Aizen. Each one of those positions would be would not only be the positions that Aizen and his crew took over but all of them were also turned into Vizard (Visored).

Ren did not want to get involved in Aizen’s plot or schemes so he had planned to stay out of the man’s way as much as possible.

This was not due to fear but he had not seen the end of the Bleach. He was unsure of what threat came after Aizen but he knew Ichigo would be important in stopping it. So Ren wanted to cause as few issues as possible with canon history to ensure that Ichigo would grow as strong as possible with his MC Halo.

So with all 3 of those captain positions being suicidal to challenge for, Ren could only battle against the 8th Division’s captain.

Unohana took a moment to think it over before it agreeing.

“If Captain Okuda accepts, then I see no reason to disagree. We have enough shinigami and captains present to bear witness to this.”

All the captains turned to look at Okuda who looked furious.

‘He thinks he can challenge me just because he was the lieutenant of the 11th division? This kid will die today or I will spell my name backward!’

“Fine. I hope that Captain Unohana will be a fair judge.”

Unohana agreed before she pulled out her zanpakuto and unleashed her shikai silently. A large, green manta ray-like creature emerged out of nowhere. The creature ate Suzuka before flying into the air.

“This is Minazuki. It will heal whoever is within its belly. With this, I will not have to worry about captain Suzuka and can watch over your match.”

Unohana picked up Kojuro’s remains and carried him outside the arena while the other captains jumped out as well. All the shinigami who were standing immediately went back to their seats to enjoy the show.

Unohana stood on the side and raised her right hand into the air before looking at both the shinigami in the arena.

“This is a match between shinigami Okuda and shinigami Ren for the position of captain for the 8th.

The battle will be to the death. Anyone who interferes with the battle shall be executed. Are both fighters ready?”

“Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne! Khorne!”

“Dig, Aobōzu!”

Ren zanpakuto transformed into their shikai form while Okuda zanpakuto became a large bastard sword. Okuda pointed his blade at Ren while Ren got into a basic guard boxing position.

“Pick a number. 1-4. This can be the last choice you will ever make.”

“Haha. You are truly arrogant like a member of the 11th division. But fine. I will go along with your game. I choose 3.”

“Good. I’m all ready!”

“Whenever is fine!”

Unohana dropped her hand which announced the beginning of the battle. Neither moved. Okuda wanted to see why Ren wanted him to pick a number while Ren was going to let Okuda take the first move. But when he saw that Okuda did not want to take his chance, Ren made his move.

The palm of his left hand began to glow as a run appeared on it.

“3rd gift! Gift of Flesh!” After the rune was activated, Ren’s body underwent a rapid change.

Ren’s muscles started to swell and grow as he tore through his shitagi and kosode before his skin started turning black with brass lines and patterns covering his body. Ren’s eyes became a pure white while his reiatsu started to give off a wild and savage feeling.

All those who were looking at Ren felt a bit of fear in their hearts. Ren no longer looked like a shinigami but a demon from legend. Ren looked at Okuda and showed a savage smile.

“I gave you a chance to make the first move. Now it is my turn!”

” /51769860832690107/comments?orderType=1&replyId=”>24 0

20 20

Okuda did not comprehend what Ren said at first but when he saw Ren’s body disappear, he immediately raised his sword to block the incoming attack.

As soon as he did that, Okuda felt a large amount of weight on his weapon before he was sent flying through the air and crashing into the barrier. Okuda’s body caused cracks to appear on the barrier.

Seeing this shocked everyone. To be able to damage the barrier with pure physical strength would leave anyone confused. Shinigami were not known for their strength but instead of their technique. Ren broke that concept in front of all of them.

“Hmm. This is what a captain is capable of? Too weak!”

Okuda wanted to refute but when he looked up to see Ren, Ren had already disappeared once again. Okuda looked towards both sides to try and predict where Ren would attack from but he could not tell.

‘Shit. Right, front, or left! Shit! Gotta pick one!’

Okuda blocked towards his right but he did not feel any weight from an attack. He tried to switch his guard to his left and jump to his right but he could already feel the fist in his side. Okuda was sent flying again and cracked the barrier once again.

Unable to divert any of the force with his sword, Okuda’s body took the entirety of the attack. Okuda was lying on the ground barely able to breathe.

The spikes of the gloves had pierced his kidney. The rest of the force damaged and shook up his internal organs. Okuda could not even stand up at the moment, let alone fight back.

“Come on, Captain Okuda. You can’t take a couple of punches?”

Okuda felt furious. He had never been mocked like how Ren was mocking him. Okuda used the sword like a cane to lift himself up with and to make sure he did not fall over. To be able to stand, even with the sword as a cane, proved the tenacity of Okuda. This was physical ability but pure will power.

“Haha. I can’t die like this. I’m going to unleash my bankai and kill you! Ban…”

Ren went all out this time. When he used shunpo to interrupt Okuda’s bankai, he did not use pure technique but also used his monstrous physical strength along with it. The pure force of the movement destroyed the very ground he was standing on.

When Ren reappeared, he was standing next to Okuda. Both were standing still as if they were statues and not people. But one of the statues had its head missing. The missing head was in Ren’s hands.

Okuda’s body soon collapsed and his great sword turned into a plain katana. When he was sure Okuda was dead, Ren reverted into his normal form and threw away Okuda’s head to a random part of the arena.

Ren was left standing in the middle of the arena bare-chested as he was waiting for Unohana’s announcement.

Everyone was surprised to see Ren’s speed. With that level of speed, Ren could be in the top 5 for the fastest shinigami.

They were also surprised by Ren’s ruthlessness. He had killed Okuda after taunting him but with only 3 blows. One as a warning, 1 to cripple him, and the final move was an overkill move.

‘This boy is pretty good. He definitely has the potential to be a Kenpachi. I want to see what his full strength is like. This boy makes me want to use my sword once more.’

Unohana gave her praises to Ren silently before she jumped onto the stage to announce the results. Unohana stood in the middle of the arena and began to declare the winner.

“With his death, Okuda has lost the position as captain of the 8th Division. With his victory, Ren has earned the position of captain of the 8th division.

From this day on, let him be known as Ren, captain of the 8th division!”

Ren took Okuda’s blood haori off his body before he put it over his shoulders. He then left the arena without speaking to anyone. Ren was going back to the 11th division to grab all of his stuff before he moved into the 8th division.

Ren grabbed the few items he had as well as his clothes before packing them into and bag and getting out of there.

All of the division members could tell that Ren was leaving due to the death of the captain but none knew that he had officially become captain of another division.

They just thought he was going rogue and were giving him a head start before they were ordered to hunt Ren down and kill him.

Those who looked carefully and saw that the haori was the one for the captain of the 8th division and was not the one belonging to the 11th division were shocked. They could tell what it meant for Ren to have it.

As for the members of the 8th division, they were surprised and upset to see another person wearing the haori of their division. A few tried to stop Ren but they were quickly dealt with.

Ren entered his new room and got rid of all the old things within before placing his down and setting up his space. He then laid on his bed and looked at the ceiling while planning his next thoughts.

While Ren was relaxing in his room, all the shinigami in Soul Society found out about the two new captains. The lieutenant of the 5th division who took over the 11th and the lieutenant of the 11th division who took over the 8th. This was a big deal as it had never happened before.

The official ceremony for the promotion of Suzuka and Ren would be held the next week when all of the captains and their lieutenants would be present.

” /51775263113005877/comments?orderType=1&replyId=”>18 0

21 21

Ren was currently in the lotus position and meditating. He was waiting for Yoruichi and Kisuke to regain consciousness. Even though they were now in the Onmitsukidō, Ren still treated them like children with their beatings. But ever since they had awakened their zanpakutos, the duo had been getting closer and closer to injuring him.

During their latest session, they had even gotten Ren to unsheath his zanpakuto before brutally beating them down. Ren proceeded to give them each a bit of healing but he could not help but feel proud of his two students as he meditated.

‘Haha. I am really starting to see these two prodigies as they were in the show. The woman who would be known as the Flash Goddess who could battle an immortal Aizen without her zanpakuto and the man who invented his own kido and took on Aizen without even using his bankai.

I can truly see those future personas emerging. These two may even surpass their original selves due to my intervention. Haha. What a day that will be to see the new heights they have reached.’

He was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard footsteps approaching. Ren did not sit up since he was familiar with both sets of footsteps. Kisuke sat down calmly in front of Ren but Yoruichi sat down restlessly.

“You seem to be having an internal issue, Yoruichi. Would you like to share or should I just pretend I did not notice and ignore it?”

Yoruichi glared at Ren as if to say, ‘you already brought it up so how could you act like you did not notice you, irresponsible man!?’

“I am feeling frustrated. I thought that the gap between us was closing but you were able to beat another captain with only 3 moves. There are even rumors that say you could have done it with two if you truly tried. How can I shorten the gap between us?”

Ren actually opened his eyes to seem like Yoruichi. Even looking frustrated, it could not detract from her beauty. The young woman was growing more and more beautiful over the years.

He then turned to look at Kisuke with some frustration in his eyes. He really wanted to break that guy’s head open and to see how underdeveloped some parts of his brain were due to his genius in other things.

‘Even I can tell that this girl has feelings for you but you will still be unable to tell in a few hundred years. This woman will give up her future in Soul Society as well as being the future head of her clan for you. You are either very dense or very shy. Either way, I will be sure to fix this in the future.

Enough about that though. Let’s think about how we can help this girl with this problem instead of the other one. One problem at a time Ren. Should I introduce the concept of Shunko to her?

How much should I give her though? The final product or just an idea to build the basis with? Hmm. She’s smart. And if she has any issues, I can just leave it to Kisuke to help her.’

“I have an idea that I was planning to use but my zanpakuto spirit was very against and would not allow me to use bankai if I used it so I can give you the idea for it. I will only explain the basics. You will have to learn the rest on your own.”

Yoruichi seemed like a puppy that just heard the door open after being at home all day alone.

“Really? Is it powerful? Will it make me able to beat you? Can I learn it instantly?”

Kisuke also looked interested in the technique. It seemed that he was tired of losing as well. But Ren decided to shoot down Kisuke’s interest in a moment.

“You. Get out of here. You are already busy with your kidō spells, hakuda, hoho, zanjutsu, your research, and various inventions. You also have that temperamental zanpakuto spirit of your own.”

Kisuke wanted to refute but he knew Ren was right. He was already trying to learn so much and he had a very limited amount of time.

“Fine. Best of luck with the demon instructor, Yoruichi,” was Kisuke’s last words before he took off to get back to his room/lab.

Yoruichi was left alone with Ren in the forest. She still looked eager to learn about the technique but Ren was thinking about how he would fix his two students up.

‘Later. Later. You need to focus Ren.’

“The technique is the apex technique of hakuda by using kido to enhance yourself. The main focus is to drive the kido along your arms and legs to increase your physical abilities higher than what most shinigami are able to.

This would be a technique for increasing speed, defense, offense, and even allowing one to perform long-range attacks without having to chant spells since their body is the spell.”

Yoruichi nodded with every word as she felt more and more enlightened. As soon as Ren was finished Yoruichi started running away to her practice area in the forest to try and learn the technique as soon as possible.

“Thanks, Teacher! I will be sure to master the technique that you can’t use and beat you with it!”

Ren decided to let her do as she pleased. He gave her as much information as he could. The rest, she would have to learn on her own through trial and error. Ren put on his red haori that had the symbol for the 8th division on the back.

Today was the day that he would be officially inducted into the Captain’s Council of the 13 divisions. Ren hurried to make his way to the 1st division barracks for his first official meeting with the other captains.

——-

Author’s note:

Haha!!! Released 1 minute before midnight!!! Beat the timer!

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22 22

Ren had arrived at the 1st division barracks in no time. He had escorted Kojuro there and to the council’s chambers several times before making his way to the lieutenant conference many times over the past 30 years when he was a lieutenant.

‘Looks like I rushed a bit. I’m here a little early. Guess I can walk around a bit until it is time for the meeting to start.’

Ren began making his way to the first division’s training field. As he walked, he attracted the attention of all the other shinigami. Even the most serious shinigami could not help but gossip with others when they saw his appearance.

“I can’t believe it. Two shinigami captains emerged on the same day because of him.”

“Not just that, he killed the other captain even more easily than new Kenpachi did.”

“To think that the 11th division had someone capable of killing a captain with only their shikai. That is almost unheard of.”

“Wait! He did not use bankai?”

“No. Both were in shikai the whole time. When the former captain tried to activate his bankai, Captain Ren killed him immediately.”

“So does that mean Captain Ren does not know bankai?”

“It might. From how it sounds, it seems like Ren was afraid of letting Captain Okuda unleashing his bankai.”

“With the difference in strength in their shikai forms, I’m not sure that Captain Okuda’s bankai would have made him win.”

“Whether he would have won or not if Captain Okuda used his bankai was not the point.”

“Oh. Then what is it?”

“It means that Captain Ren would be the first person since the Gotei 13 was founded who has gotten the position of captain without having mastered bankai.”

As soon as these words were said, the entire group of shinigami was silenced. None of them had ever thought of it like this. Most shinigami were just talking about how powerful Ren was or how vicious he was. No one considered that Ren might lack a bankai all together.

And with this single sentence, it was spread all over the first division in minutes. And all of Soul Society within an hour. All the shinigami were talking about the new captain who might not even know bankai and would definitely be the strongest if he did.

There were also many who wanted to defend the new Kenpachi but after hearing about how she had barely won against the previous Kenpachi, few could truly defend. Many said that the wrong person inherited the title of Kenpachi.

Without him knowing, this is how Ren would soon become the enemy of all the future captains of the 11th division. But that is a story for the future.

By the time the Captain’s Council’s meeting began, everyone was curious about which of the two new captains were stronger. Even some of the captains and lieutenants present.

When Ren swaggered into the council room, he gained the attention of the people already present. Of all the divisions, only 4 had arrived. These were the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and lastly 8th since Ren had arrived.

‘Wow. These captains never learn about punctuality in the hundreds of years before canon even starts.’

Ren walked over to his seat but he could feel a gaze that burned as hot as the sun on him. Ren did not even look at Yamamoto to know it was him. Ren also knew why.

He had seen the episode in the anime where the old man was upset at Byakuya and Zaraki for losing their haori. He felt they were very sacred and did not like drastic changes to them or when captains lost them. And since Ren had dyed his blood-red, it was definitely on the drastic change side.

‘I’m sure your student would have died his pink instead of wearing a kimono over it if he was not so afraid of you. As for me, I don’t give a damn. Not like you can punish me over this.’

Ren nodded toward Captain Unohana and Captain Kyōraku as well as their lieutenants. The current captain Kyōraku was not the same as the series but instead his older brother who would die eventually.

Behind them were Seinosuke Yamada who was Unohana’s lieutenant and Mei Ise who was Captain Kyōraku’s wife and lieutenant. Ren got along well with Mei but did not like Seinosuke too much. Their personalities were too similar which caused the pair to have conflicts but he still respected the man as a competent lieutenant.

The 4th division was the same as it had always been, the division of medics. But because Yoruichi had not yet become captain and combined the 2nd division with the Onmitsukidō, the division was focused more on anti-quincy matters.

Ren took his seat alone. He had not brought a lieutenant because he had relieved the previous lieutenant of their position. Not just the lieutenant but all officers who were ranked between and 2-11 from his division were demoted while the rest of the officers were removed from their officer positions altogether. Ren was planning to restructure his entire division.

The captains slowly trickled in with their lieutenants and within 20 minutes, everyone was present. Yamamoto stood up and slammed his cane/stick on the ground. With this, the first battle Ren would enter as a Captain had begun.

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23 Chapter 23

The meeting was divided into three parts. The first was to cover new business or news that affected all 13 divisions. The second was to cover old business and what the divisions had been doing. The final part was to introduce the 2 new captains officially.

Ren paid close attention to the first segment of the meeting. He wanted to learn about the various things that were going on around Soul Society so that he could be prepared for any rebellions or unexpected occurrences going on.

All he knew about were the Aizen incident and the quincy war that happened before canon. Besides that, Ren was unsure of any other major events that may have occurred.

But all that the group was informed of were a few new policies by the Central 46 as well as the banishment of the dueling method for becoming captain. The only division that could do that would be the 11th division. Ren could feel several pairs of eyes look over his body when this was announced.

‘So they want to keep this brutal act in the 11th Division? Fine with me. I already have my captain’s position.’

Ren started to daydream after that. None of the other new matters were very important or related to him.

When old matters were brought up, it was less about mission reports and more about complaining to the boss about what their department wanted or needed. And the main thing that they wanted was money and members.

Due to the constant raids on Hueco Mundo, skirmishes with the Quincy, hollows in the human realm, and the occasional rebellions and terrorist acts, the shinigami were always short on members. But they were limited in the number of shinigami that could be apart of their divisions due to the central 46.

The only division whose numbers never reached drastic lows was the 4th division since they rarely, if ever, left Soul Society.

The rest of the divisions were short members and requesting for the central 46 to double their member limits. But the only person who could put forth the request the captain-commander so all of their complaints had to go through the old man with a balding head and white hair that covered the rest.

Yamamoto kept massaging his head as each captain kept repeating the same request in different ways. Only 3-4 were serious about their requests though. The others were most likely doing it just to annoy the old man since he could not complain about them doing it in an official meeting.

After spending 2 hours in the room and going over the old and new matters, it was finally time for the captain initiation ceremony. The table and seats were removed from the room as the captains and their lieutenants stood on both sides of the room.

Suzuka and Ren were kneeling on one in the middle of the room before Yamamoto and his lieutenant Chōjirō Sasakibe.

“We are here today to welcome two new captains who shall help keep the peace in Soul Society.

The first new member is she who has gained the title of Kenpachi. She is the 5th to get this title and the strongest amongst all those to gain it. Let it be known that she shall be the leader of the 11th division until her death.

Suzuka Kenpachi. What are your plans for your division?”

“I plan to have my division continue its duty of being the first on the battlefield as well as the division that slays the most enemies of Soul Society.”

“Good! Stand and join the captains of the Gotei 13 as you are now one of us.”

The other officers in the room applauded for Suzuka’s promotion as Suzuka stood and walked to where her lieutenant was waiting for her. Yamamoto let them clap while he looked at Ren.

“Ren. You have defeated the former captain of the 8th division and earned the position of captain for the 8th division. The position will be yours until your death. But there is a question that I must ask you before you officially join us or what you plan for your division.”

The other captains were curious and looked between Yamamoto and Ren. This had never happened before but they did not think the old man would treat Ren unfairly so they just looked on from the sides.

Ren looked Yamamoto in his eyes. Chōjirō was about to say something but Yamamoto held his hands to tell the man not to interrupt.

“You have beaten Captain Okuda without using bankai. Are you unable to use it?”

The other officers were curious about this as well. They had all either seen or heard about Ren’s battle. Everyone wanted to know if he was the first captain in history to reach the rank of captain without mastering bankai.

Ren had to think it over. It would not hurt him to let others believe that he was unable to use bankai. He could always keep it as a trump card.

‘Then again, even if I say I know it, I do not need to prove it. I have already earned the position of captain fairly.’

“No. I can use bankai. I just killed Okuda because I did not want to have to use more than three moves to end someone so much weaker than myself.”

Ren’s words were arrogant and displeasing to some but others found his words admirable.

‘Why should we put in extra effort to beat someone when we can do it very easily?’

Yamamoto nodded and did not ask Ren to perform it. He was merely curious and asking for the sake of asking.

“Ren. What are your plans for your division?”

“I plan to create the new strongest division that surpasses the 11th in pure combat strength.”

The other captains were shocked once again by the honest and arrogant declaration.

“Good! Stand and join the captains of the Gotei 13 as you are now one of us.”

Ren stood up and walked between the captains of the 6th and 10th divisions on the right side of the room.

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24 24

Yamamoto said a few more words of encouragement before all the captains left with their lieutenants. Ren stayed behind and asked to speak with the captain-commander in private for a few minutes.

They talked for over 20 minutes until Ren came out of the room with a smile on his face and two pieces of paper in his hand. Behind him was Chōjirō with a shocked face and Yamamoto with a tired face as if he had just gone through a rough business deal.

“Captain. You know that I will rarely if ever question you but why would you agree with his request? He might end up wiping out the entire 8th division!”

Yamamoto was stroking his beard to calm himself down. He knew that what Ren requested was unreasonable and downright insane. But if his plan worked out, the 8th division would grow to new heights.

Yamamoto let out a sigh and did not answer Chōjirō. The man also sensed that he was troubling Yamamoto by asking his questions so he stopped prying and only hoped that Ren would not betray Yamamoto’s trust.

Ren left the first division and went toward the Kido Corps barracks. He went to visit the reception area that processed requests and presented one of the two pieces of paper Ren got from Yamamoto. When the receptionist read it, she told Ren that he had to speak with one of the vice-commanders about his request.

Ren agreed and followed her instructions to go and meet one of the vice-commanders. Ren walked into the office without knocking and saw the fat commander naked with two women who he assumed were members of the corps.

Ren decided that was perfect blackmail material to get his request processed. Ren walked away with written permission to take away 5 members of the Kido Corps of his choice for the next year.

Ren chose Tessai and greeted the student he had not seen for many years. The pair had a short reunion before Ren explained what he needed from Tessai. The man was shocked by his teacher’s plan but went along with it and recommended the other 4 members.

The 5 of them would meet up with Ren the next day. Ren left the Kido Corps in a happy mood before he left for the logistic division and gave them his other letter. Since his request was not too excessive, they were able to get everything he wanted in an hour and put them in a large box.

While they were putting together what he needed, Ren went toward the forest where he was trained Yoruichi and Kisuke. He went to the cave where they would leave messages in case they were unable to talk or had issues before their monthly meetings.

Ren carved his message on the wall before he went back to the logistic division to pick up his order. Ren carried the large wooden box back to the 8th division before he went into his office and spent the entire night working on something.

By the time that morning came around, Ren was exhausted in the office and had hundreds or even thousands of letters. Each of these was a pink slip that was also a recommendation letter. With all of them written out, Ren was ready to enact the first part of his plan to make the 8th division the most powerful division.

Ren called all the officers and members of the 8th to the training field where he stood with his letters in a pile on one side of himself with the box on the other side of himself.

“Listen up! The 8th division is going under a major change under my lead. I wish to lead the strongest division.

Not just like the 11th who focused on sword skills but the best all-rounded division that is the elite of all the divisions.

And in order to do that, I have gotten permission from Captain Yamamoto to take the entire division into Hueco Mundo for six months!”

As soon as he said this, the entire training hall was filled with silence. Then there was noise!

“What!”

“This is insane!”

“You can’t force us to go there for an entire 6 months!”

“That’s right! The longest anyone has been there was a month and that was through 3 divisions working together!”

More voices kept piling on and voicing their complaints about the matter. Almost no one wanted to join in the campaign.

“Silence!!!” Ren yelled. He also unleashed his reiatsu to quiet down the surrounded shinigami. All of them felt fear and pressure from Ren so they had no choice but to quiet down.

“You all have a choice. On my left are termination/recommendation letters for you to use to join the other divisions. With Captain Okuda’s history as well as the shortage of shinigami, I’m sure that you will be able to get into another squad.

On my right are red hachimaki. This means that you will be a probationary member of the new division 8 and are willing to put your life on the line to become a true member.

Those who held or are holding the position of officer come up and choose first. If you do not choose within the next 2 minutes, you will walk away with neither the letter nor hachimaki. Pick. Now!”

The officers looked at each other before almost all of them walked up and grabbed a letter. The only officer who did not get a letter was the previous 13th seat. This was a young woman with purple hair. She grabbed the hachimaki and was the only officer to do so.

After the officers grabbed their letters, they stood near the exit of the training field to wait for their former members to make their choice.

“The rest of you, make your choice. You have 5 minutes!”

The other shinigami made their choices fast. Out of the about 3,000 initial members, 700 decided to stay. The rest had left with the officers to go looking for their new division.

Ren looked at his remaining members to evaluate them and was actually pleased by how many stayed.

‘Over 20 percent stayed? Much better than I thought. Now to turn them into true Bloodletters, I need to let them get bathed in blood.’

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25 25

Ren decided to follow Khorne’s hierarchy and naming scheme for his division after Khorne’s legions. He figured it was fitting since Khorne’s favorite number was 8 and he was coincidentally in charge of the 8th division.

All the shinigami in his division who did not have an officer’s position would be called bloodletters. These would be his men. Even if they were not able to beat officers of other divisions, Ren expected them to be able to dominate any standard shinigami in standard combat.

The next highest rank would be his officers. These would officially be ranked 6-13th so there would only be 8 of them. The other remaining seats from 14-20 would be empty. The officers who occupied this position would be given the title of Bloodthirsters and be expected to have a lieutenant’s combat ability.

The last group would be called Champions. They would take up the positions of the 2nd-5th seats with each one having two members who held those ranks. Each member of the champions would need to be able to take on a captain.

When Ren said he wanted to make the strongest division, those were not just words made up on the spot or spoken carelessly. Ren truly wanted to create a division that could take on the entirety of the other 12 divisions by itself.

And the best way to get his members to that level was through the fire and forge. He would put them in the most dangerous situations he could and let the victors come back with a strength they never knew they could possess. As for those who died along the way, it was their fault if they were too weak.

Ren was waiting for Tessai and the Kido Corps members to arrive so he had nothing to do until then. He decided to question the only officer that remained since she was the strongest in his forces at the moment.

“Purple hair. What’s your name?”

the young woman turned and looked at Ren. She wasn’t surprised that he did not know his name since he had only been in the division for a short amount of time.

“My name is Kyou. I was the 13th seat before you demoted everyone. But my combat strength is definitely in the top 10. The only reason I was not ranked higher is that Captain Okuda was against infighting.”

Ren nodded at her words. He had an estimate on strength but he was not sure exactly how strong she was since he had not seen her in a combat situation and her reiatsu was very controlled.

‘She seems to have potential. I just have to mold her so that I will not be disappointed in the future.’

Ren did not say anything else so Kyou kept silent too. She decided that her new captain was interesting and wanted to follow him. She was also curious if he would lead them to greatness how much she could grow under him.

Tessai soon arrived with his members. Ren greeted each of them and asked them to start setting up the portal while he went to get all the food from the barracks canteen. He returned with several heavy bags of rice and a few large containers of water.

All of it would be enough to keep all 700 shinigami fed for an entire year but Ren knew that nowhere close to that many would be alive by the time the 6 months were over. Ren estimated that only 200 would live through the training expedition.

When he returned, Tessai and his allies had the spell ready and were able to open the portal to Hueco Mundo whenever Ren gave the order.

“Open up!” he told Tessai before turning to the shinigami. “This is your last chance to back out. Once we are over there, I will only be protecting the Kido Corps members. Besides that, I will take on any Adjuchas class hollows or higher to defend you but I will leave you to your fates if any weaker hollows attack.”

The rest of the shinigami was afraid but still nodded at his words. They knew that he was not being evil but was just very serious about getting them stronger.

All those who remained were shinigami who were not from noble families and did not have a high amount of talent. They were nothing but cannon fodder in other divisions. They were willing to risk their lives to have the chance to improve their lives.

With no one backing down, Ren walked into the barrier and created a thick bridge made out of reiatsu as he led the forces into Hueco Mundo. This was the first day of the new 8th division that would cause waves in the ocean known as Soul Society.

After rushing through the barrier, the shinigami landed in the desert in the tens as they fell out of the portal. They were immediately greeted with several hollows who attacked them from the get-go.

Kyou led the shinigami in a counter-attack while Ren watched from the side.

‘This girl truly has promise. Even though they are common hollows, they still had the advantage with their ambush. Kyou has cut down the casualties we would have suffered by a good amount.’

When the battle was over, 10 shinigami had died. Before even an hour had passed, the 8th division had lost 10 of its members. The others did not mourn for their deaths or even bury them. They all realized just how dangerous of a situation that they were in and they could not spare feelings for those who could not survive.

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26 26

After all the shinigami landed, Ren immediately put them to work. He told them to divide themselves up however they wished and to clear out the surrounding kilometer of hollows. When they began to protest about the dangers of Menos being around, Ren let them know that he could not sense any for several 10s of kilometers. This calmed them down enough to start their sweep.

Many wanted to pair up with Kyou but the young woman insisted on going with only 20 shinigami. All those that were not chosen formed groups that numbered between 40 to 60. With this, they spread out and began their hunt.

Tessai and the other Kido Corps members saw the members of the 8th division take off and felt relieved. They knew that they were safe and protected while they were inside Hueco Mundo but they were relieved that they were not true members of the division. They might just die otherwise.

Tessai walked up to Ren with a familiar look on his face. Ren knew what Tessai wanted. He grabbed the tall man and threw him over his shoulder. Ren set up a barrier around the Kido Corps members before he used shunpo to get a few kilometers away.

When Ren landed, he saw that there were a few hollows in the area but nothing very dangerous to him. Ren tossed Tessai to the ground and walked 20 meters away.

Tessai stood up and dusted off his clothes while shooting Ren a look that was hard to decipher. Tessai was a stone-faced man that was hard to understand if you did not know him. And although Ren knew him when he was younger, it had gotten harder to read Tessai’s face over the years.

Tessai showed his dissatisfaction at being carried by firing off a spell at Ren. A red ball formed in front of Tessai’s hand that was shot toward Ren rapidly but Ren had dodged it easily.

As Ren tried to approach Tessai, he suddenly stopped as a barrier formed in front of his face. And when he tried to back out, Ren realized that he was completely surrounded.

With Ren trapped, Tessai was able to enact his plan. He knew that Ren was faster and stronger so he decided to stall for time so he could go all out.

Tessai raised his arm forward and outstretched while using their free hand to grip the firing arm for extra support and had the palm facing flat toward the Ren.

“Let lightning come down from the heavens. Let thunder’s shout rock the oceans. Let the heavens split open to show the clear sky above. Let my wrath be felt by my enemies. Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!”

A gigantic beam of electrical and spiritual energy was fired from Tessai’s hand and toward the trapped Ren. Ren did not try to escape from the barrier or form one of his own. Instead, he unsheathed his zanpakuto and got it ready. Ren gripped it with both hands at the base and raised the blade above his head.

Right before the beam hit the barrier, Ren brought down his sword with a mighty swing a large amount of pure reiatsu which tore through the barrier and clashed with the beam causing a large explosion that filled the area.

Off in the distance, Kyou had just killed several hollow and was assisting her team members in killing their own targets. Suddenly, everyone in the area heard an explosion.

Both hollows and Shinigami stopped battling at the same time to see the large explosion in the distance. Fearful of the amount of reiatsu that came from that direction, the hollows scurried away.

The shinigami took that as their warning to return to the created base. Their group was one of the first to arrive but soon, all the other shinigami had returned. All except for Ren and Tessai.

Just as Kyou was getting worried and about to take off, Ren returned with his clothes torn to shreds and burned but physically fine. As for Tessai on his back, the man appeared to be bleeding from cuts all over his body as well as bruises. He also seemed to be naked aside from his underwear.

No one dared to question why but many were already coming up with thoughts of why both men came back as they did, one in destroyed clothes and the other almost naked with an almost destroyed body. Ren threw Tessai’s body into the sand before ignoring him.

“Someone heal him. Or don’t. He will heal himself if he needs to when he wakes up but I made sure that his life is not in danger. ”

Tessai had actually come close to beating Ren due to Ren’s arrogance. Ren did not want to admit that though so he activated his shikai and Gift Of Flesh to heal himself and also kick Tessai’s ass.

After beating up Tessai, he brought the man back to base camp so that he could give further orders to shinigami before he went out to hunt and train himself. This excursion was not just for the other members of the 8th division but also for Ren.

“I’m going to go hunt down some Adjuchas hollows. Kyou and Tessai are in charge until I get back.”

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Yoruichi arrived at her usual training site with several heavy weights on her back. She had been trying to increase her physical strength and willpower while she was trying to learn bankai and the new technique that Ren told her about but both were still works in progresses.

Yoruichi saw that the training site was empty as usual and she was feeling upset. She had only left Ren alone for two days before she heard that Ren almost dismantled the 8th division while no one had seen him or the remainder of it after 80 percent of the members left.

Hearing that news, Yoruichi immediately went towards the forest cave in hopes that Ren was not in so much danger that he couldn’t even leave a message. But when she arrived and saw the message, Yoruichi was not sure if it made her feel better or worse.

[

I am taking probably less than 500 shinigami from my division into Hueco Mundo for some dangerous training. I plan on being back in half a year. I brought Tessai along so we can leave if it gets too dangerous as long as we don’t have to deal with several Vasto Lordes at once.

Yoruichi: Make sure you focus the kido in your arms and legs. Your torso is just a bridge to connect the 4. And don’t slack off with your zanpakuto!

Kisuke: I’m not even going to leave you a message. I heard the detention unit is short on members due to a riot so you will probably be stuck in there until I’m back. Possibly even longer.

From the greatest, Lord 8th

]

Yoruichi was surprised to read that even Kisuke was not going to be available so left to her clan compound to find out the truth. And just like Ren had said, all the detention members were being forced to work inside the Nest of Maggots for the next 6-9 months to sure peace after the previous riot.

This meant that Yoruichi had no one she was close to for training with. Not only to train with but even speak casually to her. All the other people around her were afraid of her status or disgusted Yoruichi so there was truly no one for the young woman to speak with.

Therefore, she put all her focus into training once she realized that everyone she was close to was not returning to her any time soon. And before she knew it, a month had already passed.

Yoruichi dropped the weights and put her tanto across her lap as she began to train with her zanpakuto once more.

‘Come on, Nekomata! Let’s show these 3 just how terrifying we can be if they leave us alone to train in peace and quiet without them interrupting us!’

—In Hueco Mundo—

It had already been a month since the 8th division had entered this Hell of their own creation and they had suffered for it. Of the nearly 700 shinigami who had entered, there were now around 500 that had survived the first month.

There was even an attack of 20 Gillian class hollows who attacked all at once during the second week. That single attack caused the largest number of casualties out of all the battles that the shinigami were involved in.

The shinigami were under constant threat of attack. Hollows kept attacking their area due to smelling the blood of their fellow hollows being spilled. The shinigami and hollows had killed so many of each other that the blood was beginning to get dyed red.

Many of the shinigami survived by breaking through their limits and improving through sheer skill and will power, or they were lucky. As for which each survivor was, they knew it themselves. There were several shinigami who truly shined.

Kyou was the first person who came to mind. Ren knew the woman had potential but did not expect it to bloom so soon. She was not the type that was a genius and a hard worker like Yoruichi, Urahara, or Tessai. Instead, she was one of those who lacked talent but made up for their every weakness by constantly improving.

Ren could see it with how the woman fought. Her swings were not filled with the confidence of knowing that they were right or the best but steadiness that came from repeated practice. Her shikai also made the young woman a formidable foe.

As for the others, most of the Shinigami did not show much potential and probably would not even learn shikai but there we quite a few who had the potential to be Thirsters. There was one young man in particular that caught Ren’s eyes.

This young man would rush into a group of hollows and barely come back alive but no matter how many times he did that, he never seemed to die and always seemed to win. If Ren did not know how Zaraki looked and asked around for that young man’s name, he would have certainly thought he was the future captain of the 11th division.

‘Shin Nii, huh?’ He has the potential to be a champion. If he does not get himself killed that is.’

As for Ren, he had killed 4 Adjuchas class hollows after venturing far from the group. He was currently hunting for his 5th when he saw something that shocked him. Ren saw a very familiar group of hollows.

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The group of hollows Ren recognized consisted of 3 Adjuchas and a Vasto Lorde. They were currently being confronted by 10 other Adjuchas who were led by their own Vasto Lorde. It was obvious which side had the advantage.

Of the first group, Ren recognized all of them. Of all the Espada, this was the most memorable fraccion since they were the only ones to live throughout the show.

‘Wait. Was the manga sexist? Cause Almost all of the male Arrancar died except for Grimmjow as well as their fraccion. Then again, they were also the ones who wanted to battle the least out of everyone.’

The first member of the group was a large snake with a light gray body and a white underbelly. She had three pink dots on both sides of her head and a white hollow mask sat on top of her head with three pearl-like earrings at the sides of her mask.

The second was Hollow was a large lioness with a brown skin body. She had white armor on her four legs, thick, dark brown hair on her back that went down her body and formed into her tail. Her mask that covered her entire face and mane were golden.

The last of the group had a deer-like appearance with a horn on her forehead and large antlers. She had grey skin with a brown coat of fur covering the back half of her body.

All 3 of these hollows would from a fraccion under one of the strongest Espada in the future and would be known as the Tres Bestias. They were Cyan Sung-Sun, Franceska Mila Rose, and Emilou Apacci. They had begun following the Espada members since their time as hollows in canon which was proven by the sight that Ren was witnessing.

Their leader was the Vasto Lorde who would eventually take the seat of the third Espada. At least that was how the story was supposed to go. This woman/hollow’s name was Tier Harribel. In her current form, she resembled a humanoid shark with bones covering most of her body, blue-grey skin everywhere except for her face, and a hollow mask that covered her jaw toward her breasts.

But it seemed that with the butterfly effect, Ren might have doomed the future Espada with his actions of coming to Hueco Mundo since he had never heard of their group taking on 10 Adjuchas at once as well as another Vasto Lorde. Ren decided to activate his Gift Of Flesh to transform his body and increase his hearing so he could spy on the hollows from a distance.

“Haha. It has been a long time since I have seen so many females. You all can have a choice. Either submit to us and become our playthings until we get tired of you and eat you.

Or you can resist, we beat you into submission, then you become our playthings until we get tired of you and eat you. Make your choice,” The Vasto Lorde that resembled a bone-monkey/human hybrid asked.

Tier’s group got into fighting positions and bared their fangs/ pointed their sword at the other group. Seeing this, the Vasto Lorde did not seem to mind and let out a dark chuckle. Before he ordered the attack, all of the hollows turned to see the demonic figure of Ren approaching with his Gift of Flesh activated.

The air and reiatsu around him were filled with the savagery of a typical hollow but it seemed that something else was mixed into it.

“Who are you to interfere in our business. Leave before the boss gets angry!” a monkey looking Adjuchas said. Ren looked at him and the rest of the Adjuchas on the one side before realizing that all of them resembled some type of ape or monkey. After he looked them over, Ren looked towards Tier and her group.

“You all seem to be having some issues. I would like to make a deal with you if you are willing to listen.”

Tier looked surprised by the offer. Ren resembled an Adjuchas without a mask in his form but she still felt curious about what he wanted to offer in the situation.

“As you can see, we are dealing with something at the moment. I wonder if your offer has anything to do with that?”

“Yes, it does. I am trying to grow my own group and could use some powerful individuals like you four. I will take on all 11 of these monkey hollows by myself and kill them all in exchange, I want you all to consider joining my division.

I am not saying that you have to work for me if I win but I want you to take this battle as consideration for why you should work for me. What do you say?”

Tier and her group were surprised by the offer while the group of Hollows on the side started laughing at how absurd Ren was being. He truly wanted to take on 10 Adjuchas and a Vasto Lorde by himself.

“Haha. You are very arrogant. To talk about killing me right in front of my face. You truly have no fear.”

Ren did not pay attention to the Vasto Lorde but looked at Tier in her eyes. He wanted to hear her answer.

“Why us. Or why me since it seems that you want me more than my allies?”

Ren smiled knowing that she had basically accepted and he did not mind giving her the answer.

“First. I do want you more than them but I also want them. They will definitely have power that surpasses their current self in the future so I am considering this an investment.”

This was true. Ren remembered how the Tres Bestias created a creature that even the most powerful lieutenants could not stop and could only be killed by the captain-commander.

“Second. I want you because you’re are powerful, beautiful, but most of all, know loyalty. Loyalty to those who you work for and those who work for you. I will never have to worry about you betraying me or my group as long as we do not betray you first.”

Tier did not expect Ren to be so honest but also did not expect for him to speak as if he had known her for a long time.

‘This person is a mystery. What exactly is he? And how does he know so much?’

Tier figured she could ask her questions later. For now, they had something else to deal with.

“Fine. I agree.”

Ren nodded and stood in the 20-meter gap between the two. He looked at the monkey hollows and uttered one word that exposed his identity to everyone.

“Bankai.”

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A large pillar of red reiatsu filled the area. Any hollow that was nearby and thinking of being the oriole attacking the mantis (third-partying/ kill stealing in gamer terms), immediately gave up the idea of doing so when they felt the pressure that was being given off.

Even the ‘King’ of Hueco Mundo did not dare approach that pillar and simply told some of his hollows that they were to scout the location at a later date to try and discover who had angered the being giving off such a terrifying feeling in case they lived.

In the center of the reiatsu was Ren who had turned back into his normal, shinigami form when he activated bankai. When the reiatsu finally calmed down and dispersed, Ren stood in the middle bare-chested with a set of black pants on his lower body.

Besides the pants, the only other change to Ren was a glowing red symbol on his chest. (Image of the symbol will be added to paragraph comments.)

“Most shinigamis’ Bankai is a major change. Some will summon giant monsters, some will have mastery over an element that no one would ever expect, others create millions of blades that appear as cherry blossoms. But I can tell you now, none of those are as scary and dangerous as my bankai.”

The gloves from his shikai remained. The palm of the right and left hand began to flow as well as the back of the left hand. The air around Ren started to get even more dangerous. As if Ren was giving off pure and raw killing intent directed at the world itself.

“My bankai allows me to do 5 things in particular. But you do not need to worry about 4 of them. Because the first ability alone makes it just as dangerous as any other shinigami’s bankai.”

Ren instantly transformed with the Gift Of Flesh. He also had his 4 weapons from the Gift of Arms float behind him. Lastly, Ren had a spiked collar around his neck from the Gift of Will.

“It allows me to use my shikai without limit!”

Ren disappeared with a flash. When he appeared again, he had cut off the heads of 2 Adjuchas with Bloodhunger while Slaupnir had the head of another Adjuchas on the tip of it.

“I understand why the heroes and villains explain their abilities now. It is so that the remaining enemies know why they will die and why they should have never messed with the person.”

The Vasto Lorde roared and tried to grab Ren but before he could, Ren had flash stepped away again. This time, he only killed one of the Adjuchas since they had all tried to scatter after Ren’s last attack.

“You see. My Gift of Arms reflects a typical shikai except I have 4 of them.”

Ren moved once again and had stabbed into a hollow’s hole. The spear was too large to just go through the hole so it also carved through the Adjucha’s chest. Ren slashed upward and cut through the creature’s chest and head.

“My Gift of Flesh makes me more like a hollow. My physical abilities are raised to a high degree and I can also heal from most injuries in seconds.”

A boulder was thrown towards Ren but he had once again dodged it. And killed another Adjuchas. In seconds, 6 out of the 10 Adjuchas had been killed.

“My Gift of Will is different though. I guess you can say it makes me more like a shinigami. It increases senses and martial abilities. It is more mental than physical. It also makes me immune to mental attacks such as illusions.”

Ren flash stepped twice more and killed off two more of the Adjuchas.

“Normally, each of these is dangerous on their own. But imagine if I can use two or three or even all 4 of them at once. How dangerous is a being that can use 4 completely different shikai at once that each compliment each other? That is my bankai. That is why you shall die.”

Bloodhunger let out a roar that stunned the remaining pair of Adjuchas who had tried to run away. The Vasto Lorde jumped in front of the pair to block the incoming attack but he was too slow. Ren was much too fast with his Gift of Will that he could even compete with Yoruichi in the future for her title of Flash Step Goddess.

Both Adjuchas were stabbed in their heads from behind by Ren. Ren turned to look the Vasto Lorde in the eyes for the first time since he had first arrived. And the hollow could see in Ren’s plain white eyes. Ren did not think he was killing them.

Ren did not think of himself as doing anything other than swinging his weapons through empty air. In Ren’s eyes, he did not even view the Vasto Lorde or his fraccion as prey.

Ren flash stepped in front of the Vasto Lorde and had his white greatsword in his hand. The hollow was barely able to block and parry the attack with his staff.

“Good. If I was able to kill a Vasta Lorde that easily, I would have gotten arrogant.”

The Vasto Lorde let out a primal roar before charging at Ren. Ren met its charge with one of his own as the pair exchanged over 10 moves in an instant. Ren seemed to take the advantage after 50 moves were exchanged. Then it seemed like he was completely dominating after 100 moves.

‘Good. Get arrogant. Get confident! I will kill you!’

The hollow charged a hollow and tried to fire it but saw that Ren was smiling when he saw the orb or red energy. Then he saw Ren’s eyes and mouth fill with white. The last thing the Vasto Lorde heard was ‘Flame Breath’

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Author’s Note: I can already see the “That’s not what… says or how …. works.” It is unclear. Why did Nnoitra believe he could beat Nel with just years/months of training? This will be why. This is how it works now. This is how we do things around here.

—————

Ren released his Gift of Flesh and Gift of Arms before he stood in front of the female hollows. He was calm like he did not kill anyone just moments ago.

The hollows were looking at him with expressions of fear and respect. Even if they had gained intelligence, hollows were still creatures who revered the strong. Ren’s ability to kill 10 Adjuchas without their Vasto Lorde being able to stop him and then killing off that very same Vasto Lorde without getting injured was something that very few, if anyone in Hueco Mundo, could do.

“Has my demonstration proved that I am strong enough for you to work for me?”

Tier was brought out of her thoughts when she heard the question. It was definitely a stupid question though. If Ren was not capable of strong, who was? But that was not all Tier cared about.

“If we work under you, what will we be expected to do?”

“For now, nothing. Well, training I guess.”

“Huh?”

All of the female hollows were surprised by this answer. They did not truly believe that Ren simply wanted them to work for him, a shinigami, just so that they could train themselves.

“I have no enemies as of now and do not plan to try and bring peace to Hueco Mundo. I do not want to overthrow Soul Society. I will need your strength in the future.

I know many things but I do not want to perform too many unnecessary actions that will interfere with the plans of others. So until then, I mainly plan to develop my forces and stop anything that may weaken Soul Society.

So until that day comes where I need you to fight by my side, all I need you all to focus on is training.”

The others wanted to doubt Ren’s words but they had no reason to. To have them let down their guard so he could kill them? He could have just waited for the other group of Hollows to weaken them before swooping in and killing them all.

To use their bodies? The man most likely had plenty of women who were interested in him within the Shinigami. To experiment on them? He did not need their consent for that. Ren truly had no reason to lie to them.

Tier looked at her companions who nodded back at her. Each member of the group gave a slight bow.

“We will serve you. How shall we address you?”

“You can call me Ren or Lord 8th. Your choice. Now that you have agreed to serve me, what do you know about Arrancar?”

Tier was puzzled but still answer to the best of her knowledge.

“Arrancar are rare hollows who gain a weakened humanoid form. They are able to access their full hollow powers for short amounts of time as well. They also gain special abilities when they activate their full hollow powers that other hollows do not have similar to a shinigami.”

“Close. Arrancar are naturally occurring and they are not. An Arrancar is a hollow that has torn a part of its mask and sealed it within a zanpakuto. This gives them their humanoid forms although they will retain their ‘hole’.

The purpose of doing this is to gain extra powers in their standard and released/awakened forms that they would not have had as a normal hollow.

All Arrancar gain 3 unique abilities that hollows do not possess. Hierro, sonído, and resurrección. There are other abilities that Arrancar can gain but they take practice. The most powerful ones even gain unique abilities in their humanoid forms such as being able to absorb another hollow’s cero or special techniques.

But the most powerful ability of an Arrancar is the ability to grow. As you all have probably sensed, you have come close or already reached your limits as hollows. But by becoming an Arrancar, your limit resets in a way.”

The 4 were paying close attention to what Ren was saying and hanging on to his every word. They wanted to know what he meant by their limit resets. Cyan was the one to ask.

“What do you mean by it resets?”

“I shouldn’t say resets. That is the wrong word for it. Your full potential remains the same as you were for a hollow when you transform into an Arrancar. But becoming an Arrancar weakens your base form. Mmm. This is a bit hard to explain.

Let’s say that you are currently at 100%. By becoming an Arrancar, you will be weakened to 20% and will be your base Arrancar form. And when you use your resurrección, you will reach 120% or 6 times your base power.

But you are not stuck at that 20%. By learning to exert and control your reiatsu, your base Arrancar form can reach back up to 100%. And when you awaken, your power will reach 600% compared to your original hollow form.”

None of the hollows could believe this. Then they could. It made sense why Arrancars were so rare. If they were caught off guard while in their base form, they could die without even knowing how since they were much weaker. But if they survived, becoming an Arrancar was the smartest choice they could make.

“And you know how to make us Arrancars?”

Ren nodded and summoned a crimson crown into his hands.

“Yes. You could do it yourselves, but most Arrancar do not have the ability to focus all of their hollow energies in zanpakuto and end up losing a significant portion of their powers. But with this, I can make sure that you will lose none of the energy during your transformation.”

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The 4 hallows stared at the crown with great interest. They were curious about how such a small thing was able to create such a magical effect. All the hallows were used to see fighting and war but had never truly seen something that could be used for anything other than direct battle.

Ren looked at the four hollows and asked, “Which one of you wishes to go first?”

They looked at each other before all their looks focused on Tier. Seeing her own friends/sisters want to use her as the test dummy made Tier laugh out loud. She knew that they did not think of it as testing and merely wanted her to go first since they respected her but Tier still saw it that way. Tier took the Crimson Crown from Ren and place it atop of her head.

“Ok. All you need to do is focus on your own mask and think about it breaking partially off. You can use just your mind or your reiatsu if it makes it easier.

Once you feel the energy leave your body, just let it. You will need to become your Arrancar form before you focus on the energy. This is why most Arrancar lose the reiatsu for their transformation and end up being weaker than they were as hollows.

Once you have shifted, focus your leaked energy within your hand. Form your zanpakuto with your mind in your ideal shape. Once it is formed, the entire process will be complete.”

She let out a breath to calm herself down before she broke her mask with her own reiatsu. The part of her mask that she lost was the portion that formed a small crown around her head as well as the bone armor on her body.

She could feel the reiatsu leaking out of her body but Harriebel was not worried. She could feel her body changing. First, her tail left her. Then her weapon. Finally, her sharkskin changed into human/shinigami skin.

Tier had olive skin, aqua green eyes, thick eyelashes, and short golden blonde hair. The remnants of her Hollow mask consisted of the sides of her face, her mouth, and an extensive area below and around her neck extending down to, and also covering, her nipples.

Once she felt that she was not long changing, Tier directed all of the energy that was floating around her into a sword. Tier was trying to think of a shape for her weapon. And the first thought that occurred to her was a shark tooth.

The zanpakuto that ended up being created was a short-ish sword with a wide body in the shape of a fang. The sword had the unusual feature of being hollow in the center only seemed to be the edges of a sword.

With her zanpakuto formed, the transformation was complete. Tier Harribel was no longer a Vasto Lorde but now a full-blooded Arrancar.

Seeing their leader had changed so drastically, the 3 subordinates looked at Tier with a bit of worship in their eyes. Ren on the other hand was focusing on the fact that the woman was not naked with a human body. While her mask remnants did cover her nipples and parts of the top of her breasts, the mask did not hide anything else.

Ren decided to leave it be for the moment since he did not have any clothes to give them. Emilou and Franceska began to argue about who would get to go next since both saw how beautiful Tier was and wanted to be next.

Tier passed the crown to Cyan after the pair could not come to an agreement after a few minutes. Cyan repeated the same process as Tier. Her change was much more dramatic than Tier’s since she was an Adjuchas and was closer to an animal than a human.

Cyan lost her snake body and turned into a thin and petite woman with green hair. The only part of her mask that remained was a small portion that resembled a 3-piece hair clip. Under her right eye were 3 pink dots in a line. Cyan had her hollow hole in the middle of her abdomen. Her zanpakuto was a sai.

Cyan threw the crown onto Emilou’s head since the hollow seemed like she would try to pick a fight if she was not chosen next.

When her transformation ended, Emilou had heterochromia, one sky blue and one amber eye, with the latter having a red ring around it. Emilou’s mask fragment was on the top of her head, with a horn in the middle. Emilou’s Zanpakutō consisted of a pair of bracelets strapped to her arms.

The last to get the crown was Franceska. The proud lioness was upset about being the last to receive the crown and was pouting on the ground when Emilou threw it at her.

Franceska was a dark-skinned, green-eyed Arrancar with long, thick, wavy brown hair and large breasts. Her Hollow hole was positioned mid-way between her navel and breasts. Her mask fragments formed a three-sectioned crown around her head and a thick necklace. Her zanpakuto took the form of a western longsword.

‘A snake princess/assassin, a tomboy fighter, and an Amazon warrior. Each one of them has a very different fighting style but work so well together and are so loyal to Tier. Now I need to earn their loyalty as well.’

Ren released his bankai and as it returned to its sealed state. Ren removed his haori and passed it to the women. They looked at him questioningly until they realized that they were no longer hollows and naked.

The women tore up the haori to make temporary shirts and skirts. Ren told them that he had extra shinigami uniforms at the base so just asked them to wait until they returned before wearing proper clothes.

Soon, the group was off in the direction of the home base and the start of a brand new adventure for most of them.

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It took Ren and the Arrancar over 8 hours to return to where the other shinigami were. This was not due to the distance but rather the Arrancar had to get used to performing sonido. Even though they gained new bodies, the Arrancar did not gain full control of these abilities instantly.

Ren did not mind the long travel time. The soon that the others got used to their bodies, the easier it would be to convince the captain-commander to allow him to bring them along with himself.

Ren and the Arrancar rushed through the patrols to the point that those shinigami who did not know shunpo could not even tell that someone had passed them.

Ren looked back and thought, ‘I need to make sure to improve their strength. even if someone is much stronger than them, they should at least know why they died.’

Ren arrived at the temporary logistics quarters. He went and got 4 shinigami uniforms that he thought would fit the women. Cyan and Emilou had no issues but Tier and Franceska had to have a more ‘Matsumoto’ style when they wore their uniforms.

The people who were currently on duty in the logistics division were shocked when they saw the 4 semi-naked women. Especially when all 4 of those weapons had bones on parts of theirs faces and holes in their abdomen but since they were led by Ren, the shinigami did not ask any questions.

When all 4 were dressed, Ren brought the group to the main tent where official meetings were held. The only people present for the meetings was the only current officer, Kyou, Ren, and the Kido Corps members. With the addition of Arrancar, they now had 6 qualified members of their squad who could take up officer positions.

What surprised Ren was that he did not see just the usual 6 faces inside the tent but he also saw Shin who had his head raised in an arrogant manner.

Shin knew his place so he would not come to the meeting without a proper reason, especially so boldly. He would have just asked Kyou to pass a message or wait until after the meeting to talk with Ren.

“You have achieved shikai?”

“Of course. I am the vice-captain of the 8th division! I can’t just wait for everyone else to die so I can claim to be the strongest.”

Kyou seemed to be offended by what Shin said and shot the man a glare. Feeling her glare, Shin returned it. With the pair acting like that Ren was seriously regretting not keeping a few other officers.

Tessai was not paying attention to the pair but instead looked at the 4 silent women who were following Ren. When he saw that they had partial masks, Tessai knew exactly what they were.

“…Arrancar.”

The pair stopped their contest and looked at Tessai with shock before turning to look at the 4 women. Ren had given everyone a run-down of the various types of hollows that were present in Hueco Mundo. He had even informed them about Arrancar which was supposed to be an officer level secret.

Hearing that 4 dangerous beings were next to them did not cause fear in Shin but he instead pulled out his zanpakuto and cut towards Emilou. The tomboy Arrancar caught the blade with a single hand. Sparks flew as the hand and sword met but Emilou had no damage dealt to her hand.

Shin was surprised to see his attack did not go through. When he was about to activate his shikai, Shin felt all the air leaving his body and a large amount of pain in his gut. Emilou had given him a heavy punch went sent Shin flying across the tent.

Emilou turned to Ren to ask, “Oi. You don’t mind if I kick his ass, right?”

Ren shrugged.

“You can beat him up but don’t kill him. Franceska and Cyan, you guys can help too. No resurrecion.”

As soon as they heard the words, the trio left the tent to start their battle with Shin.

Ren turned to Kyou to say, “Make sure that none of the other shinigami try to attack them. Shin brought this beating onto himself.”

Kyou nodded and left the tent. She was curious about the 3 women’s strength.

The only ones left in the tent were Tier, Tessai, Ren, and the 4 remaining members of the Kido Corps. Ren gestured toward Tessai.

“Tier, this is Tessai. Eventual to be Kido Master, eventual commander of the Kido Corps, and the only student of mine who was able to land a blow on me.”

Tier did not understand what the first things meant but she did understand the last and thought of Tessai as being very impressive.

‘To be able to land a blow on someone even a Vasto Lorde could not is very impressive,’ TIer thought to herself before giving Tessai a small nod. Ren gestured toward Tier.

“Tessai, this is Tier. Currently a stable Arrancar, former Vasto Lorde, and new lieutenant of the 8th division who has command over everyone in the division except for me.”

Every word out of Ren’s mouth caused Tessai to be unable to say anything.

‘A stable Arrancar? Nearly impossible to find!

A former Vasto Lorde? What kind of monster is he to make one submit to him?!?!

To make a hollow his lieutenant? That… that is something that only this man would do.’

Even though his thoughts were in jumbles, Tessai did not let any of it show on his face and gave a small nod to Tier.

Just as the introductions finished wrapping up, those inside the tent could hear a loud explosion coming from outside of it.

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33 33

The other members of the upper echelon of the 8th division soon returned with Franceska carrying the bloody and bruised Shin. Ren looked between Shin and the 3 Tres Bestias as he was glad to see that none of the trio were injured.

‘So they can match beat an officer even without their release as long as they work together. As for their individual strength, I can test that over time. As the ones who follow Tier I have no doubt that they can become threats to even captains.’

Franceska dropped Shin on the ground where the Kido Corps members started to heal him. Once Shin was healed enough to be conscious and move around a bit, Ren told the others to save their reiatsu.

“Now that everyone is here and no longer fighting, let me introduce what I have planned for the 8th division as well as all of you in here. Except for Tessai and you Kido Corps members of course.

I planned to create the strongest division and will stick to that. I will have two lieutenants, 3rd seats, 4th seats, and 5th seats. I expect for them all to be able to take on captain level opponent. As for the 6th-13th seat, all of them are expected to be at a lieutenant’s level.

So the current ranking of our division is as follows:

Captain: Myself

Co-Lieutenant: Tier/ Franceska

Co-3rd Seats: Cyan / Emilou

Co-4th Seats: Empty/Empty

Co-5th Seat: Empty/Empty

6th Seat: Kyou

7th Seat, By default: Shin

The Arrancar have higher positions at the moment but as long as you get stronger, you can take the position for yourselves.

As for you three, I only chose Franceska because her zanpakuto makes her the most adept at direct combat. You all are pretty much at the same level of strength so you can fight it out for who gets the position of lieutenant. I really don’t care which.

We still have 5 more months until we are leaving Hueco Mundo. During that time, I expect Tier, Franceska, Emilou, and Cyan to stay here or stay close to the base and train their reiatsu.

Kyou will lead half of the shinigami on an expedition to the east. Shin will take rest to the west. We will expand our domain from the current 5-kilometer radius to 20 kilometers.

I have already cleared out or scared away any Adjuchas but if anything pops up, just kill it. If you are unable to kill it before one of the top 5 arrives, that is fine. If you do kill it before one of the top 5 arrives, that is even better.”

Tier raised her hand when Ren said this. He nodded toward the woman.

“Why are we being ordered to stay here? Wouldn’t we be more valuable assisting the two expansion teams?”

“Yes. You would be much more valuable doing that. But the main purpose of this excursion is not to expand or make a base for Soul Society in Hueco Mundo. We are here to weed out the weaker members and train our stronger members to become even stronger.”

“You are willing to throw away the lives of your men so easily?”

Kyou and Shin wanted to speak up for Ren but he held his hand to have the two not interrupt. Ren looked Tier in the eyes and spoke in a calm voice as he explained.

“Every member here is here by choice. Before we came, I gave every member of my division the choice to join another division or join me on this dangerous expedition. I told them all how long it would be, how dangerous it would, and how they might not make it back alive.

Of my 3,000 initial members, barely 700 came. The hachimaki on their heads means that they were willing to bet their lives for the chance to get stronger.

I offer no shortcut to power. I offered them the choice between two roads. One that was safe and long, the other that is dangerous but shorter.

I’m having them go after hollows because the only way to master one’s abilities is through actual combat. The best and strongest shinigami are those who have gone through countless trials to have a deeper bond with their zanpakuto.

As hollows, you consumed countless other hollows and countless battles to reach the state you were in. These shinigami must also do the same.”

Tier thought over Ren’s words and nodded.

“I see. I’m sorry for speaking out of place.”

“No need to apologize. As an officer of my division, you all are allowed to question my actions if you think I am wrong or that you have a better idea.”

All the officers nodded. No one else was an officer before but Kyou was. Most higher-ranked officers had large egos and did not like to be corrected by those beneath them.

These officers would usually end up dying or killing the men under them due to their terrible attitudes and inability to be corrected. Knowing that Ren was willing to hear their opinions pleased Kyou in a way that no one would believe.

Kyou and Shin started dividing the shinigami into two groups over the next few days before they departed in their quest to conquer. Ren spent those days teaching the Arrancar about how to train their reiatsu and some of the more unique abilities of the Arrancar species before he went off to train himself as well.

For the next four months, Hueco Mundo had seen battles as it had never seen before. The hollows began forming larger groups to battle the shinigami forces while the Menos-class hollows stayed away after sensing the presence of 3 Adjuchas, a Vasto Lorde, and a monster they were unable to really process being in the center of the area where all the battles were occurring.

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34 34

With each battle that occurred, more and more shinigami died and dyed the sands of Hueco Mundo red with their blood. The fallen hollows also did not help with keeping the sand white either.

But it was not just death. The shinigami of the survivors were improving at a fast pace. Of the remaining 400 shinigami, 5 had learned the name of their shinigami during the expedition including Shin. This meant that 5 shinigami capable of earning the rank of an officer were created in the span of 5 months unlike in Seireitei where a new officer would come around once every 5-10 years.

Kyou and Shin had the largest improvements out of anyone. Kyou who was comparable to someone of the 5th rank in strength before had reached a level where she could battle with a lieutenant with the confidence that it would be an even battle.

Her zanpakuto was called the Seiken. The original form of the shikai was a western longsword. But after getting to know her spirit better and training her reiatsu, Kyou unlocked an ability called ‘Ludwig’ which summoned a sharpened sheath that covered the sword and turned it into a greatsword. This meant that Kyou could rapidly switch between light and swift attacks to heavier blows when her enemies were not expecting it.

Shin’s zanpakuto was qilin, the same as Kojuro. It seemed that Shin would have been killed by Kojuro in the future since two people were unable to have the same zanpakuto according to the laws of Soul Society. Even though they had the same zanpakuto, Shin was only able to use ‘Thunder Sphere’ and had come nowhere close to the mastery that Kojuro had with the weapon.

The Arrancar had also improved in their abilities during the entire time they were in the base. Whether they discussed it beforehand or it just turned out the way it did, each of the Tres Bestias specialized in different combat techniques.

Cyan had the fastest sonido of the trio. She moved so fast that the other two could barely react when she had attacked them.

Franceska’s specialty was not her sonido but her hierro. With her defense, neither of the other pair could cut through her skin or even injure her with their zanpakutos.

Lastly was Emilou. Her specialty was neither sonido nor hierro but it was her cero. Emilou could charge her cero faster than the other two and it was also nearly twice as strong as their ceros.

With each of their specialties, it was impossible for Kyou and Shin to beat the trio even when they worked together. And this was without the resurrecion of the Arrancar.

As for Tier, she had shown the biggest improvement. Using Tessai as her personal sparring partner, Tier was had improved by leaps and bounds.

Everything was going fine and steady until Tier had sensed several presences in the distance during one of the days she was meditating. Her pesquisa had developed over the past few months. She hurried to inform Ren.

“Ren. There are 6 individuals approaching Shin’s group. They are moving as fast as shinigami but they are giving off a different feeling than Arrancar, hollows, or shinigami. It also seems like they had appeared out of nowhere since they had appeared closer to use but started moving outward toward Shin’s forces. ”

Ren sat up after thinking over who it could be but he had no idea. But since it was something that even Tier was unsure about, he knew it could not be anything good.

‘And they are approaching Shin’s group. Most would get scared away when they see a group that size and there are only 6 of them. That means that they are confident enough in their strength to take them down.’

“Get the trio. With the 5 of us going to meet them and Shin already there, we have 6 officers ready for combat. We will be doing this with Straw Hat Rules.”

“Straw Hat Rules?” Tier asked looking puzzled.

“It means that we match ranks. Our strongest takes on their strongest, second strongest takes on second strongest, etc. No one interferes in someone else’s battle unless they ask for help or need it.”

Tier nodded and went to go get the trio. When all 4 arrived back at the tent, Ren was ready to leave. The group began to flash step together towards the west where Shin’s shinigami were. It took their group a few minutes to catch up and by the time they had arrived, the unidentified group had already caught up with Shin’s.

Shin stood at the front with his zanpakuto already in its release state and pointing it at the 6 men. Ren was curious about who they were but when he saw that one summoned a bow made out of energy and pointed it towards his group, he knew exactly who he was dealing with.

‘Quincies.’

“May I ask why you all are following my men and where you have appeared from? Oh. Your names as well would be nice.”

The man who seemed to be the leader stepped forward and gave a small bow to greet Ren.

“I am the leader of this small party. We were chasing a criminal and he came through one of those black portals.

We thought that maybe he joined this group but since we can tell they are shinigami, I am sure that he is not with you. We will just be on our way.”

Ren made no indication that he or his officers would stand aside.

“Name?”

The other quincies looked angry that they were being looked down upon and wanted to fight back but with their leader signaling for them to not do anything stupid, the men just stood down.

“My name is Anja Ishida.”

‘Ah. That’s why he looks so familiar. He must be an ancestor of the Quincy kid. That’s all I cared about. Ishida was only dangerous to weak hollows and Mayuri who did not excel at combat and he was supposed to be a prodigy.

I don’t get why the higher-ups think of these guys as big threats.’

“Fine. You can go. Please try to be more careful. Not all shinigami will allow quincies to walk away so easily. Or at all.

Oh. I am Ren by the way. Captain of the 8th division.”

Anja nodded before he led his men in another direction.

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35 35

After the quincies left and were out of earshot, Shin asked the question that had been bothering him.

“Old Man. Why did we let them escape? We could have taken them all down easily with our full force.”

“Stop calling me Old Man. I’m only 170 years old!”

“That is old!”

“Do not kill your subordinates over minor things like this. Do not kill your subordinates over minor things like this.

We let them go because those guys were elite quincies. Even if we could have taken them, they have a bunch of tricks up their sleeves. While I am not worried about any officer dying, the troops of the 8th division would have been in danger.

I said that the only thing allowed to kill them while we are here are normal hollows and Gillian-class Menos. Quincy were not a part of the deal so I have ensure that none of them die to the quincy.

We also had no reason to battle them. They have caused no issues for us and they are not going to after seeing how dangerous our forces are. You are now an officer, Shin. You can’t just think about winning and losing but the cost as well.”

Shin was silent. He knew that did not think of anything more than just fighting and forgot that everyone was not as strong as him nor would they fight fairly.

“I’m sorry, Captain. I almost endangered my men for no reason. Please punish me!”

Ren pat Shin on his shoulder to console the young man.

“It is fine. It is better to make mistakes when I am around than when I am not. Let’s head back to base until the quincies leave to make sure no accidents happen.”

Ren turned to Cyan and gave her an order.

“Go tell Kyou to bring her forces back as well.”

The woman nodded and disappeared. The rest of the members of the 8th division began making their way back to the base.

Kyou and her forces returned about an hour after Shin’s did. Ren had all of them stay around the base until the quincies left. Not just due to the dangers the quincies presented but also due to how they were changing Hueco Mundo.

The 8th division already disturbed the natural peace of Hueco Mundo and changed the hunting and migration patterns of the environment just like any new predator introduced to an area. The group had finally gotten the area stable but the introduction of quincy would destabilize that.

So Ren decided to have all his forces stay in the base and consolidate their gains and speak continue training with their zanpakutos until the quincies were gone. What Ren was not prepared for was for the quincies to remain for the entirety of the last month that the 8th division was supposed to be there.

Without having much choice since he made a date with Yamamoto, Ren had no choice but to have Tessai and his people open up and portal back to Seireitei.

Ren had gathered all the remaining shinigami and had the officers stand at the front while the rest of the shinigami stood behind them. Ren did a mental calculation of what he came in with and what he was leaving with.

‘732 shinigami and 1 officer when I first came here. These were average level shinigami and someone who was barely qualified to be an officer in my division.

I am leaving with 403 shinigami trained to the point where even the 11th division should be afraid to deal with them, 4 officers who can bear the rank between 10th and 5th seats of other divisions, Shin who can be a third seat or a weak lieutenant, Kyou who is able to match an average level lieutenant but may have trouble with those canon lieutenants at her current level.

We are also returning with 4 Arrancars. 3 that are right below captain-level with their resurrecions but can also kill a captain if they use Quimera Parca. Tier is a whole other monster. With her Resurrecion, she can overpower most captains in single combat.’

“All of you have done an excellent job surviving until now. Before today, you were all nothing but probationary members of the 8th division. Now, I truly consider you all my own men and women.

From now on, we currently have 10 officers in our division. Tier and Franceska will officially be your lieutenants. Cyan and Emilou will be the 3rd seats. Kyou and, reluctantly, Shin will be the share the 4th seat.

Akira is in the 6th seat, Eiko is 7th, Minori is 8th, and Naoko is 9th. The est of you can earn your place among the officers by continuing to work hard and improving your strength.

We shall be returning to Seireitei today. All of you will be staying in the 8th division’s quarters until you receive a command from me or one of the officers in the 4th seat of higher.

I am bringing back Arrancar which has never been done so we will be under scrutiny. We may even be called traitors if my plan does not work out and all of us will be jailed or executed. This is your last chance. Take off your hachimaki if you do not wish to be associated with us when this all goes down.”

No one made a move. Whether out of fear or loyalty Ren was not sure but he said nothing. Ren nodded toward Tessai and the Kido Corps members to open the portal. Once the black portal was opened, Ren took the first step and made a bridge for everyone to follow him on.

‘My little students. Your teacher is back and ready to cause some trouble!’

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36 36

The first thing Ren saw when he exited the portal was the smiling face of Captain Unohana and the stern face of Captain-Commander Yamamoto. Behind them were their lieutenants and several members from each of their teams. There were also 2 vice-commanders of the Kido Corps to ensure that their rising star had not been harmed.

Ren nodded as Tier, The Tres Bestias, and the rest of the officers exited after him. When Yamamoto saw the three women with fragments of hollow masks, he let out killing intent and reiatsu directed at the women.

Ren stood in front of them and released his own killing intent and reiatsu to protect them. Since the Captain-Commander hadn’t gone all out, Ren was able to easily match it but Yamamoto was still surprised by the feat.

When he remembered the rumor about Ren doing something similar during his battle for the position of the 12th seat officer in the 11th division, Yamamoto relaxed a bit.

“Why did you bring hollows back to Soul Society? And where is your captain’s haori?”

All the members of the 8th division who had left the portal and even those still inside could feel every word was laced with reiatsu. Many of the members looked at Ren with respect.

They could barely stand when they heard the words but the person that they were directed at looked unperturbed.

“Can you calm down, Old Man? These 4 are officers of the 8th division now. As for the haori… I lost it.”

The veins could be seen across Yamamoto’s head. Unohana silently praised Ren’s ability to say every wrong thing to Yamamoto with such confidence. Most others would at least start to stutter or feel nervous around their boss but Ren seemed to feel no such thing.

“You lost your haori?! Tearing them is one thing, but losing them!? And you dare to stand before me like nothing is wrong? What is wrong with you?”

“Those cheap things? I have plenty of my salary. I can buy a bunch more. We have plenty of them anyway”

“That is not what I am concerned about! And we do not have plenty of them! What in the world do you think the captain’s robe represents?!?!”

“Your outdated fashion sense? No. That you are cheap stake at distinguishing ranks? No. You want something useless weighing us down to give our enemies a better chance at victory?”

Ren could feel that Yamamoto was releasing more and more reiatsu directed at him with every word he said but he did not mind. Ren was able to tell that Yamamoto’s was about equal to or even a bit weaker than his own. He also knew that Yamamoto would not release much more for fear of killing the other shinigami around him.

And just like Ren thought, Yamamoto soon calmed down and relaised that Ren had been toying them.

“Explain the hollows.”

“As I said, they are officers of the 8th division now.

Also, they are Arrancar, not hollows. They no longer need to consume other beings to live and they have shinigami powers now.

I have read all the laws. Shinigami are not allowed to try and gain hollow powers but it says nothing about Arrancar joining a squad. I have broken no rule so it is not like you can punish me for this. They also haven’t killed any shinigami so they haven’t committed any crimes. I see no reason why they can’t join my squad.”

Yamamoto could not deny anything that Ren had said. Neither he nor the Arrancar broke any laws and the laws regarding how to handle Arrancar were not existent.

While they were technically still hollows, they no longer consumed souls. And if they could be a war power for soul society, there was no need to kill them. But he could not just go to the Central 46 and say that Ren had broken no rules.

“Give me an excuse to give the Central 46. You were a lieutenant for long enough to know how their bureaucracy is like.”

“The Western Branch does not kill all dragons. Just the ones that are dangerous to the population. I wish to start a similar program as them. We can test it out with just the 8th division.

With our low numbers, we put the least amount of shinigami in danger and we are also located at the edge of Seireitei so we do not put any nobles in danger in case they go wild.”

Yamamoto thought over the words and nodded. This was a valid excuse he could use that the Central 46 might buy.

“Fine. But I need your zanpakuto and the zanpakuto of all the Arrancar. I will also assign 3 captains and their vice-captains to watch over you until a ruling is made.”

Ren nodded and threw his zanpakuto at the old man. He turned to the 4 women and they did the same with their weapons. Yamamoto sent Chojiro to gather some other captains.

While they waited, Tessai and the Kido Corps’ members walked over to both of the Vice-Commanders and gave them a run down of their mission before taking off back to their barracks. Tessai gave Ren a small nod before he left which Ren returned.

After 30 minutes, the captains of the 11th, 10th, and 9th divisions arrived along with their lieutenants. Seeing that 3 of the 6 new arrivals looked at him with hostile gazes, Ren was left wondering how he made so many enemies.

‘So what if after you had me dismissed I rose to a higher officer rank that very same day?

So what if I took away your big day by also becoming a captain on the same day?

So what if I killed your former captain, demoted you, and then pretty much forced you to leave my division?

Okay, now that I think about it I might have created all of these enemies on my own accord.’

Yamamoto and Unohana left the group alone in the barracks after the old man gave a few orders. Ren ignored his 6 watch guards before addressing his shinigami.

“All of you are to return to your dorms. Remember to stay in them until I give you permission. All the officers are to follow me into my personal dorm building.”

Ren and all the officers left the captains and vice-captains of the 3 divisions in the middle of the training grounds while they decided to rest in beds for the first time in months. When they reached the building and were out of earshot from the others Ren said,

“The rest of you can head to your rooms if you want. Tier, Franceska, Emilou, and Cyan. Stay close. I am not sure if anyone will try to kill you or not before you are officially sanctioned by the Central 46.”

The other officers left while Shin and Kyou stayed. The group of seven went to Ren’s room where they all stayed while Ren went into his bedroom to meditate and relax. As soon as Ren calmed his mind and relaxed, he felt himself being dragged into his inner world.

‘How can I still enter when I am so far away? Do I have that powerful a bond with that bastard?’

But what Ren saw when he entered was not the familiar brass fortress and rivers of blood. It was instead the forest he had not seen in a long time and the large tree he had fed blood for years.

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37 37

Ren was surprised to see this forest. He had thought that Khorne had burned it down when he had finished sucking up as much of Ren’s blood as he could. But it seems as if Ren had misunderstood what had really happened.

‘No. Not misunderstood. Khorne had lied to me. He has hidden away a piece of one of my souls! Haha. This is good. This is excellent.

I kept saying that I would put him in his place. I kept saying I would teach him a lesson. I was like one of those criminals who would threaten the hostage but would never hurt anyone. But this?

I swear Khorne. You will suffer for this. If you can hear me, you will suffer. I care not if you were a god. I will become a god slayer on the day I get you back!’

Ren walked along the path that he had walked so many times before. He had reached the tree that he always fed his blood. It no longer looked like it was dying but the tree was filled with life and vitality.

Ren placed his right hand on the tree and could feel even more life force coming off from it than he had first thought. He then placed his head on the tree to whisper his apology.

“I’m sorry for abandoning you all these years. Even if he had hidden it from me, it was still my responsibility to confirm the truth with my own eyes. I hope that you will forgive me.”

Ren had his eyes closed and could not see that someone had left the tree. A woman stood behind Ren with tears in her eyes.

“I have never blamed you, Master. It was all that other spirit’s fault!”

Ren was surprised to hear a voice come from behind him. He turned and saw a woman with green skin, green hair, and tree bark that formed a bra and panties. Even though it was his first time seeing her, Ren felt like he had known the spirit all of his life.

Ren kneeled before the spirit and gave his apology once more.

“I understand that you do not blame me but I shall apologize once more. I also must request something of yours. Alone, I am not confident enough to beat Khorne. Please! Please loan me your strength.”

The spirit helped Ren to stand before she kneeled before him just like he did to her.

“My strength is yours to use as you please. Please know my name. I am Dryae.”

Ren felt something awaken in him and a strong amount of energy filled him. The trees around him looked livelier, the sky bluer, and the wind seemed to truly be whispering to him.

“My ability surpasses most zanpakuto spirits. You do not need your blade to use either my shikai or bankai. As long as you stand, you will always be able to use me. As for what I am capable of…”

—————

Ren spent hours talking with Dryae to catch up on missed times. He also used the time in his inner world to practice Dryae’s abilities without worrying about affecting the environment around him.

When he came out of the inner world, it was already late at night. Ren could hear arguing on the lower level so he decided to walk down and see what was going on.

Ren saw Suzuka Kenpachi, her lieutenant, the former lieutenant of the 8th division, and several officers of the 11th division trying to pick a fight with Tier, the Tres Bestias, Kyou, and Shin.

On the side, the 10th division and 9th division officers were watching from the side with interest. As long as neither side went too far, they were not planning to interfere.

When Ren arrived and saw what the situation was like, he frowned. Cyan saw Ren frown and nudged the main two provokers, Emilou and Shin, to calm down and let Ren handle the situation.

The others also saw Ren arrive and quieted down as they waited for him to say something.

“What are you guys doing? No need to argue with the former strongest division. We will settle this with a battle of strength.”

Ren turned to the current Kenpachi to explain what he was thinking.

“Our 5 strongest are missing their zanpakuto so I think the least you can do is not interfere yourself. You select any two of your officers while I select 2 of mine. We will also pick 5 shinigami who have not yet achieved shikai to join them. The battle will be 7 on 7.

The winner gets to officially be called the strongest division for the next 100 years. Do you accept?”

Suzuka let out a laugh when she heard Ren’s words.

‘He wants to take on 2 officers from my division with 1 officer who was a double-digit and another person who had only recently achieved shikai? He has grown too arrogant from being compared to me.’

“Fine. I accept. We will hold the battle tomorrow at noon in your training field. The winner will be decided by the referee. Who do you want to be the referee?”

“Same as when we earned our titles as captains. Captain Unohana can be the judge since she will be neutral.”

“Fine then. I hope you do not come up with an excuse tomorrow when my division proves why we are the strongest.”

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38 38

After the members of the 11th division left the doorstep, the officers of the 8th division returned inside the building and were prepared for a lecture from Ren. And a lecture they received.

“Why did you argue so much? Next time, just challenge them to a duel as I did. If they back down, they are cowards. If they accept, they are weaklings since my division will never lose.”

All the others were surprised by the answer but Shin and Emilou had smiles on their faces when they heard Ren’s words. They would have thought that they would get a lecture about picking fights but instead, their captain was upset that they did not pick one.

“You’re right, old man. Next time, I will kick their fucking asses!”

“Hell yeah! Anyone who messes with me deserves to get their ass kicked!”

Everyone looked at the pair with the worst attitudes and shook their heads. These two were so focused on fighting that they may have nothing in their brains besides muscles.

“What do you mean next time? You and Kyou will be the pair to compete tomorrow. Pick out whichever 5 members of the division that you want to use.”

Shin was surprised to hear that he was one of the two officers representing their faction because he was not prepared. Shin looked at the others for confirmation but when he saw them nod, Shin just felt stupefied.

“I’m really going to fight? Isn’t there someone stronger who can do it?”

“Nope. The 4 ladies are out and Kyou is already joining. You are the 7th strongest in the entire division. Congratulations.”

Shin felt giddy to know that he was the 7th strongest member of the division but also pressure. He knew that he had to get stronger if he wanted to maintain his rank and he also had to get stronger to uphold the honor it took to be in that position.

“Don’t worry, Taichou. I will definitely win tomorrow’s battle even if I have to take on all 7 of the enemies by myself.”

Kyou slapped Shin on the back of his head.

“I am stronger than you. If anyone would be taking on the entire team it would be me.”

“Damn you! So what if you are stronger than me? I am still stronger than everyone in that division. Except for their captain of course.”

“Whatever. Let’s just go pick out our members. Please excuse, Taichou.”

Kyou grabbed Shin by his collar and carried him out of the room. She wanted to pick the members that night to ensure that they were well rested for the next day and did not do anything like excessive drinking or going out to party.

The Tres Bestias also left to discuss something with Tier in the other room leaving Ren alone in the room. Seeing that there was nothing left for him to do, Ren went to the rooftop of his building with several bottles of wine.

It was a full moon that night with a clear sky so Ren decided to drink under the beautiful night sky as an early celebration. Ren poured himself a cup and raised it to the moon.

‘To victory in the duel tomorrow. To officially having my 4 new members join my squad. To putting Khorne in his place for daring to cross me.’

Ren took the shot of his drink as he looked at the beautiful night sky and the beautiful days that would come.

——–

The next day at noon, Kyou and Shin were standing in the center of the training grounds with their 5 members behind them. All of the shinigami wore a red undershirt as well as a red headband to show their uniqueness.

On the other side was the former lieutenant of the 8th division and current of the 11th named Akito, 3rd seat of the 11th division called Isobu, and 5 other members of the division behind them.

Unohana had set up a barrier around the training ground to make sure that no one was injured during the battle. She also did not wish for anyone to interfere. Besides the officers or the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th divisions there were also the officers of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th divisions there as well as many shinigami.

They were there not only to see which division would get the title of the strongest division as well as see the Arrancar who might join the Gotei 13. The rumor had spread about the 4 women that Ren had brought back from Hueco Mundo and many wanted to see. Especially the men.

The number of female shinigami was much smaller than the number of males so the men would take any chance they could to see beautiful women. When they saw the 4 beauties that became officers of the 8th division and the original officer who was standing valiantly in the arena, many shinigami thought about transferring over.

But when they remembered how many members were currently in the 8th division and how they had all died, most dropped the thought.

Unohana looked at both sides of the field before letting out a sigh. To most, her sigh sounded like, ‘I thought that we were getting more civilized but I have to keep getting involved in these fights where we try to kill each other.’

What her sigh actually meant was, ‘If only I did not swear to never use my blade again except for against him. These kids are so energetic and I wanna see what they are made of.’

Unohana raised her hand before bringing it down and signaling that the match had begun.

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39 39

“Shine, Seiken!” (Holy Sword)

“Begone with the thunderclap, Qilin!”

“Rearrange! Sourusutīrā!” (Soul Stealer)

“Let the fear within me become the fear my enemies feel themselves, Naitomeareiku!” (Nightmare Lake)

The 4 officers activated their shikai the moment that the match had begun. Kyou’s katana transformed into a long sword, Shin’s sword transformed into a guandao, Akito’s zanpakuto transformed into a short ax, and Isobu whose zanpakuto did not change but the man gained a dark aura around his body.

“Let’s fuck them up!”

Instead of the 11th division who were known for being vulgar and acting like thugs being the one who said it, it was Shin of the 8th division. Kyou wanted to smack Shin but since they were in the middle of a fight, she could only do so later.

The officers stood aside while they watched their division members charge ahead. Most thought that this was a suicide.

“The members of the 11th division are known for their close-range combat strength.”

“Yeah. If they wanted to win this, they should have stuck to something like kido to rain their attacks on the 11th division members.”

“Or at least appear to have actual battle tactics instead of straight of clashing with the others.”

But as soon as the two groups clashed, all the members of the 11th division were pushed back a couple of feet. When the 8th division members launched their second attacks, the members of the 11th division were pushed back even further. With the third, one had even stumbled and was about to fall over.

Seeing a piece of prey in front of them that was ready to be finished, the members of the 8th division made a silent agreement for a single member to strike down the member of the 11th division while the others covered him.

Seeing the blade approaching one of the members’ bodies, Isobu flash stepped to try and block it but before he had reached the group, Isobu himself was forced on the defensive when Shin had appeared out of nowhere.

Shin started to cackle a little as he said, “You thought that you could interfere? Your man and the rest of your weaklings are going down!”

Shin brought his guandao down from above with such speed that Isobu had no choice but to block it. But when the katana met with the guandao, Isobu felt like a hill was dropped on him as his knees began to shake and he could feel the force of the blow going through his entire body.

‘What is this kid made of? Lead?! I can barely even feel my hands!’

Shin twirled his weapon around and used the blunt side of the weapon to break Isobu’s guard before pointing the base of his guandao and Isobu’s face.

“Raitoningubōru! (Thunder Ball)”

A ball of blue electricity appeared at the end of the weapon and launched at a very fast rate. Before Isobu could even react, he was struck in the face by the move and knocked unconscious. During the short exchange with Isobu, the members of the 8th division were able to finish off the other members of the 11th division.

“3rd seat of the 11th division has lost consciousness. He is no longer allowed to attack or be attacked. The 5 division members of the 11th division have lost consciousness. They are no longer allowed to attack or be attacked.”

This meant that the only member of the 11th division that remained was the lieutenant, Akito. Shin did not think to let Kyou take the last enemy and charged ahead like a madman. Not wanting Shin to gain all the credit for the victory, Kyou also flash stepped to Akito.

This put Akito in a very sorry position. Akito’s weapon made him have a disadvantage against both other officers off the bat. If it was just Shin alone, he may have had a chance since he had more experience and combat power than Shin.

Kyou was another story. Their combat strength was about equal and she also had the weapon advantage. But with both of them teaming up with each other, Akito had no chance.

Whenever they struck, their attacks were coordinated. Whenever they defended, one would cover the one being attacked while the one being attacked would launch an otherwise suicidal attack.

Akito could not find an opening to exploit in their defense. But he could not retreat either. Even though the non-ranked shinigami knew that their combat strength was not enough to be able to enter the battle, their mere presence surrounding the trio helped.

It created an intimidating effect and if Akito wanted to leave, the time it would take to beat one of them would buy Kyou and Shin enough time to land a decisive blow.

After several more minutes of battling where neither Shin nor Kyou gave Akito any openings or even a chance to use his special moves, Unohana called the battle off. Akito had accumulated too many injuries and would die if they were left untreated.

“Enough! Akito, lieutenant of the 11th division is no longer fit for battle according to my expert opinion. I declare the winners of this match to be the 8th division. They have no taken the title of the strongest division.”

Hearing that they had won, the members of the 8th division outside the arena cheered while the 7 members inside lowered and sheathed their blades before they started to exit the arena.

But there was one person who was feeling extremely unwilling. And when he saw the defenseless back on the members of the 8th division, an evil thought occurred before the action followed.

“Supirittorībā!” (Spirit Reaver)

Akito swung his ax and an arc of energy giving off a cold feeling was shot toward the unprepared Kyou and Shin. The two saw that the attack was coming and had to make a quick decision.

If they moved, they could dodge it but their 5 members would definitely be killed. If they stayed, they might be able to block most of the attack but they would definitely suffer for it.

The pair did not seem to think much and both started to unsheath their blades. But before the blade beam got near them, a familiar figure stood in the middle of the arena.

Ren outstretched his right hand and caught the attack. The attack that seemed full of momentum was stopped with just hid hand. Ren then closed his hand and broke the arc into thousands of motes of light.

Ren had a small smile on his face as he looked at the other captains who were standing together, especially Suzuka.

“I hope that Captain Kenpachi will give a proper punishment for attempted murder. Otherwise, I don’t mind breaking the rule about captains not being allowed to punish members of other divisions!”

——————————-

The first chapter of the day. This is the last day to get powerstones in for the week. Let’s get as many as we can so the fanfic will be in the top 10 at the start of next week.

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40 40

Ren released a large amount of reiatsu and focused it on Akito. The amount of reiatsu forced Akito to his knees. The pressure on his body was so heavy that Akito could not even look at Ren due to how much pressure was being emitted.

Suzuka jumped in front of Akito and released her own reiatsu to counter Ren’s. Akito could finally feel the pressure ease off of him. He wiped his head and felt how much sweat had accumulated due to what Ren had done to him.

“Captain! Please seek justi…” but he was silenced when Suzuka turned her head at him and gave Akito a look that could kill.

“Be silent! You have already disgraced the 11th division enough. Whether it was losing or being a sore loser and attacking foes after the battle was over, you have lost all face for our division.

So I suggest that you remain silent before you have to worry about 3 instead of just two captains wanting your head.”

‘Two?’ Akito thought before he looked over and saw Captain Unohana with a fierce look on her face. He had completely forgotten about her.

Unohana was the referee and was supposed to keep the match fair. If someone committed such an act and end up killing or injuring the other party unfairly, then it would reflect badly on her.

Akito decided to take Suzuka’s advice and remain silent. That did not stop him from feeling fury in his heart at the humiliation.

Suzuka nodded her head before turning to Unohana. She wanted to put out the small fire that had yet to grow before focusing on the storm that was heading her way.

“Captain Unohana. I apologize for my lieutenant’s actions. He had acted out of line and endangered the members of the 11th division as well as assaulted your honor. I will make sure that I give him the appropriate punishment.”

Unohana gave one of those smiles that were obviously forced and fake as she replied to Suzuka.

“Oh. And what might that punishment be, Captain Suzuka?”

Suzuka did not expect Unohana to ask for the punishment in front of all the captains. If she had not brought it up, Suzuka could have given a much lighter punishment or none at all when they returned to the division. But now, this matter needed to be answered immediately.

“Please do not get ahead of me, Captain Unohana. It was my members whose lives were endangered due to her underqualified officer acting out of line.”

“Oh, of course, Captain Ren. This matter concerns not only my face and honor but also the face and honor of you, your division, and the health of your members. You must definitely want an answer for this.”

The pair of captains were agreeing with each other and making the matter bigger and bigger. Suzuka only had one chance to give a punishment that would satisfy both of the offended parties.

“Akito shall be removed from his position as the lieutenant and shall place him in the custody of the detention unit for 100 years. Is that satisfying for the both of you?”

Ren and Unohana looked at each other for 20 seconds as if they were having a silent conversation before they turned to Suzuka and nodded their heads. Suzuka let out a sigh of relief since she was unwilling to lose a valuable member of her squad for even longer.

Akito also thought that the punishment he got was light with what he had done. Although he was unwilling to be separated from his zanpakuto for 100 years, he knew that he should not try to fight it since this was his best option.

“Good. I shall call for the Onmitsukidō to take him to the nest and take away his zanpakuto if there is nothing else.”

Unohana but Ren held up his hand signaling for Suzuka to not leave yet.

“Is there anything that concerns you, Captain Ren?”

“There is one thing. I think that… the title of Kenpachi has been in the 11th division for too long. If the owner of the title was worthy, I would not have said anything.

But with the way that members are acting under her command after just half a year, I must say that it brings into question your ability to lead.”

The air was silent. No one could say anything because this was a direct provocation. To say that the current Kenpachi was unworthy of the title, was pretty much a declaration of war.

“Oh. And might I ask who do you think is more worthy of the title of Kenpachi?”

Although she asked the question calmly, anyone could hear the rage that was lying within every word. Ren acted as if he did not hear it though.

“Of course… it should be the captain of the strongest division. The strongest captain obviously leads the strongest division.”

Suzuka no longer held in her rage as her reiatsu began leaking out wildly while her killing intent was directed at Ren.

“You dare to challenge me for the title of Kenpachi!? You do not even have possession of your zanpakuto! But you think that you can kill me?! Haha. I have never heard of anything so funny!”

Ren tilted his head to the side as if he was puzzled by the question.

“Who said… I only have one zanpakuto?”

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Ren raised his right hand to show off his jade bead bracelet. This was his Dryae. Not only was she separate from his main sword but the Dryae was also permanently in her shikai form and had given Ren access to all of her abilities from the get go.

‘I say all but it is only two. But with those two, I am sure that I can take care of Suzuna.’

Suzuna let out a laugh and unsheathed her sword.

“Fine! I will show you just how strong a person with the title of Kenpachi is!”

Ren turned to Captain Unohana and made his request.

“Please serve as referee for this match and make sure that the former lieutenant of the 11th division does not sneak off anywhere while I handle this small matter.”

Unohana nodded in agreement before she flash stepped into the arena to grab Akito by his collar before she flash stepped outside and set up a barrier. This barrier was much sturdier and larger than the one she had set up for the sparring match between the divisions.

On the side, all the officers were talking about Ren’s zanpakuto.

“He has two?”

“I have never heard of anyone having two zanpakuto?”

“I thought they confiscated his? Does that mean they have separate bodies?”

Even the members of Ren’s 8th division were talking about it.

“Did you guys know he had a second one?” Emilou asked to no one in particular. She was just throwing the question out there.

“Not only have I never heard of him having one, but I have also never seen that bracelet on his wrist before. He either just unlocked it or he had no reason to use it before.”

“It should be the latter. If it was the former, it would be insane to take on another captain without being able to use bankai.”

If Ren heard what they were saying, he would have surely laughed. He had only been able to use Dryae’s abilities since the day before. What everyone thought was the impossibility was actually the truth.

“Reap the lives of dark beings, Botomuresureiku!” (Bottomless Lake)

Suzuka’s katana turned into the black scythe Ren had seen when she battled against Kojuro 6 months ago. Suzuka knew that Ren’s zanpakuto was an elemental or kido type by the shape of it so she decided to close the gap with a flash step.

But as soon as she appeared in front of Ren, a wall off wood rose from the ground and blocked her approach. Suzuka had no choice but to back up in order to cut through the wood wall. By the time she cut through it, Ren used the chance to create a large and thick tree to carry him into the air.

Ren also summoned trees all over to create a small forest of tall but thin trees. This was one of the special abilities of his shikai. With a thought, Ren could create, grow, and manipulate trees and tree branches in a variety of shapes and ways.

If he had to combat Suzuka directly, his trees would not last against her slashes. But by using the trees as cover, Suzuka was unable to swing her scythe as she pleased within the forest. She was now in Ren’s domain.

As Suzuka tried to make her way up the trees and reach Ren, Ren would have the tree branches grow to obstruct her path and also attack her from a variety of angles.

‘Shit! You think that a few trees can stop me?’

“Kusaru ōra!” (Rotting Aura)

A black mist appeared around Suzuka which started to make the trees die rapidly and rot. Anything that did not completely rot became so soft that they would no longer cause an obstruction to Suzuka and she could run through them as if they were no longer there.

‘Haha. got you now.’

Suzuka jumped above the tree branches that were obscuring her and cut towards Ren who seemed to be chanting a kido spell.

“Limit of the thousands hands, respectful hands, unable to touch the darkness. Shooting hands unable to reflect the blue sky. The road that basks in light, the wind that ignited the embers, time that gathers when both are together, there is no need to be hesitant, obey my orders.”

“Die!”

With a swing of her scythe, Ren was beheaded and his body started rotting.

‘Utsusemi.’ (Cast-Off Cicada Shell)

The body of Ren completely dispersed leaving only the hairband he used to keep his hair in a ponytail behind.

“Light bullets, eight bodies, nine items, book of heaven, diseased treasure, great wheel, grey fortress tower. Aim far away, scatter brightly and cleanly when fired.”

Ren appeared about 15 meters behind Suzuka standing on a tree branch. Ten pink energy points were floating around his body and aimed at Suzuka.

“Hadō #91: Senju Kōten Taihō!”

The 10 pink lights launched themselves at Suzuka. As she tried to use a tree branch as a landing pad to dodge with, Suzuka had noticed that all the branches and even the trees had shrunk.

‘Shit!’ was Suzuka’s last thought before a large explosion occurred. The explosion was so blinding that the other shinigami had to look away.

When they could see again, they could see Suzuka’s badly injured and burned body being held by tree branches around her wrists and ankles while her zanpakuto was on the ground far below.

Just as Unohana was going to declare Ren the winner to save Suzuka’s life, Ren beat her to it.

“I surrender.”

Once again, Ren was great at leaving everyone surprised. Suzuka who was barely conscious a moment ago seemed to awaken and looked furious.

“You! You dare to humiliate me like this? Either kill me or hold still so I can rip your head off?”

“I’m good. Why would I want to hold a title not meant for me? Not to mention ‘those 3’ there is still Yamamoto and ‘her’ who are stronger or at least have not been proven to be weaker.

It is way too embarrassing to hold the title of strongest without the proof to back it up. So you can keep it. I will just keep my title of ‘Captain of the Strongest Division.'”

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42 42

The matter was quickly settled after the battle had ended. With the detention of one officer and the heavy injuries of another, the bad blood between the two divisions was set in stone. This is exactly what Ren wanted.

With the bad blood between the two, the officers of the 11th division could not be trusted to watch over their division while they were under house arrest which meant that only the 9th and 10th divisions were the babysitters after that.

Ren decided to break out the liquor and made a feast to celebrate their victory and new title. Everyone was happy and partying but when Ren saw that Tier was unable to eat or drink, he put away his food and drinks as well.

Ren brought her to the roof of his dorm to have a moment alone while watching the members celebrate below and the sky above. Tier was looking at the members below, especially her fraccion who seemed happier than she had ever seen them.

“I never thought that there would be a day where I could see them relaxing and not worried about a predator hunting them down. Even under my protection, we were never this relaxed. Such an amazing sight.”

“Hmm. Indeed. One of the best sights ever.”

Ren was not looking at the people below but instead has his eyes on Tier. It would be a lie to say that he did not have a crush on her in Lawrence’s life but he had become truly attracted to the woman in the past 5 months.

He had gotten to know her so well over the past 5 months. The show had only shown her for 2 or 3 hours from what he remembered but Ren had gotten to know the real person.

‘They always said to never meet your heroes because the reality is more disappointing than a person could imagine but she is so much better than they had displayed of her.’

Ren looked at the remnants of Tier’s mask and thought that he wanted to think of a way to get rid of them without her resurrecion. He wanted to see the true face of the woman he was slowly starting to admire.

For the rest of the night, the pair sat in silence with the occasional small talk as they enjoyed the joyful atmosphere.

It took a week before Yamamoto returned and asked for Ren and the Arrancar to follow him along with the other captains. The group made their way to the first division where the rest of the captains and lieutenants were waiting for them.

Ren and his group stood in the center while all of the captains and lieutenants of the other divisions. Ren felt the burning gaze of one captain in particular but ignored it.

Yamamoto took his seat in the middle of the hall with Chojiro standing beside him. The old man slammed his cane on the ground 3 times to announce the beginning of the meeting.

“I have called this meeting in regards to the matters of the 8th division and what shall happen going forward regarding Arrancar.

After speaking with the Central 46, a decision has been made. Friendly Arrancar are to be treated like shinigami. If they dare to assault other shinigami, they are to be killed immediately.

The 8th division is currently the only division that is allowed to recruit Arrancar but they are also the division in command of dealing with any Arrancar threats. Depending on the actions of the Arrancar currently within the 8th division as well as any future Arrancar brought in, we will then decide on whether other divisions will be allowed to take in Arrancar members.

The laws regarding shinigami attempting to gain or actually acquiring hollow-like powers shall remain. If we are to find out that you have attempted to gain any of your Arrancar’s abilities or find a way to give them to your members, you shall be tried as a traitor and executed.

The Central 46 have also said that duels between captains are now forbidden. Anyone caught breaking this rule shall be tried as a traitor and executed.

The last new law that has been created involves the releasing of one’s zanpakuto. Captain’s are no longer allowed to unleash their bankai within Soul Society unless in times of wars.

Chojiro. Pass these 5 their zanpakutos.”

Chojiro walked towards the back of the room to retrieve the zanpakutos. Ren and the other Arrancar were given their zanpakutos back without any further fuss.

“Since all this turned out well and good, I have a couple of requests I would like to make.”

After hearing all of Ren’s request, Yamamoto felt as if he was going to have a heart attack. The old man yelled at Ren for a few minutes while a couple of the captains did their best to hold in their laughter.

They had heard how Ren had pissed off Yamamoto about the haori last week and was surprised that he would still have the nerve to try the old man’s patience after he was almost tried as a traitor by the Central 46 if not for Yamamoto speaking up on his behalf.

With no other important matters, the captains were dismissed from the meeting hall. Ren and the others left after greeting Unohana, Kyoraku, and the current captain of the 6th division, Kuchiki.

The Arrancar left towards the 8th division while Ren started making his way to the forest to see how much Yoruichi and Kisuke had improved since he had last seen them.

———–

Author’s Note: We are in the Top 20!!!

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43 43

Ren arrived at the forest and did not sense anyone in the area. Seeing that neither of the two was there, Ren decided to head inside of the cave and deal with the business that had been bothering him for the past week.

Ren set up several barriers around his body when he remembered what happened to Ichigo during his vizored training. He then sat in the lotus position and placed his blade across his lap and began performing Jinzen. Ren soon entered the inner world that he had done so for a long time that was filled with bone and brass.

“Khorne! Get your fucking ass out here!”

A loud rumbling was heard as the rivers began to overflow and the towers around the world began to shake.

“You dare to…”

But before Khorne could finish, Ren interrupted him.

“It is you that is daring! You dared to hide Dryae from me for over 100 years! I did not use kido to try and please you. To try and make concessions for you since I did not want you to feel like my slave.

But now! I will beat you into submission. Before, I was borrowing your power. I am here to claim it as my own!”

Khorne walked out of the fortress with his head held high. The god was 5 meters tall and covered from head to toe in armor so thick that a space marine would get wet seeing it.

“You wish to challenge me in combat? Fine. The winner shall possess all that the loser owned. If you are victorious, my powers are yours and will be as if they are only yours. If I am victorious, I shall be taking your body and that other spirit’s powers all for myself.

You can use anything except for my abilities while I will exclusively use my abilities. Do you accept this battle between us?”

Ren did not even need to think for a moment before he answered.

“That is exactly why I came here.”

As soon as he said that, a large amount of wood that was at least 8 meters in diameter rose out of the ground beneath Khorne and slammed him into his fort. 10s of smaller trees rose up and stabbed into Khorne’s body as well.

Ren tried to make them as sharp a possible but he was pretty sure that the trees would be unable to pierce Khorne’s armor. The trees were shattered and blown away in thousands of splinters.

“Haha. These can not pierce my armor but you were hoping that they would pierce both my armor and flesh? You forget that the gifts I give you are truly a part of me. You merely borrow their power. I am the source of it.”

4 ethereal weapons appeared behind Khorne. The greatsword and great ax, that Ren was only capable of wielding each one with both hands, were held casually in each of Khorne’s hands.

“I will show your the true power of these weapons.”

These were the two weapons Ren had the least control over due to how powerful they were. The ax had the ability to temporarily multiply Ren’s physical strength by up to 10 times but his body was barely able to handle 3 times even with the Gift of Flesh.

As for the sword, it allowed one access to several powerful warpfire abilities. This weapon could be considered a fire-element zanpakuto’s bankai if it was fully mastered. Khorne pointed the blade at Ren as a ball of white fire formed at the tip of the sword.

Knowing what Khorne was planning to use, Ren was very worried. Ren created hundreds of trees in between himself and Khorne of various sizes and thickness. He also added several kido barriers between certain layers to increase the blockade.

“Molten Beam!”

A pure white beam of concentrated flames left the tip of sword. The beam was so bright that it was blinding while its size was well over 10 meters in diameter. The beam tore through the various layers of defense and would have killed Ren if the layers had not slowed the beam by the slightest or margins and blinded Khorne from seeing Ren.

Ren looked at the hole that the beam had created and the trees that were supposed to be fire resistant burning easily.

‘Wow, that thing is dangerous! I never saw the old man’s bankai but I am pretty sure it would be something dangerous like that. With those flames, hoho, shikai, and hakuda are not all I can use.

I will need to use my bankai to buy time and use my most powerful spell to kill him’

Just as Ren was about to enter his bankai, he heard a growling sound that he was far too familiar with. Ren looked around and saw seven wolf-like creatures with powerful scaled bodies and mouths filled with sharp and dangerous teeth.

These were Fleshhounds that Ren could summon using his second gift, the gift of beasts. These creatures were naturally resistant to most reiatsu/kido based attacks and had incredibly powerful bodies. Most lieutenants would struggle against a single one of them.

The worst part was their sense of smell. Once one of the creatures had caught onto the scent, they all did. And they could track a target thousand of miles away.

Ren looked around but he could not find the hound he was most afraid of. Ren kept looking until he looked right beside Khorne. Standing next to him on all 4 legs was a 3 headed Fleshhound. This was Karanak. He was the most dangerous of the group.

Not just because he could fight a captain with his physical body alone but also with how he tracked others. The others tracked with just their noses in normal ways. Karanak could track targets through different dimensions, could track where they had been years in the past, and could track their target by thought.

With him by Khorne’s side, Ren could no longer plan out strategies since Karanak would be able to know them and tell them to Khorne. All he could do was fight by instinct and improvisation now.

‘Just when I thought this would not have gotten any more difficult. He is not only stronger, faster, more durable, and has an assortment of weapons but he also outnumbers me too.’

Ren stood on his tree branch and let out a chuckle as he pitied himself.

“Whatever. Bankai!”

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The jade beads on Ren’s right wrist seemed to melt before their shaped reformed and became an emerald-colored bracer with a leaf design carved into it. As soon as Ren had awakened his bankai, he cast one of the two abilities it had.

“Shizen no Ikari!” (Nature’s Wrath)

Dryae was a zanpakuto that embodied nature in its purest form. Its shikai was about growth and communication with nature. While its bankai was about its wrath and destructive abilities.

Shizen no Ikari had the special ability to allow Ren to change the weather to several different types of storms or natural phenomena which he could use to his advantage. Ren was immune to each storm’s effects but they would affect everyone else in the area which made his bankai unable to be used with allies around.

Against Khorne and the flesh hounds, Ren decided to use Shizen no Ikari to activate a sandstorm and summon several tornadoes all at once.

Since Khorne and the flesh hounds were bound to the ground, the tornadoes would blow away the flesh hounds and slow Khorne down while the sandstorm was useful at blinding Khorne.

Several yelps were heard by the common flesh hounds being tossed about but Karanak who stood by Khorne’s side seemed unaffected. Its sharp claws were digging into the ground and holding on tight.

“Haha. You think a little wind and sand will be enough to shield you from me?”

Khorne pointed his sword at Ren once more and let a white ball of flame appear on the tip. Another massive beam was fired at Ren but without being caught off guard by the ability and having a large gap between them, Ren was able to dodge fast but had to go towards the ground as he saw Khorne trying to follow him with the beam.

As Ren dodged, he heard a growling appear on his left. Ren hurried to raise a wall of wood but Karanak tore through it like it was paper. Ren used shunpo to flash step away and sent branches after the flesh hounds limbs but he was unable to truly restrain due to being unable to create the strongest bindings he could in a short amount of time.

As Ren was focused on Karanak, he could hear the faint singing of angels. Thinking it was odd to hear that, it took Ren a moment to understand what was truly going on. When he did, his face changed into a look of pure fear.

“You’re using that in here? You’ll burn down the fort! No! You’ll burn down this entire world!”

But Ren was met with no reply and just kept hearing the singing. He saw a bright sphere of light from where Khorne once stood.

Ren was afraid of what Khorne was doing. He created a large number of trees and focused on making them as strong as possible when he did. He then used Shizen no Ikari once again to change the weather to a blizzard and frozen rain to bring down the temperature and hopefully weaken Khorne’s next move.

Karanak who was attacking Ren slowed down by a large degree and the other flesh hounds stopped moving altogether.

‘Flesh hounds are weak to cold. Awesome to know. Now to deal with this before he kills me!’

Ren bound Karanak’s legs with trees while he could feel that the temperature was increasing no matter how much snow and freezing rain rained down. The voice of Khorne was getting louder and the louder the longer he sang.

‘I have about a minute and a half before he finishes that song. I need to break through his armor before then to end this!’

———-

Inside the cave, Yoruichi had arrived and was about to greet Ren when she saw him but once she noticed the barriers she did not dare to interrupt afraid of disturbing her teacher during something important.

‘I wonder why he needs so many barriers. There are at least 7 that I can see and maybe even more if they are thinner.’

Yoruichi sat outside the barrier and watched her teacher’s face who had cold sweat appearing on it.

—————-

Ren had launched several different kido attacks that he could cast instantly but none of them managed to pierce through the light that was covering Khorne let alone his armor. As for ones that needed chanting, they would take too long and Ren was not sure that they would work. So he turned to his last resort.

“Mokushiroku!” (Apocalpyse)

This was Dryae’s most powerful technique but also the most dangerous. Ren looked into the sky and could see if it was coming but he could not see anything through the clouds.

Ren counted the time he had left in his head and was wondering what was taking so long. They were inside his personal world and the ability created it so it was not like he needed a real one.

Ren surrounded his body in several different kido barriers and created the most durable type of wood he could to surround his body. If his attack did not arrive in time, he was going to die. And even if it did, Ren might still die.

Inside the cocoon he made for himself, Ren could hear the singing get louder and even feel the temperature getting hotter. But then he heard it. A whistling and a rumbling.

Mokushiroku summoned nature’s tried and tested method for restarting life on a planet. The ability summoned one or several meteors to rain down and destroy everything. Not sure if he would survive summoning more than 1, Ren only summoned a single meteor.

If Ren knew the true size of the meteor, he would have surely regretted summoning even the one instead of risking it all on another ability.

Khorne kept singing as he looked above and saw the destruction that approached him. One word surfaced in his mind. He had seen it down many times in his past life against his daemons but never expected it would occur to him directly.

‘They told about the danger it held but I always ignored. Who thought a mortal would dare to use it on me. What was it called again? Ah, yes. Exterminatus…’

” /51869750514480898/comments?orderType=1&replyId=”>24 0

45 45

—–30 seconds prior—–

Yoruichi had been watch Ren closely and noticed that he had a look of fear on his face.

‘For teacher to be afraid, I wonder what is going on with him. Maybe he is doing some zanpakuto training with that spirit of his and he has to live through some nightmares.’

Just as she was about to look away, Yoruichi was shocked to see Ren severely injured. His upper body was bare while many cuts and burns appeared over his entire body. There was an especially large wound on Ren’s chest like someone had ripped out a large amount of flesh with a claw.

‘What is going on? What is going on?!?!’

Yoruichi wanted to leave and get help but she was unsure of where to go. She was also unsure of when the barrier would lower and did not want to be too far away in case her teacher needed help immediately.

Without any other choice, Yoruichi took a long flute from between her breasts and blew into it. No noise was heard coming from it but Yoruichi seemed to relax after she had done it.

‘Let’s see if being the next clan head is worth it.’

————————

Ren was coughing up blood and using emergency kaido on his body. He stopped Shizen no Ikari because his body was so weak that he could not resist the effects of his own technique anymore.

‘I am barely alive and I dropped it directly on him. He has to be dead, doesn’t he?’

But Ren’s hopes were soon dashed. When the dust dispersed, Khorne still stood there. His body that seemed to be almost completely destroyed was rapidly healing. The sight utterly terrified Ren.

The sight of Khorne’s body reforming was disgusting but it was his true appearance that threw Ren off.

Khorne looked like a humanoid canine with black, scaled skin. His skin was so black that when he was healing his burns, Ren could not tell which was a burn from the meteor and which was just how his skin looked.

Khorne looked at Ren with eyes full of rage as he felt his body slowly recover. Ren’s last move had truly put him in danger of losing his life.

If he had stopped casting ‘Sunburst’ which melted a small portion of the meteor and did not use the Great Axe of Khorne to strike at the meteor right moment to break part of it apart, Khorne was sure he would have lost.

“Haha. You were so close. You even used Exterminatus on me. You must be tired. Exhausted. Because without my gifts, you will surely die to those wounds.

But do not worry. I will not let you die like that. I will cut your head off, rip out your skull, and place it atop my throne while I hang your body above my entrance to let anyone who dares to attack me know the cost.”

Ren could not believe that Khorne had lived through that. He had dropped a meteor on the being.

‘Haha. He is really a god. But that just means that this will be even better when I kill him.’

Ren held his hand above his hand and pointed a finger at the sky. Dark energy formed around the entire area.

“Does not matter if the first one did not kill you. I will definitely kill you with this next move!”

The pressure got heavy around both of the combatants. Even Khorne could feel the danger of what Ren was doing. If he had his armor, he would not have worried but with the meteor having destroyed it and his body still recovering, Khorne was unsure if he could survive one more move like that.

Khorne tried to move forward but he fell before he could even take a single step. He looked down to see that both of his legs were more injured than he had initially thought.

Ren began to chant, “Seeping crest of turbidity. Arrogant vessel of lunacy! Boil forth and deny! Grow numb and flicker! Disrupt sleep!”

Hearing that Ren was using a spell unknown to him, Khorne could only summon Bloodhunger. With the black and red sword in his hand, he had it unleash a roar.

The roar caused Ren to be stunned and stop casting his spell. The dark energy and pressure in the area dispersed as Ren coughed up blood from being interrupted.

’20 seconds before it can be used again. Finish this!’

Ren raised his finger and pointed at the sky once again as the pressure and dark energy returned.

“You! Will! Die! Seeping crest of turbidity. Arrogant vessel of lunacy! Boil forth and deny! Grow numb and flicker! Disrupt sleep! Crawling queen of iron! Eternally self-destructing doll of mud! Unite! Repulse! Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness!”

Khorne felt himself being pushed to the ground as a large amount of gravity was suddenly weighing down on him. A large, black coffin of reiatsu covered Khorne before multiple smaller boxes of black energy appeared, each of them topped off with cross-shaped spears.

The smaller boxes fused with the larger box until it became incredibly large with all of the cross-shaped spears as the top.

“Hado #90: Kurohitsugi! (Black Coffin)”

The spears at the top of the coffin entered it and cut apart all that was within the coffin. This was one of Ren’s two most powerful kido spells alongside Hado #91.

After the black box disappeared, Ren saw the lacerated and mutilated body of Khorne. Ren would have thought that the blood god would have lived through the attack if not for the head that had fallen to the ground. With this, victory was Ren’s.

————Inside the cave. ———–

The elite guards of the Shihoin clan had arrived and just broken through the 6th barrier. Just as they were about to attempt the 7th, all the remaining barriers shattered.

Ren opened his eyes and saw all the unrecognizable individuals before he saw his student run up to him to check on him. Seeing that he was in no danger, Ren decided to give in to his body’s wishes and lose consciousness. ‘

—————————-

Author’s note:

Happy V-Day!

” /51879328274771586/comments?orderType=1&replyId=”>28 0

46 46

Tier came to the Shihion clan as soon as she heard about Ren. When Tier arrived, she could see several dark-skinned individuals which was the signature skin color of members of the clan. They led Tier inside until she reached a room where 4 individuals were standing or kneeling around a bed and looking down on the figure lying on it.

Kisuke and Yoruichi were on either side of the bed while a young kid who looked similar to Yoruichi was by the young woman’s side. The last person in the room was the current 5th seat of the 4th division who Yoruichi had kidnapped on the way there, Isane Kotetsu.

The woman had performed kaido on Ren but was surprised to see that most of the injuries were healing themselves and at a fast rate.

“How is he?” Tier asked as soon as she studied the room and made sure that Ren was not in danger. She ignored two people kneeling and talked to the only person wearing a shinigami uniform.

“His body was injured while he was training in his inner world. I am not sure what type of training he was doing since he had already achieved bankai but the damage he had received was quite extensive.

His body also seems to be undergoing some sort of change and I think it has something to do with his zanpakuto. The thing has slowly been changing from a custom zanpakuto into an asauchi.

This would usually mean that the shinigami is dying but his vitality is getting stronger and stronger with each moment. I am truly puzzled as to what exactly is going on with Lord 8th.”

Tier nodded and walked over to the bed before sitting down beside Kisuke. Everyone’s attention was on Ren.

Under Yoruichi’s order as the 22nd Head of the Shihion clan, no one was allowed the spread the news of Ren getting injured. So for the next week, only the officers of the 8th division, the few guards who brought Ren back to the compound, and the people in Ren’s recovery room knew of what happened.

During that week, Ren’s body had undergone several major changes while his zanpakuto had completely reverted into the standard katana most asauchi started off as.

——Inner World——-

A shirtless man was running through the forest within the inner world. Ren had only walked along the original path to Dryae’s tree before and had never explored the large place. The size of it was unbelievable.

Ren jumped from tree to tree using just his physical body and realized that he had gotten much stronger.

‘This is what he meant when he said that his power would be my own. It seems that my body has finally stopped changing after a week.’

During the past week, Ren was aware of the changes his body was going through outside because he was going through the same changes in his inner world. Ren could barely recognize himself anymore.

Ren had inherited most of Khorne’s abilities but several of them had a few modifications to them. He had inherited all the gifts and 2 of the bankai abilities.

Ren’s version of the Gift of Flesh was similar to the one Khorne had used when they battled and was always active. Ren’s was not as powerful as Khorne’s as well but it at least kept his appearance more normal by only increasing his height and the density of his body.

Ren was able to master the use of his body as it slowly increased over the week and was no longer afraid of damaging anything when he left his inner world.

“Dryae!”

Right after he shouted her name, Dryae appeared in front of Ren as if she had always been there. She looked over Ren’s body with a teasing look before she licked her lips.

“Ara, Ara. Your body looks so good after you took over that guy’s abilities.”

Ren shook his head at Dryae. He realized after being alone with her for several days that Dryae was a huge flirt and tease but he did not mind that since the spirit was very loyal and he would not have survived his fight with Khorne without her help.

“You’ve had me to yourself for a week now. I need to head out to make sure that my division has not collapsed in on itself without their great leader.”

Dryae nodded and tried to pat Ren on his head before realizing that he had grown too tall for her to do it. Dryae puffed out her cheeks as she pouted.

Ren chuckled seeing this and kneeled a bit so his spirit could do as she wanted. After patting Ren’s messy hair, Dryae felt satisfied and disappeared as if she was never there.

Ren was used to her disappearing act and let his conscious be pulled out of the inner world as he could not wait to eat something for the first time in a week.

——– Shihoin Compound ———

Ren sat up from the bed so fast that he scarred the 4 people looking after him. Before Ren could say anything, his stomach let out a loud growl.

Ren gave a sheepish laugh before asking “Any chance I can get something to eat real quick?”

—————-

Author’s Note:

We made it to the top 15 in only about a week. That is amazing guys and gals!

” /51881708491956132/comments?orderType=1&replyId=”>48 0

47 47

Ren was eating like a Shonen protagonist. His body was starving since he had not had a meal in the past week and his body grew by a great deal as well. Ren who was originally 178 centimeters tall had grown to 230 centimeters in height.

With such a large growth spurt, it was surprising that Ren did not starve to death. Tier, Kisuke, and Yoruichi watched in amazement as Ren ate all of the food placed before him in a short amount of time.

Isane was finally allowed to leave when Ren woke up so the woman hurried to take off and return to the 4th division while Yushiro, Yoruichi’s brother, had gotten tired of watching over Ren after the first day and had not been seen since then.

Ren set down his chopsticks and bowl with a satisfied look on his face. Seeing the 3 of them looking at him with concerned looks, he knew he could not put off answering their unasked questions.

“I was dealing with Khorne, my zanpakuto spirit. It not only hid my second zanpakuto spirit but also was very limiting of what I could do. He wouldn’t let me use kido and always complained about how I acted.

So I decided that I was tired. Long story short, I had a battle to the death with my zanpakuto spirit which was the reason for my wounds. And as you can see that I am still alive, you can tell who was the winner. I have absorbed some of the zanpakuto’s abilities but also lost some. That is also the reason for these physical changes.”

Kisuke and Yoruichi looked very interested in hearing about the zanpakuto spirit and inheriting its powers. Tier just seemed to relax when she heard that Ren was no longer in danger and would not be in danger anymore.

No longer worried about Ren, Tier stood up.

“Since you are fine, I will take my leave. I have been away from the division and unsure if Shin and Emilou have destroyed it.

We also need to do more administration work since we need more members and to filter through the graduates of the Academy.

I will await your return and have a large pile of paperwork waiting for your signature when you return.”

With that, Tier left without looking back. Ren felt a little upset with her leaving so quickly but when he remembered that she stayed by his side for an entire week, that cloud in his heart disappeared very fast.

Just when Ren was about to ask for more food, he saw Yoruichi and Kisuke each have a bowl in their hands that held some delicious looking and smelling food. Each of the pair had a friendly smile on their face but their eyes told a different story.

Ren sighed and took the bribes before motioning for them to ask whatever they wanted to ask.

“You have absorbed your zanpakuto? Does that mean you are partially a zanpakuto?”

“Did you absorb all the abilities as they are or did some of them change?”

“Do you still have bankai? Or are you always in bankai?”

“What about your second spirit? I only heard about the one ability when you battled Captain Kenpachi but nothing else?”

“Oh, yeah! Your second zanpakuto is in permanent shikai, right?”

Kisuke asked all the questions he had in mind without giving Ren a chance to answer one before he asked the next.

Kisuke was more interested in Ren’s zanpakutos while Yoruichi admired Ren’s body. She looked him up and down and was feeling up his body while she was eating. It was easy to tell that the woman had a bit of a muscle fetish.

“Not sure.

I think it is more like a permanent bankai.

Some of them changed.

I do have a second spirit and it is always in shikai.”

Ren held up the jade bead bracelet on his right hand for Kisuke to see. Kisuke grabbed Ren’s arm and began to closely examine Dryae since it seemed like she was not a true zanpakuto since she was not attached to the asauchi.

Yoruichi seemed to get her fill with feeling Ren up so she sat on the side and looked closely at Ren and Kisuke. Her mind could not help but wonder.

‘I wonder what Kisuke would look like with muscles.’

But as soon as she imagined the droopy looking man with large muscles, her mind vomited.

‘No, no. He is fine the way he is.’

“Teacher. The best way to get your body in perfect condition is to workout. And the best workout is a good spar!”

‘So that is what she wanted.’

Ren did not mind though. He agreed to the spar and passed Dryae to Kisuke so the man could study it as he pleased. He was not afraid of Kisuke doing anything dangerous with Dryae so he let him hold her while he sparred with Yoruichi.

The pair went out to the training grounds where the main clan members, guards, and a several members of the Feng clan were present. When they all saw their next clan head walking in with a man they did not recognize, they could not help but take a second look.

Ren jumped into the arena along with Yoruichi.

“We will do this one on one. I will not use any of my abilities except for this one that I can’t turn off. I will also use no kido and will be limited to hakuda and hoho.

You can use whatever you want to try your best to beat me. You will win if you land 3 solid hits on me.”

The people who were watching were offended by the man who looked down on the next clan head so much. None of them recognized Ren due to his physical and hairstyle change as well as his lack of shinigami robes.

Yoruichi was not offended but thought that her teacher was being even harsher. She had never landed a hit before when working with Kisuke but he expected her to land 3 with his new, more powerful frame?

‘At least he is not using his sword,’ were the only words of comfort she could give to herself.

————————-

Author’s Note:

Support me if you want. Or don’t. I’m still gonna be writing: https://ko-fi.com/boredasura

” /51883179535032032/comments?orderType=1&replyId=”>40 0

48 48

The pair stood across from each other and raised their hands. Ren towered over Yoruichi and would make many think of the David vs Goliath.

Figuring that she should use anything for her advantage, Yoruichi decided to make the first move to pressure Ren. Using shunpo, she was gone in a flash.

‘Her speed is not bad. She should soon break into the expert level.’

Ren casually dodged the heel drop that came from above. Yoruichi did not let that deter her before she attacked in a flurry with her fists and zanpakuto. Each move was aimed at a different part of Ren’s body to keep his rhythm off but she could not land a blow.

‘She has been training hard. She can compete with an officer even without her zanpakuto. But this is not enough. This is the woman who is supposed to be able to take on several captains at once. I will make sure that she gets there.’

Yoruichi slashed at Ren’s throat but he grabbed it with two fingers. Seeing her attack was caught, not dodged, blocked, or deflected, but caught left Yoruichi in a stunned state.

Ren decided to teach her a lesson about letting her mind wander in battle a delivered a heavy blow to her gut. Yoruichi was hit so hard that she was sent flying across the arena. Luckily for her, Ren controlled the power of the attack so the blow was more for effect than damage and Yoruichi was able to stand almost right after she landed.

After that, the spar was like all of Ren’s training sessions. Beating down Yoruichi with an overwhelming advantage a first before slowly weakening himself until he reached a level that was just outside their current limits.

This was Ren’s ‘Surpass your limits’ training style which had been very effective on the two. Ren estimated that he had increased their rate of growth by a large margin.

The people watching on the side were surprised by how one-sided the battle was. They knew that Yoruichi was a prodigy that only came around once every 1000 years and that the current her could take on officers of the Gotei 13 or captains of the Onmitsukidō.

Although they did not recognize Ren, after seeing how well he fought, they knew he had to be a lieutenant or higher. But none of them could recognize Ren at all.

Ren and Yoruichi continued their match for another hour until Yoruichi could no longer stand. She had been fighting at her full power from the get-go and was not given a moment to rest. Ren truly wanted to push the woman to her limits.

Once Yoruichi collapsed, Ren was about to catch the girl but saw several guards rush over. Shrugging his shoulders, he figured it was better to let them handle Yoruichi.

‘There is the difference between men and women after all. It would not be appropriate since they do not know that I am her teacher.’

Ren used shunpo to flash step in front of Kisuke and snatch Dryae. The blonde man looked shocked and looked up at Ren with a questioning gaze.

Ren showed him a friendly smile that did not reach his eyes before throwing Kisuke in the ring for his training session.

‘From the way his body is, he has not used Benehime in combat for at least 6 months because of the Nest. He must have focused on using kido because the rest of his muscles he would use in the Nest also seem to lack in development.

I heard that there were several riots and almost an escape but this guy was able to handle his part without resorting to using hakuda or hoho. He truly is a monster.’

Just like with Yoruichi, Ren sparred with Kisuke for an hour as well. Unlike Yoruichi though, he forbid Kisuke from using his kido level since he knew that his kido was only slightly behind Tessai’s.

Kisuke was battered, beaten, and blue when Ren was done with him. Seeing his precious student like that left Ren in a good mood. He always liked training them while he could before they had reached the levels they would in the future.

Ren did not realize that he had already surpassed them with his skills but because of what he saw Aizen do, Ren was always trying to increase his combat prowess.

After making sure that both of his students were alright and were properly in bed, Ren left the Shihoin clan after talking about owing them a favor.

Ren did not realize that two particular young people, one purple-haired boy and a black-haired girl, saw him leave in the distance with some admiration in their eyes.

Ren had beaten the one person both of them looked up to so easily that they could not help but have a good impression of him. They had also heard Yoruichi quietly address him as ‘Teacher’ before so both did not feel it was wrong for the man to beat her up.

The pair shared a look before silently vowing to take that man as their teacher as well.

” /51886707850660015/comments?orderType=1&replyId=”>43 0

49 49

Ren returned to the 8th division but was denied entry by members stationed to watch the gate. He looked at the pair like they were idiots and swore to beat the… train them so that they would never forget his face once again.

Ren did not realize just how much his body had changed. Not only was he insanely larger, but his facial structure had also changed a bit and his hair was no longer its unique color but was now black. It would be surprising for anyone to recognize him.

Ren used Dryae to summon trees and tie up the two members while he made his way inside of the barracks and toward his officers’ building. When he walked in, he saw Kyou explaining the various duties that officers must perform for their division.

Even though their division was much smaller than all of the other divisions with the fewest members and fewest officers, there were still certain things that needed to be done such as logistics, training, interaction with other divisions, and a few other minor things.

As the only person beside Ren who was an officer prior, Kyou had to be the one to take over the lieutenant duties temporarily as she explained everyone’s jobs to them. Tier seemed to understand most of what she needed to do but still attended these meetings to learn as much s she could.

Kyou was just in the middle of telling them about how much extra supplies they should keep stashed per month when she noticed the large figure standing at the door. Just as she was about to ask who he was, she noticed the jade bead bracelet on his wrist.

“Ren!”

The others turned around and saw the tall man but they did not recognize him as their captain. It was only after Ren held up his right hand and showed them the bracelet did they recognize him.

“Ren!” “Lord 8th!” Each of them shouted at once. Very few could believe that the man before them was truly their captain.

Ren nodded and looked towards Kyou.

“Please head to the logistics division and tell them that my new haoris will need to be a bit larger than expected.”

Kyou nodded in understanding.

“Thanks. I will be returning to my room. If there is anything I need to sign, just bring it to me there.”

The rest nodded in understanding before Ren walked away. As soon as he was out of sight, all of them could not help but gossip a little.

“Is that really the captain? He looks so…”

“I know. I can’t believe his body got so large. I wonder what he did to make it like that.”

“It just means that our captain is that much stronger and deserves the title of ‘Captain of the Strongest Division’.”

While most of the members were praising Ren, there were two battle-maniacs who had one thought on their minds.

‘He must have gotten some cool new abilities. I wanna fight him!’

Both Shin and Emilou did not feel intimidated at all by Ren’s large stature but thought that they wanted to try him out and see what he could do now. These pair only had fighting on their minds most of the time and would have been great members of the 11th division if they were not a part of the 8th.

Ren had gone to the logistic team of their division that Kyou had recently put together and gotten a uniform in a much larger size that would fit his frame before leaving for his dorm. When Ren returned to his room, he immediately went to his bed to lay down and think about his plans.

‘Kyou is learning how to be an excellent leader. She has the potential to be the captain of another division so I might as well let her train her leadership trait now before I assign her, her own squad within the division.

I also need to think about our ranks. Even if my men are stronger, I still need to make sure that our numbers are not too far behind the others. Strength cannot beat tactics unless it is overwhelming strength.

This is all for later. For now, let’s wait to see what they have for me.’

Ren waited two hours before he heard a knock on his door.

“One second!”

Ren walked out of the room and saw not only Kyou and Tier who he had expected but Shin and Emilou were present. Ren could tell what both of them wanted but he did not have the time for it at the moment.

The large amount of paperwork that they had brought him had killed all of his fighting spirit. Ren knew he would be missing a large amount due to his 6-month absence before the 1-week absence, but he figured since so many people died he could just write a mass-murder excuse.

It seemed he had to fill out the cause of death for each and every one of them as well as sign them off. There was also signing of salary amounts, payment toward the logistic division, and reviewing missions that were considered B-class or higher which required the captain’s permission to accept.

There was also the matter of looking over promising individuals who had just passed the shinigami exam and sending them invitations if he thought they were fitting for his division.

Ren was no longer a lieutenant of a pure combat division that ignored paperwork and had to now take his job seriously. As an officer, while he held an important role, he was not the pillar of the 10th or 11th division.

But as a captain, Ren had an example to set. So with acceptance of his fate, Ren went to his desk and began his work.

——————–

Wow. You guys made us number 1 again!

” /51900935181494406/comments?orderType=1&replyId=”>26 0

50 50

Ren signed off on all the papers placed before him and made sure that he read through them carefully.

‘So many died when I did not even consider them my men. I kept calling them probationary members so I guess it still ended up being my responsibility.’

The first things he had to deal with were the death certificates of all the members who died in Hueco Mundo. Whenever he came across a name he did not recognize, he asked Kyou or Shin about them since they had led the main troop during the time in Hueco Mundo.

He patiently listened to them and learned about the person behind the man. Even if he did not like to admit it, Ren had been influenced by Khorne from all the years that had been together. While he still did not care for the shinigami who died as much as most others would, he still cared somewhat.

But Ren did not feel guilty for their deaths. He had told them about the risk of death beforehand and given them the choice to back out. His main concern was the waste of potential.

After signing about 300 death certificates, Ren was finally done with them. But just as he set his pen down, Kyou passed over the salary book.

Ren pulled it up and looked through it before signing a few things to decide the new salary that would be distributed.

‘We get this much per month? I need to calculate the logistic costs, maximum members need to be taken into account. If we take on bonus missions, we can make some more but I am not sure by how much.

Ugh. I’ll just write down this amount for members and pay the officers this. This is a bit over the standard salary most give off but since I do not plan on having 3,000 members at all times, I think that we will be fine.’

Ren quickly wrote in the amounts before passing the book over to Kyou. He was about to stand up once again before Kyou passed Ren the list of graduates from the academy.

The academy had two types of graduations. Fast track and standard. Fast track were those who graduated at random times due to their advanced skills. These people usually passed the shinigami exam while still in school so they had automatically graduated.

Standard was the people that Ren was currently looking at. These were individuals who had met the academy’s standards and would graduate with others at a standard time. Although none of these individuals had taken the shinigami exam yet each of them would most likely pass the shinigami exam.

Ren’s job was to look through them and find which ones had the most potential or were most suited for the 8th division.

Each division was given copies of the students’ performance during their time at the academy as well as teacher and psychological evaluations of each of them. When the graduates passed the shinigami exam, the divisions would get a copy of that as well.

Of the standard graduates, there were only 30 that year. None of the names stood out to Ren as someone who would be important in Canon.

There were two people who gained his attention. They were a married couple. 1 of them was a noble from one of the 4 Great Noble Families, Tokinada Tsunayashiro of the Tsunayashiro Clan. His wife was named Kakyō.

‘Hmm. Even though he is an outer member of the clan, he has excellent reiatsu. I would even say that he was comparable to Yoruichi at the time when she had graduated from the academy.

He has good potential but his personality is the issue. Although the Tsunayashiro Clan tried to sweep it under the rug, we as captains know what really happens in there. The guy bullied countless students and forced at least 10 to quit the academy before they disappeared.

As for his wife, this woman is truly pitiful. I can’t imagine how she suffers under him. That’s not my business though. The reason why this sucks is that it means that this woman is not willing to fight for herself.

Whether that is just because she is cowardly or for fear of the Tsunayashiro Clan, I am unsure. To recruit her or not? That is the question.’

Besides their potential, the main thing that gained Ren’s attention was the woman’s name. He kept thinking that it sounded familiar in the deepest echoes of his mind but after 100 something years and learning about the life of Ren before he left, most of the minor things that occurred in Bleach were forgotten by him.

‘She is not a main character so no matter what happens, it should not be something so major that I change the plot. Right?’

Ren decided to go with his gut and she was the only member of all the graduates who the 8th division had their eyes on. The battle for the members would be handled by his officers.

Lastly, Ren needed to go over missions. Missions were classified from E-S. E class missions required a single shinigami, D meant a squad of shinigami, C meant an officer, B was a lieutenant-level, A was Captain-level, and S required 2 Captain-level individuals.

Anything that required more than 2 captains would be handled by Yamamoto himself. Ren read through the various missions that were being requested by the divisions to do. He saw 3 that required them to visit the human world for some rogue shinigami so he had accepted those 3 without a second thought.

‘Although I can’t go, I can see how they all are able to handle themselves while dealing with other shinigami.’

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Each of the 3 missions was B-rank and expected someone of the lieutenant rank to take them on. All of the missions involved escapees from the Nest who had recently gotten out during one of the many riots that had been occurring recently.

1 of the missions involved hunting down a group of shinigami that were led by 2 officer ranked shinigami with at least 8 other shinigami in their midst. Luckily, none of them had their zanpakuto so there was one less thing to worry about.

The second mission involved a former member of the Kido Corps. This woman was very dangerous in her time and was arrested for using forbidden kido.

The last mission involved 3 officers ranked shinigami. All of the trio were in the single digits when they were members of the Gotei 13 and one of them had even managed to recover his zanpakuto before he escaped.

‘They escaped using a Senkaimon belonging to one of the lesser noble families. Whether that family had helped them escape or not, that is not within my jurisdiction.’

“Shin. Go take these papers to the 1st division so they know that I have accepted these missions. Hurry up about it!”

Shin nodded and took the papers before he rushed out the door. Not worried about crashing into anything once he was outside, Shin used Shunpo to hurry to the first division.

The missions came on a first come, first serve basis for whichever division accepted them. Luckily, these missions had only been requested that day so the 8th division had a pretty good chance of being the one to take it on.

‘I can send the Trio after the Kido Corps member. They need more practice against kido users and this is an excellent chance to see just how dangerous someone who uses it is.

I will leave the non-zanpakuto carrying officers to Shin. His wild nature would be more advantageous against a large group like that. Akira and Eiko can back him up.

Kyou can take on the zanpakuto group. I will leave Minori under her command. The pair should be able to handle them.

That will leave me, Tier, and Naoko here to handle any administrative work that needs to be done or send on any missions that need to be taken on.’

Ren was acting as if it was set in stone that his division would get the missions. When Shin returned, he came with good news as well as a couple of visitors. They had gotten the missions before anyone else did so their division was in charge of killing or capturing the fugitives.

Their visitors were the captain and lieutenant of the second division, Jun Kyoraku and Mei Ise. Both had embarrassed looks on their faces when they came to Ren.

“If it isn’t the captain and vice-captain of the 2nd division as well as cutest couple in Seireitei. What do we have the pleasure of you visiting our small division?”

Kyoraku let out a laugh to hide his embarrassment. Although most captains were not close and would only speak with each other during mandatory meetings, it was a bit absurd for both the captain and lieutenant to visit the division of someone they barely knew to ask for a favor.

“Ha. How do I say this?

Some of my men were careless when they were tracking a group of fullbringers and quincy working together. They are active in the area where we believe that those escaped shinigami are believed to be in.

If they all work separately or even kill each other, that would be a good day. But since all of them are being hunted by the Gotei 13….”

“Since they are all being hunted by us, they might work together. Which means we have the versitility of the quincy, the unpredictability of the fullbringers, and the raw power of shinigami.

Each one is bad enough on their own but with all of them working together, they would be able to kill a captain if one was careless.”

Kyoraku nodded his head. Although this was not the most likely scenario, it was still a possibility. Ren looked at Captain Kyoraku and asked with his eyes what the man had planned. Instead of Jun, it was Mei who answered.

“Yes. I was planning to take lead of a group of our men and 3 officers to head to the human world to deal with them. When we saw the missions being requested, we figured it was a chance to clean up our mistake without it being publicized.

Most ignore these type of missions so we thought that we would get to them first and kill 2 birds with a single stone. But it seems like we are too late.

So we are here for a cooperation between our divisions. We send in our original planned squad and you send the members you had planned.

We can tell the Captain-Commander that we are just trying to improve the relationship between our divisions and help each other out since we are both stretched thin.”

Ren thought it over before looking at Kyou and Tier. Tier was his lieutenant and Kyou was th eone with the most experience besides him so he valued their opinions.

Tier shrugged her shoulders since she did not care about who went. Kyou nodded thinking that using the extra members was safer after hearing about the new situation.

Ren looked at Kyoraku and held out his head. The other captain put his hand out as well as the two captains shook and came to an agreement.

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Even though in the future every division was could do whatever they wanted as long as they did not break any laws, the current era required permission from the 1st division before they could do anything.

After sending in the official request to work with another division, Ren and Captain Kyoraku got a reply almost immediately. The seal of approval from the lieutenant of the first division was given to the joint pursuit squad could start moving out at any moment.

Kyoraku and Ise left to get their men ready immediately while the 8th division had already given out their roles. Of the 11 officers of the division, 8 of them were going out on this mission. This was just how dangerous the task was when dealing with unknown variables such as trained shinigami.

Ren went left with the group to head to the main Senkaimon of Soul Society. Before they had gone there, the group made a pit stop at the main logistic division to pick up their new uniforms.

The other officers did not mind how they looked and wore the standard uniform but the former fraccion were given uniforms that were the black versions of their Espada clothes.

Cyan got a long dress with sleeves that extended past her hands. Franceska’s uniform was several separate pieces of clothing that were a shirt that was closer to a sleeveless halter top, black gauntlets, and a skirt. Emilou wore something that was closer to the shinigami uniform but had shorter sleeves.

Ren picked up his new haori and Tier’s new uniform as well. He wore his new emerald color haori with red edges over his body. Besides the color, the only difference from a standard captain’s haori was that it had a hood.

‘I must look so badass right now.’

Ren took his group and made their way toward the Senkaimon. When they arrived, the 2nd division was still not present so Ren decided to have the members open up the pathway for them now so they could leave the moment that the 2nd arrived.

Ren walked up and showed the 4 guards his paperwork that gave them permission to leave through the portal. While 3 did not look like they had an issue, the only woman in the group seemed like she had an issue.

“Is there a problem?”

The woman gave a small, fake smile before answering Ren.

“Only a slight one. We are supposed to protect the human world from hollows, not just send them directly there.”

The air suddenly got much colder. Emilou and Franceska seemed like they were ready to cut down the woman who spoke while Cyan had a cold smile on her face. The other officers of the 8th division did not have good looks on their faces either.

Ren did not wish to escalate the situation necessarily so he tried to solve it in the most peaceful way that he could.

“Here is the paperwork,” He said as he held up the approved mission papers.

“Here is a captain saying that his people are going on this mission,” he said as he turned around and pointed to the division number on the back of his haori.

“Here are his trusted officers,” he pointed at each member that he brought individually to emphasize the point.

“And here is someone who is getting in the way of them taking down enemies of Soul Society,” Ren said while pointing to the woman.

Feeling her cheeks flush the woman was in a dilemma. Ever since she had joined the Kido Corps, there had been few people that she could not talk to as she did. Even though she knew it was wrong to speak with a captain as she did, her pride would not let her back down.

“I am just saying this for your sake, Captain. You should not hang around such beings. It will bring down the reputation that you have worked so hard to earn.

You bringing such dirty creatures back here is not only a stain upon your division but all of Soul Society. I understand that the Central 46 has said their piece on this matter but they might just be giving you some face.”

Ren felt that what she said was so funny that he almost laughed. The anger inside of him was stopping him from doing so.

‘Dirty creatures? My officers? You actually said that to my face. Fine. Now we do this the way I prefer.’

All the others in the area, whether the Kido Corps members, officers of the 8th division, or people of the 2nd who had just arrived, had cold looks on their faces when they heard what the woman said. They were startled when Ren gave a small bow to the women.

“I did not know that you were the Soul King. My apologies. I mean Queen.”

The woman felt her cheeks go pale. Even though there was no law directly saying that impersonating the Soul King was illegal, only a fool would do so.

Shouting she said, “I never said such a thing. I am not the Soul King or Queen. Please watch your words.”

Ren raised his eyebrows in confusion.

“You are not? Then I am confused. Because not even the old bastard dares to talk to me that way so I figured that you have to be of higher status than him.”

Everyone sucked in their breaths. No one dared to call Yamamoto that yet Ren had done so in front of a large group. If anyone said anything about it, Ren would be in deep trouble but it seemed like he did not care.

“Now I suggest you open up the Senkaimon so that we can hunt down these criminals. Or I can show you how I became captain, survived in Hueco Mundo for 6 months, and beat the strongest captain beside Yamamoto.”

The woman nodded as she and the other Kido Corps members opened the doors and gave several butterflies to the group. Ren watched them all enter the light before the doors closed and his people were officially no longer in Soul Society.

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With his officers safely gone, Ren returned to the 8th division after taking about 20 steps through Soul Society. He went straight to Tier’s dorm to deliver her new and updated uniform.

Ren knocked on the door and waited for Tier to open it before he passed her, her uniform. This was the same uniform she would wear as an Espada (manga version).

It was a jacket with a collar so high that it covered the lower half of the woman’s face, including her hollow mask, and the base of the jacket ended just below her breasts. The sleeves on the jacket were long enough that she could hide her hands inside of them with little effort. As for her pants, she wore the same hakuma that all shinigami wore.

“Thank you,” she said before turning around to get changed and do whatever else she was doing.

“Is that all? Don’t you want to tell me how amazing and inspiring my haori looks?” Ren asked hoping to get complimented on his haori. When he asked the other members they remained silent. Both Shin and Emilou were about to speak up but they had their mouths covered by Kyou and Cyna before they could say anything.

‘Bah! They are probably just jealous because they can’t wear a haori as magnificent as mine. Maybe I should get some made for all my officers in the division like the 6th does with their elites.’

Tier saw Ren turn around a few times and pose with his haori so that she could see it in its fullness but her eyes held no trace of flattery in them.

“Stop trying to add color to it. Keep it the basic white or inverse the colors if you want. You look more like the division’s mascot than its leader. You look like you are trying to make others feel jolly,” Tier said ruthlessly.

Ren heard her words and visibly deflated. He looked as if he had just been betrayed.

‘I wanted a compliment, not these insults! What mascot? I thought this looked amazing.’

“Tsk. Come to the office when you’re done changing. And bring that other one too!”

Ren took off his haori and flung it on the ground in frustration before he went back to his office. Since he had agreed to work with the 2nd division, there was a large amount of paperwork to fill out.

He had only done the portion that allowed him to send his men in and requesting the aid of the 2nd division. Now he had to fill out many logistical parts to it.

Tier and Naoko entered the office in unison after 20 minutes. Ren looked over Tier and was amazed by how good she looked in black.

Nodding to himself for asking their opinions about the uniforms, Ren had both pull up their desks in front of his. He then passed them each several papers that they could sign off on or finish for him since they were officers.

Ren instructed them in the basics of writing reports before leaving them to their work. He would answer any questions that they had but he preferred for them to come up with the questions themselves than having to hold their hands through it.

‘Ugh! I can’t just have people who know how to fight. We have the title of ‘Strongest Division’ but I want the title of ‘Best Division’. That means we need to excel in all areas.

I was lucky that most of those who awakened their zanpakuto are smart otherwise I would have to miss out on people with great potential because they were too stupid.’

For the next several hours, the group worked in silence with occasional questions and answers in between.

Naoko felt pressured in this environment. The captain was large, intimidating, and scary while the lieutenant was sexy, cold, and scary. The silence they felt so comfortable in was suffocating to him.

‘Even if I know that I am safe around them, the pressure they give off is terrifying. ‘

A few minutes after he had this thought, Ren put down his pen and rubbed his temples. He had done all the work he was missing and had finally caught up.

“How are you two doing? Still need to finish?”

“I’m done over here, Boss.”

“I still need to finish a few more. I may need your help for some.”

Ren nodded towards Tier. He did not mind staying behind to help her. He had actually gone a bit slower just so he had an excuse to look at her for a bit longer.

“Naoko, you can head out then. I will file the work for you since I will be here for a while longer.”

Naoko jumped up and ran towards the door. It was only after he left did he remember that he was being a bit rude so he stuck his head through the door and said,

“Thanks, Lord 8. I’ll make sure to work hard tomorrow.”

Ren shook his head at his subordinate’s behavior and went to make himself some tea. At first, he found it awkward to eat and drink around Tier but after so many days, he had finally gotten used to it.

He sat at the desk across from her and looked at the woman diligently working while he drank his tea in silence. The atmosphere turned much warmer than when Naoko was present unknown to the man himself who was the third wheel.

———————-

Author’s Note: I felt like making a slowed down and relaxed chapter. There will be a large time skip in the next 4-10 chapters. Thinking about 200-300 years.

Anyone got any questions about Ren, his abilities/zanpakuto, the division, or anything else that is going on in the story, don’t mind doing a Q&A session.

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The next few days passed by peacefully. With most of the work done, Ren only needed to spend between 30 minutes and an hour on anything new that popped up. He used that as a chance to train more but he was very limited in what he could do.

With his large amount of reiatsu, he could not train his reiatsu anymore without endangering those around him. He was in a similar state to the Vasto Lorde in the palace of Hueco Mundo.

His kido was also very stagnant. Although he could use high-level spells, he could not do so consistently. Since Khorne had been suppressing his Kido abilities for over a hundred years, Ren had the technique down but none of the experience.

So what he focused on were his other 3 styles of combat: zanjutsu, hakuda, and hoho. These were the easiest to train for him since he knew what the next level looked like for him. This was not just due to watching the anime but because of his Gift of Will.

Since he already reached a high-rank among the expert level in these styles, his Gift of Will brought them up to the master level. So what Ren would do was activate his ability for a short amount of time and use his techniques to their fullest.

He would then deactivate it after he had gained some inspiration before training the technique in his normal form. While this was not the fastest training method out there, it was very suitable for Ren.

Ren continued to spend his days like this for the next few days and was not planning on doing anything major until the rest of his officers returned. He did not like having the division so empty in case anything happened.

‘This is one of the most lawless eras of Soul Society after all. I can already tell that something else major will happen but I just don’t know when. So until then, I will just act as if the sky is not falling down until the day it does.’

After 5 days, Ren got the news that Kyoka had passed the shinigami exam. With that, he could send the official invitation to the woman to join his division. Ren saw the potential in her from just her profile and knew the woman had what it took to become a captain-level figure one day.

2 days later, the woman showed up on the 8th Division’s doorstep. But she brought an unexpected guest with her.

Naoko showed the two to the division’s office area where Ren and Tier were waiting to meet Kyoka. Naoko was unable to notify the pair that the woman had brought an uninvited guest until it was too late.

Kyoka looked just like her picture. She was a very beautiful, traditional-looking Japanese woman with black hair so long it almost reached her waist. But Ren and Tier could only see half of her profile.

This was due to the uninvited man using his body to block half of Kyoka as he stood in front of her. This man had a kind smile on his face but a sinister look hidden in his eyes. The man seemed to be looking at Ren but if anyone paid close attention, they would know his eyes were roaming Tier’s body.

‘Tsk. I knew he would be troublesome but I did not think that he would just show up unannounced. And he wants to eye my woman?

Well, technically we aren’t anymore more the boss and subordinate but still! He wants to eye my woman?’

Ren did not even bother to put on a fake, friendly smile as he looked at Tokinada. He was barely holding back from not throwing the man out but he knew the rules of Soul Society and nobles.

“I am sorry, outer member of the Tsunayashiro Clan. I do not remember inviting you. In fact, I remember only inviting your wife. Can you explain why you have shown up here, unannounced?”

Tokinada let his embarrassment show on his face for a moment before he calmed down. He knew that he could not carelessly throw his weight around in front of Ren.

“Captain. I have heard that your division is the strongest and wanted to become a pillar of support for it. A division can only rely on commoners for so long after all.”

“I specifically did not invite you. I don’t want a pillar as faulty as you that may even cause my division to collapse in on itself. And I think that you are forgetting this captain here is a commoner. I have no need for nobles who only care about their nobility or those who have anger issues.”

Ren could feel two pairs of eyes roam over his body when he said that last bit.

‘Do not do that while he is here at least.’

“Or at least those who are not willing to take responsibility for their actions due to their anger. If you really wanna join a division with a large number of nobles, I suggest you join the 6th. Captain Kuchiki is one of your people after all.”

Tsunayashiro felt embarrassed being there so he pulled on Kyoka’s arm as he turned around to leave.

“I am sorry for disturbing you, Captain Ren. I shall apply to the 6th division as you have suggested.”

Before he could take 2 steps, Tokinada felt a large amount of reiatsu and killing intent focus on him. He subconsciousnessly let go of Kyoka’s hand. He heard the voice of a demon coming from behind him.

“You can leave. But the woman stays.”

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Ren wanted to curse aloud but he did not want to lose the imposing presence he was giving off. Ren looked toward Tier to see if her face showed any reaction but the lower half of her face was covered while her eyes were as calm as an undisturbed lake. Ren could not get a read on her.

‘Damn it! If it was not because of your zanpakuto, I would not be doing this. You better be worth it, Kakyo.’

Ren had noticed the woman’s zanpakuto that was on the left side of her waist. Ren usually looked at other zanpakutos to get an idea of what they could do but he was surprised to actually recognize this one.

The sword looked like a regular katana with an orange hilt. The tsuba had a teardrop shape, with the base of the drop arcing over the top of the blade, and the point of the drop pointing below the cutting edge. A row of several tiny teardrop-shaped holes decorated the bottom of the curve, and a small ring, approximately 2″ in diameter, dangled off the tip of the tear-drop.

This was not just any zanpakuto but the weapon of Ren’s favorite character in one of the first video games Lawrence had played, Bleach: Blade Battlers. The weapon would belong to Kaname Tosen, one of the men who joined Aizen in his betrayal against Soul Society after he picked it up from a woman that he admired.

‘This is the woman who Tosen admired and died for a mysterious reason. Putting this asshole into the equation, it makes sense why Tosen went all just crazy and betrayed Soul Society.

Tokinada most likely killed his wife and was not punished for it. When Kaname tried to get justice for the woman, he was denied. Or that is just the reason he used and Tosen is just a dangerous and twisted individual.’

Ren stopped trying to think about Tosen’s morals and motives. All he cared about at the moment was getting the woman to join his division since he knew how powerful her zanpakuto could become.

Toshinada and Kakyo turned around. Kakyo was surprised by what Ren said while Toshinada showed a frustrated and embarrassed look on his face.

“Captain Ren. You should not use your power to get another man’s woman, especially his wife. Your harem is already so large, why would you want my wife as well?”

Ren’s face which was about to go red from the awkward thing he said went black instead when he heard Tokinada’s words.

“My harem?”

Tokinada had an understanding smile on his face as before he explained to Ren what his words meant.

“All the nobles know you have these Arrancar around so that you can play with them and even gave them ranks so they would be more obedient. You also have the other woman who was the only one to stay in your division as an officer when the rest left.

No one blames you for wanting women but to have some…”

But Tokinada was not able to finish due to the increase in pressure on him. It was not just Ren who had unleashed his reiatsu and directed it at Tokinada but Tier had joined in as well. Ude the combined might of the pair, Tokinada could not say a word.

“Be silent. We are not recruiting you so we do not want to hear any more of the garbage you are spouting. Girl. Decide if you want to join us or not.”

Tier was much more direct than Ren was planning to be. Tokinada’s words had irked her so she wanted to finish up the conversation as soon as possible.

‘Why do I feel bothered when he says that? It’s most likely because he is disrespecting me and my division members. Yep. That is it.’

After convincing herself of the reason she felt upset, Tier turned her gaze to Ren to ask for his approval of her actions. Ren nodded and knew that they had to be more direct as well or else they would be there all day. The pair eased the amount of reiatsu they were releasing so Naoko and Kakyo were no longer under as much pressure even though it was not directed at them.

“Tier is right. You can either stay with the man who abuses his power to abuse you and others or you can come to the 8th division and break away from him. I will give you a minute to decide.”

Tokinada wanted to pull on Kakyo once more but when he saw the looks that Ren and Tier gave him, he gave up on the idea. He glared at the woman beside him, urging her to decline and leave with him.

Kakyo saw how Tokinada was rendered powerless by the members of the 8th division. She had been married to him for about 20 years and had suffered under him during most of it. Whenever she tried to escape her reality, his identity as a noble suppressed whatever resistance she would try. Then the abuse would only get worse.

Under her shinigami uniform, one would be able to see the scars and wounds that she had gained over the years. The woman who had always believed in justice had her belief shattered when she saw that no one would help her against the injustice she was facing.

The attitude of the two members of the 8th division changed her mind. Although their words were not kind, their attitudes and physical gestures showed their true personalities.

‘If it is here, I could finally be free. I want to be free!’

Kakyo knelled down on one knee and cupped her fists toward Ren and Tier.

“Kakyo greets her captain and lieutenant of the 8th division!”

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Toshinada appeared as if he had something to say but under the pressure that Ren and Tier were giving off, he did not dare. After shooting a glare at Kakyo, Toshinada left with a belly full of resentment and started going toward his clan compound to launch a complaint against Ren.

Ren’s mind did not have any thoughts of the man anymore. Instead, he was looking at the woman who was kneeling with an awkward expression on his face.

“You can stand up. There was no need for all of that. As long as you stay in the division and work hard, there is nothing he can say to make me forcefully expel you.”

Kakyo nodded her head and stood up. She looked between Tier and Ren with a questioning, wondering what she should do next.

Ren looked at Naoko who took the hint.

“I’ll show you towards the women’s dorm in the 8th division.”

Naoko began walking away with Kakyo following behind him. Ren could hear Naoko’s voice even after the door closed.

“We are currently short-staffed so I can’t talk with you for too long. In the dorms, the others will tell you about the training schedule, salary, and answer any other questions you have.”

Soon they were too far to hear anything. Ren and Tier finished up their paperwork for the day before each went their separate ways. Ren decided to go check on Yoruichi and Kisuke in the Onmitsukidō headquarters.

When he arrived, he saw that Yoruichi was currently in the arena with 3 members of the Onmitsukidō who had badges over their arms signaling their positions as vice-commanders of various corps.

Each corps in the Onmitsukidō would have 3-6 vice-commanders who would direct the various forces in their corps. A vice-commander had the same amount of authority as most officers in the Gotei 13.

Several people saw that Ren had arrived and noticed he was not a member of the Onmitsukidō. When a few of them were ready to kick Ren out, they were pulled back by their comrades who noticed Ren’s haori. His large figure also helped in intimidating them to not take action.

A person wearing a long gown over a standard patrol corps uniform and having an armband that had the kanji for ‘Corps Commander’ approached Ren with a smile on his face.

“If it isn’t the legendary captain of the 8th division. May I ask why you are gracing the Onmitsukidō with your presence today?”

Ren looked at the man and nodded toward him. Although he seemed to be asking in a sarcastic tone, Ren saw that the man was not intentionally doing it, or trying to be rude at least.

“I came to check on Yoruichi Shihoin and Kisuke Urahara.”

Hearing the names of the two prodigies of the Onmitsukidō, the man raised an eyebrow surprised that Ren was asking specifically for the both of them.

‘Does Captain Ren know both of them? The noble who does nothing but goof around and annoys anyone with authority and the lazy prodigy who could already be a corps commander?’

“May I ask if Captain Ren knows the both of them personally?”

“Hmm. You could say I am their teacher. Or their worst nightmare in case they piss me off. I also taught their friend Tessai as well.”

The Patrol Corps commander was shocked. He was beyond shocked. He was scared shitless.

‘This man is the teacher of those 3 prodigies? To have any one of them call him ‘Teacher’ means that he is very capable.

And the fact that he has beaten up the princess of the Shihoin clan without getting revenge from that old man who spoils his granddaughter is another matter altogether. That guy does not even allow princess Yoruichi’s parents to lay a hand on her.’

Ren was not paying attention to the man’s thoughts but was focusing on how Yoruichi was performing in the battle. Even against the 3 vice-commanders, she was not losing any ground but instead held the advantage.

“Why is she battling against 3 vice-commanders?”

When the Patrol Corps commander heard Ren’s question, an awkward look appeared on his face.

“This… the princess of the Shihoin clan had gotten into an argument with her grandfather. He wanted her to join the Executive Militia so that she could take over the Onmitsukidō from that position as every commander-in-chief had done before.

But the princess said that she preferred being in the Inner Court Troop. So the head of the Shihoin clan gave her an ultimatum. If she could beat 3 vice-commanders of the Inner Court Troop and become the Commander of the troop, he would no longer pressure her into joining the Executive Militia.

If she lost, she would have to join the Executive Militia and could never quit it. But the Shihoin Clan head never thought that the princess would accept the challenge. So here she is, fighting against 3 vice-commanders and holding her own. She may even have a chance at victory.”

Ren nodded and used shunpo to leave. He did not want to distract Yoruichi with his appearance in such an important match.

He also noticed that Kisuke was not there for such an important thing which meant that he was also busy and could not entertain Ren. With no other choice, Ren left to train on his own and pass the time until his officers returned.

2 weeks later, they were finally back.

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When the officers returned, Ren was angry and upset. Their worst fears had come true and were even worse. The quincy, shinigami, and full bringers had formed an alliance. But not only did they attack, but several Togabito from Hell had also arrived on the scene as well.

Kyou and the other officers knew that this was not a simple alliance of coincidence but a well-coordinated plan. The 8 officers of the 8th division and 10 officers of the 2nd division were caught off guard by the alliance of 30.

The officers were outnumbered, unprepared, and had less raw firepower. The group had first gone after the shinigami together when they sensed their reiatsu.

The group of 18 went towards the shinigami but were met with an ambush by the full bringers and quincy from both sides just as they had reached the shinigami after a week of searching. Sensing that they were going to have a hard time if they did not regroup to ensure that they were no longer ambushed on all sides, Kyou and Lieutenant Ise ordered a retreat.

Even under all the firepower from the various directions, the shinigami of the two divisions were barely able to escape their grasp and were finally about to escape the encirclement when the Togabito made their move.

The quincy with their spirit weapons, the shinigami with their kido, and the full bringers and Togabito with their diverse abilities. Each one of the groups brought their own firepower which could have dealt with a normal group of 5 or so officers by themselves.

With all 4 groups working together, they could most likely take on at least 40 officer-level shinigami or even 2-3 captains if they coordinated well enough.

Under the assault, 3 officers from the 8th division died and 5 from the 2nd. Their numbers were brought down to only 10 of their initial 18 in less than a minute. Their retaliation was only killing 2 shinigami making the numbers 10 shinigami against the alliance of the 28.

None of the officers hesitated to release their zanpakuto and enter their resurrecion/shikai. The only one who was unable to Lieutenant Ise due to her true zanpakuto being with her husband.

With their releases released, the officers were able to put up a better fight but were still heavily suppressed. They were just no longer losing ground.

The battle persisted as it did for a few minutes before one of the officers of the 2nd division died. With him, it was like a domino effect. After another 5 minutes, all but 3 of the officers of the 2nd division had died while all the other officers of both divisions were heavily injured.

They used this chance to push through the encirclement of the alliance and hurried to retreat. Their effort was successful but the remaining pair of officers besides Lieutenant Ise of the 2nd division died while Kyou and Shin were both heavily injured to the point they would have died if not for Ayon.

The Tres Bestias had each ripped off their arms before throwing them towards the middle of the encirclement. The arms meddled together in a bloody and gory fashion to form a large creature.

This creature had the legs of an antelope, the body of a man, the mane of a lion covering its head, and a tail that was a snake. On its head was a pair of deer antlers and a skull mask that was its face. Most of all, this creature was almost 8 meters tall and brought a sense of dread to the alliance members who saw it. This was Ayon.

Ayon let our bestial and savage roar that shook the hearts of everyone who heard it. After its roar, it charged at the various alliance members.

The Tres Bestias did not stay to watch but picked up Kyou and Shin as they left the area as fast as possible. With so individuals, they did not wish to get caught in the crossfire of the attacks.

The group retreated to a mountain several kilometers away but they could hear the battle even from there. The Tres Bestias took turns keeping watch and saw Ayon battle the group for hours.

When it was finally over, the entire area was devoid of life except for Ayon who kept roaring as if he was seeking battle. The already destroyed land kept getting destroyed by him until the trio unsummoned him and reattached their arms.

The group had to remain in the human realm for another week since none of them could open the portal back to Soul Society. One needed a shinigami’s zanpakuto to do so. The Tres Bestias were not shinigami while Ise did not have her zanpakuto.

Thus, they could only wait until either Shin or Kyou woke up. Under constant watch and healing, Kyou was the first to wake up with Shin waking up minutes after her. They were finally able to return to Soul Society after 2 weeks in the human realm.

When Ren heard the report, he was angry and shocked. This was not something that could just happen. To be able to have such an alliance and all 4 groups attack at once, this was obviously preplanned.

Ren sent his officers to the 4th division to ensure their injuries did not worsen while he went towards the first division.

‘There are too many things wrong for this to just be called a slight oversight!’

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Ren made his way into the first division’s barracks while releasing a large amount of bloodlust and killing intent.

The normal shinigami were unable to withstand the pressure of his mere angry presence without him releasing his reiatsu. Some of the weaker shinigami had even fainted under Ren’s pressure.

Chojiro confronted Ren when the man had walked halfway towards Yamamoto’s office. Chojiro did not have his usual indifferent and stoic look on his face but instead a small smile.

‘I had always thought that you were lazy during your time as an officer and lieutenant. Once you became a captain, I thought you had become heartless.

But when a few of your officers died under such circumstances, you have come here to get answers. You truly care for those who have died and are still alive.

Most others lose their rationality and would have gone on a rampage but you are far worse. Your anger has not become storm but a fine blade that seems like it can cut through anything that stands in your way, even me.’

Chojiro gave a slight bow before he stood up and spoke.

“The Captain-Commander is waiting for you. Not just him but several other important figures.”

Chojiro stopped speaking and turned around as he started walking. Ren followed him silently until Chojiro stopped his steps after about 10 feet.

Chojiro turned and aid with a sincere voice,

“Ren-Dono. I suggest you hold in that anger while in their presence. You can let it leak through your words but your current presence may have others believe you are trying to rebel.”

Ren was surprised by Chojiro’s words and actions. Every other time they had met, there were silent sparks between the pair. But it seemed like this time, Chojiro was on his side.

Ren suppressed his killing intent and bloodlust before giving Chojiro one of the cocky smiles he had on his face when he was not serious.

“Old aman Chojiro is worried about me? The sun is surely rising in the west today.”

Chojiro let out a small chuckle but did not comment as he continued toward Yamamoto’s office and Ren followed behind him silently.

It took the pair 20 minutes to reach the room. Chojiro entered without knocking so Ren followed him in as well.

Inside the room were 9 individuals besides Ren and Chojiro.

1 was the current head of the Kuchiki clan, Byakuya’s great grand father, and the current captain of the 6th division, Shikasu Kuchiki.

Across from him was the current head of the Shihoin clan, Yoruichi’s father, and the current leader of the Onmitsukido, Yorin Shohoin.

Besides each of them were the current clan heads of the other two major noble families of Tsunayashiro Clan and the Ishikawa Clan.

Further down was the current leader of the Kido Corps, Umenyiora. Sitting across from him was the captain of the 2nd division who had also suffered heavy losses and even almost lost his wife, Jun Kyoraku. He already had a meeting with Yamamoto that day and had only learned about what happened moments before Ren walked in the room.

The last sitting besides them were individuals that Ren did not personally recognize but knew who they were from their clothing.

‘The Central 46? Just how far up does this scheme go?!’

The last person and the one sitting in the center was Yamamoto.

“Good. Now that Ren and Chojiro are here, we can begin.

We have had suspicions that the recent riots in the Nest, the increase of quincy activity, and the release of several spirits from Hell, that several of the minor noble factions have joined together to try and topple the current hierarchy of Soul Society.

With the recent proof we have gotten from the Onmitsukido and the ambush of the members of the 2nd and 8th divisions, we are now sure that this plot is real.

We are now gathered to vote on a matter, the 11 people in this room.

We have all 4 clan heads with two holding high positions in the military so they will each have two votes.

Everyone else will have a single vote. Whichever decision gets the majority of votes is how we shall act.

The decision is, whether we should suppress the minor clans until they have no more thoughts of rebellion or if we should exterminate them.

Take your time and think over your decision.”

Ren was puzzled. This was supposed to be the more lawless Soul Society. Even if the offenders were nobles, they had attacked the military and at least 2 other noble clans.

“Which of the minor clans are rebelling?” asked Captain Kuchiki.

Several others nodded wanting to know the answer but Ren could not understand.

‘Why does it matter? If the Gotei 13, Kido Corps, and Onmitsukido all launch an attack on them, not even a division full of trained shinigami could survive.’

This could be Ren’s main weakness. Although he was smart and powerful, he did not understand politics.

The others were not asking out of fear of the power of the minor noble clans but fear of losing resources that only those clans could produce for them.

“They are the Inma, Cubaniro, and Leo clans.”

Hearing their names, the other nobles looked on in disdain.

“Just them? Then I vote for us to simply get rid of them.”

“Same here.”

“I agree as well.”

Soon out of the 13 votes, 6 had already gone to exterminating the minor clans once the 4 major nobles voted.

The others hesitated though. Even if the nobles were to vote, they would not face public backlash. At most, others would say they just supported the idea.

But the next person to vote for extermination would have to bear the title of ‘Mass Murderer ‘. No one wanted to bare that so no one else voted.

Seeing all of them being so squeamish, Ren was thoroughly disappointed in the people in the room.

With no one else voting, Ren raised his hand.

“I already hold the title of ‘Perverted’, ‘Cruel’, and ‘Merciless’. What is one more title for me.

Let’s kill those bastards who dared to lay a hand on my officers!”

————————-

Author’s Note: This was written in my bathtub on my phone so there might be a few spelling mistakes

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Yamamoto nodded when he heard Ren’s words. With the first 7 votes on one side, the others did not need to say anything.

“Good! We shall lead 3 execution squads who will carry out the order. Since you are the one who put forth the deciding vote, do you have any recommendations?”

Most of the others nodded as if asking for his suggestion. The only two who did not nod were Kyoruka and Chojiro. The former did not like what the others were trying to do while the latter was just neutral and did not care who did it.

Even if Ren was politically stupid, he still knew what they were doing. All of them wanted a scapegoat. Even Yamamoto.

‘The rest of them are just protecting their reputation since they wish to keep their holy appearance. At least the old man is doing it since the leader of the Gotei 13 needs to seem very neutral as do the Central 46. They are the highest-ranking political powers besides the king.

The rest are just doing it to save their asses. They have no real power or control besides the imaginary ones that the 46 and King give them.’

Ren let out a grunt as he gave those nobles a dirty look. He then turned towards Yamamoto.

“Just give me the order. My division has enough firepower to take down all 3 clans!”

The others were surprised by Ren’s words but also felt comfortable with them. Even if everything went right, the other nobles would want an answer for why the 3 clans were exterminated.

No matter the reason, everyone would still want to push the blame on someone. By having a single division take on all of the rebelling clans, the only people who would have to take the blame at the end would be Ren, or Ren and his division at most.

“Good! You have my order. In 3 days’ time after your officers have been given the chance to heal fully, you are to attack the 3 clans at once.”

Ren shook his head when he heard that.

“My people are ready to move out within the hour. Give me the word and by sunset, all 3 clans will be burned to the ground.”

Ren gave this answer confidently for 3 reasons. The first was his division’s strength With Dryae’s ability, he could build a barrier around the clan dwelling and handle an entire clan in a swift manner.

Tier, while not having the same level of control, was also a powerhouse herself. Even without her resurrecion, she could kill all the members of the clan. Ren was planning to send 50 shinigami and Naoko with her to make sure that none could escape.

The Tres Bestias could take on another. Although they were injured, their hollow nature had them healed and in almost peak condition after week. By having another 50 or so shinigami to help with crowd control like with Tier, Ren knew that they could take down the third.

The second reason for his confidence was speed. Those smaller clans would think that even if they were caught, the military would take days or even weeks to deploy forces. The clans were most likely still in the middle of setting up their evacuations.

The third reason for Ren’s confidence Yamamoto. The old man had been giving Ren an easy time and leeway no matter what Ren had been doing as long as Ren did not go too far. Even though Ren did not know why, he was sure that Yamamoto would not let him take on a task he did not believe that he was unable to accomplish.

Yamamoto nodded his head in approval

“Fine. Get your division prepared for combat. This is an official order from the Gotei 13 and the Central 46.

The 8th division is to exterminate the Inma, Cubaniro, and Leo clans by midnight tonight for crimes of treason, murder, attempted regicide, and many more. Go get your people ready.”

Ren nodded and left the room. As soon as he was outside, he used Shunpo to hurry towards the 8th division. When he arrived, he saw Tier with killing intent around her body while ger fraccion and Naoko stood on the side.

“Tier, Naoko, Emilou, Franceska, Cyan. We have orders. We are to get our men together and exterminate the 3 clans behind the attack that killed 3 of our officers and seriously wounder 5 more.”

Hearing that they were going after the ones who did this, the members of the 8th division who were around immediately perked up. Their battle intent intensified.

“Tier. Pick 100 members to join you. You will be taking out the Leo clan.

Cyan. You will be in charge of the other 3 officers and take the remaining members of the division to take out the Cubaniro clan.

I will deal with the last clan personally. We are to kill them all. From the oldest men to the youngest of girls.

No need to feel bad about killing them. They will either go to Hell or reincarnate in the human world depending on their karma. Our job is simply to hurry them along their journey.”

The other members nodded. Seeing that none of his members had any issues, Ren felt pleased. Ren could understand the villains in the world of bleach.

Unless one was a quincy, none of their enemies ever truly died. They just reincarnated. Although this raised an entire moral dilemma, it helped to ease Ren in when he first came to the world and was now the reason why he could still exterminate a clan so easily.

‘For those close to me, I shall value their lives. As for anyone else, they can be like machines people named. Their death has meaning but very little to me.’

“We move out in an hour! Get prepared!”

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—Around 3 in the afternoon, Inma Clan Compound—-

In the large compound, there were about 100 members of the Inma clan who were moving about. From the children to the elders, they were all working together to pack as many items as they could.

The clan leader, Kira Inma, knew that their ambush had failed on the officers of the 2nd and 8th divisions so the chances of them and the other 2 clans being found out were high.

Thinking himself smarter than the other pair of clan leaders, Kira had thrown out some evidence against his pair of coconspirators in hopes of buying his own clan more time. Out of all the members of their clan, only 5 were shinigami while 3 were retired shinigami who no longer had their zanpakuto.

Kira, the current head of the clan, was also a former shinigami. But even without his personal zanpakuto, he was able to use his clan’s zanpakuto to battle with.

Kira and the other shinigami were standing around the clan’s Senkaimon. This was their only means of escape and they knew that if it was damaged, no matter how much planning Kira had done, their small clan would be unable to withstand the might of the Gotei 13.

“Hurry up, everyone! Gather all the clothes, materials, and anything else of value. We will be meeting up with the others on the other side.”

Right after Kira said that a thunderstorm occurred. It came out of nowhere and began raining hard within minutes. The storm covered the entirety of Soul Society with lightning bolts falling down seemingly at random.

Kira thought this was weird since it rarely raining in Soul Society and the storm came very fast but he did not think too much of it. The only shinigami who had a zanpakuto with such a wide area of effect was Yamamoto but the man controlled fire, not water.

Ren had used his bankai to create this storm. He created it for a few reasons but the main one was to provide cover for his division. With the heavy rain and dark clouds, it would obstruct the view of others.

Just as Kira was about to order his family to hide the materials that could go bad in the rain, he felt pain in his legs.

When he looked down, Kira saw several spikes of wood piercing through his legs before tangling around them. He heard the cries of his other members and saw that all the shinigami had their legs pretty much destroyed.

Just when Kira was going to warn the other members, several more wood spikes shot out of the ground and aimed towards his chest.

Slashing with his sword, he thought he would be able to break the branches but did not realize just how strong they were. Kira was only able to block them for a moment before they curved around the blade and stabbed into Kira’s chest.

Without even knowing who had done it, Kira had died after having 7 tree branches go inside of his chest before they tore through and crushed his organs. It was not just Kira but all of the shinigami around him as well.

Once all of the shinigami were dead, Ren appeared out of nowhere and stood 20 meters above the Senkaimon, looking down on the clan compound. These portals were very expensive so destroying them would be too expensive.

Standing in the air, Ren looked down at the clan and a look of pity went through his eyes.

“Their leader was so arrogant and ambitious that he has gotten all of you killed without even know why.”

Tree branches began to rise out of the ground and started hunting down the various members in the division.

If Ren saw a building, he would make it collapse before calling several bolts of lightning to strike those collapsed buildings.

When he saw a person, he would send the branches through their body and killing them in a swift and painless manner.

Of all the members of the clan, very few had died knowing what had happened to them. This was Ren’s mercy to them.

Ren grabbed the yellow sword that Kira was holding. One of the tasks the Central 46 assigned him and his division was the recovery of the clans’ zanpakutos.

There items were very valuable and could be given to other shinigamj who had earned them and could become new nobles.

Ren looked at yellow sword in his hands with disdain.

“This little thing is what gives them the idea that they have power? Even if they are as weak as these guys were?”

Ren wanted to destroy the zanpakuto.

“True power does not lie in your title. Even if someone declares themselves a king, a commoner can cut them down if they do not have the power to back it up.”

Ren stepped outside of the compound before having several large trees emerge and surround the compound before bending forward and twisting around each other until they created a dome with a single entrance.

Aiming at the hold which was the entrance, Ren began to chant to himself while pointing his right hand at the entrance.

“Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō.”

A ball of energy formed in his palm before a large beam of blue and white energy with electricity running though it was fired into the entrance.

Withing the tree dome, a large explosion was contained within it and destroyed all the remains of the Inma clan.

From that day forward, the Inma clan was forever erased.

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The other 2 attack groups of the 8th division also completed their tasks smoothly and without any casualties.

Tier was able to wipe out all of her targets more easily than before. Unknown to Ren, the high amount of water strengthened her body as well as provided excellent camouflage for her. Within the rain, Tier was practically invincible.

It took the woman barely a minute to kill all of the clan members and take back their clan’s zanpakuto.

The 3rd strike force also had an easy time. Although they had the largest number of shinigami under their control, numbering 23, the 8th division sent the most number of officers and shinigami.

Using a barrage of cero and kido spells before charging in, the Cubaniro clan was unable to put up a proper defense and were killed. Unfortunately, they were the only clan where the 8th division had destroyed the Senkaimon.

Even holding that against them, wiping out 3 clans, taking back all 3 zanpakuto, and keeping 2 of the Senkaimon in one piece while receiving zero casualties had earned the 8th division no small amount of praise from Yamamoto and the Central 46.

The 8th division’s move to exterminate the 3 clans was not found out by the general public until 2 days later but it caused many changes in Soul Society and the 8th division that would last for years to come.

—8th Division—

Ren was currently in his room and looking at the child in front of him. She appeared to be no more than 8 years old but in Soul Society, she had a chance of being 30 if her body aged weirdly.

The little girl had pink hair and was quite cute. She had a few things that made her different than other children though.

The first was her right arm. More accurately, the lack of one. Her long sleeve was blowing in random directions due to the open window. The girl also had a cut across her left eye and it remained shut. Ren tried to find a healer but they said that it had been too long since she had lost the eye to do anything about it.

Tier had picked up the girl during her assault on the Leo clan. She was found in a dungeon with several other children who were already dead. This one was barely alive by the time that Tier had arrived and needed immediate medical attention just to survive.

Ren felt a headache coming on. He was supposed to kill everyone in the clan, even any prisoners that they had taken. By taking in the little girl, there was a huge risk to him. But when he saw the desperate and lonely look in her eyes, he could not help but take pity on the girl.

“From now on, you’re my little sister. If anyone asks, I just recently found you after you came to Soul Society. Understood?”

The girl nodded eagerly as her eyes were sparkling.

‘I have never had a brother before. I was all alone but the other kids told me stories about siblings. They said that big siblings will watch over and protect the younger ones.

Some even cook for their siblings or buy them clothes too. They will also give us sweets and take care of us and even show us love.

If he does even one of those things, that would be the best thing ever.’

If anyone could hear the girl’s thoughts, they would feel heartbroken. Simple things such as being clothed and fed were luxuries to her.

From that day forward, the 8th division had gotten their youngest member and Ren had gotten himself a little sister. The new girl’s name was Baiken.

After the Storm Rebellion, the 8th division had gotten themselves a reputation. Depending on who you asked, it was either very positive or very negative.

The Central 46 and Gotei 13 greatly appreciated the 8th division. Since they were a division that was unafraid to offend nobles, dealing with any rebellions or issues that required more force than what Onmitsukido could handle, would simply be handed over to the 8th division.

So in addition to becoming the division that dealt with Arrancars, the 8th division was also placed in charge of incidents involving nobles. But with their new duties, also came hate from all sides.

The Noble houses themselves hated the 8th division. Since it was a division that specifically dealt with them, even if they were innocent, they did not like the idea of a specific task force against them. Even the Onmitsukido’s patrol corps was only in charge of investigations but not directly combating the nobles.

With the hate, they received from the nobles, less and less talented members were able to be recruited. Whether because they were nobles themselves or fear of what the nobles would one day do to the division, the number of recruits the 8th division could take in did not surpass 5 every year.

There was also the grudge that had been cemented with the 6th and 11th divisions as well. The 6th division had an issue since it was a division that was mainly noble so they had an obvious dislike for Ren.

The 11th division was more like a rivalry than a grudge if most were honest. With their title of the strongest and Ren’s defeat of Suzuka, the 11th division kept trying to prove themselves.

With each new Kenpachi, the Captain of the 11th division would challenge Ren to prove that they were stronger. But with each match, Ren had thoroughly defeated every Kenpachi from the 5th to the current 9th.

With each victory, Ren further cemented himself as the strongest of all the captains with rumors saying that he may have even surpassed Yamamoto.

—- 450 Years after the Storm Rebellion, 220 YBC (Years Before Canon) —-

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A large man and younger woman were sparring against one another in the training field of the 8th division. Their spar was fierce and drew the attention of so many members that a crowd had formed around them.

On one side was Baiken. The little girl had grown into a tall and proper young woman. She was 170 cm tall while her pink hair had grown so long and wild that even her ponytail could not keep it in place.

Baiken now wore the standard shinigami uniform along with a red kimono over her shoulders as well as a black eye patch that covered her left eye.

Baiken had grown up under the watch of most members of the 8th division so most thought of her as a daughter or sister of the division. But outside of the division, Baiken was known as one of the 10 greats. These were the 10 most beautiful shinigami in the Gotei 13.

But it was not her beauty which she was most famous for but her strength. Even compared to the Arrancar and the officers that had been around since Ren had taken over the 8th division, her strength ranked 7th amongst them all. Ren had trained her personally from a young age so the girl’s power would never have been ordinary even with her disabilities.

The man she was fighting against was Ren himself. He had shrunk from his previous 230-centimeter body when he had first defeated Khorne to 200 centimeters tall. Even with his decrease in size, his physical power had not decreased in the slightest but had improved over the years. And even with his age being over 600 years old, he barely looked older than Baiken.

The pair were clashing with their zanpakuto and using purely zanjutsu while they battled. Baiken’s zanpakuto took the form of a katana with a black hilt and a red blade. She was being forced on the defensive by Ren who was not letting her take any advantage.

Ren on the other hand was using a plain brown bokken. This was the new form Dryae took on when she fused with his asauchi. Even though it seemed like an ordinary wooden sword, it had taken strikes from several Kenpachi’s over the years without having even a splinter of wood break off from it.

Ren had Dryae fuse with the asauchi after he reached a bottleneck 200 years prior. No matter how much effort he put in, he could not feel himself getting more powerful. So he decided to trust the process and let his zanpakuto spirit truly fuse with the asauchi. And the moment he did, Ren realized just how powerful he had truly gotten.

He had always compared himself to Yamamoto and Aizen that he remembered from the show subconsciously. It was only when he felt just how much power Dryae’s new form granted him, did he realize that he had most likely surpassed them both.

Even though his zanpakuto was not a bokken, it was no longer simply just a permanent shikai. Dryae was now a permanent bankai. Ren had not done 1 or 2 things never done before but 3. He had fused with a zanpakuto, he had gotten an always-active shikai, and most recently, gotten an always-active bankai.

His new level of power made him unrivaled among all the current captains with only Yamamoto and the legendary Squad 0 members being his rivals now.

And that powerful man was now training his little sister by giving a swift offense with his word and leaving her no chance to strike back.

‘Every single time we spar, he ends up speeding up just as I think that I have caught up to him. How did Yourichi-Nee manage to actually land a hit on him before?’

Baiken kept fighting while making her blows swifter and faster until she was no longer on the defensive but was evenly clashing with Ren. Their blows were so strong that they were created powerful gusts of wind that could have injured other shinigami, had a barrier not been put up.

After 20 minutes, the winner was still not decided but there was a loud voice that came from nowhere.

“How many times have I said to train in the ‘Dungeon’ if you’re going to spar? We can’t have captain-level reiatsu being released and destroying the practice grounds that everyone else has to use!”

Ren and Baiken clicked their teeth before they stopped battling and put away their weapons.

As if they were the red sea, the shinigami who were watching the spar parted as Kyou made her way through them.

After the events in the human realm, Kyou and Shin had both focused on improving their strength by a large degree which they had successfully done. With their current abilities, they could both unleash bankai and match captains of other divisions.

“Let’s go, Baiken! I told you about the meeting we were having today a month ago. If you are not on time, I don’t mind breaking your legs and dragging you there.”

Baiken felt offended that she was the only one being threatened while Ren got away scot-free.

“What about him?” Baiken asked while pointing at her older brother.

Kyou gave her a look of disdain when she asked that question.

“I can’t beat him and a single hand can’t clap. If you don’t distract him, he is sure to come to the meeting on time.”

Baiken let out a grunt of frustration before she sheathed her sword and started making her way toward Kyou before following her to the officers’ building.

Seeing Baiken leave, Ren used shunpo and was gone in a flash.

————————————-

Author’s Note:

-Power Levels-

Spirit Energy Power levels are, Basic, Average, High (Lieutenant), Great (Captain), Immense (Advanced Captain), and Immeasurable (Beyond Captain).

Ren: Immeasurable

Tier: Between Immense and Immeasurable

Kyou: Great

Shin: Great

Cyan: Great

Franceska: Great

Emilou: Great

Ayon: Immense

Baiken: Great (Immense Potential)

Kakyo (She has the most annoying name ever and I have to constantly check the wiki to make sure I type it right): Great

Naoko: Great

Kisuke: Immense

Yoruichi: Immense

Tessai: Great

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Author’s Note: People could not see edits so I copied content of edited chapter and just pasted them on a new chapter. Everyone should be able to see it now.

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Ren arrived in the meeting room and greeted the others who were already in the room with a head nod. He took a seat around the circular table. There was no particular seating order but it was whoever came first got to pick their seats.

Of the 10 seats, 7 were filled including Ren’s. Franceska, Cyan, and Emilou sat next to each other with Shin sitting right next to Emilou. The group’s looks had not changed at all. Sitting next to Ren, or who Ren chose to sit next to, was Tier. The last member in the room was Kakyo.

Over the past 400 or so years, all of the members had undergone minor changes. Kakyo had the most changes after she had divorced her husband due to her membership in the anti-noble division. Ever since then, she had cut her waist-length black hair into a bob cut.

The woman had also informed Ren about her relationship with Tosen during some casual conversations but Ren did not get involved with it. He figured it was better to let nature take its course rather than to worry about if Tosen would still become his evil self.

Ren turned his head and looked at Tier’s side profile. When the woman felt his eyes on her, she turned to look at him. Not minding getting caught looking at her, Ren decided to ask the question that was on his mind.

“Tier. Do you remember what this meeting is about?”

The division had received a major change over the past 400 years. Ren and the other officers in the room were barely taking over division management and focused on training or combat.

Kyou took over the position of lieutenant as she was the one most interested in managing the affairs. She had absolute authority over the weaker members and those who were qualified for an officer position. There were too many members who were qualified to be officers so Ren would just allow Kyou to assign them however she pleased.

Including Ren, the division had 10 captain-level individuals at the moment, 7 lieutenant-level individuals, 30 officer-level individuals, and the other 950ish members were all shinigami who had not achieved their shikai but could still beat most other standard shinigami except for monsters like Zaraki.

They had even managed to recruit 3 other Arrancar but all 3 were Gillian-class. They took up 3 of the lieutenant-level positions in the division and 1 even had the chance of breaking into a captain-class power level.

Of all the captain-level individuals in the division, most were not really active in managing the affairs of it. It was actually the officer and lieutenant-level people who handled most of the matters. The only person who was truly in charge of those 37 was Kyou who held the rank lieutenant.

Kyou would also be the one to call for most meetings since she knew about most of the affairs going on in the division, Soul Society, and beyond. Tier shook her head. She was also clueless about what was going on.

‘Hmm. Guess that means that this has something to do outside of the division if Tier knows nothing about it but it is also not confirmed to the point where the captains of the divisions would be informed of it.

Either another rebellion or some unusual activity that most would not take too seriously.’

Ren took Tier’s hand into his own under the table. The woman turned to look at him but Ren just looked ahead with a blank face. Unable to read Ren’s face, Tier gave up on trying to understand why he did it out of the blue and let her hand rest within his.

Ren and Tier had been a couple for the past 300 years. They had gotten together after one particular mission in Hell. Ever since then, they had been spending a lot of time together.

Ren looked at Tier’s mask as several thoughts went through his mind but his face remained the same. He had an idea of how to get her and the other Arrancar out of their masks but he needed permission from Yamamoto and the Central 46 before he could initiate it.

Kyou walked in with Baiken right behind her. She stopped at the door when she saw Ren arrived before her but just shook her head and took a seat. Baiken sat on the other side of Ren as the group waited for the last member to arrive.

Naoko rushed into the door and yelled,

“Safe!”

When he looked up, he saw the mocking looks in several of the other members of the round table while Kyou had flames coming out of her eyes.

“Take a seat. Now.”

Naoko nodded and took the last available seat which was between Shin and Kakyo. With all the members seated and ready for the meeting, Kyou started.

“Now that the last member is here we can officially begin. The latest meeting of the 8th Division’s Upper Echelon, or as we are also known as Ren’s Harem and two Eunuchs, can now begin.”

“””Ugh””” several voices let out. This was a nickname given when someone noticed that all of the female officers of the division beautiful women that Ren had personally recruited. Shin and Naoko were caught in the crossfire since there were no rumors about them being in a relationship with any women os most thought of them as eunuchs or gay.

“Now that the mood is lightened a bit, I can get on to the more serious matters. We have 2 bigs things that are on the agenda.

The first is the Expedition. I met with Lieutenant Chojiro yesterday and he said that we will soon get word of Central 46 giving us approval for the expedition to the Beast Realm. Besides Ren, we can only send 2 more of our members here along with him.

I was thinking of sending Baiken and Shin. Even though they have had a large amount of officer training, you both are still our weakest with tactical or logistic duties. You two also work well with the fewest amount of people.”

The group looked around and nodded their heads. Everyone else could truly take up the position of any division besides the 1st or 4th. These two were pretty much only suited to take over the 11th division of combat maniacs.

“And the second reason you called us for?” asked Cyan Kyou let out a sigh before taking a moment to compose herself.

“There is talk. Nothing official yet but something that has a chance of happening. A good chance. The quincy have been gathering their forces in large numbers. They might be planning an invasion some time soon.”

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Most of those in the room were not surprised about hearing the possibility of a quincy invasion. There had been talk of it for half a century. It was just that no one was sure when it would happen.

Ever since the time that guns and muskets began to get more popular, it seemed like the quincy had their blood ignited and began going on a warpath against hollows, shinigami, and even full bringers which caused the shinigami to divert more attention toward them.

No one knew exactly why they got bolder, especially in the past 50 years, but it was only asking for their own defeat. The shinigami had been dealing with the quincy before the Gotei 13 was even formed. All the other shinigami and nobles of Soul Society thought that the quincy were not a threat.

The only one who knew better was Ren. He had looked down on the Quincy in the past as well and even after such a long time, he still thought of them as no major threat. It was because of his future knowledge that he felt uneasy. He had a stoic appearance at the moment but his thoughts were in turmoil

‘Only Yamamoto and Unohana are here!’

That was precisely it. While he had seen all of the Vizard, Biyakuya’s father, and many other future captains and lieutenants among the divisions but none of the future captains were currently in their position except for Yamamoto and Unohana.

This meant that the extermination of the Quincy was not as one-sided as the shinigami made it appear to be in the anime. It was so terrible that only 2-3 captains walked out alive depending on whether the current Kenpachi lived or not.

‘I remember Ishida nearly killing Mayuri but he was not a direct combat captain if I remember correctly nor did he use the number of tools he used against that Espada. What do the Quincy have that makes them able to not only kill at least 10 captains but also prevent Yamamoto from doing anything to stop it?’

“Shin and Baiken will come with me to the Beast Realm. All other members of the 8th division are to remain with Seireitei. No missions are to be accepted while anyone currently on a mission needs to check in every 6 hours.”

Kyou did not understand why but still nodded her head. Ren rarely gave her directions on how to run the division so for him to give such specific ones, meant that the threat of the invasion was very true.

“So the invasion will definitely happen?” Asked Kakyo

“Hmm. And when they do, our division will not make any major moves unless you hear from me or Tier to do so.

We will send Cyan, Franceska, and Emilou to the 4th division to help with their defense when the time comes so we have 4 captain-level beings there and 4 here in our barracks in case it begins before we return from the Beast Realm. (He is counting Ayon)”

Everyone nodded. They then looked back to Kyou who took back over the meeting to explain minor things going on within the division and around Seireitei. Ren’s thoughts were not with the meeting though but divided between the Beast Realm and the Quincy Invasion.

‘Should I stay here and wait till the invasion is over or should I just go ahead with my plan? We do have plenty of fighting power here but I am just not sure what is coming.

*sigh* I know why Aizen waited so long despite being so powerful. It never hurts to be cautious. But then again, Aizen was so much weaker than I am now.’

Ren made up his mind and decided to go to Beast Realm. After the meeting was done, Ren told Shin and Baiken that they were departing in 3 days time before everyone dispersed. Shin left with Emilou back to their room while Naoko left with Kakyo. The rumors about both not being interested in other women were partially true. The pair ‘Eunuchs’ had actually gotten together with other officers of the 8th division.

Tier returned with Ren back to the captain’s room that the pair had shared where they spent the rest of the day and night together. For the next few days, the members of the 8th division relaxed. After 3 days were up, Ren, Shin, and Baiken were in Yamamoto’s office. With them, were several members of the Central 46 as well as the old man himself and Chojio.

“I must ask again, why are you going to the Beast Realm? It is filled with those who are trying to redeem themselves for their sins and nothing else.”

Ren smiled in response but did not answer. Seeing that he was not going to get the answer he wished, Yamamoto opened up the barrier by tearing apart a talisman. He threw Ren a similar-looking talisman as well.

“I wish you the best of luck and hope that you return safely.”

The trio nodded their heads before they stepped through the portal and were some of the few shinigami to ever enter the Beast Realm.

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Ren and company had arrived in the outskirts of the Beast Realm. All around them was dirt and dust with a few trees on the horizon in some directions. Besides a few locations, this was what most of the Beast Realm looked like.

‘This was not in the anime but luckily with my high position, I could get some information on it.’

The Beast Realm was indeed not in the anime so Ren had never heard about it. In fact, even the manga and wiki had very little information about the place. But the reality is different than entertainment.

Using the library that only captains had access to, Ren was able to learn about the beast realm while he was researching other types of souls and realms. In total, there were 6 different realms in the universe, only 4 of which most shinigami knew about. These realms coincided with the realms of rebirth. God’s realm, human realm, demi-god realm, animal realm, hungry ghost realm, and hell realm.

The human realm is earth as well as the valley of the screams which lies on the outer edge of it. Soul Society is considered the demi-god realm and where most souls go when they die. Corrupted or kidnapped souls go to the hungry ghost realm or Hueco Mundo and end up as hollows.

Then there are the sinners. Most shinigami only know about Hell. But this is the place where sinners who have committed unforgivable crimes or cannot be redeemed. The animal realm, or Beast Realm as the shinigami call it, is where those sinners who have a chance for redemption go. This is a place that only captains or nobles have information about.

When a being enters the Beast Realm after death, it is given 2 choices. Those who go into the beast realm are tied there for 500 years. If they live for all 500 years, they are able to enter soul society in a beastman form as a permanent reminder of their sins. If they die, their soul is reborn as a savage beast the roams the realm and will never leave or recover their sanity. The other option is to simply go to Hell.

Surviving was much more difficult than it sounded. Reincarnated souls would have to battle the savage creatures in order to get food and survive but had none of the abilities that any other spiritually aware being had.

Within the beast realm, a person becomes one of the 4 types of beastmen but which were called the 4 major clans. The first are the werewolves. These guys have large frames that tower over most and incredible strength. Their most famous member became a shinigami captain within the anime.

There are also Kitsune. These are beings who have fox tails and ears. The more tails one is born with, the more spirit energy they have. Kitsune are mainly female with very few males among their members.

The Tanuki were similar to the Kitsune in their bodies’ appearances. Instead of fox parts, they had raccoon-like tails and ears on their bodies.

There were also the Tengu who were part crow/raven were the ones who had the fewest members. They would have the wings of birds on their backs with the heads of crows/ravens.

Most of the time, these species would no interact due to several betrayals on one another in the past. The Tanuki were the most hated due to their plot that ended up killing 20 members of the other clans who were less than 10 years away from reaching Soul Society.

Ren summoned tree branches from under his feet and had them raise himself and his two companions into the air to get a better view. The entire realm was covered in a weird type of energy that disrupted Ren’s ability to sense reiryoku.

Once they were high in the air, Ren got a better view of the place. He could not see all of the various bases of the other species from where he was at but he still knew about what to look for.

There was a mountain that seemed to have a large cave entrance behind several layers of walls outside of the cave in the south. There was also a city that was within the trees that was in the north.

In the east was a floating fortress that seemed to be composed of a large number of boats. They were on a huge lake that covered over a hundred kilometers.

Lastly was the western group. They had the strongest looking base out of all the others and appeared to be a city with 10s of walls around them on all sides. This was the only one Ren could actually see with his eyes.

Before starting on their journey, Ren decided to drop by the city and ask for advice from the natives before the group left for their task.

‘Better to ask a native who lives there every day than to believe in the words of a book that is at least 400 years old.’

The trio ran through the air and approached the city at the fastest speed they could.

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Author’s Note: God’s realm is the Soul King’s Palace

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The trio ran in the air and stood above the first wall. They could have easily gone directly past the defenses of the city but figured it was too rude to simply do that. They stayed like that for a few minutes before a female(?) werewolf called out to them with a feminine voice (✔️).

“Hello, shinigami-dono. What honor do we have for you to visit our little city within this desolate realm?”

Ren did not put on airs as he dropped out of the air and landed on the wall. Baiken and Shin did as well. The pair of younger shinigami looked at the female werewolf with curious eyes. The number of beastmen who survived in the past several hundred years and were able to make it to Soul Society barely numbered 3.

As for those who were already in Soul Society, they were forced to the outskirts of it. Even among the peasants, the beastmen lived in the worst parts of Soul Society and were pretty much unable to become shinigami.

Ren had visited the various beastmen in hopes of recruiting a promising individual but was unable to find anyone besides Konamaru. But that man/beast was already a member of the 1st division.

“We are here to visit your leader. I wish to ask him about the Beast God’s Remnants.”

Hearing that they were here for the most feared location in all of the Beast Realm, the female werewolf shuddered and looked at the trio like they were insane. Ren knew exactly why she was giving them that look but he was not worried.

Out of the entire Beast Realm, most of it was dangerous. Savage Beasts roamed everywhere, there was little food, and water was scarce. None of this was as bad as the Beast God’s Remnants.

This location is where a large number of savage beasts were located. For as many beasts that roamed the rest of the Beast Realm, at least 3 times that many surrounded the area known as the Beast God’s Remnants. Not only did savage beasts surround the area but the place was also said to be cursed.

None of the beastmen dared to enter the place no matter what the legends said about a potion that would allow one to regain their human form or the ability to use soul energy.

The werewolf did not wish to talk to either of them in fear that she would end up having to escort the group. She pointed the trio in the right direction and gave them a few instructions before she ran off.

Baiken and Shin led the way as they looked at each of the werewolves with a large amount of interest in their eyes. They looked at all the different beings that towered over them. Each had its own fur color and also seemed like different breeds of dogs/wolves all over.

When they finally arrived at a large manor in the center of the city. The guards outside of the manor were going to block the way of the shinigami at first but when they saw the lack of animal features, the 6 guards stood down while 2 others ran inside to inform the members of the clan.

By the time the trio entered the main hall where all the major meetings would be held, there were 5 large werewolves waiting for them. Each of these figures was over 8 feet tall with the tallest even being 10 feet in height.

The grey wolf in the center stood up from his seat and greeted Ren’s entourage.

“Hello, shinigami. We have heard that you have visited us but are unsure why.”

Ren told him the same thing he told the female werewolf on the walls. All of the wolves inside the room were shocked and afraid by what Ren said. To them, the Beast God’s Remnants were the danger grounds that none of them dared to visit, even for the chance to be shinigami.

As soon as they heard the words, the leader gave them instructions on where the Remnants were located as well as all the details that he knew about it in hopes that Ren would not force any of his members to tag along. In fact, he had even tried to pawn the task off to the other 3 clans by saying that the werewolves were the least knowledgeable about the area.

Ren did not know whether he should laugh or cry about how obvious the old man was trying to pawn off the job of being guides but Ren did not need it. He already knew where he needed to go and could reach the area in moments at his speed. The trio left the city soon after under the relieved gazes of all the elders.

Ren and the others took about an hour to find the Remnants. The Remnants were a large skeleton in the shape of a colossal saber tooth tiger. All around them were countless savage beasts that were covering so much of the ground that it seemed like a moving black tide.

‘Now that we are here, we just need to get past ‘the curse’.’

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Shin and Baiken were about to attack the wave of beasts below but Ren held up his hand. Both were confused on why they were not allowed to attack but followed Ren’s lead. He slowly walked down from the sky until he was just above the beast tide.

The beasts that were originally beneath him seemed to form a landing zone for him and cleared out a few meter wide circle. Ren landed on the ground without suffering any attacks. Shin and Baiken landed on the ground as well. Both were looking at Ren and were asking questions with their eyes so Ren answered them.

“This is an ability of my zanpakuto. Most of the time, I keep it at its lowest value, which is off, since it overloads my mind with all the information I get. Every rock and tree and creature has a life, has a spirit, has a name.

I can literally sing with all the voices of the mountain and paint with all the colors of the wind. This is great for information gathering but terrible because no one ever listens to them so they all wish to talk with me.

Another great part of the ability is it passively makes creatures with low amounts of intelligence not hate me as long as they are not under the control of another or I don’t do anything to piss them off.”

The group walked through the tide until they reached the base of the skeleton. This is where the treasure was. Underneath the large skeleton was an altar that had a crimson marble on the center.

“Stay back. If you enter this altar, I may end up having to kill you. But stay close enough so that you do not end up getting attacked by the savage beasts.”

Shin and Baiken did not stand on the altar due to Ren’s warnings while he stepped onto the altar. The moment he did, his vision went black. Ren could see nothing but he heard a voice.

“You wish to take my final drop of blood? Are you worthy?”

Even though he was unable to see who was speaking, the power behind the voice was an obvious hint. This was the remaining spirit of the Beast God that dwelled in the drop of blood Ren was here for and also the ‘Curse’.

“Of course I think I am worthy. Otherwise, I would not be here. Or I would just be trying to commit suicide. Although I can think of a few other methods that are much better for that.”

‘Hmm. Then let us see how worthy you are.’

Ren felt his mind being pulled out of his body but he did not resist. He knew what was going and was prepared for it. In fact, he was excited. Not just for the reward but for the challenges that would occur once again.

It felt likes hours had passed by while the Remnant spirit read his mind when it was only seconds. But this made sense. Ren was a being that was over 600 years old. He had many memories to scan. When the process was finished, Ren felt a sense of relief. His mind was no longer feeling like it was literally being torn in two.

After the pain, came a sudden rush of memories. The time he battled both Kuruyashi and Azashiro before the latter took the former’s title.

The time he had challenged each of the 3 members of the Royal Guard in single combat to test his strength to the limits. Each one of them being a monster that could kill his entire division except for Tier individually.

The time he had battled Ichibe in a one-on-one duel in hopes of being able to see just how powerful was the man who had invented shikai, bankai, and many other things of Soul Society before they were even invented as well as the leader of the Royal Guards who were said to be strong enough to surpass all of the Gotei 13.

When he battled against Yamamoto in hopes of taking the title of the strongest shinigami as well as see how hot his flames were.

When he had first battled against a captain-level opponent. When he fought Kojuro in single combat and realized how high the beings known as captains stood above even officers and lieutenants.

‘My life has truly been wild. But the sad part is, I still haven’t beaten any of those 5 monsters. Yet.’

The Beast God’s spirit also saw all of Ren’s memories. With each battle he saw Ren partake in, he was impressed. No matter the opponent he faced, Ren did not back down and fought with his all until either him or his opponent lost.

‘This boy is truly a monster. I was killed by that monk so easily but this kid was able to withstand 5 strikes from him before he fell. This is truly impressive.’

“Fine, boy. You are indeed worthy of the last drop of my blood. I have already read through your memories and know what you plan to do with it and I approve.”

The red marble appeared in front of Ren’s face but he could not move yet. He was still stuck in darkness with the marble being the only thing he could see.

“Two more things,” the spirit’s voice said as it sounded weaker. “I shall give your zanpakuto the rest of my power. It seems to be a nature zanpakuto but only rules the elements and not beasts themselves.

I will also tell you a secret…”

The darkness faded from around Ren. He saw that the altar had collapsed while Shin and Baiken were standing around him with worried looks on their faces. Ren smiled at the pair.

“Let’s head home after I practice this new ability I learned.”

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Author’s note: Thinking of making chapters to show when he fought the battles listed above. If I do, it will delay the original story by at least 5 chapters. 15 at most. The choice is up to you readers. The vote will end Friday, February 25th, 12pm EST.

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‘Dryae. How does it feel?’ Ren asked his zanpakuto spirit. Even though he was sure that the Beast God’s Spirit did not mean any harm, he would still be careful about anyone interacting with her ever since he found out Khorne had suppressed her for over 100 years.

‘Hmm. Not only do I feel fine, I feel even better than ever. Like a part of me, I never knew was missing had finally come back.’

Ren felt assured after he heard that. He also sensed the change in Dryae’s power and knew just how much more powerful she had gotten even though the bokken in his hands had not gone through any noticeable change.

‘What is the new ability that spirit gave you?’

Dryae took a minute to think about how to explain the new ability.

‘It is not really a new ability directly but instead several different breathing techniques. There are 14 in total.

Each breathing technique focuses on a different combat style that resembles the aspect of nature they are named after with some even giving special abilities. They are really impressive if I say so myself.’

If the spirit knew that Dryae had gotten all 14 breathing styles, he would have been shocked. The spirit had only intended to grant her 4 styles: Beast, Insect, Serpent, and Flower. He knew his spirit was too weak to hold all the techniques and was barely able to transfer 4. How Dryae got all 14 would forever be a mystery.

Ren kept speaking with Dryae about all the 14 styles to get a better idea of them but the more he learned, the more interested he became. Any one of those styles would increase his combat power by a large margin but by having all 14, he turned into a demon.

‘Wait. Who said these are only for me? Dryae? Can I give these to others?’

‘Yes and no. You can teach them to others but you can’t just pass them on. Also, it comes with a risk. These techniques are meant for your body and yours alone. If they try to learn the wrong technique or use it without mastering them, they could end up crippling themselves.’

‘Got it! Even if they can each only learn one, one of these will make their swordsmanship rise up to a level that most other shinigami can’t touch.’

Ren spent the next 3 days training with the various styles and getting used to them. Even though they were in his zanpakuto and his mind, they were not one with his body. No matter how much he knew, it was meaningless without application.

‘A person can be the best hacker in the world but without a computer that can keep up with them, they would be too limited.’

During those 3 days, Shin and Baiken were taught the basics of a style that suited each of them.

Shin was taught the Thunder Breathing Style. This style focused on swift strikes and movements as well as using electricity to attack. This suited Shin’s nature perfectly.

Baiken was more difficult to pick a style for due to her disability. Ren eventually settled on the Mist Style since it dealt with putting the opponent at an advantage by obscuring their senses and the surroundings.

The pair were not even able to learn the first technique of their breathing styles during the 3 days but even without them, Ren was able to see how much of an improvement that the duo had gone through in terms of swordsmanship.

When the 3 days were over, Ren decided to leave. He was not sure when the Quincy would attack so he decided that it was best to return earlier in case anything happened.

Ren dropped a crystal on the ground that he had gotten from Kisuke. This was a special device that created a temporary gate between two locations that could be opened up by using another crystal.

Ren had requested this from Kisuke so that he could visit the Beast Realm without the knowledge of the Central 46. This place had dense spiritual energy and was empty for the most part which made it suitable for training his members.

After the crystal was in the ground, Ren summoned several large tree branches to form a large and thick dome around it. With the dome, he was not afraid of any savage creatures destroying the crystal while he was away.

Ren tore the talisman that Yamamoto had given before a portal appeared in front of him. The trio jumped through it and landed in the officer of Yamamoto. Except when they arrived, the old man was talking with the current lieutenant of the 12th division.

“Old man. Hikifune. Don’t mind us. We are just coming back from our picnic.”

Hikifune nodded back and smiled at Ren in greeting. The slim and busty woman who could take the title of most-endowed shinigami. She had long purple hair and swirling marks on her cheeks.

Ren got along well with the woman since she had a similar personality to Kisuke but also very different. Both were people who were obsessed with their research but the woman had a cheerful and bubbly personality while Kisuke was lazy and a loner.

Ren did not mind either since he knew that both were just being honest about themselves and did not feel the need to act differently in front of others.

Yamamoto nodded his head and waved the trio off as they left his office and returned toward the 8th division.

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Author’s note: Well the votes were very clear so I’m releasing the next chapter before the time limit.

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When Ren returned to the 8th division, not only were all of the officers in the meeting room, they also had two guests. Baiken ran up and hugged one of them.

“Yoruichi-nee!”

Yoruichi hugged Baiken back. Yoruichi had been in command of the Onmitsukido for the past 200 years and would hardly have time to visit due to the rise in Quincy activities. Even still, Baiken had gotten very close with her and the pair considered each other like sisters.

Sitting next to Yoruichi was Kisuke. The man still had his signature hat on his face that obscured most of his face. Kisuke nodded toward Ren in silent greeting before covering his entire face with his hat, most likely trying to take a nap.

“What do I owe the pleasure of the leader of the Onmitsukido visiting me along with her number 2 lackey?” Ren asked in a teasing tone.

Yoruichi rolled her eyes and ignored Ren’s taunt.

“No members of the 8th division have made a move for over a week besides Ren who decided to visit the Beast Realm that is supposed to have nothing there. Several of the noble houses have gotten suspicious and wanted us to investigate?”

“So you investigate by walking straight into our office and asking us?” Shin said with a puzzled expression. Yoruichi nodded with a proud look on her face.

“Hmm. I know that anything you are willing to tell me I can gain by just asking. As for anything else, no matter how much I try to hide it, Teacher would have surely made it impossible for me to get.”

Yoruichi picked up several documents from the table and waved them in front of her face to prove her point. She then kicked the chair from under Kisuke and caused the man to fall on his butt.

“Come on. We have to go write these in our own words and slowly distribute them over the course of a few years now.”

Kisuke stood up and followed Yoruichi outside the building before she waved at the officers of the 8th division. Soon, she was out of sight.

“Now that the nuisance is gone, let’s get back to the main topic. I have collected what I planned to. And with it, we can finally transform the Arrancar.”

Hearing the news, most in the room were excited yet anxious. This had never been done before so they did not know how it would react or end up. Luckily, they were prepared.

“Anyone who wants to watch can come to the Dungeon. Everyone else can relax around the base.”

Tier, Baiken, and Cyan were the only ones who decided to follow Ren. The rest did not want to visit the Dungeon since the process may not end up as they had expected.

The group of 4 left the officers’ building and walked towards Ren’s dorm. Above it, was a treehouse that looked like a child had built it. The group jumped into the air and stepped on the platform of the treehouse before entering it. Inside was a completely different sight.

Kisuke and Tessai had worked with Ren’s wood which had excellent durability and the unique ability to store reiatsu to build this. The Dungeon was a picket dimension where the powerful beings of the 8th division could train without destroying or breaking the rules of Soul Society.

Each of the noble clans had something similar but none were as large as the 8th divisions since it was the size of a small planet. It also had the ability to regenerate from any damage that those who entered it caused.

The 4 flash-stepped toward the southern part of their personal planet until they reached a large building made out of Ren’s special wood. The group entered and was immediately met with cursing.

“Fuck you! Release me before the King comes to rescue me and I can promise that you will have swift deaths!”

Cyan looked at the others with a chilling smile on her face.

“The new ones are so impatient. He could have lived for a while longer but he chose to die today. Maybe he wanted to volunteer for the experiment.”

Baiken nodded. She jumped up and cut through the cage that the person yelling was in. The trio heard several heavy blows meeting a body before she jumped out with a figure over her shoulders.

This was an Arrancar that the 8th division had captured. Using the Arrancar’s ability to travel freely to Hueco Mundo, Ren had been sending his members there for training, consistently. Every now and then, they would capture an Arrancar for experiments.

Ren had been trying to understand his Elixir of Life as well as doing other experiments to convert Arrancar into shinigami for years. But nothing worked.

But with each failure, Ren got closer and closer to the answer. He finally figured out, or thought he did, how to do it and the missing ingredient that would cause it to work.

The Arrancar standing in front of Ren had been beaten and was bloody. One of his arms had also been cut off at the elbow. But even with all the injuries that he was given earlier, the Arrancar still had the nerve to talk down on them when they entered which earned Baiken’s and Cyan’s wrath.

Ren did not mind the man. He summoned the Elixir of Life. It was a black chalice with light red liquid inside of it. Ren pulled out the blood-marble from within his robe and dropped it inside of the chalice. The marble melted while the color of the liquid went from light red to a bloody color.

Ren saw the color change and nodded. He then held the male Arrancar by his face and forced open his mouth before forcing down a mouthful of the elixir. Him and the others stood back and watched to see what would happen next.

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The Arrancar seemed fine at first even though he was unconscious. Then his body started writhing on the ground. His eyes shot open and he held onto his throat several moments later. The Arrancar seemed like he was unable to breathe. None of those watching made a move but just watched him with cold, indifferent eyes.

Soon, the mask fragments on the man’s lower jaw began to melt. Seeing this, everyone started to look on with interest. The mask melted into a white liquid that began to flow down his body.

The liquid traveled toward the hole in the Arrancar’s chest and filled it with the liquid. Once the hole in his chest was filled with white liquid, it came out of his chest and surrounded his entire body like personal body armor that was bleach { 😉 😉 } white that fit the man like a glove. It even covered the part of the man’s arm that had been cut off earlier so it seemed like the arm was still there.

Ren looked on with interest. He thought for a moment before he flashed away and a moment later he was back, carrying the zanpakuto of the Arrancar in his right hand and his crown in the left. Ren threw both on his body and saw the white liquid hungrily absorb the zanpakuto before putting it in the Arrancar’s hand.

The others saw that the liquid seemed to ignore them and only cared about anything related to the Arrancar. Ren was hoping that this meant that the process was a success. Every other time he had done this, the liquid always rejected the Arrancar. This was the first time that it did not.

‘So shinigami blood alone is not enough. It also needed the blood of a beast god to counter it.

The shinigami blood allows for the body and soul to stabilize while the beast god blood replaces the hollow’s animalistic raw power.

Even though it was successful before, the spiritual power and awareness were lost. Hopefully, this will finally keep the process stable and ensure no power is lost through it.’

The crown began to glow as the power within the Arrancar started to try to leak out before being forcibly suppressed and forced back inside of the Arrancar.

Soon the white armor cracked before breaking and disappearing into nowhere. All that remained was the Arrancar that was there before but with several differences. He no longer had a mask and his hole was now filled. His arm had also been regenerated.

The man was no longer an Arrancar but he could also not be said to be a pure shinigami either. The man now had 2 pairs of narrow, slit-like eyes on his face.

‘Hmm. I did not think that there would be so much change. I just thought that the mask itself would disappear.

I’m sure most of them won’t mind a few of these characteristics remaining though as long as they are not as obvious and obtrusive as the mask fragments.

Now let’s see how powerful he is and if his resurrecion is the same.’

Before Ren could even try to wake up the man, he shot up and towards Ren before swinging his blade at Ren. Baiken stepped forward and blocked the blow with a single hand but Ren could still sense the power behind the blow even with Baiken blocking for him.

‘This is just as much power as he had when he was an Arrancar! This works! Come on now. Let’s see your resurrecion.’

The man was blasted back by Baiken by about 20 meters before he was able to stand again. He saw the 4 people looking at him and knew that his chances of victory were slim. Ren said something which ignited his fighting spirit though.

“Good. You have proven to be a successful experiment. As your reward, if you are able to kill Baiken here, I will let you go free and will not chase you down. Do you accept?”

The former Arrancar seemed shocked that he was given the offer and scanned Ren’s face for a tell that he was lying. He then shook his head and realized that even if Ren was, this was his only chance at escape before the two monsters known as Ren and Tier.

“I accept!”

The man stabbed his blade through his right hand before shouting his release command.

“Kumo no Kuro!”

A large amount of reiatsu was released from the man that would match most mid-class captains. Soon the reiatsu faded and the man appeared in a form different but similar to his previous resurrecion.

He had a black exoskeleton covering most of his body leaving only his face uncovered, his mouth had turned into chelicerae, and 4 black and green spider legs emerged from his back. The beast part of this man’s nature had exceeded what it was when he was an Arrancar.

‘Perfect. Even though there was a chance, it was expected.’

Ren turned around and went to go get the other while he left Baiken to battle with the man. He already knew the results of the battle anyway.

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By the time that Ren had returned with Franceska, Emilou, and Shin as well as the 3 Gillian-class Arrancar, the former Arrancar’s body was starting to disperse as its dead body was releasing all the souls within its body back into the reincarnation cycle.

Baiken had several parts of her clothes torn but there was not a single injury on her body. Even though she was the youngest out of all the officers, the girl had come of the best combat potential that still being tapped into even after 400 years.

Ren put both his hands together before summoning many large tree branches that twisted and intertwined until they formed a hut with private. Since the last Arranacar lost all of his clothes in the transformation process, he wanted to give everyone a sense of privacy when they shifted. With the temporary building done, Ren turned toward the 7 Arrancar.

“You guys don’t have to do this if you do not wish to. This is just me being me.”

Tier shook her head.

“I trust your judgment. I also wish to see how I change after being the same for so long.”

Cyan and Franceska nodded at her words.

“We also believe in you. You have not once led us down the wrong path so you have our trust.”

“I agree with her as well.”

The pair turned to Emilou and shot a glare at the woman who did not seem to want to agree with them.

“I don’t really care about your reason. As long as I get rid of this horn, I will be fine with whatever happens.”

Both wanted to smack their friend on the head for still not being tactful after all these years but Ren was used to it. In a society that was as stagnant as theirs, the change did not happen for most.

They did the same thing for years and years with barely any changes in their routine. While many would mature, they would hide that maturity behind another persona. That was the only way one could keep themselves sane.

Ren and the Arrancar entered the building with each going into their own room and disrobing. He went from room to room with the chalice in his hand and letting each member drink a mouthful of the elixir and place a jewel from the crown on each of their heads before he went into the center room and waited for the process to be over.

‘Now that I think about it, what will their new abilities be? Shinigami have kido, hollows and Arrancar have cero and those other skills, fullbringers are weirdos, and Quincy shoot arrows. What will they do?

Hmm. Shinigami are Japanese, hollows are Spanish, fullbringers are English, and Quincy are German. What language is left? Korean? Russian? French?

I wave baguette in surrender since my white flag has been put in the air too many times. Haha. The French have such a funny reputation even though they have been in more wars than most other countries.

Their language is seriously fucked up though. I could never… oh! They’re done.’

The insane monologue going through Ren’s head had ended when he felt the first person emerging from their room. Rather than just emerge, she cut through the wood that served as a wall with a loud roar.

Franceska emerged from her room with a pair of lion ears sticking out from her hair and a tail swishing behind her back. Her mask remnants had completely disappeared leaving only a beautiful cat woman but Ren felt it was a pity.

‘She had a nice crown.’

“How are you feeling?” Ren asked

Franceska flexed her muscles and made a few kicks and punches with her body.

“Hmm. Feel perfect. Very comfortable in fact.”

The next to awaken was Emilou but before she had even broken out of her room, Franceska and Ren could hear her shout.

“Fuck this!”

Emilou punched through the wood wall without even getting dressed and appeared in front of the pair. Both did not have to ask why she angry when they saw her.

On top of the raging woman’s head was no longer the single white horn that made up the fragment of her hollow mask but instead two antelope horns that came out of her head.

“It was supposed to go away! Not double!”

Before Ren could even refute her, Franceska stepped forward first.

“Oh shut up. You knew this was about getting more animal traits. What else did you think you were going to get you, dumb deer? A fluffy little tail?”

Emilou was frustrated and flustered. She wanted to storm towards Franceska and fight her but she realized that she was naked. But she also could not retreat otherwise the woman would see that she did in fact also gain a little fluffy tail.

Luckily for her, all 3 of the Gillian-class Arrancar woke up and burst through their walls. Using the moment when Franceska was distracted, Emiloue retreated back into her room and got dressed.

All 3 of the Gillians came out without their masks as well with each having animal characteristics based on their resurrecion form. While Ren was still looking them over to see all the changes, Emilou emerged from her room dressed and began to argue with Franceska.

Deciding it was easier to ignore the pair, Ren waited for Cyan and Tier to emerge. Both did about the same time. When Cyan broke out of her room, she did it through raw physical strength. Tier on the other hand was able to cut through it and with a single cut.

Cyan did not have many obvious changes besides the mask fragment in her hair disappearing. Only when one took a close look, would they notice that along her collar were white snake scales.

Tier had also lost any noticeable changes while she was wearing clothes. Along both of her arms were Kakau or tribal tattoos that looked like shark teeth that formed a bracelet. On her chest were also a large shark lower shark jaw-looking tattoo that went along her collarbone.

With these two emerging from their cocoons(?) all of the Arrancar had officially finished their evolution and were now entirely new beings.

————————–

Author’s Note:

So gonna answer these two things in the author’s note. One is a question that several people asked in the comments and I’m sure a few are curious about while the other, only one asked but was a really good question.

1st: Why?

Why he did this is really only one major reason. Many think that he is just doing it to have sex with Tier but as long as it is within the Dungeon, the pair can get as freaky as they want in her release form.

No. The reason why is lack of trust. Ren has managed to piss off almost every noble clan and has built a large amount of fight power within his division. By using the excuse that he has hollows, they can try to kill Ren or at least the Arrancar with a poison targeted toward them.

By changing their bloodlines, he is able to get rid of that possibility from working. The whole arrow in the dark vs spear in the light thing.

2nd: Will they have bankai and are Quincy able to take their powers now?

No and No! They still have resurreccion and Quincy can’t take them.

This question is easy to answer and accept that answer if you are open-minded. The fact is the that shinigami zanpakuto has never been shown to weaken the shinigami when they fully convert the asauchi into a zanpakuto. This always made it seem like, to me at least, that a shinigami zanpakuto is borrowed power. And when a shinigami uses shikai or bankai, they are forcefully evolving that power.

Ressurrecion on the other hand is the release of a hollow’s true power. They are not borrowing anyone’s power but instead unleashing their’s to the limit. These new beings are similar and are unleashing their true power instead of borrowing it.

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The group returned to Soul Society soon after with each member heading in their own direction to do as they pleased. Ren left towards the first division to see Yamamoto since he needed something from the old man.

The division was as peaceful as always when he arrived at the gate to barracks and walked through them. All the members of the 1st division nodded or gave small bows toward Ren. Ever since they had heard about his battles against each Kenpachi, very few would dare to disrespect Ren, especially to his face.

By the time Ren had arrived at the old man’s office, Hikifune was long gone with Yamamoto and Chojiro discussing some matters of the division.

Chojiro and Yamamoto nodded toward Ren who had returned the greeting. He got right to the point of his visit since he did not like beating around the bush or making small talk.

“I need to see that damn monk. Can you let them know for me?”

The damn monk that Ren was referring to was Ichibe Hyosube, leader of the Royal Guards also known as the Zero Division. The man was millions of years old and had named many things in existence. Zanpakuto, shikai, bankai, shinigami. If it had a name, he was most likely the reason behind it.

Ren wanted to speak with the man because he wanted more information about the Arrancars’ new species. If they had been created before, Ichibe must have had some knowledge about the various abilities they possessed.

He also needed to speak with Ichibe and Oetsu about another matter that both were involved in in the past.

Yamamoto was used to Ren’s request and tossed him a red cube. Inside the cube was a bell that seemed to have been surrounded by glass and would never move.

“Pour your reiatsu into the cube and shake it. It will alert the Rotal Guard that you want to meet with them. If Ichibe wishes to speak with you, he will summon you to the Soul King’s palace. If not, you can do nothing else about it. You can also keep that. I have another for myself.”

Ren nodded and was about to leave when he thought of a question that had been bothering him for a long time.

“Why do you let me do as I please? You always seem so strict with the other captains or question everyone’s motives but for me, I am pretty much allowed to run rampant. ”

Chojiro raised his eye at the question that he had also been curious about. But the last time he had asked Yamamoto, the only reply he got was ‘He is unique’.

“You… are unique. Not just in your level of power but also in your motivation. You had killed another captain when you were barely 150 years old because your previous captain made a bet with you.

You have defeated every Kenpachi after that. Not out of anger or to humiliate them but because you just wanted to make sure that anyone who took that name knew that they were not the true Kenpachi until they beat her.

You have a strange sense of loyalty. Although I do not believe that you have any loyalty to Soul Society itself, you are loyal to the people and do what is best for them. You will ignore the rules for your people or for the greater good.

This is something that I do not believe in because I respect the laws laid down before me. If anyone else had such little respect for the rules, I would have put them in their place long ago. But you… you do not care about me or fear the consequences.

I know that my students or some other shinigami will eventually take over the position of Supreme Commander from me one day. That I can be assured. But I do not know if the one who succeeds me will have the power to protect Soul Society.

You will. You have the power that surpasses even Yachiru-chan and will be able to defeat me eventually. You also do not wish to be a member of the Zero Division which means that you will become Soul Society’s best line of defense, unlike the Royal Guard who only protects the Palace.

This is why I agree with your requests. Even though you are wild and care not for rules, you have sacrificed your division’s prosperity by agreeing to become a blade against nobles. You are willing to ignore the rules, both written and unwritten, to do what is right.”

Ren did not know how to respond. No matter how he thought of it, he only did those things because he truly did not mind. The first time, he was mainly going after revenge while later, he never truly cared about nobles. Those without true power would never be a threat to him.

“Whatever you say, Old Man. I need to speak with the mad monk so I will have to continue this discussion another time.”

Ren used shunpo to flash step out of the room. Within moments, he was on the outskirts of Rukongai. When he saw that there was no one around, Ren inserted his reiatsu in the cube and shook the bell.

Unable to hear a sound, Ren did not know if it had worked. His doubts were soon changed as he saw a portal appear in front of his eyes. Ren walked through it as he visited the Soul King’s palace for the 3rd time.

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When Ren stepped through the portal, the first thing he saw was not a large man with a smile on his face but instead, a large number of fabrics dangling around.

“Of course you were the one who answered my call. The other 3 are probably doing something ‘important’ like playing with their sword.”

Sitting on a throne in front of him was a beautiful young woman. She wore the standard shinigami uniform as well as a captain’s haori and some gold ornament in her hair. The most interesting part of her was that she did not appear to have any normal arms but instead had 6 skeletal, artificial arms on her back.

“Senjumaru Shutara, also known as 3rd officer of the Royal Guard and the Great Weave Guard. How have you been since we last met?”

Senjumaru flashed Rena a small smile. She had visited him several times in the past when she heard about the various variations to his haori that he had made over the years. He was the only captain to try and change the design of the haori once every few months.

But with his constant changes, she felt some admiration. The woman figured that she had found someone to be her test subject and try out her different prototypes of haori designs. She had been bored since no one dared to aim for the Soul King so she had nothing to do most of the time.

“If it is not my favorite captain. Little Ren, what are you here for? Trying to challenge each of us again?”

Ren let out a laugh. Although he was willing to battle against each of them again, he was only sure about his victory against Tenjiro. The Senjumaru and Oetsu were still unsure battles while Ichibe was in another league entirely.

“Not today. Maybe another day soon. I am here to meet with the Mad Monk. Is he busy?”

Hearing that Ren did not want to try out her latest haori design for him left Senjumaru a bit disappointed but after hearing his request, decided to follow Ren. If Ren was looking for Ichibe and did not insult him, it meant that he had most likely found something interesting.

“He is not busy at all. I can even guide you to where he is.”

“Thanks but I…”

“I can guide you to where he is,” Senjumaru said with a smile on her face that seemed a bit forceful.

“Once again, I am…”

“I. Will. Guide. You.” The woman said while releasing reiatsu and killing intent.

Both knew that she was not doing it to start a battle or threaten him but just so that Ren knew that she was coming along no matter what he said. Resigning to his fate, Ren accepted her help.

“Then I will thank you for your help.”

Hearing his reply, Senjumaru let out a light and girly giggle that one would expect from a woman of her appearance but not of her age. The woman grabbed Ren’s hand with one of her skeletal arms before lifting him into the air and using shunpo.

The pair appeared in front of a large staircase. Senjumaru wanted to let Ren get used to the dense spiritual energy coming from the dojo starting at the bottom of the stairs but when she saw that he did not seem to be affected, she changed her mind and appeared at the top of the stairs in a flash.

They were now outside of a large training dojo. This was the main building of Ichibe’s floating city and where most would find him. The duo entered the building and was greeted by a large man writing on an even large piece of paper with a brush that was larger than the man. He seemed to be practicing his calligraphy.

The strokes were beautiful but fierce and full of energy. When the piece was done, even an amateur could tell that Ichibe had done an amazing job.

Just as Ren was about to give some light praise, he saw that the paper began turning into reishi before it disappeared completely. Ren immediately knew that something else had just gained a name.

“Hohoho. It seems like you are here for a reason, Little Ren. Do you wish to be defeated with only 5 blows once again? Maybe you have gotten stronger and can survive 6 now?”

Ren could not say anything to that. It was true that the last time the pair had battled, Ren was only able to take 5 blows from the monk’s shikai before he was out of the fight.

‘This goddamn monster is taunting me now. Just let me get that as well as master my breathing styles and we can see just how many blows it will take before I cut off that fat head of yours.’

“I am not here for that. I came because you know the names of almost everything. What is a being that is a hybrid between a shinigami and a beast?”

Ichibe finally turned around and looked at Ren. Seeing the eyes of the ancient being on him, Ren could not help but feel uncomfortable. It was as if he could hide no secrets from those eyes.

Ren knew that the main weakness of his zanpakuto was its lack of raw offensive power compared to most others in high positions. While he could defeat those just a single step below his level with ease, anyone on his level was an uphill challenge for him without resorting to summoning a meteor.

“Hmm. I do remember naming such a thing a long time ago. There had only been 30 in existence before. I believe they were called…”

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“Hmm. I do remember naming such a thing a long time ago. There had only been 30 in existence before. I believe they were called… Asura. They are the fusion between the holy beings known as shinigami and the beasts of nature that have no control over themselves.”

Hearing that they had a name, Ren was ecstatic. He decided to press on.

“Then if they have names, do they also have common abilities? Such as the cero of Hollows or the hierro of the Arrancar.”

Ichibe gave Ren another soul-piercing look but he did not ask much. As long as whatever Ren was plotting did not involve the safety of the Soul King Ichibe would not care about anything. This was the true nature of the Mad Monk.

Even if all of Soul Society was going to burn down due to a rebellion and the Gotei 13 all died, Ichibe would stand by and watch as long their goal was not the Soul King’s Palace and just wished to rule over Seireitei.

“Indeed they do. They have several abilities which make them quite hard to catch or kill. Their offensive powers mainly rely on their secondary forms.

Asura have passive a defensive power similar to hierro called Cheol-Dong-Gong (Iron Body Technique). They can really be called the same thing in all honesty.

Then there is their movement skill Hwan Hwan Shin Bo (Foot Techniques) which is a set of footwork techniques that cover several movements. Jin, Tweh, Hweh, Gyuk, and Gwan (Advance, retreat, evade, attack, and confuse).

They also have the variation of desorrer called Bin (Void) which opens up a portal between dimensions. But unlike Descorrer, it allows free travel through all dimensions instead of just between their current location and Hueco Mundo or Hueco Mundo and the human realm.

Those are the only 3 ‘abilities’ most Asura possess in their base forms but there are still variations on what each can do based on their reiatsu and animal bloodline similar to how Vasto Lorde would have natural abilities the can use that Adjuchas and Gillian can’t.

Their resurrecion is pretty similar to an Arrancar’s and is called Gagseong (awakening). Unlike Arranacar, this is not an increase in power by 6 times like a low-level bankai but an increase of 10 times like a fully mastered bankai.

What makes them truly different from Arrancar is their ability to use kido due to their shinigami bloodline. It was just that so few ever had the patience for learning it, that no Expert-class or higher Asura had ever been seen before.

These Asura could have been the most dangerous threat to Soul Society if they were more numerous or decided to work together. Luckily, most were indifferent to ruling and only like to battle strong opponents to test their strength.”

Ichibe said a few other things that wer off topic so Ren decided to ignore them and focus on the information he had gathered.

‘So Asura are beings that are a true mix of Arrancar and Shinigami then. The increase in their power Gagseong forms will also be a warm welcome. I was unable to tell how strong that other Arrancar was due to how weak he was before me.

I should ask about that real quick before he goes off into another lecture. Maybe I shouldn’t actually. With how protective he is, if I tell him I am interested in that thing which tried to kill the Soul King before, he may take that as a sign of betrayl.’

After having his internal monologue, Ren decided that he was done speaking with Ichibe.

“Monk. Do you have any books or scrolls containing information on those techniques?”

Ichibe was startled that he was interrupted but when he remembered who did it, he knew it was to be expected. Ren had a personality that most people could not stand because he was too honest.

Ichibe held his fingers to his large chin to think for a moment. He then picked up his brush and began writing in the air. Once he wrote a kanji, a small, black hole appeared in the air next to him.

Ichibe reached his hand inside and messed around a little before he took out a scroll that looked as if it had seen better days. The monk tossed it to Ren before the latter gave a small nod of appreciation and left towards the exit.

Ren reached the center of the Soul King’s Palave and stood in front of a large number of stairs. This was the only way to get down from the palace at the moment and it would take between half a day to a week depending on the traveler’s speed.

‘Guess I am in the half a day category.’

Ren began to used shunpo and hurried down the steps with 4 pairs of eyes watching him. A man with a ganster hairstyle had a pipe in his mouth and was looking between Ichibe and Ren in confusion. Another man wearing sunglasses was also doing the same thing.

These were the last remaining members of the Royal Guard. The Hot Spring Demon, Tenjiro Kirinji. The other was The God of the Sword, Oetsu Nimaiya

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Ren finally descended from the Soul King’s Palace 5 hours later and landed in the center of Seireitei. Ren immediately returned to the 8th division and brought the manual to Tier and the others. He passed it to them before returning to his room to do work of his own.

Any administrative work that he needed to do was just signing his name of papers or forms that Kyou had already working on and just needed his signature. The reason he entered his office was to create copies of the different breathing styles. He wanted to make sure that each of his officers had a style that suited them so he wrote down 3 copies of each one.

Even though he knew which ones suited them best, it was still a matter of personal preference. Ren decided to give Shin and Baiken a chance to pick their own techniques. It took Ren 3 hours to finish all the copies. By the time he was done, it was already past midnight.

Wanted to see if anyone was awake, Ren went to visit his various officers but all of them were asleep except for Tier. When Ren entered the dungeon, the woman was practicing diligently like always. Tenderness flashed through the man’s eyes.

“Tier. Rest. You have been working hard ever since I got back.”

Tier looked over at Ren but did not answer. She continued to swing her blade in steady repeating movements.

Knowing that he could not convince her to do anything, Ren walked behind Tier and held her at her hips while whispering in her ears.

“Would you like some help with your sword training? Or perhaps do some other type of nightly training?”

Tier finally lost her cool expression for a moment before she rolled her eyes at Ren.

“So that is what you were after. And here I was thinking that you were concerned about me.”

Getting a response, Ren felt overjoyed. Tier would usually ignore anyone who was trying to interrupt her training, even him. The number of times he had been able to pull her out from her trance while training could not be counted to more than 100 times in 500 years.

“Haha. I am concerned about you but I also know that you will take care of yourself for the sake of me and the others. You wouldn’t let yourself become a burden since you believe in making sure everyone is fine.”

Tier looked back at Ren for a moment and felt that the man knew her personality well. She turned her eyes forward and continued training. Ren could only let out a sigh that he had fallen for this woman who was so stoic.

‘She had stolen my heart and I have stolen hers. I know that she is not doing this on purpose but I would prefer some more emotion at least.’

“So why did you come in here? You would usually just come in to check on me before going to sleep.”

“My darling. Do you think I only come to look for you when I need something?”

“Besides favors, sex, or missions? Yep. Only those 3 things.”

Her words were like an arrow going through his chest. Even though he had won her heart, it was still pretty frozen and the woman was a Kuudere with a strong emphasis on the Kuu.

‘I think I have only seen here cute side at night.’

Ren took out the 14 manuals from the sack on his pack and placed them before Tier. He then explained the purpose and specialty of each one.

Hearing all of the different breathing methods and their styles, Tier quickly looked through each one of them. Unsurprisingly she chose the water style.

“Thanks, Ren.”

Ren would not miss the opportunity the flirt with the blonde beauty.

“What thanks is there needed between couples? If you really want to thank me though, I would love to see all your new tattoos in a very close manner.”

Hearing him start to flirt, Tier rolled her eyes once more before pushing Ren away.

“Goodnight, Ren.”

‘Ah. Once again, this woman pushes me away once she is done with me. And she said I only look for her when I need something.’

“Night, Tier.”

With a flash, he was gone. Tier looked at the spot where he had disappeared from for a moment before she started practicing Hwan Hwan Shin Bo.

———–

The next morning, Ren passed out the various breathing methods to each of his officers. They all chose the method that he had expected of them. The only exception was Baiken.

She had picked up the Sun Breathing Technique. Ren tried to convince her to change her mind but the girl was stubborn. He could only get her to compromise by having her practice the Mist and Sun styles so she could have a backup method.

All the members practiced their respective breathing techniques under the guide of Ren. For the few months, this continued until Cyan became sufficiently proficient in the Bin technique

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76 76

Bin was a very difficult technique to use. Unlike other abilities that opened similar dimensional gates, Bin did not have a set destination. It would require the user to have a higher sense of control and direction to open the portals in the correct destinations. This could even be failing to move 5 feet away when one was trying to move to a new dimension.

For Cyan to gain decent enough control over her skill in a month told about her aptitude with the technique.

Ren and Cyan were standing in the dungeon while the woman was focusing and trying to open up a portal to the Valley of Screams. This was a location where those who had accidentally escaped the cycle of reincarnation went. It was located between the Human Realm and Soul Society in the Dangai.

Ren wanted to go there for 2 reasons. The first was to see Blanks in person. He was not sure whether the movies were canon or not still so he decided to travel there and check them out himself.

The second reason was much more serious. This was the secret that the Beast God’s Spirit had passed on to him and Dryae.

Soon after, a light-blue portal opened in front of Ren and Cyan. On the other side, they could see a wasteland that had many valleys and canyons within it. If one looked closely, they could also see Shoji-type structures with white tassels sticking out of them on some cliffsides.

The duo jumped through the barrier and immediately started falling out of the air before they activated their movement techniques to stay within the air. Then the pair quickly walked through the air until they landed on the ground and within one of the valleys.

When they landed, there was nothing around them. The pair soon heard a rumbling sound. When they looked around to see what it was, it was a large number of Blanks.

‘So I guess they are real.’

Blanks were souls with memories that inhabited the Valley of Screams, All Souls migrate between the Human World and the Soul Society. From time to time, however, there were souls who, for some reason, became detached in the cycle of transmigration while in the Dangai.

These Souls wandered aimlessly from the Dangai and were slowly drawn together over a period of time. As the Souls came together, it caused a new dimension to open, creating The Valley of Screams. In the Valley of Screams, the souls separate into memory and energy before they return to the cycle of transmigration.

Blanks were large ghost-like beings that were pure white except for their heads that appeared to be pink pins.

Blanks were normally not very dangerous but within large groups, they could kill powerful shinigami with their abilities.

Seeing that the creatures were real, Ren decided that he had seen enough of them from just a quick view. Ever since he had come into being, he realized that Bleach was no longer just an anime and many things were much creepier in real life than in animated form.

Standing high in the air, the pair went from valley to valley trying to find what Ren was looking for. Unable to hide her curiosity anymore, Cyna decided to ask about it.

“What exactly are we looking for?”

Ren did not stop looking around in hopes of finding what he was looking for as he answered Cyan.

“A tree. And within that tree, is a sword that I want my sword to devour.”

Cyan did not really understand what Ren was talking about when he mentioned his sword devouring the other one but an idea crept into her mind once she heard that they were looking for a tree. She had heard about the incident in the Beast Realm from Baiken and Shin so she knew of Ren’s ability to communicate with nature.

“So, Boss. Quick question. And no need to feel bad about it or that you are very dumb if you did not think of this answer yourself.

Why are we searching? Can’t you… you know, ask the tree where it is? This place does not seem to have too many.”

Ren paused in mid-air and wanted to slap himself on the head when he heard Cyan’s idea. It was so simple yet so obvious given his powerset.

‘I need to start using Dryae’s abilities more like they are supposed to be used. I have been limiting myself too much.’

He immediately began to focus on listening to the world around him and winced right as he did. The moment he opened himself up, he heard countless screams coming from the very earth itself. As if it was in pain and terrified at the same time.

Ren had to tune out all of the screaming until he could find one particular voice. This voice was calling for him and asking for Ren to remove the pain that was coming from inside of it. Ren could instantly tell that this was a tree due to the aura the voice gave him and decided to follow the aura.

He soon arrived at a large tree that had half of a sword sticking out of it. This sword appeared to be a pure white broadsword from blade to hilt with the exception of 3 black dots on it.

Finding what he wanted, Ren unsheathed Dryae and slashed at the site sword with his bokken. The wooded sword did not break or bounce off but sank into the blade along with Ren’s consciousness.

‘Ikomikidomoe. Let’s have a little chat.’

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77 77 (Super Long)

Author’s Note: Someone asked for a long chapter so I thought I would try out a single long chapter and see the response from it.

Edit: Over 2.2 K words

——————–

Ren appeared in Hueco Mundo and looked around surprised. Even more surprising, Dryae was standing right next to him. It took a moment to remember what happened just before.

“Dryae. We are inside of the other sword’s inner world, aren’t we?”

The Zanpakuto Spirit nodded at Ren. She was looking at the desert with interest. Even with the lack of trees and life, the world was still an interesting environment that attracted Dryae’s attention.

“This place is so interesting. It even looks like the sky is always nighttime. I have never seen that before. What kind of things live here?”

Ren realized that Dryae had never been to Hueco Mundo. The first few times he went, she was being suppressed by Khorne. While later on, he never went there but let his officers go in his stead.

Due to still feeling guilty over the incident with Khorne, Ren made a silent vow to take Dryae to more places that way she could see as many places as she wanted.

“This is Hueco Mundo, land of the Hollows. Or at least this being’s interpretation on it. The night sky there is much prettier. I’ll make sure to take you there some other time.”

Dryae nodded enthusiastically. She could not wait to visit the various places. As a spirit of nature, what interested the Zanpakuto spirit most was new or unique environments. The pair were about to continue talking when they heard a loud roar that nearly made Ren’s ears bleed.

Large tornadoes began forming and sweeping through the land. The duo saw them and ignored those tornadoes since they were no threat but began looking for the being that summoned them. Ren was able to find it due to his reiatsu sensing while Dryae could use her ability to communicate with nature to find it.

Far off into the distance, a titan-sized being stood tall. This being was a Hollow. It had a pure white body and was over 50 meters tall. The giant, humanoid creature had a long torso and elongated arms which reach almost to the ground. Its forelimbs ended in large claws, while its legs were much shorter.

The Hollow did not have a visible neck; instead, its head is an extension of its body. Its forehead was covered in hexagonal markings, while a structure extended from its nose back across its cheeks, ending in large circles just beside the hexagonal markings. A long beard extended from beneath its small Hollow Mask

This was Ikomikidomoe, a legendary Hollow. The creature was an ancient being and had caused massive amounts of devastation. Ikomikidomoe had been able to defeat Yamamoto in his younger years, before the man got his zanpakuto, and was only able to be put down once the Royal Guard stepped in.

The duo of Ichibe and Oetsu sealed the Hollow in a zanpakuto which made it the first, and only, zanpakuto with a spirit that resided in the sword without a shinigami imprinting their own.

Ren and Dryae looked at the large creature with interest in each of their eyes. Ren because he had never seen a Hollow that could make two Royal Guard members step forward while Dryae was more interested in such a unique animal.

A loud voice was heard from all directions even though the pair knew where it was coming from.

” A shinigami and a woman dare yo enter my domain? You wish to die, I presume.”

Without letting the pair respond, Ikomikidomoe began charging a cero from his small mask and fired it toward Ren and Dryae.

Seeing the red beam of energy firing towards them, Dryae held up her left hand with countless, large, and thick tree branches that emerged and blocked its path. Before the cero could get too close, it detonated when it hit too many trees and causing a large crater.

Ren looked at the tree branches that remained and then the crater that was in the desert. He looked at Dryae with surprise in his eyes while the spirit flashed him a smile.

“You still have a lot of work to do, Ren. My trees aren’t as fragile as you have been using them for. ”

Ren nodded and agreed. With the durability that the tree branches had just displayed, Ren could tell that they were truly much more powerful than what he had been using before.

‘If I could use them to such a scale, I’m sure that I could beat Oetsu and Senjumaru. As for the monk, we can talk about it another day.’

“It seems like this guy will not agree to just let us take over his body. Do you want to take the lead while I back you up, Ren?”

Ren nodded in agreement. In the inner world, although Ren could use his nature powers, it was better to let Dryae do it. That way, he could focus on combat but could also see how the spirit used them to their fullest ability in hopes that he could get to her level one day.

A small choker appeared around Ren’s neck while a greatsword appeared in his right hand and a spear appeared in his left. A crown appeared on Ren’s head before it melted and turned into purple, heavy armor that covered all of his body except for his head.

While Ren was getting ready, Dryae lifted her hands and began changing the weather. The dryad changed the weather into a sandstorm and firestorm that covered the entire area. The powerful sand blocked the pair from being seen by Ikomikidomoe from a distance while the fire also did damage and block the line of sight as well.

“Let’s do!”

Ren stepped forward and began charging toward Ikomikidomoe. As he was planning on using his reishi to walk in the air, Ren felt a tree branch appear right under his feet. Smiling to himself, he ran forward step by step with each branch covering him.

Within moments, Ren appeared in front of Ikomikidomoe. After arriving in front of the Hollow, Ren attempted to cut off its entire left arm. Using his blade, he was able to leave a deep wound into it as he passed by but when he turned to look at the wound, it had already healed.

‘Healing so fast? This guy can heal like the 4th Espada.’

Ren began to turn around to try and attack but to his surprise, the massive figure disappeared for a moment. He then felt a large amount of wind pressure coming from behind him.

‘Shit!’ Ren slashed back with his greatsword to counter the blow coming toward him. The pair clashed with one another but unable to take the force of the blow, Ren was sent flying hundreds of meters away before he crashed into the ground.

When he landed in the desert, a large amount of sand was kicked up. Once the dust cleared, Ren could be seen laying in the sand with his right arm bent at a weird angle while the rest of his body seemed fine. Ren looked down at his arm and pulled on it until it was in place once more.

‘Fuck! That hurts. I need hierro or something. Even if I can heal, I prefer more defense.’

Just as Ren was about to begin his counterattack, he saw something terrifying through the sand and the flames. Ikomikidomoe began laying eggs out of his arms. The moment the eggs hit the ground, they turned into various Adjuchas-looking Hollows of various animals that were pure white.

‘What the fu…’

Before he could even finish his thought, Ikomikidomoe let out a roar. A bright light appeared around the giant hollow that pierced through the sand and flames. Once the light disappeared, Ikomikidomoe appeared once more but in a new form.

No longer a giant and monstrous beast, Ikomikidomoe now looked more humanoid and much smaller. It was still 3 times the size of Ren and looked pure white with angel wings. One could finally have a proper look at the mask that was on the hollow’s face and it looked surprisingly artistic.

The reiatsu it was giving off was monstrous. Before, it was on a level that was below Ren. The only thing it had going for it was its size and physical strength. But in this new form, Ren had no choice but to admit that Ikomikidomoe could rival him with just reiatsu alone.

Seeing that the battle was going to be a long one if Ren did not use some of his more powerful techniques, Ren decided to get serious since it seemed that Ikomikidomoe was as well.

‘Dryae. Buy me some time. I’ll send the 3 Tomb Stalkers in as well. You guys just need to get me 3 minutes of this guy not getting in my way.’

‘Got it! I can even get you 10 if you need it. And if your plan does not work out, we will use Plan E!’

When he heard that Dryae was ready to use Plan E, Ren swore to himself that he would not get it to that point. He still had nightmares about using the weakest and smallest meteor himself. If the master of the technique and person who did not know how to hold back used it, he was sure that he would die even all these years later and much stronger than back then.

Ren immediately used his Gift of Beast and summoned his 4 enormous Tomb Stalkers. The giant centipede-like creatures went under the ground and made their way towards the Hollow army.

Ren lifted his sword and began to quietly sing as white flames began to surround him. The temperature of the inner world instantly increased.

Feeling the danger that Ren was giving off, Ikomikidomoe let out a roar and sent his hollows forward. Before the Adjuchas-class hollows could move forward too much, the Tomb Stalkers raised out of the ground and began tearing into the Hollows.

The groups began a melee while also launching ceros and energy beams at one another. Both sides seemed evenly matched which meant that neither would come out victorious in a short amount of time.

Seeing that his forces were occupied, Ikomikidomoe decided to charge at Ren himself. Dryae jumped between the pair and summoned countless tree branches to strike at the Hollow.

“Tsk. You think that you can defeat me? A mere maid?”

Ikomikidomoe tore through the tree branches that got in his way but was surprised to see that some of them had actually managed to block his strikes.

“Who do you think is a mere maid? I am a pure force of nature!”

Dryae stood in front of the large Hollow without fear on her face. Tree branches grew all around her while she held a bokken in her left hand.

The Hollow and Zanpakuto Spirit stood facing each other. Neither was underestimating the other and knew just how dangerous that the other could get if they were careless.

The first to make a move was Ikomikidomoe. This was because he could hear the singing coming from behind Dryae as well as the increase in heat.

The tree branches around him began to constrict around Ikomikidomoe and Dryae, trapping both in a cage. No one could see what was happening within the large cage of tree branches but the sounds of the pair clashing over and over for the next few minutes.

‘Ren? You done? Cause I am kinda in trouble here.’

‘You can clear out now. It is too late for him to stop it but you also need to escape so you don’t get caught up in it.’

Dryae did not need to be told twice. The cage of trees constricted as more and more layered on top of it. Dryae faded outside of the branches while loud roars and the clashing of flesh and wood could be heard from inside of it.

When she emerged from the cage, Dryae appeared to be severely injured. Purple blood was flowing down from the wounds on her body while several pieces of her wood armor were broken off. The Zanpakuto spirit looked down at the injuries on her body before she began to use shunpo to get as far away as possible.

Ikomikidomoe kept roaring as he tore through the branches. Several explosions could be heard inside of the cage as Ikomikidomoe used cero without regard.

When he finally emerged from the cage, Ikomikidomoe appeared perfectly fine even though he was fighting Dryae so much and had used cero in such a confined space. Due to his powerful healing abilities, Ikomikidomoe was impossible to defeat without taking it down in one blow.

Seeing Ren surrounded by white flames, Ikomikidomoe began flying toward Ren while charging a black and red cero. This was Ikomikidomoe’s gran rey cero which should have only been able to be used by Espada.

Ikomikidomoe flew in front of Ren and felt his entire body burning. The heat around Ren was not something that ordinary beings could withstand. This was the heat that could match the sun but even Ikomikidomoe was able to be near it and survive.

The Hollow launched his cero at point-blank range but the moment he did, Ren had finally finished singing. With the singing over, Ren said one word before the world went white.

“Sunburst!”

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78 78

The light was so bright that it blinded even Ren who used the technique. Once Sunburst ended, Ren was no longer in the inner world of Ikomikidomoe but back inside of the Valley of Screams.

He had to look around for a moment before he saw Cyan cutting on top of a tree branch and watching from above. Ren followed where her eyes were looking and saw several deep cuts cutting through the rocks where her eyes were going.

‘So she was protecting me from Blanks while I was capturing his spirit? I think I need to give my officers a raise. They are doing a pretty exceptional job. ‘

Knowing that he was safe, Ren looked down at Dryae and saw that her bankai had changed. Before, the bokken just had a plain light-brown blade and handle. After absorbing Ikomikidomoe, Dryae had gained a round tsuba. The background of it was black while it had a green lotus design on it.

Seeing the new guard that Dryae had gained, it was obvious that she had gotten some if not all of Ikomikidomoe’s abilities.

‘I should test this out to see if the abilities are really as powerful as that monster had used.’

Just as he thought of this, he saw a large number of Blanks approaching. Cyan stood up and wanted to get involved but Ren’s voice stopped her.

“No need. I need to test something.”

Ren charged forward and cut through all the Blanks with a single slash. Hundreds of blanks were destroyed in a single move. Each one released a mote of white light that entered Dryae.

‘Oh, yeah. I am above captain-level. Even without her upgrade, these blanks are no threat to me or even Cyan.’

Ren was going to ask Cyan to open her portal once more to return to Soul Society but Ren sensed 6 individuals with reiatsu much different than Blanks approaching so he decided to wait. The 6 who appeared were men and a woman wearing green versions of the shinigami uniform with some armor on their bodies.

Even though Ren could not remember their names, he knew who they were from a Bleach movie. And then by the clues from the memories, he could also remember their identities from Former Nobles List in Soul Society.

“So you 6 are the last members of the Ryodoji clan? Most people wondered where you all ran off to when you exiled. So it seems like you had run off to here.”

Ganryu, the current leader of the Fallen Ryodoji clan, looked shocked that they had been recognized so easily. He decided to reevaluate the man standing before them.

“We are not doing anything wrong? Have you come here to try and hunt us down?”

‘They think I am trying to hunt them down? Haha. If I wanted to hunt them down, I would have killed them already.’

“Nope. I just came to get something from this tree over here. As for all of you, I don’t care what you guys do. I don’t even remember why you got exiled. My only concern is to train. So unless you wish to have my sword pointed at you,” Ren said while unleashing some of his spiritual pressure. He could only release a small amount without being afraid of killing everyone in the vicinity, including Cyan.

Feeling the spiritual pressure weigh down on them, each of the members of the Fallen Ryodoji clan felt as if a mountain was pressing down on them.

‘What kind of monster is he? This is a power that could rival the captain-commander of the Gotei 13 but I have not heard of him at all. How did such a being come to be born within the past 100 years?’

Ganryu knew when he had no chance of victory. If Ren really wanted to exterminate his clan, he could have easily done so. There was no need to be afraid of being hunted down by the shinigami.

“I apologize for my rude remarks. If you are in need of anything, just let us know.”

Ren ignored him as he saw more Blanks approaching. Ren slashed the air in front of him and created a blade of wind that cut through all of those Blanks. A mote of light came from the body of each Blank and flew into the bokken like earlier.

‘Ren. We absorbed an ability from them,’ Ren heard Dryae say inside of his mind.

Ikomikidomoe had several powerful abilities as a Hollow and Zanpakuto but his most unique and powerful ability was limitless evolution. As a Hollow, that just meant an increase in size and power.

But as a zanpakuto, it would gain new abilities by killing beings and absorbing parts of their souls. The former was more useful if Ren got the power himself but the latter was much better for Dryae to get. These new abilities would be completely unique or transform existing abilities.

Hearing that he had gotten a new ability, Ren got the answer he wanted from wanting to know how long it took for a new power to be gained.

‘I had killed several hundred Blanks to get an ability which is not too bad. If I go to Hueco Mundo, I’m pretty I could get something nice from them. Anyway, I am done here now.’

“Cyan. Let’s head back. There is nothing else interesting here.”

The woman nodded and jumped down from her tree. A portal appeared in front of the pair and opened up. The duo walked through it.

‘Oh, yeah. Senna was a pretty interesting character. I should recruit her later but she won’t be around at least another 200 years.’

Before the portal close, the members of the Ryodoji clan saw Ren turn around and look at them with a sharp glint in his eyes. This was obviously a warning. As for what they were being warned about, they were all unsure.

————————–

Cyan and Ren appeared within the Dungeon once again. When they arrived, Baiken and Shin were battling against Yoruichi in a two-on-one battle. While it seemed that both were pressuring her, neither had gained a real advantage over the woman.

‘Really? Stop playing around and end it already.’

Cyan decided to stay and watch them while Ren went to the other side of the planet. It took him over an hour to finally reach that side but with this distance, Ren was not afraid of having anyone get hurt while he tried out his new abilities.

‘Dryae? What all can we do now?’

She told him of all the new powers that he gained and was surprised. He never expected his gains to be so fruitful.

Ren summoned several large tree branches before creating a spiral tree that went for over a kilometer in the sky. Once the tree was finished, Ren snapped his fingers. The entire tree detonated at once and caused a massive explosion.

‘Tha Blanks self-destruct power is very useful. That automatically made my fighting power much greater. I wonder if I can also…’

Ren created another tree branch and sent it forward before warping it around another branch. Ren snapped his finger once again but this time, just the end up the branch detonated instead of the whole branch. From the destroyed portion, another perfectly fine branch grew out of it.

‘So I don’t have to blow up everything from the base to the tip whenever I use these. That is also pretty good.’

He then began using the innate abilities that Ikomikidomoe had as a zanpakuto. When the other people in the Dungeon felt the energy being released by Ren’s new powers, they felt a primal fear in their bodies that none of them knew was there. Cyan had a certain glint in her eye.

‘This man has even more power than I ever thought. I wonder what other surprised he will bring us.’

For the next 6 months, Ren remained in this part of the Dungeon and trained by himself. He began practicing his Moon Breathing Style and the various abilities he had under his belt.

For the past 400ish years, Ren spent most of his time mastering his reiatsu and not his techniques. He decided to change that once he realized that he could not just rely on pure power against beings like Yamamoto and Ichibe, especially when he was at an elemental disadvantage.

So with his new techniques and abilities, Ren was planning to compensate for those disadvantages. But he had to stop when Franceska brought him some news. Kisuke had just founded the S.R.D.I.

If it was only this, Ren would have been unconcerned. But this meant two things. The first was that the division that should have been founded when Kisuke became a captain 100 years later was founded too early and the timeline had been messed up in the most obvious way since Ren had arrived.

The second was the release of Mayuri Kurotsuchi. If there was anyone in the world that Ren had truly feared, it would be Mayuri.

There were those who you were afraid of because of what they had done. Then those you were afraid of because of what they could do. Then those who were scared because of what they were willing to do.

But Mayuri… he fit into all 3 categories. Ren had seen just what the man was willing to do to allies and enemies as well as the experiments he conducted on the Quincy which made Ishida unable to even recognize a photo of his own grandfather.

‘I told Kisuke that this man was a monster but he still decided to release him even with my warning.’

Killing intent went through Ren’s eyes as he got dressed and prepared to go to the opening ceremony of the S.R.D.I.

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79 79: Naughty Student

The opening ceremony was a huge deal for Soul Society. Most researchers did so individually and without supervision. They would do whatever they pleased while putting those around them and themselves in danger.

Under the S.R.D.I., those individuals would be under the watch of the upper management while putting their minds to good use for the benefit of Soul Society. As for benefits for being members, the scientists could conduct their own projects and have better resources for them as long as they proved their worth.

Therefore, several captains of the Gotei 13 were present for the opening ceremony. Yoruichi was unable to make it due to a mission that she needed to lead for the Onmitsukido.

There was Captain Kuchiki who had both of his sons by his side, one with the position of vice-captain with the other having the position of 3rd seat of the 6th division. They were Sojun and Koga, one a son by blood and the other was a son by marriage

Sojun was the previous captain of the 6th division but due to his poor health, he retired from the position of captain and took the position of lieutenant. With no other replacement or choice, Ginrei Kuchiki came out of retirement and took back over the position of captain of the 6th division.

Another captain present was Captain Kenpachi of the 11th division. This was the latest and 9th generation of Kenpachi to lead the 11th division as well as the 6th Kenpachi to be defeated by Ren in single combat. Captain Kenpachi came with his lieutenant as well as his 13th seat, Gosuke Kiganjō and Tetsuzaemon Iba respectively.

The last captain present was Ren himself. He had been invited not just due to his position as the captain with strength only behind Yamamoto but also due to his close ties with Kisuke, the man who came up with the idea and the first president of the S.R.D.I.

Ren came with Kakyo and Naoko. The other shinigami were either training or just busy while Ren wanted to keep the Asura under wraps. There was no need to get them the attention of Mayuri, Aizen, or any other mad scientist that existed in Soul Society that Ren had no knowledge of.

The opening ceremony was nothing special. It was a few speeches by the main members and leaders of the Institute as well some of their future plans. Besides those, some of the projects that the members were currently working on were revealed.

The main 3 members who stole the attention were Kisuke, Mayuri, and Kirio Hikifune. Each of them had some achievements in the science field so to those who were in the know, they were very surprised to see this lineup ready.

Kisuke was the president and founder of the Institute. He had been working on an invention called Gigai which would allow shinigami to enter the world of the living without having to worry about their reiatsu affecting the humans or the environment.

Kirio was the vice-president and had been working on something that was related to the Gigai called the Gikon. These were artificial souls that could inhabit corpses for short amounts of time. If used in conjunction with the Gigai, it would allow a shinigami to be able to freely enter and exit their Gigai without having to worry about leaving a corpse in the middle of the street.

Lastly was Mayuri who got the position as Head of the Research Office. He had not been known for working on anything in particular but he was particularly feared in the Nest of Maggots despite his weak combat skills. He had even been put into isolation due to experiments he had been conducting on other prisoners.

The ceremony took 30 minutes to end before Ren and the other captains as well as their officers went inside of the institute’s main building to see the inside for themselves.

They toured through the various rooms that were filled with the latest gadgets and tools as well as some of the rooms that were filled with scientists who were already hard at work.

All the captains had apathetic and stoic looks on their faces. None of them were researchers so they were not interested in the various things going on inside the Institute. When the tour was finally over, the 6th and 11th division members left leaving only the members of the S.R.D.I. and the 8th division.

Without anyone else there, the atmosphere got much colder in an instant. Ren was staring at Mayuri and exerting a large amount of bloodthirst towards the man. Feeling the gaze of Ren, Mayuri was sweating bullets.

‘I have not experimented on anyone he knows. I have not even gotten the chance to get near those Arrancar yet.

Does he know that I am interested in his zanpakuto that is one of the rare instant-ability shikai? No! I have not even written down those notes yet and they have just been in my head.

What have I done to get his attention so soon? I need to stay off his radar for now while I research him and learn how to counter this man.’

Ren finally spoke while looking at Mayuri who had his head down.

“This is the only warning you shall receive. Step out of line… and your head will roll on the ground.

The Central 46 and Yamamoto believe that Kisuke can keep you under control and that you can be an asset to Soul Society. Kisuke has faith in your mind and your genius.

But I don’t. So I suggest you follow every order Kisuke gives you and do nothing else. Because if you step out of line even a single time, I will not give Kisuke, Yamamoto, or the Central 46 a chance to punish you. I will kill you there and then.”

Ren turned to Kisuke and let the man feel the same amount of danger as he did Mayuri. Even if he liked Kisuke when he first arrived and had even taken him in as a student, Ren had grown much older and wiser. He would not let his feelings towards the man influence his decision.

“And you. I warned you about this man but you decided to ignore my warnings. I can’t do anything about what you have already done but I can have my own feelings about it.

You are a smart man but you sometimes forget that even the most intelligent men can make mistakes. This will definitely be yours when you look back in the future. I just hope you don’t regret it as much as I think you will.”

After leaving those words, Ren and his officers turned around and left the Institute leaving a frustrated Kisuke behind.

The blonde man smashed his hand into the wall and broke off a good chunk of it.

‘Shit! I guess that he can still mess with my emotions even after all these years. This is the first time that I have shown my resolve and determination.

Even if he disagrees with my decision, this is still mine. Whether I regret it in the end, that is my concern and mine alone. You are a good teacher but you will never understand how far my plans go.

I know that I can never surpass you with raw power. But with this institute, I will create my own group that can rival your 8th division using our brains to surpass your strength!’

Kisuke looked up at the departing back of Ren with a determined look on his face. Even after all the spars that they had gone through and the numerous times that Kisuke lost to Ren, this was the first time that Kisuke truly felt like he wanted to defeat Ren.

” /52274212148148726/comments?orderType=1&replyId=”>42 0

80 80: Legendary 3 Ninja Rebellion

— Several Hours Later: SRDI, Kisuke’s personal lab —

Kisuke was currently leaning over a table with a corpse on it. The man was cutting it up at various points before writing down notes in a journal. Just as he was about to make another incision…

“Nya!”

Kisuke cut much deeper into the corpse than he had expected when he heard the cat screech in his ear. Looking at the ruined corpse, Kisuke was upset. He threw the body off his table before turning around and seeing Yoruichi in her skin-tight black outfit.

“What are you appearing out of nowhere and scaring me while I am working?”

Yoruichi did not answer his question but walked around the lab. She picked up and poked the various items and instruments inside the room. Once she had satiated her curiosity, she sat down in a seat and turned to Kisuke.

“I saw ‘That’ man on my way over here. I can’t believe you really went against our teacher’s words and brought him out of the Nest. You were serious about that plan?”

Kisuke looked back at his childhood friend and nodded. He had told her about the purpose of the Institute earlier but the woman was not sure if his plan would work and told him long ago. But once Kisuke got an idea in his head, he would follow through with it no matter what.

Hearing his answer, Yoruichi let out a sigh. She knew that Kisuke was the most stubborn person to exist when he put his mind to something.

‘It’s not like I don’t understand where he is coming from though. Teacher has been getting very strong lately so it is hard to beat him in a straight up battle.’

Yoruichi suddenly jumped off her chair when she realized something. She rushed over to Kisuke and held onto the man’s shoulders roughly as she looked him in the eyes.

“Hehe. I will support your decision to beat Teacher. But we need to work together. And not just us but Tessai too.

I lead the Onmitsukido, he leads the Kido Corps, and you are now the leader of the S.D.R.I. Your group still needs to grow but with all 3 organizations working together, I’m sure that we can take on that old man.”

Kisuke was surprised to hear Yoruichi’s words. She idolized their teacher and would usually do whatever he said. For her to rise up against him, it meant that she was ready to step out of his shadow as well.

“Good! We also have the element of surprise on our side. As long as we move carefully nad plan this out accordingly, I’m sure that we can bring him down a peg.”

The pair began discussing plans on how they would surpass Ren while also planning Tessai’s involvement in the plan even if he had yet to agree. Yoruichi had even mentioned something about ‘captains’ during their talks.

— 8th Division, Ren and Tier’s Dorm —

Tier had just finished her training and walked into the room to take a bath. When she emerged, she saw Ren laying in bed with an absent look on his face.

“Thinking about something?” she asked while putting on her robe.

Ren looked up and saw the woman changing. Seeing her body had not gotten old at all and had even gotten better since her mask fragments were no longer covering parts of her body. After looking for a few seconds, he remembered the question she had asked him.

“Mmm. I always thought I had a Team 7 but it is more like they are the Sannin but naughtier.”

Ren would bring up references that Tier did not understand all the time but after so many years with him, she understood the gist of what he was talking about from context clues.

“Your 3 students? What did they do this time?”

Ren explained how Kisuke went against his words and recruited someone that he did not approve of as well as how he suspected that Kisuke and the others were planning on rebeling against him.

Even if he did not outright state it, Ren was easily able to tell Kisuke’s thoughts and knew how the others would most likely support him.

After hearing what happened and his thoughts, Tier decided to give her honest opinion on the matter.

“Are you an idiot?” she asked with the most serious tone of voice.

Ren was caught off guard and did not know how to respond. Tier got into bed and pulled Ren’s arm down so that she could lay on it before giving an explanation of her words and why she thought Ren was an idiot.

“We are all very old. Even if they act childish sometimes, you forget that those 3 are well over 400 years old and have each shouldered a large amount of responsibility on their own. They have their own minds and are not children who have to obey everything you say.

As for rebeling, you are thinking about it wrong. If they are coming for you, that means that they now respect you. They had always looked up to you but now you are respected by them.”

Ren was very confused about this answer.

“I get the first part but what about the second? What is the difference between looking up to me and respecting me?”

“To look up to someone means that you put them above you and on a pedistal. It also means that you are admitting that you can never surpass them.

By changing their views from looking up to you, to now respecting you, they are saying that they now wish to surpass you but they still view you are their teacher and an important figure in their life.”

Ren wanted to ask more questions but Tier put her finger to his lips to silence him.

“No more questions tonight. Think it over yourself. I am going to bed.”

Ren thought that he would still have an opportunity to ask her for some clarifications but after 5 minutes, Tier was already out like a light.

‘Seems she really did leave me to my own thoughts. Is she right about this? Am I still treating them like children even after all these years?’

Although he did not want to admit it, Ren knew the answer in his heart. The environment of Soul Society itself led to stagnation or corruption. Ren always thought he was above both but it seemed that one of the two had crept into his mind, even partially.

‘Tsk. Those 3 want to challenge me? They are a few thousand years to early to try and do so.’

Thinking about how he was going to have to give those 3 a lesson once more like he did when they were younger, put a smile on Ren’s face.

He kissed Tier’s forehead before he soon drifted off to sleep with a content smile on his face.

” /52285380942155884/comments?orderType=1&replyId=”>44 0

81 81: Starting it off right!

Ren woke up the next day with new determination on his face. Wearing his new, black haori that had just been delivered that morning, Ren was about to enter the dungeon when he sensed a change in the atmosphere.

‘Hmm. The day after the S.R.D.I. opens it happens? These guys sure are crazy. But it seems that they at least did a bit of research.’

Ren grew a tree branch that took him over 100 meters in the air. From above, he saw a few fires occurring in Rokungai that were spreading in several directions. There was also a large dome that was formed around the 1st Division’s barracks.

‘So that is how they managed to get away with killing so many captains. They trapped the old man inside a barrier so that he could not interfere. If he does try to escape, the first division is pretty much exterminated.

Most of the Quincy seemed to still be outside of Seireitei but they have already broken through two of the gates so it is only a matter of time before they swarm here.’

A few arrows shot toward Ren but he smacked them away with his bare hand. Ren lowered the branch from the air until it retreated fully into the ground.

“Officers of the 8th division!”

With Ren’s shout, the 9 captain level figures arrived in an instant with all the other officer and lieutenant level members officers arriving a bit later.

“Soul Society is currently under attack. It seems that the Quincy have finally lost their minds. Let us show them the cost of that.

Baiken, Shin, Tier. Head to the 1st division and try to break the barrier. They will surely have their most powerful members there to make sure that we can’t get the captain-commander free.

Cyan, Franceska, and Emilou. Head to the 4th division. They have the lowest combat strength but also have to worry about protecting the injured shinigami. Try not to use Ayon if you don’t need to.

Kyou. I need you to go to the S.R.D.I. Most of the members will be in their divisions while the Quincy might not know about them since they had just become official yesterday, we should still be cautious. You are the only member who can battle and not kill everyone within a mile radius.

Kakyo and Naoko. Stay here and make sure that no one burns down anything in our division. The rest of the officers can stay here as well. The enemy will come and try to meet us here anyway. ”

“Understood Ren/Lord 8th/Captain!” all of the members shouted at once before they took off in various directions to follow the orders that Ren had assigned them.

Ren had thought of each assignment and knew that he had to put the members where they were needed most and with who they had the most chemistry.

As for Ren himself… with the use of shunpo, he was gone without anyone being able to tell where he went. Soon after he left, the courtyard of the 8th division was filled with its various members who had killing intent oozing off of them.

— 1st Division Barracks —

Standing outside the barracks were 30 Quincy who were maintaining the barrier and 5 of the most powerful Quincy. These were known as the 5 Lockes who were one of the groups that served directly under the General.

The General had managed to gather all the Quincy clans under a single flag and were the most powerful after him. Using just their skills and spirit weapons, they could match a captain or 2 while working together.

Frederick, the leader of the 5 Lockes, was currently on was standing above the corpses of 5 shinigami who had gotten the closest while many other shinigami had died much further away under the barrage of arrows.

“The shinigami are this weak? I thought we were coming for war and not to just slaughter weaklings,” the youngest member of the Lockes said. This young woman had never battled against a shinigami before but her power was currently ranked 2nd among the Lockes and top ten within the Quincy alliance.

“Do not let these few cloud your judgment, Lily. These were ordinary members and were not even officers. Do not forget that we are currently sealing their most powerful member because he is so powerful that even the General can not neat him without sufficient backup and conditions” Frederick reprimanded Lily.

The man was over 50 years old and had battled many shinigami, fullbringers, and hollows. He knew that to underestimate his enemies, was just giving others a reason to kill him easily. He was a veteran that could not be underestimated.

Feeling someone approaching from the east and the dangerous feeling they were giving off, Frederick looked up and gave orders to the Lockes.

“To the east! Full auto!”

He immediately summoned his spirit bow and started shooting arrows of reishi toward the approaching figures. The other members of the Lockes also pulled out their bows and crossbows before firing on the group.

All of the spirit arrows fired by the Quincy were struck down by the approaching shinigami with their zanpakuto. Seeing that they were easily able to keep up with their attacks, the Lockes felt some pressure.

‘3 captains all at once? What are those other squads doing?!?’

The General had dispatched the Quincy in a systematic manner. He sent his 4 most powerful squads to various points around Seireitei to hold back the most powerful captains while weaker Quincy used their numbers to overwhelm and kill weaker captains.

‘For 3 captain level individuals to break out of the encirclement, it means that at least 5 squads have been wiped out in order for the 3 of them to break out of their encirclement and make their way over.’

Seeing that the enemy was closing in, Frederick made a decision.

“Han, Sol, Lorne. Set up Sprenger. Me and Lily will buy you guys some time.”

Frederick pulled out a thin, silver-colored sword hilt. After inserting some energy into it, a blue blade made out of reishi emerged. The Quincy put the sword inside of his bow and fired it at the approaching foes.

This was a Seele Schneider, the only Quincy weapon that was a blade. It was a weapon much like a chainsaw, with Reishi making 3 million round trips per second around the edge of the blade. The vibrations of the Seele Schneider were not just for cutting.

Through its vibrations, the Seele Schneider loosened the bonds between the reishi of whatever it cut in order to make them easier to capture.

The Quincy fought by gathering the surrounding Reishi and using them as their own personal weapon and the most powerful manifestation of that was the Seele Schneider. The Seele Schneider was not a sword, but an arrow.

The arrow launched at Tier was moving at a fast speed and was such a powerful weapon that Tier even felt cautious by how dangerous the blade was. Even though she felt danger, with her superior body and skills, she was able to knock the arrow aside after exerting a bit of force.

While Tier was dealing with the arrow, Shin and Baiken continued to charge forward. They were met with Lily how was dual-wielding a pair of Seele Schneider.

Just as Shin was about to clash with the blonde woman, Baiken charged forward and used her zanpakuto to block both blades.

“Go deal with those 3 who are setting something up. Me and Tier can handle these two!”

Shin nodded and used shunpo to move instantly. Sol, who was focused on setting up the pentagram of Sprenger, did not see Shin approach or even realize that he had died when his head was sent flying through the air.

“1 down!”

Seeing that Sol had died so quickly, Frederick wanted to help but Tier appeared in front of his face. Without another choice, he had to pull out a Seele blade to block the woman’s zanpakuto and leave his men to fend for themselves.

“Agh!”

“Ugh!”

Within moments, Han and Lorne had been killed. Lily was also not doing much better against Baiken and had lost her left eye though she was barely hanging on.

Under the information that they had gathered over the years and Ren’s warnings, the members of the 8th division knew that the best way to deal with Quincy was using physical abilities since the race were similar to parasites who would get stronger, the more reiatsu that they used.

With the 3 other members of the Lockes dead, Shin decided to kill off all the Quincy who were maintaining the barrier around the 1st division.

Seeing Shin about to kill a member of the barrier team, Frederick raised both of his hands above his head and let Tier cut into his chest. The wound was deep but it would not kill him.

Using this chance, he broke off part of his glove and said the words,

“Letzt Stil!”

An explosion occurred around Frederick and forced Tier to step back. When the light cleared, he appeared without a shirt and with a single wing made out of reishi appearing behind the left side of his body.

He stood proud as motes of reishi gathered within his wings as they were drawn from the very buildings around himself and destroying them.

Letzt Stil was a Quincy’s last resort. Using it raised the Quincy’s battle prowess and reishi manipulation by a large margin for 30 seconds but at the cost of the Quincy losing all their powers.

Moving as fast as he could, Frederick jumped into the air as he summoned an arrow in his right hand before putting it in his drawing his bow and aiming it at Baiken and firing.

Caught off guard, Baiken hurried to try and block the arrow using her shikai.

“San no kata: Kasan no Shibuk (Third Form: Scattering Mist Splash)! Tsubame Gaeshi (Secret Sword: Swallow Return)!”

Slashing her sword toward the arrow, the blade clashed with the tip of the arrow, the side of the arrow, and striking the arrow from above. With all 3 strikes at once, the blade that should have pierced through Baiken and killed her was pushed to the side by an impossible sword strike.

San no kata: Kasan no Shibuk was a technique of the Mist Breathing Style that was sued to blow away projectiles while Tsubame Gaeshi was Baiken’s shikai ability.

It was one of the rare instant active abilities and created 3 simultaneous attacks that trapped an enemy in a move that was impossible to dodge or survive.

By combining both techniques, Baiken was able to live through a move that for all intents and purposes, should have killed her.

Seeing Baiken Live, Frederick was surprised but did not let it get to him. The wound on his chest was painful while Shin and Tier had begun to attack him together. But since he had gathered all of their attention, he gave this message to Lily.

“Escape! You are now the last of Lockes. Make sure to not disgrace us!”

Lily wanted to say something but once she saw that all 3 cpatains were attacking him and that Frederick had already used the ‘Last Resort’, she let out silent tears as she ran away.

‘I will definitely kill all of you shinigami!’

Frederick saw Lily’s fading back as he held off Shin, Baiken, and Tier for the last 23 seconds of his technique.

‘Lily Ishida. Please survive this.’

” /52293171207530585/comments?orderType=1&replyId=”>44 0

82 82: Let the bodies hit the floor!

Frederick barely lasted the remaining 20 or so seconds before his Letzt Stil ended. The moment it did, he was disarmed, beheaded, and bisected in an instant by the attacks of the 3. The Quincy who were holding up the barrier had their full focus on maintaining the barrier so they did not notice that the Lockes had already all been killed with the exception of the one who fled. The Quincy were killed in seconds from the swift attacks of the group.

Even with all the Quincy dead, the barrier still remained but it was visibly no longer as stable. Seeing the state of the barrier, Tier decided not to do anything more than just guard the area.

“We don’t know if this thing is booby-trapped. Without the support of the Quincy, it will eventually break by itself, or if the 1st division breaks it on its own, we at least won’t be responsible for any trap that activates.

Let’s just stay here and watch over the place so no new Quincy can come and stabilize the seal/barrier.”

Just as Tier said this, a loud clap of thunder was heard. Heavy amounts of rain began pouring down from the sky with mist forming on the ground.

‘This rain is advantageous to the Shinigami. The Quincy have weapons and attacks made of pure light which will make them much easier targets in this storm than us,’ Tier thought as she felt the water touch her skin.

Just like nearly 500 years ago, the skies of Soul Society were crying as the 8th division made their move.

— 4th Division Barracks—

There were many different dead shinigami and Quincy lying around the area. The shinigami were filled with arrow and bullet wounds while the Quincy had very cuts and slashes across their bodies.

Unohana was healing as many shinigami as she could while her lieutenant, Seinosuke Yamada, was in charge of leading the defense. Under his command, hundreds of Quincy had already died while plenty of shinigami were still alive.

But this was not without a cost. He had constantly been forced to retreat further and further until they were in the center of the 4th division barracks and could no longer retreat.

They were now stuck under the fire of the Quincy and unable to fight back to their fullest due to the Quincy’s ability to absorb reishi and reiatsu.

If it was only the Quincy launching an attack, Lieutenant Yamada would have been able to hold the line for much longer and not have received as many casualties. The Quincy were not alone in their attack though.

In order to compensate for their lack of more powerful members compared to the Gotei 13, the Quincy recruited 5 Bounts to help their cause.

Of the 5 Bounts, 3 were sent to different important headquarters of the shinigami: The Onmitsukido, the Kido Corps, and the 4th division.

These Bounts were backup plans in case the war was lost. They would at least be able to cripple the infrastructure of Soul Society’s military force.

The other 2 Bounts were by the General’s side and were going to assist him when he engaged in battle.

The Bount who was attacking the 4th division was Fynn. He and his doll, Maximus, were pressing the shinigami of the 4th division hard. Maximus was a doll that took the form of a metallic unicorn.

With no captain-level opponents able to battle, Yamada was forced to face the Bount and give orders himself. This caused the man to lose one of his arms and have severe injuries all over his body.

“Haha!” Fynn yelled with his hand around Yamada’s throat. The members of the 4th division and those who were helping with fighting back the invaders saw that Yamada was in danger and wanted to rush over but before anyone could make a move, the lieutenant of the 4th division had his throat crushed in front of all those shinigami.

Seeing their leader die, many lost their fighting spirit that very moment. The only reason they had survived so long was because of Yamada so with his death, many knew that they would soon follow after.

Just as they were all about to give up hope, a figure landed from the rain-filled sky and crashed down on top of Maximus, breaking its body in half.

Fynn saw his doll broken so quickly and wanted to repair it with his reishi but before he could, he felt a pain coming from his chest and saw one long blade and two short blades horizontally coming out of his chest.

“Aww. You two took out the main enemies. Now, all that’s left are the cannon fodder Quincy.”

Franceska fell from the sky and into the middle of the Quincy lines where she swung her broadsword with wild grace as she cut through all the Quincy around her. The commander of the Quincy leading the attack on the 4th division was surprised when he saw the 3 women.

‘3 captains? What are those other divisions doing?!?! And they even took out our Bount from the get-go!’

Seeing that his forces would not last a long time, Gunter retreated without giving his men any further orders. He planned to use them as a distraction. After he left, he did not see Cyan and Emilou joined the fray with Franceska and began cutting down the various Quincy.

Ren had originally planned on concealing the existence of the Asura but after going self-reflection, he knew it was better to just let them out instead of holding them back for silly reasons.

Moments after Gunter left, Fynn stood up with Maximus by his side. One of the advantages of being a Bount in Seireitei was that they could constantly heal using the excess Reishi and were practically invincible.

‘These 3 will stand in our way! I just sent the message and I’m sure I can hold them back for long enough until one of the other Bounts arrives on the scene. If it is Jurgen, we can definitely wipe them out using that move.’

Cyan was keeping an eye on Fynn since the beginning of the battle and saw him get up.

‘So he is not a Quincy then. What is this guy?’

“Franceska. The big guy and his pony are back up. You hold them back while we finish off the Quincy before we help you out!”

“Roger!”

The lioness Asura immediately disengaged from battling the Quincy and clashed with Maximus.

————

Author’s Note: This chapter is supposed to be released on a timer at when whenever webnovel reset (00:00 China Time) cause I will be busy working 15 hours straight for two jobs. Might be the only chapter of the day unless I write another one on my break.

PS: See how I brought the Bounts into this? 😉

” /52311027265623669/comments?orderType=1&replyId=”>37 0

83 83: You two!

It took a few minutes to wipe out all the Quincy but with their natural defenses and training in their breathing styles, none of the members were injured. The Asura then clashed with Fynn for several minutes.

Under their assault, even one of them was able to kill Fynn under normal circumstances. But due to being in Soul Society, he kept healing and was able to repair Maximus whenever his doll was damaged.

But the longer Fynn fought, the more desperate he got. Even after so long, no other Bount had come to back him up.

‘Damn. Did we really underestimate the shinigami so much?’

Knowing that he would eventually run out of buildings to absorb reishi from, Fynn decided to lash out with all he had by fusing with his doll in hopes that he would be able to kill one of the 3 captains fighting him so that he would have a better chance of escaping.

Franceska and Emilou were enjoying their battle with the Bount since this was one of the few chances that they had to fight seriously, even though they could not use their resurrecion. Cyan was thinking of the bigger picture.

‘Even if we can contain him a bit, our battle is causing destruction. We are in the center of the 4th division with a bunch of injured shinigami around. I’m sure that Ren would blame me if I let these pair continue their antics.

I need to stop this guy from absorbing reishi though. That is how he is healing. The question is how am I supposed to do that.’

Cyan took a few moments to think of a solution before he finally thought of something that could work as long as they did it well. Disengaging from the battle, Cyan began to focus for a few moments before a blue portal opened.

“Throw him through here!”

Not understanding why but knowing that Cyan would never steer them wrong, Franceska slashed down on Fynn from above, forcing the Bount to block the attack while Emilou appeared behind him at that moment and delivered a strong kick which launched him through the portal.

Once he appeared on the other side, Fynn could tell that the reishi in the air was much weaker than it was in Soul Society before realizing that he had been forced to return to the human realm.

The power he felt within his body was reduced to less than 10% in an instant and he became even weaker than he had been in Soul Society. With such a weakened state, Fynn was killed after being beheaded by Franceska’s broadsword.

— East Gate of Seireitei —

All over Soul Society, battles between shinigami and Quincy were occurring with thousands of lives on both sides being lost. Even with the unexpected battle prowess of the various members of the 8th division, the Quincy still held the advantage due to sealing Yamamoto, their ambush, and the lack of movements from the members of the 8th division.

The General was not concerned with this, however. He did not understand what was happening all over Soul Society due to having to deal with a threat before his eyes.

Surrounding the general were 100 elite Quincy, 2 powerful Bounts, and 3 reishi cannons that the Quincy had brought for the invasion. But even with all those things around him, Alexi did not feel safe when facing the person in front of them.

Standing in front of all the Quincy was a man who was 2 meters tall with a muscular frame. He had long black hair that was flowing down wildly until it reached his shoulders. He wore the standard shinigami uniform and captain’s haori except his was black in color. On the man’s waist was a brown bokken with a black tsuba.

Seeing him, most would feel intimidated by his size or aura. But for that man, neither of those was very scary. His bokken made his strength feel useless without a real weapon while his nature-related reiatsu made one feel… accepting? Calm? Like his presence was natural and there was nothing disturbing about it.

Even with his size and aura not being threatening, Alexi was still off-put by the man before him.

The way that he stood before all the people pointing their weapons and powers at him, not having his weapon drawn.

The calm while Seireitei literally burned around him but he walked through it as if it was not his own home or friends fighting with their lives on the line.

The fact that he could not understand the man’s thoughts or actions because he showed nothing to Alexi, truly frightened him.

‘Just who is he?’

Unable to hold back the silent stand-off, Alexi was finally about to speak when Ren opened his mouth first.

“You two… look familiar,” Ren commented while pointing at both of the Bounts. One had white hair and a scar along his chin while the other appeared as a woman with green hair who stood beside him. The man was unarmed while the woman had a jian in one hand and a fan in the other.

‘Who were they again? I think they were called… Bounts? Ugh. Half a millennium will do that to a person. Yeah, that should be it, though. I remember the article about their creation.

I was thinking that they had all been destroyed in the past few hundred years and would not resurface until Ichigo showed up. Makes sense they would help the Quincy though.

These two are pretty similar in their abilities if I am remembering correctly.’

While Ren was thinking about what he knew of the Bounts from the show and the Bounts and Quincy were surprised that was the first thing the man said. Standing before an entire army, all he mentioned was how he might have recognized two of them.

———

Edit:

Author’s Note: I need a surname for Ren. Send ideas and their meaning

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84 84: Soul Crushing

Alexi saw that Ren’s purple eyes did not land on him for more than a moment before he took notice of both of the Bounts. This caused anger and fear to well up within him. Anger due to being ignored but fear because he had a primal fear envelope him during that split moment Ren’s eyes landed on him.

‘I am the man who has gathered all the Quincy under a single banner for a noble cause and am being ignored by a single captain? Who does he think he is?

I lead the Quincy not just with charisma but also my power. I have been the only Quincy in the past 500 years to awaken a Schrift yet he ignores me?’

As much as he cursed Ren in his mind, he knew that a direct confrontation between the pair would most likely end in his death. Thinking better of it, Alexi decided to try and buy time while he recalled his elite forces to retreat and encircle Ren.

“You have ignored all that is going on around Soul Society and come to find me all by yourself. I wonder if you are being arrogant and foolish or are just that confident in your strength.”

Ren turned his eyes and they stared into Alexi’s black eyes. Ren let a small smile appear on his face after he studied his face.

“Let me ask. Are you related to anyone named Ishida or Kurosaki?”

Even though he felt that the question was weird, Alexi decided to answer since he still needed more time.

“No. Why are you bringing up both of those names?”

“Cause I have seen the father in the Shiba clan so that meant the name Kurosaki had to come from either thin air or be her surname.”

Ren spoke his true thoughts but to all those who had heard him, he was sounding like a madman. Even though he spoke like this, Alexi did not let down his guard or allow the others to do so either. The feeling of danger he got from Ren had increased.

‘5 more minutes and one of the other groups will arrive.’

“Anybody here has that surname?”

“No. The Ishida clan has only sent their princess but she is on another battlefield while I have never heard of a Kurosaki.”

Hearing Alexi say that, Ren was both relieved and upset. If one of the others accidentally killed the princess of the Ishida clan, that could ruin the future. Thinking about this, Ren unconsciously started making it rain all over Soul Society.

‘Oh. This might actually be useful for our people to use as cover. Guess I will just keep it.’

A large amount of killing intent emerged from Ren’s body and spread wildly over the Quincy in front of him. Even the veterans who had gone through many battles fell to their knees.

But this was not the end of it. Even knowing about their ability to absorb reishi and reiatsu using their tools and natural abilities, Ren unleashed his in a wild fashion around himself. All of the Quincy around began to cough up blood and feel pain in their chests before they were killed and reduced to ashes.

This was a technique that the most powerful of beings could use, Soul Crushing. Using one’s reiatsu, a being could literally destroy another being’s soul. Most would do this passively while not actively releasing reiatsu or when their reiatsu was released actively.

Ren was a special case of needed to train his reiatsu to do so since its element was nature and very soothing to most souls in its base state. But with the technique, not to mention ordinary shinigami and hollows, any being that did not have reiatsu comparable to a 5th seat or higher officer could not survive being in Ren’s presence for more than a second when he used the technique.

When Ren finally controlled his reiatsu again, the only people left alive in the area were Ren, Alexi, and the two Bounts. All the other Quincy had been turned to ash and washed away by the rain.

‘Hmm. It seems like I am a terrible shinigami. Maybe even the worst. All their souls have been completely destroyed this time. Old man Yama is going to give me a hell of a scolding later.’

(Just realized the shinigami are lead by someone called Yama lol. Yama isis a Hindu and Buddhist deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld for those who aren’t mythology or chinese/hindu/bhuddist nerds)

While Ren was thinking about how to explain himself to Yamamoto if the old man ever found out, the Bounts and Alexi were scared shitless. They had each seen shinigami battle before and knew that they were basically battles of reiatsu but they had never seen such powerful and raw reiatsu.

This time, Alexi no longer thought it but asked the question that had been on his mind for a long time.

“You… just who are you?”

Ren saw that Alexi could still speak even after being under such a powerful and lethal amount of reiatsu. He reevaluated his opinion of the man before flashing a smile to him and answering his question.

“I am the captain of the 8th division, Ren Igarashi (had most upvotes in paragraph comments). Ren as in Lotus while Igarashi is spelled like Fifty Storms.

I am also known as Ren of the Blood Forest (second most voted, besides Clorox) though. You know, like Teresa of the Faint Smile or Kakashi the Copycat Ninja or Kimblee the Crimson Alchemist.”

As he said that, tree branches emerged from the ground to spell out his name in the air in both English and Kanji just for extra effect.

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85 85: For the Glory!

Hearing the name of Ren, Alexi thought back to his family’s history. One of his ancestors was ridiculed for a long time due to his fear and admiration for the shinigami. One particular shinigami in particular.

That member was on a mission with several others when they had ended up traveling to Hueco Mundo. The group met a large force of shinigami that greatly outnumbered them and were about to battle them before the leader of those forces arrived.

Under his command, the Quincy who were supposed to be the enemies of shinigami were allowed to leave with no casualties on either side. No one had ever believed his words due to the other members of the group denying his words and saying it was only a single shinigami that they had scared off.

The only one who did not deny his claim was the leader of the Ishida family but he also never admitted to the claims either.

Alexi always liked to hear stories about the old day from his family, even the ones that sounded crazy and insane. This was one of his favorites because even in a world where humans killed giant monsters and fought with demi-gods, someone could still come up with a story so unbelievable that it sounded like a fantasy.

‘It was never just a story then. If that person had even a tenth of this level of power, then his story was very reasonable and might have even been underplayed.

The division that the captain was the leader of was the 8th and his name was also Ren. Unless they are like the 8th, that means this man has kept his position for 500 years. What kind of power does a shinigami need to do that?’

Knowing that it was too late to back out now, Alexi had no choice but to engage Ren in battle and go out from the start.

Summoning his spirit weapon into his hand, Alexi summoned what would be a modern handgun in the future but for those of the current time, it looked very sleek and sophisticated.

“You two! We are in the same boat. If you don’t help me now, you will end up dying as well.”

Ren countered what he said right at that moment because he really did not want to do any more work than necessary.

“No thanks. If you two wanna wait right over there on the side, you can leave safely. The Bounts are no threats to my members even if the Quincy help them so you all can leave safely. Plus, I am sure that only you two are alive anyway.”

Ren did not really want to let them live but figured it was best to. Even if they were filler, this was a chance for several captains to get further live-combat training with beings around their levels. Ren was not planning to handhold the Gotei 13 but he would also not abandon them like the Royal Guard would do.

‘I need to make sure that I don’t have to do everything after all.’

Hearing that they did not have to battle with the monster that just killed a hundred people with his raw reiatsu, the pair felt relieved when they heard him say that. Immediately, they backed off and indicated that they wanted nothing to do with the battle.

Seeing the Bounts switch sides so easily, Alexi cursed them silently in his mind but he knew that he needed to go all out immediately if he wanted a chance of making it out of this battle alive.

Alexi immediately fired several condensed Heilig Pfeils at Ren but they were blocked with his bokken and knocked away. The Quincy tried to use that as a chance to use Hirenkyaku to jump into the air and gain some ground away from Ren.

Before he could make it too far away, several thick tree branches rose from the ground and made a huge dome out of the thick and powerful enhanced wood before he added layers on top of it. With this, Alexi was limited by how far he would be able to get a distance with.

‘Do I really have to use it so soon? Fine! Let’s see how you can handle [Jaeger]!’

A runic symbol appeared on Alexi’s chest before it dispersed into a sphere of light around himself. The sphere expanded until it covered the entire interior of the wood dome. This was Alexi’s Schrift.

A Schrift was an innate ability all Quincy possessed but could only be awakened by drinking the blood of the progenitor all Quincy and receiving his blessing.

The progenitor was believed to be dead and no Quincy had been able to awaken a Schrift ever since he died. The only reason Alexi had one was due to finding a secret chamber that belonged to the first Quincy and had a drop of his blood within it. Using that drop of blood and all the stories of his family, Alexi managed to carve a symbol onto his Soul which granted him powers.

The Schrift he got was Jaeger. This ability allowed Alexi to create his own personal hunting domain. Within the domain, Alexi was invisible and immune to all forms of tracking. He could also put marks on opponents with special symbols that would cause his Heilig Pfeil to track whoever was marked and would home on them.

This is why Alexi was the General. Out of all the Quincy, none could boast better accuracy than him while he was using Jaeger/The Hunter. And Ren now had to face the most powerful hunter of the Quincy.

—————————–

Author’s Note: Calling the ability Jaeger because it sounds better than just having English names since all the Quincy were supposed to be german themed

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86 86: Man vs Nature!

The battle between the two was about to officially commence. Ren was already in bankai form using Dryae and he was sure that he did not need any of his various gifts, besides the passive gift of flesh, to take down Alexi. He had already created his dome of wood branches that could be used to create attacks from almost any angle.

Alexi on the other hand was now had his weapon out and had activated his Schrift. With both of these, he was able to exert his Quincy talents and abilities to their fullest within the forest dome that Ren had created.

Both of them were opposites in not only their races and fighting styles but the very core of their abilities both complimented and overpowered the other person if they were beings on the same level. Sadly for Alexi, he was far below Ren’s level.

Alexi placed a mark on Ren’s chest while he was within his domain and fired his Heilig Pfeils at random angles. At first, Ren thought it was weird but when he saw the bullets begin to curve, it was easy to tell what his ability was.

‘He thinks that shots from random angles can take me down? Too stupid!’

Ren stood in place as he summoned tree branches from the ground at various speeds that sprung up and blocked some of the bullets. All the bullets tried to curve around the tree branches but only those with slower tree branches were able to do so.

‘So these things are only able to move so fast. That makes this even easier.’

All the bullets were destroyed by the swinging of Dryae casually. With his skill in zanjutsu, blocking bullets of this speed were a piece of cake for him. Rushing forward, Ren used shunpo to appear in front of Alexi who used his own flash-step technique to dodge the attack as much as he could.

A light wound went across his chest but the injury he would have sustained if he was even half a second slower would have been fatal. Alexi decided to use his Jaeger ability to its fullest and became invisible while hiding anything that Ren could use to find him, even his sound.

Knowing that he was unable to find Alexi at the moment, Ren stood in the center of the dome and waited. He who made the first move would usually make the first mistake. Ren felt something hit his back after it pierced through his haori and uniform.

When he looked over his shoulder, he saw a small bullet-sized hole in his clothes but only felt a stinging sensation on his skin. The skin had already healed by the time he looked back at it.

‘Even if you concentrate your reishi as much as you can, you can only harm my skin at most thanks to my gift..’

Even while thinking that, Ren did not want to get wounds for no reason so he decided to get a bit more serious. Holding Dryae with both of his hands, Ren held the bokken in front of his body.

“Jū Shi no kata: Kyōhen – Tenman Sengetsu. (Fourteenth Form: Catastrophe – Tenman Crescent Moon)”

He swung his sword and created a chaotic vortex of powerful Omni-directional slashes that destroyed whatever got caught up within its attack radius. The 20 meters around Ren was cut to pieces, even the air itself.

From the vortex of slashes, several crescent-shaped blades of air shot out from within the vortex and cut up random areas within the dome until they clashed with the walls of wood and disipitated. With all these attacks, Ren was not able to see a drop of blood on the ground.

‘So either I have terrible aim or even injuries he sustains after his ability activates can not be seen.’

It was the latter. Alexi was caught in the outer edge of the vortex before getting several injuries from the crescent-shaped blades that shot out from it. Alexi had lost his left arm in the vortex and gained several deep cuts all over his body.

Sitting at the edge of the dome, Alexi was trying to calm down as he took deep breathes to endure the pain. A single move from Ren had put him in such a desperate situation while the shot that should have pierced Ren’s heart had not even pierced his skin.

‘What the fuck kind of monster is this? I need to kill him. We have already come so far. If he is able to live then the Quincy will be killed off for what we have done today.

This is my sacrifice for all of you. Make sure that you do not let my death be in vain.’

Alexi used his remaining hand to remove his glove and activated Letzt Stil. Ren could not see the changes that Alexi was going through but could feel the change in the air. He could also see that his trees were dying rapidly.

‘Guess he used his last resort.’

Right as he thought that, Ren’s right arm was completely destroyed. Ren was surprised that even with the increase in power, he still could not sense the attack.

‘So he is more powerful, has tracking bullets, and I can’t even sense his attacks with the instincts I have developed over the years. This is so annoying. ‘

Even with the loss of his arm, Ren was not worried about the battle. He had enough tools under his belt that would end the battle in an instant if he ignored the rest of Soul Society, even if he was limited to physical attacks.

Using his ability to communicate with nature, Ren listened with the wind. Even though it was unable to tell him exactly where Alexi was, it could still feel ‘pain’ in the area Alexi was in due to being an unnatural presence that had forcefully fused with it.

‘So that is where you were hiding.’

Just as Ren was about to launch his attack, he hurried to block the next bullet but was forced back by a large margin. Even knowing the direction they were coming from, the bullets were fired at weird intervals and at high speeds. The wind could also only speak so fast.

“Tsui no kata: Higan Shugan. (Final Form: Equinoctial Vermilion Eye )”

Veins appeared around Ren’s eyes while the whites of his eyes turned red as if he was a demon. This was the most powerful technique of the Flower Breathing style. It increased their user’s kinetic vision and mental processing speed to the maximum with the risk of causing its user to go blind.

With this, Ren parried two bullets with a single-arm due to being able to calculate their speed and angle at a much faster rate. Both bullets slid off his bokken and crashed into the tree dome behind him and caused huge explosions.

‘Enough of this. You can die now. Shichi no kata: Yakkyō – Dzukibae. (Seventh Form: Mirror of Misfortune – Moonlit)’

Ren slashed his blade horizontally in a powerful frontal slash that then created a multi-directional frontal assault. It was powerful enough to create several deep gouges in the ground that reached the spot where the wind felt ‘pain.’

Ren was unsure of how much damage the figure had received but knew that Alexi was still alive due to the wind being in pain from a different direction. Using flash step, Ren followed the figure.

Alexi would run away and fire bullets at random angles while Ren would follow and parry those bullets while using a few moon-style techniques to try and kill Alexi. This continued for 3 minutes before Alexi came out of his invisibility and fell to his knees.

The man was a sorry figure now. He was missing an arm, half of his face had cuts all over it, and deep injuries all over his body. One of his legs’ flesh was barely holding on to the bone.

Ren stood in front of the Quincy who had lost his powers with a frown on his face. The person who had managed to destroy one of his arms was now powerless.

‘It will heal but it still hurt to have that happen.’

Ren stabbed his bokken into Alexi’s head and caused it to explode into countless pieces. No one who knew Alexi would be able to recognize him in such a state.

‘Now for the rest of Soul Society.’

Ren retracted his dome of wooden branches before using shunpo to travel to his next stop to watch some of the fights as well as assassinate several captains. He knew that many had to die that day if the future generation would be able to take over.

‘I did screw with the timeline after all.’

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87 87: Oh boy, here I go killing again!

Aizen, Light, Pain, and Char. These are 4 characters that one could say had a point in their motives or that their objectives were, or at least started off, noble. One would have to be very careful when they said it though and only under the right circumstances but they could still say that they were right.

Ren never thought he would ever admit to one of them being right. But here, Ren was saying to himself.

‘Aizen was right.’

Ren decided that under the confusion of an invasion was the best time to eliminate other captains. This was not just for canon but also another more official reason. Soul Society had been getting more and more corrupt just as Aizen had said it had been doing. The difference is, Aizen could see the corruption with only a 300-year life while Ren had been around for twice that amount of time.

The Central 46 allowed captains and noble families to get away with many crimes with no punishment handed out to them. Ren even knew of 3 minor noble families and 3 captains who helped plan the invasion, he just did not know when it would occur.

His division’s members had not been sitting around ideal all this time. The only group who had more intel of Soul Society was the Onmitsukido but theirs was limited to what the Central 46 and Gotei 13 allowed them to investigate.

The first place that Ren stopped was outside of the minor clan, the Naraki Clan, compound. He walked into the gates as he saw no guards until he approached the central courtyard. Inside, he saw the heads and the 3 minor noble families, the 3 captains, and the rest of the members of the three clans.

All were shocked to see Ren appear before them during this time. Anyone would have thought that he would have been busy defending his own division.

“Why, hello Captain Ren. What brings you here?” asked the current captain of the 5th division, Himoya Ken.

Ren lifted his bokken with his left hand and pointed it at the group. His right arm was still regenerating at the moment so he could only carry out his plans with a single arm.

‘That should be enough of a handicap with me though.’

“3 captains are sitting here and drinking tea while Soul Society has been invaded. But this is not what you asked. You are asking me what I am doing here.

Well… I am here to kill 3 captains and wipe out 3 clans who helped our enemies invade us as well as abandon helping us to combat the invaders while they sit in their homes and hide.”

Hearing that Ren was coming to battle them, the 3 captains decided that they should no longer play dumb. They had to go all our or risk being killed.

“Bankai!”

“Bankai.”

“Bankai!”

The captains of the 5th, 12th, and 13th division used their bankai immediately. This was a battle where delaying it would mean their death. But before they could even finish their transformation, the captain of the 13th division was killed by a blow to the head.

‘Why do people always wait for the transformation to end?’

Himoya and Jerald both were shocked to see their comrade die so fast. Among all the shinigami, Ren most likely had one of the fastest shunpo at the moment.

After a moment of their reiatsu being released, the duo revealed their bankai states. Jerald was in a large, jelly-like, humanoid armor. Himoya on the other hand had a bat’leth in his hands.

The duo charged toward Ren with Jerald taking point. The figure smashed down his fist toward Ren but the captain of the 8th division was able to block it with his sword.

Himoya appeared behind Ren and was about to strike at his head when he felt pain in both of his arms and legs. He looked down and saw 7 tree branches piercing through his limbs while another branch had just curled around his throat.

“Art is an explosion.”

The tips of the branches detonated inside of Himoya while the one around his throat exploded as well. The former captain’s body was blown to bits in a single move.

The clan members saw that 2 of the captains they were relying on had already died so they decided to try and leave. Once they looked outside of their compound, they saw a giant wall of branches. With this, they were unable to escape now.

The group was about to start launching attacks on the wall to try and break free but they then heard a voice behind them.

“No point. Just accept that you have lost this game and will have to play better next time.”

They turned around and saw that Ren was carrying the bloodied haoris of 3 captains with one having several burn marks and another one being sliced in half. To them, this scene looked like the devil was carrying back his spoils from hunting.

“Please! Plea…” But Ren did not give them a chance to start begging. He summoned countless tree branches that pierced through and killed every member of the 3 clans. Ren walked around and collected the 3 clan zanpakuto that remained before feeding them to Dryae.

‘How full are you?’

‘Hmm. I can eat a few more. I’m not sure what we will get from eating these though.’

‘Neither do I but we can worry about that later.’

With all the members dead, Ren summoned a forest of trees within the compound. The branches wrapped around all the buildings and covered the dead bodies of the people.

Using shunpo to escape from the gates, Ren pulled out a sheet of paper as he detonated the forest of trees. The entire compound was blown to bits with almost nothing remaining.

‘Let’s see. So we have these 6 already off the list. We need to deal with the 3rd as well if they are not already dead. The Central 46 could also use some restructuring. Gosh. I am such a humanitarian for doing all of this.’

Ren mentally pat himself on the back as he went towards his next destination to find his next target. He had to act fast before the invasion ended.

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88 88: Voting for Captains

Over the next hour, Ren spent his time traveling around and purging Soul Society. With each swing of his blade, someone was bound to die. With each release of a technique, even more died.

The only Ren stopped after an hour was the fact that Yamamoto had broken through the barrier around the first division and made his move. Ren was unable to kill everyone he wanted to but he had at least gotten rid of all the corrupt captains and had even managed to assassinate every member of the Central 46 without leaving a trace behind.

For the next few hours, the members of the first division poured out with their full strength and backed up all the divisions who were still battling.

By dawn the next day, the invasion was over with all the surviving Quincy having retreated to the human realm. But this battle was not without a cost. Yamamoto sat in his office and looked at the officers in front of him before reading the report to confirm all the major deaths.

” We have lost 8 captains, 5 lieutenants, 28 officers, over 5,000 shinigami, 4 minor noble clans, and all the members of the Central 46. This has been such a tragic loss.”

The only captains who had survived the attack were Yamamoto, Unohana, the current Kuchiki, the current Kenpachi, and Ren. Although Ren had killed 3 captains, the other 5 died from the Quincy and the Bounts.

With such severe losses… this was the first time that anything of this scale had happened before. If it was normal Quincy, it would have been fine. But at least 15 Quincy had used their Letzt Stil as a last resort for suicide attacks against other captains.

The only 2 divisions that were, relatively, unharmed were the 1st and 8th. The first since they had been sealed up for half of the battle while the 8th left their top officers to do most of the work while the rest defended the division.

All the captains kept silent in that situation. None of them knew what to say. It was Ren who first spoke up.

“I get we are sad and everything but we can’t dwell on that. We have other things to worry about. 4 minor noble clans died but their zanpakuto are missing.

We also need to replace the other captains and officers ASAP in case the hollows or fullbringers become a threat. We also need to replace the Central 46 members as soon as possible.”

None of the other 4 had anything to say to that. They knew that it was the truth and they needed to consolidate their forces as soon as they could.

“I agree,” Unohana said. “Since we are the 5 remaining members, let us each nominate a person or two to take over the positions of other seats.”

Everyone took a few minutes to decide how many votes each person got. As the oldest and most powerful 3, Unohana, Yamamoto, and Ren each got two spots while the remaining pair each got one person that they could recommend. If the person was found unqualified by at least 3 other members, that original voter would need to choose another person.

Yamamoto went first. Unsurprising to Ren or Unohana, Yamamoto recommended both of his students, Ukitake and Shunsui. He said that both had already achieved bankai and were fit for duty.

No one had an issue with either of the pair becoming captains. They had been under Yamamoto’s care for almost 2,000 years. They were also rare dual-wielding zanpakuto users. Ukitake was given the position of captain of the 13th division while Shunsui was put in command of the 7th.

Next was Unohana since she had the most seniority after Yamamoto. Her recommendations were Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi and Shinji Hirako. Both were very competent lieutenants who had severed under other captains. Although she did not know if either of them had achieved bankai, both had the potential to achieve it so they were given their positions. Rojuro was made captain of the 3rd division while Shinji was made captain of the 5th.

Ren passed and allowed for Kuchiki and Kenpachi to go first. Each of the captains recommended the remaining two members of the Vizard who would become captains of the 10th and 9th divisions.

The last two captain positions were for the 2nd and 12th divisions and for Ren to pick who he wanted. After taking a few minutes to think it over, Ren made his decision.

He decided to be petty.

“I recommend Yoruichi Shihoin for the position of captain of the 2nd division while we give the position of captain of the 12th division to Kirio Hikifune.

Both have shown great performance in the past and have each mastered bankai.”

The others were surprised to hear that Ren had recommended Kirio instead of Kisuke as the captain of the 12th division. They could understand Yorouchi being recommended for the position of captain but they were unsure of why he recommended Kirio.

“Why not Kisuke? He has shown great potential,” questioned Unohana.

‘Because that brat wants to rebel against me? Cause I am petty? Can’t give either of those as answers.’

“Because Kisuke has just started the SRDI. Putting him in charge of a division and the research institute would be too tiring. While Yoruichi is also in charge of another organization, it is an older one and has strong roots. There is no need to worry about her ability to manage both or even combine the two to make up for numbers we lost during the invasion.

The SRDI is still too small and underdeveloped to full incorporate with a division. But with Kirio being the Vice-president of the Institute and captain of the 12th division, she could slowly bring the two together while it grows. In a hundred years or so, we should have the institute fully combine with the 12th division. ”

His answer was remarkable and no one could find a flaw in it. Yoruichi had been trained from a young age to be a leader while Kisuke had not. Her ability to multi-task was surely greater than his.

Soon, the news spread across Seireitei about the appointment of the new captains. When Kisuke heard the news, he knew the real reason why Ren had not chosen him instead of the official one.

“Fuck you!” he shouted in his laboratory with only Tessai and Yoruichi able to hear his curses. Ren had truly dealt a low blow this time.

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89 89: *Wink*

With everyone being informed, the division barracks and much of Seireitei had to be repaired while all of the new captains and officers needed to be briefed on their duties. This fell on Captain Kuchiki and Captain Unohana as well as their officers to do so.

Kenpachi was a fighting maniac and was useless in such regards while Yamamoto had to take over the duties of the Central 46 and therefore could not be bothered to do so.

Ren was the only exception of someone who was qualified but was not busy. The reason he gave was the excuse of taking care of his own division members but the truth was that he just did not want to do it. His methods were unorthodox so he would just end up fighting with the other division captains over the right way to teach. It was better to let them do as they pleased while he did so as well.

Even under his ‘busy schedule’, Ren still made sure to drop by one of the classes being taught to the officers. Kisuke was made 3rd seat of the 12th division since the previous lieutenant was still alive.

Ren walked into the classroom right when it began and stood at the front. The two officers thought of telling the man that he could not be present but with his power and personality, they knew it would be useless so let him do as he pleased.

Ren only stayed for a minute. He walked in, waved, and winked at Kisuke before saying some words of encouragement for all the new officers and left. Kisuke ground his teeth and glared at the door where Ren had disappeared into.

‘So childish! How can an old man like yourself be so freaking childish?’

Even though Ren was teasing Kisuke, he did not mean any harm. After his talk with Tier, he realized that she was right. The students need to surpass the teacher eventually, or at least hope to. And what was better motivation than annoying someone to death than to motivate them to beat another person up.

Ren also made sure to stop by the captain and lieutenant training rooms as well. The captain training room was to see all the captains in person. He had met most of them before, with the exception of Ukitake. He mainly visited this one since Ginrei was in charge of their class and the pair had clashed several times before.

The reason he stopped by the lieutenant classroom was much more important. Ren walked in and greeted Unohana who was surprised to see the man. She knew that Ren was just looking for an excuse not to teach when he said he had to take care of the 8th division but did not know that he was so shameless to show up after he lied.

“Hello, Captain Igarashi. How can I help you?”

Ren gave a small bow in response to the woman. As the best healer in Seireitei and the first Kenpachi, she had earned his respect.

“I have come to check on the future lieutenants. When we have had some of my caliber or Rose’s, I have to worry about the future of Soul Society.”

This was half the reason. The other reason he could not say was because of the presence of a brown-haired man who was sitting quietly in the corner of the room. The man had glasses on his face and looked at Ren with interest but the latter was just sizing him up and having an internal debate.

‘He has risen to the position of lieutenant much faster than I expected. Do I really need to let this guy live or should I just kill him?’

Unable to make a decision immediately, Ren greeted all the lieutenants before he left. Even if he lied at first, a matter had come up that needed his attention.

Ren went toward Yamamoto’s office and walked in without even knocking. The old man was about to shout and cuss at Ren but when he saw who it was, he immediately gave up. The captain of the 8th division would never listen to him.

“Sit. I need a favor from you.”

Ren was truly surprised when he heard this. The old man had given orders and requested for him to do things but he had never actually asked Ren for a favor. Sitting down in the chair, Ren was prepared for the worst.

Both stared at each other in silence for a few minutes. Yamamoto finally gathered himself and made his difficult request.

“I would like you to hand over the position of captain of the 8th division to Shunsui.”

Ren did not comment. He knew the old man would not just ask that of him and hope that Ren would understand.

And just as he thought, Yamamoto continued speaking.

“I don’t just wish for you to give up the position of captain but the entire 8th division needs to be ‘disbanded’ as well.

While I always knew the members of your division were powerful, what they have displayed during this invasion proves that they are all captain-level existences. Normally, I would not mind. But we are in dire circumstances.

The Central 46 is dead and most of the captains had been killed. While we have replacements, they are not as strong as the old ones yet.

You on the other hand, have managed to keep your division almost completely intact and have a force that can match the Gotei 13 at full power not to mention at this moment.

The nobles have also heard of this. I am afraid that the nobles will try a preemptive assault on your division and I know that you will retaliate in full force if they do.

In order to ensure peace, I want to ‘exile’ the members of the 8th division to Hueco Mundo before replacing them.

I know this is wronging you. Your division lessened the number of casualties and had done their best for the sake of Soul Society but I hope that you can understand my position.”

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90 90: People Die When They Are Killed. (Except in Bleach)

Author’s Note: So I did not respond to any comments on the last chapter for 2 reasons.

The 1st: I was going to and am making another chapter that would be posted the same day.

The 2nd: I am a sadistic/asshole author who loves to torture my readers

————————

Ren looked at Yamamoto without responding. After so many years, he could say that he knew the man well. Although they could not be called friends both had been war comrades for years and had good understandings of each other.

“You wish for me to give up my seat of captain but you also plan to send me to Hueco Mundo with my entire force and not put us in the Nest or even Muken due to my level of power?

I understand you not wanting a fight but this sounds too fishy. What do you really want?”

Yamamoto knew his intentions had been understood but Ren wanted him to spell it out directly and lay out all his cards.

“I need a division that is loyal to Soul Society. I… I have deep ties to it but as the leader of the Gotei 13, I can’t always just protect Soul Society. I have to consider a bigger picture. But I need someone who does not need to do so. Someone I can call on and deal with anything without thinking about the consequences.

I need you to lead a group that will be that group. Let the Gotei 13 be the light that people look for safety in while you will be the dark that they fear. Your existence would only be known to the captain-commander of the Gotei 13 with the Royal Guard and Central 46 not even being let in on the knowledge.

You have shown your ability to survive in Hueco Mundo with only 800 average shinigami. With the way your division is now, I am sure that you can do even better.”

Ren had to think about it. He did not really care about leaving but had instead was considering what would happen if he was not there. Yamamoto said he wanted Ren to only deal with the big issues but that meant Ren could not come back too often. He would have to fake invasions or plots for being excuses while he came.

‘To agree or not to agree? That is the question. No! That is not the question!’

Ren looked at Yamamoto.

“I agree. I have a plan on how to make my exile look more like a self-exile or escape for what I have done. All I need is 24 hours to get all my division members out and to carry out my plan.”

Hearing that Ren had agreed, Yamamoto let out a sigh of relief and nodded to Ren to show his agreement. He did not even ask about Ren’s plan because he knew that he was no longer the leader of the group.

— 8th Division Barracks —

Ren had gathered all the members. The 9 high-officers stood at the front with the other officers behind them and lastly were the standard members. Ren looked at Kyou and Kakyo who both nodded and summoned a barrier around the barracks.

When the barrier was formed, the pair shook their heads at Ren. Seeing this, Ren finally began to speak.

“Good. Now that I know that we are all alone, I can tell you guys freely. We are being kicked out of the Gotei 13 and forming our own private forces in Hueco Mundo. Our job is to be the bad guys from now on. Does anyone have an issue with that? You can walk away now if you want.”

None of the members said a word. All of them were either orphans or looked down on by their families for their weak aptitude or for joining the 8th division. Their only loyalty was toward the other members of the 8th division as well as Ren who have given them this chance.

With no one saying anything, Ren felt proud of himself. Even if he was an old man, he still knew that he was not perfect. The fact that all of the members of his division would follow him in a certainly uncertain and dangerous future filled him with glee. He would not show it though.

“Good! All of you get ready to leave. I want the 7 of you to start forming portals so that we can get out of here and into Hueco Mundo ASAP. Shin, Kakyo, Baiken, and Naoko will be the landing squad.

Then the other officers will follow, followed by the members. The rest of the high-officers will enter after. Tier will keep her portal open from the other side but all the others will close theirs. Now get moving!”

All the members immediately started moving. Tier and the other Asura opened up the portal to Hueco Mundo as the members began taking everything they could carry. Blankets, food, clothes. If it was possible to lift it, the 8th division looted it.

By the next morning, the only left of the 8th division’s barracks was the buildings themselves. Even the windows and doors had not been spared.

Being the last person in the barracks, Ren was surprised to see how much his members had looted and he was also very embarrassed. This would reflect badly on him after all.

‘I can make buildings! I control wood! Why would you all steal stuff we do not need?!’

Ren left feeling aggrieved and made his way to the new officer training class. His black haori fluttered in the wind with the spiked choker around his neck making him look very rogue-like. When he landed in front of the shinigami academy, the innocent younger girls could not help but blush when they saw him.

He walked in on the lieutenant class and greeted Unohana like he had done the day before. Surprised that he showed up once more, Unohana also greeted him before ignoring the man and continue waiting for her class.

After 20 minutes, the class had officially begun and all the members were in the class. They were all diligently taking notes as they listened to Unohana speak about various matters that they had to take into account. 30 minutes into the class, Ren began walking to the door.

Everyone was curious why he had come in the first place but ignored him as Unohana did not stop speaking even as Ren left. To the few who were paying attention to him, they were surprised to see Ren disappear.

Before anyone realized it, many of them were covered in blood. They turned to look and saw that the man who had brown hair and glasses was no longer recognizable. His entire head was destroyed while the rest of his body was broken into several pieces.

Ren stood at the window without a drop of blood on him. He smiled and bowed before jumping out the window and making his way to the 8th division barracks.

‘Fuck Canon!’

Ren made his way back swiftly to the 8th division without anyone being able to stop him. Most did not even know what he had done by the time he was in Hueco Mundo. Ren looked at all the members of the former 8th division who was curious about what he had to do.

“Remember: Violence is never the answer. It is the question. And the answer is, yes. From now on, we will be the Tsuki Butai with our main base in Hueco Mundo. If we decide to expand in the future, eh. We will leave that for then.”

The other members cheered. Having their own official base and unique force made all the members cheer. Ren decided to pour some cold water on them though.

“So who was it that decided to make us look like beggers when they wanted to loot everything?” Ren asked with killing intent in his voice

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91 91: Recruiting

After scolding and beating up a few of his men as an example, Ren began to have them get to work. The first thing he did was begin constructing a large and complex palace/fort for them to call home.

By large, the outer walls were 200 meters high and had a 20-kilometer radius that was white and black in color. The inner building stretched over a kilometer in every direction.

Within the empty area around the building, plenty of it was filled with large and thick trees that had leaves of various colors to add scenery to the place.

It would take Ren some time to finish creating all the rooms, creating doors and bathrooms, smoothing out the wood, and all the other small details. While he did that, he had tasked all of his high-officers (I need a new name for these people) and lower officers to form groups and go exploring.

Ren gave them descriptions of specific types of Hollows that might be around and wanted the others to recruit them. Even though the description of half every Menos-class hollow of the Espada was given, Ren was unsure of which had reached their peak hollow power or had even been born/created yet but still sent them to search for those members.

Tier was to go after the most powerful of the future Espada, Coyote Stark. Even traveling solo through Hueco Mundo, Ren was not worried. But to be on the safe side, he had Kakyo accompany her along with a few officers.

Naoko and Kyou were tasked with finding Grimmjow and Nelliel. Nelliel was the easier one to try and come to an agreement with while Grimmjow had his stubborn pride and his fraccion as well. It might take both of them to bring him in… alive at least. They had the most officers out of everyone.

While Ren did not want to force anyone to join, he knew that Grimmjow was a special case that needed to be dealt with using force.

Baiken and Shin were to go after Ulquiorra. Ren did not remember whether this person was a Vasto Lorde or an Adjuchas but still felt it was better to send two captains after the only member of the original Espada who could double release. This duo worked much better without worrying about allies around so Ren sent them out alone.

Lastly was the Tres Bestias. They were also given no officers but for a different reason than the previous group. Their task was to find the ancient and natural-born Arrancar, Arturo Plateado. This was someone that Ren had remembered from the old world but never acted on finding due to his location and Ren’s position.

Arturo was sealed beneath the Sokyoku in Soul Society. These 3 were the best to sneak in there while Soul Society was at its weakest, bring the man back, break his seal, and try to convince him to join their side with either force or words. Cyan was the words, Ayon was the force.

When they all received their orders, the people formed their groups before taking off. The Tres Bestias formed their portal and left first while the others made sure their groups were organized and took off.

The most dangerous part of Hueco Mundo was the various Hollows who had made their domains or kingdoms within the place such as Baraggan who made himself God-King of his domain. Ren planned to bring as many of the Hollows as he could under one banner. Before he could worry about that, he had to get his banner up and running first.

— Kyou and Naoko group —

The pair were the first to find one of their targets after 3 weeks of searching. The first they met up with was not Nelliel but Grimmjow. The Adjuchas hollow was in his panther form just as he was described to be by Ren. He also had all the same members following him that Ren had told them about as well.

Kyou put on her best diplomatic smile as she walked forward and held out her right hand.

“Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez? I am here on behalf of my… I need to ask him what his new title is now that he is no longer a captain. (Also need to think of a name for this as well.) Anyway. We are here to recruit you to our cause. Are you interested in joining?”

The white panther with sky blue eyes stared at the hand offered toward him before letting out a growl of warning.

“I do not serve anyone! Especially those weaker than me! If your boss wishes for me to work for him, he better send someone strong enough to defeat me first.”

Kyou retracted her hand as the smile on her face faded. She unsheathed her zanpakuto and pointed it at Grimmjow.

“He said you would say something like that. Luckily, he sent me here. Holy Moonlight Sword, Bankai.”

Neon green reiatsu surrounded Kyou as she entered her bankai state. Seeing that the fight was about to happen, a savage smile appeared on Grimmjow’s face as he charged toward Kyou.

— Shin and Baiken —

These two were the next to find their target. Ulquiorra had turned out to be a Vasto Lorde to the surprise of the pair. Neither spoke a word but immediately unsheathed their zanpakuto when they first saw him.

Remembering that their goal was recruitment, Baiken let out an embarrassed cough and put on an apologetic smile.

“Sorry about that. You just have a strong aura that makes me wanna battle you. We are supposed to be recruiting you though.

Wanna join up with us? We can make you no longer have to eat just to not regress and can give you some nice clothes as well as a building to live in. We also have strong people that you can fight if that’s your thing. Oh! We also have good food.”

The girl kept rattling on and on thinking about all the reasons that a person might join a group instead of being solo. After prattling on for 5 minutes she finally stopped speaking. The Vasto Lorde noticed that the pinkish-red-haired woman had finally finished speaking.

“I agree. Let’s go,” Ulquiorra said before walking in the same direction the pair came from. The duo was surprised to hear that he was willing to come along so easily and did not manage to get out of their stupor until Ulquiorra had already walked quite some distance away from them.

— 1 year later —

Ren stood at the head of a table with Tier sitting to his right and Shin sitting to his left. Down the table were the various members that he had managed to recruit. Ren called of them his Espada. All were dressed in white just like the originals as well. The only person who wore black was Ren.

‘Since Aizen is dead, I can steal his name and clothes.’

Starting from Tier, there was Baiken, Kyou, Kakyo, Cyan, Franceska, Emilou, and Nelliel. On the other side of the table was Shin, Naoko, Stark, Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, and Arturo.

Standing in the room were the former officers of the 8th division and the fraccion of all the Arrancar that he had recruited. These would be the Lanza. The spears that would allow the swords to cut down their enemies.

Seeing all the new members, Ren was excited. These were some of the most powerful Arrancar that would ever exist and they were all working for him.

“Now that everyone is finally here and has completed their process for turning into Arrancar, we can begin the first official meeting. First things first: who here is comfortable with regicide?”

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92 92: *Non-Sexy Growl*

A lich-like figure wearing decorative purple and black robes sat on his throne with a crown atop his head and looked at the various Hollows that had gathered under him. For the past year, the activity around Hueco Mundo had been growing and causing unrest.

This made many Menos-class hollows who were sitting on the fence or lone wolves before join under the various powers around Hueco Mundo. Being one of the largest factions, Baraggan had grown the most out of all the various groups. In fact, it could be said that most hollows had joined his group. But this did not make him feel happy.

Anything that caused so much chaos around Hueco Mundo must have been something powerful. He had even sent some Hollows to scout out the reason why and they had found the large fort with its walls.

Any time he had his forces try to approach, they were killed by either cero, kido, or large thick wood branches. None of Baraggan’s forces had the ability to even see the trees that were inside of the fort.

Baraggan looked at the latest scouts, better to say scout, that had returned from the fort but they were unable to find anything. Looking at the Hollow who had several holes in his chest, Baraggan felt anger.

‘You come into my domain and harm my people but don’t dare to even show your face?! Fine! Then we shall come for you.’

The skull figure raised his right hand and revealed that it was also made out of pure bone without an ounce of flesh on it. Clattering sounds could be heard from his jaw as spoke.

“We have been invaded. I let them do as they have pleased for too long. Now, we shall lead an attack on them and bring them to their knees!

They are cowards who hide behind walls! The walls of our kingdom extend as far as I can see. They take shelter under a roof of wood. Our ceiling is the sky above. These are beings that fear Hueco Mundo itself while we rule over it!”

The various Hollows began to clap and cheer when they heard that. The Hollows were prideful beings who had a strong amount of bloodlust. If not for Baraggan’s overwhelming power, they would not have obeyed him so easily.

Baraggan looked into the sky above him as he thought about how he was going to tear the walls down of the fort that Ren had created. Just as he thought this, he felt a powerful wave of reiatsu wash over him. All the other Hollows felt it too. Then they saw it.

In the sky was a colossal creature. This was a Hollow that none of them had ever seen and surpassed the size of anything that they had ever seen before. And it was approaching them fast.

Before they knew it, it landed in front of them. The creature giving off the aura of a powerful Hollow landed in front of Baraggan’s ‘palace’. It gave off not just the aura or ‘scent’ of a Hollow but also of a shinigami and something that the others had never sensed before.

The creature appeared to be a dragon carved out of the most beautiful tree. Every limb and curve of it was smooth. It had two horns atop its head that kept a purple flame between them that matched the purple eyes of the creature. Its wings did not look like normal wings capable of flight but each was its own tree with branches growing in a single direction with a large number of green, vibrant leaves on them. (Reminder to self to add a picture to paragraph comments.)

Standing on the creature’s head and beneath its flame was a man who wore all black and appeared to be a shinigami. On the back of the creature were, 14 other individuals. These were all the members of the Espada present and accounted for.

The entire group jumped down from the dragon and stood together. Their matching uniforms and dangerous aura gave off an imposing feeling that was increased by the presence of a dragon behind them.

The dragon was Dryae. When she absorbed Ikomikidomoe, she had absorbed all the abilities that the Hollow-zanpakuto had. One of them was the ability to transform from a sword into an Adjuchas-looking form that was colossal. While Ikomikidomoe appeared as he did when he was a Hollow, Dryae took on this draconic form.

Sitting atop Dryae’s head, Ren looked down at the army of Hollows around Barragan. There were at least several thousand of them. And from within, there were many familiar figures among them. Even if they were currently Adjuchas-class Hollows and not Arrancar, Ren could recognize them for the most part.

But it was not about them that day. That day was between the leader of the two forces, Ren and Baraggan. One wanted to rule over all of Hueco Mundo and the other wanted something similar.

The reason Ren left Soul Society was not due to agreeing with Yamamoto but by agreeing with the old man, his life became easier. He could now do as he pleased without having to worry about being spied on or being told no.

‘Better to let him think he has me under his control for now while I build up my forces as much as I can. The day will not save them, for we own the night.

He gave me an army without even knowing it. What I do with that army, well, I have plenty of time to decide on that. For now, I need to control this Lich without killing him. He could prove useful.’

This was Ren’s first true test as the leader of the Tsukibutai instead of the former commander of the 8th division. And he would not fail it.

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93 93: Overwhelm

There was silence between both groups as they stared each other down. Baraggan’s forces had a higher quantity but the forces of Tsuki Butai had better quality, especially with Dryae right behind them.

Baraggan’s forces were no longer as eager to fight, most of them at least. There were a few who still believed that they could win the battle easily or at least win the battle and survive themselves.

One of those was Nnoitra, an Espada in another lifetime. Seeing that over half of Ren’s forces were women, made him sure that Ren was just a pushover that they could take down in a moment.

‘Hehe. With so few capable fighters, we can take these guys down in a second. Although the big one is a bit intimidating, We can always try to win it over to our side.

Why hasn’t Baraggan given the order to attack?’

Many of the members on Baraggan’s side also thought similarly. Even if they did not look down on the women, they looked down on their numbers. They also believed that their king who had everything could offer whatever Ren was offering Dryae and more.

Baraggan’s focus was not on Dryae. It was instead on Ren. And only one thought was going through his head.

‘I can’t sense his reiatsu at all!’

Baraggan had never heard of the concept of stronger beings unable to have their reiatsu sensed so he thought that it must have been a secret technique of Ren’s. Any being should have been able to have their reiatsu measured due to them always releasing a small amount. But Baraggan was unable to sense a glimmer. Still, he felt some danger.

‘I need to capture him alive. Whether it is a technique or a special item, it will be useful for my plans later on.’

“Who are you?” the skeletal figure asked while pointing at Ren. The shinigami smiled back and introduced himself in the best way he knew how.

“I am the new ruler of Hueco Mundo, Ren Igarashi. I am in command of the elite Moon Corps as well. You can call me boss if you submit.”

(So tired of trying to use Japanese. English will do unless the name is already translated for whatever work I am using.)

Baraggan would have snorted at the answer if he did not sense something was off about Ren. Baraggan summoned his large axe to his left hand before pointing it at Ren.

“You dare to claim my domain? Speak! Why should I not use your head to decorate my throne?”

Ren summoned Slaupnir in his right hand and the Firestorm blade in his left when he saw Baraggan’s actions. He did not mind a fight between leaders but wanted to keep Baraggan alive. The old man had his uses.

‘Like being the leader for any idiots that might rebel in the future. I don’t wanna have to find out who the next rebel leader is if I keep the obvious one alive.’

“I don’t mind killing you but I am trying to keep as many of the Hollows alive as possible. I was hoping that you could surrender to me.”

Baraggan actually laughed at this. There was no one who could truly make this prideful Hollow surrender. He was the God-king of Hueco Mundo after all.

“Ha. Do you think you can make me and my kingdom a subordinate of yours? I shall give you a chance then. Do these 2 things, my kingdom shall be yours. If you fail, your kingdom shall be mine.”

Already knowing that Baraggan was up to some tricks, Ren nodded and gestured for the old lich to go on.

“First, you must make it rain within Hueco Mundo. Then you must defeat me and my strongest 4 members all at once and by yourself. That means that Hollow of yours is not allowed to help. You have 1 week to complete the first task, shinigami.”

Hearing these conditions, all the former officers of the 8th division wanted to laugh out loud. 2 of them actually did. The other members of the Espada were not sure why they were laughing and had grave looks on their faces.

All of them had come to respect Ren over the past year. Whether it was through how he treated them, his power, or the way he carried himself, Ren was the ideal leader for the Espada. None of them wanted to see him, or themselves, under the rule of Baraggan.

They knew that Hueco Mundo had never rained since the beginning of time. It was always a clear night sky, no matter the day or time of year. If he truly wanted to make it rain, that would be impossible.

Ren did not even move his body before the crackle of thunder was heard. Clouds formed overhead with lightning streaking between them. 6 bolts fell from the clouds and crashed into granite-like trees that populated Hueco Mundo.

‘Are you not entertained!’ Ren said to himself. Soon, large amounts of rain began to pour down over the entirety of Hueco Mundo. Not just the spoke where they were standing but the entire realm.

All the Hollows in the realm rose up from underground or wherever they were to see the first rain to ever occur in Hueco Mundo. It only lasted a minute but left everyone stupefied. Baraggan was the most surprised.

He gave Ren the most impossible task that he could think of but the man had completed it in a moment. With no effort.

‘No! This must have just been his special ability. Even if he can make it rain, what does that matter? This person must be so weak and wanted to try and scare me away by that display.’

“Nnoitra, Findorr, Yammy, Szayelaporro!”

4 Hollows appeared behind Baraggan. 2 were Adjuchas class Hollows while 2 more were Vasto Lorde. Surprisingly, Szayelaporro was one of the 2 Vasto Lorde.

‘He is a Vasto Lorde? But he was ranked 8th or 9th. What kind of fucked up timeline have I walked into?’

————–

Author’s Note: For those who don’t know, according to the official books, Szayelaporro was actually a Vasto Lorde and was the original rank 0 Espada. But he decided that he had too many violent impulses as so he split himself in two, one of those two being the ‘older brother’ who was Grimmjow’s fraccion. He was then demoted to Privarion Espada until he got stronger again and became the 8th Espada.

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94 94: Epic Fight Music

The 4 Hollows that Baraggan called out were mostly familiar to Ren. Nnoitra looked very similar to his original resurrecion with a white and yellow body along with 3 arms on each side of it. His face was covered in a mantis-like mask while the tips of his arms had saw-like blades on them.

Of all the other Espada, this was the one Ren liked the least. His misogynistic views clouded his judgment and nearly killed an ally who had saved his life before.

The familiar name was Szayelaporro. This man would become the alchemist or scientist of the Espada in another life. But the current him was much different than what he would be like in the future. He had a look that reminded Ren of a Kenpachi or other members of the 11th division.

This Szayelaporro was similar to his resurrecion form except this form seemed wilder. He had two pink wings on his back that each had 4 eyes on them. His lower body was made up entirely of a large number of tentacles.

Then there was Yammy. The Hollow form of Yammy was very similar to his initial resurrecion form. The Hollow had half the size of Dryae but instead of a brown, wooden body, Yammy’s entire body was covered in white bone and brown fur. He had 8 huge legs that carried the giant’s body as well as a large tail with a hard club-like tail. Just his massive size alone was enough to intimidate normal people.

The last member was someone that Ren was unfamiliar with. It appeared to be a human crab. Standing beside the lich, manti-man, eldritch abomination, and giant monster, the crab Hollow seemed a bit boring and lame.

Even still, Ren did not think too much of it and readied both of the weapons by his sides as he was going to let the others make their move first. He wanted to see just how powerful 3 Vasto Lorde and 2 Adjuchas were when they worked together.

Baraggan lifted his axe and pointed it at Ren before he gave the order.

“Kill!”

The fastest to charge forward was Nnoitra. He appeared right in front of Ren before clashing down with all 6 of his arms at once. The blades were stopped by the firestorm blade’s massive body. Nnoitra aimed all his attacks at Ren’s face so it was quite easy to block.

‘He can die, right? Honestly, all of them can die except Baraggan. I need a puppet.’

Using his brute strength, Ren rebelled all of Nnoitra’s arms before cutting downward with his Slaupnir spear. The blade of the weapon cut cleanly through Nnoitra’s head until it reached his pelvis. Ren’s eyes and mouth were filled with white flames but he stopped before the flames shot out his mouth and retracted the flames back into his body.

NNoitra, a Vasto Lorde was killed in a single strike. They all knew the second blow was unnecessary and would be more than for show but that still did not calm down the fear in their hearts. The Psy-fire was not just disturbing to the Hollows but also to Ren himself.

This was because of the very nature of the fire. It was not normal but made from going through a realm of chaos and destruction, pain and misery, nothing but suffering, before arriving in the realm when Ren used it. This was practically true Hell-fire.

The presence of these flames disturbed nature itself. Even when Ren had turned his ability to communicate with nature down to zero, he could still hear the cries of the very spirits of nature.

‘Chaos is all corrupting? Everything eventually falls to Chaos, huh? Those damn space marines were right. Even just using these weapons is nothing but trouble to me even after I got rid of that damn Khorne.’

His thoughts about how he had almost used Psy-fire and the corrupting nature of the firestorm blade, the crab hollow appeared behind Ren. Ren turned around and sliced through the entire body of the Hollow.

As the blade cut through him, the delicious smell of cooked crab filled the air around Ren for a moment before it was overshadowed by the smell of burnt crab.

‘Can’t think about other things during battle. I need to keep moving forward!’

No longer letting the others make the first move, Ren used shunpo and ran towards Yammy. No, he ran through Yammy. With his spear pointed forward, Ren ended up on the other side of Yammy with a hole going through the giant’s head.

Large tree branches rose from the ground and surrounded Szayelaporro’s tentacle legs and wings before detonating and destroying them. As Szayelaporro fell from the sky, Ren made his move.

Dispersing the firestorm blade, the Kage (maybe title) turned around and charged toward Szayelaporro and destroyed his entire upper body after taking a single step. All that remained of the Hollow was his head.

Baraggan saw that his entire elite force was decimated in moments, he could not help but feel angry. Those 4 were supposed to be his strongest but none of them survived a single attack. This was a great embarrassment on his honor.

Letting out a loud and skeletal (However that works) roar, Baraggan charged forward. And wanted to cut down Ren but his first strike was knocked away with Slaupnir. The two exchanged several blows but the Lich was unable to land an attack.

‘Hmm. It seems that he does not have access to his anti-speed field or touch of old age abilities while he is just a Vasto Lorde. This makes my job even easier then.’

Ren knocked away the axe once more before he stabbed toward Baraggan’s left arm. The lich used the chain attached to his arm to bring his axe back to him in order to defend him but the Slaupnir went right through it and cut off his arm.

Following that, Baraggan was slowly dismembered until he was only a body and a head. Ren stripped off Baraggan’s robes and crown before holding the skeletal figure by his neck and held him up before the crowd.

“Is this your king?! This skeleton is the one who leads you? He can’t lay a blow on me not to mention defend himself. Serve the Moon Corps and I will show you true power!”

————–

Author’s Note:

Releasing a second chapter but don’t get too happy. This is just an updated chapter with his various powers as well as me listing out all the members of the Espada and a brief description of each.

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95 94.5/Auxiliary Chapter

Updated Chapter that will cover all of Ren’s abilities as well as a short description of all the members of the Espada since I know there are a lot and it might be a bit confusing.

————————————–

Dryae: Zanpakuto spirit that Ren was originally going to get before he had fused with Lawrence.

It is in a permanent state of bankai in the form of a wooden brown bokken. After absorbing Ikomikidomoe, it gained a black tsuba with a green flower pattern.

Evolution: Dryae is now capable of constantly evolving by eating other races. By eating blanks, she gains the ability to detonate trees. By eating zanpakuto spirits, she may gain the ability of one of those zanpakuto or create new ones all her own. The only limit of this ability is that she can only gain one evolution from each species.

Forest: Ren can create, grow, and manipulate tree branches in a variety of shapes and ways. Growth is rapid. Trees are resistant to fire, lightning, cutting, and blunt force making them much more powerful than normal trees. Due to absorbing blanks, the trees can now detonate themselves.

Nature Speak: Ren has the capability to communicate with nature, gaining information about their surroundings, attaining a deeper connection to them. This applies to plants, animals, the elements themselves, and even more.

Nature’s Wrath: Ren can create a variety of storms and control them to a degree but can only create up to 2 at the same time. Blizzards, Firestorm, Hurricane, Rain, Sub-Zero Rain, Sandstorm, Thunderstorm, Tornado, earthquakes, tidal waves

Apocalpyse: Ren summons meteors that rain down destruction. Sizes range from small buildings to large islands.

Breathing Styles: Ren has innate knowledge of 14 breathing styles that each come with several techniques that can be used with those particular styles. This increases his already impressive physical abilities to another level.

– Styles he has: Sun, Moon, Water, Fire, Wind, Stone, Lightning, Love, Mist, Beast, Serpent, Insect, Sound, and Flower.

Orbit the stars, Dryae! (Hoshi o megure, Dryae!): a massive Hollow arm appears out of Ren’s back that can attack foes on its own initiative.

Jot down their funeral, Dryae! (Okuri shiruse, Dryae!): Dryae transforms into a gargantuan Hollow-Dragon that is around the size of the Espada Yammy Llargo’s Resurrección. In this form, she can unleash a cero-like breath attack and can spawn large treants by sending down seeds from her wings. These treants are comparable to Adjuchas-class hollows.

Hatch out and be ruined, Dryae! (Kaeri horobe, Dryae!): Dryae transforms into a large, humanoid Hollow, though still smaller than its previous release. While this form resembles a Vasto Lorde, similar to her zanpakuto spirit form except with a hole in her chest.

Dryae, Can’t fear your own world!: …Secret!

—————————–

With Khorne defeated, Ren now has the powers of Khorne within himself. But since he is no chaos god, most of the powers have mutated in some way or weakened in some way with few staying as they were.

Gift of Arms – A weapon of the Blood God: This gives Ren 2 weapons to use due to no longer having Khorne within him, he can no longer use weapons that are purely Khorne’s.

– Slaupnir: Spear used by Khorne’s most loyal and devoted champion as well as his consort. After receiving the blessings of Khorne, it now has the ability to pierce through any defense.

– Firestorm Blade: A mighty greatsword, the Firestorm Blade is a massive straight sword engulfed in an impossibly bright nimbus of white fire. At the whim of its wielder, the blade can discharge great gouts of flame at targets within a considerable distance, burning its victims with overwhelming Warpfire.

–Flame Breath – A torrent of psychically-generated flames pour forth from the psyker’s eyes and mouth, engulfing the target.

–Fiery Form – Bullets and shells pass straight through the pyromancer as he transforms into an incandescent being of living Warpfire, striking out at his foes and setting their souls ablaze.

–Fire Shield – With a sweep of his arms the psyker throws up a towering wall of flame to protect his allies.

–Spontaneous Combustion – Focussing his anger, the pyromancer can melt or incinerate his foes in a heartbeat. Yet when his rage boils over, the unfortunate victim’s body explodes in a blast of ash and roaring flame. Who can say how many will fall victim to his wrath before it is sated?

–Sunburst – The psyker sings a wild song whose notes were old when the universe was young. As he does so, an incandescent aura appears about him, growing ever brighter and hotter with every refrain. Only when the song is ended does the aura explode, discharging its pent-up fury in a blinding, supernova flash.

–Molten Beam – The pyromancer claps his hands together and turns them outward towards the foe. As he does so, a white-hot beam of blazing energy bursts from his palms. It melts armour to slag and vaporises flesh, leaving only ghastly shadows in its wake

Gift of Beasts – Beasts or servants to aid his chosen: Without being tied to the blood god anymore, the summons are closer to fitting Ren’s ideal type. Ren can summon up to 3 Tomb Stalkers.

The Tomb Stalker is a massive Necron robotic construct that serves as a guardian on Necron Tomb Worlds. The Tomb Stalker is an enormous mass of living-metal carapace teeming with flashing legs and possessed of a murderous will. Easily the size of a dozen men, this centipede-like robotic construct makes use of arcane Phase Generators, allowing it to stalk the Tomb World of its slumbering Necron lords, burrowing through solid ground.

It uses its powerful senses to trail its prey from kilometres away and can sense the frenzied rhythm of a panicked man’s heartbeat through hundreds of metres of solid stone. The Stalker’s immense size combined with its natural capacity for regeneration as a result of its Necrodermis carapace creates a nearly indestructible creature.

Gift of Flesh – Mutations that grant strength and ferocity: Permanent state. Ren has gained the physique of an Astartes with much stronger regeneration.

Gift of Will – Unbreakable willpower and bloodlust: This increases his skills in martial techniques such as hakuda, hoho, and zanjutsu. He becomes able to ignore any injury, illusion, and lack of stamina.

Gift of Title: Ren is able to use multiple other gifts at once

Elixir of Life. Formerly, The Curse of Chaos: By mixing in the beast god’s blood, Ren is able to turn Arrancar into Asura.

King’s Armor, Formerly, Crimson Crown – This crown allows Ren to replace the Hōgyoku in the Arrancar creation process. By wearing the crown himself, Ren gains a powerful armor that has excellent defensive capabilities

——————

Espada:

Tier: Current Strongest. Ren’s lover/wife. Former Arrancar but now an Asura. She can casually give orders to any of the members of the Moon Corps but usually is training in the dungeon or spending time with the other female Espada members if she is not with Ren.

Arturo: Ancient, natural Arrancar. He has a unique ability to manipulate a certain type of energy. Even with all their years of training, only Tier is assured victory over him in battle while all others would be close calls.

Stark: 3rd strongest of the Espada. Another natural Arrancar. Besides spending time with his fraccion, Stark can rarely be seen outside of official duties.

Shin: 4th Strongest of the Espada. His wild combat style and powerful zanpakuto make him a dangerous foe. Lover of Emilou.

Kyou: 5th Strongest. She is the manager of the Moon Corps. Anything that needs to be done, goes through her. If she is unable to do it, she will let Ren know and have him do it himself. Her words carry the same weight as Ren’s when it comes to members of the Moon Corps.

Baiken: 6th Strongest. Still in her growing phase but showing much promise. Ren’s ‘sister’ that he adopted after the Mist Rebellion. Even with only a single-arm and eye, Baiken is a threat to anyone who dares to battle her, especially those who underestimate her.

Emilou, Cyan, and Franceska: 7th Strongest. Individually, all their strengths are about equal. When they work together, they can challenge those in the top 3 of the Espada, especially when they use their resurrecion and Ayon.

Ulquiorra: 8th strongest. A powerful Vasto Lorde who had become an Arrancar with Ren’s help. Unpredictable due to his mostly passive nature but seems very loyal. Was the only Arrancar to have a second resurrecion in the original timeline.

Nelliel: 9th Strongest. Another Vasto Lorder who had become an Arrancar under Ren. The woman has a mostly cold and distant personality but is very professional and loyal to Ren.

Kakyo: 10th Strongest. She has the same zanpakuto that Tosen would have had. With her abilities, she is a powerful combatant that can take on most mid-tier captains. Lover of Naoko.

Naoko: 11th Strongest. One of the oldest members and had been around since Ren had first taken over. Even though he is not the most powerful, his experience makes him someone that few can take lightly. Lover of Kakyo.

Grimmjow: 12th Strongest. Currently, the weakest of the Espada since he had only recently gained his Arrancar form and has yet to fill his reserves to their maximum as they were when he was a Hollow. Even still, he is not to be underestimated due to his wild and violent fighting style.

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96 95: A shark, a wolf, and phoenix walk into a bar

After seeing Baraggan in such a pathetic state, most of the Hollows were willing to flip sides in an instant. They did not care about who was the ruler of Hueco Mundo as long as that person had the power to rule. And Ren was now the strongest being in Hueco Mundo.

Various roars and shouts could be heard from the Hollows on the ground. All of the ones were the Adjuchas-class Hollows. As for the Vasto Lorde, Baraggan was the only remaining one that lived inside of Hueco Mundo who had not already been converted into an Arrancar while the Gillian did not have such sentience yet.

The Espada looked up at their leader and were impressed. He was able to subjugate the entirety of Hueco Mundo in minutes.

“Excellent! Those who have reached Adjuchas-class shall be given a new form of power that will make you all even more powerful than before.”

As he said this, Ren summoned his crown and placed it atop Baraggan’s head destroyed the Vasto Lorde’s entire skull. The man was a skeleton so he had no idea what part of the skull was his mask and what part was his body so he just got rid of all of it.

A bright light appeared around Baraggan before he appeared as an old man with brown skin and white hair on his head. His naked body was fully healed and repaired with a hole in his chest. But all the Hollows felt that he was much weaker than before and thought that Ren was just taunting the Hollow.

Ren released the old man before pointing to his zanpakuto and ordering him to activate his resurrecion. Knowing that he had no choice, Baraggan did so.

“Rot!”

Releasing red Reiatsu, the slit-eye pendant between the axe-blades began to generate numerous jet-black and purple flames, which, burned away Baraggan’s flesh, reducing his entire body to little more than a skeleton, with his head becoming a skull and his hands and arms being reduced to bone. Afterward, Baraggan’s body became draped in a purple cloak, with a pitch-black tattered fur collar around his neck area and the fringes of his cloak, similar to the one that Ren had ripped off and was lying in the sands of Hueco Mundo. Several lengths of golden chains dangled out of his armbands.

Seeing that Baraggan returned to his old appearance but felt even stronger than when Ren had defeated him, the hollows were filled with surprise and worship. They thought that his words were just jokes and meant to mock the lich but now they knew that he spoke the truth. Their former king had grown even stronger after his loss.

“I have been banished from Soul Society. I have been disgraced. They think that I am someone who will take this insult lying down.

I left so easily because I knew that a battle at the moment was unwise when Soul Society was at its strongest. Over 30 Captain Level Shinigami, 50 Lieutenant-level figures, and hundreds of officer-level members. Technology surpassing anything that you have seen before.

While the Hollows have been stuck in this desolate land and slowly rotting, the shinigami have been prospering. New kido spells being developed every few years, replacing the old ones. If the shinigami came and wanted to take down the rulers of this land, they could have done so long ago.

You all are nothing more than training tools for their younger members. You are meant to cull their weaklings so that they can grow stronger. They ally with the Quincy to permanently exterminate you. They use you to make full bringers appear. They let you starve while they feast.

But that shall last no more. Soul Society is no longer going to be allowed to do as they please. Follow me, and the Hollows will never go hungry.”

The Hollows began to roar and yell with every sentence that Ren said. Especially when he mentioned how they were just being used as training targets. They all knew that the weak would be exterminated when they had no more use just as they had done to other Hollows themselves.

Under Ren’s ‘small’ lie, he had managed to gain the support of all the Hollows present. And to get their support, all he had to do was create a common enemy. Not just an enemy that would be a temporary target but a mountain that needed to be overcome.

The Espada jumped atop of Dryae and flew back towards Tsukigakure, their home and fortress. When the fraccion members saw the hundreds of Adjuchas-class Hollows, they would have thought they were under attack if the Espada did not return before them.

Ren spent the next few weeks converting all of the Adjuchas-class hollows in Arrancar. He had seen several familiar faces such as Zommari as well as a pair of twins, Yin and Yang. With all that work done, Ren was finally able to relax.

He always kept 5 members of the Arrancar on active duty to watch over any unruly members of his forces while the rest were allowed to do as they pleased. Most took this as a chance to train in the dungeon where they did not fear destroying their new home as they went all out.

Just as Ren entered the dungeon, he saw that Arturo and Stark were teaming up to battle Tier. while all the remaining Espada members who were not on duty were watching. All 3 were in their base form but that did not stop their battle from being intense.

Stark would move around with his high speed and fire his ceros from random angles to try and catch Tier off guard while Artura fought with a more direct method using either his bare hands, his energy blades, or his zanpakuto.

Even under the combined assault of the pair, Tier did not seem to have any difficulty. She handled both Arrancar in a very technical manner where she would use as little movement and energy as she could to block or parry their attacks while pushing them in each other’s way.

After 30 minutes without a clear winner, both sides looked like they were starting to get a bit frustrated.

“Lilynette,” Stark called over and placed his hand on the little girl’s head. Arturo held his zanpakuto in reverse grip and bent his knees. Tier held her blade in front of her and pointed it downward.

Large pillars of reiatsu emerged from each of the three. Blue reiatsu surrounded Stark, yellow reiatsu enveloped Tier, and Arturo was immersed in green energy that began to take the shape of two wings.

Ren knew he had to step in before one of the trio ended up dying from a friendly spar but he was also curious about how powerful the 3 members were after him.

‘I can save them from an attack anyway. Might as well enjoy a good show.’

Ren summoned several tree branches that he used to form a chair to sit on but before he could relax, Baiken stole his seat. Looking at the woman, he let out a sigh before making another seat for himself to watch the battle.

“Fênix, immortal and graceful, in my original form my body emerges even from the smallest of grains of ash. A beautiful power that by shinigami as you can not witness, unequaled the beauty and fury released from my flames and grace.”

“Kick About!”

“Destroy!”

The two strongest Arrancar and the strongest Asura had released their resurrecions.

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97 96: The 3 Strongest

Once the reiatsu faded, the 3 people battling emerged in their new forms. Arturo lost his shirt while his hair automatically went into a ponytail. The mask fragment on his face disappeared. On his back were two wings made of pure energy that resembled a Quincy’s last resort. Gloves appeared on each of his hands that resembled talons.

Tier changed from her clothes into a form that was very close to her original resurrecion. The original bone skirt and armor turned into blue shark-skin that covered her skirt, bikini bra, thigh-high boots, and gauntlets. The scales looked smooth from afar except that they were jagged and sharp up close. In her right hand was a large shark tooth-like blade that was almost larger than Tier herself that had 3 girl marks on either side of it with a handle inside the hollow base. In her left hand was her original zanpakuto.

Stark was the last to finish his transformation. Part of Lilynette’s mask appeared on his head, stretching from the back of his head around to the eyepiece on his left eye, with the flame pattern changing to emerge from the eyepiece and follow the mask fragment around to the back of his head. The mask itself was connected by two chains around his right eye. His Arrancar outfit changed drastically as well to a gray fur-lined jacket and dark, skin-tight pants, with gray knee-high fur leggings covering his lower legs. In each of his hands was a twin pistol.

With all of their power released, Ren had to release his own reiatsu in a defensive manner just to make sure that all of the other Espada and Lanza did not get hurt from their raw energy.

Each of the 3 looked at each other for a moment as if to size up the others transformation. Then they were all gone. Tier and Arturo were the first two to reappear with Tier’s larger blade and Arturo’s, now green and black, energy blades clashing.

“Miss 1st, I plan to take your title today.”

“Hmm. Two on one and you think that makes you worthy of my title. How foolish.”

Yellow reiatsu appeared around the zanpakuto in her left hand before backed away and swung it at Arturo.

“Ola Azul.”

Even though he used both arms to block the attack, Arturo was still pushed back a good distance and had his guard broken. Tier appeared in front of him with her shark sword raised above her head.

Just as she was about to bring it down, Tier saw blue light appearing from her right so she used her movement technique to dodge and appear further away.

Stark stood beside Arturo and waited for the other Arrancar to catch his breath while having both of his guns trained on Tier.

“Get up. We are seriously in trouble if you don’t start work with me. You’ve already seen how good she is with a blade.”

“As much as I hate to agree, you are right. I will distract her. You get ready to use your biggest move and we will her down in a single attack.”

The pair shared a look and nodded before Arturo charged ahead. When he clashed with Tier this time, he decided to play defensively. His main goal was to buy time and create an opening. Even when he gained injuries, his impressive healing factor repaired his body by the time he gained another one.

“Now!” Arturo heard Stark say from behind his back. Without even thinking, Arturo let Tier get in a deep cut as he backed away.

All around Tier were 10s of wolves that were made out of soul and flames. This was Stark’s most powerful technique where he sacrificed both of his guns to turn them into these wolves that had the ability to defeat even captain-level enemies with ease.

“Grand Fire Rush!”

Arturo’s wings turned red and black before turning into flames that surrounded his arms. The flames then went to his palms and formed a large spear of flames in front of him.

“I suggest you put up your best defense or ask the Corps Commander for help. You might die under these attacks.”

Seeing both of the attacks that the duo was ready to launch, Tier seemed unperturbed. Tier pointed her shark tooth sword at Arturo while holding the hollow sword downward. The Arrancar could feel a large amount of danger building up so they decided to launch their attack.

The fire spear moved first with the wolves charged afterward. With both of her opponents have made their moves, how could Tier just sit there and wait to be finished off?

“La Gota!” water surrounded the tip of Tier’s larger blade before being shot in a spear shape towards Arturo’s attack. After the first one was shot, two more followed right after it.

Once the first water lance clashed with the fire spear, the latter was weakened a great deal while the former turned completely to steam. The second water lance completely destroyed the fire spear and shot into Arturo but did not cause any more damage than staggering him. The final lance was the true finisher and blasted Arturo away.

With Arturo no longer in the picture, the difficulty had decreased by a huge margin. Stark’s wolves surrounded Tier and were about to attack her but none of them were able to enter a 1-meter range around the woman.

“Eleventh Form: Dead Calm”

Every wolf that attacked was either knocked back, cut in half, or beheaded. No matter how much Stark tried to get close, the area around Tier was impossible to enter. It did not seem like Tier was moving at all during this time due to her fast hand speed.

“Trident.”

A yellow aura surrounded the large sword in her hand. Feeling the immense danger, Stark wanted to move out of the way but it was too late. A deep cut went from his left eye all the way down to his left foot. If not for Stark’s powerful hierro, he would have been killed from that one move.

The Espada watching did not understand how Tier had won so easily but Ren did. The Asura brought it the most of the former Arrancar’s animalistic abilities. While it started off as just physical powers, if the Arrancar had was like Grimmjow or Tier who had powerful abilities unrelated to Hollows in their resurrecion, their power would increase by an even greater amount.

For someone like Tier, becoming an Asura was the best thing that she could do. But for those like Stark or Yammy whose main long-range ability was cero or bala, becoming an Asura was more of an emotion than an evolution.