In the training grounds of the 11th Division's barracks in the Seireitei, Rei stood facing the 11th Division's lieutenant, Gosuke. That was right: Gosuke, who had just finished helping Rei complete his enlistment paperwork, had been challenged.
Their duel drew a large crowd of several hundred ordinary Soul Reapers. Challenges for seated positions were common, but challenges for a lieutenant's position were rare.
"I heard Lord Gosuke just helped him join the division?"
"This guy really doesn't know what's good for him!"
"Can he actually do it?"
"Don't talk nonsense. Positions in the Gotei 13's divisions are normally determined by strength. Only the Fourth Division ranks its members by their medical Kidō."
"Mm, let's just watch."
Most of the spectators around them were from the 11th Squad, though members of the other squads were present too. Some were skeptical, some indifferent, and others curious.
A young man with a bowl cut looked particularly disdainful, though he was actually somewhat jealous of Rei's talent. This was Hirako, who had already become a Seated Officer.
Hearing that someone had become a Soul Reaper without studying, and had even challenged a lieutenant immediately after joining a division, he had rushed over to get a good look. He hadn't expected it to be Nangong Ling, whom he had fought alongside once before.
He knew Rei's abilities well. Rei had killed several Menos Grande single-handedly during that Hollow attack, and his abilities had long since reached lieutenant level.
Gosuke's expression was grave as he faced Rei. When mid-level Menos Grande had invaded Rukongai, he had led the rescue party, only to find that Rei had already killed them all by the time they arrived.
Gosuke had been shocked then, but not as shocked as he had been yesterday... When Captain Kuruyashiki returned yesterday, he had a small scar on his chest. Gosuke had called a Fourth Division member to treat the captain and learned who had wounded him.
The captain had also warned him that Nangong Ling would be joining the 11th Division and might challenge him, telling him to be ready.
Sure enough, Gosuke had only just finished the paperwork certifying Rei as a Soul Reaper when Rei openly challenged him as soon as they returned to the vicinity of the Squad Barracks.
No matter how afraid he was, Gosuke still had to defend his dignity, even if it cost him his life...
"Smash him! Flame Fist!"
Gosuke immediately released his Shikai, raising his Reiatsu to another level. He was fully capable of defeating an Adjuchas.
Metal gauntlets appeared on his hands, covering them only up to the wrists. Red patterns ran across them, and as those patterns charged up, the gauntlets turned red. A ball of red explosive flame the size of a soccer ball hurtled toward Rei.
Rei didn't even dodge. He concentrated Reiatsu in his left hand, raised it, and crushed the blast of flame. The thick haze produced by the exploding Reishi drifted away, revealing that only the hair on Rei's left hand had been burned off.
"Was that your full-strength attack? Surely you have more than that!"
"It's far from over! Great Exploding Flame Dragon!"
Hearing the mocking tone in Rei's voice, Gosuke flew into a rage. After charging briefly, he sent a flaming dragon's head half a meter across biting toward Rei.
Unfortunately, the attack could only travel in a straight line. Rei closed his eyes instead of watching, and when the attack was less than ten centimeters away, he used a slight Shunpo to dodge...
Just a little more... no, he did that on purpose! Is he trying to shake me? Damn it!
After witnessing Rei's last-second dodge, Gosuke knew his Shikai would have a hard time hitting him.
"He can dodge with his eyes closed? That's incredible!"
"He must be feeling the heat on his skin! Is he dodging that way to hone his instincts?"
Inside a tall building, Kyōraku and Ukitake were also watching in secret. Ukitake was the one who chiefly wanted to see Rei's strength.
They weren't the only ones. Experts were hidden inside quite a few of the taller, gold-tiled buildings nearby, all with the same intention.
Rei no longer wanted to play around. Without powerful Reiatsu to back him up, Gosuke couldn't beat him no matter what he did.
The famous pyramid scheme leader Aizen was right: battles between Soul Reapers were battles of Reiatsu. If the gap in Reiatsu was too large, even a fart could blast an opponent to death... Rei had never heard Aizen say that, but he had long since grasped it himself.
Rei took the initiative and approached with Shunpo. After sparring with Kuruyashiki, his Shunpo had grown even faster.
Gosuke could see him only as a blur, but he too was an expert who had fought on the front lines for years. He reacted in time to use Shunpo and dodge Rei's slash.
He then used Bakudō #21: Sekienton to obscure Rei's vision, murmuring under his breath amid the red smoke. Gosuke was chanting a high-level Bakudō!
Rei unleashed all his Reiatsu, stirring up a Gale that swept the red smoke clear. By then, Gosuke had finished his chant, but just as he raised his hand, Rei used Shunpo to reach his right side and slashed between his ribs...
"Is it over already?"
"Lieutenant Gosuke didn't even manage to hurt him."
"Who says? I saw the hair on that guy's hand get burned off!"
"Sharp eyes, brother!"
The duel came to an abrupt end, leaving some Soul Reapers frustrated. They had still wanted to see what Rei's Shikai was like.
Gosuke had used his series of techniques calmly, but the gap in strength left him helpless.
His plan had been to bind Rei with a Bakudō in the sixties, preventing him from dodging at high speed, then attack with a Hadō in the seventies after reciting its full chant.
Unfortunately, Rei had forcibly dispelled Sekienton, and Gosuke suffered a crushing defeat!
In fact, if he had skipped the chant, he could have cast the Kidō instantly, but it wouldn't have been powerful enough to bind someone with Rei's level of Reiatsu for long. Gosuke understood all this; it was simply a matter of raw strength...
Two expert healers from the Fourth Division hurried forward. To incapacitate Gosuke, Rei had slashed through the gap between his ribs and wounded his lung.
After giving Gosuke a slight nod, Rei used Shunpo to reach a spot with fewer spectators. Hirako and his bowl cut were there too.
"I didn't expect you to be here. I heard Maki say you're a genius who graduated in one year and became a Seated Officer!"
Rei smiled as he pressed his advantage against Hirako. He had beaten a lieutenant as soon as he joined, so it was easy to imagine how much mockery was in that "compliment."
"Don't act so familiar. I hardly know you, and you're not a normal Soul Reaper who came out of the academy anyway. I stopped acknowledging your existence ages ago. I can still look down on 99.99 percent of Soul Reapers..."
Hirako distanced himself from Rei, declared that Rei didn't exist, and then put on an expression of delight at being one in ten thousand, striking back at him in full.
"Joking aside, I'm going to report to Captain Kuruyashiki!"
"No need to look for me. I'm here!"
Rei chuckled, but just as he was about to leave using Shunpo, Kuruyashiki suddenly appeared beside the two of them.
Kuruyashiki Kenpachi? What tremendous Reiatsu! Only someone like him could keep Nangong Ling in check!
A little sweat appeared on Hirako's forehead. He could remain perfectly calm under Rei's Reiatsu, but with Kuruyashiki added to it, Hirako, the Eighth Seat, was beginning to feel uncomfortable.
Kuruyashiki had the division members who weren't out on missions summoned and assembled in the 11th Division's Dōjō. Rei stood behind him as Kuruyashiki took his place and announced:
"I hereby declare that, from this moment on, Nangong Ling is the 11th Division's lieutenant, and Gosuke is demoted to a regular Squad Member. If any of you wish to take over a seated position, issue a challenge yourselves. Understood?"
"Understood!"
No one dared object to the captain's order. A captain had absolute authority to dismiss his division members, and besides, Rei was already strong enough to command their respect. In the 11th Division, the strongest fist made the rules.
Half a month later, Rei was gradually adapting to his new position. Lieutenant Nangong's name had spread throughout the Seireitei, and the Five Great Noble Clans had all taken notice after hearing of his extraordinary strength.
A lieutenant was quite powerful, and recruiting one as a Vassal would be a good choice. If the timing was right, they could pull some strings behind the scenes and have him serve their clan after he retired...
Unfortunately, they all wasted their efforts. Rei accepted every gift the noble clans sent, but when they asked him to meet their heads, he deliberately made excuses.
Only the Kuchiki Clan sent no one to bother Rei. Kuchiki Ginrei had personally asked him once before, and having been refused, he would not set aside a great noble's pride to ask again.
In fact, apart from the Kuchiki Clan and one unidentified clan, the other three great noble clans had merely sent Vassals to make inquiries. The important figures in their families had no time to pay attention to a mere lieutenant.
Over the past half month, Gosuke had also claimed the title of Third Seat, while the former Third Seat had taken Fourth Seat... The entire 11th Division seemed caught in a vicious cycle, with battles for seated positions breaking out every day...
"What? A mission? Didn't we agree I wouldn't have to carry out troublesome missions like this? Just send Gosuke."
Rei had been leafing through a book called How to Use Kidō when Kuruyashiki summoned him, saying there was something important. Instead, he was assigned a mission to clear out an area.
"Don't underestimate this operation. The Third Division, Fifth Division, and our 11th Division are going together. There are reportedly mid-level Menos Grande in the area, so we need several lieutenants... Ah! Go or don't, as you please!"
Kuruyashiki had been about to say they needed several lieutenants to work together, but then he remembered that if Rei went, he would probably be enough on his own.
"All right, all right, I'll go!"
And so Rei accepted his first mission since joining the division. Even if it wasn't to obey an order but as a small contribution in exchange for learning Kidō, he still had to go.
The Third and Fifth Divisions were also sending their lieutenants. The Fifth Division's lieutenant was Shusuke Ihana, whose older brother was the Fifth Division Captain, though Rei had never met him.
The Third Division's lieutenant was also a woman.