Sister Hana's Magnanimity

Although Sister Hana and Rangiku were both generously endowed—and Rangiku's bosom was even more ample than Sister Hana's—the key was that Sister Hana was strong enough. As the former Strongest Kenpachi, not only did she have ample healing capacity, but more importantly, she could hold down the fort.

Among the many Soul Reapers in the Soul Society, Sister Hana's strength was unquestionably among the very best. There were very few people capable of knocking her down.

The Fourth Division did not have particularly high Power Level requirements for its members, but there was one thing they absolutely needed to possess: proficiency in Kidō.

Kidō was divided into Hadō, used to attack enemies; Bakudō, used to restrain and bind targets; and Kaidō, used to heal injuries.

Compared to Hadō and Bakudō, which most Soul Reapers could use, few Soul Reapers had mastered Kaidō. On one hand, Kaidō was rather obscure within the Kidō system; on the other, there were very few Kaidō spells.

In order to join the Fourth Division he had always dreamed of, Yoru Machi had specifically trained in Kaidō while at Shino Academy. As such, he was quite confident about this recruitment.

"Minamino Makoto, Sixth-Year Student of Shino Academy. Above-average academic performance. Above-average Sword Technique. Below-average Hakuda. Below-average Shunpo. Above-average Kidō.

"With your Kidō proficiency, you do meet the Fourth Division's recruitment standards. Are you sure you want to join our Fourth Division?"

The Fourth Division member responsible for recruiting this time was a tall woman with a slender figure, a large bust, short silver-gray hair, and exceptionally delicate features.

The reason she was specifically described as tall was that the Fourth Division member before Yoru Machi, Kotetsu Isane, stood at 187 centimeters. Even for most men, that was enough to feel imposing.

Of course, Yoru Machi in this life was fairly outstanding in both looks and height. So while he could not look down at Isane's cleavage as he stood before her, neither was he overwhelmed by her height.

Isane was not yet the Fourth Division's lieutenant. She had probably only joined the Fourth Division recently herself, which was why she had been assigned here to recruit newcomers.

The recruitment booths of the other divisions had several members handling recruitment, while the Fourth Division had only Isane standing there alone. Clearly, the young woman was either being isolated or targeted by the other division members.

It was nothing new for old hands to make things difficult for workplace rookies, especially a girl like Isane, who had only recently graduated and looked rather timid.

"Yes, I want to join the Fourth Division and become an outstanding member of the healing division. May I ask whether there are any assessments or tests?"

Seeing Yoru Machi's resolute expression and hearing his certain tone, Isane was quite pleased as well.

Just as Yoru Machi had guessed, Captain Unohana had assigned her and two other members to recruit new members at Shino Academy this time.

However, the two Fourth Division members who had come with her used the excuse that Isane had graduated from Shino Academy not long ago and was more familiar with its surroundings to dump all the work on her.

Every year, when the divisions came to Shino Academy to recruit graduates, the number willing to join the Fourth Division was truly not large.

Compared with the Eleventh Division, a combat division, the Fourth Division, as a healing division, was certainly safer—but it was also easily mocked.

After all, they had become Soul Reapers to fight Hollows. Hiding among women every day as support staff was a rather embarrassing thing if their family and friends found out.

It was normal for students who had just graduated from Shino Academy to be proud and ambitious. Rookies who had yet to be battered by reality always believed that, with their talent, they would soon shine in the Soul Society, become division captains, receive high salaries, and have personal assistants surrounding them whenever they went out.

The Fourth Division had far more female Soul Reaper members than male ones, and male Soul Reapers who chose to join this division would generally be mocked by their colleagues.

Thus, graduates whose ambitions soared higher than the heavens generally chose divisions like the Eleventh Division, where it was easier to make a name for themselves. Even those who considered safety would usually join the Third Division, Fifth Division, or other divisions where they could take it easy.

And although the Fourth Division was a healing division, that did not mean there were no casualties at all. Battlefield medics were also a highly dangerous profession.

Though they were always protected at the rear of the formation, they could easily be ambushed while concentrating on treating others.

The Fourth Division had taken in fewer and fewer newcomers over the past few years, to the point that staffing shortages had begun to emerge. Captain Unohana had therefore emphasized to them that they had to recruit at least several new members this year.

"As for assessments, none are needed for now. As long as your Kidō proficiency and Reiatsu meet the standards, that will be enough.

"After all, mastering Kaidō is not such a simple matter. Even many of the senior members currently in the division still cannot use Kaidō."

Kaidō was Kidō used for healing. Its principle was to first restore the target's internal Reiatsu, then combine it with the external Reiatsu supplied by the caster to heal injuries and restore Reiatsu.

Although it was a form of Kidō, mastering Kaidō was no simple task. It required extremely precise control over one's Reiatsu.

Isane was not sure whether other divisions required assessments when recruiting members, but it was already quite good that someone was willing to join the Fourth Division. They truly had no reason to be picky right now.

Besides, she had just looked over all of Yoru Machi's data. Though he was not an exceptional student, he was more than qualified to become a Fourth Division member.

A few younger female students had previously wanted to join the Fourth Division. Remembering the captain's earlier instructions, Isane had lowered the standards somewhat—yet she had still ultimately rejected them.

The reason was simple. Although those younger students had decent scores across the board, their Reiatsu and Kidō proficiency did not meet the standards. For the Fourth Division, those were the most important criteria.

As a Fourth Division member, you could be unable to wield a sword against others, but your Kidō proficiency had to be good enough to master Kaidō. Your Reiatsu also had to be up to par; otherwise, before the patient even recovered, you would already be exhausted yourself. How could you be a qualified support member then?

"Isane, how is the division's recruitment going? Will we be able to fill the vacancies in the division this year?"

Just as Yoru Machi took the form from Isane and prepared to fill in his information to officially join the Fourth Division, a gentle voice suddenly sounded outside their recruitment booth. Then, a hand with long, slender fingers lifted the curtain and appeared before Yoru Machi and Isane.

The newcomer was a beauty with a gentle and peaceful bearing, long black hair parted down the middle, and a white Captain's Haori over a gray cherry-blossom-colored inner robe.

Judging by her bearing alone, she was elegant and noble like a Yamato Nadeshiko. Yet the instant Yoru Machi saw her, every pore on his body trembled involuntarily.

The moment she appeared before him, Yoru Machi unconsciously gripped the hilt of the Zanpakuto at his waist.