Natsuki's Third Seat

"I have said it before, I have no interest in the position of a seated officer. Whether it is the third seat or the ninth seat, it makes no difference to me."

Facing Akagi Ryosuke's concession and his offer to hand over the third seat, Natsuki felt no sense of self-satisfaction. He responded with a calm expression.

"Besides, this was merely a routine sparring match; there was no need for you to yield the third seat to me!"

"Admittedly, I held a slight edge in the final exchange of swordsmanship, but that was strictly a contest of swordsmanship alone."

"For a Shinigami, the four arts of combat—Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hoho, and Kido—are merely embellishments. The true foundation remains the Zanpakuto!"

"You did not release your Zanpakuto, did you?"

Natsuki's gaze fell upon Akagi Ryosuke, his expression earnest.

Akagi Ryosuke was taken aback, yet he held onto his own convictions. "Perhaps you are right, but just as you have your thoughts, I have my own resolve. Even if I did not perform Shikai, what about you? Have you released your Zanpakuto?"

With this retort, Natsuki was left speechless.

Could he say that he was actually still half a step away from truly mastering the release of his Zanpakuto?

After a moment of thought, he decided against it.

The Zanpakuto is a Shinigami's greatest reliance, a unique weapon derived from the power born within their soul, using an Asauchi as a medium. Not every Shinigami is accustomed to revealing their secrets to outsiders.

Therefore, the true power of some Shinigamis' Zanpakuto remains unknown.

Since Natsuki had attained a seated position based purely on his swordsmanship and other abilities, outsiders assumed he must possess the power of a Zanpakuto, and that the enemies he had faced in the past simply hadn't been worthy of forcing him to release it.

Natsuki wanted to say something more.

He had come here today to spar with his squad members simply to hone his swordsmanship; he had no intention of climbing the ranks.

Just then, the atmosphere in the surroundings underwent a subtle change, growing heavy.

Natsuki and Akagi Ryosuke both noticed this.

With tacit understanding, they turned their heads at the same time.

A figure wearing a white captain's haori walked over slowly.

Upon seeing this figure, all the Shinigamis of the 11th Division straightened their expressions.

Azashiro Kenpachi!

The current captain of the 11th Division, the man who killed Kuruyashiki Kenpachi and inherited the title of Kenpachi.

Yet, despite both being Kenpachi, the members of the 11th Division found it difficult to be as relaxed and casual around Azashiro Kenpachi as they had been with Kuruyashiki Kenpachi. Perhaps due to Azashiro Kenpachi's cold indifference, they felt an immense pressure when facing him—a pressure that made it difficult to feel close to him. To many members of the 11th Division, this Kenpachi remained mysterious and distant.

However, the man was, after all, a Kenpachi.

So, as he approached, many of the members still offered him their respectful greetings.

"Azashiro Kenpachi!"

"Captain!"

Azashiro Kenpachi did not nod, ignoring these greetings. His gaze fell upon Akagi Ryosuke and Natsuki. "I saw your battle earlier. Since Ninth Seat Natsuki has defeated Third Seat Akagi, from today on, you are the new third seat."

Even though Azashiro Kenpachi had not been present earlier, he claimed to have seen the battle between Natsuki and Akagi Ryosuke. If one were to ponder this statement carefully, one would find some issues with it.

But clearly, most Shinigamis in the 11th Division did not like to use their brains. If they were good at using their brains, they would have gone to the 12th Division next door, rather than ending up in the 11th.

They were far more concerned with this pronouncement from Azashiro Kenpachi.

If the third seat had previously been something Akagi Ryosuke merely wanted to give to Natsuki, then after Azashiro Kenpachi's words, Natsuki's position as the third seat was essentially an appointment from the highest authority.

Just like that, because of a sparring match, Natsuki became the third seat of the 11th Division.

Starting from Akagi Ryosuke, the subsequent seated officers all dropped one rank. Fortunately, from the ninth seat downward, since Natsuki had originally been the ninth seat, they did not have to worry about being pushed out of the seated ranks.

Natsuki had previously said that, in his view, the ninth seat and the third seat were both seated officers and there was no difference.

Only after he truly became the third seat did he realize that this statement was actually wrong.

Perhaps there was no difference between the fourth seat and the ninth seat, but that certainly did not include the third seat.

Just as the lieutenant serves as the captain's assistant, helping to handle squad affairs, the third seat exists as an assistant to the lieutenant.

Because Azashiro Kenpachi had only recently become the captain of the 11th Division and seemed to have no interest in handling administrative duties, all such matters fell upon the lieutenant, Gosu.

Gosu was a middle-aged man with a rugged appearance but a rather delicate mind.

He had followed Kuruyashiki Kenpachi for a long time, and because he possessed a sensitivity uncommon among 11th Division members, he had been appointed as lieutenant. After Kuruyashiki's death, Azashiro Kenpachi had no intention of changing the structure of the 11th Division, so Gosu remained the lieutenant, becoming even busier than he had been during the era of Kuruyashiki Kenpachi.

Natsuki gradually understood why Akagi Ryosuke had been so eager to give away the third seat.

Because all the squad's paperwork piled up on Gosu, he had to delegate it downward, and naturally, the third seat became much busier.

For 11th Division members who loved combat, dealing with such files and reports was not an easy task.

As for Natsuki, he did not complain.

Although it did delay his training time, this kind of work actually made him feel a bit nostalgic. In his previous life, before he discovered his illness, his job had been that of a minor clerk. Although the content of the work was different, it was still processing documents, and he quickly became familiar with it again.

"Third Seat Natsuki is truly impressive; you've finished processing these documents so quickly."

Gosu looked at the documents that Natsuki had organized so neatly and couldn't help but sigh in admiration.

He didn't go so far as to complain about Natsuki's predecessor, Akagi Ryosuke; in that regard, he seemed to be a genuinely good-natured person.

Natsuki said calmly, "I simply handled similar things during my life."

Those living in the Soul Society were all the deceased, living another life in this world in the form of spiritual bodies. Therefore, Natsuki had no need to shy away from the topic; many Shinigamis never hesitated to mention such things, and some even used their past experiences as conversation starters.

Of course, this applied to those who had died in the Human World and became Shinigamis after their souls arrived in the Soul Society.

Aside from these individuals, there was another portion of Shinigamis who were native-born residents of the Soul Society.

Just as humans could reproduce, spiritual bodies—aside from the world they inhabited—were actually much like humans and were also capable of marrying and having children.