Welcome to the Plain of Slaughter

Diezuka Hiroe had just watched the back of Kenpachi Zaraki disappear into the distance when he was surrounded by five dark figures. Judging by their attire, they were Soul Reapers, just like him.

"You? Which division are you from?"

The middle-aged man leading the group scanned Diezuka Hiroe repeatedly. He was a Soul Reaper, just like them, yet the man had never seen him in the Seireitei.

"Squad 1, Diezuka Hiroe."

Under normal circumstances, even without that incident, Diezuka Hiroe would have been a prominent figure in the Seireitei. As the closed-door disciple of the Captain-Commander, everyone in the Seireitei had paid him some degree of attention.

However, the Soul Reapers stationed in the Zaraki District had been there for over a hundred years, while Diezuka Hiroe had only appeared for about twenty years at most. It was highly likely that the middle-aged leader had never heard his name.

"From Squad 1, eh? You're quite strong!" The middle-aged man smiled, sheathed his Zanpakuto, and continued, "We're from the 11th Division. My name is Kamisawa Shirutama."

Kamisawa then introduced the others to Diezuka Hiroe. All five men before him were 11th Division members stationed in the Zaraki District. Of course, the 11th Division had far more personnel here than just them.

In fact, with the exception of Squad 1, which oversaw the safety of the Seireitei and supervised the other divisions, and the 2nd Division, which handled punishment, every other division had members stationed in the 80 districts of the Rukongai.

These members acted alongside their own division after arriving. Aside from the 4th Division, which focused on logistics and healing, they rarely interacted with other divisions. It wasn't that the divisions were hostile toward one another; it was a historical issue stemming from the relatively independent structure of the Gotei 13.

The 11th Division was a special case among them. Led by the successive generations of Kenpachi, the 11th Division was bellicose, simple-minded, loyal, and took pride in their immense strength. They were the division with the highest number of members and the greatest overall combat power in the Gotei 13, and they took pride in having the most members deployed to the 80 districts of the Rukongai.

They would not easily allow members of other divisions to interfere in their battles. If other divisions appeared exclusionary due to institutional reasons, they were simply disdainful of the weak, which made them appear incompatible with the rest.

Because of this, they were exceptionally enthusiastic toward Diezuka Hiroe throughout the journey. It wasn't because of his reputation as a genius or his status as a member of Squad 1, but simply because Diezuka Hiroe's strength was enough to earn their genuine favor.

"To be able to come here right after graduating from the Spiritual Arts Academy, it seems Captain-Commander Yamamoto thinks highly of you!"

"Uh, I suppose so." Diezuka Hiroe scratched his cheek. This topic was too awkward to discuss; he needed to change the subject quickly. "Kamisawa, where are we heading now?"

"Look at me, I forgot the important part." Kamisawa slapped his forehead hard and continued, "We're heading to the stationing point first, then we'll see where Hollows appear and rush over to deal with them. Life in the Zaraki District is always like this."

"A stationing point? But I heard that there are no stationing points here."

"Looks like you've done your research." Hearing Diezuka Hiroe's question, Kamisawa paused, glanced at him, and then resumed walking. "You know this place has another name, right? The Plain of Slaughter."

"I know. All four of the 80th districts have that title. Therefore, to establish a stable base here, at least three captains and their lieutenants would need to be stationed here permanently."

Kamisawa nodded at first, then shook his head. Diezuka Hiroe's understanding was both right and wrong. To stabilize all the Plains of Slaughter would require the entire Seireitei's captain-level force to move out, which was clearly impossible.

However, if they only dispatched three captains and their lieutenants to suppress one area, the Seireitei could afford that combat power. The reason they didn't do so was that the situation in the Plain of Slaughter would only become more tense if that force were deployed.

Since the inception of the Soul Society, the Seireitei had been its center, the place with the highest concentration of Reishi. The concentration of Reishi decreased as one moved away from the Seireitei, and by the time one reached the Plain of Slaughter, it was only one-eighth of that in the Seireitei. Consequently, Soul Reapers did not invest too much energy there.

But that was only one reason. The vast, boundless Plain of Slaughter was the border of the Soul Society, where the Soul Reapers' eternal enemies—Hollows—could easily invade.

There was even a theory that the end of the Plain of Slaughter was the dwelling of the Hollows—Hueco Mundo. But in the 1,700 years since the founding of the Seireitei, no one had ever reached the end of the Plain of Slaughter, so the theory had gradually faded into obscurity.

The instinct of a Hollow was to devour souls. The Human World was one of their hunting grounds, and the Soul Society, with its abundance of high-quality souls, was a place they flocked to.

Soul Reapers, whose duty was to protect the cycle of souls, could not allow Hollows to run rampant in the Soul Society, so they came to the Plain of Slaughter to hunt them. But the appearance of Soul Reapers attracted even more Hollows. The two sides went back and forth; unless one side was completely wiped out, the vicious cycle of slaughter would continue forever.

The areas surrounding the Seireitei and the first 60 districts of the Rukongai could not be easily invaded, but once they reached the Plain of Slaughter, the Soul Reapers' home-field advantage would vanish. It was clear that even if three captains and their lieutenants were sent over, higher-level Hollows from Hueco Mundo would naturally invade. There were plenty of Hollows who coveted the souls of captains and lieutenants.

If they truly fell into such a trap, the Soul Reapers would not only fail to take the Plain of Slaughter, but the Rukongai, the foundation of the Soul Society, would also be severely harassed. Therefore, the only way to truly hold the Plain of Slaughter would be to move the entire Seireitei there, which was obviously impossible.

Well, after hearing Kamisawa's analysis, Diezuka Hiroe realized that the threat Hollows posed to the Soul Society was that great. He had thought they were just a bunch of lambs waiting to be slaughtered, but who would have thought they felt the same way about the Soul Reapers? What a coincidence.

"So, where are we actually going?" If there was no stationing point in the Plain of Slaughter, where was Kamisawa taking him? Diezuka Hiroe couldn't help but feel a surge of confusion.

"There's no permanent base, but a temporary one is essential." Kamisawa said, then added with a curl of his lip, "At least for those losers in the 4th Division."

Since a permanent base could not be established in the Plain of Slaughter, all supplies and medical treatment relied on the 4th Division members stationed there.

If the 11th Division was the strongest in terms of combat power in the Seireitei, then the 4th Division, responsible for logistics and healing, was the bottom line. While they weren't exactly powerless, they would certainly suffer casualties if they encountered twice their number in Hollows.

Protecting the 4th Division with a large number of personnel didn't work here, but supplies and healing were vital to the Soul Reapers fighting in this land. Based on these factors, the number of 4th Division members in the Plain of Slaughter of each district was fixed at five.

Most of the time, these five 4th Division members would split into five large areas, mixing into the small squads of various divisions. Which squad they followed was decided entirely by drawing lots to prevent intelligent Hollows from figuring out a pattern.

When the number of wounded in a given area reached a certain threshold, all the Soul Reapers in that area would gather temporarily for repairs. The location of this gathering was called a temporary stationing point.

The duration of a temporary stationing point would not be long, usually only four or five days. Afterward, the 4th Division member would switch squads again and disperse to prevent a large number of Hollows from gathering and forming a large-scale battle. This temporary stationing point had only been established for a day, and it wasn't far from where Diezuka Hiroe and Kenpachi had fought, so Diezuka Hiroe had essentially stumbled upon it.

"And those refugees, a bunch of ungrateful wretches who only cause trouble. I don't understand what the point is in saving such trash! Those people in the 4th Division just add to the trouble!" As Kamisawa spoke, he returned to his tirade against the 4th Division. In his eyes, the existence of that division was a disgrace to the Seireitei.

Diezuka Hiroe could only offer a dry laugh in response. This kind of disdain for combat power wasn't something that could be reversed just because someone had saved a life.

Accompanied by Kamisawa's grumbling, the group soon arrived in a forest where about forty Soul Reapers were present. A dozen were lying on the ground, covered in bandages, while others were clutching their Zanpakuto, leaning against tree trunks with their eyes closed to rest.

There were no tents for resting, and there wasn't even any padding under the wounded lying on the ground. This place, devoid of any sign of life and unable to provide a shred of security, was the Soul Reapers' temporary stationing point.