Hongjiang had just watched Kenpachi Zaraki's back disappear into the distance when five shadowy figures surrounded him. From their clothes, they were all Soul Reapers, just like him.
"Which division are you from?"
The middle-aged man at the head of the group looked Hongjiang over repeatedly. He was a Soul Reaper, just like the others, but the man had never seen him in Seireitei.
"Squad 1. Diezuka Hongjiang."
Under ordinary circumstances, even without that incident, Hongjiang would have been a prominent figure in Seireitei. As the Head Captain's personal disciple, he had attracted at least some attention from everyone there.
But the Soul Reapers stationed in Zaraki District had spent hundreds of years there, while Hongjiang had been around for only twenty-odd years at most. It was entirely possible that the middle-aged man at the head of the group had never heard his name.
"Squad 1, huh? You're pretty strong!" The middle-aged man smiled and put away his Zanpakuto. "We're from Squad 11. My name's Kamisawa Shirutama."
Kamisawa then introduced Hongjiang to the others. The five of them were all Squad 11 members stationed in Zaraki District. Of course, they were far from the only Squad 11 members in the area.
In fact, except for Squad 1, which was responsible for Seireitei's security and supervising the other divisions, and the 2nd Division, which handled punishment, every other division had members stationed in the eightieth districts of Rukongai.
The members stationed there usually worked alongside others from their own divisions. They rarely interacted with other divisions, with the exception of the 4th Division, which handled most of the medical and logistical work. It wasn't that the divisions were hostile to one another; it was simply a holdover from the Gotei 13's structure, in which each division operated more or less independently.
Squad 11 was something of an exception. Led by the Kenpachis of each generation, its members were combative, straightforward, and loyal to their comrades. They took pride in their strength. Squad 11 had the most members and the greatest overall fighting strength in the Gotei 13. It also had more members stationed in the eightieth districts of Rukongai than any other division, and was proud of it.
They wouldn't let members of other divisions interfere in their fights without good reason. If other divisions seemed standoffish because of the system, Squad 11 simply looked down on the weak, which made them stand apart from the rest.
That was why they were especially friendly toward Hongjiang along the way. It wasn't because of his reputation as a genius or his status as a Squad 1 member. It was simply because he was strong enough to make them take a liking to him.
"You've only just graduated from the Spiritual Arts Academy, and they've already sent you here. Looks like Captain-Commander Yamamoto thinks highly of you!"
"Uh, you could say that." Hongjiang scratched his cheek with a finger. This was an awkward topic, and he needed to change the subject quickly. "Kamisawa, where are we headed now?"
"Look at me, I forgot to explain the important part." Kamisawa slapped his forehead and continued, "First, we'll head to our base. Then, whenever Hollows show up, we'll go take care of them. That's life in Zaraki District."
"A base? I heard there aren't any bases here."
"Looks like you did your homework." At Hongjiang's question, Kamisawa paused and glanced at him, then started walking again. "You know this place has another name, right? The Plain of Slaughter."
"I do. All four eightieth districts have that name. That's why establishing a secure base here would take at least three captains and their lieutenants stationed here long-term."
Kamisawa nodded, then shook his head. Hongjiang was both right and wrong. To secure every part of the Plain of Slaughter, every captain in Seireitei would have to be sent out, which was obviously impossible.
But if they sent just three captains and their lieutenants to hold down one area, Seireitei could afford the loss in fighting strength. The reason they didn't was that deploying those forces would make the situation on the Plain of Slaughter even more volatile.
Ever since the Soul Society came into being, Seireitei had been its center. It had the highest concentration of Reishi in the Soul Society, and the farther one traveled from it, the lower the concentration became. By the time one reached the Plain of Slaughter, it was only one-eighth of what it was in Seireitei. For that reason, the Soul Reapers didn't invest much effort there.
But that was only one reason. The vast, boundless Plain of Slaughter marked the edge of the Soul Society, and the Soul Reapers' eternal enemies—the Hollows—could easily invade it.
There was even a saying that Hueco Mundo lay at the far end of the Plain of Slaughter. But no one had reached that end in the more than 1,700 years since Seireitei was founded, so the saying had gradually faded away.
Hollows were driven by an instinct to devour souls. The Human World was one of their hunting grounds, and the Soul Society, with its many high-quality souls, drew them even more.
The Soul Reapers had sworn to protect the cycle of souls, so they couldn't let Hollows run rampant in the Soul Society. They came to the Plain of Slaughter to hunt them. But their presence drew even more Hollows to invade. The two sides clashed again and again, and unless one side was wiped out completely, the cycle of slaughter would go on forever.
The area around Seireitei, together with the first sixty districts of Rukongai, wasn't easy to invade. But once they reached the Plain of Slaughter, the Soul Reapers lost the advantage of fighting on their home turf. It was easy to see that even if three captains and their lieutenants were sent there, Hueco Mundo would respond by sending in higher-level Hollows. Plenty of Hollows would be eager to devour the souls of captains and lieutenants.
If the Soul Reapers really got trapped in such a dangerous place, they wouldn't just fail to secure the Plain of Slaughter; Rukongai, the foundation of the Soul Society, would also suffer from even more attacks. So if they truly wanted to secure the Plain of Slaughter, the only way would be to move all of Seireitei there—and that was obviously impossible.
Well, after hearing Kamisawa's explanation, Hongjiang finally understood how great a threat Hollows posed to the Soul Society. He'd thought they were just a bunch of lambs waiting to be slaughtered. Who would've guessed they thought the same of Soul Reapers? What a coincidence.
"Then where are we going now?" There were no permanent bases on the Plain of Slaughter, so where was Kamisawa taking him? Hongjiang couldn't help feeling puzzled.
"There aren't any permanent bases, but temporary ones are still essential." Kamisawa said this, then added with a curl of his lip, "At least for those useless 4th Division members."
It was impossible to establish permanent bases on the Plain of Slaughter, so supplies and medical care all depended on the 4th Division members stationed there.
If Squad 11 was Seireitei's strongest fighting force, then the 4th Division, responsible for medical care and logistics, set the lower limit. Its members weren't completely helpless, but if they ran into twice as many Hollows as their own number, there were bound to be casualties.
They couldn't afford to assign a large force to protect the 4th Division, but supplies and medical care were vital to the Soul Reapers fighting there. For these reasons, each district of the Plain of Slaughter had a fixed group of five 4th Division members.
Most of the time, the five members split up across five large areas and joined squads from various divisions. Which squad they accompanied was decided entirely by drawing lots, so that intelligent Hollows couldn't figure out a pattern.
Once the wounded in an area reached a certain threshold, all Soul Reapers in that area gathered temporarily to recuperate. The place where they gathered was called a temporary base.
A temporary base wouldn't last long, usually only four or five days. Afterward, the 4th Division member would switch squads and the members would scatter again, to prevent large numbers of Hollows from gathering and starting a major battle. This temporary base had only been set up a day ago, and it wasn't far from where Hongjiang and Kenpachi had fought. He'd happened upon it by chance.
"And those vagrants, too. A bunch of ungrateful deadweights who only make trouble. I really don't see the point of saving those useless people! The 4th Division lot are nothing but a nuisance!" As Kamisawa spoke, he soon returned to cursing the 4th Division. In his eyes, their existence was a disgrace to Seireitei.
Hongjiang could only give an awkward laugh and play along with a couple of remarks. It wasn't easy to change someone's disdain for another division just because its members had saved his life.
With Kamisawa still grumbling, it wasn't long before the group reached a patch of woods. Around forty Soul Reapers were there. A dozen or so lay on the ground, covered in bandages, while many more leaned against tree trunks with their Zanpakuto in their arms, resting with their eyes closed.
There were no tents to rest in. The wounded on the ground didn't even have anything beneath them. This place, utterly devoid of comfort and unable to offer even the slightest sense of safety, was the Soul Reapers' temporary base.
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