Hongjiang and the others drew some attention when they arrived, especially from several vagrants hiding behind tree trunks. Their clothes were ragged, their bodies filthy, and their eyes full of greed. To them, young Hongjiang looked like a walking treasure and a sumptuous dinner. Youth was the last thing anyone should have here.
"Keep staring, and I'll gouge your eyes out!" Kamisawa's warning had some effect. At least the vagrants no longer stared so openly as before. They stayed in the shadows, stealing the occasional glance.
Kamisawa felt helpless at the sight. He would have liked to cut those "things" down, but there were too many "kind" people here. Picking a fight over something so trivial just wasn't worth it.
As for Hongjiang, who was being watched, Kamisawa could only shrug and reassure him. "Don't mind them. They're just a bunch of vultures. They won't come near you unless you're on the brink of death. Of course, if you're hurt so badly you can't move and they finish you off, you'll just have to call yourself unlucky. The Plain of Slaughter has no shortage of things that deal death."
Hongjiang spread his hands and smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. He had been prepared for this. If he lost and died, he couldn't blame the enemy for fighting dirty. He could only blame himself for being outmatched.
"Kamisawa, why'd you only bring one?"
A voice suddenly rang out overhead. Hongjiang looked toward it. The speaker was a man who leaped down from a tree and landed right in front of him, his eyes roaming up and down as he sized him up.
"Only one of the new recruits survived this time? Did you hold them back, kid?!" As the man spoke, his gaze sharpened and a faint killing intent radiated from him. The few vagrants who had still been peeking quickly hid in fear.
"Are more people coming?" Hongjiang spread his hands. The man's killing intent didn't affect him at all. "Maybe they were too slow, and I didn't want them holding me back, so I came ahead."
The man furrowed his brow. Killing intent was merely the outward expression of a murderous impulse honed through years of slaughter; it didn't directly affect one's fighting ability. But newcomers usually couldn't withstand such an unrestrained display of it. He still remembered how the veterans had taught him a lesson when he first came to the Plain of Slaughter. Back then, he'd barely been able to get a word out.
Yet this young man hadn't been affected at all. He'd even smiled and talked back. Interesting. The man couldn't help smirking. Was someone like this really the sort to hold others back? He didn't believe it for a second.
"You've got some nerve, kid!" The man reached for the Zanpakuto at his waist. "I'm bored anyway. How about we stretch our legs a little?"
"Don't! If you want to stretch your legs, go for a walk by yourself. Leave me out of it!" Hongjiang quickly waved him off. Did these people challenge everyone they met to a fight? They spent all day fighting and killing. Didn't they ever get tired of it?
"Yamagata, you can't beat him. He just sent that Kenpachi Zaraki running." Kamisawa had been watching the show, but now he spoke up and came to Hongjiang's rescue.
"You're kidding!" When Yamagata saw Kamisawa nod, he stared at Hongjiang in disbelief. "Hey, hey! Hey!! Is that for real? The new recruits in our Squad 11 are way too good!"
Hongjiang looked down at his feet and pressed his lips together, unsure what to say. So your Squad 11 was strong, huh? If you were that amazing, why hadn't you conquered Hueco Mundo?
Seeing Hongjiang's uncomfortable expression, Kamisawa couldn't help bursting into laughter. "Yamagata, this kid isn't in our Squad 11, haha!"
"How could that be? The captain could overlook a kid this strong? Oh, wait. Gosuke's in charge of recruiting. Was that kid blind or something?" Yamagata muttered on and on to himself, completely ignoring Hongjiang and Kamisawa, who were whispering to each other nearby.
"Does this guy always talk this much?"
"He usually doesn't say a word." Kamisawa rubbed his chin and shook his head slightly. "But once he gets started, he's like a woman taking a piss. There's no way he pulls his pants back up until he's finished."
So he was a quiet guy who turned into a chatterbox. Hongjiang turned around and came face-to-face with Yamagata, who was right up against him. He nearly punched him in fright.
"Kid, which squad are you in?"
"Squad 1. Also, could you get a little farther away from me?" Hongjiang was losing it. Two grown men standing this close was gross!
Instead of backing off, Yamagata leaned even closer. "Squad 1? What's so great about Squad 1? Why not join our Squad 11?"
Not many people had been paying attention to them, but Yamagata's shout drew the eyes of every Soul Reaper present. Why had a Squad 1 member—who never came to the Plain of Slaughter—shown up this time?
Yamagata wasn't thinking about any of that. Right now, all he wanted was to recruit Hongjiang. Kenpachi Zaraki's name carried a lot of weight in the Zaraki District. Plenty of people here had been beaten up by him.
And this man was clearly a newcomer. At the very least, there had been no one like him in Seireitei a century ago. In other words, he'd been a Soul Reaper for less than a century. He had boundless potential—a real prodigy. Someone like that had to be kept in Squad 11 if at all possible. The strongest belonged in the strongest squad. To Yamagata, that was only natural.
"Kid, do you yearn for battle?"
"Uh, honestly, not really..."
This kid didn't seem to have much fighting spirit. Guess he'd have to sweeten the deal!
"Then do you want to become a lieutenant, or even a captain?"
"That does sound kind of interesting." Hongjiang nodded. A captain's white haori looked pretty cool. Besides, going shopping, showing off, and doing whatever he wanted in his spare time sounded appealing.
"Then join our Squad 11!" Yamagata clapped Hongjiang on the shoulder and spoke loudly. "As long as you're strong enough, you can be lieutenant or captain, whichever you like! And the captain inherits the title of Kenpachi, too. It's buy one, get one free—you can't lose!"
Kamisawa coughed violently at that. What did this kid think a captain and a Kenpachi were? Buy one, get one free! If the captain heard that, he'd break both your legs!
Yamagata didn't give it a second thought and kept explaining his reasoning. "But if you stay in Squad 1, it's different. The most you can hope for is becoming a lieutenant. Forget being captain. You don't stand a chance."
"Why not?"
"You think you can beat the Head Captain?" Yamagata put on an exaggerated expression and spoke in a strange voice. "Maybe when you're a thousand-year-old grandpa, you'll have a chance. You're young, after all. If you outlive the old geezer, you might get your shot."
Hongjiang couldn't help snorting with laughter. Encouraging someone to challenge his own captain and calling Old Man Yama an old geezer—this guy really would say anything!
"So, kid, if you want to be captain, transfer to our Squad 11."
"No thanks. I'm doing just fine in Squad 1."
"Why?" Yamagata asked, confused. "You don't want to be captain?"
Before Hongjiang could explain, a deep voice cut in, answering Yamagata's question.
"Yamagata, the person standing in front of you is Squad 1's prince."
A gray-haired man in a Shihakusho walked slowly toward Hongjiang. He had been the one to speak. When he reached Hongjiang, he patted him on the head and added, "No, wait. He's the prince of all Seireitei."
Hongjiang looked at the man before him. The man's face was full of undisguised mockery, and his drooping eyes gleamed with amusement. It seemed the news from Seireitei had already made its way here.
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