Duel

With Renji's trademark booming voice and the dull thud of an empty sake flask landing on the counter, the last trace of heaviness over the past in the little tavern seemed to be scattered by that rough, hearty gesture.

After several flasks of strong liquor, the gloom in Renji's eyes brought on by his memories was replaced by a fiercer light—the belligerence and excitement belonging to an Eleventh Division warrior.

He suddenly rose to his feet, the chair legs scraping harshly across the stone floor and drawing glances from several nearby tables.

Renji paid them no mind. His crimson eyes were fixed tightly on Liu Chuan, and he bared a mouthful of white teeth in a grin brimming with eager challenge.

"Hey, Liu Chuan! Just drinking is boring!" He slapped Zabimaru at his waist, making the sheath give a faint hum.

"Let's have a match! Let me see what you've really learned after ten years in the Kido Corps! Don't tell me all that Kido of yours is only good for opening doors and fixing barriers!"

Liu Chuan set down his cup and looked up at his imposing friend.

The alcohol had made Renji's Spiritual Pressure more outwardly aggressive than usual, carrying the scorching sensation unique to the Eleventh Division, as though gunpowder smoke and hot blood had mixed together.

He could sense the pure, untainted fighting spirit behind the other's words. That was another way Renji Abarai expressed concern, as well as the most direct means of testing how much they had grown over the years.

"Oh?" Liu Chuan raised a brow slightly. Rather than being startled by the sudden challenge, a faint hint of interest flashed through his eyes.

He did want to see how far that red-haired boy from back then had come—the one who had always scratched his head in Kido classes, yet stood out in real combat through astonishing fighting spirit and beastlike instincts.

Under someone like Kenpachi Zaraki, just how much had he been tempered? "Here?"

"Of course not!" Renji waved a hand. "We'll go to the Eleventh Division's training grounds! There's plenty of room there, and it's sturdy enough. We can fight however we want!"

Without waiting for an answer, he scooped up the bill from the table, tossed it to the owner, then grabbed Liu Chuan by the arm and headed outside.

"Come on, come on! Let me properly see whether the former top student has gotten rusty!"

Liu Chuan let himself be dragged along, wearing a faint, helpless smile, but his steps did not hesitate.

That was fine. He could stretch his limbs a little, and besides, he wanted to personally experience the level of the backbone of Seireitei's combat forces.

The Eleventh Division barracks stood in a relatively outer area of Seireitei. Its architecture was rough and bold, far less refined than the barracks of other divisions, yet it possessed an undisguised aura of strength.

Before they even drew close, they could vaguely hear shouts, metal clashing, uninhibited laughter, and furious roars from within. Even the Spirit Particles in the air seemed more active and restless than elsewhere.

The training grounds were an exceptionally wide stretch of sandy earth, surrounded by numerous wooden posts and rocks that had endured countless beatings, covered in slash marks and scorch stains.

At the moment, dozens of people in the field were sparring in pairs. The battles were fierce and even somewhat chaotic.

There were no elegant techniques or strict formalities. There were only direct clashes of power, brutal suppression by Spiritual Pressure, and all kinds of personal combat techniques aimed at bringing down one's opponent as quickly as possible.

The scents of blood and sweat mingled with the dust, creating a wild and blazing atmosphere.

When Renji, with his striking red hair, dragged Liu Chuan—a clearly unfamiliar face—into the training grounds, it was like tossing a stone into a boiling pot of oil.

"Hm?" "Who's that?" "Someone from the Kido Corps?" "Did Eighth Seat Renji bring him back?"

All sorts of gazes instantly converged on them—curious, appraising, disdainful, eager to try... there was no shortage of any kind.

Those currently fighting instinctively slowed their movements, while the division members resting by the sidelines, wiping their wounds, or loudly cheering also stopped what they were doing.

The noisy training grounds quickly grew much quieter, leaving only heavy breathing and the occasional scrape of weapons against the ground.

Dozens of gazes landed on Liu Chuan as though they had substance, carrying undisguised scrutiny.

In the Eleventh Division, reverence for strength was an iron law. And the Kido Corps... in their eyes, it was practically synonymous with "weaklings" and "desk workers."

"Yo! Renji!" a bald, burly man asked gruffly.

"Who's this soft-looking guy? Where'd you pick him up? Don't tell me the Captain-Commander thought training was too hard on us and sent over someone who knows healing Kido to help out? Hahaha!"

His words triggered a burst of laughter from those around him.

"Shut up, Madarame!" Renji shouted back irritably, though there was not much anger in his tone. Clearly, this sort of exchange was normal in the Eleventh Division.

"This is Liu Chuan, my classmate from Shin'ō Academy. He's in the Kido Corps now." He deliberately emphasized "classmate" and "Kido Corps."

"Classmate?" Another man leaning against the wall, sporting an odd hairstyle, raised a brow and swept a critical gaze over Liu Chuan.

"Doesn't look like much of a fighter. Renji, why'd you bring him here? For a tour?"

"Quit yapping!" Renji walked to a relatively open area in the center of the training grounds, turned around to face Liu Chuan—and all the division members watching them—and loudly announced with excitement in his voice,

"I'm going to spar with this guy! All of you, move back and watch carefully!"

"A spar?" "Eighth Seat Renji's fighting someone from the Kido Corps?" "Interesting..."

"Hey, Renji, don't beat the poor guy up too badly. It'd be a pain if the Kido Corps comes looking for trouble!"

The sidelines immediately erupted in noise, with doubt, curiosity, and heckling all mixed together.

"Right here?" Liu Chuan confirmed once more, his gaze sweeping over the Eleventh Division members around them, who were clearly ready to enjoy the show.

"Right here!" Renji had already assumed his stance, his right hand resting on Zabimaru's hilt as Spiritual Pressure began to rise around him, carrying a scorching presence.

"Don't worry, these guys are tough as nails. They won't get caught up in it! Liu Chuan, don't hold back just because this is the Eleventh Division! Let me see what you're really capable of!"

Liu Chuan said no more. He stood quietly, without any overwhelming Spiritual Pressure erupting from his body, yet an aura as still as water and unfathomably deep spread outward from him.

It naturally radiated from him as its center, gently separating Renji's scorching battle-hungry Spiritual Pressure.

He raised one hand, his voice calm.

"Then, please teach me, Renji."

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