10

The training area was filled with over 60 shinigami of various sizes all looking at the arena in the center. All of them had come to watch the battle for the 12th seat to see just how strong the newest member of their squad was.

On one side was a tall-ish man with periwinkle hair that would shift from looking purple to blue depending on how the light hit his hair. On his back was a zanpakuto with a red sheath. The man stood casually with his hands in his pockets as he looked at his opponent.

The shinigami in the arena was a man who looked to be in his 40s and had a muscular build that resembled a gorilla. Instead of the katana that most shinigamis' zanpakuto were in their sealed states, his was a large nodachi.

Koda was the name of the officer who looked like a gorilla and wanted the position of 12th seat. It was a rule within the division that the higher your rank, the more missions you were allowed to take on. Koda had already reached his limit for the month so the only way he could take on more was by raising his rank.

He was much weaker than the previous 12th seat and above officers so he did not dare battle them for it. But with the death of the 12th seat, his only rival for the position was the 14th seat who he had beaten in a duel the previous day. He was expecting to be given the position but did not expect Ren's arrival.

So understandably, he was pissed. Especially when he saw Ren's body. Ren did not look like the type that fought often and looked more like a scholar instead.

"Oi. This is your only warning. The position of the 12th seat is mine. It can either be mine either before you have an arm and leg broken or after. The choice is all yours."

Ren looked surprised at these words before a smile appeared on his face and he unsheathed his zanpakuto. He held the blade in his right hand and pointed it at Koda.

His answer was clear.

Koda unsheathed his sword as well before holding it with both his hands as he pointed it at Ren. Koda unleashed a large amount of yellow reiatsu. This caused most of the weaker shinigami to take a few steps back but the officers all ignored it.

Ren who was the focus of this reiatsu also did not seem to mind it as he released an equal amount of reiatsu toward Koda. This caused those with excellent senses to raise their eyebrows. Ren did not just release a similar amount of reiatsu but the exact same amount.

This meant that his true limit was coincidentally the same as Koda's or that he had read Koda so well, had such a large amount of reiryoku, and had such excellent control over his reiatsu, that he could imitate and counter Koda's.

Both possibilities sounded equally insane since many captains did not even have the ability to do that. Captain Kojuro saw that both men so ready so he decided to start the battle.

"Let's get this started!!!"

As soon as the words were said, Koda rushed ahead and slashed down on Ren. Ren deflected the blow with one move as if he was swatting away a fly. He was not even pushed back by Koda's large frame.

'Ugh. That was just lucky. Let's see how he handles my Storm Set!'

Koda did not take this lying down and began launching many attacks toward Ren. His 'Storm Set' was just a bunch of attacks launched as fast and with little thought as possible to overwhelm his opponent.

But each of his slashes and cuts was deflected. No matter how strong or weak, fast or flow, thought out or instinctual, none of them were able to pierce past Ren's defenses.

Koda continued his assault for another minute before he knew that if he continued this way, he would end up losing the battle. Koda using shunpo to back away rapidly and get to the spot where he was when the battle started.

"Bury, Inugami!"

A large amount of reiatsu surrounded Koda. When it dispersed, Koda could be seen holding a spiked club similar to what an Oni would be seen using. This would intimidate most but the only thing that Ren could think was...

'Wow. Bury, Inugami? That is a cruel joke. What kind of messed up person says that?'

Koda shared toward Ren while raising the club above his head and bringing it down toward Ren. The club seemed to triple in thickness while the spikes seemed to shine even brighter.

This was the special ability of inugami in its shikai form. It would not only strengthen the club and the spike but would also cause the club to grow larger and heavier. This made it excellent for crushing attacks.

But the club that was supposed to crush Ren was held back with a single sword. Koda actually let out some cold sweat because he had used his strongest attack but it had been unable to even move Ren, let alone hurt him. Koda backed away and tried to surrender.

"I sur..."

Before he could finish, Ren shunpo'd in front of Koda and swung his sword 3 times before backing away and sheathing it. When the sword was sheathed, both of Koda's arms, as well as his legs, were cut off with a large amount of blood being sprayed everywhere.

The amount of blood that covered Ren and the arena was surprising. Kojuro and the other members did not find the scene very dramatic with many of them beginning to cheer. They loved to see a good fight and Ren had certainly shown them a large amount of power.

"The new 12th seat of the 11th division will be Ren. Congratulations!

Someone go and get a member of the 4th division over here or bring Koda there fast. He needs his limbs to be healed as fast as possible but make sure they leave scars so he learns his lesson."

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Author's Note:

Is the cover of this novel showing Old X-gene of fate for anyone else? I have it as a death butterfly but still showing old cover in my library.