The first thing Ren saw when he exited the portal was the smiling face of Captain Unohana and the stern face of Captain-Commander Yamamoto. Behind them were their lieutenants and several members from each of their teams. There were also 2 vice-commanders of the Kido Corps to ensure that their rising star had not been harmed.
Ren nodded as Tier, The Tres Bestias, and the rest of the officers exited after him. When Yamamoto saw the three women with fragments of hollow masks, he let out killing intent and reiatsu directed at the women.
Ren stood in front of them and released his own killing intent and reiatsu to protect them. Since the Captain-Commander hadn't gone all out, Ren was able to easily match it but Yamamoto was still surprised by the feat.
When he remembered the rumor about Ren doing something similar during his battle for the position of the 12th seat officer in the 11th division, Yamamoto relaxed a bit.
"Why did you bring hollows back to Soul Society? And where is your captain's haori?"
All the members of the 8th division who had left the portal and even those still inside could feel every word was laced with reiatsu. Many of the members looked at Ren with respect.
They could barely stand when they heard the words but the person that they were directed at looked unperturbed.
"Can you calm down, Old Man? These 4 are officers of the 8th division now. As for the haori... I lost it."
The veins could be seen across Yamamoto's head. Unohana silently praised Ren's ability to say every wrong thing to Yamamoto with such confidence. Most others would at least start to stutter or feel nervous around their boss but Ren seemed to feel no such thing.
"You lost your haori?! Tearing them is one thing, but losing them!? And you dare to stand before me like nothing is wrong? What is wrong with you?"
"Those cheap things? I have plenty of my salary. I can buy a bunch more. We have plenty of them anyway"
"That is not what I am concerned about! And we do not have plenty of them! What in the world do you think the captain's robe represents?!?!"
"Your outdated fashion sense? No. That you are cheap stake at distinguishing ranks? No. You want something useless weighing us down to give our enemies a better chance at victory?"
Ren could feel that Yamamoto was releasing more and more reiatsu directed at him with every word he said but he did not mind. Ren was able to tell that Yamamoto's was about equal to or even a bit weaker than his own. He also knew that Yamamoto would not release much more for fear of killing the other shinigami around him.
And just like Ren thought, Yamamoto soon calmed down and relaised that Ren had been toying them.
"Explain the hollows."
"As I said, they are officers of the 8th division now.
Also, they are Arrancar, not hollows. They no longer need to consume other beings to live and they have shinigami powers now.
I have read all the laws. Shinigami are not allowed to try and gain hollow powers but it says nothing about Arrancar joining a squad. I have broken no rule so it is not like you can punish me for this. They also haven't killed any shinigami so they haven't committed any crimes. I see no reason why they can't join my squad."
Yamamoto could not deny anything that Ren had said. Neither he nor the Arrancar broke any laws and the laws regarding how to handle Arrancar were not existent.
While they were technically still hollows, they no longer consumed souls. And if they could be a war power for soul society, there was no need to kill them. But he could not just go to the Central 46 and say that Ren had broken no rules.
"Give me an excuse to give the Central 46. You were a lieutenant for long enough to know how their bureaucracy is like."
"The Western Branch does not kill all dragons. Just the ones that are dangerous to the population. I wish to start a similar program as them. We can test it out with just the 8th division.
With our low numbers, we put the least amount of shinigami in danger and we are also located at the edge of Seireitei so we do not put any nobles in danger in case they go wild."
Yamamoto thought over the words and nodded. This was a valid excuse he could use that the Central 46 might buy.
"Fine. But I need your zanpakuto and the zanpakuto of all the Arrancar. I will also assign 3 captains and their vice-captains to watch over you until a ruling is made."
Ren nodded and threw his zanpakuto at the old man. He turned to the 4 women and they did the same with their weapons. Yamamoto sent Chojiro to gather some other captains.
While they waited, Tessai and the Kido Corps' members walked over to both of the Vice-Commanders and gave them a run down of their mission before taking off back to their barracks. Tessai gave Ren a small nod before he left which Ren returned.
After 30 minutes, the captains of the 11th, 10th, and 9th divisions arrived along with their lieutenants. Seeing that 3 of the 6 new arrivals looked at him with hostile gazes, Ren was left wondering how he made so many enemies.
'So what if after you had me dismissed I rose to a higher officer rank that very same day?
So what if I took away your big day by also becoming a captain on the same day?
So what if I killed your former captain, demoted you, and then pretty much forced you to leave my division?
Okay, now that I think about it I might have created all of these enemies on my own accord.'
Yamamoto and Unohana left the group alone in the barracks after the old man gave a few orders. Ren ignored his 6 watch guards before addressing his shinigami.
"All of you are to return to your dorms. Remember to stay in them until I give you permission. All the officers are to follow me into my personal dorm building."
Ren and all the officers left the captains and vice-captains of the 3 divisions in the middle of the training grounds while they decided to rest in beds for the first time in months. When they reached the building and were out of earshot from the others Ren said,
"The rest of you can head to your rooms if you want. Tier, Franceska, Emilou, and Cyan. Stay close. I am not sure if anyone will try to kill you or not before you are officially sanctioned by the Central 46."
The other officers left while Shin and Kyou stayed. The group of seven went to Ren's room where they all stayed while Ren went into his bedroom to meditate and relax. As soon as Ren calmed his mind and relaxed, he felt himself being dragged into his inner world.
'How can I still enter when I am so far away? Do I have that powerful a bond with that bastard?'
But what Ren saw when he entered was not the familiar brass fortress and rivers of blood. It was instead the forest he had not seen in a long time and the large tree he had fed blood for years.