38

After the members of the 11th division left the doorstep, the officers of the 8th division returned inside the building and were prepared for a lecture from Ren. And a lecture they received.

"Why did you argue so much? Next time, just challenge them to a duel as I did. If they back down, they are cowards. If they accept, they are weaklings since my division will never lose."

All the others were surprised by the answer but Shin and Emilou had smiles on their faces when they heard Ren's words. They would have thought that they would get a lecture about picking fights but instead, their captain was upset that they did not pick one.

"You're right, old man. Next time, I will kick their fucking asses!"

"Hell yeah! Anyone who messes with me deserves to get their ass kicked!"

Everyone looked at the pair with the worst attitudes and shook their heads. These two were so focused on fighting that they may have nothing in their brains besides muscles.

"What do you mean next time? You and Kyou will be the pair to compete tomorrow. Pick out whichever 5 members of the division that you want to use."

Shin was surprised to hear that he was one of the two officers representing their faction because he was not prepared. Shin looked at the others for confirmation but when he saw them nod, Shin just felt stupefied.

"I'm really going to fight? Isn't there someone stronger who can do it?"

"Nope. The 4 ladies are out and Kyou is already joining. You are the 7th strongest in the entire division. Congratulations."

Shin felt giddy to know that he was the 7th strongest member of the division but also pressure. He knew that he had to get stronger if he wanted to maintain his rank and he also had to get stronger to uphold the honor it took to be in that position.

"Don't worry, Taichou. I will definitely win tomorrow's battle even if I have to take on all 7 of the enemies by myself."

Kyou slapped Shin on the back of his head.

"I am stronger than you. If anyone would be taking on the entire team it would be me."

"Damn you! So what if you are stronger than me? I am still stronger than everyone in that division. Except for their captain of course."

"Whatever. Let's just go pick out our members. Please excuse, Taichou."

Kyou grabbed Shin by his collar and carried him out of the room. She wanted to pick the members that night to ensure that they were well rested for the next day and did not do anything like excessive drinking or going out to party.

The Tres Bestias also left to discuss something with Tier in the other room leaving Ren alone in the room. Seeing that there was nothing left for him to do, Ren went to the rooftop of his building with several bottles of wine.

It was a full moon that night with a clear sky so Ren decided to drink under the beautiful night sky as an early celebration. Ren poured himself a cup and raised it to the moon.

'To victory in the duel tomorrow. To officially having my 4 new members join my squad. To putting Khorne in his place for daring to cross me.'

Ren took the shot of his drink as he looked at the beautiful night sky and the beautiful days that would come.

--------

The next day at noon, Kyou and Shin were standing in the center of the training grounds with their 5 members behind them. All of the shinigami wore a red undershirt as well as a red headband to show their uniqueness.

On the other side was the former lieutenant of the 8th division and current of the 11th named Akito, 3rd seat of the 11th division called Isobu, and 5 other members of the division behind them.

Unohana had set up a barrier around the training ground to make sure that no one was injured during the battle. She also did not wish for anyone to interfere. Besides the officers or the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th divisions there were also the officers of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th divisions there as well as many shinigami.

They were there not only to see which division would get the title of the strongest division as well as see the Arrancar who might join the Gotei 13. The rumor had spread about the 4 women that Ren had brought back from Hueco Mundo and many wanted to see. Especially the men.

The number of female shinigami was much smaller than the number of males so the men would take any chance they could to see beautiful women. When they saw the 4 beauties that became officers of the 8th division and the original officer who was standing valiantly in the arena, many shinigami thought about transferring over.

But when they remembered how many members were currently in the 8th division and how they had all died, most dropped the thought.

Unohana looked at both sides of the field before letting out a sigh. To most, her sigh sounded like, 'I thought that we were getting more civilized but I have to keep getting involved in these fights where we try to kill each other.'

What her sigh actually meant was, 'If only I did not swear to never use my blade again except for against him. These kids are so energetic and I wanna see what they are made of.'

Unohana raised her hand before bringing it down and signaling that the match had begun.