Chapter 115: Supreme Battle of Tranquil Spirit Court Under Normal Conditions

After Huangmu moved against the captains of the 8th Division, 9th Division, and 13th Division, a week passed……

After the families of the original 8th Division and 9th Division heads submitted the "Resignation" application and "Division Head Recommendation Letter" to Yamamoto Yuanliuzhai per Huangmu's conditions, the two captains Huangmu had beaten down finally received treatment from the 4th Division, and with the 4th Division's help they quickly woke from their coma……

After the original 8th Division and 9th Division heads woke up, they first learned the general situation from their families, fell silent, and after a brief silence instantly formed an alliance!

They then immediately invited the former 13th Division head who had delivered the "Resignation" application and "Division Head Recommendation Letter" to the 1st Division barracks to hold a meeting……

After a brief exchange, the three former captains hesitated no longer and directly completed the alliance; from then on they all broke free from their former factions and established a brand‑new noble clique.

Only after everything had settled did the noble forces behind the original 8th and 9th Division heads finally realize they had been played by Huangmu; at once the nobles swarmed into the territories of the two great families, apparently seeking those two former heads to demand an explanation.

"No matter how you put it, isn't this kind of behavior a bit untenable?!"

"You didn't even consult us before throwing away the Division Head positions! Do you know how hard it is to get those two positions back? What a huge price we'd have to pay?!"

"Never mind the 8th Division—getting the 9th Division into our hands is already a miracle; without that Shiba family transfer we wouldn't even rank among the top……

The speaker was the representative of the noble faction behind the original 9th Division head; his face was grim, clearly he had also extorted a sum from these people before the Shiba family transfer, to cover the cost of writing the "Division Head Recommendation Letter".

"You scumbags, do you really know what good deeds your two great families have actually done?"

"That Yuanliuzhai himself holds absolute authority in the 13 Court Guard Squads and regards us nobles as thorns in his side, but for now the posts in Tranquil Spirit Court still depend on us nobles, which is why we've gotten a breather……

"Yet that Yuanliuzhai insists on setting up the 'True Central Spirit Arts Academy' to train the talentless masses of Wandering Soul Street, using them to check us and replace our positions! Truly hateful!

"That's why we went to all the trouble of planting you in the 13 Court Guard Squads—to restrain Yuanliuzhai; we paid such a high price to secure those Division Head positions for you, and you can't even hold onto them! You're a bunch of good‑for‑nothings!

"Now that the 8th and 9th Divisions have returned under Yuanliuzhai's faction's control, after this won't Tranquil Spirit Court just be whatever Yuanliuzhai's faction says?!"

The representative of the noble faction behind the original 8th Division head spoke less gently than the one behind the 9th Division head; this white‑haired elder launched a tirade at the two former heads, venting his anger.

"……

In response, the two original 8th and 9th Division heads fell silent.

After the original 8th and 9th Division heads allied, they quickly merged their family lands and sold off part of their assets to get through the upcoming crisis as best they could……

Although their decisive actions guaranteed the maximum safety for the two former captains and their families, this also meant that when the two noble factions came knocking, they had to face them together.

"We are willing to transfer part of our estate to compensate for your losses."

After a long silence, facing the aggressive pressure of the two great noble factions, the two former captains replied firmly.

"Compensation? Do you think the little property of your two great families can make up for the two captain positions we lost in the 13 Court Guard Squads?!"

As the two captains expected, their noble factions showed no mercy over their loss of the 8th and 9th Division head positions.

"What do you want to do? Do you really want us to sell off our entire family?"

"We've seen through you—you're just looking for an excuse; you want to use this chance to swallow all of our two families' assets, right?"

"In Tranquil Spirit Court the law of the jungle is real, 'survival of the fittest' is real! But don't forget, we two heads of household are still alive!"

The two former captains, seeing the unyielding nobles, flared up simultaneously and burst out with fierce spiritual pressure.

According to noble custom, negotiations require both "stick" and "sweet date"……

After they had already surrendered most of their estate and expressed their determination to ask everyone for "forgiveness", the noble factions still refused to yield, so it was time to show their hand……

As the former 8th and 9th Division heads released powerful spiritual pressure, the hidden former 13th Division captain inside the compound also acted at that moment, seemingly echoing the two captains and likewise bursting out fierce spiritual pressure; for a moment three Division Head‑level spiritual pressures pressed down on the great nobles of the noble factions……

The faces of the noble factions all changed.

"Any more experts?!"

The few noble faction representatives, upon feeling the third Division Head‑level spiritual pressure, exchanged glances; no matter what, the situation had already slipped beyond their control.

"Hahaha, it's all a misunderstanding! Don't get excited, we were just a bit impatient; regarding what we just said, you two must not take it to heart. In the future our two groups will still need your help, and as for compensation, we've seen your years of service to our organization—let's just forget about compensation……

Those noble faction representatives first exchanged glances, then suddenly burst out laughing, addressing the two former captains with a hearty laugh.

Before the two former captains could speak, they found an excuse, slipped away, and while walking told the two great noble faction representatives, "It's already late; we'll leave for now and come another day to apologize and fully clear up today's misunderstanding."

"Let's go find Captain Huangmu—looks like we have to make a choice."

After the two noble faction representatives withdrew, the former 8th and 9th Division captains had made up their minds; they had now completely broken with their former factions, and to avoid retaliation they needed a stronger backer—within Tranquil Spirit Court there seemed to be no stronger backer than Huangmu.

Especially when they recalled Huangmu's overwhelming combat power displayed while fighting them, they felt a chill; as fellow Soul Reaper captains, the gap between captains was simply enormous.

Just as the two senior nobles made their decision, 'Saito Immortal', who had been silently watching from nearby, finally slipped away.

"Everything is within Huangmu's plan."

Saito, having witnessed all of this, silently muttered to himself.

As Huangmu had planned, these noble factions will begin to collapse from within……

Meanwhile……

After Yamamoto Yuanliuzhai received three "Resignation" applications and three "Division Head Recommendation Letters" from the former 13th Division head, he immediately approved the leave of the 8th Division, 9th Division, and 13th Division heads and accepted their "Division Head Recommendations".

Thus, with Yamamoto Yuanliuzhai's approval and under Huangmu's lead, Kyōraku Shunsui, Ukitake Jūshirō, and Koganehiko Shitan simultaneously entered the examination room for the Division Head assessment……

"I don't even know who the examiners are this time! Honestly I'm a bit nervous……

Kyōraku sat in the examination room, whispering to Ukitake and Shitan beside him.

"Didn't the teacher already tell us? As long as we calm down and perform steadily, we can all pass this examination smoothly."

Ukitake, hearing that, reassured Kyōraku.

"But I'm still a bit nervous~"

Kyōraku smiled faintly, lowered his bamboo hat slightly, hiding his expression in its shadow so no one could read his true feelings.

"Shitan, aren't you nervous?"

Kyōraku waited a moment, saw the examiners still hadn't arrived, and asked Shitan beside him.

"Only those unprepared feel nervous when facing an examination; the truly prepared feel no nervousness at all—for example, me……

Shitan, hearing Kyōraku's words, gave a slight smile.

"You bastard, looking for a fight?!?"

Kyōraku, hearing that, twitched the corner of his eye; he never expected that even now Shitan's mouth would still be so foul—indeed, no matter how many years we've rubbed shoulders, we'll never get along.

"Heh, who knows who'll end up beating whom in the end."

Shitan merely gave a light smile.

"You bastard..."

In an instant, Kyoraku and Shitan both rose from their seats almost simultaneously, facing off against each other.

"Don't make a fuss, you two..."

Ukitake, seeing this, helplessly tried to persuade.

Unfortunately, his persuasion has always been useless.

"Hehe, young people these days are full of energy~"

Just as Kyoraku and Shitan had their hands on the hilts of their Soul-Cutter Swords at their waists...

The door of the Captain's Qualification Room was suddenly pushed open lightly, accompanied by a hoarse, light laugh; a middle-aged man with a cross-shaped scar on his forehead, his icy countenance giving an aura of unspoken authority, stood at the doorway of the Captain's Qualification Room and, addressing Kyoraku and the others, spoke in a cold voice.

The man's gaze toward Kyoraku and the others was like looking at his own descendants, thus he rarely showed a soft expression, and the corner of his mouth slightly curled up in a smile.

"Are you... Captain-Commander Yamamoto..."

Kyoraku and the others, who had been fooling around, first blinked in surprise at the sudden entrant into the Captain's Qualification Room, then immediately straightened their bodies and respectfully greeted the newcomer.

No matter how reckless they usually are, they wouldn't dare to fool around in front of this man...

After all, the person now before them was the Founder of the Guard, and also the teacher of their instructor Araki—namely, their grandmaster—Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.

"Call him Grandmaster."

Genryūsai looked at the three youths before him, his face showing satisfaction as he spoke softly.

"Master, Grandmaster?!"

Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Shitan all gasped upon hearing that.

Although Genryūsai is indeed their grandmaster by seniority, whether he acknowledges them is another matter; they hadn't originally thought to claim that connection, but they never expected Genryūsai to be the first to acknowledge them.

"Grandmaster, please accept our bow as your disciples!"

After a brief moment of shock, Kyoraku and the two others immediately dropped to their knees and kowtowed to Genryūsai.

"All right, get up!"

"You three brats listen up: don't think that because you're related to me, I'll give you special treatment and lower the standards for the captain's qualification!"

"On the contrary, precisely because you three are disciples of my Yuan School, I will hold you to even higher standards—did you hear that clearly?!"

Genryūsai looked at Kyoraku and the two others and spoke seriously.

"We understand!"

Kyoraku and the two others all replied in affirmation, indicating they understood.

"Good..."

Upon hearing that, Genryūsai finally entered the Captain's Qualification Room fully and took his seat as the chief examiner.

"I never expected the Captain-Commander himself to personally conduct our captain's qualification; I wonder which divisions the other two examiners come from!"

Kyoraku looked at Genryūsai seated in the chief examiner's position, feeling greatly surprised; they never imagined that such a minor captain's qualification would alarm Captain-Commander Yamamoto.

"Just looking at you, Kyoraku, it's obvious you haven't read the captain's qualification regulations; they're written quite clearly..."

To become a captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, one must either pass the captain's exam witnessed by at least three captains including the Captain-Commander; or receive a joint recommendation from at least six captains and gain approval from at least three of the remaining seven captains; or defeat the incumbent captain in a one-on-one match witnessed by over two hundred active members.

In other words, as long as someone participates in the captain's qualification, the Captain-Commander is sure to show up! Moreover, we who have defeated former captains of the Thirteen Squads already meet the standard for captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads; we just lacked any Thirteen Squad members nearby at the time—that's all! That's why I'm not at all surprised by this so-called captain's qualification.

After hearing Kyoraku's muttering, Shitan spoke softly.

"Ah? Really?!"

When Kyoraku heard Shitan's words, he was startled; as Shitan said, he hadn't even glanced at those regulations. No, to be precise, it's not that Kyoraku didn't want to read them—he simply didn't know they existed.

"Boss!"

Shitan said while looking at Ukitake.

"Yes."

Ukitake, hearing that, lightly nodded his head in affirmation.

"As for that, I don't know?!"

After hearing Shitan and Ukitake's words, Kyoraku's eyelid twitched a bit.

"Hey! What are you three chatting about?"

While Kyoraku and the others were whispering, two more captains wearing captain's haoris entered the Captain's Qualification Room one after another; the voice of one of them was very familiar to Kyoraku and the others.

"Could it be...?!"

Kyoraku and the others immediately looked up upon hearing that voice.

"No mistake! The one overseeing your three foolish disciples' qualification is none other than your beloved Teacher Araki~"

"How about it? Aren't you feeling moved right now?"

The newcomer was naturally Araki, who greeted Kyoraku and the others softly.

"Oh my~"

"Dear Captain Araki, we've actually been late for quite a while; please stop dawdling, okay?"

And right after Araki came none other than the current commander of the Fourth Division, Unohana Retsu.

Yes, the three overseeing Kyoraku and the others' qualification are precisely Araki, Unohana Retsu, and Genryūsai.

"This lineup is really over the top, isn't it?"

In response, Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Shitan all exclaimed.

These three before us are the highest combat strength of the Seireitei under normal circumstances...