The gale finally died.
The clouds retreated.
When that jade-bright reiatsu erupted from Bai Chen like a hurricane, the First Division courtyard—despite being guarded by more than twenty high-ranking Shinigami—was turned into chaos in an instant.
It looked like a natural disaster had broken loose.
"This is ridiculous!!!"
"It's just the opening of his release—just a pressure wave!"
"And yet it's practically on the level of a wind-type Bankai!"
"How is that even possible?!"
Exclamations rang out one after another.
As the rolling pressure continued to crash down, even captains began to feel the weight of it.
Including the Captain-Commander.
All thirteen captains' expressions hardened, their faces turning grim.
Wooden Dragon's reiatsu wasn't even directed at anyone in particular—yet it still forced everyone into a defensive posture.
"Ahh, come on…"
Compared to last time in the dueling grounds…
Bai Chen's presence had clearly risen again.
"We really should've listened," Kyōraku Shunsui muttered with a wry laugh, tugging his haori as his straw hat nearly got blown off.
Every time those reiatsu winds scraped across his face, it stung like a blade.
That alone proved how condensed—and how violent—this pressure had become.
"If this keeps going…"
"My poor, sickly body really won't hold up…"
Ukitake Jūshirō's complexion quickly drained pale.
At first, he even forced himself to hold his breath—afraid that coughing would make him inhale too much of that cutting wind.
But after a moment, he had no choice.
He released his reiatsu.
A layer of pressure wrapped his entire body, shielding him from Wooden Dragon's crushing presence.
And the instant he did it—
The onlookers erupted.
"Look!"
"Captain Ukitake's the first one to release reiatsu!"
"He's one of the oldest captains—one of the veterans!"
The First Division seated officers stationed around the courtyard stared in disbelief.
No one had expected him to be the first captain forced into passive defense.
And within the next minute…
More captains followed.
One after another, reiatsu flared—forming overlapping waves of resistance.
The First Division members quickly went numb from shock.
This courtyard was meant to be the most stable place in Seireitei.
Yet now it looked like a battlefield in the middle of an earthquake and a storm.
"So he wasn't lying…"
In the turbulence, Mayuri Kurotsuchi's expression darkened.
"This feeling—being pushed down and ordered around in front of everyone…"
"It's disgusting."
He was furious.
Not because he couldn't accept being proven wrong—he rarely cared about that.
But his pride, his obsession with superiority… made that frustration curdle into a bitter sense of powerlessness.
"Mayuri-sama… are you all right?"
Nemu's voice came softly from behind him, loyal and restrained.
"Hmph. What do you think?"
Mayuri snapped, then barked an order through clenched teeth:
"Start recording. Immediately."
"Capture the entire Shikai process of this wood-type Zanpakutō—"
"From beginning to end!"
He was angry, yes—but that wasn't revenge.
It was curiosity.
Mayuri's curiosity was a sickness that never slept.
And after personally experiencing Wooden Dragon's intensity, his interest in it surged like wildfire.
There were very few Zanpakutō in all of Soul Society that could make Mayuri take them seriously.
Which only proved how terrifying Wooden Dragon truly was.
Bai Chen ignored the chaos around him.
Holding the Zanpakutō in one hand, he continued the release without hesitation.
"Descent of the World Tree."
His voice was light—almost casual.
But the technique that followed was anything but.
The moment it activated—
The already-ruined courtyard suffered a second calamity.
BOOOOM—!
The ground split.
Gravel and shards of stone burst upward.
In less than a heartbeat, black cracks spiderwebbed across the entire courtyard—and raced outward toward the surrounding buildings.
The First Division compound itself began to shake.
"First a storm…"
"Now an earthquake…"
"What is he doing—trying to demolish the place?!"
Ōmaeda's bulky body wobbled as he sweat through his clothes, barely keeping his footing.
One wrong step and he'd be swallowed by the fissures—
Or crushed by the massive roots erupting from below.
His complaint didn't even have time to carry—
BOOOOM—!
Countless roots surged from the earth in violent growth.
Under the support of Bai Chen's vast reiatsu, they expanded in an instant—
Becoming colossal trees that blotted out the sky.
The First Division courtyard was forcibly transformed.
The land was rewritten.
What had been stone and structure became a dense forest—seamlessly fused with the earth.
And standing at the heart of it, Bai Chen became the master of the field.
He pressed down on every captain's presence and turned the Captain-Commander's courtyard into his own territory.
"…After that system adjustment…"
"Descent of the World Tree really is an absurd opener."
Bai Chen's lips lifted in satisfaction.
In the shinobi world, the technique was "just" a forest—breaking through the ground and reshaping the battlefield.
But this world was different.
Here, everything was built from reishi.
Which meant the technique's destructive output was tied directly to reiatsu.
And if you were talking reiatsu—
Bai Chen had nothing to fear.
With his constitution, his reserves, his density… his reiatsu was on the same tier as the old man and Aizen.
So every tree he summoned was not merely wood.
It was reiatsu made tangible.
Which meant—
Unless your reiatsu was equal to his, or higher—
Normal sword strikes and ordinary Kidō wouldn't even shake this forest.
The only person here who could burn it down cleanly…
Was the Captain-Commander himself.
No one else.
Minutes passed.
The trembling finally stopped.
The forest, too dense to see through, cast heavy shadow across the courtyard—even though it was broad daylight.
But what truly unsettled everyone wasn't the darkness.
It was the movement.
All around them, thorned vines and spiked wooden tendrils slid through the trees like thick serpents.
One careless step…
One brush of those barbs…
And it wouldn't just be a scrape—it could pierce straight through a spirit body.
Isane Kotetsu, vice-captain of the Fourth Division, went pale.
"This is… terrifying…"
"If I hadn't seen it myself, I would never have believed trees could become killing weapons."
She curled inward instinctively, afraid that even breathing wrong might get her cut.
And only now did she understand:
Bai Chen's earlier warning hadn't been arrogance.
It had been consideration.
He truly could cause trouble for every captain here—at the same time.
It was absurd.
"Isane…"
Unohana Retsu's voice was calm, almost gentle.
Unlike her vice-captain, Unohana stood composed from start to finish—as if she had expected this outcome all along.
Wood techniques weren't what held her interest.
What she cared about—
Was Bai Chen's swordsmanship.
That spar they had agreed on…
She had been looking forward to it every single day.
And to avoid waiting any longer than necessary—
She had already made up her mind.
She would recruit him.
Even if the Fourth Division's style didn't fit him at all.
If she could keep Bai Chen close—
That was the most reasonable decision.
As the forest's violence receded, Bai Chen drew his reiatsu back in. The Shikai display ended there.
"This is Wooden Dragon's Shikai."
"Are you satisfied?"
He asked lightly, hand resting on the hilt as he slid the blade back into its sheath.
He wasn't boasting.
Yet the question itself dropped the entire courtyard into silence again—like a spell.
Satisfied?
The First Division compound had nearly been swallowed whole.
This wasn't something anyone had ever seen before.
Several long seconds passed before anyone moved.
Then the Captain-Commander raised his head.
His eyes, no longer clouded, burned bright with rare clarity.
"Good."
"Bai Chen—your strength gives you the right to choose any division you wish."
"Even the post of vice-captain, after building some seniority, would not be beyond you."
That single statement made multiple vice-captains' faces change instantly.
Was the Captain-Commander implying Bai Chen could replace any one of them?
On the side, Ukitake's gaze flickered.
As Shiba Kaien's captain, he had every reason to want Bai Chen.
But after witnessing Wooden Dragon firsthand…
Even he felt a lack of confidence.
A talent like this would be fought over by everyone.
The Captain-Commander gestured.
The next step was supposed to proceed in division order—each captain stating their offer.
But Bai Chen spoke first.
"There's something I should say before that."
"On the way here, I already made my decision."
"Oh?"
The Captain-Commander's brows lifted slightly.
"You already have an answer?"
"Which captain has such pull, that you chose before even arriving?"
After a brief pause, the Captain-Commander's gaze angled toward the right-side line—
Landing on Shiba Isshin.
"Is it the Tenth Division?"
"You received guidance under Isshin and Matsumoto by my assignment."
"Am I correct, Bai Chen?"
Isshin's grin widened, confident—almost as if he could already see Bai Chen agreeing.
Every gaze turned toward Bai Chen.
And then—
He gave an answer no one expected.
"Captain-Commander…"
"The division I wish to join is—"
His eyes shifted.
They settled on the pale, white-haired man among the captains.
Ukitake Jūshirō.
Bai Chen spoke clearly, without hesitation.
"The Thirteenth Division."
◇ I'll drop one bonus chapter for every 10 reviews (leave a review/comment!)
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon: patreon.com/KageNaruto