The day after Yumi’s Kakushin lesson, Kaizo found himself thinking back to something strange.

  That same black energy that had flickered around him during the Apex Circuit… it had resurfaced again during the lifting competition.

  Now, standing alone somewhere in the forest, he wanted answers.

  Kaizo (curious, steady): “…Aura… Manipulation.”

  The moment he said it, the air shifted.

  A low hum pulsed through the room as black energy began to ripple from his body like heat waves off asphalt.

  It wasn’t violent—it was alive, well, at least it felt like it.

  His heartbeat quickened. His thoughts sharpened. His body grew lighter, faster, stronger. Even his hearing stretched farther than before, every sound and vibration clearer, more defined.

  Everything about him felt… elevated.

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  Kaizo (focused): “This… is new.”

  He clenched his fist, watching the faint black shimmer dance around it. The energy didn’t just surround him—it recognized him.

  From that day forward, once Yumi’s daily Zenshin sessions ended, Kaizo trained in secret.

  There was no reason to disturb Yumi’s own training with his own, so until she got all three methods of Zenshin down, he would learn on his own..

  He began to learn.

  The “aura" he had felt different in two ways. First, the obvious black energy that surrounded him. He couldn't really tell what it did, but he felt more rejuvenated after using it for a while, so he began making a habit to activate it while doing physical activities . However, the second one felt more internal, just the sensation of him thinking about aura made him feel something different, but it was hard to explain.

  Kaizo (reflective): “It’s like… breathing. It’s becoming a natural response at this point.”

  He realized he could pull it from the environment effortlessly, the way his lungs drew air.

  Every ounce of it made him sharper—his thinking, his reflexes, his movements, his awareness.

  Kaizo (calmly, almost to himself): “Fucking hell, this is insane. Everything just feels more effective.”

  It didn’t just make him stronger.

  It made him better, in each and every way.