Two years have passed in Jungle time. The light never changes here—sunset and sunrise blur together—but their rhythm is perfect: run, train, rest, repeat.

  Yumi stands barefoot on a moss-covered ridge, breathing slowly while she closes her eyes. Her body flickers faintly—then vanishes in a streak of motion.

  Kaizo (arms folded): “Not bad. You’re finally keeping the afterimage under half a second.”

  Yumi (panting, reappearing beside him): “That’s half a second? It felt like instant teleportation.”

  Kaizo (grinning): “To you maybe. To me it looked like a lag spike.”

  Yumi (mock glare): “Then stop having faster eyes!”

  She tries again—legs glowing faint white as she shoots forward, disappearing with only a faint blur left behind.

  Kaizo (nodding): “Yūei—Faint Shadow. A solid two-star technique and one of the basic Kensei movement ones. You’re controlling your Kensei well now.”

  Yumi: (stretching her calves) “It still burns through stamina like crazy.”

  Kaizo: “That’s the tax for elite speed. You’ll get used to it.”

  Later that day, Yumi sits cross-legged by the lake, eyes shut. The Jungle hums quietly—the strange birds, the endless wind. Kaizo watches from a short distance.

  Kaizo: “Trying Yokan again?”

  Yumi (softly): “Mm-hm. You said to feel the rhythm instead of watching it.”

  Kaizo: “Right.”

  He throws a pebble. Before it even connects, her hand snaps up, catching it clean out of the air.

  Her eyes open, calm and sharp.

  If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Kaizo (smirking): “Now that’s timing.”

  Yumi (smiles faintly): “Yokan, huh? Not quite the ultimate foresight… but I’ll take it.”

  Kaizo: “Keep polishing it. You’ll be untouchable when you sync both together.”

  Night falls. Kaizo sits cross-legged beneath the great banyan, black energy swirling faintly around him—the air itself vibrating.

  Kaizo (thinking): “Alright… Aura Manipulation. Let’s test the new merges.”

  The energy condenses tighter around his body, pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.

  Kaizo (muttering): “Aura + Meikai… Aura Anticipation.”

  A shimmer flickers before his eyes—a ghostly, purple reenactment of Yumi’s earlier movements. The projection mimics her attack before it happens.

  Kaizo (grinning): “Precognition in real-time. That’ll do.”

  He shifts his stance, aura flaring brighter.

  Kaizo: “Now for Genkuro—Aura plus Kensei.”

  The black light floods his limbs; each breath sends shockwaves through the dirt. He strikes once—air cracks like thunder.

  Kaizo (impressed): “Kensei potential… doubled. Physicals spiked. Guess that’s my version of steroids.”

  He exhales, letting the aura dim slightly.

  Kaizo: “Aura Conviction… Kakushin overlay.”

  A faint shell of dark light forms around his body—thin, near invisible, yet everything that touches it fizzles out before impact.

  Kaizo (grinning, to himself): “Defensive nullification, but heavy taxing on my stamina. Yeah… definite Plot Armor material.”

  He laughs quietly at his own joke, then looks upward through the canopy where streaks of light shimmer endlessly.

  Kaizo (thinking): “Two years in this place… and she’s already caught up to where I was. Guess that’s the difference between talent and obsession. (muttering) I guess this is also the result of taking a break from Zenshin for 5 damn years.”

  The next morning, Yumi jogs past him on her warm-up lap, hair tied up, as she looks back at Kaizo who was right behind her..

  Yumi (calling out): “You spacing out again, Sensei?”

  Kaizo (hands in pockets): “Just wondering how I’m supposed to keep up with you now.”

  Yumi (smirks): “You can always try the Nekodaira plank challenge again.”

  Kaizo (groans): “Over my dead fucking body.”

  Their laughter echoes across the valley as training resumes—both of them stronger, sharper, and edging closer to the end of their Jungle time.