The dojo was quieter than usual the next morning. The disciples trained in measured silence, their movements sharp but subdued, as though the echoes of yesterday's clash between Kaizen and Renji still lingered.
Kaizen noticed the way their eyes followed him, cautious, uncertain. He kept his gaze low, his stance precise, determined to let his actions not his turmoil speak for him.
Bang observed in silence, his arms folded, his expression unreadable. When the session ended, he raised his hand.
"Kaizen. Stay."
The words struck like a bell. Whispers rose among the students, but none dared linger. Soon, the courtyard emptied, leaving only master and disciple beneath the morning sun.
Bang turned, his presence commanding yet calm. "Walk with me."
They traveled through the wooded hills behind the dojo, the canopy filtering sunlight into fractured beams. Kaizen followed, his ribs still sore, his mind restless.
At last, Bang stopped near a clearing where the ground was worn smooth a place clearly used for training.
"Here," Bang said, turning to face him. "We will train apart from the others. What stirs within you cannot be ignored."
Kaizen's throat tightened. "You saw it, didn't you?"
Bang's gaze sharpened. "I felt it. A pressure, faint but undeniable. Tell me what it is."
Kaizen hesitated, words tangled in fear. "It's… like a storm inside me. When I fight, it rises. It wants to break free, to…" He clenched his fists. "To destroy."
Bang studied him for a long moment, then nodded. "Good. You do not deny it. But acknowledging a fire is not the same as controlling it. That is what we will forge."
The training began with stillness.
Bang instructed Kaizen to sit cross-legged in the clearing, eyes closed, hands resting lightly on his knees.
"Feel the storm," Bang's voice was steady, patient. "Do not run from it. Do not embrace it. Simply acknowledge it."
Kaizen tried. At first, there was only the sound of wind through leaves, the distant calls of birds. But then, like thunder behind mountains, he felt it the storm pulsing beneath his skin, coiling tight, begging release.
His breathing hitched, sweat prickling his brow.
"Steady," Bang urged. "You command your breath, not the storm. Let it pass, like waves against stone."
Minutes stretched into hours. Kaizen's body ached from stillness, but more than that, from resisting the pull inside him. Each heartbeat seemed to echo with power threatening to spill.
By the time Bang finally allowed him to rise, Kaizen was trembling, his clothes damp with sweat.
"That is the beginning," Bang said, eyes gleaming with quiet pride. "Discipline begins in silence."
But silence was not enough.
Over the next days, Bang pushed Kaizen harder than he had ever been pushed.
They drilled the basics endlessly stances, strikes, blocks each movement stripped of flourish, reduced to pure efficiency.
"Your storm will seize upon weakness," Bang explained between bouts. "Any excess motion, any wasted thought it will exploit them. You must be sharper than it."
Kaizen's knuckles split, his ribs screamed, his muscles burned. Yet with every repetition, something shifted. The storm still roared within, but he began to sense the edges of it its weight, its rhythm.
Control was far away, but for the first time, he felt it was possible.
Yet as Kaizen trained in silence, another path was forming in the shadows.
Renji stood at the outskirts of the city, sweat dripping from his chin as he hammered his fists into a cracked wall. His strikes were wild, untempered, but fueled by rage that only grew sharper.
A figure leaned casually nearby, arms folded, smirk cutting across his face.
"Still sulking?" Garou asked.
Renji growled, striking again. "He's holding back. And Master protects him. Why?"
Garou shrugged. "Because Bang loves his precious discipline. But discipline is just a chain. And Kaizen" he chuckled "he's already breaking."
Renji paused, chest heaving. "Then what?"
Garou stepped closer, voice low, coaxing. "Then you stop waiting for him to break. You shatter him yourself. Prove that you're the one who deserves to stand above."
Renji's fists tightened, blood dripping from his knuckles. He said nothing, but the fire in his eyes was answer enough.
Back in the clearing, Kaizen sparred with Bang. The old master moved like flowing water, his strikes precise, his defense impenetrable. Kaizen attacked with everything he had, yet each blow was turned aside, each kick redirected.
"Too heavy," Bang said, swatting Kaizen's fist aside. "Do not force. Flow."
Kaizen staggered, breath ragged. "If I don't force it, the storm"
Bang struck his shoulder with a palm, sending him sprawling. "The storm is not your enemy. Your lack of control is. Learn the difference."
Kaizen groaned, pushing himself up, sweat stinging his eyes. "I'm trying…"
Bang's voice softened, just slightly. "And you will continue to try. That is the way."
For hours, they fought. Again and again Kaizen fell, and again he rose, each time closer to balance. The storm still surged, but with Bang's guidance, he began to sense where his will ended and its hunger began.
Night fell. Kaizen collapsed on the training ground, staring up at the stars. His body screamed with pain, but his spirit flickered with something new not just exhaustion, but resolve.
Bang sat nearby, silent for a long while. Then he said, "You are not alone in this. Remember that."
Kaizen turned his head, surprised. "You really think I can control it?"
Bang's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Control is never permanent. It must be renewed each day. But yes. I believe you can walk this path."
For the first time in days, Kaizen closed his eyes and allowed himself to breathe without fear.
But far across the hills, Renji's strikes echoed into the night, each blow guided by Garou's grin.
The storm within Kaizen was not the only one rising.