The night air in Z-City was thick, carrying the faint scent of smoke from distant factories. The streets near the dojo lay quiet, lit only by dim lamps that cast long shadows across cracked pavement.
Kaizen walked alone, his body heavy with fatigue from another day of Bang's relentless training. Every muscle burned, but his spirit carried the faint warmth of progress. For the first time, he had begun to sense a rhythm within the storm, like a heartbeat he could almost align with.
He thought he was alone.
"You've changed," a voice growled from the darkness.
Kaizen froze. From the mouth of an alley stepped Renji, his fists wrapped in bloodstained cloth, his eyes burning with restless fury.
Kaizen's chest tightened. "Renji… what are you doing here?"
Renji's grin was sharp, bitter. "Waiting. Watching. While Master dotes on you." He stepped closer, every movement coiled with tension. "I've had enough."
Kaizen raised his hands slowly. "We don't have to do this."
Renji's eyes narrowed. "You're right. We don't have to. But I want to."
Without warning, Renji lunged.
The first blow came fast faster than Kaizen expected. Renji's fist cut through the air like a spear, slamming into Kaizen's guard and forcing him back a step. The impact rattled his bones.
Kaizen blocked, parried, tried to retreat, but Renji pressed on with a barrage of strikes, each fueled by raw anger.
"You think you're special because Master trains you alone?" Renji snarled, his fists a blur. "You're nothing but a storm waiting to explode!"
Kaizen's breath caught how much did Renji know? He tried to respond, but another kick drove into his ribs, staggering him into the lamplight.
The storm inside stirred, eager, feeding on his pain.
Not now… not now!
He forced himself to breathe, to center, recalling Bang's words: You command your breath, not the storm.
Renji swung again, but this time Kaizen redirected, letting the punch flow past instead of clashing. He countered with a palm strike that knocked Renji back a step.
"Enough, Renji!" Kaizen shouted. "This won't prove anything!"
Renji spat blood and laughed bitterly. "It'll prove everything."
Hidden atop a rooftop nearby, Garou crouched like a wolf, chin resting on his fist as he watched the duel unfold.
"Good," he murmured. "Break each other. Show me what you're hiding, Kaizen."
His eyes gleamed with predatory interest. He could already sense the shift the storm in Kaizen's aura trembling, straining against his will.
The fight dragged on.
Renji was relentless, his strikes wild but heavy, each fueled by a desperation that bordered on madness. Kaizen, though exhausted, drew on Bang's teachings, letting Renji's force flow around him, countering only when necessary.
But restraint cost energy, and with every blow absorbed, Kaizen's body screamed louder.
The storm surged. His vision blurred at the edges, colors sharpening, his heartbeat pounding like war drums.
Not control. Not yet.
A hook from Renji clipped his jaw, and something inside snapped. Kaizen felt the dam crack, the storm rushing forward, his veins alive with fire.
His next strike wasn't Bang's Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.
It was something raw, primal an eruption.
His fist collided with Renji's guard, shattering through it and slamming into his chest. The impact hurled Renji across the street, smashing him into a wall with bone-cracking force.
Kaizen froze, chest heaving.
What… what was that?
Renji groaned, blood trickling from his mouth, but he dragged himself back to his feet. His grin was twisted now, almost manic.
"There it is," he coughed. "The monster inside you."
Kaizen's hands shook. He could feel the storm pulsing, demanding more, begging him to finish it.
No. I can't. I won't.
But Renji wasn't done. He staggered forward, raising his fists again. "Fight me, Kaizen! Don't hold back! Show me the real you!"
Kaizen stepped back, torn between fear and fury. His breath came ragged, his will fraying.
On the rooftop, Garou leaned forward, his smile widening. "Yes… lose it. Let it out."
The clash resumed, fiercer than before.
Renji's strikes were reckless, but Kaizen's responses grew sharper, heavier. Each counter rattled Renji's body, each strike carrying force he could barely comprehend.
Kaizen's movements blurred too fast, too heavy. He wasn't fighting with Bang's discipline anymore; he was fighting with something else entirely.
Renji stumbled back, coughing blood, yet still he laughed. "That's it! That's the strength I've been waiting to see!"
Kaizen's vision flickered. For a moment, Renji wasn't standing before him it was someone else. Another enemy. Another target.
The storm roared, drowning everything.
And then
"Kaizen."
The voice cut through like lightning.
Bang's voice.
Kaizen blinked, gasping, his focus snapping back. The storm faltered, receding just enough for him to breathe.
He turned, expecting to see his master yet the street was empty. The voice had only been memory.
But it was enough.
He lowered his fists, shaking, forcing air into his lungs. "No… I won't."
Renji staggered, clutching his ribs, fury and disbelief in his eyes. "Why?! Why stop now?!"
Kaizen's chest heaved. "Because if I don't… I won't come back."
From the shadows, Garou's grin faded into a thoughtful scowl.
Interesting. So the boy could resist. For now.
But Garou had patience. And he knew storms only grew stronger when chained.
He melted back into the night, leaving the two disciples alone with their broken breaths and fractured pride.
Kaizen turned away, his steps unsteady. "This isn't over, Renji. But if we keep down this path, neither of us will win."
Renji said nothing. His glare burned holes in Kaizen's back, his fists trembling with rage.
To Renji, restraint was weakness. And Kaizen's refusal to unleash himself was the greatest insult of all.
The rift between them had widened beyond repair.
That night, Kaizen lay awake in his room at the dojo, staring at the ceiling, the storm still whispering in his veins.
He had nearly lost control.
And the worst part wasn't that it scared him.
The worst part was that for a moment he had wanted it.