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Chapter 47 - The Calm Before Ruin

The morning sun bathed the floating village in gold, but the light did little to soothe the dread clinging to its people. Wooden beams creaked under hurried repairs, hammers rang against splintered planks, ropes tightened with anxious hands. Yet for all the work being done, there was no laughter, no casual chatter only silence punctuated by labor.

Kaizen awoke with a start, sweat cooling on his skin. His body screamed in protest as he sat up, every joint stiff, every muscle heavy from strain. He touched the side of his ribs where bruises had darkened into deep purples, a reminder of the eel's crushing coils.

The storm inside him was quiet, but not gone. Always there. Always waiting.

He took a long breath and looked around the dojo. The blanket Renji had draped over him lay crumpled at his side. Kaizen frowned at it, a mix of gratitude and irritation pulling at him. "You're making this harder, Renji," he muttered. "The more I see your trust, the less room I have to screw up."

Outside, Renji was already working. Sweat glistened along his brow as he hauled a thick beam across one of the broken walkways, barking instructions to younger villagers. His movements were sharp, disciplined, but his eyes were distant.

When Kaizen finally emerged, Renji caught the boy's presence immediately. He didn't stop working, but his voice carried across the dock.

"You should be resting."

Kaizen shrugged, forcing a grin despite the ache in his body. "Rest is boring. Besides, if I keep lying down, the storm might think I've given up."

Renji's jaw tightened, though he didn't argue. He watched Kaizen bend to help tie ropes, the boy's hands trembling faintly from weakness. Stubborn, reckless, yet still pushing forward.

Just like him, Renji thought grimly. Memories of another student one who had drowned in his own hunger for power flashed in his mind.

Bang stood at the far end of the pier, overlooking the sea. The old master's eyes were sharp, scanning the horizon as though expecting something to rise from the waves at any moment.

"Do you feel it?" he asked quietly when Kaizen joined him.

Kaizen tilted his head. "Feel what?"

Bang's expression hardened. "The weight in the air. The sea is too calm. The gulls have vanished. Even the wind is holding its breath."

Kaizen squinted toward the endless horizon. To him, it looked like any other morning blue waves, glinting sunlight, gentle swells. But when he closed his eyes, focusing not on sight but sensation, he felt it. A pressure, subtle but unrelenting, crawling beneath his skin.

Something was coming.

Across the sea, Garou walked alone along the jagged cliffs. His silver hair whipped in the wind, his eyes alight with feral anticipation. He traced the scars on his forearms with idle fingers, each one a memory of battles past.

The monsters had failed. But Kaizen had not. That fact alone fascinated him.

"Resisting the storm… how long can you keep it chained, boy?" Garou whispered, grinning as waves crashed below.

He leapt from the cliff, landing lightly on a crumbling boulder, then onto the water itself. His steps were precise, each one pushing against the ocean's surface without sinking, his movements honed beyond human comprehension.

Every stride carried him closer to the floating village. Every stride promised blood.

Back in the village, Kaizen spent the afternoon training not his fists, but his restraint. He sat cross-legged on the pier, breathing deeply, visualizing chains around the storm within. Each time his thoughts wavered, sparks threatened to surge through his veins. He tightened the chains. Again. Again.

Renji watched from a distance, arms crossed. "He's fighting himself harder than any enemy," he murmured.

Bang stepped beside him. "That is precisely why he may succeed. The greatest battle is always against the self."

Renji's lips twisted into something between a frown and a smirk. "Or it'll break him before Garou does."

By evening, the village gathered for a quiet meal. Children huddled close to parents, their eyes darting to the darkening horizon. Lanterns flickered, casting shadows across bowls of rice and fish. The atmosphere was tense, fragile, like a string pulled too tight.

Kaizen ate little, his eyes fixed on the sea. Every ripple felt suspicious, every gust of wind like a warning.

Renji noticed and leaned closer. "You sense it too?"

Kaizen nodded. "It's like the ocean's holding its breath. Something's pushing against it."

Renji's gaze hardened. "Then it's him."

The name wasn't spoken, but both knew. Garou.

Night fell. Stars scattered across the sky, yet the sea below was darker than pitch. The villagers retreated indoors, doors bolted, whispers rising in prayer. Only three figures remained outside the boy, the warrior, and the master.

Kaizen stood at the pier's edge, fists clenched, chains inside him straining against a pressure he couldn't name. The storm within him seemed to stir in recognition, as if it too knew an enemy approached.

Renji tightened the wrappings around his fists, his expression grim. Bang, ever silent, took his stance as though the battle had already begun.

Far across the water, faint but growing clearer, came the echo of footsteps.

Step. Step. Step.

Each one heavier than the last. Each one rippling across the surface of the ocean.

Kaizen's heart pounded. The storm inside him roared, slamming against its chains. Sparks crackled faintly around his arms.

"He's here," Kaizen whispered.

The horizon split. A figure emerged, silver-haired, eyes glowing like twin blades in the night. His grin was savage, his presence suffocating.

Garou had arrived.

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