The morning broke gray and muted, the sea a sheet of dull steel. Kaizen awoke with aching muscles, expecting another brutal day of sparring. But when he limped out to the pier, Bang was already waiting, hands clasped behind his back, Renji standing a few steps away looking uncertain.
"Today," Bang said, his voice like gravel, "we test something different."
Kaizen blinked. "What do you mean? More sparring?"
Bang shook his head. "No blades. No fists. No noise. Today, you face yourself."
Renji frowned. "Master, what"
"Silence!" Bang snapped, and the boy flinched. Then the old man fixed his gaze on Kaizen. "Follow me."
They walked beyond the platforms, across narrow bridges lashed together with rope, to a place Kaizen hadn't seen before a small, half-submerged shrine, its wooden pillars slick with seaweed. The waves lapped against the structure, whispering with each breath of the tide.
Bang stopped at the entrance. "This place was built long before your birth. Before mine, even. It has one purpose: to strip away all distractions. No sound but your heartbeat, no light but what you carry within."
Kaizen's chest tightened. "…And what do I do here?"
"You sit. You wait. You listen. For three days."
Kaizen's eyes widened. "Three three days? Without food? Without water?"
Bang's gaze was merciless. "You will survive. The question is whether your mind will."
Renji stepped forward. "That's insane! He just fought a monster. He's not"
Bang raised a hand, silencing him. "The boy will not tame his storm by swinging fists alone. He must stare into the eye of it. If he runs, he is not ready. If he endures…" His eyes flicked to Kaizen. "He will be one step closer."
Kaizen swallowed hard, but nodded. "I'll do it."
Inside, the shrine was nearly dark, the only light seeping through cracks in the warped wood. The smell of salt and mildew clung to the air. Bang guided Kaizen to the center, where a smooth stone slab rose just above the waterline.
"Sit."
Kaizen obeyed, folding his legs beneath him.
Bang placed a hand on his shoulder firm, grounding. "You will hear things. See things. The sea is not silent, and neither is your mind. But remember: what you face in here is you. Nothing more. Nothing less."
Then he left, shutting the wooden door with a hollow thud.
Kaizen was alone.
At first, the silence was unbearable. Every drip of water echoed like thunder. His breath felt too loud, his heartbeat too heavy. He shifted, uncomfortable, sparks twitching along his arms before he forced them down.
Calm. Focus. Just… breathe.
Hours bled together. Hunger gnawed, thirst pricked. But worse than that was the noise creeping into his head the memories he didn't want to remember.
The screams of his old world drowning in water.The hollow eyes of his parents as the waves swallowed everything.The suffocating darkness before reincarnation.
His chest tightened. Sparks flared, crackling against the shrine's walls. He bit down, hard, forcing it back.
But then came the whispers. Not memory something else.
"…monster…""…danger…""…they'll never trust you…"
Kaizen's eyes darted around, but the shrine was empty. His pulse raced.
"No. It's not real. Just my head."
The whispers twisted, echoing his own thoughts.
"…better you die…""…better you burn out than them…"
Kaizen clutched his skull. "Shut up…"
The sparks erupted, searing the wood black. His vision blurred with images himself, but twisted, eyes glowing, lightning spilling endlessly, villagers screaming as their homes burned from his power.
His breath hitched. Is that what I'll become?
The image stepped closer, smirking with his own face. "Why fight it? You are the storm. You can't cage thunder. You can only let it consume."
"No…"
"Without me, you are nothing. A weak boy reborn in a dying world. With me, you could rule it."
Kaizen's fists clenched. "I don't want to rule. I just want to live. To protect."
The doppelgänger laughed, a sound like thunder. "Protect? Look at them they fear you already. You'll never be one of them. You'll always be the weapon. The monster."
The words cut deep, because they were true. Kaizen remembered the elders' wary stares, the children's whispers. He remembered the way even Renji sometimes looked at him, half in awe, half in fear.
Tears stung his eyes. "Maybe… maybe I am a monster."
The storm surged. Lightning cracked across the shrine, water hissing to steam. The false Kaizen stepped into the chaos, arms open. "Yes. And once you accept that, no one will ever hurt you again."
Kaizen trembled. His body screamed for release, for surrender. It would be so easy let the storm swallow him, let it burn away doubt and fear.
But then, through the roar, another voice rose. Faint, but steady.
"Better me than them."
Renji's words.
Kaizen's head jerked up. He remembered saying it, broken and half-conscious, but meaning it with everything he had.
Better him than them. Better his body burn than the village fall. Better he carry the fear than see another mother clutch her child against the sea.
The false Kaizen sneered. "Pathetic. They will never love you for it."
"Maybe not," Kaizen whispered, forcing himself upright. "But love doesn't matter. Choice does."
The storm flared then bent. The lightning no longer lashed wildly but coiled around him, controlled, contained. His doppelgänger stumbled, cracks splitting across its form.
Kaizen took a step forward, sparks lighting his tears. "You're not me. You're my fear. And I won't let fear decide who I am."
With that, he struck. Lightning exploded, shattering the false image into nothing.
Silence fell. True silence. No whispers, no visions only the steady beat of Kaizen's heart.
For the first time in what felt like years, he breathed freely.
When Bang opened the shrine three days later, the old man paused.
Kaizen sat cross-legged on the stone, eyes closed, calm as still water. Sparks danced faintly at his fingertips, but they did not lash out. They obeyed.
Bang studied him for a long moment, then allowed the faintest smile. "Good. You didn't drown."
Kaizen opened his eyes. They no longer burned with fear, but with something sharper. Steadier.
"I didn't drown," he agreed softly. "I learned to breathe."
Renji, standing behind Bang, exhaled in relief. "About time. Thought we'd have to fish your charred corpse out of there."
Kaizen managed a small smile. "Sorry to disappoint."
But deep down, he knew this was only the beginning. He had won a battle, not the war. The storm was quieter now, but the sea… the sea was still watching.
And somewhere in its depths, the abyss stirred, waiting for the moment when silence would break once more.