Witnessing the brutal display, Kyouka—standing tall beside Ryunosuke—clenched her fists. Her sharp eyes didn't blink; she knew perfectly well that Naoki wasn't bullying them, but rather delivering a very harsh "lesson" through sheer mental and physical pressure.
"Gulp."
Meanwhile, Ryunosuke swallowed hard. His earlier envy was now curdling into pure fear. He realized that the Naoki he knew back in high school—the seemingly ordinary guy—had absolutely nothing to do with the dominant figure standing arrogantly before his eyes now.
"Commander! Shouldn't we stop this spar? That guy is going way too far!" Shushu turned toward Kyouka, her face etched with unconcealed anxiety. She couldn't stand watching Yuuki getting hammered without mercy.
However, Kyouka shook her head firmly.
"No!" she replied sharply. "Injury is an inevitable risk in sparring. Yuuki and Himari understood the consequences the moment they stepped onto the training field."
Kyouka then shot Shushu a warning glance.
"Remember this, Shushu. When we face the Eight Thunder Gods again, they won't hold back or show a shred of mercy like Naoki is doing now. If they can't endure this pressure, they won't survive out there."
"Mhm..."
Failing to persuade Kyouka, Shushu could only turn back to the battlefield with a sense of helplessness. There, Yuuki and Himari were struggling to coordinate their attacks to find an opening, but Naoki remained unshakeable, parrying every effort without breaking a sweat.
The fight continued with rising tension, though Naoki still maintained a relaxed expression. It was obvious he wasn't being serious yet.
"Yuuki, Formation Delta! Now!" Himari shouted as she leaped backward.
*WHOOSH!*
Without hesitation, Yuuki blurred with superhuman speed, creating a series of afterimages that circled Naoki.
*SWISH!*
From a blind spot, Yuuki launched a straight kick that sliced through the air, but Naoki merely shifted his heel an inch.
*FWWOOOOSH!*
The wind around Naoki swirled subtly, creating an air cushion that deflected Yuuki's momentum, sending the boy tumbling past his target.
"Shield!"
Himari appeared from the front, slamming a massive, primitive shield toward Naoki.
*BAM!*
The impact created a shockwave, but Naoki held it back with just one palm coated in static air pressure.
"Too slow, Himari."
*WHIP!*
With a gentle flick, Naoki released a burst of air from his palm. The shield remained intact, but Himari was shoved back—Naoki was deliberately avoiding hurting her.
*SWOOSH!*
However, Yuuki wasn't so lucky. Naoki sent a blunt blade of wind slamming into Yuuki's gut, sending him sprawling.
"Dammit... he really doesn't leave an opening!" Himari grumbled. "Full Burst!"
Her long hair transformed into hundreds of gun barrels, locking onto Naoki's coordinates.
*RATATATATA!*
Bullets and projectiles rained down on Naoki from every direction. However, Naoki simply closed his eyes. He raised both hands, and instantly, a ten-meter-tall tornado erupted, swallowing all the projectiles and grinding them into dust before dumping them onto the ground.
"Yuuki, now! While he's busy with the wind!" Himari instructed.
*WHOOSH!*
Yuuki utilized his extraordinary reflexes, leaping through a gap in the turbulence and thrusting his claws toward Naoki's face.
*SLAP!*
Naoki caught Yuuki's wrist mid-air.
"I told you, don't aim for my handsome face. I count on this to make a living, okay?" he said, before landing a heavy punch to Yuuki's cheek, sending him flying once more.
Seeing Yuuki thrown back, Himari took a deep breath. On her shoulders, mechanical material manifested into a giant Laser Cannon.
"Take this! Maximum output!"
*SWISH!*
A blinding beam of pure laser light streaked forward, scorching the air in its path. Naoki didn't dodge. He pressed his fingers together, creating an incredibly dense "Wind Lens" in front of his hand.
*ZIIII—!*
The laser beam hit the wall of air, refracted, and shattered into harmless sparks of light.
*WHOOSH!*
Before Himari could react, Naoki was behind her in a heartbeat. Himari reflexively swung a hastily created Katana, but Naoki merely flicked the blade with a wind-reinforced finger.
*TING!*
The Katana vibrated violently, leaving Himari's hand numb. Naoki then patted the girl's shoulder gently—a stark contrast to the kick he delivered to Yuuki, who was trying to scramble back up in the background.
"Good strategy, Sister-in-law. But wind can't be cut by steel, and it can't be burned by lasers." Naoki said with a triumphant smile. To him, Yuuki and Himari looked like lion cubs trying to bite a storm—admirable, but futile.
"You know, Himari, in most fiction, copy-type abilities sit at the top of the hierarchy. It's a 'broken' kind of power that ruins game balance. And I am the case in point."
"I, who was once a nobody—an ordinary guy you could find anywhere—am like a koi fish that leaped over the dragon gate. Now, my power rivals the Commander-in-Chief of the Anti-Demon Corps, Yamashiro Ren."
Naoki tilted his head slightly, avoiding Himari's katana slash that whistled a hair's breadth from his ear. Simultaneously, without looking back, he raised one hand to block a kick from Yuuki coming from behind.
"I know that without you telling me!!" Himari screamed, her breath becoming labored. She swung her katana again in a series of rapid diagonal slashes. "I'm sick of hearing that crap from everyone! The fact that my Peach Blessing never developed the way they expected... it just proves one thing. I'm useless, right? I'm just a failure who can't match the potential you're talking about!"
Naoki fell silent for a moment, hearing the note of resignation in his sister-in-law's voice. He looked at the panting Himari, then glanced at Yuuki, who was preparing to lunge again.
(Haaah... This is a pain.)
(I'm really not cut out for 'Talk no Jutsu.' If I were a shounen protagonist, I'm supposed to give some moving speech that motivates my teammates until their potential explodes—or maybe make even the most heartless villain repent and regret their life's crimes.)
(Unfortunately, I'm not a protagonist filled with that kind of light. It seems I have no talent for lecturing.)
Naoki glanced at the emotional Himari and the charging Yuuki.
(It looks like Talk no Jutsu really isn't my path. If I can't motivate them with words, I only have one way left. My own, far more practical method.)
Naoki lowered his stance slightly; the air pressure around him suddenly became much heavier and more suffocating. If words couldn't pierce their hearts, then absolute dominance would.
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