Naoki exhaled a short breath, and suddenly, the atmosphere shifted drastically. The air, which had been a gentle breeze moments ago, began to roar with a deafening velocity.
"It's time for you to take a nap, Yuuki."
Without any grand movement, Naoki simply flicked his wrist.
*SHUA—!*
A pillar of high-pressure air slammed into Yuuki's chest instantly. This wasn't a playful tap; the intensity was manifold greater than before, creating a shockwave that pulverized the ground beneath their feet.
*BOOM!*
Yuuki didn't even have time to scream. The sheer force was so overwhelming that he lost consciousness mid-air. His body, currently in its Slave form, began to glow and shrink, reverting into a limp, unconscious human.
"Yuuki!" Himari cried out, stunned.
*FWHOOSH!*
Naoki twitched his finger, and a gentle current of wind caught Yuuki's body before it could hit the ground, guiding him with surgical precision toward Kyouka and the others.
"This is what happens when someone with Commander-level power actually gets serious. Taking down Yuuki is child's play." Naoki said dismissively.
"Don't think you've won yet!"
Himari immediately transformed her right arm into a laser cannon—sleeker than before, with a muzzle that glowed white-hot.
*VWOOM!*
Laser beams streaked forward in rapid succession, but Naoki evaded them all, moving as fluidly as an eel. He had decided to fully commit to the role of the villain in this training session to trigger Himari's potential, and he intended to do so with total conviction.
"Pathetic. You're pathetic, Himari."
Naoki's provocation rang clearly in Himari's ear, despite him being several meters away.
"With such half-baked power, you have the nerve to hold the rank of Vice-Commander? You're nothing but a burden to the Seventh Unit."
Himari ground her teeth so hard they clicked; her shots grew wilder. But Naoki only gave her a look of pure disdain.
"It seems the Commander of the Seventh Unit has terrible judgment. Choosing a 'disgrace' to the Azuma family like you as her right hand? That's not bravery—that's a humiliating lapse in judgment. You disgrace your name every time you step onto the battlefield."
Those stinging words pierced right through Himari's oldest wounds, turning the air thick with tension. In the distance, Ryunosuke could only watch and tremble, realizing how terrifying Naoki could be when he decided to drop the friendly act.
Himari stopped firing. Her arm, which had been a weapon, slowly reverted to its original form, hanging limp at her side. She bowed her head deeply, letting her bangs cast a shadow over her face so no one could see her expression.
"..."
The resulting silence was more suffocating than the previous explosions. Seeing her reaction, Naoki knew he was at the tipping point. He needed one final push to make Himari vomit out all the negative emotions she had kept buried in the depths of her heart.
"What? You're giving up just from a few words?" Naoki laughed coldly, his voice dripping with malice. "If the level of a Vice-Commander here is only this much, then the Seventh Unit is nothing more than a shelter for losers. And Uzen Kyouka? She doesn't deserve the title of Commander if she can only gather trash like you around her. She's failed as a leader by letting an embarrassment like you stay by her side."
That sentence was the fuse for the explosion Naoki had been waiting for. To Himari, insults directed at herself were common—something she had accepted from the Azuma family for years—but insulting Kyouka and the Seventh Unit was an unforgivable sin. That was the line in her heart that no one was allowed to cross.
*BOOM!*
Suddenly, the atmospheric pressure spiked. A gale appeared from thin air, swirling into a localized storm centered on Himari. A dense, golden aura erupted outward, sweeping away dust and stone fragments until the area was obscured.
"Shut... up..." Himari's voice was low, yet it vibrated with a power that rattled the very bone.
Amidst the swirling vortex of debris, Himari stood tall. The aura she radiated was now intimidating, far surpassing her previous power level. But the most striking change was the mysterious mark beginning to etch itself onto her skin.
Right in the center of her forehead, a glowing symbol appeared—resembling a third eye with a circular pattern and three small arcs above it. Along her left arm, geometric lines spread rapidly, ending in a small circle on the back of her hand that glowed a brilliant gold.
Himari raised her head. Her gaze was sharp and ice-cold, stripped of all the doubt that had previously hindered her. She no longer looked like an ordinary girl mourning her uselessness; those marks were living proof that her true power had just awakened from a long slumber.
(Hah... Talk no Jutsu was a total failure, but provocation was a massive success. I guess the villain role suits me better than the protagonist. Isn't this a classic villain trope? Awakening the enemy's latent power with nothing but sharp words.)
Naoki's wry internal monologue was cut short by Himari's voice, which now sounded deeper and more authoritative.
"Take it back, Naoki." Himari demanded, her tone Brook no refusal. The golden aura around her pulsed in sync with her emotions. "I won't forgive anyone who insults Commander Kyouka—not even my own brother-in-law."
Naoki merely shrugged, unaffected by the rising pressure.
"I'm only saying what I saw from your incompetence earlier. If you want me to take it back, don't use your mouth. Show me with your strength."
"..."
Himari didn't bother with words anymore. With a swift motion, she pulled out her phone and flashed the screen at Naoki. On it was a cute, chibi illustration of Ezo Yakumo—a catalyst for «Learning».
*FWHOOOSH!*
Without warning, Himari conjured a massive horizontal cyclone, firing it straight at Naoki.
*FWHOOOSH!*
Naoki countered with an identical attack.
*BAM!*
Two identical storms collided in the center, creating a deafening roar. However, after clashing for several seconds, Himari's cyclone began to crack and eventually shattered into pieces, overcome by Naoki's much denser blast.
"Even if our abilities are both copy-types, the gap between us is still like heaven and earth." Naoki taunted.
*BUZZ!*
Suddenly, a pitch-black portal manifested right behind Naoki's back. Himari burst through it with impossible speed, unleashing a flurry of punches so fast they created a dozen afterimages around him.
*BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!*
Naoki spun, parrying each blow with minimal, precise movements. Every collision sent shockwaves through the air.
"«Night Storm» and «Ame-no-Mitori»... the performance is much lower than my copied versions." Naoki noted between parries. "Come on, Himari! Don't stop now! Show me what else you can do with that new power!"
Naoki wasn't surprised in the least to see Himari using various Peach Blessings. Before this moment, Himari had relied too heavily on «Armed Belle», making people forget that the essence of her gift was «Learning». It was a power fundamentally similar to Naoki's «Pandemonium»; both were capable of mirroring the gifts of others.
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