Light dissolved into countless microscopic particles around Akashi's body while the distorted landscape of shattered Yggdrasil branches gradually gave way to the familiar reinforced corridors of Federation X.
The moment solid ground returned beneath his feet, Akashi instinctively stretched both arms before releasing an exaggerated sigh, his crimson aura disappearing almost immediately while the black lightning surrounding his body faded into nothing more than occasional sparks drifting harmlessly across the polished floor. His expression still carried traces of disappointment after being denied the conclusion of a battle that had finally begun satisfying his instincts, yet something immediately stole his attention before he could complain again.
Someone else had arrived.
Only a few meters away, another geometric formation completed itself before dissolving into the surrounding air, revealing Omoshiro standing exactly as he had moments earlier, his hands buried inside the pockets of his dark coat, silver hair barely disturbed despite crossing an impossible distance. His empty eyes wandered briefly around the unfamiliar laboratory before quietly settling upon Tenka without displaying even the smallest sign of panic.
Akashi slowly turned his head.
Then looked toward Tenka.
Then back toward Omoshiro.
Then toward Tenka once again.
Akashi, scratching his cheek while genuine curiosity replaced his usual arrogance – ''...Hold on a second. I understood bringing me back because we've worked together since this whole ridiculous mission started, but how exactly did you just pull him across half of Japan without asking him anything? More importantly... where exactly does that ability stop? If you can simply decide somebody should appear wherever you want, doesn't that make every military force on Earth completely meaningless?''
Tenka folded her arms calmly, though a faint smile appeared almost imperceptibly across her face, the expression of someone who had answered this same question many times before from people incapable of understanding how Yin truly functioned beneath its visible surface. Instead of replying immediately, she approached one of the enormous observation windows overlooking several experimental chambers before allowing her fingers to lightly touch the transparent reinforced glass.
Tenka – ''The misunderstanding comes from believing I am the one making that decision, Akashi, when in reality my own opinion contributes almost nothing to the process itself. My Yin governs coordinates, pathways, dimensional folding and spatial transition, yet even those concepts exist beneath something fundamentally older than individual techniques. Every Yin possesses what researchers reluctantly describe as autonomous resonance, a primitive form of judgment existing independently from its owner, meaning that before any spatial transfer becomes possible, my own Yin instinctively attempts communication with the Yin belonging to the intended target.''
She remained silent for only a heartbeat before continuing, her voice becoming quieter as though discussing something even Federation researchers struggled to explain completely.
Tenka – ''If that Yin refuses, nothing happens. I cannot overpower it. I cannot negotiate with it. I cannot force space itself to acknowledge a transition that the Yin rejects. If the resonance accepts, however, the pathway simply opens. The fascinating part is that the person being transported has absolutely no authority during that process. Human intention becomes almost irrelevant. Their Yin decides whether they should walk through the door I create.''
Akashi – ''...So you're telling me the actual decision wasn't yours... and it wasn't his either... it belonged to whatever this Yin really is? Then that raises another question entirely. If Yin can refuse its own user, or cooperate without asking permission, then we've been treating these powers like weapons when they're behaving far more like... living things.''
Tenka slowly nodded.
Tenka – ''That question has existed longer than Federation X itself, and nobody has reached a satisfying answer. Every nation researching Yin eventually reaches the same conclusion before abandoning the subject entirely because every experiment designed to determine whether Yin possesses consciousness produces contradictory results. Sometimes it behaves exactly like energy. Other times it demonstrates judgment impossible to reproduce mathematically. We stopped asking whether Yin is alive decades ago. Now we simply acknowledge that sometimes it behaves as though it already understands.''
Silence settled naturally inside the room.
Even Akashi found himself unusually thoughtful.
He considered the uncomfortable possibility that Omega itself might not simply belong to him.
Perhaps...
He belonged to it.
Omoshiro quietly broke the silence.
Omoshiro – ''...That explains why I am standing here instead of inside the ruins of the city.''
Both of them turned toward him.
His expression remained unchanged, almost emotionless, yet his attention had shifted completely away from Akashi. Instead, his eyes wandered toward the enormous digital displays scattered throughout the laboratory, each one continuously analyzing Yin signatures collected from countless operations occurring across Japan.
Omoshiro – ''I accepted following him because he promised answers, but after seeing both of you... after hearing that explanation... I realized something far more important. My entire life i have being lied to. Now a tree appeared. Then people stronger than armies appeared. Then something invisible decided I could be brought here against ordinary logic. For the first time since I was a child... I genuinely do not understand the world surrounding me anymore.''
His empty eyes slowly lifted toward Tenka.
Omoshiro – ''I want to understand why.''
Tenka smiled softly.
Far away, beneath the immeasurable shadow of Yggdrasil, silence had gradually reclaimed the devastated battlefield.
Towering buildings had become mountains of broken concrete.
Roads disappeared beneath enormous fractures stretching toward the horizon.
Smoke continued rising between shattered apartment complexes while emergency vehicles formed endless lines around the destroyed sectors, their flashing lights reflecting against drifting clouds of dust. Thousands of civilians remained gathered far beyond military barricades, staring silently toward the impossible destruction left behind by only a handful of individuals.
Kanji continued walking.
Every step hurt.
Blood continued falling steadily from numerous wounds hidden beneath his damaged armor, while fragments of shattered golden plating broke away from his body each time he shifted his weight. Light Mode had almost completely dispersed, leaving only faint traces of golden radiance lingering inside his exhausted eyes, yet despite every injury his posture never collapsed. The determination carrying him forward refused to weaken simply because his body had reached its limits.
Nobody attempted stopping him.
Police officers instinctively stepped aside before he reached them.
Military personnel lowered their rifles without receiving orders.
Firefighters paused beside overturned rescue vehicles.
Paramedics silently watched him pass.
Even civilians unconsciously created an empty corridor several meters wide, retreating with expressions caught somewhere between fear, disbelief and reverence.
None of them viewed Kanji as an ordinary young man anymore.
Whatever had battled above the city...
Whatever had exchanged blows capable of reshaping entire towns..
Whatever had survived standing before that monster...
It no longer belonged inside humanity's ordinary definition.
Kanji never acknowledged any of them.
His senses remained fixed upon a single fading presence.
Masaru.
Nearly twenty minutes passed before Kanji finally reached the enormous crater where Masaru's body had landed after Akashi's devastating One-Inch Punch.
The orange-haired warrior remained half-buried beneath fractured concrete and twisted steel, his massive dragon tattoo stained with dust and blood while slow breaths continued escaping his battered chest. Even unconscious, his overwhelming physical presence remained undeniable, the ground beneath his bare feet still vibrating faintly from residual shockwaves trapped inside his Yin.
Kanji stopped only a few steps away.
He slowly raised his fist.
Kanji, breathing heavily while blood continued running from his forehead – ''...I'm sorry. You fought honorably, but I didn't come this far for honorable fights. Every second I waste brings me farther from the man who destroyed everything I ever loved, and if knocking you unconscious isn't enough to make somebody answer my questions... then I'll simply keep hitting until someone finally does.''
His fist began moving forward.
Then—
Another hand intercepted it effortlessly.
Kanji's eyes widened.
Standing between him and Masaru was a man. His long dark coat barely moved despite the violent winds still sweeping across the ruined district, while intricate metallic patterns flowed continuously beneath the fabric like living steel searching for new shapes. His silver-gray hair fell neatly around a face almost unnaturally composed, and his calm eyes reflected neither hostility nor urgency, only absolute certainty. Around him, broken streetlights, abandoned vehicles, fragments of reinforced concrete and twisted sections of collapsed buildings quietly lifted from the ground, suspended effortlessly within invisible magnetic currents before reorganizing themselves into elegant geometric formations orbiting his body.
Kashigi Kunizen.
Sigma (Σ).
Kashigi Kunizen stood slightly taller than average, his posture perfectly upright without appearing rigid, the kind of composure earned through decades of unwavering discipline rather than natural confidence. Long silver-gray hair rested neatly against the back of his neck, individual strands reflecting faint metallic highlights whenever light struck them from different angles, giving the strange illusion that the hair itself possessed traces of polished steel hidden beneath its surface. His face carried remarkably sharp features, neither youthful nor aged, defined by calm eyes whose irises shimmered with concentric silver rings that resembled the internal structure of forged metal viewed beneath a microscope.
His attire appeared deceptively simple until examined carefully. A long charcoal-black coat reached below his knees, yet its surface continuously shifted beneath the light, revealing intricate metallic veins flowing through the fabric like liquid mercury frozen halfway between movement and stillness. Every seam had been reinforced using thin silver plates engraved with microscopic geometric inscriptions that pulsed faintly alongside his Yin, creating the impression that his clothing itself participated in combat calculations. Beneath the coat rested a sleeveless dark combat uniform exposing powerful forearms marked by dozens of pale scars crossing one another in organized patterns rather than chaotic violence, while both hands wore fingerless metallic gloves whose joints continuously opened and closed almost imperceptibly, tiny magnetic arcs dancing quietly between each articulated plate.
Around him, the battlefield behaved unnaturally.
Collapsed vehicles slowly rose several centimeters above the shattered streets without producing any sound. Countless fragments of twisted steel floated through the air like obedient satellites, rotating elegantly around his body in perfectly synchronized orbits while broken support beams, shattered railway tracks and enormous sections of reinforced concrete continuously reorganized themselves into symmetrical formations awaiting only a single thought to become weapons. Dust refused to settle near him, suspended motionless within invisible magnetic fields that distorted sunlight into shimmering waves, while abandoned firearms carried by fallen soldiers quietly slid across the ruined asphalt until they joined the silent constellation orbiting their master.
Kashigi – ''Your determination has already surpassed the expectations of everyone watching this game unfold from the shadows, Kanji, and the speed at which your strength evolves has become genuinely imporessive to him. Had we crossed paths several months later, perhaps today's outcome would have forced me to reveal abilities better left unseen.''
His calm gaze shifted briefly toward Masaru's unconscious body before several floating steel beams quietly descended, gently lifting the enormous warrior from the crater.
Kashigi – ''However, today is not the day your journey reaches its destination. There are still questions that cannot yet be answered because the person asking them has not become capable of understanding those answers.''
Kanji forced himself another step forward.
Blood continued falling steadily beneath his feet.
Kanji – ''Stop speaking in riddles and tell me where he is. Every single one of you keeps pretending there is some greater meaning behind my family's death, yet nobody has found the courage to simply tell me the truth. If you know where he is, then either answer me now... or move aside.''
Kashigi – ''There is remarkably little distance separating you from every answer you seek. Continue walking exactly as you have until now, continue surviving encounters you were never expected to survive, and before long there will remain nothing left to hide from you. The truth has already begun moving toward you far faster than you are capable of chasing it.''
Kanji lunged forward.
Too late.
When the dust finally dispersed—
Kashigi was gone.
Masaru was gone.
Only an enormous circular depression remained upon the shattered ground where both men had stood moments earlier.
Kanji stared silently toward the empty crater.
The golden light lingering inside his pupils flickered once before disappearing completely as his knees buckled beneath him. His vision blurred. The endless branches of Yggdrasil slowly dissolved into indistinct shadows while distant voices, emergency sirens and military helicopters gradually faded into silence.
Darkness embraced him.
...
...
Soft mechanical humming replaced the sound of collapsing buildings.
The sterile scent of disinfectant filled the air.
Kanji slowly opened his eyes.
White ceiling panels stretched above him beneath rows of clinical lights whose brightness forced him to squint instinctively. Medical monitors quietly displayed continuous streams of biological information while transparent intravenous lines carried glowing restorative fluids into his arm. Every muscle throughout his body protested the smallest movement, yet compared to the battlefield, the room itself felt almost unnaturally peaceful.
Several researchers immediately noticed his awakening.
White laboratory coats.
Digital tablets.
Scanning equipment.
None of them spoke.
Standing beside the bed, however, waited someone far more familiar.
Fujinaka Inegumi.
While the calm expression upon his face revealed surprisingly little concern considering the catastrophic injuries Kanji had suffered only hours earlier.
Fujinaka quietly looked toward the gathered scientists.
Fujinaka – ''Thank you. I'll continue from here. Leave us alone for a while.''
Nobody questioned the order.
Within seconds the researchers exited one after another, the automatic doors sealing behind them until only the quiet vibration of monitoring equipment remained inside the room.
Kanji slowly pushed himself upright.
His eyes never left Fujinaka.
Kanji – ''I suppose you're going to tell me congratulations first... then remind me I still failed.''
Fujinaka allowed himself the faintest smile.
Fujinaka – ''Actually... neither.''
He reached toward the nearby console.
A massive holographic display illuminated the room.
Immediately, hundreds of graphs, combat recordings and numerical projections expanded through the air, creating an enormous three-dimensional battlefield reconstructed entirely from sensor data gathered during Kanji's confrontation against Masaru and Akashi. Thousands of calculations continuously updated across the screen while colored vectors mapped every movement, every strike and every fluctuation of Kanji's Yin with astonishing precision.
One particular graph dwarfed every other display.
Its growth curve looked almost impossible.
Fujinaka folded his arms while quietly observing the data.
Fujinaka – ''This... is why I wanted everyone else to leave before you woke up. During your fight against Masaru alone, your measurable combat output increased by approximately three hundred and seventy percent. After Akashi intervened, your Yin entered a developmental state our predictive models previously considered mathematically impossible. Every exchange forced your body to reinterpret its own limitations in real time, meaning you were accelerating the very speed at which you evolve.''
Fujinaka – ''At your current rate of growth, every forecast collapses after only a handful of major battles. Our computers simply stop producing reliable numbers because no existing model can calculate exponential adaptation sustained over such a prolonged period.''
Kanji remained silent.
His expression did not change.
Fujinaka noticed.
Fujinaka sighed quietly.
Fujinaka – ''I expected that reaction. Statistics don't interest you. Revenge does.''
Without another word, he dismissed every graph.
Another screen appeared.
Each one focused upon a different section of Japan before gradually narrowing toward a single highlighted location surrounded by countless military observation markers.
At the center of the screen appeared a single name.
KASHIGI KUNIZEN — Σ (SIGMA).
Fujinaka slowly looked directly into Kanji's eyes.
For only the briefest instant...
Something hidden flickered behind his calm expression.
Gone almost before it appeared.
Fujinaka – ''We know where Kashigi is.''