Ichigo retrieved a bottle of water from his bag and gulped it down in one motion, disappearing rapidly down his throat.
"Ahh!" he exhaled with obvious satisfaction, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before breaking into his usual smile.
"That was really intense," Ichigo said while glancing toward Kenji, who was gathering his equipment with a dejected, gloomy expression. "He was a genuinely skilled opponent—I learned a lot from fighting someone with such disciplined classical technique."
Noah smiled at Ichigo's humble assessment but chose not to reply.
Ichigo's modesty was admirable, but Noah had detected something that his friend wasn't saying out loud.
He had clearly been holding back significant portions of his true capability during the match.
He was operating well within his comfort zone, Noah observed silently. The question is how much power he was actually concealing.
