Kenji didn't return to the Siberian Defense Line right away. He used the remaining hours of his leave to stabilize his life and visit Naomi Sato one last time, needing the anchor of her trust before diving back into the abyss of his new life.
The victory in the courtroom was hollow. He had kept Hikari, but he was now indebted to the ruthless General Volkov, who held Hikari's future as collateral. His life was one unstable compromise.
He found Naomi in the logistics bay of the Jieitai headquarters, struggling to file emergency requisitions for the collapsed coastal defense.
"You won," she said, her voice strained. "But you're playing a game with Volkov you can't win. He's a user, Kenji."
"He gives me time, Naomi-chan. That's all I need." Kenji looked around, noticing the massive amounts of damaged Kōrin Assembly equipment—high-grade, gleaming but broken. "What's wrong with all this? Looks like the gold-plated armor cracked."
"It's terrifying," Naomi whispered. "These units were hit by the Kyojin's new defense-nullifying tactics. Their Aether shields just... failed. Command suspects a new type of localized attack. Aoi is furious; he can't shield against it."
Kenji walked toward a massive, cracked defense generator, touching the cold metal. His Kesshō Insight immediately flared. He didn't just see the crack; he saw the destructive energy pattern—a resonant frequency that shattered the crystalline structure.
"It's not an attack; it's a tune," Kenji muttered. "They found the harmonic frequency of the Kōrin alloy. They're making the Sentinels' own tech beat itself to death."
Naomi stared at him, alarmed by the speed of his analysis. "How can you tell that?"
Kenji pulled his hand back quickly, forcing a casual shrug. "I'm a technician, Naomi. I know when a vibration is wrong. Look," he changed the subject. "I have to leave. Just keep your head down."
Naomi handed him a secure data chip. "The chip contains all the data I could pull on the new Null-Stone frequencies. If anyone can understand this 'tune,' it's you. But please, if you find the solution, promise me you won't use anything you can't explain to fix it."
Kenji pocketed the chip. "I'll use what works, Naomi. Nothing more. And I will make it back for Hikari." He left, the weight of her trust a far heavier burden than his new armor.
Volkov's New War
Kenji's return to the Siberian base was met with a grim mission. General Volkov was waiting in the comms tent.
"Commander Aoi is launching a full-scale assault in Sector Delta," Volkov announced, slapping a holographic map. "They are sending in two dozen A-Ranks—including your rival, Kaito Jin—to prove their pure Kesshō power is superior to my brute-force tactics. It is a political stunt, and they will fail."
"Let them fail, General," Kenji said, downloading the data from Naomi's chip into his secure comm. "Their failure isn't my problem."
"It is when they collapse my entire defensive line!" Volkov roared quietly. "Aoi's Aetheric shields will overload when they encounter the high-frequency Null-Stone defense the Kyojin are using. They will not only die, but their exploding suits will trigger a breach that costs us ten thousand lives. I need you to stabilize their frequency shields without alerting them."
Volkov wanted a covert rescue mission to save his territory, forced by Aoi's arrogance.
"You want me to risk my neck to save the man who tried to take my daughter?" Kenji asked, his voice incredulous.
"I want you to save the sector," Volkov corrected. "You will fly to Sector Delta, infiltrate Kaito Jin's strike team, and stabilize their frequency shield. You will make Aoi's stability depend on your interference."
"My price is final," Kenji countered. "Official Seimei Initiative custody documentation drafted for Hikari, effective immediately. And access to the highest-grade titanium alloys you possess."
Volkov agreed with a sharp nod. The transaction was complete.
The Silent Fix
Kenji was dropped near Sector Delta under the cover of a blizzard. His goal was to stabilize the frequency without revealing his presence or his alien-derived method.
He located Kaito Jin's A-Rank strike team near a massive Kyojin bunker. Kaito, magnificent in his chrome armor, was focused entirely on tactical readiness, oblivious to the fact that his team's shields were moments away from being shattered by the enemy's silent 'tune.' Sanae Kinoshita was on a nearby support team, her sharp eyes scanning the perimeter.
Kenji realized the solution was not to harden their armor, but to subtly dampen their shield frequency.
He used the blizzard's cover to reach a central Aetheric Transmission Hub—the source of the entire team's power. He performed a microscopic Gattai on his fingers, creating a surgical tool.
He didn't touch the Kōrin tech with metal; he introduced a trace element.
With surgical precision, Kenji injected a miniscule, chemically disguised damping agent into the main regulator crystal. The agent—distilled from the data Naomi gave him and stabilized by his core Yami-ishi—changed the harmonic signature of the entire hub, shifting the Kōrin Assembly's frequency just a few critical notches lower.
The change was completely imperceptible to the Sentinels and appeared to be a miraculous self-stabilization. Kenji had just saved Kaito Jin and his entire team by giving their tech a temporary resistance to the Kyojin's tune.
"The tune is fixed," Kenji whispered, pulling his hand away. "Go ahead, heroes. Win your pure victory."