The fight against Nobuaki had not gone as quickly as expected. The reason came down to a single thing.
"Despite every precaution, the value of real experience had been completely underestimated. Growth through combat and growth through training are two entirely different things."
Stupid mistakes had crept in throughout. Moments of lost awareness—a rock underfoot, a stumble that had no business happening. Mistimed dodges and mistimed strikes, even with Observation Haki running.
Miscalculated amounts of invisible Haki, not enough in one moment, too much wasted in another.
All of it stemming from one source: inexperience.
Training teaches and refines. Combat, on the other hand—except in the rarest of cases—is what makes everything actually useful. The gap between knowing a technique and deploying it when it matters is built in moments like this one, not in the training yard.
Several techniques had been elevated during that fight to levels never previously reached. And that wasn't even touching Armament Haki—the flow of it had become fluid as water, fast as lightning.
Taking stock of the progress required time, but eventually everything sorted itself out. Something still nagged, though. Several minutes had passed since the fight ended, and nobody had moved to attack.
The legs were still burning. Haki reserves had dropped to a quarter. A vicious headache was building steadily behind the eyes. Still—Toji needed checking on.
One look in his direction made everything immediately clear.
Nobody was attacking because they were too busy chasing Toji.
Dozens of bodies were scattered and across the field, all of them groaning and clutching the same spot. Three others were pursuing him at something approaching superhuman speed.
The picture assembled itself without difficulty.
While the fight with Nobuaki was happening, they had gone after Toji. Underestimated him—came at him without cursed energy. Before realizing what was happening, ten of them were already down.
"This kid really hasn't forgotten rule number three: when in doubt, always aim for the gronk-nuks."
Especially since these recruits had already been deep into training before the two of them arrived. Running on fumes, all of them.
The remaining three had eventually figured out that bare physical attacks weren't working and started channeling cursed energy. Toji's physical abilities combined with their fatigue had kept him clear until now—but the margin was visibly shrinking with every exchange.
"HEY, YOU OVER THERE!"
All three heads turned. Toji used the split second immediately, widening the gap in a single burst.
"LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE OR YOU'LL END UP LIKE HIM."
A thumb pointed backward. Their eyes followed—and widened.
Nobuaki's body.
Pure bluff, every bit of it. In the current state, holding off three cursed-energy-enhanced opponents without weapons wasn't remotely possible. But the appearance of invincibility was the next best option.
"YOU SHOULD COME PICK HIM UP! AT THIS RATE HE WON'T SURVIVE!"
Walking toward Toji, back turned to the three of them as though they posed no concern worth acknowledging.
They took the exit without hesitation—rushing to Nobuaki, gathering him up, leaving the field at speed.
Reaching Toji confirmed what was already visible from across the field. Not in good shape. But smiling—the wide, unguarded smile of someone who had just won a game of tag.
Bouncing around with barely contained energy.
"Big brother, big brother, did you see me? I did this, then this, and then this—"
Arms flew in every direction to illustrate each point. Something warm moved through the chest, strong enough to push the pain and exhaustion back for a moment.
"Yes, yes, Toji. Very impressive. But you realize it's not enough, right?"
A blink. Clearly not following.
"Now that we have proper equipment, physical training resumes. Get ready."
The energy drained out of him visibly. His whole body began to tremble.
"B-Big brother—are you serious? Back to that torture?"
"Of course."
Despair. Complete and total. He dropped directly onto the ground and began rolling.
"NO! I DON'T WANT TO! I WANT TO WATCH TV! I WANT TO PLAY HIDE AND SEEK! I DON'T WANT TO TRAIN FROM MORNING TO NIGHT UNTIL I PASS OUT!"
That continued for what was, personally, an unreasonably long time.
'What's gotten into this kid? Whatever. Too exhausted to care.'
---
Two days later
Deep trouble. Real, serious trouble.
The consequences of those actions were always going to arrive—but never like this. Not this fast, not this heavy.
The number of cursed spirits in that pit was overwhelming. It bordered on absurd.
A miscalculation. Somewhere in the back of the mind had lived a quiet assumption that Naobito would offer at least minimal protection given the age involved.
Naive.
The moment the Kukuru leader learned what had happened, both of them were thrown into a training pit packed with cursed spirits. Naobito did nothing to intervene.
None of them were particularly powerful—only one semi-Grade 2 among the group. But the sheer number was its own kind of problem.
The first activation of Observation Haki inside that room produced an immediate result: vomiting.
The cursed energy encountered until now had been disgusting. But cursed spirits occupied an entirely different category. Pure concentrated cursed energy fused with malice, wearing it like a body. The weight of their existence pressed through the Haki like something rotten and alive.
The body collapsed. Trembling on the ground.
Toji couldn't perceive them yet—but watching this happen for the first time in his life filled him with visible terror.
That sight cut through everything else.
'Pull yourself together. If you collapse now, who does Toji rely on?'
Back on both feet, difficult as it was. Positioning in front of Toji.
He looked up.
A forced smile. A thumbs-up.
"It's fine now. Why? Because I'm here!"
The line of a certain Symbol of Peace—delivered at the exact moment three cursed spirits launched themselves forward.
Both fists coated in black Haki simultaneously.
Something new. Something that had never worked before—Haki applied to multiple parts of the body at the same time. The situation had shattered the ceiling on it without asking permission.
A barrage of punches. The spirits came apart completely.
SPLASH!
Their remains and fluids covered everything. Before disgust could even register, the room had already closed in from all sides.
'This won't hold. Need to line them up.'
"Toji!"
"Yes, big brother?"
"On my signal—corner of the room. Run."
A nod. A sprinting stance dropped into immediately.
Five cursed spirits blocked the path to the nearest corner. They needed clearing first.
Down into a crouch. Arms raised to shoulder height, extending wide.
Mutoryu: Tatsumaki.
The gust swept the path clean. Toji read it as the signal without being told and broke into a full sprint.
Relief—and then a dropped guard, just for a breath.
Immediate regret.
The semi-Grade 2 launched an energy attack directly at Toji. Observation Haki caught it in time.
The body didn't.
The attack struck the side of his face. Blood burst from the wound.
"TOJI!"
What went unnoticed in that moment was the thing stirring somewhere deep inside—something that had never moved before.
It wasn't known yet.
But Conqueror's Haki had just awakened.