The moment came suddenly.

  Ryuko stepped back, exhaling. His smirk twisted slightly.

  Then, his voice sharpened.

  “The answer to this… better be that you don’t have the energy for it.”

  Watari tilted his head, catching his breath. “Huh?”

  Ryuko’s eyes burned.

  “Where is it?”

  “Your final form.”

  The First Gate Watcher tensed.

  Watari’s smirk returned.

  “Yeah… I can’t control it. I haven’t used it much since Kuroda.”

  A breath.

  “I don’t even know what it’s capable of.”

  Ryuko rolled his shoulders, stepping forward. “So, you’re scared to use it against me?”

  Watari exhaled, his fingers tightening on his bde.

  “Well…”

  The air shifted.

  And then—

  The wind howled.

  The First Gate Watcher felt it first.

  The weight in the air. The way everything swirled toward Watari.

  His Tamashkii surged—

  A storm began to gather around him.

  The recruit took an unconscious step back.

  “What… is this?”

  The sheer weight of the energy pressed down on him.

  To him—

  Watari felt like something beyond human.

  Like something limitless.

  Like something that shouldn’t exist.

  His sword shifted again.

  The Raijin’s Fang was gone.

  And in its pce—

  A long katana gleamed in the flickering light.

  The recruit couldn’t move.

  “Even the Chūkan itself feels like it’s reacting to him.”

  The wind stilled—

  A final exhale of silence before the storm.

  And then—

  Watari’s voice rang through the air.

  “Ikazuchi no Kami.”

  CUT TO BLACK.