Koharu barely had time to react before the Death Phantom was on her.

  His bde swung fast. She barely parried, sparks erupting as steel met steel.

  She retaliated. A sharp counterstrike. A step forward. Pressure. Precision.

  The Death Phantom was skilled, but he wasn’t untouchable.

  Koharu pushed him back.

  She smirked. “You’re not so strong, huh?”

  Then—she saw it.

  A single opening.

  A perfect moment to end it.

  But she hesitated.

  Not out of mercy. Out of arrogance.

  She wanted to see the fear in his eyes. She wanted to hear his voice break.

  And that hesitation cost them everything.

  The Death Phantom did not fall.

  Instead—he moved past her.

  Straight toward Haruka.

  ?“Come forth.”

  The words left Haruka’s lips like thunder.

  The battlefield erupted.

  A storm of lightning crashed down from the heavens. The ground cracked beneath the pressure. And behind Haruka—

  A form emerged.

  Raizanka – Lightning Severance Blossom.

  Twin bdes, curved and crackling with pure Tamashkii energy.

  The Death Phantom never stood a chance.

  A single step. A single arc of lightning.

  And then—silence.

  The Death Phantom was gone.

  Not wounded. Not defeated.

  Erased.

  Even now, as his power surged—lightning splitting the battlefield, Tamashkii roaring in defiance—Koharu couldn’t help but think it should have been her.

  But in that moment, as the Death Phantom vanished beneath Raizanka’s fury, she realized something even worse.

  She had failed him.

  Haruka exhaled slowly.

  “That was careless, Koharu.”

  Her hands trembled. “I—”

  Then—

  The battlefield colpsed.

  The Shingan raised his hand.

  Golden energy condensed into his palm, twisting, unraveling, reforming into something monstrous.

  Haruka recognized it instantly.

  “This attack… will destroy everything.”

  He couldn’t block it.

  He couldn’t parry it.

  He only had one option.

  “Tenkai no Shingi No. 280 – Heaven’s Sealing Palm.”

  He poured everything into it.

  The battlefield colpsed inward.

  The attack was sealed.

  The Shingan was gone.

  And Haruka—

  Fell.

  ?CUT TO DAYS LATER.

  THE JUDGMENT HALL

  Haruka knelt before the Elders.

  “I cannot resonate anymore.”

  The Elders debated.

  “The 5th could use him.”

  “No, a warrior of his talents is unfit for the 5th.”

  “Well we can’t keep him on the Tenth.”

  “Should it be a full expulsion then?”

  “Hmm he completed the task but it’s the forbidden art that’s the true problem.”

  “I say get rid of him!”

  “We can tell the Setai to take him as commander.”

  Then—Haruka spoke.

  “Stepping down is not something I am forced to do. It is something I must do.”

  He requested the 9th.

  He was granted the 9th.

  And Koharu?

  She watched him walk away.

  As he walked past her, he stopped. He didn’t look her in the eye, but he did mutter a few words.

  “You’ll be better. I know it.”

  And with that he left the Judgement Hall.

  She never apologized.

  She never spoke.

  She simply trained.

  Until she became something strong enough to make sure it never happened again.

  ?

  FLASHBACK ENDS.

  Koharu exhales sharply. Her fingers curl slightly, nails pressing against her palm.

  She looks at Watari. At the others.

  “You now understand why I am the way I am. And hopefully you understand just how powerful the Shingan is. It may be a different one than the one from back then but still…. They transfer over techniques and arts before they pass. You never know just how many tricks are in their bags. And that’s another reason why we’re here. I used my authority to call in a useful ally. ”

  Silence.

  Then—

  The air inside of the barrier begun to vibrate as if someone was knocking on the very air itself.

  “It seems he’s finally arrived.”

  Cut to bck.