The training session ended with a strange silence hanging in the air. Even as the players cooled down, the impact of the top three's performance still lingered — especially Kazuya Mori's devastating 12-second goal.
Renji sat on the bench, his muscles aching, but his mind was elsewhere. He replayed the moments over and over in his head — Aikawa's explosive power, Kisaragi's surgical calm, Kazuya's sheer hunger. They were monsters, and right now, Renji was still trailing behind them.
But not for long.
As the players moved toward the dining hall for their evening meal, the tension slowly shifted into conversation. Renji found himself seated with his teammates from Team Zeta — Sora Amagi, Kaede Arata, Riku Saionji, and Jin Kazama. Despite their exhaustion, there was a flicker of excitement in their eyes.
"So…" Renji started, looking around the table. "What kind of training did you guys go through today?"
Kaede Arata stretched his arms with a groan. "Man, our trainer was brutal. I was with [Old Legend] Hiroshi Takeda. You'd think being a long-range shooter like me, he'd focus on accuracy or power, right? Nope. He had me kicking with weighted boots — 15kg on each foot — while aiming for a moving target. It was hell."
Riku Saionji grinned. "At least you got to keep your feet on the ground. I was with [Old Legend] Seiji Nakamura — his whole thing was about controlling the field's rhythm. But his method? He had us play on a pitch divided into shifting zones — you never knew when a part of the field would shrink or expand. It forced me to adapt my vision and passing in real time."
Just then, Jin Kazama spoke up, his voice quiet but firm. "My training wasn't about technique. [Old Legend] Daigo Fushimi focused on mentality. He kept firing shots at me from impossible angles, faster and faster — but it wasn't just about stopping them. It was about staying fearless. Staying reactive no matter how overwhelming the attack. He called it the 'Iron Mind.'"
Renji nodded slowly. The pieces were coming together. Each of them was evolving, gaining new weapons. And soon, it would be his turn again.
But before he could speak, the dining hall doors opened — and Kazuki Shindo walked in.
The weights strapped to his legs clanked with every step, his face pale and drenched in sweat. Every muscle in his body looked ready to collapse, but his eyes still burned with frustration.
"That's the consequence of failure," a voice rang out behind him.
[Old Legend] Ryusei Hoshigaki followed him in, arms crossed. "Until my training is over, those weights stay on. Shindo failed the test because he underestimated his own limits — and now he's going to learn what happens when you ignore your own evolution."
The room fell silent. The sight of Shindo's struggle sent a clear message — no one was safe from failure here.
But for Renji, it only fueled his fire. He wouldn't fail. He couldn't.
Because his evolution had only just begun.
To be continued…