"…Huh?" Lily blinked, confused. She couldn't figure out what exactly Fubuki had suddenly "got." But seeing the confident look on her face, Lily chose not to ask any further questions.
After Fubuki left, Lily let out a soft sigh and slumped over the table, her mood visibly sinking. That conversation had made one thing unmistakably clear: Fubuki definitely had feelings for Shinji.
Yesterday, at the milk tea shop, Shinji had denied that Fubuki harbored any romantic interest in him, but that had only been his perspective. It didn't mean Fubuki felt nothing at all.
So now what? The person Lily admired and respected more than anyone else was about to become her romantic rival.
She quickly slapped both of her cheeks, now flushed red with heat. Maybe it was just embarrassment, a reluctance to acknowledge her own feelings. That had to be it. Right?
Later that same day, Fubuki appeared at Shinji's place once again. "Shinji."
"Psykos isn't here." Shinji responded even before she could finish knocking on the door.
"No, I'm not here for Psykos. I'm here for you," Fubuki clarified immediately.
"For me?" Shinji raised a brow, unable to imagine why she would come looking for him personally.
"So… you need something?" He asked, opening the door just a crack and peeking out cautiously, making no move to invite her in. It was like he was trying to avoid a neighbor who would often come to ask for temporary rations.
In response, Fubuki simply held up her phone, the screen displaying her LINE account.
"What's this? You want me to add you on LINE?" Shinji asked directly, his expression blank.
"Exactly." Fubuki nodded with certainty.
Although he had no clue what she was planning this time, Shinji didn't see any reason to refuse. "Done," he said, accepting the friend request without hesitation.
"You don't even have a profile picture? And your name's just a dot…" Fubuki muttered, her brow furrowing slightly as she looked over his profile.
"Stuff like that doesn't matter to me," Shinji replied indifferently.
"Is that so? Well, I'll at least add a note for you." Fubuki tapped on her phone and typed "Kamui" at first, but after a moment of thought, she erased it and replaced it with "Shinji."
"Master, Bang called earlier." Genos's voice drifted from the living room.
"Bang? What does he want from us?" Shinji immediately turned and walked deeper into the house.
Fubuki, without being asked, followed him inside and took a seat on the nearby couch like she belonged there.
"He said he wants to show us something interesting and invited us to his dojo. If we're interested, he'll send someone to pick us up," Genos explained.
"No need to send anyone. We'll head over ourselves." Shinji stepped over to Genos, then turned toward Fubuki before leaving. "I'm counting on you to watch the place."
"Mm... huh?" Fubuki blinked in confusion, not fully processing his words. A second later, her eyes widened. "Wait a minute!"
But it was too late. By the time she called out, both Shinji and Genos were already gone.
There wasn't anything particularly valuable in Shinji's house anyway, so leaving Fubuki alone there wasn't a concern. She might be a bit temperamental, but she wasn't the type to pull anything underhanded.
In an instant, Shinji transported Genos to Bang's dojo.
The dojo was perched high on a mountain peak, typically only reachable by climbing an exhausting number of steep steps, a serious obstacle for the average person. But Genos could fly, and Shinji had it even easier. With Flying Thunder God or Kamui, he could teleport instantly.
"Oh! You two showed up right after I hung up," Bang said with a nod of approval as he noticed their sudden appearance.
Having already witnessed Shinji's incredible speed and strength, Bang wasn't particularly surprised, but he was clearly pleased.
"So what's the interesting thing you wanted to show us, Mr. Bang?" Genos asked straightforwardly.
Shinji's eyes swept across the dojo. Aside from Bang, only one other person was present, a young man with spiky hair. It was Charanko, Bang's last remaining student.
The situation immediately clicked in Shinji's mind: Garou was back in action.
Garou had once been Bang's most outstanding disciple. But during one of Bang's absences, Garou lost control and went on a rampage, violently beating the other students during a training session. The aftermath was disastrous. Every one of them quit the dojo, unwilling to stay in the same place as him. Eventually, Garou was defeated and expelled by Bang himself.
Only Charanko avoided the beatdown. He had skipped training that day and, by sheer luck, became the sole remaining disciple. And by default, that made him the new top student.
"Watch closely," Bang said, settling into a stance.
Without another word, he began demonstrating the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.
His movements flowed like water, soft, graceful, and seemingly harmless at first glance. But anyone who had ever confronted this technique head-on knew its true terror. That gentle rhythm could shift without warning into a violent torrent of strikes, crushing the opponent before they had time to react.
It was a prime example of using softness to overcome hardness, a technique especially effective against humanoid enemies, be they humans or monsters. Even Dragon-level threats like Gums and Ugly President had been overwhelmed by Bang's mastery, simply because their bodies still retained humanoid structure.
Genos observed calmly, offering no visible reaction.
Shinji, on the other hand, studied every movement with intense focus. He was already wondering whether he could master the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist for himself. There was no downside to having more techniques in his arsenal.
Then, as he watched, his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan quietly activated and revealed its power.
[Alert! The host has learned the martial art "Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist." Reward: 10 experience points!]
The reason Kakashi had earned the title "Copy Ninja" was thanks to Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan and his ability to use chakra from all five elements. Combined with the Sharingan's replication ability, he could mimic nearly any ninjutsu.
This copying power stemmed from the Sharingan's insight. It allowed the user to analyze and replicate even the most intricate movements to recreate techniques. However, the ability was limited, eye techniques and skills without hand seals could not be copied.
"That's about it. What do you think? Want to give it a try?" Bang asked after completing his demonstration. He glanced at both Shinji and Genos. "You two are both extremely talented. I'm sure you'll grasp it quickly."
But Bang couldn't possibly have imagined that with just a single look, Shinji had already fully mastered the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.