As soon as the two of them left, the cafeteria exploded with noise.
"That Uchiha Kaito is a total monster! Smoker looked like a kid in front of him!"
"What even is his ability? It looked like wind… and some kind of shockwave too?"
"Did you notice his eyes? So creepy. Just looking at them made me feel completely powerless."
"Whatever the case, Kaito is now undeniably the number one in the training camp!"
Ain stood still among her roommates, stunned.
She had expected Kaito might win, but she never imagined… he would win that easily.
"He's just not from the same world as us," one roommate murmured, glancing at the silent Ain and quietly sighing.
Liking someone who's excellent is one thing, but when they're that overwhelmingly exceptional… it's something else entirely.
Ain bit her lip, didn't say a word to her friends, and turned to leave the cafeteria alone.
...
Meanwhile—
Kaito was helping support Smoker. Smoker had his head down the whole way, his expression unreadable.
"What I said and did earlier might've been a bit over the top. Actually, those last few words you said… made me think you're not a bad guy," Kaito said, trying to break the awkward silence.
"No, you weren't wrong. This was mostly on me."
Smoker finally lifted his head and looked forward.
"I didn't step in to stop Barton at the start, and afterward I wasn't in any position to stop you from punishing him. Besides, I was the one who lost. I wasn't strong enough, so I've got no complaints about getting beaten like that."
Kaito found Smoker more and more interesting. He reached out a hand toward him. Smoker looked at it with some surprise, and Kaito smiled and said,
"Let's be friends. Start over. I'm Uchiha Kaito—nice to meet you."
Smoker paused for a second, then quickly took Kaito's offered hand.
"Smoker. Nice to meet you too—though next time we fight, just try not to hit so hard."
The two of them shared a laugh, and just like that, all the tension and bad blood vanished. Sometimes, the way men build friendships is strange but sincere.
After dropping Smoker off at the infirmary, Kaito returned to the dorm. As soon as he walked in, the three roommates rushed him and surrounded him. Even Glefos, who usually looked down his nose at everyone, and the reserved Binz came over with excitement written all over their faces.
"Kaito! You were incredible today! No wonder I, Breach, recognized you!"
"For real, I totally respect you now. From now on, you're my boss too!"
"M-Me too!"
Kaito smiled helplessly at his overly enthusiastic roommates, but deep down he felt a bit nostalgic. Their antics reminded him of the dorm life back on Earth.
While the four of them were chatting and messing around, a Marine officer knocked on the door and stepped in.
He looked over the group, and in the end, his eyes landed squarely on Kaito—understandable, considering those signature purple Rinnegan were unforgettable.
The officer asked politely,
"Excuse me, are you Cadet Kaito? Instructor Zephyr wants to see you in his office."
"Instructor Zephyr? Got it, I'll head there now."
Kaito left with the officer, and the remaining three looked a bit worried. Breach was the first to speak.
"You don't think Kaito's in trouble, do you? No way, this was partly my fault too—I'm going after him!"
"Could be," Glefos added. "That fight with Smoker caused a lot of destruction. Maybe Instructor Zephyr's ready to settle scores now."
Surprisingly, Glefos didn't argue with Breach this time.
"No way," Binz said quietly. "If Instructor Zephyr wanted to punish Kaito, he would've done it back in the cafeteria. He must have something more important to talk about. We'd just get in the way."
Breach and Glefos stared at him in shock. The guy who usually never spoke, never gave an opinion, suddenly opened his mouth—and even made a pretty good point?
Binz, a little embarrassed by the attention, quietly got up and started tidying Kaito's bed.
Breach and Glefos stared blankly at each other, neither knowing what to do now.
After a while, Breach suddenly shouted,
"Binz! Hey! That was my job! Get out of the way—bed-making's an art form too, y'know!"
"You're such a clown," Glefos muttered in contempt. Then, from who knows where, he pulled out a box of cigars and headed off to the bathroom for a smoke.
Breach sniffed the air as soon as the bed was done and immediately knew—Glefos had gone off to smoke again. His fingers itched. He loved cigars too, and ever since arriving here… cigars "borrowed" from Glefos hit different.
Quietly, he activated his Hook-Hook Fruit power. His left hand transformed into a bright yellow hook, detached from his wrist, with a thick iron chain connecting them.
Breach's Hook-Hook Fruit was a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit. Its power allowed him to transform any body part into a hook, and his conjured chains could extend infinitely.
Anything he touched while using his ability would be marked with an invisible tag. Next time he used his power, he could track and grab the marked item with perfect accuracy. He had already sneakily tagged Glefos's cigar box long ago.
Sniffing the air and grinning, Breach guided his hook-hand along the wall, slowly extending it into the bathroom.
...
A few minutes later, Glefos—completely satisfied—was pulling up his pants with one hand, reaching down for his cigar box with the other… and found only the cold floor.
Furious, pants still half down, he roared:
"WHAT THE HELL?! WHERE'S MY BOX OF CIGARS?!"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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