Inside Nakahara's office, the atmosphere turns strangely tense afterward as nobody speaks for a brief moment.
The television light flickers across everyone's faces while Shimamura continues walking toward his corner with that loose drunken sway.
There's disbelief mixed into the silence now, because everyone inside this room understands exactly how abnormal that round just felt.
"…He's already inside the Zone now," Ryoma says with complete certainty.
Kenta's brows tighten immediately. "…This soon? So early in the first round? And he reached it before even taking that much damage at all?"
"Hm…" Nakahara hums deeply while folding his arms tighter. "It seems he's finally able to enter it at a whim now. Without needing to push himself all the way into danger first."
The arena remains loud even after the first round ends. Large sections of the crowd continue buzzing from Shimamura's late counters while replay footage flashes repeatedly across the massive overhead screens.
