One month passed.
Winter had settled deeper over the Kaze Estate.
Snow no longer fell as lightly as it once had. The ground beyond the estate walls had long since been buried beneath thick white layers, and the trees surrounding the village now carried heavy crowns of frost and ice.
Morning arrived slowly.
A pale winter sun pushed gently through the gray sky, casting soft light across the quiet rooftops of the estate. Thin streams of smoke rose from distant chimneys, dissolving into the cold air above the village.
Inside the Kaze Estate, the day had already begun.
The hallways were warm.
The lights glowed softly against the polished wooden floors, and the distant sound of quiet footsteps echoed occasionally through the long corridors.
Servants moved through the house with practiced rhythm.
Doors opened.
Tea was prepared.
Breakfast began slowly coming together in the kitchens.
Life inside the estate followed its calm, steady routine.
And among those moving through that routine—
was Shinju.
She walked carefully down one of the long corridors, a small tray balanced neatly in her hands.
Her steps were quiet.
Careful.
But no longer hesitant.
A month ago, she had moved through the estate like someone afraid of disturbing the air itself.
Now—
her movements had grown steadier.
Still gentle.
Still quiet.
But more certain.
Her white hair was tied neatly behind her back as she walked, and her uniform sat perfectly arranged as she passed the tall windows lining the hallway.
Outside those windows, the winter world stretched far beyond the estate walls.
The snow-covered grounds glowed softly beneath the morning light.
Shinju slowed slightly as she passed one of the larger windows.
Her eyes drifted outside for just a moment.
The training fields in the distance were already marked with fresh footprints across the snow.
The wind moved quietly across the open space, brushing thin trails through the powder.
Shinju watched the wind for a moment.
Then she continued walking.
The tray in her hands barely made a sound.
The estate no longer felt as overwhelming as it once had.
She had learned the hallways.
Learned the routines.
Learned the quiet rhythm of the household.
The place that once felt unfamiliar…
was slowly becoming something else.
Something calmer.
Something warmer.
Her footsteps echoed softly as she turned down another corridor.
Winter continued outside the walls.
But inside the Kaze Estate—
another day was already unfolding.
One month later.
Far beyond the inner courtyards of the Kaze Estate, past several training fields and open snow plains—
stood the Third Great Training Ground of the Wind Clan.
It was enormous.
A vast circular field carved into the snowy landscape, its outer perimeter marked by towering white pillars that reached high into the winter sky. Ancient runic engravings lined the base of the pillars—old wind formations designed to stabilize the air currents during high-level combat.
Because this field was not meant for ordinary training.
This ground existed for real power.
The snow here did not rest peacefully.
It moved.
Thin streams of wind constantly glided across the field, pushing snow in swirling spirals that danced across the frozen stone beneath.
Standing at the center of this vast arena—
were two figures.
One tall.
One small.
Akira.
And Kaito.
The boy stood calmly in the snow, his white training clothes fluttering gently as the wind moved around him.
His white hair shifted softly in the air.
His blue eyes were steady.
Focused.
One month had passed since the night Raiden told his story.
And during that month—
Kaito had finally crossed the threshold of his training.
He had learned to control the wind that already existed.
Not create it.
Not force it.
But listen to it.
Guide it.
Become part of it.
The wind no longer resisted him.
It responded.
Today's spar was meant to test that progress.
Not through meditation.
Not through quiet control.
But through combat.
Because controlling wind in stillness was one thing.
Controlling it in battle—
was another entirely.
Across from him stood Akira.
The man who had trained him for years.
The man whose name carried weight across the entire world.
Akira stood calmly with his hands resting behind his back, his long white hair barely moving despite the wind flowing across the battlefield.
His expression was relaxed.
Almost bored.
But the air around him—
felt heavy.
Oppressive.
Like the wind itself respected his presence.
Akira was not simply a Sovereign Master of the Wind Clan.
He was its strongest warrior.
The strongest man the clan had ever produced.
And far beyond the Wind Clan—
his name carried across continents.
Across kingdoms.
Across clans.
Akira was widely known by a title few dared question.
The Strongest Man in the World.
A man whose control over wind had reached a level that seemed almost divine.
Storms answered him.
Hurricanes bent to his will.
Entire battlefields could be erased by a single movement of his hand.
And yet—
today—
his opponent was a seven-year-old boy.
Akira looked down at Kaito.
His voice was calm.
"Ready?"
Kaito nodded.
"Yes, master."
Akira slowly stepped forward.
"Show me."
The wind suddenly shifted.
"Everything you've learned."
For a brief moment—
everything became quiet.
Then—
Kaito moved.
The snow beneath his feet exploded outward as he vanished.
BOOM
The air cracked as his body shot forward like a bullet.
He crossed thirty meters in an instant.
Akira didn't move.
Kaito's fist swung toward his side—
WHOOOSH
The wind suddenly twisted around Akira's body.
Kaito's punch sliced through empty air as Akira casually stepped aside.
Too slow.
Kaito adjusted instantly.
His body rotated mid-step.
A kick cut through the air—
CRACK
The impact split the wind itself.
But again—
Akira moved.
Barely.
A simple shift of his foot.
The kick missed by centimeters.
But Kaito was already moving again.
The snow beneath him lifted into the air as the natural wind surged around his body.
Not forced.
Not created.
But guided.
The wind pushed him forward like an invisible current.
His speed exploded.
In an instant he appeared behind Akira.
Palm strike—
BOOM
The impact released a shockwave that blasted snow across the arena.
Akira blocked it with one hand.
The ground cracked beneath their feet.
For the first time—
Akira's eyes sharpened slightly.
Kaito didn't stop.
The wind surrounding the field began to shift.
Streams of natural air currents converged toward the boy as he moved.
He stepped.
The wind followed.
He turned.
The wind accelerated.
Snow spiraled upward into the sky.
Kaito's body blurred.
He attacked again.
And again.
And again.
Each strike faster than the last.
His movements were fluid.
Efficient.
Precise.
Every step used the wind as propulsion.
Every strike used the wind as reinforcement.
A punch shot forward—
BOOM
Akira blocked.
A spinning kick—
CRACK
Akira leaned slightly and the attack passed.
A downward strike—
THOOM
The ground shattered beneath them.
But Akira still hadn't attacked once.
He simply moved.
Dodged.
Stepped aside.
Blocked with minimal effort.
Yet something in his expression had changed.
Interest.
Kaito launched backward suddenly.
The wind followed him.
Then—
he raised his hand.
The wind across the arena shifted violently.
The natural currents of the entire training field began flowing toward him.
Snow lifted into the air.
Spinning.
Circling.
A spiral of wind formed around Kaito's body.
Akira's eyes narrowed slightly.
Good.
Kaito stepped forward again.
And this time—
he vanished.
Not just fast.
Gone.
The wind across the field exploded forward.
A sonic boom ripped through the training ground as Kaito appeared directly in front of Akira—
his fist surrounded by a compressed spiral of natural wind.
"—!"
BOOOOM
The impact detonated.
A massive shockwave blasted outward across the training ground.
Snow was thrown hundreds of meters into the sky.
The stone floor cracked in a spiderweb pattern.
The pillars around the arena trembled.
For the first time—
Akira slid backward.
Only one step.
But still—
a step.
Kaito landed lightly on the ground several meters away.
Breathing slightly heavier now.
The wind slowly settled around him.
Across the field—
Akira looked down at the faint mark left on his sleeve.
Then he looked back at Kaito.
And smiled slightly.
"…Good."
Kaito straightened his stance.
But Akira suddenly stepped forward.
The air pressure across the entire arena shifted instantly.
The wind froze.
The temperature seemed to drop.
Akira's presence alone bent the atmosphere.
The strongest man in the world finally raised one hand.
"…But now."
His voice remained calm.
"Let's see if you can survive."
The wind across the entire training ground exploded.
The wind across the Third Great Training Ground exploded.
Akira's presence alone seemed to bend the air itself.
Kaito immediately felt it.
The pressure.
The invisible weight pressing against his body like the atmosphere itself had suddenly grown heavier.
Akira looked at him for a brief moment.
Then—
he rose.
Not with a jump.
Not with a burst of speed.
He simply lifted into the air.
The wind beneath his feet spiraled upward like a silent throne carrying him skyward.
Higher.
Higher.
Until he stood suspended above the center of the massive arena.
Kaito's eyes followed him upward.
Snow and wind began circling violently around the battlefield.
The boy frowned slightly.
What is he—
Then Akira raised his hand.
Slowly.
Calmly.
He stretched his arm toward the sky.
And extended a single finger.
Only one.
The moment that finger pointed upward—
the world changed.
The wind stopped.
Not calmed.
Not slowed.
Stopped.
Every natural current across the arena froze.
The air itself seemed to lock in place.
Kaito's breath caught slightly.
Then—
he felt it.
The pressure.
It wasn't just wind.
It wasn't just power.
It felt like the sky itself had become heavy.
Like the weight of the heavens had gathered above the training ground.
Kaito's eyes widened slightly.
This…
For the first time since the spar began—
fear flickered in his chest.
Above him—
Akira spoke calmly.
"This…"
His voice carried easily through the frozen air.
"…is control."
Then—
he moved his finger.
Down.
The motion was simple.
Almost lazy.
But the moment that finger pointed toward the ground—
the world collapsed.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM
The air screamed.
The force of compressed wind the size of a mountain slammed downward from the sky.
The pressure alone shattered the air into violent shockwaves.
The ground below detonated.
Stone cracked.
Snow vanished instantly.
The entire arena collapsed inward as if struck by the hand of a god.
Kilometers of landscape imploded beneath the force.
The pillars surrounding the field shattered.
The earth caved inward—
forming a colossal crater that swallowed the center of the training ground whole.
Dust and wind erupted into the sky like a volcanic explosion.
But inside that collapsing destruction—
Kaito moved.
Instinct.
Training.
Understanding.
The wind.
He didn't force it.
He didn't command it.
He gathered it.
The natural wind across the battlefield rushed toward him.
Spiraling.
Layering.
Compressing.
His hands moved quickly.
Guiding the currents.
Shaping them.
A dome formed around his body.
A sphere of violently rotating natural wind.
The moment the descending pressure struck
BOOOOOOM
The dome screamed under the force.
The wind barrier buckled.
Cracked.
Collapsed inward.
But it held.
For one second.
Two.
Three.
Then—
silence.
Dust slowly drifted through the air.
Snow began falling again from the sky where the explosion had thrown it miles upward.
The battlefield was gone.
Where the Third Great Training Ground once stood—
now existed a massive crater carved into the earth.
At the center of that crater—
a small figure stood.
Kaito.
Barely.
His wind dome had shattered.
His clothes were torn in several places.
Bruises marked his arms.
Sweat ran down his face.
One of his hands trembled violently from the strain.
His breathing was heavy.
But he was still standing.
High above—
Akira looked down at him.
For the first time—
his eyes widened slightly.
"…Oh?"
That reaction alone spoke volumes.
Akira slowly descended from the sky, the wind gently lowering him back toward the shattered ground.
Kaito looked up at him.
Still trying to process what had just happened.
The sheer scale of the attack.
The power behind it.
The realization of how small he still was in comparison.
His legs finally gave out.
Kaito dropped to his knees in the broken earth.
His chest rose and fell as he breathed heavily.
"…That…"
His voice came out quietly.
"…was one finger."
Akira landed softly in front of him.
The wind settled.
The battlefield was silent again.
Akira studied the boy for a moment.
Then he spoke.
"You blocked it."
Kaito laughed weakly under his breath.
"…Barely."
Akira shook his head.
"No."
His voice carried quiet certainty.
"You understood it."
Kaito looked up slowly.
Akira crossed his arms.
"A month ago… you would have tried to overpower it."
"Today…"
His eyes sharpened slightly.
"You listened to the wind."
"You let it protect you."
Silence lingered between them.
Kaito looked down at his trembling hand.
The wind around the crater moved softly again.
Natural.
Free.
Akira turned slightly and looked across the destroyed training ground.
Then back at Kaito.
"…You're ready."
Kaito frowned slightly.
"…For what?"
Akira's gaze hardened slightly.
"For the world beyond this village."
The wind moved gently across the massive crater.
And somewhere deep in Kaito's chest—
something stirred.
Not fear.
Not doubt.
But the quiet beginning of something far greater.