(Ninja Academy Headquarters)
The entire atmosphere was extremely oppressive. Elemental pressure bore down on both Zayne and Tommy, locking them in place as if the world itself was rejecting their presence.
Sensei Watanabe looked down at them from above, his face devoid of emotion—gone was the earlier humility. It was clear now. He, or something within him, was truly pissed.
"Shit… he's really pissed," Zayne muttered inwardly as he struggled against the crushing weight of the domain.
Tommy had it far worse. His back arched slightly as he grit his teeth, veins standing out as he fought against the overwhelming pressure pressing him toward the ground.
"I'll give you one last chance," Sensei Watanabe said coldly. "Leave, and never return."
It was his final offer—what he believed was more than enough leniency.
Zayne slowly raised his head, staring straight at Sensei Watanabe. Beneath his helmet, a smirk formed.
"Heh… do you really think you're the only one who can command a domain?" he replied, mockery dripping from his tone.
Sensei Watanabe frowned. These two were far tougher than he had anticipated.
Zayne gave him no time to respond.
"Grid Sovereign Manifestation."
A flash of chaotic light erupted from Zayne, swallowing the battlefield in less than a second. The chaotic domain slammed into Sensei Watanabe's elemental domain, wrapping around it like a predator and suppressing its authority by forty percent.
"Uhn!"
Sensei Watanabe groaned as his strength was forcibly drained. His body wavered before he lost control of his flight, tumbling down and landing heavily on the ground.
At the same time, Zayne and Tommy felt power surge through them. A fifty percent boost coursed through their bodies, their strength climbing infinitely close to B-tier.
Now they could finally contend with the opponent before them—and secure the gem.
Yet, despite the suppression, Sensei Watanabe stood firmly on the ground, a strange scroll already in his hands. The sight alone sent a ripple of unease through them.
This man really does have tricks up his sleeve, Zayne thought.
Sensei Watanabe bit his finger and smeared his blood across the scroll.
Then, something eerie happened.
Figures burst forth from the academy grounds—ninjas clad in black, their numbers quickly reaching a hundred. Each radiated power around C– tier, their movements stiff and lifeless.
"No wonder he's so composed," Zayne thought as he observed the summoned figures. "So this is his trump card."
Despite the situation, he couldn't help but feel a hint of admiration. Ninjas truly had endless methods—especially when it came to assassination and warfare.
Tommy noticed as well, but he showed no concern. With their current strength, these ninjas were nothing more than obstacles to be crushed.
"Let's end this, kid," Tommy said calmly.
Zayne nodded, dropping into a proper fighting stance.
"Attack," Sensei Watanabe commanded.
The scroll floated before him as the motionless figures surged forward. Their speed surpassed human limits, weapons and kunai flashing as they pierced through the air with deadly momentum.
Zayne and Tommy moved as well—their figures blurring as they flash-stepped forward, countering each strike from the strange ninjas.
The battle erupted instantly.
Zayne and Tommy tore into the summoned ninjas like living storms. There was no hesitation, no wasted movement—only precision and overwhelming force. Fists collided with masked faces, sending bodies flying. Blades clashed, sparks bursting as Omni-energy and Zeo power carved through weapons and flesh alike.
Tommy moved like a seasoned war god. His Zeo Star Sword sang through the air, every slash clean and devastating. One moment he was there—next, a ninja collapsed in pieces behind him, body dissolving into black mist before it even hit the ground. He spun, kicked, and struck with ruthless efficiency, his movements refined by decades of combat experience.
Zayne was no less terrifying. His Omni-saber shifted forms mid-battle, switching between blade, staff, and pure energy constructs. He punched straight through a ninja's chest, Omni-force detonating outward and erasing the body entirely. Another tried to flank him—Zayne vanished, reappearing above, and drove his heel down like a falling meteor.
Boom.
The ground cratered.
Kunai rained from all directions, but Zayne barely acknowledged them. A thought crossed his mind, and the chaotic domain responded instantly. The terrain twisted violently—spikes of earth shot upward, pits opened beneath charging ninjas, swallowing them whole. Screams echoed briefly before being cut off.
Tommy landed beside him, blasting a group of ninjas with a concentrated red energy wave. The attack tore through them in a straight line, leaving nothing but scorched ground behind.
"This is almost too easy," Tommy muttered, twisting his wrist as he shook off residual energy.
"Don't get careless," Zayne replied calmly, crushing another ninja's skull with a backhand. "These aren't living opponents. They won't stop unless completely destroyed."
As if to prove his point, several ninjas tried to self-detonate, black seals glowing on their chests.
Zayne clicked his tongue. "Annoying."
He raised his hand. The domain obeyed.
In an instant, the unstable terrain smoothed itself out. Craters vanished, pits closed, broken land flattened into a clean, featureless battlefield. The detonations fizzled out harmlessly, their energy swallowed by the chaotic field itself.
The remaining ninjas didn't even get the chance to react.
Zayne and Tommy moved together now, synchronized like they had trained for years side by side. Punches, kicks, sword slashes, Ranger techniques—every attack landed with absolute certainty. Within minutes, the hundred summoned figures were gone, erased completely as the last traces of black mist faded into nothingness.
Silence returned to the domain.
At the center of the battlefield stood Sensei Watanabe.
He was breathing heavily now, his shoulders rising and falling. Sweat ran down his face, and the scroll in his hand had turned to ash. Yet even in exhaustion, his posture remained upright—disciplined, proud, unyielding.
Zayne and Tommy faced him calmly, weapons lowered but bodies still coiled with readiness. They had learned their lesson. This old man always had something hidden.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Zayne stepped forward. His voice was steady, devoid of mockery.
"Why are you doing this, Sensei?" he asked. "You know it was never yours. That power was never meant to stay here. It should return to where it belongs. Its rightful place."
Sensei Watanabe froze.
Then he laughed.
It started low—broken, hoarse. Then it grew louder, more unhinged, echoing unnaturally through the domain. His face twisted, veins bulging as rage distorted his features.
"Its rightful place?!" he roared, slamming his foot into the ground. "Its rightful place is with me!"
His aura flared violently.
"Do you know how much I sacrificed?!" he continued, voice cracking with fury. "How many centuries I endured? How much pain I swallowed just to make that thing accept me?!"
The ground trembled beneath his feet.
"I would never give it up," Sensei Watanabe snarled. "Never! I would never!"
His eyes flashed red.
A demonic crimson energy burst out from his body, flooding the domain with a suffocating presence. The pressure spiked sharply, carrying a corrupt, infernal undertone that made Tommy instinctively take a step back.
"What the hell…?" Tommy muttered, tightening his grip on his sword.
Zayne's expression darkened beneath his helmet. He raised his morpher instinctively.
"Scan."
A translucent panel appeared before him.
[Target Identified: Sensei Watanabe]
[Age: 1,000+ years]
[Base Rank: B– Tier]
[Current Rank: C Tier (Suppressed)]
[Status: Power Rising]
[Anomaly Detected]
[Curse Source: Mephisto]
[Viable solution: Use Omni-resonance drive]
Zayne clenched his fist.
"Damn it…" he cursed inwardly.
Everything made sense now—the excessive aggression, the obsession, the unnatural resistance to reason. This wasn't just pride or stubbornness. Sensei Watanabe was bound by a curse.
A curse from Mephisto.
Zayne looked up at the raging old master, crimson energy writhing around him like living chains.
"It seems," Zayne said quietly, his tone turning cold and resolute, "I'll have to use that skill… and beat the curse out of him."
Sensei Watanabe moved first.
There was no warning, no restraint left in him. The moment the curse surged to its peak, he unleashed everything.
Elemental attacks tore through the domain—firestorms laced with demonic corruption, lightning warped into crimson spears, winds sharp enough to flay flesh, earth spikes dripping with blackened energy. Each element had been twisted, polluted by the infernal curse until it no longer resembled its original purity. These were not techniques meant to subdue. They were meant to annihilate.
"DIE!"
Sensei Watanabe roared, his voice distorted as the attacks converged on Zayne and Tommy from all directions.
Tommy's eyes widened. "Zayne—!"
But Zayne did not hesitate anymore.
"Omni-resonance drive."
The moment the words left his mouth, his body ignited.
A violent crimson glow erupted from his Phase 2 Omni-Suit, energy surging like a raging inferno beneath his armor. The pressure spiked instantly, tearing apart the demonic elemental attacks before they could even reach him. His aura expanded outward, overwhelming and absolute.
Power flooded his system.
+30%.
His strength finally stabilized at true B- tier standards.
Zayne lifted his head slowly, red light pulsing from the seams of his armor. The chaotic domain trembled in response, as if acknowledging its sovereign.
He turned his head slightly toward Tommy.
"Dr. O," Zayne said calmly, his voice carrying unquestionable authority. "Get out of here. Secure the Dino Gem. Who knows what other schemes he has prepared?"
Tommy clenched his jaw. He wanted to argue—but one look at Zayne told him this fight was no longer meant for two people.
"…Got it," Tommy replied. "Don't die on me, kid."
Zayne snorted faintly.
With a flash of red light, Tommy teleported away, exiting the overlapping domains entirely. The moment he left, the battlefield seemed to narrow, deathly silent. Just two individuals facing one another.
Zayne floated upward, hovering effortlessly in the corrupted sky. His Omni-Suit gleamed under the darkened atmosphere, red light reflecting off shattered terrain and drifting debris.
He cracked his knuckles slowly, rolling his shoulders as if warming up.
"It's only you and me now, old man," Zayne said evenly.
Sensei Watanabe answered with a feral scream and launched himself forward.
The collision was instantaneous.
Their fists met midair.
BOOM!
The shockwave ripped through the domain, shattering distant mountains and tearing open the ground below. The atmosphere warped violently, space itself distorting from the sheer force of impact. If they weren't in a domain, a country could be destroyed by the impact of their attacks.
They disappeared.
Not vanished—but moved too fast to be perceived.
To anyone below B- tier, the battlefield would appear empty, save for sudden explosions and collapsing terrain. Only the consequences of their movements remained—craters forming out of nowhere, pressure waves flattening forests, lightning detonating without visible sources.
Zayne and Sensei Watanabe clashed relentlessly.
Punches flew like bullets, each strike carrying the force of a meteorite. Kicks shattered the air, leaving sonic booms in their wake. They flashed across the sky, colliding again and again, trading blows at speeds that defied logic.
Sensei Watanabe fought like a madman. His attacks were wild, brutal, and relentless, demonic energy bleeding into every movement. He clawed, struck, blasted, and crushed, screaming with every exchange.
The demonic aura tried to seep into Zayne, pressing against his defenses, whispering corruption and despair.
But it didn't work.
The Omni-resonance drive flared brighter each time the corruption touched him, instantly purging it. The demonic energy became irrelevant—like poison failing to affect an immune body.
Zayne was calm.
He countered every reckless assault with precision, reading Sensei Watanabe's movements, adjusting in real time. Where the old master fought with rage, Zayne fought with absolute control.
"I WOULD NEVER GIVE UP!"
Sensei Watanabe screamed midair, slamming both fists downward in a desperate, all-or-nothing attack.
Zayne's eyes narrowed.
He rose higher.
"Apocalypse Descent."
A massive shark-like phantom formed behind him, roaring as it descended with Zayne at its core. Omni-force compressed to its absolute limit, space screaming as the attack fell.
"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK."
BOOM!
The impact was catastrophic.
Sensei Watanabe was driven straight into the ground, the earth collapsing inward as if struck by a divine judgment. A massive crater formed, dust and debris blasting outward in a blinding wave.
When the dust settled, Zayne hovered above, arms crossed, his aura still blazing crimson.
Below him, Sensei Watanabe lay broken, his body twitching weakly.
Then something strange happened.
Dark energy began to seep out of his body. No—not seep. It was being forcibly expelled. The red demonic aura writhed violently, separating from its host like a living parasite being torn free.
Sensei Watanabe gasped, his eyes clearing for the first time in centuries as the curse was ripped away.
The demonic aura screeched, trying to flee, warping toward the edge of the domain like a terrified beast.
Zayne snorted coldly.
"Trying to run?" he said, extending his hand. "I don't think so."
A golden construct formed instantly—a four-cornered cube inscribed with complex runes and universal symbols.
"Universal Prison Prism." (UPP)
The cube snapped shut around the fleeing aura, locking it in place. The demonic energy slammed against the inner walls, shrieking, but there was no escape.
Zayne closed his fist, shrinking the prism until it fit neatly in his palm.
He stared at it for a moment, his expression unreadable beneath the helmet.
"This planet is getting more chaotic than I anticipated," he muttered. "Even someone as ancient and strong as Sensei Watanabe was cursed by Mephisto. I should be more careful from now on."