Akaimo, after fully recovering from his injury, rushed to Shinji's house to train.
Shinji: Hey everyone, look who's here… It's Akaimo.
Akaimo: Hi everyone—and sensei. So… what are we training today?
Shinji: We're practicing reflexes. Fast reflexes are extremely important—sometimes they're the only thing that can save you from deadly attacks. I've built wooden cannons that shoot wooden balls at slow, medium, and high speeds. We'll use them to test and improve your reaction time. Even improving it by a few milliseconds can make a huge difference.
But Akaimo… I still think you should rest today.
Akaimo: No way?! I already rested yesterday. I can't waste another day—I'm fully fine!
Shinji: I like your energy, but I still want you to rest one more day.
Akaimo: Please, sensei. If you see me falling behind, I'll rest immediately.
Shinji: Alright. Remember what you just said.
Shinji then placed five cannons facing Jeisuke, Shino, Akaimo, Momoshimo, and Shizuku.
Shinji: Here's how it works. I'll press one button. Only one cannon will fire, and only I'll know which one. The ball will first be slow, then faster. Later, I'll also bring you closer to the cannons.
Shinji: Everyone ready?
Akaimo: Bet.
Jeisuke: I was born ready.
Shino: This looks easy.
Shizuku: Just start already.
Momoshimo: Let's gooo.
Shinji: Three… two… one… start.
He pressed the button.
After four seconds, a wooden ball shot toward Shino at slow speed.
Shino dodged it easily.
Shino: Sensei, that was too easy. Triple the speed.
Shinji: You sure?
Shino: Yeah.
Shinji increased the speed and warned everyone to stay focused.
After another random delay, a wooden ball shot toward Shizuku.
She dodged it cleanly.
Shizuku: That looked easy… but it really wasn't.
The training continued.
Results (medium speed):
Akaimo: hit 6 times out of 15
Shino: hit 3 times out of 18
Jeisuke: hit 0 times out of 17
Shizuku: hit 2 times out of 14
Momoshimo: hit 4 times out of 19
Shinji then brought everyone closer to the cannons and increased the speed to maximum.
Shinji: Be extremely cautious now.
This time, the cannons fired at random intervals, not fixed delays—making it far harder to react.
They trained for six straight hours with two 15-minute breaks.
Results (max speed):
Akaimo: hit 50 times out of 70
Shizuku: hit 34 times out of 81
Jeisuke: hit 10 times out of 91
Shino: hit 36 times out of 67
Momoshimo: hit 29 times out of 61
They were wearing metal arm guards, so no one was seriously injured.
Suddenly, one of the cannons facing Akaimo malfunctioned.
Without Shinji pressing any button, it tilted and fired directly at Akaimo's face.
His face was unprotected.
If the ball had hit him, the injury would've been severe.
But—
Akaimo felt time slow down.
In that moment, everything felt delayed.
He moved instinctively and escaped the firing line just in time.
Shinji: What—Akaimo! Are you hurt?!
Akaimo: No… but… it felt like time slowed down. How is that possible? Am I hallucinating?
Shinji (thinking): I know why…
Shinji: The cannons were overloaded from nonstop firing. That was my mistake.
Later, Shinji treated everyone at a ramen shop.
Shinji: Tomorrow, all of you must be present at my house. No excuses.