Chapter 242: Asauchi.

--Friday, June 19, 2172

Soon, the aura in Kai’s hand began to concentrate and grow darker—so dark it became hard to see its bluish tint. As the medical capsule started filling with a bluish liquid—an ultra-saturated nutritional mixture developed by Kai and Sage—Kai placed his hand on the capsule’s glass.

Almost instantly, the bluish liquid, in which the unconscious All Might could breathe without issue, began to bubble lightly. At that moment, several holographic screens appeared in front of Kai, showing endless physical readouts on All Might, especially his brain. Along with the screens, Sage’s melodious, feminine voice resonated through the room.

“All Might’s brain activity has stabilized.”

“Perfect. Then let’s begin.” Kai said in a serious tone, and the aura in his hand quickly turned into fine electric sparks that focused on the head of the Symbol of Peace.

Through their constant observation of the Symbol of Peace and his successor, Kai and Sage managed to determine that the real change between having and not having One For All centered in the brain—more specifically, at the interface between the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex, the exact same part the “quirk-stealer” modified in the Nomus. They decided to call it the “Spiritual Interface.”

Ever since All Might lost his quirk, neuronal activity in that area had started to decline rapidly, and with it the production of “bioenergy” by his modified cells, along with his control over it. This practically confirmed that bioenergy was truly a combination of “body and mind” and that what One For All transmitted was actually the “spirit.”

That’s why All Might could still use his hero form for a few minutes—because the changes in his cells were still there; and although the neuronal interaction of his “spiritual interface” had dwindled to almost nothing, it was only “almost.” There was still a minimal interaction, giving him just enough “fuel” to assume his hero form.

Therefore, the changes One For All made to the user’s body were more than just physical. The quirk could “nourish” the user’s “spirit” and strengthen it to be passed to the next generation—something terrifying if you thought about it. After all, if One For All wasn’t natural, the creator’s goal was more than obvious.

But although it was a bit frightening, it was just as useful to Kai because, thanks to observing Midoriya, he could understand to some extent how it did it—something that would go beyond merely restoring All Might’s powers.

If he could replicate on his own the way One For All nourished the spirit, he could, on one hand, help All Might regain his power, and on the other, increase his own power and that of the family—something he couldn’t ignore.

After investing many resources, time, and the tireless sacrifice of lab rats, Kai and Sage managed to develop a couple of reliable methods to “nourish the spirit.” In the first step—through an ultra-saturated nutritional solution, Nen Intensification, and electric currents—they would force the brain to increase neuronal activity in the “spiritual interface.”

This step, although the lab rats suffered a little, was something Kai had a lot of experience with, since it was somewhat similar to how he sped up his own thoughts. He was able to quickly get the hang of it and carry it out with the confidence that it wouldn’t cause any permanent damage.

But that was where the second step came in—the most important one, and the one he still wasn’t completely sure would work, though he had verified that it could be reversed with Angel’s Breath.

...

“Neuronal activity in the ‘Spiritual Interface’ has reached the required level, Master.” Sage announced, eyes fixed on All Might’s brain data. Kai nodded and, wearing a serious expression, lifted his left hand and began to gather aura.

“Then let’s move to the second step.”

Although Kai and Sage had confirmed that the first step allowed them to “nourish the spirit,” it was a slow process—barely any difference in real power after several weeks. Very different from the explosive, immediate power One For All granted. So the master-and-assistant pair started thinking of ways to replicate it.

In the end, they decided to simply copy One For All and perform a “spirit transfusion,” using Kai's aura to stimulate the spirit’s development. Since the way the [Vital Reactor] ability worked within the family had, in some way, confirmed that it was possible to use aura as a substitute for “spirit,” they chose an alternative method to the Nen beast. The goal was to make the method independent of Kai so the power would remain even if he died.

…

Under Kai and Sage’s watchful gaze, the aura gathered in Kai’s hand formed a completely dark sphere, which soon began to elongate and then shaped itself into a jet-black katana. Having spent almost 70% of his aura to create the blade, Kai started breathing heavily but quickly recovered and, using his special breathing to restore himself, announced solemnly.

“Asauchi.”

At Kai’s declaration, the sword began to release a kind of dark mist that traced subtle Aura Script patterns in the air. At that moment, Sage ran the final checks before looking at her master and giving a nod.

With a serious expression, Kai moved his hand toward the capsule, above which the dark katana floated, following his motion. When Kai placed his hand on the glass, the katana passed through it as if it were an illusion and soon reached All Might’s head, sinking in until it disappeared completely.

In that instant, Kai took a deep breath with his special breathing style and activated [Ren] at full power, causing his aura to expand uncontrollably, enveloping the capsule and the floor. When Kai’s aura touched the floor, thanks to an elegantly hidden Aura Script pattern, it was amplified even further.

After a few seconds, the liquid in which All Might floated began to “boil,” and the holographic screens started showing a wild series of changes across All Might’s body. Meanwhile, Kai activated his black-and-white vision and focused completely on the Symbol of Peace. In Kai’s view, the “double outline” of All Might’s silhouette started fluctuating violently.

“Neuronal interaction in the ‘Spiritual Interface’ is increasing exponentially.” Sage announced as her wings glowed in different colors.

Kai nodded in silence, fully focused on All Might’s silhouette, which began to grow little by little—but irregularly. Using his aura plus haki, Kai began to control it so it wouldn’t diverge from All Might’s natural shape, since in previous trials a large deviation in this growth could cause a stroke.

Hours passed, and all Sage could do was wipe the sweat accumulating on her master’s face with a cloth while reviewing all of All Might’s data in parallel. To the beautiful fairy’s relief, not long after, her master finally began to reduce his aura bit by bit until he extinguished it completely.

Using the Manipulation properties of aura, Sage quickly drew a chair over for Kai to sit, which he did without taking his eyes off All Might for even a second. After almost 30 minutes, Kai let out a tired sigh and closed his eyes, then brought his right thumb and middle finger to his temples and began to massage.

“I think it worked…” Kai whispered, a visibly satisfied smile on his weary face, which made Sage smile as she conjured a holographic screen in front of her and announced in a calm, measured voice.

“The increase in neuronal interaction in the ‘Spiritual Interface’ is progressing at the expected rate, and the ‘spirit’ deformations fell within the ‘self-correction’ limits. It’s truly a success, Master.”

“Hahaha!!”

Kai let out a loud laugh, then slumped all the way back in his chair and added in an almost euphoric voice.

“We did it, Sage! We reactivated the most powerful quirk of all! Now nothing stops us from becoming ‘gods’ and creating quirks at our will! Hahaha!”

“That’s a bit of an exaggeration, Master, but we really achieved something unheard of. We’re now a step above that vulgar quirk-stealer. Now we are ‘creators.’” Sage said with a proud smile, which made Kai laugh again.

“Though it was truly exhausting…” After laughing, Kai looked up at the medical room’s ceiling and let his arms drop as he murmured.

“It really was, Master, but now you can take a well-deserved rest.” Sage said as she began to wipe Kai’s sweaty forehead with a clean cloth.

“I wish I could…” Kai replied with a sigh, then looked at his reliable fairy and asked in a serious tone.

“What about the sniper? Did you manage to find out where he came from?”

“No, Master. The man came out of nowhere in a shop in downtown Kyoto, took a high-speed train, and each copy got off at a different stop. Before that, it’s as if he didn’t exist. There are no records of him ever entering that shop, and I already reviewed every second of the most recent surveillance videos in the area.”

“And what about Haruto?” Kai asked as he readjusted himself in his chair. Sage brought up a new holographic display with data and videos and explained.

“He hasn’t contacted anyone and has always been with Aiko Tanaka. But he’s been quite nervous, and in recent days he hasn’t missed a single news broadcast and keeps searching the net for information about Yumiko, Keiko, and you. But I detected something a bit strange regarding Ryoichi Tanaka, Aiko’s brother.”

“What did he do…?” Kai asked with visible interest, so Sage quickly brought up another holographic screen and explained.

“First, he carried on teaching as if nothing had happened, and although he reduced his advances toward the students, he didn’t stop them entirely. Second, he visited a strange bar in Kabukicho twice, where bringing any electronic device is prohibited and no camera points at the street it’s on—and Haruto was there on the same day at the same time.”

“Keep an eye on him, Sage…” Kai ordered in a thoughtful tone, bringing back his memories of that “teacher.”

In fact, Ryoichi Tanaka had been his teacher when he and Momo were in middle school. Although at the time he paid him no special attention because of his forced, “elegant” affectation, Kai certainly noticed the jerk giving Momo a strange look—which earned him a warning glare in return. But since the guy never did anything after that, Kai never paid him any more attention.

Thinking about it, though, the man didn’t seem very handsome or capable—just a fairly average middle-aged guy, even below the other teachers. Yet he was quite popular among the students, and it wasn’t unusual for them to gather around him like bees to honey. But his popularity seemed focused on the female students, since the female teachers kept their distance.

(How did he “charm” so many young girls…? A quirk?)

“Sage, what quirk is listed in Ryoichi Tanaka’s records?” Kai asked in a serious tone. Sage looked at her master a little confused but still ran the search and replied.

“His quirk is registered as Light Mist—apparently he can make his skin emit a faint light, about the level of a handheld flashlight.”

“Weird…” Kai said with a puzzled expression, then explained his suspicions to Sage.

…

“I see… It is a bit strange. I’ll start investigating him carefully.”

After hearing the whole story, Sage nodded seriously, then surrounded herself completely with holographic screens. For his part, Kai tried to remember a bit more about his former teacher, but finding nothing else, he shook his head and looked at All Might.

Confirming that everything was fine, he pushed himself over to a nearby computer and began studying again the reports on the samples he had brought from the spiders’ tunnels. The fact that those tunnels could block his Observation Haki was something that nearly kept him from sleeping, but unfortunately, up to now, he hadn’t discovered why it happened.

No matter what he studied, those samples only had soil and some mixed minerals—nothing more. They no longer had the ability to block his haki either. So, although it was practically a fact that the strange property belonged to the tunnel and not the material, Kai still reviewed the data whenever he could in case he found something.

After reading the raw study data, Kai set it aside with a sigh and began to study the genetic data of the “mother spider,” where he did find something odd. Although he hadn’t yet found anything similar to Aura Script patterns, he had found something else.

The spider’s genome had strange similarities to One For All’s quirk factor—not “obvious” enough to confirm anything, but too evident to dismiss as mere coincidence. He could feel there was something there—some relationship, some secret, some clue. But for now, it was only in the analysis stage; after all, that thing was a damn god-level incomplete puzzle. He still had a long way to go before he could fully understand it.

***

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