While planning, Itozawa and Kanzaki had decided not to bring too many people to the swimming pool, so as not to attract unnecessary attention. They carefully selected two classmates to join them: Amako Kura and Norihito Watanabe. They sent the others back, telling them they'd make arrangements once they'd finished investigating.
The others had no objections and readily agreed.
As for why they'd brought Amako and Watanabe along, it was naturally because their abilities would come in handy.
Amako Kura was a Mind-Type Ability User. Her ability, "Vigorous Spirit," could significantly amplify Mental Power.
With her boost, Kanzaki's mental attacks would be more effective. There was even a chance he could control Yasuda on his own, make him stop flooding the pool, or even force him to withdraw the water.
As for Watanabe, his Body Ability, "Body Prison," allowed him to restrain and control external objects within his own body. It was a perfect counter to an ability user like Yasuda, whose ability involved water. If Yasuda fought dirty and attacked them with water right from the start, they'd have to rely on Watanabe to hold it back.
As for Itozawa, his role was to shield them from mental attacks. Kanzaki knew full well that Itozawa probably didn't have a Heart Wall-type ability, but based on how he'd handled mental attacks before, Itozawa could sense Mental Power within five meters of himself. And...
"The more mental attacks you take, the faster your ability reacts."
"So you're still not done?" Itozawa complained, sensing his Mind Sea slowly expanding beyond his body as he fended off Kanzaki's mental harassment.
"I'll be relying on you to protect me later. I don't want to get a headache because you slacked off."
Kanzaki didn't seem bothered at all. He explained as he gradually increased the Mental Power of his attacks, testing Itozawa's limits.
His Mental Power recovered quickly, so even if every attack sank without a trace, it cost him nothing.
Itozawa watched the gray pieces on the chessboard in his Mind Sea light up now and then, and was at a loss for words.
Could someone please tell him why Kanzaki was so interested in him? Kanzaki was supposedly the kind of guy who hated trouble, so why did he keep at it even though Itozawa had ignored him time and again?
"Because you're a lot like me. I'm just curious what you'll do once you understand how strong you are."
As if he'd read Itozawa's thoughts, Kanzaki replied again.
"What do you mean, what will I do?" Itozawa asked, bewildered.
"Nothing." Clearly, Kanzaki didn't want to answer.
Soon, they arrived at the swimming pool.
The four of them entered. The pool's surface was smooth as a mirror, with no sign that anything was wrong. Itozawa reminded everyone to stay on guard, then had Watanabe lead the way.
In the monitoring room, Yasuda watched Itozawa and the others enter the swimming pool, then turned his gaze away. He'd already guessed what they were after.
Looks like I'm the examiner again.
Just not sure whether this is my test or Rin's.
The other side's more dangerous, though. Better finish this quickly.
As soon as Itozawa and the others approached the pool, Yasuda activated his ability, and ripples spread across the water. Seeing this, Watanabe immediately used his ability, "Body Prison," and restrained all the surging water inside his body. An invisible cage formed around him, holding the waves firmly in place and stopping them from spreading.
Kanzaki glanced in the direction the water had surged from, assessed it, and pointed toward the monitoring room. "Over there."
Seeing that he'd identified the direction, Amako immediately spread her Mental Power around Kanzaki.
Her Mental Power flowed like a warm current, instantly strengthening his.
Kanzaki closed his eyes and focused. His Mental Power shot out like a blade, stabbing straight into Yasuda's Mind Sea.
Yasuda clearly hadn't expected this. The water being restrained caught him off guard for two seconds, but he hadn't imagined that Kanzaki would find his true body in that brief span.
Just as they were about to succeed, a figure suddenly appeared and attacked Kanzaki.
A punch crashed into him with such force that, if Kanzaki hadn't kept in shape, it would have been enough to take him out of the fight.
Itozawa looked closely. Long hair, a wicked grin—Ryuen Kakeru?!
What was he doing here?
But no matter how shocked Itozawa was, their best chance had passed. Distracted by Ryuen, Yasuda came to his senses and looked at Kanzaki, his eyes wary.
Then he frowned and shouted at Ryuen, "Your test is over. Leave now, and don't interfere with another test."
Ryuen shrugged, unbothered, a vicious grin on his face. "There's no fun in fighting a slippery Water Person, Teacher. You should've told me there were other people here I could fight."
Yasuda frowned, about to try again.
Ryuen saw his expression and realized he still didn't get it. Impatiently, he said, "The exam rules don't say teachers can't ask other people for help, do they?"
Yasuda thought about it. Something felt off, but he couldn't think of a rebuttal. After all, the rules didn't say that a student's strength couldn't be used as an advantage.
He struggled with it for a while, then gave up thinking and stopped trying to keep Ryuen from joining the fight.
Once Yasuda finally gave up trying to talk him out of it, Ryuen tossed out, "Go keep a close eye on those useless students' test. I can handle all four of them by myself."
As he spoke, he lunged fiercely at Amako. She looked like the weakest one, so she was probably an easy target.
Yasuda had been about to step in and help, but an alert sounded in his mind.
The Water Orb he'd set up as a warning had broken.
He had no choice but to turn his attention away and control the strength of the Water Person fighting the people from Class C on the other side.
Watching Yasuda leave, Ryuen praised Shiina in his mind for being so reliable, then turned back, ready to fight them.
Meanwhile, Kanzaki had just gotten to his feet and was trying to recover from the punch that had left him reeling.
Watanabe was still struggling to restrain the water coursing wildly through his body. It seemed there was no one who could stop Ryuen.
Watching Ryuen charge toward them, Itozawa still couldn't bring himself to stand by and do nothing.
So he stepped forward, placing himself in front of Amako, ready to take Ryuen's charge.
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