After the battle, Kuzan sat beside Loa, watching Marineford slowly settle down. His clothes were a little torn, but he was unscathed. Loa, on the other hand, was bruised and swollen.
Kuzan had achieved his first objective. Loa's strength needed no explanation; he had proved it in their fight.
During Kuzan's two-month absence, Loa had kept improving at the terrifying pace he had shown under Kuzan's training. Now even Kuzan had to take him seriously to defeat him.
Kuzan was pleased with that progress. Better yet, Loa hadn't kept developing techniques specifically to counter him!
But...
When Kuzan thought about the matter Sengoku had entrusted to him, and the patients still lying in the hospital, his head began to ache.
"Hey, Loa."
"Hmm? What is it?" Loa turned toward him. His swollen eyes could barely open to slits, making him look ridiculous.
Kuzan couldn't laugh. Resting his chin on his hand, he asked quietly, "I heard you crippled the CP9 agents. Is that true?"
Loa's heart sank.
So it is about that. He sighed inwardly.
He had suspected as much before coming here.
Zephyr had told him that day not to tell anyone what had happened. Zephyr would deal with the World Government's investigators himself; the fewer people who knew, the better for Loa.
But Loa's conscience wouldn't let him hide it from his teacher. He had come prepared to tell Kuzan everything.
After a brief silence, Loa took a deep breath. "Yes. Even Rob Lucci, who got off the lightest, will probably never reach his full potential now. You could call him crippled too."
Then he told Kuzan exactly what had happened that day.
As Kuzan listened, the arm supporting his chin abruptly turned to ice. Bitter cold spilled into the air. He looked at Loa, anger in his