You are me and I am you,

Despite our differences,we are yet so similar

Zero walked towards Kato, who was struggling to break free from Lorra’s tree vines. Kato froze when he noticed Zero standing in front of him.

Kato: (confused) WHO ARE YOU?

Zero: (smiles) I’m Zero. Leader of the Kaimi Daja. The one behind what happened to your mom.

Kato’s thoughts raced back to the image of his mother in a coma at the hospital. Anger flared within him, and his scarlet-red eyes ignited with fury. With a surge of rage, Kato broke free from Lorra’s tree restraint and charged at Zero, fists flying. His raw power shocked everyone except Arou, who had seen this transformation before.

Arou: (to himself) That thing again?

Kayomi: (shocked) Kato!? (to himself) This isn’t the God Eye. This is something different—his own shadow technique?!

Lorra: (to herself) He broke free from my technique so easily!?

Jokita: (amused, watching silently)

Zero effortlessly blocked each of Kato’s strikes. Kato, undeterred, continued his assault, his anger fueling him as he faced the man he blamed for all his suffering.

Zero: (while blocking punches) You’re not very cool-headed, are you? And what’s with the disguise? You don’t look like the guy on the wanted posters.

Kato: (enraged) SHUT UP!!

Kato threw a powerful punch, but Zero caught his fist mid-air, holding it firmly. Zero reached for the necklace Ervin had given Kato—the one that concealed his identity—and tore it off. Kato’s face became instantly recognizable to Zero, Lorra, and Jokita, who had just entered the abandoned house.

Zero: (smirking) Now you look more like yourself.

Kato: (struggling) His grip is too tight! I can’t free my hand!

Kato attempted another punch with his left hand, but Zero swiftly kicked his leg, throwing him off balance. As Kato fell, Zero delivered a powerful kick to his head, sending him rolling backward. Struggling to regain his footing, Kato saw Zero ready his next attack.

Zero: [WATER MANIPULATION: PISTOL]

Zero fired a water bullet. Kato, reacting quickly, chanted “BLACK” and activated his god eye & shadow-hardening technique simultaneously, blocking the bullet with his hardened left hand.

Zero: Impressive, Kato Hamura.

Kayomi:(shocked) What the hell was that!? He used a technique without chanting BLACK or WHITE! What exactly is he?

Kato: (to himself) Damn it. He’s good. If I keep going like this, I’ll lose. What do I do? (looks at Kayomi) Mr. Kayomi’s still trapped in that tree. I’m on my own. (looks at Zero) He’s after my God Eye…

Zero:You don’t seem to control the God Eye on command, but on instinct. Frustrating, isn’t it? I have to take your eye while it’s activated. You’ve only just awakened it, haven’t you?

Kato: (deactivates his god eye)

Zero: (smiling) So you’re from the Hamorabi Clan. This is almost too perfect. It’s as if the world is guiding me toward my goals.

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Kato: (angered) YOUR GOALS!? YOUR GOALS HAVE TRAMPLED ON THE LIVES OF INNOCENT PEOPLE AND THAT DOESN’T AFFECT YOU!!? WHY DO YOU HAVE TO HARM OTHERS TO GET WHAT YOU WANT!?

Zero: I don’t want to harm people. Truly. If there were another way, I’d take it. But that choice doesn’t exist anymore. I’m sorry about your mom, but she was a wall we had to tear down to get to you.

Kato: DON'T EVER MENTION MY MOTHER AGAIN!

Zero: Oh? Did I offend you? You expect an apology? (mockingly) NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

Kato: (angered and determined) I’M GONNA STOP YOU AND THE KAIMI DAJA FROM KILLING THE HEIRS AND TAKING MORE LIVES!!!! I’LL DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO STOP YOU AND AFTER THAT I’LL……….

Zero: And then what? Go on. SAY IT! I NEED TO HEAR YOU SAY IT!

Kato: (no reply)

Zero: (sighs) I see. I get it.

Kato: (irritated) Get what?

Zero: You know, we’re not so different.

Kato: (angrily) HUH!?

Zero: You heard me. We’re the same.

Kato: (more irritated) THERE’S NO WAY I’M…

Zero suddenly closed the distance, placing a finger on Kato’s lips, silencing him.

Zero: SHHHH. I’m still talking.

Lorra’s vines restrained Kato again. Exhausted, his scarlet eyes faded back to yellow.

Zero: As I was saying, we’re not so different if you think about it. Aside from the fact that we can both copy people’s techniques, our goals are also the same. We both want to CHANGE the world. From what Arou has told us, you want to CHANGE the way the world views shadows and stop us from affecting more lives with our plans. Our goal is to CHANGE the world by eradicating shadows and lighters from the world. And how do we do that? By eradicating shadow and lighter energy itself from the world. And for that to work, we need the parts of the All Mother the heirs have.

Kato: Our goals aren’t the same!

Zero: They are. We saw a broken world and vowed to change it. The difference? I’m willing to do whatever it takes. Are you?

Kato: I’M NOT LIKE YOU!

Zero: Earlier you were yelling about how you are going to do everything you can to stop us from achieving our goals. Now that itself is a good goal but you didn’t finish your statement. You didn’t say how far you would go to accomplish those goals you were rambling about. You mind telling me why?

Kato: (looks at Zero in the eye) Because I’m NOT like you.

Zero: (smiles) BINGO. The difference between you and me is that I’M willing to go that far to achieve my goals and YOU still want to achieve your goals and keep your hands clean. YOU can’t eat your cake and still have it.

Kato: You’re wrong. You don’t have to necessarily kill people to make the world a better place. There are always other ways to do things.

Zero: And where has that gotten anyone? Nowhere. I’ve sat back and let others find different ways to CHANGE this world but it never ended well. More people ended up dying as a result. (a memory of a boy in the midst of a destroyed neighborhood flashed in his mind) The conclusion I got from that is that no matter what path you decide to take, there will always be death and pretending that you can stay clean through it is BULLSHIT. No matter what you do, the choice to kill will always find its way to you.

Kato: (thinks about what Zero said for a while) I’m not going to accept it. Just because You couldn’t find a path that doesn’t lead to death doesn’t mean I won’t find it. (after a pause) If I can’t find a path without death, I’LL CREATE IT!

Zero: That sounds noble of you, BUT I DON’T CARE. I’ve made up my mind a long time ago and you’re not about to talk me out of it. We’re gonna fulfill our goals and if you want to stop me, YOU’LL HAVE TO KILL ME, KATO HAMURA.

Kato: I’m not going to do it. I won’t step down to your level and kill people.

Zero: Still saying that? Why won’t you?

Kato: If I begin to kill people to fulfill my goals, the value of their lives would begin to change within me and I’m scared of the kind of person I would become when that happens. SO I WON’T KILL YOU OR ANYONE. I’ll prove to you that there CAN be a way to change the world without taking lives.

Jokita: (to himself) Interesting.

Kayomi: (to himself) He’s got a good head on his shoulders.

Zero: (smiles) I knew it. You remind me of who I used to be.

Kato: (shocked) Huh?

Zero: It’s too bad I’ll have to kill you after I take the god eye away from you. [WATER MANIPULATION]

A large amount of water suddenly appeared in Zero's hands as he prepared to use it to push Kato Hamura to make a choice.

Kayomi: (to himself) This is bad. (to Kato) KATO!!!!!! (tries to break free)

Zero: (to Kato) I’m giving you a choice. Activate the god eye or I’ll kill your friend over there. Maybe then you’ll want to kill me after that.

Kato: (shocked) WHAT ARE YOU SAYING!?

Zero: Are you deaf? I’m not repeating myself again.

Kayomi: (to himself) What!? I’m the target!?

Zero: Make a choice, Kato. Now.

Kato: (to himself) DAMN IT! DAMN IT!! DAMN IT!!! I ONLY LEARNED IT JUST NOW. I DON’T KNOW HOW TO ACTIVATE IT ON COMMAND

Zero: Still nothing? Perhaps you need a little push. [WATER MANIPULATION: WATER PISTOL]

Kato: WAIT!!!!!!!!

All the water around Zero’s hands all converged into his gun finger on his right hand and then he fired the water bullet towards Kayomi who was still struggling to break free.

Kato: MR KAYOMI!!!!!!!!!!

Kayomi: (seeing the bullet coming) Damn it. I can’t harden my body while I’m restrained like this. Even if I chant black right now, It’s hopeless if the shadow energy can’t move to my head because of how tight these restraints are. (the bullet flew closer) Damn it. Is this it? I never got to see Kinara and the baby before……..

As it closed in, Kayomi braced himself for death, only for the bullet to vanish at the last second. Mira Hashido appeared, her technique neutralizing the attack.

Zero: (confused) The water bullet vanished? How?

Kato: (shocked) Mira!?

Mira: Hey, Kato. Hope we’re not late.

Kato: We?

All of a sudden, Isaiah and Yamato entered. Isaiah’s shadow dagger pressed against Zero’s throat, while Yamato’s lightning freed Kato from the tree.

Yamato: (grinning) Hopeless without me, huh?

Kato: (groaning, cartoonishly annoyed) Now’s really not the time for your jokes, you know!?

Isaiah: (to Zero) Back off, creep, if you value your life.

Zero: (smirking) My, my. Such a sharp tongue for a boy. Care to back those words up?

Finally, Roshi arrived, swiftly cutting through the remaining restraints and freeing Kayomi. The backup Kayomi had called—Roshi, Mira,

Isaiah, and Yamato—stood together, their combined presence shifting the balance of the fight.

Zero: (smiling) Let’s see what you’ve got.

The battle was far from over.