Chapter 86: Third-Rate Style

Shin, Akira, and Seba map out how to break past Satoda's defenses. Seba tunes the special glove so Shin can squeeze value from his half-second window into what comes next, then lays out the roles: he and Akira draw the teacher's focus while Shin closes in for the blow. Seba cautions that even a clean hit may accomplish little, because Satoda's aikido lets her turn incoming strikes right back on them.

When Akira mentions that she can perceive routes opening up mid-fight, Seba is caught off guard and starts to suspect she may be a prodigy whose talent could crack the problem wide open.

The trap springs once Satoda steps into the gymnasium to grab something she left behind. Shin's opening ambush comes up empty, so Akira takes her on solo. Watching the girl read and adjust in real time, Satoda is reminded of Rion Akao. The instant Akira glimpses a way through, the teacher hardens her stance and the opening vanishes. Shin, drawing on his foresight, leaps along the exact route Akira had spotted and at last connects.

The students settle on a division of labor built around Seba's modified glove and Shin's fleeting foresight. Akira reveals her ability to sense combat pathways, impressing Seba. Their gymnasium ambush begins with a failed opening move from Shin, followed by Akira dueling Satoda alone and evoking memories of Rion Akao. When Satoda grows serious and shuts down the path Akira found, Shin uses his future-sight to travel that same line and finally lands the first real hit on their teacher.

Part of the JCC Infiltration Arc and gathered in Volume 10, the chapter's title Sanryu no Ryugi renders as Third-Rate Style. Its cover features Shin, Akira Akao, and Seba, the very trio at the heart of the fight. The installment showcases how the three combine unrelated abilities into a single coordinated strike, and it plants an early comparison between Akira and Rion Akao.