Jin stood up, and began walking slowly toward the eyepatch man who now sat slumped against a tree, gasping. His arms, freshly cauterized by fire, smoked faintly, the stench of burnt flesh mixing with the wet earth.
The man had tried to stop the bleeding by searing his own wounds shut flames still faintly flickering along the edges of his mutilated limbs. He looked up, sweat and rain running down his ash-streaked face.
Jin stopped in front of him, his shadow falling over the broken man.
"Who sent you all here?" Jin asked, voice calm but it held no warmth. Just silence and steel.
The eyepatch man snarled through the pain, his breath ragged. He forced his mouth open.
"Like hell I tell you tha....."
CRACK!
His words were cut short as Jin's foot slammed into his face THUD! driving his skull back into the tree with a sickening crunch.
The tree shuddered from the impact.
The man slumped slightly, dazed, blood trickling from his nose and split lip. Jin's foot remained on his face, pressing down.
"I'm not in the mood to hear your bullshit," Jin said gently almost like he was talking to himself. But his voice was cold as ice.
He didn't move.
"You people pissed me off today."
The rain grew steadier, the soft pitter-patter turning into a rhythmic drumbeat on the leaves above.
"First you people scared my daughter… tried to kill my younger brother…"
Jin's eyes lowered to the unconscious form of Hinata, still wrapped in his coat.
"…My wife is lying unconscious here. And you tried to kill her too."
Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the battlefield in a burst of white light.
Jin's eyes lifted to the clouds, the rain running down his face like tears the sky couldn't hold back.
"And I had to leave my rank match… because of you and your friends making a mess here."
His voice was still gentle. But that gentleness now felt like the silence before a storm.
A silence that would break bones.
"You know what I'm more mad about?" Jin asked quietly, his voice nearly drowned out by the rain.
He looked down at the eyepatch man, who was barely conscious his face bloodied, breath shallow, body trembling from shock and pain.
"It's not this mess..." Jin's gaze sharpened, burning through the downpour.
"...but that you tried to break the peace in this world by trying to show people he isn't here."
Jin's voice stayed gentle, but there was something hollow in it now. A void where warmth should've been. His foot lifted off the man's face, only to press harder on his shoulder this time, pinning him back against the soaked bark with a squelch.
"This peaceful world..." Jin murmured, eyes scanning the storm above like he was talking to the sky itself, "...is my birth gift."
"And you tried to break that."
The sound of thunder rolled low across the landscape, slow and menacing.
"I was thinking of torturing you..." Jin continued, brushing wet strands of hair out of his eyes with one hand, "...but I have something else to do."
He leaned in slightly, his voice a whisper, like cold wind sliding down the spine.
"But you see… when I find your boss or whoever is behind this"
He paused.
"I will give him the most painful death I can."
There was no emotion in Jin's eyes now. No flicker of hesitation. Just death. Inevitable. Silent. Certain.
And the eyepatch man, in all his pain and rage, could only stare back into that abyss… and know it stared right back.
Jin slowly closed his eyes.
And then opened them again.
His eyes shining blue. Not just glowing. It looked like stars were dancing in them. Like a whole galaxy just lit up inside his gaze.
And then boom.
The temperature shot up out of nowhere.
The air around him trembled as if the planet itself just realized who had returned. Within seconds, the cold rain that had been pouring turned into steam. Droplets vanished before hitting the ground.
The heat spread fast.
Ten kilometers.
Forty-five degrees.
Everywhere.
People who had been screaming, running, panicking… suddenly stopped.
They stood still. Blinking. Breathing heavy. Sweating. Not from fear but from something they hadn't felt in a long time.
Relief.
One by one, they looked up.
And smiled.
No one said it. But everyone knew what it meant.
He was here.
---
On a rooftop.
The female news anchor had been broadcasting live for hours. Her hands shaking. Voice cracking. Eyes full of fear.
But now?
She just smiled.
The camera stayed on her as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her cheeks were red from the heat. But she didn't care.
She looked at the camera and said, "Looks like he's here, everyone. I don't think we'll be able to continue the report…"
She laughed softly.
That was the last thing she said before stepping out of frame.
---
Around the world.
People watching the news stared at their screens in silence. Some had tears in their eyes. Others had their hands on their mouths, shocked.
Then someone whispered it.
"He's alive…"
And just like that, it spread.
Smiles. Laughter. Shouts.
People began hugging. Crying. Celebrating. Phones blew up. Screenshots were taken. The internet exploded.
Within minutes, hashtags were trending globally:
#TheStrongestIsHere
#HeIsAlive
#TheSunIsBack
---
Not just Japan. Every country.
In India, an old man watching the news stood up slowly, clutching his chest. "He came back…"
In Russia, military officers paused mid-operation. One of them grinned. "he is alive after all."
In the US, a massive crowd in Times Square stared up at the broadcast. And then cheered like their team just won the world cup.
In Korea, people watching the news started crying and clapping.
In Africa, a village cheered. Someone lit fireworks.
All across the world… the fear disappeared.
And hope?
It came back.
---
On the rooftop
Asahi stood in front of the tall woman. She was soaked in blood, trembling, but still glaring at him like she had the upper hand.
Then it hit.
The air changed. The heat swept over them.
The woman's face twisted. "No… hey, don't tell me… it's him?"
Asahi didn't say anything at first.
He smiled. A lazy grin.
Then sat down right there in front of her, legs crossed like it was over.
"Finally," he stretched his arms, "I can get a holiday."
That woman's eyes widened. She didn't speak again.
She just vanished, running like her life depended on it.
Asahi didn't even look back.
Didn't care.
He laid down fully now, eyes on the sky.
---
Yuna stood above the short pink-haired woman. She had her pinned, blade inches from her neck.
But then…
She felt it too.
Yuna stepped back, casually, her grip loosening.
"...Run."
She smiled like she was joking. "As fast as you can."
The pink-haired woman stared for half a second.
Then disappeared.
Yuna didn't chase.
She just stood there, smirking.
"So he's back."
---
Yuki was helping civilians to evacuate.
Then everyone just stopped.
The panic melted.
Yuki dropped to her knees, not out of exhaustion, but… relief.
No one said anything at first.
But one man started laughing.
And then…
Everyone smiled.
They didn't even need confirmation.
Yuki looked at the sky, eyes glinting.
"He's here."
---
Jin stood there, calm as ever.
His left leg still pressed against the eyepatch man's shoulder, pinning him to the tree like he was nothing.
The man trembled.
"H-How… how can you do this? You're not him!" he shouted, voice cracking. Fear dripping from every word.
Jin didn't respond immediately.
He leaned in, just a little.
"You're right," he whispered, voice low.
"I'm not him."
Then he looked up.
The clouds above started to shift.
His lips moved, like he was silently mouthing something only he could understand.
A single tear slid down his cheek.
He took a breath.
A deep one.
Then
His eyes opened, and he spoke.
"Nafas ash-Shams."
A flash.
White light.
Like the sun itself answered him.
---
Everywhere
People nearby flinched, covering their eyes.
Even the ones kilometers away felt it.
Light. Warmth. Pressure.
And then
Like they had all been waiting for this moment…
They whispered.
"...Breath of the Sun."
---
On the rooftop, Asahi sat up.
His eyes wide, a grin slowly forming.
Then he started laughing like a madman.
"Holiday's really here."
---
Yuna froze.
Her smirk vanished.
Not in fear but awe.
She looked up.
She couldn't stop the smile on her lips.
---
Yuki stood up Just relief.
---
In the sky
Clouds parted.
A ray of white sunlight cut through everything.
The world didn't feel heavy anymore.
It felt alive.
And everyone knew.
He wasn't just alive
The sun itself had returned.
And in the blink of an eye… it happened.
Fssshhhh—
A sound like a deep breath drawn by the world itself.
Then—BOOMMMPHH.
A silent flash. A wave of pure, white light burst outward from where Jin stood, brighter than the sun yet gentle to the eyes of the innocent.
It swept the land like a divine tide.
In a perfect circle, stretching 10 kilometers, the ground shimmered and then everything man-made dissolved.
Buildings crumbled to dust, roads vanished without a trace, metal melted into nothingness, and all scars left by chaos were wiped clean.
No fire. No smoke. No rubble.
Only silence.
The light showed no rage only judgment.
It spared every tree, every leaf, every flower. Birds flew undisturbed through the still air. The grass danced softly as if kissed by sunlight.
People who had been inside homes or in buildings now found themselves lying safely on the soft earth, untouched and unharmed, as if the ground had cradled them to safety.
There was no screaming. No crying.
When the light finally dimmed and faded into the sky, what remained was clarity.
A massive, perfect ring of open earth smooth, pure, and quiet. Not a single building stood. Not a single stone out of place.
The sky above was flawless. Blue. Calm.
Clouds drifted like nothing had happened.
And within that circle, life remained.
Untouched. Protected.
Only the unnatural was gone.
Everything else… was at peace.
---
That eyepatch man didn't even get the chance to scream.
The light touched him
And in an instant, he turned to dust, swept away like he was never there to begin with.
As the last speck of ash disappeared, Jin's body began to sway.
His vision blurred. The world tilted.
He exhaled softly, eyes growing heavy.
"I still.. can't handle this thing," Jin whispered, his voice barely audible, like the breath of a tired child.
His knees buckled.
His body dropped
But it never hit the ground.
Whoosh
A swirl of black smoke erupted beside him, swirling like a vortex torn from shadows.
A hand reached out through the smoke calm, practiced.
It was Shun.
In one smooth motion, he caught Jin mid-fall, pulling him close like he'd done this a lots times before. No panic. No words.
Shun glanced at him briefly, expression unreadable. Then
Snap.
His index finger flicked against his thumb.
And with a low hum and swirl of smoke,
they vanished.
[Chapter 23 end]