Ultimate Kaisen

Inner Strength

It was the next day, and both Ben and Yuji stood on opposite sides of each other inside the basement. They both wore casual clothes,and had their hands in their pockets.

Ben wore his usual attire, but was missing his green jacket,thus leaving with only his black inner shirt, thus revealing the Ultimatrix in all it's glory on his left arm.

Yuji wore a dark blue hoodie and grey pants that stopped at his ankles, along with red sneakers. The duo looked at Satoru who had his left hand inside his pocket and his right index finger raised up.

"You're a head above the rest when it comes to close combat,Yuji." Said Satoru as he looked at Yuji.

"And your powers grant you so much versatility that you more or less have a solution for every situation, Tennyson." Said Satoru as he looked at Ben.

"So what you both need to learn right now is cursed energy control,as well as the bare minimum of jujutsu knowledge." Both Ben and Yuji reacted to Satoru's words differently. Whereas Ben looked at Satoru with confusion,Yuji looked at him with a warm smile.

"What's the matter with you two?" Asked a confused Satoru.

"Oh,I figured you'd be the best person to train us,so I'm just happy." Said Yuji as a faint blush appeared on his cheeks while smiling with his eyes closed.

"I'm weak,and couldn't save anybody. I nearly got in Tennyson's way against the curse. And even though we managed to beat it, I'm certain that if I had fought it alone, things would have turned out differently, and not for the best." Ben and Satoru were slightly taken aback by this sudden shift of tone from Yuji to a more somber one.

"As I am now,I won't be able to face the others. I want to become strong." Yuji, who was looking at the ground the entire time he spoke raised his head up to look at Satoru directly.

"Teach me to be the strongest." Satoru's initial surprise was replaced with a grin as he crossed his arms with confidence.

"You've got a keen eye." Said Satoru.

"Sensei, you're the one who called yourself the strongest." Said Yuji.

"So... just to make sure we're on the same page." Said Satoru, ignoring Yuji as he turned to face Ben.

"Do you feel the same way, Tennyson?" Ben's initial surprise was replaced with an expression of uncertainty.

"Like Yuji,I do want to get stronger if it means I can save more people. But I don't think I can get any stronger if it comes down to cursed energy." Said Ben.

"You don't think you can use cursed energy?" Asked Satoru.

"I know I can't. I didn't know anything about curses,cursed energy and all that until I met you." Said Ben.

"And if I told you you could?" Said Satoru.

"Huh?" Said Ben with a mixture of confusion and surprise.

"Is that what you meant when you were talking about that strange feeling I had when I exorcised that curse?" Asked Ben.

"That, and more." Both Ben's and Yuji's eyes widened in surprise as they understood the implication of what Satoru was telling them.

"Are you saying..." Began Ben.

"That your latent power goes beyond cursed energy, Tennyson? Yes." Answered Satoru with a smirk.

"What exactly is this hidden power? How is it that I'm just finding out about it now?" Asked Ben more to himself. His eyes briefly widened before narrowing as they fell on Satoru.