After the extra three minutes, Hiroshi finally lowers the bamboo completely before stepping back a little.

"Alright. Enough."

Ryoma slowly drops both arms from behind his head afterward while exhaling deeper through his nose. The lingering ache beneath the ribs settles more clearly into his body now, hot and sore beneath the skin with every breath he takes.

Hiroshi studies him briefly. "Sit down for a bit," he says. "Don’t act tough and suddenly start moving around."

Ryoma gives a lazy nod before lowering himself onto a nearby bench. Meanwhile Hiroshi walks toward the storage shelves near the back wall before returning shortly afterward carrying several ice packs.

Without saying much, Hiroshi presses one of them directly against Ryoma’s lower ribs, immediately drawing a faint grimace from him as the cold bites into the already abused muscles.

"Hold it there," Hiroshi says. "The swelling’ll get worse later if you leave it alone."

Ryoma leans slightly forward afterward, one hand lazily keeping the ice pack against his side while his attention drifts back toward the rest of the gym again.

By now Okabe has already finished the rope drill entirely, breathing heavily near the corner while Nakahara immediately waves Aramaki forward to take his turn.

And almost immediately, Ryoma notices the difference. Compared to Okabe’s heavier, more forceful movement, Aramaki moves beneath the rope with far smoother rhythm.

His upper body stays compact while his legs carry him forward naturally beneath each slip and roll without breaking balance once. Even the transitions look cleaner.

Nakahara occasionally taps Aramaki’s shoulder or elbow lightly whenever the posture rises too high, but overall, the movement already looks deeply ingrained inside his body.

Ryoma’s eyes narrow slightly while watching, genuine curiosity slowly surfacing in him as the drill begins looking more and more interesting to try himself.

"Hey, Hiroshi..." he suddenly says while still staring toward the ring. "Is it okay if I take another drill afterward?"

Hiroshi blinks once at him. "You still want more training after everything you’ve done since morning?"

"You said I was slacking off."

"I didn’t say that. But..."

"Just light drills."

"Light drills are fine. But nothing explosive. No heavy bag power rounds either."

Ryoma gives a small nod as he watches Aramaki moving beneath the rope smoothly, his legs carrying the motion forward without ever breaking balance.

And gradually, Ryoma’s eyes begin changing. The way he watches becomes sharper now, more analytical.

The rope, the foot placement, the weight transfer, the timing between every slip and roll, little by little, his Vision Grid begins processing the movement automatically inside his head.

***

[Motion Pattern Detected]

[Forward Slip-Roll Sequence]

[Primary Force Source: Lower Body Kinetic Transfer]

***

Suddenly, Aramaki’s movement immediately becomes reduced into shifting balance points and rotating body angles to Ryoma’s vision.

[Analyzing Weight Distribution...]

[Calf Compression -> Hip Rotation -> Shoulder Release]

Ryoma’s eyes narrow slightly deeper, finding the interesting part that the movement never fully resets. Even during defense, the legs remain loaded continuously like compressed springs.

[Comparison Complete]

- Pallof Conditioning: Static Stability

- Observed Drill: Dynamic Stability During Forward Motion

And then, Ryoma slowly visualizes himself performing the same movement instead.

[Technical Replication Possible]

[Physical Adaptation Still Insufficient]

Ryoma himself already understands slipping mechanics well enough. Nakahara drilled close-range fundamentals into him long ago.

What catches his attention instead is the lower body. Every roll naturally loads Aramaki’s legs before releasing forward again. The calves, thighs, hips, and torso keep reconnecting continuously through motion instead of resetting every time.

It feels completely different from stationary core drills like Pallof pulls. Those exercises build strength well, but this one teaches the body how to carry force while moving forward.

***

A few minutes later, Aramaki finally finishes the drill as well, breathing steadily while wiping sweat from his jaw with the back of his glove.

Nakahara then walks toward one side of the ring afterward, reaching for the rope line stretched diagonally across it, clearly intending to take it down for the next session.

But before he can unhook it fully, Ryoma’s already climbed into the ring and approaches that rope himself.

"Coach, wait... please, leave it there," he says.

Nakahara pauses midway before glancing back toward him. "What are you going to do?"

Ryoma rolls his shoulders once before stepping closer to the rope. "It looks fun. I think I’ll try it too."

That immediately earns a chuckle from Aramaki near the corner. "You?" he says amusedly. "You’re already known as the guy with the best defense in this country. Hell, maybe the entire Pacific region. Why do you need this kind of drill?"

Nakahara briefly glances toward Aramaki after hearing that. Despite sounding like a joke, the point itself is valid. Ryoma’s defensive instincts are already exceptional even among elite-level fighters.

So instead of answering for him, Nakahara simply folds both arms while waiting for Ryoma’s response himself.

Ryoma lightly taps the rope once before speaking. "You taught me infighting before," he says while looking toward Nakahara. "You taught me how to build my body for short-range punching. How to still produce dangerous power even when space gets tight."

Then he slowly demonstrates it; a small slip outside, a sharp shoulder turn, and then the body immediately rotates into a short counter.

Then another movement follows. This time Ryoma slips inward instead before driving a compact counter upward from close range. The motions look smooth and natural from years of repetition.

And next, he plants his lead leg firmly. His torso twists, and the three rapid body hooks explode in succession through empty air with the same terrifying compact mechanics that already became his trademark.

THUP. THUP. THUP.

Even without hitting anything, the sound of the punches alone still carries frightening sharpness.

"All of these happen once the opponent is already inside my range," Ryoma continues calmly afterward. "My punches land, they stop, or the exchange resets."

Then his eyes shift toward the rope drill again. "But what if they keep giving ground? Or keep backing away while tightening their guard again and again?"

He slowly lowers his stance slightly while imagining the sequence inside his head. "At world level, they don’t just freeze after getting hit. They retreat, reset, and survive."

Nakahara’s eyes narrow slightly now as the thought process becomes clearer to him. "So you’re thinking about sustained the forward pressure? Like Jean-Pascal Roy did against Caleb Mercer?"

Ryoma smiles. "So you noticed too." Then he lightly shakes his head. "But don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to learn Dempsey Roll or anything flashy like that."

His gaze returns toward the rope beneath him. "I want my body to stop losing momentum while pressuring forward."

Then he slowly mimics the motion again without throwing punches yet, just shifting weight from one leg into the next beneath the imaginary attack angles.

"I want to keep producing effective strikes... even while continuously advancing."

Nakahara watches Ryoma lightly demonstrate the movement beneath the rope for several seconds without saying anything.

And indeed, the first few steps already look surprisingly good. The slips are clean. The balance remains controlled. And the weight transfer is naturally efficient.

But after the third forward step, the rhythm begins breaking slightly. The movement becomes just a little too fast, too eager, as if Ryoma’s instincts are trying to outpace the mechanics themselves.

"...Fine," Nakahara says eventually. "Go ahead and try it properly." Then he points toward the opposite corner. "Start from there."

Ryoma gives a small nod before walking toward the far end of the rope again. Once he lowers his stance, he begins moving beneath it, starting slowly at first before naturally increasing the pace.

But before he even reaches the middle point, Nakahara already stops him. "Don’t get impatient yet. Feel the tension in your legs first. Build the momentum from there."

Ryoma immediately pauses mid-movement while listening carefully, still willing to accept corrections no matter how high his level already becomes.

"Go back from the start," Nakahara points. "I don’t want you losing the momentum just because you’re trying to move faster. Learning quickly is good. But your body still needs time to store the movement properly into muscle memory."

Ryoma gives a small nod before walking back toward the starting point again. And by then, the others fighters have already begun slowing down their own drills, their attention gradually shifting toward him almost instinctively.

Just like always, whenever Ryoma decides to learn something new, it somehow ends up pulling everyone’s curiosity toward him.

The drill itself is nothing unfamiliar to them, nothing unique to it, nothing advance. Okabe and Aramaki have already been doing it repeatedly for weeks now.

But seeing Ryoma take interest in this particular kind of movement still feels unexpected somehow. Because compared to Ryoma’s natural style, this type of pressure-oriented body mechanic actually fits fighters like Aramaki and Okabe far more naturally.

After watching it for a moment, Ryohei chuckles amusedly. "What’s he even thinking..."

"He’s just the kind of fighter who hates backing down," Sera says calmly. "And now he’s trying to learn how to apply constant forward pressure too."

Then his eyes shift sideways toward Ryohei. "As his senior, maybe you should learn something from that mindset."

Ryohei immediately frowns. "What? You trying to turn me into another Okabe now?"

"Not saying you need to brawl like him," Sera replies casually. "But you’re a champion now."

His gaze returns toward Ryoma inside the ring. "A champion should rule the ring like it belongs to him. Not spend the second half of the fight running circles after building a lead early, then calling it smart boxing because the scorecards still save you in the end."