Chapter 4: Chasing the Azure Spark
The hunt was more frustrating than any physical exercise had been. Edgeshot's theory was that Minato's Quirk had been triggered by a specific cocktail of emotions: desperation, the will to protect, and imminent danger. The challenge was to recreate that cocktail without actually putting a child in peril.
They moved their training to a different facility, a massive, warehouse-like structure filled with advanced training technology. Edgeshot's methods were… direct.
He started with high-stress drills. Automated turrets fired soft, high-speed projectiles at Minato, forcing him to dodge and weave until he was gasping for air. The hope was that the simulated danger would spark the reaction. It didn't. He just got very good at dodging.
Next, Edgeshot put him through psychological trials. He would show Minato recordings of disaster scenarios—building collapses, villain attacks—and instruct him to channel his desire to help, to feel the urgency of the victims. Minato felt immense empathy, a deep and powerful ache to do something, but the azure aura, the inner energy he now thought of as his "core," remained dormant.
Days turned into weeks. Minato grew increasingly disheartuadened. He could now run for an hour without tiring and move with the silence of a falling leaf, but the one power that set him apart was locked away inside him.
"I don't understand, Sensei," he said one evening, sitting on the cold floor of the warehouse, his head in his hands. "That day, it felt so… natural. So immense. Now, it's just… nothing. Am I broken?"
Edgeshot stood nearby, his arms crossed. He had been watching Minato's every attempt, his masked gaze analytical. "You are trying to shout in a library," the hero said cryptically. "That day, your power did not erupt because of panic. Panic is chaotic. Your power, as you described it, was calm. It was a response born not of fear for yourself, but of absolute resolve for another."
He gestured for Minato to sit upright. "We have been approaching this incorrectly. We have been trying to create a storm. Let us instead try to find the quiet center."
He instructed Minato to meditate, just as they had done in the dojo. But this time, the goal was different. "Do not focus on power," Edgeshot guided, his voice low and steady. "Do not focus on movement. Forget the falling girl. Forget the cheering crowd. Go deeper. Find the purest, most fundamental part of yourself. What is the one truth that drives you?"
Minato closed his eyes. He let the frustration and a desire for power wash away. He quieted his mind, sinking past the physical training, past the memory of the flash. What was his core? The answer came to him, not in words, but in a feeling. I want to help. It wasn't about being a hero or being famous. It was the simple, unshakeable desire to be useful, to ease the burden of others. It was the same reason he had wanted to become a teacher.
He focused on that pure, selfless resolve.
And there it was.
It started as a faint warmth in his chest. A gentle flicker. He held out his hand, and for a breathtaking second, a soft, azure blue light shimmered around his palm. It was weak, unstable, and vanished almost as soon as it appeared, but it was real. He had summoned it.
Minato's eyes shot open, a gasp escaping his lips. "I felt it!"
Edgeshot nodded, a hint of satisfaction in his posture. "The will and the body are beginning to align. You have found the source."
The next challenge, however, proved just as difficult. Minato learned, over the next few days, to summon the blue aura with more consistency. He could make it coat his hands, or even his entire body in a thin, shimmering sheath of light. But that was all it did. He was a lightbulb that couldn't move. He'd summon the power, focus on a point across the room, and… nothing. He remained completely stationary.
They had unlocked the engine, but the transmission was missing. The Quirk was more complex than either of them had imagined. Activating his core energy and the instantaneous movement were two entirely separate pieces of the same puzzle.
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