Or you’re blind? Baki Rahen literally means “people surrounding Baki”, which is being examined. Jack has been acknowledged by Yujiro and ate with him, he beat pickle by demonstrating he now knows how to completely shut him down, and now he’s having his philosophies challenged by someone with...
Stop bitching because the author isn’t automatically doing what you want. Is taking things slowly actually a surprise or do you check a reddit list of the fights and only read them?
I’m sorry are you high? This idea was already played with when Jack and Pickle first met up. It’s not like it appeared from thin air. On top of that, it’s delving further into the current themes of this arc which is questioning the value of “aesthetics” and Jack coming out of his naive shell so...
Or, the more likely option, Jack is insanely stronger than before and can actually counter Pickle. And with Oliva, I’m sorry but he went from being technically outclassed by someone with comparable physical strength and a better grip, to actually thinking and using strategy.