One punch

After another long day of training, Boom was taking his evening run through the city. This was about the time when all sorts of thugs started moving on the streets and cases of muggings went up.

It made the runs a little more interesting and at the same time, he got to help people in need. He got two birds with one stone!

Every time he encountered something like that, he would just jog past while rendering the assailants unconscious with a flick of his finger to the back of their necks.

This time there was even a young master kind of guy mixed in with the assailants. He was just about to scar a young boy's face with a knife while 2 bodyguards were holding him down. Thankfully Boom managed to intervene just in time.

Needless to say, the rich-looking guy had been mad at his interference. Boom didn't hit or flick any of them in this case since rich folk had a habit of making up every possible excuse to have revenge later on, and he liked to avoid such situations if possible. He had just blocked everything when they attacked and carried the boy away faster than they could follow.

It didn't seem like the boy had any personal connection to them so he left the matter at that.

It was an unfortunate truth that the richest people in the city could get away with most things, thanks to their influence over the city. And it didn't seem like things were going to change anytime soon.

These kind of things happened surprisingly often, too often even. Even though he gained a lot of self-satisfaction every time he managed to help someone in need, he couldn't help but think of all the times when it happened and he wasn't there.

He knew that there was nothing he could do about that and quickly forgot such thoughts. He was going to do what he could and that's enough. He wasn't some omnipotent god who could make everyone's life happier.

***

Waking up the next morning, he had gotten a letter. It had a time, and coordinates to some place. There was also a friendly text which said. 'Come to these coordinates, alone, or the boy dies.'

"Of course..." Boom couldn't help but roll his eyes. He knew right away that this was from the rich fellow from yesterday night.

There are many cases of him being followed due to a petty grudge but when they saw that his destination was the top of the mountain where Bang's dojo was located, they usually left it at that.

But to not be intimidated by the dojo, that guy's family was either really rich or they had some kind of ace up their sleeve that made them so confident. It could be both.

Boom wasn't very good with coordinates but thankfully his mobile device had an application to guide him there.

The allotted time was at 4pm and the location was in the middle of the forest outside the city.

When he got there, he was welcomed by a sight of the familiar young boy, tied to a tree and mouth gagged.

By his side the same rich-looking young man from last night was smiling arrogantly. He had blonde hair that had been combed back, blue eyes and a slim build. He was wearing a dark blue suit with light blue stripes and was surrounded with bodyguards, similar to the 2 from last night.

"Ah! I knew you'd come!" He said, oozing confidence.

"Yeah, good for you." Boom had a face of stone while glaring at the group.

"Now, be still while my men give you a beating, ok? Maybe then you'll have learned that no one messes with the family, and especially me."

"Umm, how about no." He answered with a deadpan face.

"Well, you don't really have a choice, do you? If you don't do what I say, I will ruin this twerp's face." The young villain said while pointing a knife to the young boy.

Boom looked around the 'playing field' and sighed. "Thank god you guys turned out to be just some random gangsters. I couldn't recognize you since you weren't wearing those gangster hats they wear in the movies."

"Do not disrespect us! We are a rising family and will soon run the underworld of this city! I've changed my mind. Guys, you can slice him up!"

There were about fifteen guys, all carrying knives. This made Boom think that something was missing. They knew he was a student of Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist so if they weren't complete morons, they would at least consider the possibility that he had asked Bang to come help him.

And so this amount of manpower wouldn't be nearly enough, everybody would have known that. Hell, they didn't even own any guns because if they did, they would have brought them. Which would mean they were only a small family. So where did they get all that confidence from?

The guys in suits surrounded Boom while he was looking straight at their young leader, who had now put his hands on his hips and had an arrogant smirk.

When the men came close enough, he made his move. Before any of them even realized what was happening, he snatched a knife from one of the men and threw it at the young man's hand with the blunt end first, causing him to drop his knife.

"Ahh! You bastard!" The young master shouted as he was holding his hand in pain. Turning to glare at Boom's direction, his face paled finding all his men lying on the ground and groaning in pain.

He reached for the knife he had dropped on the ground. But before he could reach it, Boom was already there, holding his wrist tightly.

Realizing he was in deep trouble, he shouted, "Thunder! Do what you're paid to do!"

This confused Boom, but he soon got his answer in the form of a silent kunai flying at and incredible speed aimed at his head. The swiftness of the projectile surprised Boom but he still managed to deflect it with a flowing hand movement.

He looked to the left, where the kunai had come from, with full alert as his instincts were screaming danger signals at him, and caught a glimpse of a sword coming for his neck at an even faster speed than the kunai had.

In the blink of an eye, he lowered his stance and bended his neck to the side to get under the incoming blade with all the speed he could muster. Boom survived with only a scratch wound on his cheek thanks to him following his instincts. The blade had grazed him mid-movement but luckily that had been enough. This exchange had forced him to let go of the pampered fool.

Looking to the other direction, there stood a lean man who was about his age. He had large, light blue, spiky hair, long sideburns and light blue eyes, and had a confident smile on his face. He was wearing a white coat with a light blue lightning bolt embroidered on the stomach and with fuzz along its cuffs, and white, knee-length pants. He had a two-sided sword with a straight end in his right hand and a similar one strapped to his back.

"Who are you?" Boom asked with cold sweat all over his face. This opponent was extremely fast and clearly a very dangerous opponent. Just now, he was a hair's width away from dying.

"Heh, he is an assassin hired by my dad, Rumbling Thunder! You are a dead man now!" The young master proudly stated.

"Now, this is surprising. Based on your movements earlier, you should have died to that initial kunai, but to have even dodged an attack from my blade, that is unacceptable. I'm afraid I can't let you live." Thunder said as he drew his other sword from his back.

Boom had now fully taken a stance while facing his opponent. He knew that he had to give his absolute all if he wanted to win this fight. He looked at every little movement his opponent made to determine his next move with intense concentration.

In an instant, Thunder closed in and slashed with his swords at Boom's neck and lower torso at the same time.

It happened even faster than the previous attack, and even though Boom managed to deflect both swords with the back of his hands, his still got grazed, making a thin line of red visible on his flank. He didn't have time to even acknowledge the wound though, since the attack was followed by two consecutive kicks to the groin and eyes respectively. After blocking them both successfully, the next attack was already on its way.

Even though Boom was physically stronger of the two, the assassin was able to exert more speed than him. Boom had met other assassins prior to this, but never had one been this skilled in combat. Every one of Thunder's techniques was simple but very deadly. Boom's movements were more intricate and balanced, but it didn't matter when the opponent's movements were faster and had the initiative. Boom needed to push his senses and reflexes to the limits in order to keep himself alive.

What followed was a barrage of sword slashed and occasional kicks, all being deflected by Boom's river-like movements. In the two spectator's eyes, the exchange between the light blue streams of energy left behind by Boom's martial art, and the silvery arcs produced by Thunder's rapid slashed, formed a beautiful, bright, light blue dome of light.

The encounter ended after a few seconds and the two fighters were facing each other again. Thunder was completely unharmed, while Boom's body was full of scratch wounds, little drops of blood dropping here and there. He wasn't focusing on them at all though. He only glared at the assassin while keeping his form ready for the next attack.

Thunder was wearing a smirk on his face as he said, "As you can see, you aren't a match for me. I have gone through rigorous training and honed my moves in the ninja village since I was a child. I admit, you are strong to survive to this point, but I will end you with this next attack." Then his swords started crackling with electricity.

Boom eyes showed surprise at that display. "Ahh, I'm beat. And you still hadn't shown everything. I really wonder how some random criminals could afford a guy like you. I never would have thought that I'd already have to use this but... I, too, will give you everything I've got." After saying that he first let out a deep breath while taking a different kind of stance.

'Awakening Breath'

Boom's left side was now facing Thunder while his left palm was raised before his eyes between him and his opponent, facing sideways. His right fist raised on the same height as his shoulders, in the same line with his chest and left hand, thumb down and knuckles faced inward. The feet were placed in the usual low stance of Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.

Up until this point, all he could do was focus on defense in order to survive the ninja's intense speed. To win this he had to go on the offensive, and he couldn't do that without using this technique he had just recently learned. Power wasn't the problem, what he needed was better agility, mobility, and maneuverability.

Boom waited for his opponent to make a move, since the current distance between them could be too much to catch him off guard. His concentration was fully focused on taking the ninja's lights out in this next attack.

Thunder's legs bent as he crossed his crackling swords in front of his left shoulder, and then he pounced.

Boom was ready, and he could see the opponents movements clearly, instantly deciding what to do. When Thunder was halfway to his position, unlike until now, he made an attack of his own and advanced forward with flowing footwork.

Thunder was surprised, but managed to see that Boom was ready to deflect the cross slash with his right arm as he was moving his left hand to a piercing attack. He was confident he would win this exchange by changing the course of the attack slightly and dodging at the same time. He could do this with his speed.

'Rumbling Cross Slash!' 'Instantaneous Effect!'

However, these moves turned out to be only faints from Boom. Thunder was forced to dodge to his left, behind his swords, and Boom knew that. As he did so, Boom retracted his attacking left hand and put all his force to his right fist, that had now changed from defense to offense, aimed straight at the swords' cross section as the cross slash was still mid-movement.

Booms flowing fist, gathered with energy, went right through the swords, shattering them, and continued to the ninja's shocked face, disfiguring it.

Thunder ended up flying through several tree trunks, away from sight. Boom didn't have any energy to follow him, but wasn't concerned as he felt his fist connect perfectly. The assassin was now unconscious, without a doubt.

"Heh, huff, seems like all I needed, huff, was one punch." Boom smiled weakly while huffing and dragging himself to the tied up boy. All of his wounds had opened up even more during the last exchange and he had lost a lot of blood. "Hey, jackass! Get lost already." He told to the scared young master, who was still next to the boy.

With a look of madness, he attacked Boom with the knife he had picked back up during the fight while shouting.

"Graaaahhh!!! Di-!" *flick* *thump*

Boom used his mighty finger flick to knock him out and proceeded to untie the boy with great difficulty, before losing consciousness.