Chapter 24
Yuji Shinakawa.
When I heard the judge say to start, I didn't hold back, and immediately propelled myself toward Mokichi like a bullet. My body became just a blur, and it didn't take long for me to cover the 5-meter distance between me and him. The man looked momentarily surprised, but it didn't take long to react when I threw two punches towards his face, easily parried as if they were nothing. Although I didn't use all my strength in the attacks, they were not blows that could be easily ignored, and seeing that Mokichi was able to block them as if they were nothing made me truly frustrated, so, continuing my attack, I rotated my body and kicked his abdomen with all the force I could muster.
With his forearm, Mokichi was able to block the attack, but this didn't stop the force behind the blow from sending him back a few meters.
I can't measure efforts against this guy, I have to go all out from the start. Punches, kicks, knees, elbows, I need to use everything in my arsenal if I want to hold my own against this monster. My Boxing, Jiujitsu, and Jeet Kune Do, I have to use all of them together so that I have a chance of victory.
A smile formed on my face as Mokichi raised his eyes to face me with a serious look. It looks like he's going to attack this time.
I braced myself for the blond man's attack, but before I could even react, the man appeared in front of me as if he was teleporting, his fist advancing towards my chin at a speed that I couldn't even think to react to. 'Shit!' I screamed in my mind, and seeing that I couldn't escape, I projected my face towards the fist, in order to soften the impact.
But thanks to the man's strength, that didn't seem to work so well.
Bam!
My body flew backwards with the power of the blow, my brain rattling in my skull as my back slammed into the ground. I put my hand on my head as I tried to pull myself together, my vision slowly returning to normal. Shit, my jaw is fractured, if I hadn't projected my body toward his fist, it would surely be broken.
Pulling myself together, I stood up with difficulty and looked at Mokichi, who was adhering to a generic combat stance as he waited for me. If he had wanted to, he could have ended the fight the moment I fell to the ground, but he preferred to wait until I could pull myself together. I can't help but feel frustrated by this, it's as if I'm going back to when I was 14 years old, when I first tried to face my master.
With a sigh, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The businessmen watching the fight were shouting for the fight to continue, but I easily ignored them as I meditated. Using my ability [Divine Eyes], forces my vision to the limit, and I can hold it for 2 minutes before I have to turn it off. I will be forced to use this power, or I won't be able to do anything against this man's speed. If I can at least anticipate his attack, that's enough.
Releasing the air in my chest, I opened my eyes as I felt my pupils dilate. At the same instant, my perception of my surroundings increased in bursts, the world around me seeming to slow down as I turned my attention to Mokichi.
The man seemed to notice nothing, considering he showed no expression of surprise.
[1:58]
I cracked a smile and forced my foot onto the ground, causing veins to bulge in my skin.
Boom!
I exploded towards Mokichi once again, but this time, the man didn't seem to want to let me attack him so casually, him raising his hands to anticipate my attacks. Seeing this, I opened a smile, and using a feint so that he thought I would attack him with a punch, I quickly kicked his front foot, causing him to lose his balance. Taking advantage of this slip, I brought my knee forward toward his chin, putting all the force and power I could muster into the blow.
My knee came forward like a bullet, but thanks to the man's keen reflexes, he was able to put his hand on his chin at the last second, this serving to soften some of the impact, but not save him from the full damage of the attack. His head flew back due to the power of the blow, and just as I was about to continue, I saw his fist advancing towards me in an uppercut at tremendous speed, but thanks to my skill, I was able to stop my advance before it entered the area of the blow, causing it to pass in front of me.
Mokichi looked surprised when he didn't hit his target, and I couldn't help but smile as I sent my fist towards his face with full power.
Boom!
Thanks to the man's lack of stability, and the fact that I had escaped his attack, I was able to hit him full on, pushing his body towards the ground with my punch with such force that it cracked the concrete above our feet.
That's it! I hit the bull's-eye,' I celebrated.
The blow was strong enough to destroy a wall, and I could feel his nose breaking on my fist. Sure enough, the damage was considerable, but I'm still sure it's not enough to finish him off, I need to finish this fight while I still have the upper hand.
Confident, I pulled my fist from the man's face, but before I could fully retract it, I felt my wrist being grabbed, my eyes going wide when I saw Mokichi's hand around my wrist.
Damn it! I can't let him take me to the ground!
Before I could do anything to escape his hands, the man pulled me toward him as he threw me aside with ease. Due to his greater physical strength, I couldn't escape, my back hitting the ground as the man rode on my abdomen. When I faced him, I could tell he had a serious expression, and I sensed that he was no longer wanting to prolong this fight.
"Get off of me!" I roared as I used all my physical strength to throw him to the side, this partially working, when I could only destabilize his stance by throwing him a little to the left.
That didn't get rid of his stance, but it did give me enough angle to hit him with a right punch to the face. Thanks to my back being on the ground, the attack didn't carry much power, and only served to allow the man to grab my wrist.
He's going for an armlock!
I tried to escape by pushing the man, but it didn't work as he quickly grabbed my arm with both hands and let his body fall back, applying a perfect armlock to my arm. I felt my elbow snap, and I couldn't stop myself the howl of pain escaping my lips.
"Give it up, kid. I don't want to break your arm." He spoke in a calm voice, and despite his consideration for my physical condition, I couldn't help but feel angry at his words.
I realized immediately that I was going to lose, and I couldn't accept that at all. The veins in my body bulged from the force I was exerting to try to escape, but it didn't seem to work when I couldn't even move.
Give up? I won't give up! Even if I lose all my limbs, I won't give up! I will win at any cost, WIN! Win, win.
I repeated in my mind over and over again as I felt my elbow crack more and more. My heart suddenly began to race in an unnatural way, and I felt an intense pain in my chest, but I completely ignored it as I tried to get rid of the armlock with everything I had.
Win, win, win, win.
I kept repeating, the echo in my mind blending with the sound of my heartbeat, which was accelerating faster and faster.
"I will..." Blood gushed from my throat as I roared, this surprising Mokichi, who loosened his grip on my arm. "Win!"
Boom!
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Mokichi Robinson.
When the Ceo of Sentory revealed to me who would be my fighter, I immediately hesitated and questioned him as to why he was fighting a kid. He liked the idea as much as I did, but the kid was the current representative fighter for Iwami Heavy Industries, so there was nothing we could do to change that.
Of course, this didn't help improve my hesitation about fighting a 15-year-old teenager, especially when I saw him in person a few days before our scheduled fight. His name is Yuji Shinakawa, and he has a small but remarkably muscular physique, and his strength can be measured as at least above average. Nothing about his appearance or presence seems to overflow with strength, like other great fighters I have encountered during Kengan fights. Looking at the boy, it is like looking at a Lion in its adolescent stage, surrounded by adult Lions.
Obviously, I could be wrong about my observations, but still, I preferred that I would take it easy on him in our fight, at least until he somehow led me to increase the power.
And it turned out that this is exactly what happened.
When we started our fight, I decided to test him, and I was surprised that the boy had such strength at such an age, plus a technique beyond that of any ordinary martial arts practitioner. It wasn't amazing by Kengan fighting standards, but it was still amazing. Even I at such a young age did not have such physical and technical prowess.
The boy, Yuji, caught my attention, and wanting to test him further, I decided I would attack him to see how he would handle someone faster and stronger than him. His attempt to project his face towards my fist to soften my punch scared me, because even though it was something basic, it still could not be as easily executed as Yuji was able to do. The only reason the technique was not as effective was because of our monstrous difference in strength.
The fact that he was able to get up after my punch also fascinated me.
Yuji Shinakawa, a little monster on the rise, I certainly wouldn't mind taking him under my wing. I may be a priest, but nevertheless, the blood of a fighter still runs in my veins, and although one day I reneged on the Baritsu, my family's style, the idea of passing it on still springs to mind. It was thanks to this style that I was able to give Elena the best life possible, after all.
But the idea of having a teenage fighter next to my little sister is not at all pleasant.
After he pulled himself together, I sensed that something had changed in Yuji, and I couldn't help but feel wary about him, so when he advanced, I prepared myself to anticipate his blows. It was a surprise to realize that I was tricked by a feint, so that my balance was impaired and he could hit me with a powerful knee strike. I was able to partially block the attack, and considering the force behind the blow, the boy was using everything he had, and being hit by such attacks in vital areas, no matter how far apart we were in strength, would still get me in trouble, so I tried, surprisingly failing, to counterattack with an Uppercut, but somehow, he was able to anticipate my attack and continue his offensive with a punch to my face that pushed my entire body against the ground.
At this instant, with my nose broken, I realized that I should no longer prolong this fight any longer, so, without letting the boy escape due to my superior physical strength, I mounted on his abdomen and applied an Armlock, hesitating to force his elbow to avoid serious injury.
Seeing the teenager gushing blood from his throat was what made me ease up on the Armlock, and this proved to be a big mistake, when with a roar from the boy, I was pushed away with tremendous force. This shocked me, and made me stand up with my guard up immediately.
Yuji, that teenager with a vast potential, was now emanating a completely different aura. The veins in his body were bulging all over his skin, and his eyes were trembling as if he was on hundreds of energy drinks. I couldn't see, but just by feeling his presence, I was able to notice that his strength was completely different than before. The boy was suddenly more dangerous, and I shouldn't wait to see what this new form of his is capable of.
I must finish this immediately.
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Yuji Shinakawa.
That feeling... Such power... I've never felt it before. It's as if I'm bursting with energy, and my body is desperate to discharge it. Just by moving my fingers I can tell that I am at least several times faster, and this shocks me.
Feeling a sense of power coursing through my veins, I let a wide smile form on my lips, my eyes landing on Mokichi, who was watching me with a cautious gaze. I couldn't help but feel excited about this, my lips moving before I could think about my words.
It looks like this fight is going to last longer than I thought it would, and with this new power, I can stand up to Mokichi, I can't say with total certainty about this, but something tells me that I am now strong enough to go head-to-head with this man. And by trusting my instincts, I will continue this fight with my new power recharge!
"Time for the real deal!"