437. Increase in influence

"Well then it's alright I think these should be enough for taking out the Shinpaku Alliance." hummed Ogata

______________________________________

In another base, Hongo and Sogetsu were overseeing a match between their disciples, a rare sight in Yami or Yomi. What was even rarer was that the fight wasn't a death match, but a spar between the two.

"Haha, you've certainly gotten better!" grinned Sho as he twisted his body, dodging a blow from Natsu while snapping a kick to his head.

"Hmph," grunted Natsu as he ducked under it and swung his arm like a whip at Sho's waist, who blocked it with his other leg.

Sho and Natsu are the among the few against whom Kenichi doesn't differentiate like others and both there masters have intense rivalry with one of Kenichi's Masters so they usually talk about Kenichi and how they would fight hun but until neither of the two have found a way to best them so the two are just sparring with each other from time to time to release their frustration.

Sogetsu on the other hand awas drinking as usual while lao thinking of a way he could best Kaede but hasn't found one yet.

Shoving off his distracting theories for now, Sogetsu turned his focus on Natsu, who began to go on the offensive. Seeing Sho adopt Maeba, a defensive karate stance, made Sogetsu raise his eyebrow.

"Maeba was the original stance that I used until I changed it. However, Sho is more suitable for this due to his nature," explained Hongo without glancing at Sogetsu.

Indeed, despite Natsu being on the offense, Sho repelled all of his attacks before countering with a spear thrust to the stomach. Natsu managed to catch the thrust with both of his hands grabbing onto the wrist, stopping his attack.

Sho quickly shifted his weight, going underneath Natsu before lifting him up into the air. Natsu quickly let go, rolling down in the air while swinging his arm to land a hit on Sho's head, only to clash with Sho's other fist. The impact sent Natsu tumbling into the ground before he quickly flipped back onto his feet.

Looking up, Natsu almost cursed when Sho was already in front of him. Natsu took a step back, raising his palm up at Sho's chest.

Taiho Shouhai

Natsu had intended to have Sho drive himself into his palm, but had misread Sho's center of gravity. Sho had used Gamaku, his oblique muscles shifting his weight to the back leg instead of the front leg like Natsu thought.

The result was Sho catching the palm strike that had fallen short, pulling Natsu forward before kicking up with his right leg. However, almost upon impact, Sho stopped it short, though it could be seen that it was a clean hit.

"Sho wins," declared Hongo.

"Dammit," grunted Natsu as he pulled his hand back from Sho, who hopped back onto his two feet once more.

"Hey, that wasn't bad!" grinned Sho, "Hayami and Seto can't push me like you do!"

"Enough talk," ordered Hongo, causing Sho to stiffen up, "You may return back to your respective rooms."

"Yes master!" saluted Sho as he quickly went back to his room.

Natsu gave a lingering gaze at Sho before leaving.

"So, any reason why you declined to have Suparana join the hunt Sage Fist is doing?" asked Sogetsu.

Hongo merely pushed his sunglasses up before replying, "My disciple's health comes first, both physical and mental. While physically he is fine mentally he still feels guilty about the fact that if not for Kenichi Shirahama, he may have died. He wanted to save him to return the favor but it wasn't even needed as Kenichi didn't need help but all he needed was a big distraction."

______________________________________

Niijima hummed as he debated about going to the water amusement park for relaxation that was scheduled in a few days. He had half a mind to either reschedule it or relocate it to avoid Yomi's attack. After Kenichi told him that Ogata may send some Yomi disciples to ambush them they have been trying to find more about it and already know where it would happen.

"Even if I did that though, Yami will still be able to find us with their resources. Even though I've taken a more active stance against their finances, it's hard to fight against the decades of riches that they've gathered," mumbled Niijima to which Kenichi smiled and said "Rather than trying to shift it to another day and still be ambushed, perhaps we should turn the trap into a training ground for the Shinpaku Alliance!"

Grinning, Niijima understood at once pulled up his Tablet as he began to rapidly tap and drag some documents. He had a trap to reverse!

Few days later

The Shinpaku Alliance were enjoying their trip to the water amusement park. Thanks to Niijima's 'generosity', he had bought all members an all-day pass to all the rides. Even Rachel was allowed to come as there was nothing she could do at home and would be all alone. Only Natasha wasn't there but that's because Shizuha has taken her to the mountains to train and there is no way to find when they will be back.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" whispered Saeko, as she came beside Kenichi and Nijiima sitting

"Half," admitted Nijiima, "Even if we changed locations or date, they'll still be able to track us. What's worse is even if we don't do this, they could ambush each commander in a random location not favorable to us. Since we already know what they plan to do, allowing them to go through with this one pushes the ball back to our court. Plus, I've already made arrangements to stack the deck against them."

"What do you mean?" asked Miu

"Why don't you find out on your own i have been teaching you girls how to use your ki for some time now." Kenichi said with a smirk.

Both closed their eyes, letting their other senses and Ki take over to sense any fluctuations in the surroundings, ki sense as Kenichi called it.

"We're not alone," said Miu, snapping her eyes open, "These Ki….. they're not a part of Yomi. Who are they?"

"It's the Zanshin Taisha-ryu, isn't it?" asked Saeko as she opened his eyes.

"Yep," grinned Niijima, "Not to mention, I felt like they were due for some R&R. It's not my fault if it just so happens to run afoul with Yomi's plan."

"I originally intended for this visit to also be an international meet and greet, but the logistics of doing that was a nightmare," huffed Niijima.

"International?" asked Saeko with hesitancy.

"Thanks to Kenichi's Shirahama Industry, I was able to plant the seeds of Shinpaku Alliance there and for China, Renka is my contact to China. I wanted to bring them all over, but decided against it," sighed Niijima.

To all this Kenichi couldn't help but praise the alien as he has been really moving up the social ladder with their current speed it won't be hard for them to become the bigshots that control the government.

"Let's just enjoy ourselves for now and leave the rest fir later"

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