guro's move was obvious to anyone who knew what they were looking at.
-Judo.
Judo was the science of balance.
Everything revolved around it.
Center of gravity, leverage, technique-every concept existed to serve balance.
Mastering it.
Breaking it.
That was the core of Judo.
guro's opening move was textbook.
He grabbed Jaden's clothes and pulled upward in a smooth arc.
The goal was simple.
Force Jaden's body to lean forward.
Make his heel lift.
The first disrupted balance.
The second created opportunity.
At the sa ti, guro's foot swept toward Jaden's.
If Jaden's heel left the ground, guro would exploit the tiny contact point, collapse his footing, and instantly destroy half of his power output.
That was the plan.
And if Jaden resisted with raw strength-
guro would sink his own center of gravity, use body weight, and crush balance directly.
That was Judo's philosophy.
But-
The instant guro extended his foot, he realized sothing was wrong.
He hadn't pulled his opponent.
Not even slightly.
This-
If he were a normal martial artist, alarm bells would already be ringing.
But Masaki guro wasn't normal.
He imdiately increased his strength.
His grip shifted-one hand locking onto Jaden's neck, the other clamping down on his arm.
He pressed his center of gravity forward with full force.
"My father once told ..."
Even though his strength still failed to move Jaden, guro continued exerting pressure.
His grin widened.
Saliva dripped down, mixing with the blood streaks that ran across his face and into his eyes.
"-Judo is the strongest fighting art~!"
Jaden heard him.
And clenched the fist being restrained.
"How shallow..."
In that instant, Masaki guro felt it clearly.
What he was restraining wasn't a person.
It was a wild ox.
An elephant.
Despite guro's weight, strength, and full commitnt-
Jaden slowly lifted his right hand.
Along with guro's hand still gripping it.
guro hadn't even processed what was happening when Jaden's foot landed squarely on his chest.
Masaki guro barely felt pain.
Or rather-
The more pain he felt, the more excited he beca.
His brain secreted substances from birth that warped his perception.
Toyo Electric had noticed this long ago.
And for twenty years, they had deliberately cultivated him this way.
Ordinary attacks ant nothing.
Eye gouges.
Ear strikes.
Bone-crushing blows.
They only made him more exhilarated.
But Jaden's kick-
It was too fast.
Too sudden.
It landed cleanly on his chest.
The force knocked the breath out of him.
Even guro froze for a split second.
In that mont, Jaden pulled backward.
His feet stayed planted.
He even stepped forward slightly.
guro instinctively tensed his back and lowered his body to reduce the impact as he landed.
That reflex caused his body to rebound upward.
Jaden's left hand struck his groin.
guro curled instinctively.
And at the sa instant-
Jaden's right arm extended straight back.
Palm down.
Fist clenched.
A punch erupted upward.
Straight into guro's chin.
Speed.
Weight.
Grip strength.
Whether added or multiplied, the result was the sa.
-Destructive force.
This wasn't a technique taught by any martial art.
It intentionally abandoned balance.
Left no room for recovery.
A punch that poured everything out.
If it missed, the opening would be fatal.
Even with Jack Hanma's mories-
Jaden had only ever seen one person use sothing like this.
Kaoru Hanayama.
-A Hanayama punch.
Bang!
Masaki guro was sent flying.
Jaden watched him crash across the arena.
He flexed his fingers.
Rolled his wrists.
Tilted his neck.
"I saw your stance," Jaden said calmly, "and thought you'd use sothing monstrous. Instinct. Madness. Sothing worth anticipating."
guro struggled to rise.
Even after that.
Jaden looked down at him.
"-But your purity is too low, Masaki guro."
Slap-
A horizontal strike slamd into guro's temple.
He was sent flying again, the mont he managed to sit up.
"It's over..."
Jaden said it quietly.
Everyone expected him to continue.
But he didn't move.
Then-
What was over?
Confusion spread.
Seconds passed.
Masaki guro didn't get up.
Soone finally rushed in to check.
And then-
"...He's dead."
The doctor was a physician who followed Kengan matches specifically.
Officially, killing was forbidden.
In reality-
Death in Kengan matches was common.
At first, people feared it.
Eventually-
They grew used to it.
Still, the surrounding crowd went silent.
Their gaze toward Jaden changed.
Gin Dojima rely nodded.
There was approval.
And gratitude.
Erina ran to Jaden's side the mont the match was confird over.
Jaden himself felt nothing.
No shock.
No regret.
No reaction.
He didn't know if it was the Hanma blood.
Jack Hanma's mories.
Or if he himself was simply abnormal.
But killing soone felt no different from eating or drinking.
He felt numb.
If anything-
The only burden ca from feeling nothing at all.
Jaden looked at Erina.
She was clearly shaken.
This was likely the first ti she'd seen soone die in front of her.
And yet-
She spoke first.
"D-don't be nervous..." Erina said softly. "I heard that... d-dying is normal in Kengan matches... You shouldn't bla yourself..."
"And Chef Dojima said... the opponent was a murderer. A vicious one. Protected for twenty years. Soone who should've died long ago..."
Jaden had expected fear.
Rejection.
Distance.
He hadn't expected comfort.
Especially from soone who was clearly terrified herself.
Hearing her words, the last trace of psychological pressure vanished.
Jaden smiled.
A genuinely warm smile.
"Thank you, Erina."
Her breathing slowly steadied when she saw it.
She exhaled deeply.
"You helped and Ryo Himuro at O-uchu... the Shokugeki with Eizan... you saved ... and now you solved another major problem for Totsuki..."
Her face flushed.
She turned away, voice quiet.
"But... I'm the one who should be thanking you."
"So... thank you, Jaden."
...
Jaden fought another Kengan match at the Totsuki Resort.
This one spread even further than the last.
Masaki guro may have been a first-ti combatant-
But he represented Toyo Electric.
That alone drew attention.
After all, Kengan matches were about profit.
Companies.
Leverage.
Who you defeated mattered more than how strong they were.
At Koyo Academy-
Chairwoman Shion received intelligence imdiately.
Long wine-red hair.
A woman's cigarette between her fingers.
Her eyes narrowed slowly.
Like her sister Akemi, she had a severe muscle fetish.
She stared at Jaden's photo.
For a long ti.
Then sighed.
"Totsuki is lucky..."
"When will Koyo recruit soone like this?"
"And the situation isn't optimistic..."
Koyo's predicant mirrored Totsuki's.
If anything-
It would erupt sooner.
"If only this kid could help..." she murmured. "But that's impossible."
"Totsuki would treasure soone like him."
She glanced at another report.
Her brows furrowed.
"Negotiating with him-and Totsuki-would take ti."
"And ti..."
"...is running out."
That was Shion's conclusion.
anwhile-
At the Yuki Orphanage.
Yugi received the report from a man in black.
His eyes lingered on one line.
Opponent: deceased.
He sighed.
"I expected this the mont you entered Kengan..."
"But I didn't think it would happen this soon."
He wasn't unable to accept that Jaden had killed soone.
He was worried about sothing else entirely.
"You really gave a difficult problem..."
"...my other self."
A knock sounded.
Yugi put the report away and opened the door.
A black-haired girl smiled brightly.
"Old man Yuki, I'm done for today. I'll co help again tomorrow."
If Jaden were here-
He would recognize her.
-Akemi.
One of the two girls he had rescued at O-uchu.
"Mhm. Thank you for always helping."
"No problem. I like kids," Akemi said cheerfully. "I've got sothing to do today. It's sumr vacation, so I'll be back tomorrow."
She waved.
Grabbed her backpack.
And ran toward Shirakami Gym.
She had been helping the orphanage since last sumr.
Whenever she had ti.
Today, she just wanted a little more ti to train.
Yugi watched her leave.
Thoughts of Jaden weighing heavily on his mind.
He sighed.
"I'll talk to him properly when he cos back..."
"As for what he chooses after that..."
"...That's up to him."
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