This sense of vexation had begun after the fight with Tokita Ohma.
It wasn't because of the opponent's strength.
It was sothing else entirely.
It was Ohma Tokita's stubborn will-his insistence on standing up even when his body was already wrecked. And it was Raian Kure's madness-abandoning defense completely and choosing to exchange full-power blows, even though he clearly knew he couldn't win.
Those actions irritated Jaden.
He couldn't understand them.
If you can't win now, wouldn't it make more sense to wait until you're stronger and fight again?
If your opponent completely suppresses you, leaving you with no chance of victory, why not surrender and challenge them another ti?
What "Seeker of the Path"?
Was there really any essential difference between people like that and those who chased fa and profit?
And "The Strongest"?
Anyone who constantly imagined themselves to be the strongest had to be suffering from chronic chunibyo.
Those two-
They were hopeless idiots.
And madn.
Completely incomprehensible.
Yet.
Whether they were idiots or madn, both of them were willing to risk their lives for things Jaden simply couldn't understand.
If being a Seeker of the Path was just another form of chasing fa and profit, then was fa and profit really worth Ohma Tokita risking his life?
Ohma didn't seem like that kind of person.
If it were just fa and profit, it wouldn't have been worth it.
But he still did it.
So why?
And Raian Kure was even worse.
That man was clearly insane.
He refused to use proper martial techniques, convinced he was the strongest, and was willing to gamble his life to prove it.
In the end, he still lost.
And if Jaden hadn't deliberately given him an out, that defeat would have been nothing but a joke.
He believed himself to be the strongest.
Yet he lost because he exhausted himself.
That was why Jaden couldn't understand.
He couldn't understand what these fighters were thinking.
He couldn't understand why they fought him to that extent.
And he couldn't understand what kind of "important thing" drove them to throw away their lives without hesitation.
To Jaden, this was just a match.
Almost like a ga.
Was it really that important to others?
He couldn't comprehend it.
At all.
-
After Erina comforted him, Jaden could clearly feel the vexation in his heart easing.
Before entering the arena, he stood quietly in the fighter tunnel.
Eyes closed.
Breathing steady.
He visualized Yujiro Hanma, sensing his presence.
This ti, however, Yujiro Hanma didn't attack imdiately after appearing.
Instead, he looked at Jaden with a smile that was hard to tell whether it was arrogant or simply mocking.
"You're completely useless, aren't you?"
"I thought you might beco an interesting toy."
"But in the end, you're only at this level."
"The current you can't even make interested in fighting."
"Boring."
"You're too boring."
"And your strength is laughable."
The Yujiro Hanma ford by imagination was, in essence, Yujiro Hanma himself.
Jack Hanma knew Yujiro too well.
So this figure behaved exactly as the real one would.
Jaden understood that.
He raised his head slowly and looked at him.
"It can't be helped."
"I'm different from you people."
"A normal person can't understand what a madman is thinking."
"Much less experience a madman's frenzy."
"So it's only natural you'd feel that way."
Jaden attacked.
He used all Six Powers at once, fighting Yujiro Hanma without activating the Ogre Face.
His strength was stable.
Stable enough that even Yujiro couldn't defeat him quickly.
Seeing this, Yujiro's mocking expression deepened.
"That's exactly why you bore ."
"It's because you still have this much strength."
"There's not a shred of struggle in your fists."
"You don't even understand why you fight."
"You just follow your instincts to fight."
"And once the fight starts, you follow your instincts to win."
"In one sense, maybe no one is purer than you."
"But in another sense..."
"No one is less pure than you."
"That's why I call you a half-baked failure."
Yujiro suddenly increased the force in his hands.
Jaden was blasted backward.
Yujiro didn't pursue.
Instead, he raised both arms high and turned his back.
The muscles on his back twisted and bulged-
Forming a furious, roaring face.
The Ogre Face.
Onizura.
At that mont, Yujiro activated it.
Along with overwhelming strength, a will radiated from him.
It was hard to describe.
But the instant you felt it, you knew-
This was Yujiro Hanma.
He straightened, using his height to look down at Jaden.
"Kid."
"Co back and fight once you're no longer a failure."
"The current you doesn't even qualify to make want to fight."
"You just entertain like a clown."
"You're too boring."
As he spoke, Jaden's visualization began to distort.
Yujiro's form blurred within that distortion.
Then, smiling, his voice warped along with the image.
"Co back and amuse again once you can take off that clown mask of yours~"
Yujiro seed ready to vanish.
But after seeing Jaden's expression, he paused.
Smiled again.
"No..."
Lowering his stance slightly, he left behind one final line.
"...Maybe you never wore a mask at all."
"It's just that until now, you couldn't see your own face."
"Clown~"
The vision shattered.
Yujiro vanished.
Everything returned to silence.
Jaden steadied his breathing.
Then he heard footsteps.
Erina's.
"Jaden..."
She entered the fighter tunnel.
She had intended to say sothing.
But her voice stopped when she saw his face.
Because-
Jaden was smiling.
She didn't know what had just happened.
She didn't know how he had adjusted his mindset.
But it was clear-
Jaden now wore a sincere, cheerful smile.
Almost childlike.
"Erina, they're calling ."
"I'm heading to the match."
"Two more wins, and we succeed."
"Wait for to bring back the victory~"
Erina nodded.
Everything she wanted to say was swallowed back.
She looked at Jaden-who had shed the earlier vexation and pressure, who had returned to the indifferent, fearless, and utterly confident state he had when she first t him.
When she finally spoke, only simple words ca out.
"Mhm."
"Good luck, Jaden."
"Don't worry~"
Jaden waved with his back to her.
He didn't comnt on Yujiro Hanma's words.
But he vaguely understood sothing from them.
That understanding left him conflicted.
Yet no longer vexed.
His current state was far better than when he fought Raian Kure.
Because now-
There was nothing left for him to doubt.
The conflict would soon fade.
He would verify it.
He would find the answer in the battles to co.
If that was the case-
There was nothing to be frustrated about.
So his state returned to its original indifference.
As for whether he would win?
Heh.
Anyone who believes they will lose before the match even begins-
Is either unimaginably brave.
Or the greatest coward under heaven.
Jaden was neither.
So.
He would win.
It was that simple.
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