I was worried about Rika suddenly learning about the underworld, but there wasn’t much more I could do, so I parted ways with her at the subway station and returned ho.
It was already 8 p.m., but since the lights on the first floor were still on, I entered the shop instead of going straight up to the second floor.
“I’m back.”
My mother, who was clearing the dishes from a table, looked at and asked.
“Son~ Have you had dinner?”
“I haven’t eaten yet.”
“Then go up, wash up, and co down. I’ll prepare it quickly.”
Instead of nodding at Mrs. Imija’s words, I set my bag down and started helping with clearing the tables.
“Oh my, look at this. I can handle it by myself.”
“It’s faster with the two of us, so why not?”
After saying that, I placed all the collected dishes and utensils on a tray.
Unlike other restaurants, our family uses tal spoons and chopsticks, so the tray was quite heavy. But I lifted it with one hand and moved it into the kitchen.
I made brief eye contact with my father, who was rummaging through the refrigerator, and gave him a light nod as a greeting while putting the dishes and utensils in the sink.
“Go outside and rest, Father. It’s almost ti for custors to stop coming.”
“No need. There’s still an hour left until closing.”
It was a statent that reflected my father’s business philosophy in a way, so I didn’t argue further.
I put on rubber gloves, applied detergent to the scrubber, and started scrubbing off the grease.
Since I’d been doing this for over three years, ever since I beca Kim Yu-seong, the pile of dishes in front of disappeared quickly.
“Yu-seong, just finish that up. I’ll take care of the rest.”
My mother, who had brought the remaining dishes, said this with an apologetic expression, but I told her it was fine and continued washing.
About 20 minutes had passed since I started battling the dishes.
After putting the clean dishes on the shelf, I took off the gloves and stepped out of the kitchen.
There didn’t seem to be any custors who had arrived in the anti, as the shop was quiet.
“Go ahead and sit down. I’ll make sothing delicious for you soon.”
Unable to refuse Mrs. Imija’s request, I sat at a corner table and pulled out my smartphone from my pocket.
There were nurous ssenger notifications.
Most of them were from Rika and the mbers of our group chat.
Having just learned about the underworld today, Rika seed to have a lot of questions, and she had been asking various things through ssenger.
We had been ssaging each other all the way ho, but she still seed full of curiosity.
With a faint smile, I was about to type a reply when I suddenly heard the door open, causing to stand up reflexively.
“Welco…?”
“We et again, boy,” said the man.
“How are you here?!”
“I applied a special scent to you earlier to make it easy to track you.”
Fuma Kotaro tapped his nose as he spoke, then glanced around the shop and grinned.
“Just in ti, I was getting hungry. A restaurant, huh? What’s the best dish here?”
In the Sengoku period, Miura Josin, a retainer of the Hojo clan, wrote a detailed description of the appearance of the 5th Fuma Kotaro in his work, Hojo Odai-ki. ȓ𝐀ΝỒＢĚṨ
[He towered at an incredible 7 feet 2 inches (2.16 ters), with a muscular fra and lumps all over his body. His body was riddled with lumps, his eyes slanted sharply upward, and his mouth stretched wide, exposing four jutting molars. His eyelids opened unnaturally in reverse, and a thick black beard frad his face. His head resembled the rugged texture of a gnarled oak tree, and his nose was strikingly prominent.]
This description was so monstrous that later generations naturally believed it to be exaggerated.
However, looking at the man sitting before , it didn’t seem like a complete lie.
“Delicious!”
The 17th Fuma Kotaro, sitting in front of , kept exclaiming as he devoured the rice al in front of him.
With wild hair like a lion’s mane, striking facial features, thick eyebrows, and a high nose, he looked more like a Westerner.
What was most overwhelming, however, was his height—easily over 2 ters tall.
Even though I’m steadily growing and already 190cm tall, I’ve never been called short, but this man was tall enough to dwarf most basketball players.
His body, trained to the extre like the Russian “God of Destruction” Ivan, was so well-built that it was noticeable even through the loose hakama he wore.
Even my mother, who was busy bringing food from the kitchen, was montarily srized by his rippling arm muscles.
“Hey, you!”
Of course, my father, who had a hidden streak of jealousy, caught her and gave her a scolding.
As Fuma Kotaro was deep in his al, he seed to notice my gaze and swallowed his food before asking.
“Why are you staring at like that?”
“It’s just that it’s clear you can’t hide your bloodline.”
Senior Fuma may always be struggling with the high cost of living in Tokyo, but when it ca to eating, she always looked incredibly happy.
Her father, Fuma Kotaro, didn’t seem to be any different in terms of enjoying his als.
It was the sa food we always ate, but sohow, seeing him eat made it look more delicious.
This father and daughter duo—they might actually beco popular if they entered the “mukbang” scene.
“Hmph, you’re saying nonsense.”
Fuma Kotaro snorted dismissively, but despite his gruff words, he seed in a better mood as he began eating even more enthusiastically.
After finishing what amounted to about five servings, he let out a burp and asked.
“So, aren’t you curious about why I suddenly showed up?”
“If I ask, will you tell ?”
“Of course.”
With a toothpick in his mouth, his answer didn’t seem very sincere, but I asked anyway, half-doubting him.
“Why did you co to see ?”
“Because I’ve recognized you as my successor. I’ve co to pass down Hayate’s ultimate technique.”
“…Ultimate technique?”
I couldn’t help but express my confusion.
It was understandable, since the book I read in Fuma’s village only ntioned seven techniques.
When I brought this up and asked about it, Fuma Kotaro chuckled and replied.
“Of course you wouldn’t know. The ultimate technique of Hayate is sothing I created on my own.”
“…What?”
I stared at him in disbelief, wondering if this was so kind of nonsense, but his expression was completely shaless.
“As they say, seeing is believing. You’ll understand once you experience it.”
Why it was called the ultimate technique.
After eating the dinner my mother prepared, I told her I would go for a light run to help with digestion and left the house.
In a typical household, a high schooler going out late at night might seem strange, but for , it was just part of my routine.
Anyway, the place I headed to after telling that small lie to my parents was a park near the residential area.
At such a late hour, the park was deserted, except for the man standing quietly in the distance.
“So, you finally ca.”
He stared at as he spoke, after having had his eyes closed in ditation.
“So, are you going to show the ultimate technique of Hayate now?”
Fuma Kotaro nodded obediently at my question.
“Of course, that’s the plan. But before that, I want to ask you sothing.”
“What is it?”
“How much do you know about Hayate?”
It was a sowhat unexpected question.
But I figured it was necessary, so I straightforwardly explained what I knew.
“I heard it’s an assassination technique passed down through the Fuma Clan for generations. It’s a martial art that mimics the natural phenonon of wind.”
“You only know the surface-level details.”
“They didn’t tell anything beyond that.”
Hearing my response, Fuma Kotaro gave a small laugh.
“Did you know that the Fuma Clan originally went by the na Kazama?”
“Yes, I know that much.”
“The na Kazama Kotaro was first changed to Fuma Kotaro starting with the 3rd generation Fuma Kotaro.”
It was his achievent that raised the Kazama Clan, which was originally just a small ninja village, to the top tier.
“The 3rd Fuma Kotaro, who was called an unparalleled genius, created two martial arts based on natural phenona. One is the assassination fist Hayate (Gale), and the other is the assassination sword Jinrai (Thunder).”
The roots of the two martial arts were fundantally the sa.
Since both styles originated from one person.
In other words, mastering one ant that the other would naturally follow.
“If I gave you a sword right now, you’d be able to use Jinrai, even if not perfectly. Similarly, if my daughter Yukika put down her sword, she could use Hayate, albeit imperfectly.”
“Why are you telling this now?”
Fuma Kotaro shrugged his shoulders in response.
“Because this is where the reason for creating my new technique began.”
In his efforts to find a way to defeat Ivan, the GOF’s unrivaled champion, he ca up with one idea.
That idea was to combine the two martial arts passed down through the Fuma Clan.
That attempt ended in failure, but it left him with one technique.
“And that’s the technique I’m about to teach you—the ultimate technique of Hayate, called Nagi.”
“Nagi?”
When I absentmindedly repeated the na he spoke, Fuma Kotaro gestured for to co forward.
“Now, co at with the intent to kill.”
Reviews
All reviews (0)