In the manga, the AE86 accelerated hard.
It charged into the final corner at a terrifying speed.
It looked like suicide.
What are you doing?! Are you trying to die?
Readers held their breath.
But then sothing strange happened.
The AE86 dove into the inside lane at full speed… and sohow, it didn't drift wide. It held tight against the curve, as if centrifugal force didn't apply to it.
In the next instant, it swept past Keisuke Takahashi's FD from the inside.
It was an impossible overtake clean, precise, and fast.
The 86, with far less horsepower, had just taken the lead coming out of the corner.
In the manga, Ryosuke watched from above. As the five hairpins played out, his eyes widened slightly.
Then he smiled.
Not a big grin just the kind of subtle, knowing smile that carried weight. A rare show of admiration.
It wasn't just the characters in the manga who were stunned.
Readers were stunned too.
Takumi's 86 had taken those sharp corners at speeds over 150 kiloters per hour sothing that defied common sense. The tire grip alone shouldn't have allowed it.
Was that even possible?
So readers were skeptical.
Was this the mont where Takumi got a typical "main character boost"?
But then Nakazato appeared on the page, arms crossed, wearing a calm, confident expression.
He'd seen it.
He understood what Takumi had just done.
Among the onlookers, soone murmured in awe,
"Only Nakazato can take down Akina's downhill expert."
With that, Nakazato turned his Nissan Skyline GT-R around and left the mountain.
Still, readers remained on edge.
What did Takumi actually do?
Without Nakazato's quiet comntary, it would've looked like Takumi just broke physics with protagonist plot armor.
But the way Nakazato reacted and the way spectators inside the manga described the corner hinted that this wasn't nonsense.
There was an explanation.
"They're approaching the finish now! I can hear the engines almost there!"
At the final curve, mbers of the Akagi REDSUNS radioed in updates over the walkie-talkie.
Then ca a page flip.
A wide, clean panel showed the AE86 in front its ordinary fra catching the light as it tore down the last stretch of road.
Keisuke's FD followed behind, but the gap had been set at the corners.
Now, even with the FD's superior specs, there was no ti left to catch up.
The 86 crossed the finish line first.
No fanfare. No celebration.
Just a fading shot of the car as it disappeared down the slope, heading quietly toward the Fujiwara Tofu Shop.
Everyone watching along the mountain already knew the result.
"That was insane. Seriously insane. I'm losing it," said Iketani his words echoing what every reader was feeling.
It had been two months of weekly build-up. Cliffhanger after cliffhanger. But now finally Mizushiro had delivered the payoff.
We still didn't know how Takumi did it.
But he won.
That was enough… for now.
"What about the uphill?"
"Doesn't matter. If you lose downhill, winning the uphill doesn't an anything."
"The undefeated Akagi REDSUNS just lost… to Akina's 86."
Ryosuke Takahashi stood calmly as his team buzzed around him.
The race had ended, but the story was far from over.
The manga subtly planted seeds for what's next.
New rivals.
New challenges.
Nakazato from the NightKids. Ryosuke Takahashi from REDSUNS.
Anticipation surged again.
This was good manga.
Initial D might not have the biggest rankings yet, but in terms of pure reader engagent?
It was climbing fast.
Every page fired up the imagination. Fans joked about quitting their jobs to open tofu shops at the base of a mountain.
The technique Takumi used was still a mystery, but the rest of the chapter had it all pacing, tension, payoff.
Takumi, after returning ho, had only a brief exchange with his dad.
"Full tank of gas. Like we agreed."
"Yeah. You won, didn't you?" Bunta said, glancing up from his newspaper. "But I already knew how this one would end."
The manga cut away.
Then circled back.
Back to the mont Takumi passed Keisuke.
Was this the reveal?
Readers sat up.
So had been reading in bed now they jumped up, threw their pillows in the air, ran in circles, and ca back to keep reading.
What did Takumi actually do at those five hairpins?!
Mizushiro had to explain it.
If the explanation held up, this chapter would beco legendary.
Then, Ryosuke asked Keisuke a single question.
"Did you hear a strange sound?"
He had.
Ryosuke smiled.
"Let tell you why you lost."
He led his brother to the edge of the road, to a specific corner.
A drainage ditch ran along the inside.
Readers blinked.
Wait. The drain?
"He dropped his inside tires into the gutter to stabilize the turn and counteract the centrifugal force."
"It's simple. Ridiculous, even. But it worked."
"This isn't sothing you do on a whim. He's done it before. Practiced it. If you try that without preparation, you'll spin out or crash."
Ryosuke understood the trick.
Fans, however, were floored.
What kind of technique is that?
Is this even possible?
But the more they thought about it, the more it kind of made sense.
It's nonsense… but also genius.
"Cancel next week's expedition."
"I'm not going anywhere until I've beaten that 86."
"I'll be the one to take him down," Keisuke said.
And with Ryosuke's calm declaration of war… Chapter 9 ended.
Fans exhaled, so slumping back in their chairs.
Finally, a satisfying payoff.
Mizushiro had explained it cleanly, clearly. Not only had he resolved the race in a grounded way, he also introduced two compelling rivals: Nakazato and Ryosuke.
"Damn. Using the gutter to corner? That's insane."
"I thought he'd just win through 'main character magic' but this actually makes sense!"
"It's wild. It sounds kinda realistic at first, but the more you think about it... what kind of person cos up with this?!"
"Nah, this is legit. Rally drivers use similar tricks. Mizushiro probably did his howork."
"Seriously? That happens in real racing?"
"Honestly, I'm just relieved he didn't cliffhanger us this week. Maybe Mizushiro finally took our feedback seriously."
"Don't be too optimistic! You never know this could just be the calm before a massive new cliffhanger arc."
"Still, this chapter was so good. I had goosebumps reading it. My palms were sweaty the whole ti."
Following chapter 9's release, Mizushiro's online following exploded again.
The manga's weekly poll ranking surged.
And while it was still trailing Dream World, the gap was closing fast.
Back when chapter 8 ended on a frustrating cliffhanger, Mizushiro had received hundreds of complaint letters.
This ti?
He got fan mail actual letters of thanks. Dozens ca in from across Tokyo the sa day.
The cliffhanger people feared never ca. In fact, most of the other racing-thed manga that started around the sa ti… were quietly fading.
By now, everyone even remotely interested in racing manga had their eyes on Initial D.
Because once Initial D hit the scene?
Everything else looked second-rate.
---
The next day, Haruka visited Haruki's apartnt. Along with sharing the good news that both Natsu's Book of Friends and Initial D were seeing rising popularity, she also brought official word from Echo Shroud Publishing:
The standalone volu release for Natsu's Book of Friends had been greenlit.
As long as Haruki gave his approval, the contract would be signed, and preparations would begin imdiately.
Shout out to Titan of Ti for joining my p-atreon! your support ans everything to .
(TL:- if you want even more content, check out p-atreon/Alioth23 for 55 advanced chapters)
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