"You're strong."
"Yeah, I know."
"Fight again. I'll get serious this ti."
"No... there's no point."
Even after injuring Mikazuchi Rei, Rinji still helped treat his wounds.
In fact, he regretted acting out the mont he did it. Karura had been right beside him—what if she saw his violent side and her opinion changed?
But when he noticed her excited gaze, Rinji knew he was overthinking.
'She's the perfect woman.'
Any other girl would've been shocked or scared watching him lash out. But not Karura.
She seed to enjoy watching Rinji fight. Or maybe she liked seeing him defeat others.
"You're not a registered fighter, right? So there's no issue with us having a duel."
"Like I said, there's no point." Rinji spoke plainly. "You're no match for ."
"I see."
Seeing Uchiha Sasuke's eyes burning with fighting spirit, Rinji understood: all fighters love challenging the strong—whether or not they can win.
To them, only one word matters—victory.
Just as Mikazuchi Rei got into position to launch an attack, Kurayoshi Rino gently placed her hand on his head and said softly, "It's not ti to act yet, Rei."
"I understand."
He lowered his fists and obediently stood by her side.
Kurayoshi Rino turned and smiled at Rinji and Karura. "Then I won't bother you two anymore. Chairman Katahara already gave his order, so be careful~"
"Thanks for the heads-up."
Rinji caught the hidden ssage in her words.
Katahara's speech had two key points: one, companies had to wait until the final stage to register fighters; two, private fights were forbidden.
Put together, this revealed a loophole:
On the ship, companies could temporarily replace their fighters.
But not all companies wanted to switch theirs. So opportunists would exploit that.
They'd try to eliminate certain fighters and force the companies to make replacents through intimidation.
Kurayoshi Rino clearly understood Katahara's implication, which was why she warned Rinji to watch out for those lurking in the shadows aboard the Kengan Ship.
But... her warning might've co too late.
While they were talking, a masked figure had already crept up behind them.
A man wearing a skull mask.
Rinji: "...You might've spoken a bit late."
Kurayoshi Rino: "Well, that's unfortunate."
Despite being a delicate woman, she showed no fear.
Karura frowned as she looked at the clearly hostile newcor.
Kurayoshi Rino: "...You people really love these strong-arm tactics, huh?"
Hearing this, Rinji asked, "Do you know who's behind this?"
"The mastermind is one of the 32 companies vying for the Kengan Chairman's seat. He wants to use tactics like this to control as many companies as possible to improve his odds of winning."
"Oh? Do you know which one?"
"Of the 32 companies, the one most likely to stoop this low is... Toyo Electric."
"...Them, huh."
Back in the day, they'd clashed with Rinji, even kidnapping Ryuju Momo and threatening the Ryujuka Clan. They were infamous for their dirty tactics.
And now, it turned out they were also participating in the Kengan Death Elimination Tournant.
Seeing the skull-masked man approach, Mikazuchi Rei stepped forward and calmly said, "Give five seconds."
"No, that's too long."
Rinji stepped up, speaking flatly.
"One second."
Whoosh!
The mont he finished speaking, Rinji vanished from his spot and reappeared in front of the skull-masked man, slamming a punch directly into his chest.
The man wasn't sent flying, but the blood vessels in his visible eyes burst, and the mask was stained red from the blood he coughed up.
"I'll spare your life for now. You might still be useful."
Rinji grabbed the unconscious masked man and noticed sothing shiny at his collar.
He took it off—it was a tiny surveillance device.
"Heh."
Rinji sneered, bringing the device up to his face.
"You were watching , weren't you, Hayami Katsumasa?"
Crack!
With that, he crushed the device between his fingers.
---
"Damn it! He noticed..."
In a dimly lit room stood a massive, hulking figure.
In the center sat an old man.
He stared at the screen, and after seeing Rinji's face and hearing his mocking words, he furiously knocked over the glass of red wine beside him.
The spilled wine stained the floor like blood. The old man clutched the screen and roared,
"Bastard... Katahara knew I'd try to interfere in the Kengan Chairman election, so he brought that monster in."
He rembered Rinji's face—one he would never forget for the rest of his life.
Four years ago, that boy destroyed his plan. Two years ago, they clashed again in Southeast Asia.
That ti, an entire power plant was obliterated by a single thermobaric bomb from who-knows-where. No one inside survived. He nearly died himself.
Even though he had seized that land through ruthless ans, he still thought he was already cruel enough.
But back then, he realized sothing:
Never try to outdo Takamine Rinji in brutality.
"I need... to be extrely careful."
Rinji was soone who completely disregarded human morality.
---
"Ugh..."
The masked man had regained consciousness.
But when he woke up, he realized he was tied up in so unknown corner of the Kengan Ship, completely unable to break the chains holding him.
Rinji appeared in front of him and tore the cloth from his mouth.
"Talk. What's your plan?"
"..."
The man knew what would happen if he talked, so he chose to stay silent.
"Nice. Tough guy."
Rinji's eyes turned cold.
"I didn't want to use such cruel punishnt... but you're not cooperating."
He then placed a pair of headphones over the man's ears, cranked up the volu on his phone, and selected an audio file.
President's School Anthem.
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