Path to Strength

Yuji Shinakawa.

With a maniacal grin on my lips, I sped full speed towards Mokichi, who, surprised by my newfound speed, was unable to react as I sent two quick punches at his face, hitting him full in the face and forcing him to raise his arms to defend himself as he stepped back. I obviously couldn't let him get away so easily, so with fast and powerful punches I started to target him everywhere. Ribs, arms, face, abdomen, I hit everywhere at a speed that I had never been able to achieve before, causing Mokichi to be on the defensive, withstanding my attacks while defending his face.

That speed... That strength! It's incredible! It's wonderful to feel it! Such power, such potency! I love this feeling!

The moment I perceived an intention to attack through his body movement thanks to my divine eyes, with a swift and powerful movement, I kicked his leg to make him retreat. This worked, as he felt the pain of the attack, Mokichi continued on the defensive as he backed away.

My onslaught continued, my attacks becoming faster and more powerful by the second. My fists were starting to hurt, but I couldn't stop attacking him, not until my victory was announced by the referee.

I won't stop until I beat him!

With a kick to the man's front foot, I destabilized his stance for a moment, but it was more than enough to allow me to load a punch with my right fist. With all my strength, I launched a straight right at Mokichi's face, the man seeing my fist advancing towards his unprotected face with a calm expression.

Boom!

When I didn't feel the normal impact of the punch, I immediately felt strange, my eyes landing on my hand, seeing my fingers being clenched by Mokichi, who was able to parry my fist inches from his face.

'What the fuck?! He was able to grab my fist even after faltering with his stance? How the hell is that possible?' With an astonished look on my face, I could barely react when he pulled me towards him and landed a kick to my abdomen that I hardly blocked with my forearm. 'Shit!'

Pulling away, I was easily stopped with an onslaught from Mokichi, who launched sequences of hooks from all directions at my body. Defending the blows with difficulty, I became irritated when I noticed a similarity of his movements to Peek-a-boo style boxing.

'Damn you! Are you using boxing against me?!' As a boxing genius, how could I not be irritated when someone was oppressing me with my own style? No matter how well I manage to keep my emotions calm, it just makes me angry!

With a snort, I quickly ducked in front of one of his Hooks, sending a powerful straight right into his esophagus.

'Take that-'

Boom!

I was startled when a kick hit my face with tremendous force, my body being thrown away with such force of the blow. My brain shook in my skull, and the moment I stood up, I could see the world in my eyes flutter as if I were on a boat during a storm.

Shit, I made a mistake! This is not boxing!

Vaguely, I could see Mokichi advancing towards me, the man suddenly fading from my blurred vision, only to feel a fist smash into my stomach, making me choke.

That's Baritsu!

I quickly backed away, but was easily followed by Mokichi, who launched two Jabs at my face, and despite seeing the blows thanks to my divine eyes, I was unable to block them fast enough, the attacks connecting in full with my face and causing me to unconsciously close my eyes. That was more than enough time for another blow from the blond man to connect with my stomach, and this time, my resistance gave way as I fell to my knees.

I lost my breath from the blow, and immediately tried to regain it as I dealt with the pain of the blow. How could I have been so careless? I am fighting a monster! Even with this new form, I shouldn't have been so confident!

I raised my eyes, seeing Mokichi staring down at me with his casually calm face. There was no longer any evidence of taking the fight as seriously as he had initially, just pure calm. Seeing this, I felt the pain in my heart ease, its beating normalizing as the veins in my skin returned to normal.

I had lost.

A shock of pain coursed through my body, causing me to hit the ground. The sensation I began to feel was as if my muscles were tearing one by one, and I couldn't stop the roar of pain from escaping my throat.

From a corner, I could notice Mokichi crouching down next to me, completely ignoring the fact that the referee had not ended the fight.

"Are you okay?"

I could hear the purest concern in his tone, and with that, I let my body crash to the ground as the pain made me lose consciousness.

This sucks.

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Togo Tomari.

When Hong told me about the boy's potential, I had my doubts, after all, a 15-year-old boy entering the crazy world of Kengan battles? This could easily be considered crazy to many, and even for me, this was definitely not a pleasant idea, but seeing his performance in the fight against Mokichi, I was excited for the first time in months! The boy was a monster! And that form of his... I barely saw his movements! During the Kengan fights, I had never seen anything like it!

It's two years until the annihilation tournament, and I have no problem spending this time preparing this kid! Having a growing little monster couldn't seem less enjoyable.

When the fight was over, Yuji immediately fainted, but thanks to the great doctors provided by the association, his situation was quickly stabilized. Luckily, there was no serious damage, and any internal bleeding that caused him to expel blood stopped without the need for the doctors' intervention. On the whole, the boy was fine, so I had no problem getting him to the car with the help of one of my staff.

I might have lost a big action for Sentory, but I gained something even considerably better.

"Miss Tomari." After placing an unconscious Yuji lying on the seat of my car, a familiar voice called out to me, causing me to turn to find a Mokichi Robinson staring at me with his usual quiet expression that couldn't make me less annoyed. How could anyone walk around with this kind of expression 24 hours a day? That was simply inhuman.

"Yes?" I asked with a bit of irritation.

"This boy... His name is Yuji Shinakawa, isn't it?" He paused for a moment, waiting for my confirmation, before continuing. "He has aroused my interest. If possible, ask him to come visit me when he is free, I would love to talk."

He handed me a piece of paper with an address, and bowing slightly as a sign of respect, turned and walked away without saying a single word. I couldn't help but be suspicious of the man's intentions, after all, he was Sentory's representative, and I couldn't hand over my rough diamond so easily to an enemy company.

With a sigh, I got into the car and asked my driver to drive. In the end it was his choice. I may be excited, but I don't even know yet if he will want to continue in the world of Kengan fighting after losing to Mokichi. Maybe I should upgrade his contract? No! The boy was already getting a higher percentage than any teenager could earn at his age. I must find another way to convince him, in case he no longer wants to continue in this world.

Ugh... Why am I wracking my brains over a subject like this?!

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Yuji Shinakawa.

When I opened my eyes, I immediately found myself amidst thousands of lit candles all around me. Looking around strangely, I could see that the candles extended even further away, to the point where I could no longer see them in the distance.

"Where am I?" my eyes wandered around the place for a few seconds, before landing on a pile of candles that, unlike the others, were extinguished. "The blows to my head have finally made me crazy for good?"

Suddenly, the unlit candles lit up, and I couldn't help but stare at them in fascination. One by one, the candles began to light, until all the unlit candles were lit again. For some reason, this seemed to ease a tension I felt in the back of my mind, but I honestly didn't know why.

"What does that mean?"

Just as I was about to move around, I felt as if my body was being pulled, and just like that, in the blink of an eye, I found myself staring at the lined roof of a car.

But this was not what caught my attention, but the pop-up that hovered in front of my eyes, with a message that aroused my interest.

[Congratulations for participating in your first Kengan fight! Even though you lost, you fought bravely against Mokichi Robinson, and even caused him damage! That's amazing, especially when that feat comes from someone like you!]

Ignoring the system message with a growl, I continued reading.

[Take this consolation gift!]

[Reward for completing, "Falling shooting!"]

[Image Training LV 1.]

[Slight attribute buff]

Oh, that's pretty good. If I'm not mistaken, image training is what Ohma uses to fight opponents in his mind. I can use that to polish my style.

[You caught the attention of Mokichi Robinson, and he was sincerely interested in your potential! This is a great opportunity for a wimp like you to improve!]

[Reward for completing: Apostle's Attention]

[Baritsu LV 1]

I almost choked when I saw the reward, my eyes almost popping out of my orbits as I immediately sat up, this startling Tomari, who was sitting next to me.

"Uh? What's so sudden, kid?!"

Coming out of my stupor, I turned to the woman, and stared at her with a thoughtful expression. Although I had lost, I wasn't really sad about it, sure, I was frustrated, but I couldn't expect to stand up to someone who had trained for a lifetime in such a short time. The man had more time in training than I had in life, after all.

But what was really bothering me at such a moment was the fact that Tomari might not accept me as a fighter anymore after this defeat, and that would make my long-term plans difficult. I had to know what the woman was thinking immediately, after all, I had to resort to other plans in case she decided to discard me.

I stared at her for a few more seconds before opening my mouth to speak, but before I could say a word, the woman began.

"I am not revoking the contract."

When I heard those words, it took me a few seconds to process what she had said, and the moment I understood, I considered for a moment that she was just playing with my face, before she continued.

"You incredibly surprised me. I really didn't expect a victory for my company in this fight, but you still exceeded my expectations." My mouth dropped open in disbelief as I looked at the woman. "What? You surprised me, that's what! That's why I think I should give you one more chance to continue as my fighter."

Something is wrong here.

I eyed the woman suspiciously, this removing a vein in the woman's forehead, who just looked away as she threw a piece of paper in my direction, which I easily picked up to see what looked like an address written on it.

"That annoying priest asked me to visit you when you were free."

I listened to his explanation with curiosity. The system had already told me about Mokichi's interest in my potential, and frankly, I was also interested in what the man could teach me. His style was simply magnificent. On the screen, it was already something amazing to see, but face to face, it was a work of art. Now I understood why Raian was unable to do anything against such a monster after Mokichi revealed his Baritsu.

The style is unpredictable, and that's because at the moment he used it against me, we were standing all the time. If we went to the ground, I don't even want to imagine how easily I would be put to sleep.

If I get the chance to learn this style from such a tutor, I will grab this opportunity like a Koala clinging to its mother.

With an excited smile, I put the paper away in my pocket and looked at the window, my mind lost in my new basic knowledge about Baritsu that suddenly appeared in my mind after winning the reward.

This is awesome!

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Name: Yuji Shinakawa [Yamashita]

Age: 15

Strength: S

Stamina: SS

Stamina: S+++

Speed: SS

intelligence: SS

Potential: ???

Abilities: Combat Mastery [Lvl 70], Boxing [Lvl 58], Jeet Kune Do [Lvl 50], MMA [Lvl 42], Watching [Lvl 5], Baritsu [Lvl 1] Image Training [Lvl 1] Advancement [Lvl 10] [?]

Body: Divine Eyes [Lvl Max], Blessed Potential [Lvl Max], Combat Genius [Lvl Max], Enhanced Regeneration [Lvl Max], ????

"..."

'Wait a moment... That thing I used against Mokichi was the advance?!'