Path to Strength

"What is your choice?"

Hearing the question, Hanma swallowed dryly, his fingers tightening over his palm as his fear betrayed his body and prevented him from making any move against the boy in front of him. Human beings, despite thousands of years of evolution, still retain their basic survival instincts, and Hanma was feeling them firsthand. The hairs on his body were bristling, and his body seemed to just want to get out of that place as fast as possible.

No one had ever made him feel this way, and as much as he enjoyed new sensations, this was one he would rather not ever feel.

As Yuji waited for the man's decision, he couldn't help but feel the frustration that had built up since he had come into this world. He had been through a lot, and all the events were weighing on his mind. Most of the time, he was able to keep his feelings contained, but since he had used the advance for the first time, his emotions were chaotic like a storm. It was not wrong to think that just one wrong move could set him off.

In the face of the tension that had built up in the air, the movement of some Valhalla members behind Yuji caught the attention of Hanma, who seeing this, squinted his eyes and cracked a small smile. This might be a chance he couldn't pass up.

"Very well, Yuji. I think I've made my decision." Hanma spoke with his usual tone of voice, causing Yuji to raise an eyebrow at his relaxed attitude.

The members behind Yuji moved closer and closer, blades ready in their hands, awaiting what seemed like the signal from their leader.

"I think we'll choose a third option." Hanma cracked a sadistic smile, his next words being spat out in a maniacal tone that caused Yuji to frown in frustration. "Kill you!"

The delinquents leapt toward Yuji, the boy clenching his teeth as he slowly turned to face those who dared to attack him from behind. Veins were bulging on his forehead, and his glowing eyes served to reflect the fury that was rapidly taking over the boy.

"Very well." With a cold tone, Yuji closed his hands into fists and faced the approaching delinquents. "I've had enough of this shit... It's time to mess things up."

In the blink of an eye, all the delinquents were hit in their faces, causing them to fly away and crash everywhere in the arcade, causing a tremor that shook the entire building.

Again, silence dominated the place as the delinquents could only look at their stricken companions with fear in their eyes. Hanma, who saw the whole scene unfolding, felt his hopes fade as his eyes slowly landed on Yuji's back.

Thump thump thump thump.

Suddenly, the silence was immediately dispersed by the sound of accelerating beats, an intense pressure hitting all the offenders around, making most of them feel as if they were unable to breathe.

"Ha-Haha... Hahahaha!" Pulling his head back, a maniacal laugh escaped Yuji, mingling with the beats that accelerated more and more, an action that frightened even Hanma, the Valhalla leader taking a few steps back to stay as far away as possible from the teenager in front of him.

"That makes everything easier." Turning around, the boy cracked a wide smile as he landed his gaze on Hanma, causing the delinquent for a moment to freeze in pure fear.

"I- I give that shit up!" With a desperate shout, one of the Valhalla members ran for the arcade exit as fast as he could.

Hanma, who blinked as he turned his gaze to the delinquent who was trying to escape, didn't even notice when Yuji suddenly disappeared.

"Gah!" As he was about to walk out the door, the delinquent could only choke when a hand grabbed him by the neck, his eyes landing on Yuji, who suddenly appeared in front of him. "No! Please-"

He tried to plead, but not even considering his plea, Yuji smashed his body into the ground, causing the teenager to vomit blood as he collided with concrete, his eyes losing the glow that indicated his consciousness.

Without a second glance, Yuji simply stepped over the knocked out man and turned to those around him, his wide smile still on his lips. He no longer felt remorse for what he was about to do, after all, he had given them a chance, but they had rather trampled on his mercy.

"D-Damn it! Get him!" The delinquents immediately realized that Yuji would not let them get away, and with no choice, they all drew their blades as they screamed in desperation.

Letting out a slight laugh, Yuji advanced, beginning a one-sided massacre against the entire Valhalla, the delinquents being unable to even see Yuji's movements, his arms, legs, and ribs being broken without them being able to see it themselves.

"He's here!"

"My arm! My arm-"

"Mercy, please-"

When someone tried to punch him, Yuji broke his arm in half. When someone tried to kick him, he bent his legs to an unrecognizable state. It was undeniable that whatever was holding Yuji back before had been completely ignored thanks to [Advance], but despite looking out of control, he knew very well what he was doing, the ability serving only as an amplifier of his own emotions, releasing what he held so tightly.

'Shit, that's good.' With his maniacal grin widening even more, Yuji grabbed the fist of an offender who tried to punch him, quickly pulling him towards him as he began punching his face several times before dropping him to the ground with his nose completely destroyed.

The desperate screams continued for a few seconds, the sound of bones breaking causing Baji and Hanma to cringe, both looking at the unfolding massacre with wide eyes.

"Damn, what Kisaki got me into!" For the first time in his life, Hanma felt desperation control him, his mind barely reasoning as he tried to reach for the exit, taking advantage that Yuji was busy with his subordinates.

"Where do you think you're going, Hanma?~"

The delinquent froze when Yuji's voice sounded behind him, icy sweat running down the back of his neck, as in a desperate move, he turned and tried to punch him, only to have his wrist broken as the blow came close to the boy's face.

"Gah!" Hanma choked as he held his wrist, the pain clouding his mind as he fell on his butt on the ground.

Crawling away, he raised his head only to see Yuji standing in front of him with a frightening, almost demonic smile.

"Your turn has come, Shuji Hanma~"

Stirring up the deepest fear Hanma had ever felt, so that his mind completely ignored everything rational for the boy, in an act of preserving his own instincts, the boy did something that surprised even Yuji in his possessed state, even if only for a single moment.

"Forgive me! I promise I will give up delinquency! Then please let me go! I won't get into any more fights, or talk to other delinquents, so please!" Desperate, Hanma cringed as he put his arms in front of his face, a pathetic act that even served to calm Yuji, the veins bulging in his skin slowly returning to normal as he stared at Hanma with a complicated look.

The boy immediately realized what was happening, and couldn't help but look at Hanma with pity and a bit of contempt, as seeing him in that state eventually relieved his hatred, and made him lose the urge to beat him up. 'Looks like his spirit has been broken.'

The spirit, more precisely a person's determination, can be easily shaken by problems that people face in their lives. Rejected projects, bad grades, difficulties in getting a job, all these can affect a person's determination. But breaking his spirit was something much more complicated. Only severe trauma could do that.

Sure, Hanma could be faking it, but if his aura becoming transparent was any indication, Yuji believed that an acting out was not the case.

"Tsc." With a click of his tongue, the teenager turned to leave, completely ignoring the several crippled delinquents sprawled on the floor.

There was no point in beating Hanma further. Yuji felt that he would not see the delinquent again after this, and that in itself was more than enough.

With his eyes gleaming dangerously, Yuji exited the arcade as he uttered aggressively. "It's about time I found my great friend Kisaki."

.

.

.

Musashi Shrine.

Toman was fully assembled in the middle of the shrine that was known to the delinquents as the gang's base. Silence filled the place, Mikey, the leader of the gang, standing in front of all the members while staring at them with an unreadable expression. His division captains were gathered at his side, and that included KisakI, who showed an anxious expression on his face.

He had been unable to contact Hanma for several hours now, and this was serving to make him tense with each passing minute. He needed to go over the plan with the major, and without receiving a response he didn't know if Hanma was aware of what they were going to do.

'Shit... What the hell is going on?' he questioned in his mind, sweat beading down his forehead as he put his hands together almost as if saying a prayer.

"Someone's coming."

Suddenly, Mikey's voice caught everyone's attention, the tension in the air increasing to the point that it made the weakest of the gang have trouble breathing. Startled by what was happening, they all turned slowly as footsteps echoed throughout the sanctuary.

"They're having a meeting around here and they didn't even call me..." Stepping out of the shadows, Yuji revealed himself to everyone in the place as he slowly walked toward Mikey and his captains. "That's unprofessionalism, Mikey."

With a smile on his lips, the boy walked past the assembled members as they parted to give him a way. Mikey seeing this, frowned as he stared at him getting closer and closer.

Kisaki, who had a terrified expression, took a step back when Yuji stopped in front of Mikey. He didn't know what to do, at no time in his life had he been put up against the wall like this. Even when he was cornered in the alley, he had a gun to help him, but now, he had nothing to help him get out of this situation.

"What are you doing here?" Draken asked with hostility.

"I did not come here with the intention of fighting with you." Yuji spoke quietly. "I came for a person in question. If you guys hand him over to me in good faith, I won't do anything against your gang."

Mikey, quiet as he listened to Yuji, lowered his head slightly when his eyes seemed to lose their reason. Yuji realized that what had happened during his fight with the blond man was happening again, and even as murderous intent exploded from his body, he was not worried about it.

"All right." With a sigh, Yuji let the smile from his face. "If that's the decision of your leader, don't blame me."

There were no words that could change Mikey from that state, and frankly, Yuji was in no mood for conversation. Kisaki was in the palm of his hand, and he would not let this opportunity slip away because of the psychopathic disorder of an unbalanced teenager.

Boom!

Mikey's leg exploded toward Yuji, but before he could even get halfway there, his attack was interrupted when a fist hit him in the jaw hard enough to jar his brain, causing the boy to lose consciousness for a few seconds and his body to fall toward the ground.

The Toman members were shocked by this, after all, they had not seen Yuji even move.

Just as Mikey was about to fall face first into the ground, he regained consciousness, but before he had a chance to stop his fall, his body was lifted when Yuji grabbed him by the hair and hit him with a knee to his face, sending him a few feet backwards.

"Guh." Mikey spat out some of his teeth, his expression, differently unreadable, now showing a fury never before seen in the boy.

"Mkey?" Draken asked in fear. Never before had he seen Mikey show such an expression, and it shocked him, but most of all, terrified him. He feared what the blond would do now that something had set him off.

The moment the blond raised his eyes full of fury to meet Yuji, his vision caught only a fist advancing toward him like a bullet, Mikey leaping to the side in an attempt to escape.

"Tic Tic Tic."

The moment he tried to pull away, his hair was grabbed again, his eyes turning to the person responsible for this, only to see Yuji with a slight smile on his face.

"You chose that, Mikey. Don't try to run away."

Boom!

Not making it in time enough, Mikey couldn't escape as his face was smashed into the concrete, this repeating itself three times, before Yuji let go of the Toman commander's limp body on the ground.

"Do any of you have anything to say about this?" Yuji frowned, his eyes landing on the surrounding captains like a predator would on its prey.

This cowed even the bravest like Draken, who could only look away with a defeated expression.

"Very well."

Kisaki, who trembled with despair at seeing Mikey beaten, tried stealthily to escape, but this did not go unnoticed by those of Yuji, who came up behind the boy in a flash, his hand gripping the back of Kisaki's head, and lifting him into the air, causing him to choke from lack of air.

"No! I surrender! I will give up my plans, just please don't hurt me." Kisaki in an act of desperation, tried to plead for Yuji's mercy, but the teenager seemed not to hear him as he increased his grip on the back of his neck.

"You bastard... Murder and rape... You gave no mercy even to the brothers of that boy you ordered to murder his family." Veins bulged in Yuji's arm, and with one rough motion, Yuji smashed Kisaki's face into the ground, breaking his nose and teeth. "Why should I give him my mercy?"

Lifting him up again, this time turning him to face him, Yuji raised his fist and punched his two legs, breaking them in two, causing Kisaki to scream in pain and agony.

The people on the scene seeing this, trembled with agony as they heard Kisaki's screams, but made no moves to try to help him. Yuji had beaten Mikey so easily, what could they do against a monster like him?

Pah, who despite being terrified of everything that was going on, couldn't help but roll his eyes when Yuji mentioned the murder of a family, immediately recognizing who he was talking about. After all, the murdered family was the family of a friend very close to him, and suddenly knowing that Kisaki was responsible for this, made, going against the fear in his system, fury rise in his mind.

Raising his fist again, Yuji in his next course of action. He made sure to break Kisaki's legs in a way that they would no longer recover, but just not walking didn't seem enough for a scum like Kisaki. So, without any remorse, Yuji punched her ribs, breaking them enough that even if they recovered one day, it would make it difficult to even move her torso.

Letting go of Kisaki's body, who at some point passed out from the pain, Yuji turned and put his hands on his waist, taking a deep breath.

This was the end of a problem that had irritated him so much. Kisaki was no longer a danger, and even if he recovered, he would never be the same. Considering the changes in his aura, this beating would be a trauma that would never disappear from his mind. Yuji didn't even know if the boy would ever get out of bed, but he didn't really care about that. Kisaki had chosen this path for himself, and one day or another he would deal with the consequences. Yuji just sped up the process for that, because waiting until he decided to mess with his family or try to kill one of his friends again was not what he wanted.

"Is what you said true?" Yuji heard a voice ask behind him, the same turning to the one he knew as Pah, staring at Kisaki's body on the ground. "About the murdered family... Is that true?"

Yuji stared at him for a few seconds, remembering how Pah had gone to visit the boy he had saved in the hospital. "Yes, Kisaki was responsible for everything."

He watched the fury rise in Pah's features, and couldn't help but crack a slight smile at that. His job there was over, whether Kisaki would die or live, that was no longer for him to decide. Turning to the Toman captains, who were tending to an unconscious Mikey, he spoke.

"I don't care if you guys continue as a gang or not. As long as you stay in line, what happened to Valhalla will not happen to you. We don't need murderers or rapists around here. I will make it a point to cripple every one who turns that way."

The members nodded fiercely, and with a slight nod, Yuji began walking toward the shrine exit, a smile of accomplishment on his face.