CHAPTER 321: THE FIST MASTER

 

Gantetsu thrust his right arm forward again, unleashing a shock wave that tore through the ground.

I swung Shiranuemaru Hoshimeguri in response and cleaved straight through the attack head-on.

—Kiiiiing!

A silver arc flashed through the air, splitting the shock wave in two and sending each half veering off to either side.

A thunderous roar followed.

Behind me, an enormous boulder shattered into countless pieces.

「…Oh? Not bad.」

Gantetsu grinned.

The next instant—

—Boom!!

The ground exploded.

「Huh!? He’s fast!」

His explosive lunge was impossible to reconcile with his massive frame.

He closed the ten-meter distance between us in an instant and swung his enormous fist straight at my face.

「Hah!」

I tilted my head aside at the last possible moment.

I had narrowly avoided the punch, but a shallow cut had opened across my cheek, and blood was trickling from it.

The pressure from his fist alone cut my skin!?

Gantetsu immediately moved in to follow up.

I swung Shiranuemaru while backstepping.

A sharp metallic clang rang out.

What had stopped Shiranuemaru’s blade was…his fist.

He blocked Shiranuemaru’s blade with his fist!? This thing can cut through rock like butter even without channeling mana into it!

…No. That isn’t his bare fist. It’s a mana barrier wrapped around it.

「Huh. You can block a katana with your bare hands? Not bad.」

Gantetsu’s grin widened to match my own.

「You’re every bit as good as I expected. There’re only a handful of bastards in all of Bukyo who can take my punches head-on.」

Silence filled the area for several seconds.

Then, the instant we both blinked—

—Kaboom!!

Gantetsu suddenly lunged forward and drove a devastating kick into my stomach, sending me flying dozens of meters.

「Guh…!」

I somehow managed to break my fall and skidded across the ground before coming to a stop, immediately raising my guard.

That was heavy…!!

In terms of raw attack power, he’s probably even stronger than Drake. And he’s fast on top of that.

He must’ve abandoned magic entirely and devoted all his training to strengthening his body.

And the end result is this monster…Onigawara Gantetsu.

「Gahahahaha!! Surely that isn’t all you’ve got!」

Gantetsu laughed as he crossed arms that looked as thick as a woman’s waist.

This is no time to hold anything back.

「【Thunder Drum】, 【Swift Gale, Flash Thunder】.」

I activated both buffs and raised my stats.

Ideally, I’d activate 【Matsuribayashi】 too, but the debuff that hits ten minutes later would be far too costly.

「That’s more like it!! That’s the face I wanted to see!!」

Gantetsu charged at me again, and I stepped forward to meet him.

We moved simultaneously.

Just before we collided head-on—

「【Thunderclap】.」

My vision shifted in an instant, as though my body itself had transformed into lightning.

I flashed past Gantetsu’s side and slashed him in passing. Blood sprayed through the air as I felt my blade tear through flesh, and when I turned around, I saw that his shoulder had been split open.

However—

「Too shallow!!」

Gantetsu spun around and unleashed a backfist.

「Guh!!」

I blocked it with Shiranuemaru, but the impact still sent me flying nearly ten meters and left my arms slightly numb.

「Hah!」

「Gahahahaha!」

Grins spread across both our faces at the same time.

「Man, this is fun!!」

「Damn right! This is the best, Doumekiiii!!」

Once again, ten meters separated us.

We readied ourselves.

A crowd of people had gathered around us, but no one came any closer.

No, it would be more accurate to say that they couldn’t.

The space surrounding the two of us was completely empty.

「Come at me!!」

「You don’t have to tell me!!」

We both kicked off the ground—

And then it happened.

—Whoosh.

The sound of something slicing through the air reached my ears, and a single black kunai embedded itself in the ground between us.

The moment we saw it, Gantetsu and I instinctively leaped backward.

Immediately afterward—

—Booooom!!

The kunai exploded, and a smoke screen dyed my entire field of vision white.

「…Tch. Damn bastard had to interrupt just when things were getting good.」

Gantetsu clicked his tongue and swung one arm downward, the resulting blast beginning to clear away the smoke.

As it dispersed, a lone figure gradually emerged atop a boulder where no one had been standing before.

He was slender and dressed entirely in black, with a ninjatō hanging from his waist. A strip of black cloth covered his mouth, making his expression difficult to discern.

「Onigawara Gantetsu. I shall be taking your Oni Tags.」

His voice was quiet, yet somehow perfectly clear.

「Kirigakure Sasuke. I have no fondness for those who rely on underhanded tricks.」

For the first time, open disgust appeared on Gantetsu’s face.

「Such is the way of the shinobi. Forgive me.」

As he spoke, Sasuke raised his left hand.

Four Oni Tags were already clutched in it.

「Shit. He got me…」

Gantetsu released a heavy sigh, then tossed his remaining Oni Tag toward me.

「Sorry, but I’ve gotta start collecting Oni Tags all over again. Take that as my apology for the interruption.」

「Don’t screw with me. I’m not taking it when our fight hasn’t even been settled.」

「Think of it as my way of making this right. We’ll finish our fight in the main tournament.」

Without waiting for my answer, Gantetsu turned on his heel and ran off.

「Seriously… Bukyo sure as hell never gets boring.」

An enormous cloud of dust rose in the direction Gantetsu had disappeared, accompanied by thunderous booms powerful enough to shake the ground.