Chapter 98: Mach Punch!
"Look—look at their right legs!"
A man in black, watching from the sidelines, was the first to exclaim.
Everyone looked and saw a distinct, large scar on the calves of both Kei and Katsumi.
The skin encircling their calves had clearly suffered severe trauma. A large patch of skin was damaged, looking as if it had exploded.
The regenerated epidermis was lighter in color, creating a stark contrast with the ankle and knee.
Katsumi's scar was shallower, while Kei's was slightly deeper, indicating a difference in recovery time.
Although treated well enough not to leave ugly wrinkles, it wasn't hard to imagine how horrific the injury must have been. Just looking at it was chilling!
Could those strikingly similar injuries have been caused by the same person?
Kei and Katsumi—these two fighters locked in a deathmatch—what kind of terrifying monster had they faced?!
"—Hanayama Kaoru!"
Suedo gritted his teeth and growled the name he could never forget.
"In the Tokyo Dome underground tournament—during the second round, Director Katsumi fought Hanayama Kaoru and endured that brawler's 'Vice Grip'!"
Hearing this, Fusu's eye twitched. "That Orochi Katsumi too—"
Fusu hadn't witnessed the fight between Kei and Hanayama personally, but she had heard accounts from several people.
It was a fearsome, intense battle.
Hanayama's throat was crushed, yet he remained standing, holding his breath to throw punches with all his might. In the end, he and the heavily injured Kei both passed out drunk on the sofa.
Some said Kei and Hanayama fought to a draw, but in reality, that battle could hardly be called a conventional draw.
Hanayama took all of Kei's hits, drank strong liquor, and finally passed out from suffocation while drunk.
Although it fit Hanayama's fighting aesthetic, for Kei, that wasn't a result that could be called a "battle."
So Kei never felt he had drawn with Hanayama.
"...What about the result of that match?"
Fusu looked at Suedo, asking, "Orochi Katsumi vs. Hanayama Kaoru. What was the result?"
"Director Katsumi won!" Suedo took a deep breath, looking at Katsumi. "It was him who defeated that towering man!"
Hearing this, Akimiya Kaede asked in shock, "There was such a match... So Orochi Katsumi won the final victory of that tournament?"
"...No."
Suedo shook his head. "Director Katsumi fell in the next round—fighting against [Ken-Oh] Retsu Kaioh. The one who became champion was a seventeen-year-old boy—Hanma Baki!"
"..."
Akimiya couldn't calm down for a long time.
Meanwhile, Fusu gripped the railing tightly, staring at Katsumi's movements.
The move that could crush Hanayama Kaoru... how terrifying would it be?!
Katsumi retracted his leg, standing still, making his final breathing adjustments.
"Shiraki-bro, I know you won't refuse."
"Let's decide the winner with this!"
Kei remained silent, also adjusting his breathing. Sweat mixed with blood on his forehead, spreading a faint red stain.
Katsumi's expression was calm. "I realized that facing you... I can't assert that I will win. All I can do is use all my strength."
"Your intense consciousness and unparalleled fighting spirit allow you to discard all unconscious actions and completely control your body in battle."
"You are truly strong..."
"But I think, for me, the way of the strong is to pour my body and mind into Karate, entrusting everything to martial arts."
Crack...
Katsumi stepped forward with his left foot, standing sideways. His left arm extended naturally forward, right arm pulled back, palm facing up.
"And now, the move I'm going to use—the final move I dedicated to Hanayama Kaoru—is the summation of everything I've done so far, the ultimate conclusion of what I can do now."
"..."
SNAP!
Abruptly, a crisp sound rang out.
The bystanders were confused. Looking for the source, they realized Katsumi had already thrown a right punch.
When did he punch? Why didn't we see it?!
"...Great sound, isn't it?"
Katsumi's breathing steadied as he spat out bloody foam.
"When a whip expert swings a whip, a loud cracking sound is produced in the air."
"That is the sound of the whip's tip breaking the sound barrier—the sound of an object exceeding the speed of sound..."
Katsumi retracted his fist slowly and steadily, the movement of his joints visible.
"From the bottom up—linking every joint starting from the big toe."
"From big toe to ankle, ankle to knee, knee to hip, hip to waist, waist to shoulder, shoulder to elbow, and elbow to fist—"
"As long as you successfully accelerate these eight joints simultaneously, you can create a 'miracle'!"
SNAP!
Katsumi punched again. It was still invisible.
Even ordinary people who knew nothing about fighting could hear that it wasn't the sound of a normal punch. It sounded more like a whip crack!
SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!
Consecutive punches sent "strange sounds" echoing in the night on the deck.
"That is..."
Relying on her superior vision, Fusu barely managed to see the truth.
What Katsumi was doing was generating power from the ground up, accelerating through the linkage of eight joints in his body, boosting the speed of his punch to the limit, finally making it comparable to the speed of sound!
This seemingly ordinary punch required not only diligent training but also superhuman motor nerves and unimaginable physical coordination to execute.
Only the genius-level Final Weapon—Orochi Katsumi—could possibly achieve it!
It was a punch worthy of being called the ultimate crystallization of modern sports—the Mach Punch!
...
Fusu paused, suddenly asking Suedo, "That Kenpo master... how did he defeat Orochi Katsumi's Mach Punch?"
Suedo recalled. "Retsu Kaioh—before the Mach Punch was used, he used his breath to blind Director Katsumi, winning with carefully designed tactics!"
Fusu understood. "In other words, even Retsu Kaioh, who defeated Orochi Katsumi, chose not to take this technique head-on."
Suedo nodded. "After all, that's the punch that crushed Hanayama Kaoru..."
"..."
At this point, who supported whom didn't seem to matter anymore.
Both Fusu and Suedo wanted to see the end, to witness the outcome of this battle.
Facing Katsumi, Kei assumed his stance—Guile-style Battlefield Combat Arts, [Engine] state maintained.
Katsumi could see it was a stance inclined towards defensive counters.
He understood that Kei didn't intend to stall or evade, but to take the hit with defense and dodging!
"Shiraki-bro..."
Katsumi stepped forward, linking his eight joints, and launched a Mach Punch.
SNAP!
BANG—!
The crisp crack, mixed with the dull thud of a fist hitting a human body, erupted simultaneously.
Instantly, Kei was knocked back by the punch, flying backward and smashing heavily into the cargo crates behind him, burying himself in the debris with a loud crash.
Just one punch sent the 97kg Kei flying and even smashed the wooden crates behind him!
"Gah!"
Kei threw his head back, coughing blood. Tears were forced out of his eyes. Blood sprayed from his nose and mouth, leaving tragic streaks on his body.
Intense pain spread through his body, calming his trembling pupils, forcing him out of the [Engine] state.
Will he lose?
Is he going to lose?!
...Crash!
Kei pushed aside the broken wood and steadied his footing.
This was the last time he could stand up with his remaining stamina.