Back then, Genzo was far more vicious than he was now, practically acting as the local emperor of this northern street.
He kept a pack of ruthless thugs under his command, controlling the distribution of the extremely scarce food and water in the area.
He forced helpless orphans like Asuka to steal, rob, and scavenge valuables from corpses in the higher-ranked districts.
If the children brought back what he wanted, they might receive a small piece of konpeito as a reward.
But if they returned empty-handed, or were discovered and managed to flee back half-beaten to death...
What awaited them was Genzo's merciless, thick spiked club.
The physical wounds on Asuka's body had long since healed.
However, deep within his heart, there remained several hidden scars left from his childhood.
Yet, this was not the entire reason why Asuka absolutely had to find him.
Kenta was the first friend Asuka made in the Rukongai.
He was a scrawny boy missing a front tooth.
During that winter when even breathing felt freezing, it was Kenta who used his own frail body to shield Asuka from the wind.
When Asuka nearly lost his life to starvation, it was Kenta who risked being beaten to death to steal half a sweet potato from the boss's kitchen, feeding it into Asuka's mouth bite by bite.
Kenta had no Spiritual Power, so he could not feel hunger; he stole the sweet potato entirely to save Asuka's life.
This debt of gratitude was something even a cold-hearted stray dog would remember.
"Eat, Asuka... Eat it, and we can survive together."
Kenta's gap-toothed smile was the first ray of sunlight Asuka had ever felt in the Inuzuri District.
However, the incident with the half sweet potato was eventually discovered by Genzo.
Asuka would never forget that day.
Gray snow drifted down from the sky.
Genzo grabbed Kenta by the hair and dragged him into a muddy puddle.
"You dare hoard food right under my nose? You little beast, you're asking for death!"
The thick spiked club smashed into Kenta's frail body over and over again.
The sound of shattering bones, Kenta's feeble wails, and Genzo's cruel, maniacal laughter...
He could still remember it all to this day.
Looking at the terrified Genzo, Asuka's face showed no wild joy or the satisfaction of finally getting his revenge.
His eyes held only an extremely cold calmness, as if he were looking at a pile of garbage about to be disposed of.
"I am someone who has always believed in an eye for an eye." Asuka stated flatly, "Back then, you beat me."
"And you used that wooden club to beat my friend to death."
His gaze slowly swept over the thugs in the courtyard, who were trembling in fear and kneeling on the ground, not even daring to raise their heads.
"Now, I will only beat you."
Asuka turned around, his back to Genzo, and spoke to the thugs.
"You lot."
"Stand up."
The thugs exchanged nervous glances and shakily got to their feet, none of them knowing what this terrifying Soul Reaper intended to do.
"Pick up your weapons."
Asuka released his Spiritual Pressure once more.
It was only a sliver, not enough to leave them unable to breathe or move.
But it was brimming with a malicious fluctuation that induced a maddening sense of dread.
"Beat him," Asuka spat out the words coldly.
Hearing Asuka's command, the thugs looked at Genzo on the ground in horror.
That was the boss who had ruled over them for a century, the most vicious demon in this district...
"If you don't beat him, you will all die," Asuka added, his hand already resting on the hilt of his sword.
"Until I say stop, you are not allowed to stop."
But at this very moment, in front of this black-clad Soul Reaper who was clearly here for blood...
Genzo was nothing more than a piece of rotting meat on a chopping block.
"Boss... I'm sorry..."
An underling who had his pay withheld by Genzo in the past, harboring long-standing resentment, gritted his teeth and was the first to raise his spiked club.
Bang!
The wooden club smashed ruthlessly into Genzo's fat lower back.
"Ah! You dare hit me! I'll kill—"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Before Genzo could finish his curse, the other thugs, desperate to survive, lunged forward with bloodshot eyes.
The wooden clubs, iron bars, and heavy objects once used to oppress the weak...
Now rained down frantically upon Genzo's body.
"No! Stop! Aaaahhhh—!!!"
Genzo let out bloodcurdling screams, rolling on the ground as he begged for mercy and cursed endlessly, but it was all to no avail.
Asuka did not look back at the bloody scene even once.
He listened to the muffled blows and the sound of shattering bones coming from behind him,
listening to the entire process of Genzo's agonizing wails gradually fading into weak groans.
In a corner of his heart, it felt as though a stone that had been suspended for over a century finally fell to the ground.
'Kenta, did you hear that?'
'I paid him back for you.'
Bang! Bang! Squelch...
As time passed, the sound of the beatings behind him grew increasingly muffled.
It was the sound of wooden clubs striking mangled flesh that had lost all skeletal support.
Genzo had completely ceased making any sound.
But since Asuka hadn't given the order, no one dared to stop.
The thugs gasped heavily for air, their chests heaving violently, the remnants of the madness they had unleashed to survive still lingering in their eyes.
Just like that, under the frenzied beating of dozens of thugs desperate to stay alive...
This scoundrel who had ruled the North Street of the Inuzuri District for a century was ultimately beaten to death by the very thugs he had personally trained, reduced to an unrecognizable puddle of mush.
Asuka slowly turned around, his gaze sweeping over the trembling mob.
Under the laws of the Soul Reapers, or by the moral standards of the World of the Living, these people were all scum whose deaths would not be pitied.
They oppressed the weak, stole rations, and under Genzo's coercion, would even drown their own kind in the gutters.
But as Asuka looked at them, there was no sense of high-and-mighty judgment in his eyes.
After all, his own hands weren't exactly clean; he too had once been one of Genzo's underlings.
Clang.
Out of extreme terror, one thug dropped his broken iron bar onto the stone slabs.
This startled him into a shudder, and he immediately dropped to his knees, pressing his head firmly against the ground, not even daring to breathe loudly.
The others followed suit, kneeling on the ground one after another, waiting for the Soul Reaper's judgment.
"...The debts of the past cannot be pinned on him alone."
"I don't care if you were willing or forced back then. Hands that are stained with blood must pay the price."
"...Everyone, leave one hand behind, and you can go."
At these words, cold sweat broke out on everyone's faces.
Leave a hand behind?
In this dog-eat-dog Rukongai, losing a hand was basically equivalent to losing more than half of one's ability to survive...
But this... at least they would still be alive!
"I'll count to three," Asuka said, his voice icy, giving them no time to hesitate. "One—"
Squelch!
He didn't even get to two.
A thug suddenly grabbed a rusty machete from the ground, gritted his teeth, and brought the blade down, forcefully severing his own left hand clean off at the wrist!
"Urgh!!"
He bit his lip hard, letting out a muffled groan as cold sweat instantly drenched his entire body.
But he didn't dare wail aloud. He simply clamped his right hand tightly over his spurting stump and kowtowed repeatedly on the ground. "Thank you... Thank you, Lord Soul Reaper, for sparing my life!"
With the first person taking the lead, the remaining thugs, though their faces were as pale as paper, knew this was their only way to survive.
For a time, a series of bloodcurdling slicing sounds and suppressed groans echoed throughout the courtyard.
Severed limbs rolled into the muddy puddles, and blood dyed the entire courtyard red.
Asuka watched this scene expressionlessly. After confirming that everyone had paid the price, he turned and left.
"Take your lives and get out of my sight."
With that said, he lingered no longer, stepping out of the courtyard filled with the stench of blood and rot.
His objective was clear.
District 79, Kusajishi.
To find the informant named Black Fang.