Chapter 251: The Starry Sky
Human eyes are not capable of emitting light.
Kazuo Yamashita was certain of this fact. Yet, whether witnessing it live or
recalling it later, he remained absolutely convinced that the eyes of Ren
Shiroki were radiating an ominous, high-voltage glint in the dark.
What was it? Using his naturally gifted "Fist Eye," Kazuo made a bold deduction:
it was the physical manifestation of Ren's feverish consciousness, a mental load
so vast it was overflowing from his very pupils.
Its name: [SATSUI CHOICE]!
By staring directly into the Satsui no Hado, Ren viewed the dark impulse as just
one thought among many. He could select any technique he desired, using the
"Killing Intent" as a coordinate to reverse-engineer his opponent's logic.
But right now, Ren wasn't using the state to read Gaia. He was using the
"Choice" as a smokescreen to prevent Gaia from reading him!
"Gaia-san, can you perceive my next 'Killing Intent'?"
The bleeding from Ren's nose stopped as his breathing stabilized into a
rhythmic, terrifying calm. "If so... I think I'll just pick a different one."
[DRIVE RUSH]!
Ren's calves exploded with power, his heel pulverizing the floor tile beneath
him. He launched forward like an arrow released from a bow, his speed leaving
trailing afterimages in the dim hallway.
WHOOSH!
That familiar, violent charge!
THUD!
Ren leaped, performing a deceptive aerial arc to close the gap.
[CAMMY'S HOOLIGAN COMBINATION]!
Gaia narrowed his eyes, reading Ren's battle spirit. He had already predicted
the next move. Just like before... he'll drop into a crouch upon landing and use
a low sweep to break my balance before following up.
In that case... a small hop is all I need to—
Zip!
Gaia drove off the ground. But in that exact microsecond, he saw the divergence.
Ren's physical body and his "Killing Intent" had split.
The prediction was wrong again!
Mid-air, Ren shifted his technique. He snapped his waist upward, his hips
coiling like a high-tension spring as he whipped his heel downward in a vertical
arc.
[HOOLIGAN COMBINATION: FATAL LEG DROP]!
SHINK!
The hidden derivation of the Hooligan move caught Gaia completely off guard.
Ren's heel slammed directly into the soldier's youthful face.
CRACK-BOOM!
Suspended in mid-air, Gaia's face took the full brunt of the impact. He was
driven into the floor with sickening velocity, blood spraying from his nose and
mouth simultaneously.
"Gah—hk!"
Gaia let out a sharp cry of pain. He gritted his teeth, braced his hands against
the floor, and performed a frantic backward roll to reset the distance.
...Why?
Gaia couldn't comprehend it. Why could he feel Ren's battle spirit—clearer and
sharper than any he had ever perceived—and yet the physical reality of the
attack remained a total surprise?
I can see it! So why am I missing the read?!
As Gaia struggled with the logic, Ren was already on him. He lunged forward with
a focused straight punch.
[DRIVE IMPACT: SHOCKWAVE]!
WHOOSH!
Gaia read the move and braced himself to dodge. This time, the physical fist
followed the intent perfectly. Gaia slipped the punch by a hair's breadth,
exactly as he expected.
He locked his eyes onto Ren, feeling the surging, chaotic ocean of battle intent
radiating from the youth. For the first time in years, the "God of War" felt a
flicker of panic.
Damn... he's coming in too fast! What's the next one?! Left elbow? A rising
strike?! Do I block? Or evade?!
Gaia's eyes widened as he performed a massive backward leap. But he didn't dodge
a Muay Thai elbow. He dodged a rising Shoryuken that came from a completely
different vector!
Zip!
Ren's rising fist whistled past, leaving a tiny opening in his recovery frames.
Ordinarily, this was the moment for a professional to counter, but Gaia had
retreated too far in his confusion. He could only watch as Ren reset his stance.
A wasted opportunity... but God, that was close!
The read had been wrong again. He had almost been taken out by a ghost strike.
"Hah... hah..."
Beads of cold sweat rolled down Gaia's face. A strange sensation was beginning
to take root in his mind, something he couldn't quite put into words.
Ren Shiroki felt like...
Ren's body lowered, coiling for the next lunge.
"TAKE THIS!"
Ren roared, the glint in his eyes leaving two trails of light in the darkness.
He pressed the assault, keeping the pressure at a suffocating level.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A rapid-fire flurry of fists and feet.
Gaia read three strikes correctly, slipping them by fractions of an inch. But on
the fourth—a frontal headbutt—he misjudged the timing, mistaking it for a knee
strike. He took the hit flush.
THUD!
Ren's forehead collided with Gaia's face. Blood sprayed from the soldier's nose.
Gaia stumbled back, his vision swimming with "stars" as a searing, acidic pain
filled his nasal cavity.
...Stars?
That's it. That's the feeling!
Gaia finally realized how to describe the man before him.
When you are deep in the jungle, you look up at the midnight sky. You see
thousands of brilliant, shining stars. They are clear, bright, and they form
recognizable patterns—constellations.
But no matter how hard you look, there are always stars just outside your
peripheral vision. Stars you can't see until they shift. Ren Shiroki's
techniques were like that starry sky. You could see the "patterns," but you
could never encompass the entire horizon!
As the "Sky" of Ren's techniques pressed down, Gaia simply didn't have enough
"Vision" to process every possibility!
"This... this guy..."
Gaia stared in disbelief.
Ren bared his teeth, a low, ominous rumble in his chest. "This feels...
incredible!"
He spread his fingers and then clenched them into a fist, savoring the
micro-activation of every muscle fiber. He felt a surge of addictive euphoria.
"You can see it clearly, can't you? I'm still using my Consciousness to drive my
body."
"But what you don't know is that my body doesn't resent the control. It's
cheering! It wants to experience everything!"
"I have too many ideas in my head to ever settle on one!"
Ren laughed, tearing away the remains of his ruined shirt. He stood bare-chested
before the "God of War." Despite the map of scars covering his skin, he looked
vibrant, overflowing with a frantic, joyful vitality.
Gaia stood frozen. A martial artist like this actually exists?
There were many ways to break Gaia's "Mind Reading." Baki Hanma had a body so
hyper-trained that it could act on pure reflex, bypassing the brain entirely.
Yujiro Hanma simply used absolute, overwhelming violence that made the "read"
irrelevant. His own master, Motobe Izou, used frame-traps and counters that
forced Gaia into an unavoidable strike.
Ohma Tokita had managed a hit by using a near-death state to trigger an
unconscious blow.
But Ren Shiroki hadn't followed any of those paths. He had found a completely
different, "Abnormal" answer.
"Is this... your own style?"
Gaia let out a jagged laugh, spitting out a piece of a shattered tooth. He
looked at Ren and whispered, "I see. Your mind and your body both answer only to
the 'Combat Consciousness' itself. Because you have a thousand choices at any
given second, my perception is being saturated by the data!"
"Hahaha! To dive deeper into a state of 'High Consciousness' knowing I can read
it? You really are a glutton for punishment!"
Ren grinned at the evaluation. "At the Dome, the 'Bushin' Doppo Orochi lost to
the 'Saint of War' Gouki Shibukawa, but he didn't give up on Karate."
"In the semi-finals, Shibukawa lost to Jack Hanma, but he didn't abandon his
Aiki."
"And you... you've never stopped using your 'Environmental Utilization,' have
you, Gaia-san?"
Ren stepped forward. "The path to strength has many branches. No two roads are
the same. That's exactly what makes the question of 'What is Strength' so
beautiful!"
"Hearing you say that..." Gaia pursed his lips, his gaze clearing. "It makes me
feel... happy!"
Ren extended a hand in invitation. "COME!"
Zip!
Gaia's face twisted into a snarl as he launched a lead-leg front kick.
But in that heartbeat, Ren lunged. He met the kick with a Muay Thai elbow smash
to Gaia's temple. A heavy THUD echoed through the hall. Gaia was sent spinning
through the air.
Crash!
He plowed through several pieces of scorched furniture before hitting the floor.
He coughed up blood, his mind reeling from the concussion. But the struggle
didn't last long.
"Motobe-sensei is a real prick... finding me an opponent who isn't even
'human'..."
Gaia stood up. His expression returned to its serene, calm baseline. Aside from
the blood on his face, there was no sign of the trauma he had just sustained.
Even his nosebleed had stopped.
"Phew. Much better."
Gaia smiled, tapping his temple. "The answer is the brain. I just manually
adjusted my adrenaline secretion and suppressed the pain receptors."
He locked eyes with Ren Shiroki. "Since I can't exploit your consciousness
anymore... let's see how you handle it when the entire Environment becomes your
enemy."
(End of Chapter)
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