Chapter 16
"The March of the Shimpaku Alliance"
Shimpaku HQ (Random Classroom in Koryou HS) - After School
The unwilling 'Assault Commander' of Shimpaku Alliance twitched when he walked in on the sight of several grown students practicing a twirling salutation.
"...What the hell was that?" Was Kenichi's indignant reaction to Shimpaku Alliance's new 'official' greeting. What shocked him even more was when he tilted his head to the side and saw Takeda and Ukita (both previously documented to have expressed their dislike for anything related to Niijima) - practicing the rotational arm salute alongside the rest. "Ehhh? You two as well?!"
The boxer grinned sheepishly. "It's really fun to do!" ("You've been poisoned!" Kenichi yelled back)
"Hey!" Niijima smiled from a far, "I have a favor to ask of you, Kenichi!"
The brown-haired boy narrowed his eyes. "It's probably something shameless and evil. But I'll give him once chance."
"What is it?"
"Ask your sister to join the Shimpaku Alliance! She'll be a great asset to ou-" The alien-boy wasn't even given the opportunity to finish as he was forced to duck away from an annoyed Kenichi who launched a punch at him. The young freshman was not the only one who made a move to attack the self-styled leader of Shimpaku; Takeda and Ukita also walked over with annoyed looks on their respective faces.
"I was right!" He thought with a comical vein on his head. "Idiot! Why would I implicate Honoka like that?!"
"Because she would be an amazing addition! Didn't you see how she handled the new Fourth Fist of Ragnarok? Not to mention that she could FLY!" Niijima retorted, "She is strong, Kenichi! I couldn't believe that my superior insight missed someone of her caliber!"
"While I do agree that Honoka-chan is very capable." Takeda still couldn't forget the image of the girl flying. "Wouldn't it be irresponsible as adults to let someone as young as her get involved in our situation. We'll be putting her in danger!"
"I'm sure that Fourth Fist has already told everyone about her. What difference does it make that she would fight under our flag or not? Either way, they will know about her!" Niijima pointed out. "Face it. Heaven itself has brought her to us!"
"Idiot! You just don't get it do you?" Kenichi groused and pulled out a chair to sit on. "Let me tell you something right now and this is absolute FACT. Honoka hates gangs. She loathes them."
"Hah! We're not a gang! We're just a young group of outstanding indiv-" He dodged a paper-ball that Ukita had thrown at him whilst in mid-sentence. "-iduals who are coming together to fight regulate and eventually drive away gangs like Ragnarok! Do you have any idea how many gangs there are out there in Koryou? Ragnarok is only one of maybe fifty smaller ones! They run amuck in this city; have been for years! If we can take down Ragnarok, we'll be in position to help the city ever more!"
"Do I look like an idiot?" Kenichi asked. Niijima was about to respond with a 'yes' until he was cut off, "Don't answer that. Anyway, we both know that all you care about is status and power! Back on topic: Honoka will never join. Never."
The Alien freshman sighed in annoyance. "She seems to like you a lot! If you can just convince he-"
"She's my sister for one. Remember this, Niijima...I'm only here to make sure you don't do anything idiotic! Leave Honoka out of this. Besides, even if I did comply to what you said, I'm sure she would rather saw off her own arms then to join any group that seemed gang related. Honoka hates gangs with a passion - how it all came about, I don't know, but I honestly don't blame her. How could I?"
"Hmph!" Niijima looked the other way. "I'll get something on her!"
"Let's talk about something else." Takeda interrupted. "So, what are you doing here Kenichi?"
The boy seemed relieved to be moving on. "I actually came here to investigate that weird hand-gesture thing but it was just a stupid greeting Niijima came up with."
"I was actually about to call you in. There's something you may be interested in hearing." The alien-boy ignored the annoyed glares from his 'subordinates'. "I'll need your help to investigate a new trend called 'Pit Fighting' later today. Have you heard of it?"
"Oh yeah!" Ukita bursted and re-positioned his shades. "I heard some people talking about it on the way to school. Apparently, it's this place where people go to fight one-on-one inside of a pit. Place is basically a gambling hall. It's getting really popular around here."
Niijima nodded in confirmation before moving over to his laptop and faced it to the group, showing an image of a large teen that had lightly-tanned skin with short black hair and long sideburns.
"This is Chiaki Yuma A.K.A Thor, the Seventh Fist of Ragnarok and the ring-master of the trend. Apparently, he uses 'Combative Sumo' to defeat his opponents."
"And what do you want us to do about this?" Kenichi curled back his lips in distaste at the thought of complying with Niijima. "I'm pretty sure you're just using me."
"I won't deny that." Was the alien's response, eliciting a scoff from the resident Judo user. "However! Ragnarok is still a dangerous threat to our city. Don't you remember what happened to your little sister? That can happen to anyone! The only way to beat Ragnarok is to beat down the Eig- er, Nine Fists! With my intelligence and wit with your combined strength, we can totally accomplish this!"
"I hate the thought of working with Niijima..." Kenichi pinched his nose in thought. "But Ragnarok IS dangerous. Not to mention they won't leave me alone until we beat them."
"Fine." Kenichi grumbled. "Whatever."
"Well if Kenichi is going, then we will too!" Takeda and Ukita declared with a large smile. "Can't just leave our buddy behind now can we?"
"Heh! We're destined to do this!" Niijima finished. "We'll win for sure."
Somehow, Kenichi had this horrible feeling in his stomach that stuff like this would eventually become a regular routine for him.
Ryouzanpaku - Dojo
Miu bit her lips as she waited for the blond man sitting beside her to speak.
"Your mother..." Naruto met his crisp blue eyes with Miu's own. "-Was a kind and caring woman, Miu-san."
The two sat in front of one another with a small-set table. In the middle of it; a kettle of tea was placed with two glasses and what looked like a small worn book on the edge leaning towards the older man.
"She was also an exceptional martial artist in her day."
"What was she like, Naruto-san?"
"She treated all those around her fairly and loved helping others." Sensing her tense eagerness, the elder man took a silent sip of tea from his glass; contemplating his next response.
"Shizuha...loved cats." The male blonde grimaced suddenly when the girl across from him squealed uncontrollably. "...Glad to see you enjoyed that little fact."
"You don't like cats, Naruto-san? They're so cute!" Miu absolutely gushed out.
"I hate cats." Naruto spewed mentally - it was nothing personal to Miu or Shizuha. "...They're OK." The lie almost caused him physical harm. He quickly moved on. "She was also a lover of literature. This book was one of her favorite reads." He took the book that was beside him and gave it to her to see. It was battered and the pages were worn - it looked as if someone had read it more than one hundred times.
It was called: Shin Chou Kyou Ryo.
"What is it about?" The younger blonde asked curiously. "I've never heard of it before."
Naruto scoffed at that admission, prompting Kensei to explain. "Hayato-dono is far too infatuated with his chouju giga (Ink Drawings); so it is doubtful that he has ever read this book before."
"Heaven save us all when someone introduces him to manga." Naruto responded wryly, eliciting a round for mirthful chuckles. "It is a very famous trilogy; so famous that many other countries have long translated it into their own native languages. It is well known all over the oriental realm."
The girl flipped through half of it and smiled softly. "I'll read it later. You said that it was a trilogy..." Obviously, there was only one book in her hand.
"The others are in my library at the Koryou Children's Home orphanage. Ask for a man named Haku and tell him that I, Uzumaki Naruto, sent you there. If he is still hesitant after that then just bring along Honoka."
"I see." She smiled, "How did you know her, Naruto-san?"
Long buried memories of the past surfaced momentarily. "It's not my story to tell." He sighed mentally.
"We were colleagues." While it was not a lie, it was also not the truth. "The Kuremisago's connection with Konoha is certainly not something to tell children lightly."
The two blondes continued to chat in relative peace as time ticked by: the topic of conversation was mostly stories about Naruto and her mother. In the next few moments, the large gates blew open and there was Shirahama Kenichi running in with a distressed look on his face.
"SENSEI!" He cried out and grabbed onto the Jiujitsu Master's gi, "SENSEI ~ I NEED A FINISHING MOVE! PLEASE TEACH ME A FINISHING MOVE!"
On his way back, the Shimpaku Alliance had been attacked by some random gang that had been enticed by Ragnarok's offer of alliance. Of course, that didn't bother Kenichi as much as the fact that everyone but him seemed to possess a 'finishing' move that was flashy and awe-inspiring. Even one of the underlings (Mizunuma) - who was an average fighter at best had his own finishing attack.
It was not righteous.
"Hm?" Akisame calmly pushed the boy off of him in order to complete his carving project. "You mean a move that will finish off your opponent?"
All of the surrounding Masters tuned in to the conversation.
"W-well, yeah!" He flinched at the gleaming light that emitted from their eyes. "What are you g-"
"Well, well! I know some of those moves, Kenichi!" The Karate Master boasted with a drink in hand.
"Soutenshu (Double Palm), Ugyuu Haito...I've taught you a few already." The hat-wearing Master counted, "They're not bad."
"APA! Kao Loi (Flying Knee)! Kao Loi! Apa!"
"I- I meant something that nobody knows about!" The disciple clarified clearly and eagerly continued on. "It should be awe inspiring and flashy! Do guys know any moves like that?"
"Pah, are you kidding me? Oi, get the sand-bag!" Kenichi ran off with a smile on his face. "We'll show this brat!"
Naruto and Miu watched on as the boy and his Masters began show-casing their moves. Sakaki had shown off a pure internal attack that defeated an opponent from the inside out, Kensei had used one of his secret palm techniques - the same one used to defeat his brother, Apachai kicked a statue so hard in the air that it never came back, Shigure peeled a leaf in half by the thin margins and Akisame showed-off a lock that looked unusually painful.
Needless to say, Kenichi seemed traumatized. Luckily, it was sometime during this when his friends ran in from behind. "Kenichi!" Niijima yelled out. "Why did you run off all of a sudden?!"
He was ignored in favor of Takeda who had a large smile. "I see you immediately ran off to learn more techniques from your Masters after seeing how much better we've gotten! Such dedication!"
Miu giggled and took a sip from her tea glass. "Kenichi has great friends. They're so funny!" Naruto didn't answer, hoping the girl would forget to mention her father. Instead, he allowed the topic change.
"Hm..." The blonde observed the group. "It's nice to see that the youth of today wield such wonderful potential." He watched on in silence.
"Alright, alright..." Niijima suddenly interrupted what would have been a long conversation between the boxer and his friend, "I want to hit Thor's place right now! The earlier the be-" The alien-boy was cut off when two kunais were suddenly thrown in his direction. Just before it was about to hit, a flash of yellow appeared in front of him and caught the projectiles in between the fingers.
"We should stick to children's games, Shigure-san." Naruto smiled just as Niijima blanched. "'It's all fun and games until someone gets a kunai to the eye' - as my Godfather used to say."
"Sorry." Was her monotone response. "I thought he was an alien. Alien."
"F-fast!" The alien freshman felt a shiver run down his spine. "I've never seen this guy before! I wonder what my superior insight will tell me about this one!" He connected his thumbs and index fingers together in a circular motion and placed them above his eyes like glasses while gazing at Naruto. "Niijima ~ Scan!" Inside of his mind, several statistical charts formed and many observations came to him.
A moment later, he fainted.
"..." Naruto blinked and shrugged. "Weird kid."
No one really payed attention to him.
Meanwhile, Kenichi was standing in the middle of the dojo grounds scratching his head in deep thought. "I can't use any of the moves the Masters displayed! T-they're so cruel and unusual. The only good finishing move I have is the Mubiyoshi (Zero Beats) but that only works under weird circumstances."
"Kenichi seems to be really troubled about this whole finishing-move issue." Miu commented lightly. "I wonder why...?"
"Boys will be boys." Naruto replied knowingly. "Well...I suppose it is time for me to go."
"W-wait!" She grabbed onto his arm, preventing him from disappearing like most Masters tended to do. "E-um...I was wondering if you could stay for dinner and tell me more about my family...?" The girl seemed a bit pitiful and the man just had no way of escaping that look. "Please?"
Naruto's crisp blue eyes met her own for a long second - and the man could see the desperation in her soul. After another moment, he nodded and mentally sighed. "Of course."
(Perspective Change)
"Ken-chan, you must first discover what kind of fighter you are before consciously coming up with 'finishing' attacks, as you say."
"Ah." The disciple nodded. "So I have to find myself first! I understand now."
"That's the spirit!" The Elder smiled and patted the boy's head. "Self-discovery is the most important part in one's life."
"I'll begin self-training tomorrow! And then I'll show everyone what I've come up with."
Just as Kenichi was getting up, another voice spoke up.
"Idiot." Everyone looked outside. Kensei caught a glimpse of who it was and immediately bolted to his room to escape the vicinity. "Martial Arts isn't about fancy finishing moves! It is about the basic forms that you practice everyday through blood, sweat and tears! If you keep that mentality then nothing will be accomplished!"
Jumping from the moon-light was a teenage girl with bright blue eyes and upper-back-length navy hair. "Ma Renka-san?!" Kenichi still couldn't get over how skimpy she was dressed, not that he was complaining.
"W-what are you doing here? Actually, how did you find this place?"
"Hehe..." She spent a moment remembering her greatest victory, "Uncle Hakubi was keeping quiet about Ryouzanpaku by acting ignorant for many years now. So...I got him drunk! After a while, I managed to get the information out of him! My papa has no where to run now!"
Renka walked into the dojo and immediately showed her respects to the Elder with a bow - wrapping her right fist over with her left palm. "It is an honor! I am Ma Kensei's daughter, Ma Renka! I live in Yokohama Chinatown and am currently in search of my father."
"Oh ho ho. So you are Kensei's daughter...? I've heard so much about you. Welcome!" The old man smiled at her. "Your father is somewhere on these grounds."
"I'm kind of happy that you remember me, Kenichi!" She seemed suddenly excited for some reason, "After all we went through, it's no surprise!"
The boy remembered all the faces she kicked around back at Chinatown. "How could I forget?" He laughed a bit at the memory. It was a but surreal to think about now in such a peaceful setting. "Master Ma is upst-"
A flash of green flew out of the window and to the large gates. However, Renka stopped him by yelling out: "I'll let Mama know about this place!"
"B-but-" The Chinese Master was back in an instant, "You can't!" Comical tears were streaming down his face.
"In China, Mama and my brothers are training over one hundred thousand disciples of the Phoenix Alliance! How long do you plan to fool around, Papa?!"
"B-but I'm not fooling around! I'm training a disciple here. History's Strongest Disciple!"
"Oh please!" She retorted immediately, "That guy is no where near being 'History's Strongest Disciple'! What talent do you see in that thing?!"
"...Thing...?" Kenichi sulked about, "I'm not that bad..."
"W-well..." Renka back-tracked when she saw that his feelings were hurt and cleared her throat, "I admit that he has his moments..."
The dojo doors slid open - walking out was Naruto and Miu who seemed to be locked in a small conversation. The moment Renka's eyes met the man's slim face - recognition lighted her. She felt her breath hitch in remembrance of an event from the past.
Flashback
"Papa! Papa!" A small girl - who looked almost three or four - yelled out in distress. "Papa! Where are you?!"
The forest around her was damp and dark - the air moist and irritated her sensitive skin. She found herself scratching her arms because of the building anxiety in her stomach. "Where...?" The girl muttered quietly to herself. "Papa..."
Renka did the only thing she could do: walk forward.
Not too long ago, her father had promised to take her to the lake and he was late. Though it was not uncommon, this time around, he hadn't shown for nearly an hour and that worried her. The girl proceeded to thoughtlessly run out to the forest without alerting anyone. "Where?!" Her hands on her hips and a snarl forming, she continued talking to herself. "Where?!"
A sudden stench met her senses. "E-er...what is that...smelly?" It was neither disgusting or refreshing. The girl didn't know how to explain it.
It was not a good smell.
But her young curiosity got the best of her. So she kept moving forward. Renka couldn't stop herself from moving despite hating the smell that was emitting from the area. "Papa is here...?"
What she walked into next was an image that she would never forget.
It was a clearing with shredded body parts all over the grounds and a sea of blood splattered all over the trees - guts marring the previous green grass and torn heads left all over. Even the beautiful leaves were rotting under the crimson liquid that kept gushing out of slain bodies. The scariest part was that some of them seemed to still be alive while groaning in utter agony. And there was one man standing in the middle; his hand soaked in all the blood, guts and glory. "..." The man stood even at six feet and had blood soaked blond hair, his face greased in the blood of the people he killed. The man wore a black garb and an open, long black cloak with red clouds bellowing over his shoulder which also had a sword sheath strapped to it (the sword stabbed into the ground beside him). He was standing to the side, a frown on his face and his left eye was ice blue - from what the girl could gather.
The one thing she would never forget however was his shadowed right eye which had a sinister red gleam in them.
"Renka!" A worried voice yelled from the distance.
"Papa!" As if strengthening her voice pipes, she yelled louder and louder for him to find her. "PAPA!" Fear began to grip her heart when the killer's eyes met with her's. "PAPA!"
In that next moment, a short green garb wearing man jumped down beside her. "There you are! Don't worry me like that ever again!" She nodded hurriedly as tears began flowing down her eyes. Kensei frowned and followed her fearful gaze - meeting the machine-like eyes of the killer.
"Uzumaki Naruto." He gritted his teeth and looked around, "The Phoenix Alliance was not harb-"
"I know." The man's voice - though he did not look any older than twenty five - had a hoarse, broken tone. "You need not explain anything...General Ma. Though..." He looked at the young girl who was on the verge of passing out. "Best not let your daughter out of sight."
"I was busy alerting the compound guards of an imminent attack...I see that was a bit in vain." Obviously, the would-be attackers were all dead. "Had you not killed them...Renka might have be-"
Before the sentence was complete, young Renka passed out from mental exhaustion. The last thing she heard was her father's startled exclaimations of her name.
End Flashback
Before she knew it, her body was kicked into high gear, running aggressively at the blonde Master with her top speed and jumped to land a flying kick at him. "Ma Style: Senkyuu (Piercing Bow Flying Kick)!"
Naruto blinked, brought up his hand (palm facing the sky) and caught the high speed kick with a recoiled finger. "Huh?"
She chanted with instinct. "AUKUANG!"
Before she could even fall to settle her feet again, Naruto flicked his recoiled finger sending the girl flying back in a flipping motion that barely allowed her to regain footing. "T-tanzhi Shentong!? Y-you-!" The blue haired girl ducked away when a speeding figure jumped from seemingly out of nowhere and launched a kick at her.
Renka rolled away from a cycle of kicks and back-stepped far enough to see Honoka Shirahama attacking her with a enraged face. "How dare you attack my Master, skank!"
"Hmph!" They locked kicks in mid-air - resembling two swords clashing - and glared down one another. "It's been a while since we've fought, silly girl! Don't think that you're my match because you can perform advanced Qing Gong (Light Body Skills)!"
"Don't make me laugh! As if a lazy skank like you could be my equal!" Honoka retracted her leg, ducked below and went to sweep her down - only for the elder girl to jump back. Renka dodged a punch from the girl from the right - swung her feet back and arched it upward to kick Honoka's chin launching her into the air. "Tch! There was no weight behind that blow! Silly girl has gotten better!" The younger of the two had moved her head upward just in time to reduce the damage of the attack and summer-saulted back into her default stance.
Honoka crouched low and ran at the girl to drop kick her from below. Renka scoffed, "Too reckless!" The blue-haired girl twirled in mid-air and aimed a continuous spinning kick at her opponent. "Ma Style: Xunhuan Ti (Cycle Kick)!" After the first spin, she realized that the target was nowhere in sight causing her to stop in mid-movement - her heels grinding against the ground to slower her momentum. "What the-" In the next instant, a shadow appeared over her shoulder. Renka looked back upward to see Honoka flying down on her. "Fast! She jumped and changed directions in mid-air twice when my back was turned!" For the first time in a while; Shirahama Honoka had caught Ma Renka off-guard. "Cang Long Yun Zhong (Hidden Dragon in the Clouds)!"
Honoka shot down like a hawk and clutched both her hands in a claw-like gesture before moving to sandwich Renka's head in between ferociously. "Zhao Aukuang (Claws of Aukuang)!" Just as the attack was about to touch her side-burns, both of the striking arms were held still in mid-stroke by a large grip. It was Naruto.
"Master?" Honoka breathed out and stopped her attack.
Naruto smiled at her. "You've been gone since morning." He let go of her hands once she relaxed. "Isn't that attack a bit too intense for a friendly spar?"
"I was just gonna scare her a bit! I wasn't going to actually hurt the skank. Maybe." Was her reply. "Besides, she attacked you Master! How was I supposed to act? What kind of disciple would I be if I just sat back and watched?! Shirahama Honoka is certainly not an un-filial student!"
He patted her shoulder and laughed a bit at the immediate response. "I see, I see. But of course, you don't make many good friends such as her; don't let me get in the way." Honoka covered her forehead after he flicked it. She wasn't fast enough to stop his hand movement. "You got lucky this time. She probably didn't expect the new move I taught you."
"An awesome move!" The brunette boasted loudly to anyone who had a pair of ears. "My Sky Dragon Steps are average but enough to beat her!" She declared smugly.
"Hm. Don't get big headed. Or must I send you to Haku for a lesson in humility?" Honoka shook her head quickly in the negative. She certainly didn't want to go up her old friend who achieved Master level in under three years. "Of course, I could always deliver this lesson personally if you wish." Naruto's smile was absolutely devilish.
No, she did not want to fight her Master.
Ever.
Meanwhile, Renka glared at Naruto with all she had. "He has the guts to show up here? Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Pap-" Kensei covered her mouth and sent a glance back at a bemused Kenichi.
"Renka-chan, that's not the proper way to introduce yourself to an Honored Master, is it?" Kensei immediately stepped in and covered for her daughter's rash act. He also did not want his other disciple to get the wrong idea of the blonde man by stepping in early. "I apologize on behalf of my daughter, Naruto. You see, she has something against blondes that has stemmed from her childhood-" He then went on a tangent that everyone but Kenichi believed to be bullshit.
"Hm." Kenichi noticed a slight look of melancholy pass between the blonde's eyes. "I get it all the time. I apologize for using Tanzhi Shentong (Divine Finger Flick) - it is a bad habit. If I were even a little careless, harm may have befallen upon your daughter."
"Don't worry about it." The short man nodded with a small grin, "Isn't that right, my rude little daughter?" His hand gripped her shoulder tightly and whispered in her ear. "He is a different man, remember? Don't be so impulsive."
"E-er...right." She inclined her head and gritted her teeth. "Of course."
The Shimpaku Alliance plus Niijima (who had woken up) only watched on in silence. "What's with these crazy powerful girls?" They thought in sync after witnessing the fighting prowess of Renka and Honoka.
"Oi, Kenichi! Come on, we're going to go attack Thor's base!"
"Fine, fine." The freshman waved off, "Let me change first."
(Perspective Change)
The Masters all shared a glance and nodded. "He's finally going on the offensive. That's good, I guess recent events have heightened his progression as a martial artist." Sakaki uttered out loud. They all nodded.
"He's walking his own path now." Akisame coined in. "Maybe something good will come out of this."
"What's going on?" Honoka felt a little bit out of the loop and went over to Miu who was talking to Takeda. "What's up?"
"Honoka-chan!" Takeda smiled brightly. "Not much. Your brother and our friends will be attacking one of the Ragnarok Fists tonight. It's not something that you need to worry about."
"Finally taking the fight to them huh?" The brunette smiled widely. "The art of warfare is just another branch of martial arts after all." - "Good."
"That sounds fun!" Renka swung by and exclaimed in Honoka's ear, startling her. "I'll be invoking my rematch clause later, silly girl! I won't rest until I pay you back for humiliating me in front of so many esteemed Masters!"
"Sure, sure." Honoka stuck out her tongue tauntingly, "Just admit it! I've finally taken the step to surpass you! It only took a few years."
"Hmph! Don't be cocky. You are not the only one with a Master to seek pointers from!" The blue-haired girl scoffed, "Anyway...if Kenichi is going to go attack some gang, I want to go too! I haven't done anything exciting ever since Uncle Hakubi eliminated the Mafia earlier this week...and speaking of that, where is my pa-" She turned to grab Kensei - only to pass through a mere afterimage. "Damn it!"
"Alright!" Niijima was glad to have anyone aboard. "You and Honoka-chan are in!" Takeda and Ukita glared at his back.
"Heh, yeah right." The youngest Shirahama retorted. "I have other things to do. Are you going, Miu-san?"
The blonde bit her lip and looked over to Naruto who was lounging around Shigure having a quiet conversation. "Not today. I have to prepare dinner!"
Honoka looked at Miu who was looking at her Master. "Don't worry. Ken's gonna be fine. Besides, if he can't beat the Ragnarok Fist - then the skank over there will cover for him!"
"Silly girl." Renka muttered and rearranged her dress. "But you're right. As long as I'm there, all will be good."
"Alright, I'm here!" Kenichi walked in with a troubled look on his face. "Let's do this!"
"Yeah!" Ukita lifted his arms. "To Thor's base!"
(Perspective Change)
Miu and Honoka watched the group of Kenichi, Takeda, Ukita, Renka and Niijima go off to meet with the other Shimpaku Alliance members.
"Are you really not going?" Miu teased her younger friend with a small nudge. "I know you."
Honoka had both her arms behind her head and laughed. "...You know me well, Neechan." She looked up to her surrogate sister. "But later. By the way, you should run over to Master Naruto before Shigure-san starts hogging him all to herself."
"You make that sound way more inappropriate than what the situation really is." Miu rolled her eyes. "He's probably old enough to be my dad. Stop that."
"I know." A mischievous smile crept up her lips. "Besides, you like my brother! Hah!" And with that, Honoka skipped away leaving a flushed Miu behind to ponder those words.
Thor's Base: Entrance
The Shimpaku Alliance (plus Renka) marched confidently as they made their way to the base. "We're quite outnumbered. But it shouldn't be too much of an obstacle with all of the people we have with us."
"My Karate Master taught me one critical lesson when fighting large groups." Kenichi admitted as he kept his stride, leading the group at first glance. "He told me to defeat the strongest one off the bat!"
"I like that!" Renka piped in with an excited smile. "Let's do this!"
"YEAH!" The underlings roared while the main underling (Matsui) waved their flag with nothing but pride.
They had a total roster count of fifteen. Without a doubt, the Ragnarok base had no less than fifty fighters. Niijima contemplated this for a moment. His initial plan was to infiltrate the base but with their new addition, subtleties weren't really needed. There was no better way to flex muscle than to attack directly and succeed.
"There are two people guarding the entrance." Niijima stated. "Before we go in - I need to issue some orders! I want two people backing up Ukita, Takeda, Renka and myself respectively! I also want four with Kenichi while he takes on Thor!"
"Wait! I'll cover Kenichi by myself!" Renka exclaimed confidently. "You take the extra cover!"
"Got it." The alien nodded and gazed back to the sub-members. "You heard the woman! Now let's roll! Shimpaku!"
"SHIMPAKU!" The sub-members began chanting out-loud. "SHIMPAKU!"
The two pit guards looked at the incoming group with quirked brows. "Who are-"
"Hi." Takeda stepped up first. "Sorry. We'll be crashing this party, gentlemen." Was all he said before delivering knock-out jabs to the both of them.
"What th- It's the SHIMPAKU ALLIANCE!" A random Ragnarok gang member yelled out from the edge. "Take them out! Get a promotion from the fists!"
"How dare they attack us so directly!"
"Too cocky, Shimpaku!"
Takeda and Ukita charged first with their back-up following closely. "Cover my back!" The boxer weaved in between fighters and began punching down random members. Just as he felt a tingle of danger from behind him; the teenager turned around to see that one of his backups had already slammed a pipe into the offender.
Meanwhile, Kenichi dodged an attack from the knife-wielding guy he had met a while back. He moved his left forearm to block the offender's incoming stab, "Kao Loi (Flying Knee)!" Using the same arm he used to block to grab the guy's head, Kenichi jumped forward and kneed the boy in the face.
"Where's Thor?!"
"Probably inside." Renka replied whilst in mid-air after having dodged an onslaught of gang members. Before landing on solid ground, her hands locked onto the shoulders of a random fighter and proceeded to use her accumulated momentum to spin around - wheel kicking everyone in the vicinity. "Ma Style: Tuoluo Ti (Top Spinning Kick)!"
"Call him out, Kenichi!" Niijima yelled from where he stood - which was on a high ledge.
"THOR!" The young freshman shrugged an complied. "THOR!"
And from the back of the pit-fighting area building, a large door suddenly slammed open and emerging was a huge teenager. It was the Ragnarok Seventh Fist.
"What the hell is going on here?!" He stomped the ground in order to catch everyone's attention. His dark eyes surveyed the scene and caught the sight of the enemy flag. "Shimpaku Alliance?!"
"We're here to take you out, Seventh Fist Thor!" The self-styled Viceroy of Shimpaku boasted. "You against our Assault Commander, Shirahama Kenichi! Mano-a-mano!"
"Heh." The sumo fighter smirked. "Frontal attack? I like your style. Fine!" He looked around and locked eyes with a certain one of the fighters. "Ah, so you are Shirahama Kenichi!"
"How did you know?" Asked Kenichi, curious as to how his position was given. "That it was me, I mean."
"Only someone with your fighting spirit could have beaten my good friend: Siegfried! I'll be taking revenge for him today!" He gestured towards the ring. "We'll fight in the pit! The rest of you..." The smile deepened before yelling out: "DO AS YOU PLEASE! JUST DON'T INTERRUPT OUR MATCH!"
"Take care of yourself, Renka-san!" Though he had a feeling the girl could have easily done so, it was common courtesy to voice concern.
The girl scoffed whilst dodging a random punch. "Just worry about yourself!" And with that, she began back-flipping and side-ways kicked another goon back into a trash can.
Kenichi jumped into the pit and stared down his next opponent. "...You know what, let's make a bet." It had been on his mind ever since the beginning of the day; a new way to make gangsters comply with his demands after winning.
"Huh? A bet on what? Your life?!"
"No..." He blinked away the older teen's intensity. "Something simpler. If I win, you have to quit Ragnarok and never fight un-righteously again! And if I lose...well..."
Thor snapped his fingers, cutting him off. "If I win, you become my disciple in the art of Combative Sumo!"
Kenichi gritted his teeth and shut down his horrifying re-imagination of life as a sumo wrestler. "Unacceptable! Miu-san will never fall for me like that! I must definitely win!"
The two got into their respective fighting stances.
"Fight!"
Thor's Base: Building Roof
Honoka - as Xinku - sat silently on top of the building looking down at the large gang fight between the Shimpaku Alliance and Ragnarok. Kenichi was currently holding his own against an overwhelming Thor who threw around his weight like a volleyball thrown on a beach. Renka was off doing her own thing in the corner of the plaza and pretty much demolishing anyone who got too close to those sharp, strong legs. Takeda, Ukita and Niijima were also holding their own very well against superior numbers.
The masked brunette bit down on a mango she had picked up from Ryouzanpaku. "They sure are having fun down there." She heard a small clink resounding from behind. The girl pretended not to notice for a second and ducked just as the attacker launched a kick from behind. At the same moment, she moved to sweep down the opponent from below only to miss wide when the figure escaped the counter.
"So there was a doggy hiding around!" Honoka taunted with her distorted mask - her finger pointing at him. "You...must be 'Fenrir'. I wonder how you found me?"
"Xinku." Kakashi took out a retractable pipe and charged at her without pause. 'Xinku' withdrew an un-connected sansetsukon and blocked the swung pipe cleanly. The girl continued on, ducking a series of swings and back-flipped across the slanted roof - the moon hanging a top of them in the scene. Honoka re-connected her staff and swung it at the boy - who jumped at her weapon in-hand - and made contact with his pipe.
"Not much of a talker, are you?"
Kakashi retracted and went for a high swing aimed at her temple. Telegraphing it, Honoka ducked blow by the smallest of margins and stepped into the boy's guard with her staff and drilled it into his shoulder - or so she thought. "You absorbed that by ramming your shoulder pre-maturely into the blow? Not bad." Xinku crouched low and launched a low sweeping kick forcing Kakashi to jump back in retreat.
The silver-haired boy swing his pipe left then right in quick succession and continued to so; holding off Xinku's flurry of disconnected staff blows. At one point, he found an opening and stabbed into the unprotected shoulder. But just as he was about to connect to the masked girl's body - the sansetsukon of his opponent suddenly wrapped around his arm tightly like a snake - disrupting his offensive enough to give pause. "You actually took that opening? Too bad that it was intentional!" In that second, Kakashi tilted his head to the side and watched as the masked girl twisted into his guard - elbow aiming right at his temple the next moment. "Longxuan (Dragon Spin)!"
Before the blow connected to his face, the boy brought his free hand up to block the attack still - forcing the two fighters into a stand-still.
"I admit! You are strong." Honoka let out a distorted growl through her mask. "But not enough!" She bent her body forward and swung her leg backwards - aiming for his lower body from waist up. Kakashi curled his chin up and away from the kick while jumping backwards - shaking off the sansetsukon as he did so simultaneously. When landing, he had to use his free hand to stop the sliding momentum in order to maintain roof-top position.
The two young teens squared off. Honoka was holding her staff (disconnected) in both hands while Kakashi had his pipe pointed at her.
"Tougher than I thought." Honoka bit her lip behind her mask. "He can keep up with my attacks easily...but I can't help but think that his movements...are very similar to my own. Could it be...?"
Kenichi vs. Thor - Plaza Pit
Shirahama Kenichi was crouched on his feet - breathing hard and eyeing down his large opponent who was also glaring down to him. Thor had a slight sliver of red dripping down from his nose, mouth and forehead (a result of a direct kick to the face). Despite his bloody demeanor, a smirk was plastered on his face and his muscles were still tensed in anticipation.
"You are strong, Shirahama! Only someone like you could have beaten Sieg!" The large teen boasted loudly. "But he and I are totally different fighters! None of your attacks will finish me!"
"We'll see about that!" Kenichi retorted. He suddenly ducked left when Thor charged at him - pumping his arms back and forth in a palm-strike motion. "Oniharite (Demonic Open Fist Slap)!" The brown-haired boy managed to slipp in-between the width of his opponent's retracting palm and drove his knee into Thor's stomach. "Kao Tone (Straight Knee)!" Thor grimaced as soon as the contact made but took it straight on nonetheless. He then straightened his back and bounced back the knee - eliciting a harsh recoiling reaction from the smaller teen.
"Tch!" Kenichi gritted his teeth. "How am I going to finish him off? I need a decisive hit!"
"You're a fast little bug!" Thor cackled while stomping down his feet. "You may think that you have the speed advantage. Don't get cocky! Combative Sumo has plenty of nullifying techniques. Let me show you!" He charged again while pumping his arms. "Oniharite (Demonic Open Fist Slap)!"
Kenichi repeated his previous movement but just as he was about to lift his knee, a large hand grabbed the back of his shirt and lifted him up in the air. "Jowan Nage (Upper Arm Toss)!" Kenichi was slammed down on to the ground. After the first fall, Thor did not surrender his grip and proceeded to flail around the brown-haired boy like a bat. "Sho Jowan Nage (Various Upper Arm Tosses)!"
Kenichi was finally thrown onto a far wall - using his hands to cover the back of his neck to prevent a violent recoil. "Grh!"
"I'll finish this!" Thor jumped - stomach forward and aimed at Kenichi who was backed into a wall. "Onaka Bakudan (Stomach Bomb)!"
Thor's stomach made contact with the steel pit wall - his opponent having dodged right at the last moment. "Nice resilience!" The Ragnarok Fist praised. "You're not an easy man to pin down!"
Just as he turned around, Kenichi jumped up high, grabbed the back of Thor's head and drove a knee to his face. "Kao Loi (Flying Knee)!"
The Ragnarok Fist stumbled back and covered his face for a moment - The teen barely blocked the followed up kick that was delivered, "Chai Kick!" Kenichi then landed back down to the ground, gritted his teeth and stepped right into Thor's guard - his hands held parallel in front of the large teen. "Mubiy-"
Thor kicked him back just as Kenichi had his finishing punch cocked back. "Grruh!" He let out a loud breath and spat out some blood.
"He's tenacious." The brown-haired boy licked some blood off his lips. "But he's staggering at least."
"Are you impressed? This is the strength of Combative Sumo, the style that you will be learning after I defeat you!"
"Over my dead body!"
He meant that literally.
Kenichi's eyes gleamed as he glared down Thor who was rushing at him again with the usual palm strikes. The memories of his training flashed back and forth in his mind - and it seemed like every movement of Thor's was in slow motion.
"He's finished now!" One of the lone (surviving) Ragnarok underlings yelled in glee. "Shimpaku's goin-" Renka kicked down the loud gangster.
Renka was untouched for the most part. "Fool" She smiled. "This fight is over. But not for our boss!"
Kenichi weaved into one of Thor's retracting palms and feigned a double head/body punch that drew the opponent's arms up. "Yamazuki!" In the next moment, the brown-haired boy jumped high again, grabbed his opponent's head with a single arm and rammed in a knee to the face. "Kao Loi (Flying Knee)!" The Ragnarok Fist shook from the impact and took a few steps back in reaction.
As soon as he landed down to the ground, Kenichi dipped down low and grabbed the large teen's leg. "Ugyuu Haito!" Using all of his strength, the freshman threw down Thor roughly to the steel pit - eliciting a fair booming noise. "Kuchiki Daoshi (Falling Tree)!"
"What a combo!" Matsui (the flag bearing Shimpaku member) roared out. "Commander's strongest combo!"
"I like that!" Niijima smirked, "I'll upload that later on the website! Yamazuki, Kao Loi, Ugyuu Haito and Kuchiki Daoshi! History's Strongest Combo!"
"KEN-I-CHI ~ KEN-I-CHI ~ KEN-I-CHI!" The Shimpaku underlings began chanting - even the beaten up ones who got caught in a few bad moments. "FINISH HIM!"
Thor flailed his right arm around to find a gripping. He finally dragged himself up and turned around - only to see Kenichi holding two parallel hands under his chest.
"Mubiyoshi (Zero Beats)!" Using all the basic fundamentals of all the martial arts he ever learned, Kenichi drilled a stunning strike right into Thor's upper stomach - knocking the large teen back into the steel wall, his head lashing back and coiling back and forth. The Ragnarok Fist completely dropped down to his rear, arms to the side and eyes rolled back signalling his defeat.
Kenichi breathed in and out intensely. "I did it..." He mentally groused. "The Strongest Combo huh?"
"Their leader is down!" Niijima announced loudly. "Finish off the rest!"
Morale now raised - Takeda and Ukita let out their own little battle cries and finished off their own opponents while Renka cycled around and kicked down any remaining Ragnarok fighters that tried to launch a desperate retaliation.
In the end, Shimpaku stood alone with only their leaders and Viceroy standing. "We did it!"
"Yeah!" Renka pumped up her arms. "Hey, you guys aren't half bad!"
"Right?" Takeda joined on in, "Victory is-"
He was cut off in mid-tangent when Renka jumped suddenly and stared up to the roofs. "Wait, I hear others fighting!" She pointed up and aimed at two shadowed figures. "That's-"
"Xinku!" Takeda realized. "And she's fighting...Fenrir?"
"That silly girl decided to follow us after all..." Renka's lips curled into a small grin. "And her opponent isn't bad at all. The boy is pushing her hard on the offensive but is having a hard time predicting the girl's counters. An interesting match-up." She observed after a few quiet minutes while listening to the other members speculate.
"They're having a good one up there." Ukita commented. "...Who's winning though?"
"It's a stand-still. They can't fight at full strength on a tilted roof." Renka replied. "But she shouldn't be having that problem with those sky steps. What's going on with that?"
Plaza Roof
The two young warriors were at an impasse now - their respective weapons were clashed against the other. Honoka held her sansetsukon crossed in an X motion held against Kakashi's lone retractable pipe, both fighting for dominance.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes when he heard the victory calls of the Shimpaku Alliance.
"What's wrong?" Honoka's voice was smug. "Worried about your comrades?"
The silver-hair boy didn't answer her at all. He tilted his head to the side to observe the completely obliterated Ragnarok forces and the victorious Shimpaku Alliance members. "Even if I won this fight, her friends would still make chase. There is no victory here." He closed his eyes and nodded - as if making an internal decision - and jumped away from the impasse. Honoka ducked right when Kakashi threw his pipe in her direction (also catching it right before it fell off the building). In that precise moment, he jumped from from one side of the roof over to another and hopped into a random dark alley at the distant. The masked girl didn't bother making chase - knowing that their rematch would happen again at another date.
She looked down to the plaza to see Kenichi talking to Thor about something. She was too far to really hear but from the look on Thor's face - her brother must have said something very inspiring and cool. "Hm."
The girl shook her head. There were more important things to think about.
"There's no doubt." Honoka turned around to jump off the roof and away into the night. "'Fenrir' is an agent of Konoha. His movements are definitely a branch from the Konoha-ryuu. I wonder what Master Naruto will think about this?"
END
Solid, simple and I admit, lack-luster ending. Bleh, I hated the way I ended this chapter. I mean...I couldn't think of a better way which is my personal fault as a writer. I'm not gonna pull another Kurama reveal which loses it's effect once done often. I was satisfied with Kenichi vs Thor (Which I changed COMPLETELY) and Honoka/Xinku vs. Kakashi round 2. To clarify, only a few people knows about her alter-ego.
If you haven't noticed, I condensed some canon into each other. Not because I'm rushing, I just didn't really like how it went down in the manga. I mean, Kenichi could take on Hermit...but he had a hard time against Thor? GTFO OF HERE LOL! In my opinion, his win should have been solid and decisive (not a ring out - albeit a cool ring out). Kenichi is a GOOD fighter, he's a beast! But for some reason, his fight IQ is so low early on. It's weird. He's cocky, I get that, but he's got skills. No doubt about that.
Extended fight scenes are a bit difficult, I admit. I mean, after the first few paragraphs, it just gets tough repeating words and signal phrases. I know I can do better than what was here. I thought it was OK though, I liked my version of Kenichi v. Thor. I WILL admit that the character interaction in canon far surpasses mine. That I will admit. But I feel that Thor is such a minor character (eventually) that I didn't need to go in depth.
Some of Kenichi's moves are not translated because I don't know where to find them.
I've been testing out new styles of writing. Like when I put a small dialogue inside parenthesis to emulate the 'background comments' features in the manga. And I'm trying to do 'perspective changes' because some scenes change in between the same overall scene (if that makes sense). I play with a lot of characters so this is something new to toy around with. I'm not just writing this for fun, I'm also developing my style.
I gave Renka some fun. I love that girl, she's one of my favorite disciples. (And the fight she's having right now in the manga? Mmmhmmmm. No, I'm kidding. Kind of. Maybe. Not really)
Concerning anyone caught up with the manga - SPOILER ALERT - I WANT TO SEE SIEGFRIED VS HERMIT! PLEASE, I BEG YOU AUTHOR! START THAT FIGHT!
Added two new moves:
Cang Long Yun Zhong (Hidden Dragon in the Clouds): Simpler than what it really sounds. It's basically using the Sky-Dragon Steps while being out of sight. It's decisive and a very effective mis-direction move. ***Edit: A recent reviewer (InvincibleIII has recently informed me that the previous translation was incorrect. So I changed this one to...as you can see above. I know that my technique names will all be incorrect to an extent, I'm not Chinese or well-versed in it - thought I wish I was - I'll leave a section in an AN explaining my own reasoning for technique names later. Right now, too tired and lazy. As for InvincibleIII, you have my thanks - technique name is a big deal for me. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll be mentioning this in the next AN as well.)
Zhao Aukuang (Claws of Aukuang): Read the description. Clashing two 'clawed' hands into the side of an opponent's head. It was originally made to be a fatality but Honoka doesn't use it to that extent. She is after all...A KATSUJINKEN user. *Smiley Face* And yes, Naruto named it. Egotistical much? He's fucking Naruto. He wasn't always wise...and an all-knowing teacher.
Why was this chapter out so late? One, I have a lot of real life stuff to take care of. The days of consecutive updates by single days are over. My hot hand is dead and life just went second gear, if you know what I mean.
Two, I'm in the process of developing my own novel/story/stuff. I'm...an inspiring writer (not what my college major is though) so naturally, I get more into that. I still love this though, I love what I have here. A novel is a solid five-ish years project. That's something to talk about on another day.
By the way, I just finished Heavenly Sword and the Dragon Sabre (09'). I'm either going to watch the Fate Stay series (J-anime) or The Yang Warriors (C-Wuxia/Drama). Any suggestions? - Other than that,
Have a nice day.