Sweat poured down Kyogoku Makoto's face, but his gaze grew increasingly calm. Looking into Chi Feichi's perpetually indifferent eyes, he couldn't tell if Chi Feichi truly didn't care about killing someone. Having been suppressed for so long, anger began to rise within him.
Chi Feichi struck again. This time, Kyogoku Makoto seemed a beat too slow and only managed to avoid a fatal blow. An elbow strike landed solidly on his side ribs, but Chi Feichi felt no joy.
In Kyogoku Makoto's current state, it wasn't time for mistakes yet!
Dodge!
Kyogoku Makoto gritted his teeth against the pain in his ribs and immediately countered with a backhand strike. Seizing the opportunity to change direction and create distance, he launched a fierce kick the moment his center of gravity shifted.
Crescent Moon Kick (Mikazuki Geri)!
During their fight, they had approached the edge of the clearing near the woods. Originally, Kyogoku Makoto decided to go all out because he was forced near a tree. But with this change of direction, he reversed the situation. Now, Chi Feichi was the one with his back against a tree, facing a killing blow.
The instant Kyogoku Makoto kicked, Chi Feichi also leaped up with force, using the tree for leverage to flip over Kyogoku Makoto.
The moment he kicked, Kyogoku Makoto also realized he had miscalculated.
If it were a sneak attack or against an ordinary person, Chi Feichi's attacks would indeed be fatal. But since they were both warmed up and in the zone, he could avoid fatal hits no matter what.
Just like now, although he didn't expect Chi Feichi to flip over him using the tree, he believed Chi Feichi wouldn't let his vitals be hit. At most, he would be injured and lose combat capability.
Having trained martial arts to this level, were they afraid of getting hurt?
Getting hurt was commonplace. Since they wouldn't die or be crippled, what was there to say?
Fight all out!
After flipping over in mid-air, Chi Feichi attacked immediately. Kyogoku Makoto's mind raced for a split second, but his instinctive reaction was enough to cope.
The big tree, having been kicked by Kyogoku Makoto, creaked belatedly. It cracked loudly on the side and slowly fell sideways.
Neither of them paid any attention. Their eyes were fixed on each other's limbs, their minds analyzing the opponent's next trajectory, their own countermeasures, and how to counterattack most ingeniously afterwards.
Coupled with the fast and rapid rhythm of the battle, there was no chance to catch a breath, let alone get distracted.
Boom!
The big tree hit the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dust.
The two combatants weren't startled, but Conan and Haibara Ai, who were searching in the woods, were.
Conan froze for a moment, looking at the plume of dust rising under the moonlight, but saw no fire. "This is..."
Looking at the situation, a tree probably fell?
But with such a big commotion, the fallen tree must be huge. No fire meant no heavy weaponry. Was it chopped down?
Even chopping with an axe would take a while, right?
Haibara Ai was also confused. She looked around at the ground. "Judging by the tracks, they should have gone in that direction..."
"Let's go check!" Conan ran over immediately. No need to look for tracks on the ground now; just head towards where the tree fell.
The landmark was obvious, but he still couldn't figure it out.
Is it a trap?
Like, chopping a tree until it's about to fall, then calling someone over to be crushed to death?
But chopping down a big tree for a trap seems unnecessarily troublesome, right?
Chopping a tree leaves marks; disguising it as an accident is impossible...
Chi Feichi isn't that careless. Could the innkeeper want to kill Chi Feichi?
In the clearing, the two men had no idea Conan had already listed them as 'victim' and 'murderer', even considering how they died and what flaws the method would leave.
The battle continued.
Another unlucky tree was punched twice by Kyogoku Makoto. Half a minute later, a third punch landed on it. This tree, favored by the heavens, finally couldn't withstand the devastation. With cracking sounds, two close cracks merged, and it fell backward.
Chi Feichi couldn't completely dodge this attack. Even though it was a glancing blow, his left arm throbbed with pain. However, he had no intention of calling a stop.
Many conditions determine the outcome of a battle, and the state of both sides is one of them. Many factors influence this state.
Today, the forest environment was quiet, the summer night temperature was comfortable, and this clearing looked more pleasing to the eye the longer they looked. Both sides were in great condition. In a first-time battle, it was easy to be roused by a brilliant performance from the opponent... Opportunities like this were rare, probably once in a lifetime. Once they understood each other, it would be hard to recreate this situation.
It would be a pity not to fight until exhaustion, not to determine a winner!
Kyogoku Makoto thought the same, so even though he was injured, he had absolutely no intention of stopping.
Boom!
The slowly falling tree finally hit the ground, kicking up another cloud of dust.
Conan, running over, paused to confirm the direction. It was slightly off from the last one, but still the same general direction.
"What exactly did they come here to do?" Haibara Ai couldn't help but ask, not complaining but genuinely confused.
"Uh, we're almost there. We'll know then..." Conan couldn't figure it out either. He shone his watch flashlight on the ground and continued running.
Running all the way to the edge of the clearing, they finally saw two figures moving and shifting under the moonlight.
On the other two sides of the ground, two large trees had indeed fallen.
Conan and Haibara Ai stared blankly at the dazzling exchange, feeling their eyes could barely keep up with the repeated clashes.
It was their first time finding a fight captivating. They wanted to see the situation clearly, but before their brains could process it, new changes appeared. Then the brain continued to digest, eyes continued to watch, brain continued to digest... falling into a loop.
However, compared to live fights or combat videos they had seen before, this battle was indeed much more spectacular.
That reaction speed and ghostly attacks were simply inhuman!
Just as the two were watching in a daze, a tree not far from them was kicked by Kyogoku Makoto. With a crack, it slowly fell towards them.
Conan snapped awake. "Haibara, dodge quickly!"
Haibara Ai reacted quickly too, running away immediately.
The big tree tilted slowly, then crashed to the ground.
"Cough, cough..." Conan covered his mouth and nose, running with Haibara Ai to the other side, away from the flying dust, before wiping his face covered in a layer of dirt.
Haibara Ai also wiped her face. Catching sight of the two people who were completely unaffected and still fighting, her expressionless face and cool voice carried a hint of dullness. "Are they even human?"
"Probably..." Conan didn't finish.
Probably not anymore... right?
No... wait!
Conan frowned, adjusted his glasses to zoom in, and his expression became solemn.
Seeing the two full of vitality, he thought they weren't injured, but just now, he seemed to see someone get hit.
Just then, Kyogoku Makoto finally seized an opening. After a missed kick, he twisted his waist and threw a quick punch.
Honestly, he didn't know if his attacks still counted as karate anymore.
Chi Feichi couldn't dodge this punch. Facing a punch from a human weapon, taking it head-on was definitely unwise. He could only try to divert the force using Tai Chi techniques.
Whether Tai Chi could handle Kyogoku Makoto's punch, he wasn't sure either.
Because he hadn't mastered the art... He didn't specialize in Tai Chi, just followed a teacher for a while in his past life. He understood the forms roughly, treating it purely as a warm-up exercise, and not a very effective one at that.
The moment contact was made, Chi Feichi knew some force was diverted, but he still couldn't take it all. While quickly counterattacking to force Kyogoku Makoto to retract his force, he also tilted his wrist.
Dislocation was better than broken bones...
Broken bones took a long time to heal. A dislocation, as long as reset in time, would heal in two or three days once the swelling went down and he avoided heavy lifting.
On the other hand, Kyogoku Makoto threw this punch with full force and couldn't retract much power, nor could he block Chi Feichi's attack.
Although Chi Feichi's attack power wasn't as astonishing as his, the explosive force wasn't weak either. And in the time it took him to strike once, Chi Feichi could land at least two hits.
This exchange resulted in mutual injury!