"Come in."
The moment Mutou Judai saw Soryuin Akemi, he remembered—he had only found the name somewhat familiar, but he wouldn't forget someone he had met and talked to just a few days ago.
"Excuse me."
Soryuin Akemi also snapped out of her daze at this moment. She nodded to Mutou Judai, then followed him into the courtyard of Mutou Orphanage.
Soryuin Akemi had been helping at Mutou Orphanage for quite some time.
So she had some understanding of the layout inside the orphanage.
If the changes were subtle, she probably wouldn't notice, but if the changes were big or too obvious...
"Um..."
Soryuin Akemi pointed to the ground in the courtyard that looked like it had been randomly dug up with a hoe, creating many small holes, and the wood chips scattered all over the ground, then asked Mutou Judai.
"Did something happen here before?"
Hearing Soryuin Akemi's question, Mutou Judai just slowly shook his head.
"No, nothing happened. This was just caused when I was practicing some techniques earlier. I'll be responsible for cleaning it up later."
Mutou Judai had no intention of explaining much to Soryuin Akemi.
He just said it simply, then as the old man had instructed, led Soryuin Akemi into the orphanage, poured her some tea, and brought some fruit.
Then when the old man woke up, Mutou Judai handed things over to him and went to clean up the courtyard himself.
Toward Soryuin Akemi, Mutou Judai roughly had the attitude of treating a guest.
Not as casual as when dealing with Erina, nor the kind of care shown to friends, but the most simple—polite and courteous, seemingly not distant but actually maintaining a certain distance.
But Soryuin Akemi's gaze remained on Mutou Judai.
After Mutou Judai finished cleaning up the courtyard, Soryuin Akemi handed him a towel.
"Good work."
Mutou Judai looked at Soryuin Akemi holding the towel, glanced at her, then still took the towel.
"Thank you for the trouble."
While Mutou Judai was wiping his sweat, Soryuin Akemi slowly asked.
"Um... Mutou-san, you're a Kengan fighter, right?"
"Uh... barely, I guess."
"Then as a fighter, Mutou-san should be quite strong, right?"
"Uh... barely, I guess."
Hearing Mutou Judai answer this way, Soryuin Akemi thought for a moment, then still spoke up.
"Are you Totsuki's fighter?"
Mutou Judai had finished wiping his sweat. Hearing Soryuin Akemi's question, he just smiled slightly.
"Mm... barely, I guess."
Three consecutive basically identical answers—even Soryuin Akemi could feel the distance Mutou Judai was deliberately maintaining between them.
However, there were some things she still needed to ask.
"Then... do you think Toyo Electric's fighters are formidable?"
Hearing Soryuin Akemi ask this, Mutou Judai thought for a moment.
He maintained a certain distance from Soryuin Akemi mainly because they really weren't familiar, but since she came to help at the orphanage, Mutou Judai had no ill feelings toward her, even some gratitude.
"Toyo Electric's fighters..."
Mutou Judai was a rookie fighter. He didn't know that much about Kengan Association fighters, but Erina had explained some fighters from certain factions to him.
"I heard Erina mention this. She said Toyo Electric's representative fighter Julius Reinhold is a guy called a monster—able to stop a moving race car. With that kind of strength, he should be quite formidable."
"But I also heard this guy isn't proficient in any fighting techniques, just purely relies on physical abilities and combat experience to fight... Mm, I heard from the old man that you train at Silverman Gym. You have a coach named Machio there, right? I can sense he's unusual. If I had to say, Julius is probably similar to his type."
Hearing Mutou Judai say this, Soryuin Akemi unconsciously drooled at the corner of her mouth.
"If he's like Coach Machio, then that means he has very perfect muscles~"
Although Mutou Judai felt Soryuin Akemi's current state was somewhat abnormal, he didn't pay attention to these things at this time, just slowly continued.
"No..."
"According to Erina, Julius is probably the person with the strongest physical abilities in the world—that's why he's called the strongest monster in history. Because he naturally possesses top-tier talent in physical abilities, uses the world's top training methods, plus extreme training methods that surpass the top tier. I even heard he takes drugs. Maybe that Coach Machio will surpass him if he continues developing, but at least for now, I think simple bodybuilding probably can't compare to him."
After all...
Mutou Judai still remembered Erina's evaluation of that Julius:
"That's a guy who abandoned everything in his future just to try the limits of the human body..."
"I see..."
When hearing that Julius used drugs, Soryuin Akemi slowly frowned, but after hearing Mutou Judai's latter statement, her brow relaxed again.
She didn't know what to say about Julius's approach.
And now she realized—
I didn't come here today to gather intelligence on Julius Reinhold!
I got distracted by muscles without realizing it!
"Um... Mutou-san, have you heard of a guy named Nikaido Ren among Toyo Electric's fighters?"
"Tenrō-ken..."
Erina had also introduced this one to him.
Supposedly someone from next door who practiced a martial art called Tenrō-ken.
"I've heard of him too, and supposedly he can use a technique with particularly shocking effects. I heard that so far, enemies he's faced are directly killed instantly after he uses that move. He's a different type of fighter from Julius."
Mutou Judai had some impression of this Nikaido Ren.
After all, he had Jack Hanma's knowledge and understanding of Retsu Kaioh and part of Hakuunji Temple and the martial arts province, but he had never heard of anything called Tenrō-ken.
Mutou Judai was quite interested in martial arts he hadn't heard of, so he remembered it.
"So he's very strong..."
Hearing Mutou Judai say this, Soryuin Akemi frowned again.
"Then if Mutou-san fought him, who would be stronger?"
Mutou Judai blinked, then shook his head.
"I don't know... after all, we haven't fought, and I haven't seen Tenrō-ken. We'd probably have to fight to know."
"Then Mutou-san, would you want to fight him... no, I should say, if I commissioned you to fight him, would you be willing to accept?"
After hesitating for a long time, Soryuin Akemi finally stated her purpose.
Mutou Judai glanced at her:
"Why does it have to be me? You should be able to find quite a few others—that friend of yours with... what was it... anyway, that blonde friend of yours who can punch an adult man with one hit, that guy is definitely not weak."
"You mean Hibiki... but Hibiki isn't a fighter, hasn't learned fighting techniques, and only recently started fitness training..."
"Even so, you could ask Coach Machio from Silverman Gym. Although I think he probably can't compare to Julius, that guy gives me a strange feeling so it's hard to say, but he's definitely very strong."
"As for Coach Machio, my sister went to ask him a long time ago... but Coach Machio has devoted almost all his thoughts and spirit to fitness. He keeps saying his training isn't for fighting or other things, so he doesn't want to get involved in matters unrelated to fitness and bodybuilding..."
Hearing Soryuin Akemi say this, Mutou Judai began thinking.
Honestly, he was somewhat interested in fighting that Nikaido Ren.
He wanted to see Tenrō-ken, and moreover—he had just experimented with Soru and Sonic Punch, and was planning to find someone to test them on.
Plus the opponent was from Toyo Electric.
However...
While having the thought of agreeing to Soryuin Akemi, Mutou Judai also thought of Erina.
So at this time, he let out a breath.
"I'm afraid I can't give you an answer right now. Could you wait for me a bit?"
...
Korakuen Academy, underground arena.
"Looks like this is the level..."
Nikaido Ren stood on the arena looking at the muscular man who had fallen before him, slowly closing his eyes.
Also closing her eyes with him was the director of Korakuen Academy below the arena—Soryuin Shion.
—Even Kozu won't work...
Soryuin Shion sighed inwardly, while Nikaido Ren's gaze turned to Soryuin Shion.
"This is already the eighth match. Do we still need to fight a ninth tomorrow?"
Nikaido Ren jumped down from the arena, standing very steadily before Soryuin Shion.
"The chairman only gave you ten chances to turn things around. If you can't win all ten matches, then—when it comes to the Kengan elimination tournament later, you understand your position, right?"
Hearing Nikaido Ren say this, Soryuin Shion sighed.
"Is Toyo Electric already reaching out at this time... simultaneously targeting both Totsuki and our Korakuen. It looks like Chairman Hayami's preparations are really very thorough..."
"That's not something you should be concerned about..."
Nikaido Ren snorted lightly, then turned around and directly disappeared into the darkness.
"If there's still a ninth match, notify me then. If not, then just contact the chairman directly."
Hearing Nikaido Ren say this, Soryuin Shion sighed.
She didn't want to get involved in the power struggles of Kengan Association chairmen, but now it seemed Toyo Electric had already reached out. She had just been caught in an opportunity and made the situation become what it was now.
But there was no choice...
After all, Kojima was already Korakuen's strongest fighter.
Of course Soryuin Shion didn't want to give up just like this.
But they no longer had any presentable fighters...
Just as Soryuin Shion was about to accept her fate, her assistant ran to her side and slowly handed her two pieces of intelligence.
"Director, these are two newly applied fighters."
New ones, at this time?
Soryuin Shion was stunned, then when she looked, she found these were indeed two rookie fighters who hadn't even fought their debut matches.
The first one was fine, at least an adult, named—Kiryu Setsuna.
The second one...
"Actually a middle school student..."
Soryuin Shion sighed.
She looked at the photo showing a beautiful girl with long silver hair, delicate and cold features, and height taller than ordinary middle school students, slowly shaking her head.
"Okami Sakura? The requirement is that if she wins, she gets recommended admission to Korakuen... Are you screening personnel all blind? That Kiryu Setsuna is one thing, but you actually found me a middle school student?"
Hearing Soryuin Shion's questioning, although her assistant was sweating profusely, she could only explain at this time.
"Director... we initially thought she was too young, but..."
At this point, the assistant's tone became certain.
"—She's really strong!"
...