Lightning flickered across the dock as Ryuuto carved through the shadows like a crimson phantom. One swing of his beheading blade, one clean step, and another head rolled across the wet concrete. The screams barely had time to form before silence took over.
The last surviving foreman trembled so hard his knees nearly clicked together.
"W-who are you…?!"
Ryuuto lifted the massive blade and let its edge hover a hair from the man's nose, droplets of blood dripping onto the ground.
"Don't worry about who I am. Just tell me where your 'headhunter' boss is."
"I—I don't know! I swear, I don't—"
Ryuuto's smirk curved, that familiar "you're screwed" glint flickering in his eyes. His hands blurred through seals.
Mind Transfer Technique.
His consciousness slipped into the man's skull like a cold blade. A quick search. Nothing useful. Useless.
The man's body dropped with a wet thud as Ryuuto yanked his mind back.
That was when the entire dock erupted into blinding white light.
Searchlights roared to life. Industrial fans kicked on, blasting away the fog he'd summoned. The beams locked onto Ryuuto like hunting hounds.
"Hands up!"
"Who does this brat think he is?!"
"Cut him apart and feed him to the fish!"
Boatmen surged out from behind crates, metal pipes and knives clattering. And behind them, their true leader appeared.
The headhunter.
Tall, poised, her eyes colder than a shark's. Psychokinetic pressure rolled off her like a riptide.
"So you're the one who butchered my men," she said, voice low and lethal. "Speak. Explain everything, or I'll make your death unforgettable."
Ryuuto just grinned.
"You want to know?"
"Speak," she hissed, psychic force snapping through the air.
"That's such a big request. At least come a little closer. Let me see if you're serious."
Gasps erupted around them. The thugs swore under their breath. Even with dozens surrounding him, he didn't show a flicker of fear.
He curled his finger toward her in a lazy, taunting motion.
"You know… I rushed all the way here without even getting a drink."
Rage exploded through the crowd.
Knives raised. Boots stomped. Several lunged forward—
But the headhunter lifted one hand.
Every thug froze mid-step.
With a slow, serpentine sway, she approached Ryuuto until only a few meters separated them. Her gaze pierced straight through him.
"Very simple," Ryuuto said. "I came to kill you."
The entire dock turned to stone.
Even the waves seemed to pause.
Did this kid really just say that?
Everyone in the underworld knew her cruelty. Nobody provoked her. Nobody mocked her. Nobody survived her.
But Ryuuto kept going.
"And since you're a woman, I'll let you attack first. Wouldn't want anyone saying I bullied you."
You could practically hear the soul leave the boatmen's bodies.
The headhunter stared at him for several seconds, blankly… then burst into a low, dangerous laugh.
"You want to bully me? You want my head?"
"Come and find out," Ryuuto said, blade resting on his shoulder.
"Kill him!" she snapped, spinning around.
Psychokinetic pressure slammed outward. Her mind puppeteered every thug like marionettes, forcing them forward in a rabid tide.
Steel flashed.
Ryuuto moved faster.
Heads flew. Bodies dropped. Blood splashed his clothes like dark rain. He didn't even bother with jutsu at first, just raw strength, punching skulls apart like rotten fruit and kicking attackers away like sacks of garbage.
In less than a minute, the ground became a graveyard.
Even puppeted by her mind, the boatmen trembled in pure animal terror. Their instincts screamed: this was a monster wearing a teenager's face.
The headhunter grit her teeth, veins bulging at her temples as she forced them forward.
"Crazy woman," Ryuuto muttered. "I'm done playing."
He leapt upward.
Water Style: Great Waterfall!
A towering wave erupted behind him, swallowing the dock in a crushing torrent. Men screamed as they were blasted off their feet, slammed against crates, or swept toward the sea.
The headhunter dodged wildly, her face twisting.
"You—summon something this powerful?!"
She skidded backward, drenched, humiliated, but furious.
"I won't lose!" she roared, psychic aura flaring like wildfire.
She thrust her hands outward.
"Sand! Assist me!"
A voice echoed in the mist.
"Understood."
From the shadows, a woman draped in black silk emerged, veil covering her face. She floated forward, crimson energy swirling behind her like wings.
Ryuuto's eyes narrowed.
Another elite?
"Great," he sighed. "More idiots lining up to die."
Shion's lazy voice flickered in his mind.
[Host, you really know how to attract weird women.]
Focus, he shot back. I'm about to get stabbed.
[Better than getting no attention at all.]
He ignored her. His grip tightened on the beheading blade.
Two enemies. One psychic, one unknown.
Good.
Tonight wasn't ending quietly.