"How is that possible?!"
Erioh Kure's eyes widened the instant he heard the report from Kure Fuki and Kure Horio.
Regarding Jaden "seducing" Karura, Erioh had indeed been furious.
But once that anger cooled, he understood something clearly.
His great-granddaughter would never choose just anyone.
If Karura had taken an interest, then that man must possess something worthy of her attention. And if such a man was willing, marrying into the Kure Clan was not impossible.
Of course-
Because of Karura, Erioh had been biased when he arranged Jaden's test.
That was why he sent Kure Horio.
He fundamentally did not believe Jaden could defeat Horio. That was also why he sent Kure Fuki along-to clean things up afterward.
The plan was simple.
Kure Horio would discipline Jaden.
Then Kure Fuki would step in and save him.
His pride as a martial artist would be crushed in the field he valued most.
Then a girl would appear, change his destiny, and everything afterward would proceed naturally.
That was the plan.
But-
First, Erioh never expected Kure Horio to lose.
And now-
He looked at the two standing before him.
For a moment, he even suspected he had misheard.
"The two of you..."
His gaze fell on Kure Fuki first.
"You couldn't even see his movements. You didn't even feel the attack before collapsing."
Then his eyes shifted to Kure Horio.
"And you."
"The Crying Demon Child."
"Eighty percent Removal."
"One of the defining figures of the Kure Clan's younger generation."
"You were defeated by a single punch?"
Erioh's voice rose.
"Are the two of you playing a joke on this old man?!"
The room trembled with his roar.
Kure Fuki lowered her head, not daring to speak.
Kure Horio fell silent for a moment, then sighed and spoke slowly.
"I was close enough to see it."
He raised a hand instinctively to the place where the pain had once been.
"The opponent stomped the ground multiple times in an instant. Then... his figure disappeared from my sight."
"I felt a punch land here."
"It was heavy, but the power came mostly from speed."
"It wasn't a punch I couldn't block."
"With Removal active, even three or five such punches shouldn't have incapacitated me."
He paused.
"But the pain."
"The pain from that single punch left me unable to even crawl for a full hour."
Kure Horio couldn't understand it.
That pain was unprecedented.
Unreasonable.
Jaden, however, had already anticipated it.
That was why he hadn't even used much force.
He had simply aimed for a reminder.
Because-
The pain from kidney stone cramps was on the same level as childbirth.
Or having twelve ribs broken at once.
And for the first time, the System had used a new description.
Pain Greatly Enhanced.
That level of pain was beyond human tolerance.
Even monsters like the Kure Clan couldn't endure it.
If it weren't non-lethal-
If it had aftereffects-
Kure Horio would have died from shock long ago.
Or gone mad.
Even Erioh, listening now, realized something unsettling.
If he himself were subjected to that pain for an entire hour...
He wasn't sure he could endure it.
Erioh slowly calmed down.
"So..."
"That means the opponent possesses at least one movement technique undocumented even by the Kure Clan."
He paused, then corrected himself.
"Possibly two. Or more."
"An unseen martial art."
"And someone capable of wielding it."
A faint smile appeared.
"Karura truly does not misjudge."
At that moment, a Kure Clan member approached and handed Erioh a file.
Erioh accepted it.
Then he looked back at Kure Fuki and Kure Horio.
"Although I still had doubts about your report..."
"It's fortunate that I had someone gather intelligence on that boy because of Karura."
As he spoke, he opened the file.
Fuki and Horio straightened unconsciously.
The Clan Head truly was the Clan Head.
Even if the secret behind this martial art was unclear-
With intelligence, the truth would eventually surface.
That was what they thought.
Until-
Erioh's eyes suddenly widened.
As if he had seen something incomprehensible.
"Grandfather...?"
Kure Horio hesitated, then asked.
"What is it...?"
Erioh took a moment.
Then he slowly shook his head.
"Do you know how old that boy is?"
"Or how many years he has trained?"
The sudden question startled them.
Kure Fuki blinked.
"He must have trained since childhood, like us."
"He looks young, but perhaps twenty... thirty years?"
Kure Horio frowned slightly.
"No."
"He's a genius."
"He looks to be in his teens."
"So maybe ten years... no, eight years?"
"To reach that level by high school..."
Even as he said it, he didn't believe it.
But when he thought of Karura.
Of Kure Raian.
And of Erioh's expression-
It almost felt plausible.
Erioh shook his head.
"No."
He set the file down.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
"That boy is fifteen this year."
"Even accounting for discrepancies from being an orphan, at most sixteen."
"He wasn't raised by a martial arts family."
"He wasn't trained by some secluded master."
"There are no fighters at Yuki Orphanage."
"No martial artists."
"He grew up normally."
"Lazy."
"Undisciplined."
"He didn't train."
"He didn't exercise."
"He had no exposure to martial arts."
He continued, voice steady.
"He lived like that until a few days ago."
"Until he happened to meet a young lady from Totsuki."
"That was his first exposure to Kengan."
"To fighting itself."
"And after being exposed for only a few days..."
"He possesses his current strength."
Impossible.
Kure Fuki and Kure Horio's eyes widened.
But-
When they recalled the intelligence provided by Toyo Electric...
The fights they had reviewed...
Everything suddenly aligned.
Against Himuro Ryo-
He took the hit.
Then knocked him out with one punch.
Against Meguro-
That reckless punch.
Grip strength.
Body weight.
Full commitment.
A move that exposed fatal openings if it missed.
A move no trained martial artist would ever choose.
And then Ren Nikaido-
A fight with no footage.
According to Ren, he never even saw the attack.
He was unconscious instantly.
Later, he believed he had hallucinated.
Babbling nonsense afterward.
And then-
What they themselves had witnessed.
If someone possessed-
Vision capable of tracking extreme speed.
Defense that ignored damage.
Attack power capable of instantly disabling first-rate and super-first-rate fighters.
Reflexes beyond comprehension.
Explosive strength without restraint.
Speed surpassing the naked eye.
And above all-
A mind capable of perfectly controlling such a body.
A body perhaps born without the natural limitations imposed on humans.
If all of that was innate-
Then modern martial arts...
And even the Kure Clan's 1300 years of selective breeding...
Were nothing more than a joke.
Such a person-
Kure Fuki and Kure Horio stared at Erioh.
He understood their thoughts.
And sighed softly.
"I will personally apologize to that old man at Totsuki."
"I'll present a gift."
"And I'll attempt to contact that boy."
Then-
Erioh smiled.
A sharp, excited smile.
"If such a chosen one were to have children with the Kure Clan..."
"What kind of monster would be born?"
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