One could only say...
No wonder Akuma was a powerhouse who dominated an entire world.
As the last baby was evacuated, Akuma finally released the ceiling beam he had been holding up and looked toward Ryuji.
"I don't want to fight anymore today and our next battle shouldn't be now... However, if you don't mind, we can spar occasionally and verify what we've learned from each other. Our paths may be different, but they ultimately lead to the same destination, we both can completely control the power of killing intent."
Akuma looked at the incubators that had been moved away and spoke to Ryuji with the attitude of someone addressing a fellow fighter. Although Ryuji wasn't a pure martial artist, his skill level had earned Akuma's recognition.
But in his mind, Akuma couldn't help thinking of his son. He wondered how his son was being raised and what his son thought of him. But…
He glanced subtly at Ryuji, and the determination to make his son Ryu learn the Satsui no Hado grew even stronger.
Although Ryuji had grasped the Satsui no Hado through resonance with his fighting spirit, there was no doubt that conquering killing intent through fighting spirit was the correct path.
Then his son would definitely be able to learn this power.
As for Ryuji, he completely agreed with Akuma's opinion. Leaving aside the fact that they had almost harmed innocent people, which had already ruined their mood, given their current state, starting another explosive battle without ordinary training and accumulation would have no meaning. They wouldn't gain any further insight.
"That's right. When both of us reach the next limit and bottleneck, that's when we should fight again."
He nodded, looking at the ruins around them and the houses, some empty, some collapsed by Akuma crashing through them, before speaking again.
Going to another world to grab gold wasn't too difficult. The problem was that except for the Kuroinu world, obtaining gold in other worlds required waiting for a while and if he went to the Kuroinu world, he would most likely get entangled there.
He had just fought a powerful opponent like Akuma, sensed the path ahead and integrated the Satsui no Hado into his blood qi secret technique. He wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to quickly improve his strength.
After all, although the bottleneck had opened, the actual power afterward still required training. He didn't want to interrupt this momentum by wasting time going to another world to get money.
So. while observing the damage around them, he spoke.
"Speaking of which, both of us share responsibility for compensating these houses and families, so we should split..."
The moment he said that, he suddenly felt a violent gust of wind rushing past him. He quickly turned his head.
Akuma, who had just said he would stay and spar to exchange insights, had already vanished. The gust just now was created by him leaving at full speed and he was already sprinting out of the city.
Ryuji could clearly see that while running, Akuma's body would occasionally vanish for an instant, it was obvious he was using techniques like Shun Goku Satsu and Ashura Senku to explode forward with incredible speed.
Seeing this, Ryuji froze for a moment. And in that single moment of distraction, he had already lost any chance of catching up to Akuma.
"Split the... DAMN IT!"
He stood there in shock, dumbfounded.
A top-tier master, one of the strongest in the world and he runs away the moment money is mentioned?!
Just moments ago they had fought until the mountain peak itself collapsed. They had been ready to keep fighting even if both of them burned themselves out and died, placing life and death aside, caring only about becoming stronger. A peerless master with a tiger's heart who still appreciated the fragrance of roses.
Is this the limit of Street Fighter?!
The killing intent that Ryuji had just suppressed surged up again. Crimson Satsui no Hado quickly enveloped his entire body. But at this moment his mind was incredibly clear, because all his killing intent was directed solely at that bastard Akuma.
So, you cause trouble and just run away?! A powerhouse like you doesn't have any money?!
Ryuji stretched his arms and legs, preparing to chase after him. Even though he knew he definitely couldn't catch up, his body was still sore after overexerting himself in that battle but he wasn't going to let Akuma get away without suffering a bit.
However, at that moment a graceful figure rushed over like the wind. Before Ryuji could react, Mai's body slammed into him.
"Ryuji! Are you alright?!"
The softness of her body, her fragrance and the worry in her voice instantly dissipated the Satsui no Hado around him. Mai nervously began checking his body, terrified he might have suffered some terrible injury.
And as Ryuji looked at Mai worrying over him, completely unaware that his hand had unconsciously landed on her ass, he could only sigh.
"Next time I see Akuma… I'll settle the score with him."
Meanwhile, far away, Akuma slowed to a stop when he realized Ryuji wasn't chasing him. He rubbed his stomach, instinctively thinking about finding a restaurant to eat at.
Then he remembered that he didn't have a single penny on him. This time he had come down from the mountains just to buy seasoning. He had even gathered some fruit from the mountains to sell so he could buy salt and other supplies.
But those fruits… seemed to have been thrown at Ryuji's doorstep earlier.
And he definitely didn't want to go back now. Ryuji had a big family and resources, paying compensation wouldn't hurt him. But if Akuma had to split the cost, he'd have to spend a lot of time working to pay it off, wasting precious training time.
Besides, it was Ryuji who knocked him into the city in the first place.
No matter how you looked at it, it was Ryuji's responsibility.
He would not waver on this point.
But going back now was out of the question. He didn't want Ryuji pestering him, as it would delay his training time.
"…Looks like I'll have to go back into the mountains and hunt some wild animals and gather wild fruit again."
He happily decided on his dinner.
After all, to him...
Food was merely something that gave him the strength to continue training.
~~~~~~~~~~
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