In Roppongi, the hooded figure finally slowed his pace as he turned into a quieter corner. Far from the underground bar and the watchful eyes of the underworld, Shugen raised a hand to his hood and lowered it naturally, as if removing nothing more than a social mask. The night glowed with urban light, reflecting off tall glass buildings and tracing soft contours along his face.
His hair was black, thick, and slightly unkempt, with longer strands falling over the left side of his face, partially covering one eye. His features were youthful—almost delicate at first glance—but there was firmness in the line of his jaw and the structure of his neck. Small freckles lightly dotted his cheeks and nose, softening his appearance and creating a curious contrast with his cold posture and naturally indifferent expression.
[Image]
He crossed the entrance of Roppongi Hills Residence B with calm steps. The interior was elegant and quiet, filled with the faint scent of recent cleaning and polished wood. A few staff members recognized him immediately.
"Good evening, young Kanzaki."
"Good evening. Has my father left his room?" Shugen asked, maintaining a polite tone.
"Yes. He said he was going to the dojo. He came back late in the afternoon," the receptionist replied, bowing his head slightly.
A small smile appeared on Shugen's lips.
It wasn't wide or warm, but it was sincere enough to soften his expression.
"Thank you. Take care."
Without another word, he walked toward the private elevator. The panel reflected his face for a brief moment as the doors slid shut. In silence, the elevator began its ascent toward the penthouse—the only place where his posture eased slightly, where he wasn't a vigilante, a broker, or a threat.
Just the son of a martial artist.
Ding!
The soft chime echoed through the private penthouse hall. The doors opened, revealing the spacious interior lit by indirect lighting and the nightscape of Tokyo stretching beyond panoramic windows.
Shugen stepped out.
Boom!
A punch came at him like a cannon shot. The pressure of the strike tore through the air before impact, releasing an invisible shockwave that sent the curtains whipping violently and made the glass panes tremble faintly.
But the fist never reached him.
Shugen held the attacker's hand firmly, fingers locking around the broad knuckles as if it were routine. His feet hadn't even slid across the floor.
"Hey, Dad." He lifted his eyes, meeting the gaze of the tall, muscular old man before him—a physique that rivaled even All Might in his prime. "I'm back."
The elderly man kept his fist caught for a few seconds before relaxing his strength. A proud smile formed on his time-worn yet still imposing face. His broad shoulders and straight posture betrayed decades of discipline and combat.
As the son of a martial artist, Shugen didn't expect hugs or warm words as a welcome.
A welcoming punch was far more common.
"Hmph! Looks like you haven't gone soft brawling with street punks." The old man's deep voice carried a provocative edge, but there was satisfaction in it.
Shugen released his fist and lightly adjusted the sleeve of his jacket.
"Of course not. I'm your son, right?"
The old man let out a low, firm laugh that echoed through the spacious penthouse.
"Good answer." said Taiju Kanzaki, flexing the fist that had just tested his grandson. The muscles still bulged beneath time-marked skin, dense like aged steel. "The medicine you asked for arrived. I'm about to take it."
Shugen simply nodded, his expression returning to its usual neutral state. No comment about strength, nor about the punch from moments earlier. Just a slight movement of his head, as if that exchange were a routine part of their lives.
"Alright. I'll make dinner in the meantime," he said, already rolling up the sleeves of his shirt with natural ease, revealing firm forearms discreetly marked with old scars.
"Okay," Taiju replied simply, turning and walking toward the bedroom with heavy yet steady steps.
Shugen headed straight for the penthouse kitchen. The space was modern, organized with almost surgical precision. He washed his hands calmly, watching his reflection for a brief moment in the metallic surface of the sink. There, far from the underworld, his movements were lighter—almost too domestic for someone who, just hours earlier, had reduced men to pools of blood.
He opened the refrigerator, separated the ingredients, and began preparing dinner. The sound of the knife slicing through vegetables was rhythmic, blending with the quiet of the room.
(Author: Before anything else, I would like to say myself — to everyone's misfortune, or perhaps fortune — this story is not about hope… It is about revenge.)
"Huh?"
Shugen stopped the knife mid-cut.
The kitchen was too quiet.
No heavy footsteps.
No steady breathing coming from the bedroom.
"It's quiet… Hey, Da—"
Zoom!
A pressure tore through the air even before the impact, as if space itself had been compressed by something colossal. Instinct moved faster than thought. Shugen thrust his hand forward, muscles tightening in the same instant.
Boom!
Something crashed down onto the penthouse from above. The ceiling exploded into concrete and twisted steel, the structure giving way with a deafening roar. Glass shattered, furniture was hurled like toys, and a dense cloud of dust swallowed the room.
"What—?" The confusion lasted only a fraction of a second.
Shugen activated Dismantle almost on reflex. Invisible slashes tore through the falling debris, reducing massive chunks of concrete into smaller fragments before they could crush him.
Cough! Cough!
Through the dust and the acrid scent of pulverized cement, he saw a larger silhouette buried beneath rubble a few meters away.
"Dad!"
He rushed forward immediately, carving a path with precise cuts that fragmented beams and slabs of concrete. With each motion, debris was cleared away with surgical violence.
"Are you okay?"
"Cough!" Taiju Kanzaki coughed, blood running from the corner of his mouth. Even so, his eyes remained firm. "Yeah… I'm fine, kid. Though the medicine wore off sooner than expected."
Both of them lowered their gaze.
On the fractured floor, a shattered vial spilled a clear liquid that trickled through cracks in the concrete.
The silence that followed was heavy.
"Alright, let's— Cough!"
Shugen didn't finish.
A black fist burst from the dust and struck his face with brutal force. The impact was dry and crushing, launching him out of the penthouse like a projectile.
Boom!
He tore through the ruined side of the building and plummeted several stories down.
He landed in the street.
Standing.
The asphalt cracked beneath his feet.
Blood ran from his nose as he kept his head lowered for a second.
"What the hell was that…"
He slowly lifted his gaze.
Four figures descended from the shattered penthouse above, landing on the street with unnatural weight. Their bodies were massive, muscles bulging beneath black skin that looked almost artificial. Exposed brains pulsed grotesquely in the night air.
"…Ah."
Shugen didn't recognize the grotesque creatures. He had never seen anything like them before—towering frames, dark synthetic-looking skin, exposed brains throbbing under the cold streetlights. But identifying the enemy wasn't the priority right now.
What mattered was simple.
They were in his way.
"Move."
He slightly flexed his fingers, as if adjusting invisible threads in the air.
Flash!
Dismantle tore through all four bodies nearly at the same instant. Clean cuts separated torsos from legs; limbs detached; masses of flesh slammed heavily onto the cracked asphalt. Dark blood spread across the street, forming thick pools that reflected the city lights.
Shugen exhaled shortly, already bending his knees to leap back toward the penthouse.
But something made him pause.
The fallen flesh began to move.
Muscle fibers dragged themselves toward each other like grotesque worms. Bones snapped back into alignment with wet cracking sounds. Within seconds, the bodies were reconstructing, regenerating before his eyes.
All four stood up again.
Whole.
"I see…"
The air around him seemed to grow heavier.
Shugen slowly adjusted his stance, bringing both hands forward, fingers slightly curled. His legs spread shoulder-width apart, center of gravity stable, breathing controlled.
He clenched his fists.
And he smiled.
It wasn't a nervous smile.
Nor one of ordinary excitement.
It was curiosity.
"Time for a taste test."
If they couldn't be cut down so simply, then he would just have to find out how far that regeneration could go.
And Shugen had always enjoyed testing limits.
.
.
.
Silence dominated the ruined street. None of the creatures advanced immediately. Their massive bodies remained still, exposed brains pulsing rhythmically as if analyzing the opponent before them. Shugen didn't move either. His feet were planted firmly on the cracked asphalt, breathing steady, eyes alert to the slightest shift in muscle tension.
Then everything happened at once.
Catch!
A retractable blade burst from one creature's arm, extending with a metallic snap before descending in a brutal arc.
Boom!
Shugen simply raised his arm. The impact rippled through the air, kicking up dust around them, but he blocked it effortlessly, his muscles absorbing the force with ease.
Zoom!
Catch!
The other three lunged simultaneously—one from the left, one from the right, and the last from behind. Their coordination was almost mechanical. Shugen sensed the encirclement the instant he felt the shift in pressure around him.
Without hesitation, he twisted the wrist that held the blade and severed the attacking creature's arm in one short, efficient motion. In the same fluid movement, he lowered his body and swept his leg in a wide arc, striking the bases of the others around him.
The massive bodies toppled.
Within that same rotation, Shugen circulated his Bio-Energy through his Bio-Field in a full 360-degree radius. The air around him vibrated, subtly warping like heat rising from asphalt.
"Dismantle."
The omnidirectional slash burst outward.
All four creatures were split in half once again, separated with brutal precision.
Fresh—
The flesh moved again.
Muscles crawled. Bones realigned with wet snapping sounds. Before his eyes, the halves fused back together. Arms completed themselves. Torsos sealed shut as if never severed.
"Ah… so you can regenerate even from that?" Shugen's smile widened, his eyes gleaming with genuine interest. "Interesting."
Catch!
Flash!
He touched the ground with his fingertips.
Cracks spread across the asphalt in a radial pattern, forming something like a spiderweb beneath his feet.
"Cleave."
『Cleave – Spider Web』
Boom!
An explosion of slashes erupted from the ground in multiple directions, razor-sharp lines intersecting violently beneath the creatures. The asphalt was torn into fragments as invisible pillars of cutting force surged upward like vertical blades, piercing their bodies from the ground up.
The entire street trembled from the impact.
Shugen appeared in front of one of the creatures in an almost imperceptible displacement, his body leaning forward just before impact.
Boom!
His kick struck the monster's abdomen and launched it across the street like a projectile, smashing through storefront windows and caving in part of a nearby building's structure. Without wasting a second, Shugen spread his arms, releasing a rapid sequence of Dismantle slashes.
The three that had remained grouped were pierced by multiple invisible blades, their bodies breaking apart into irregular chunks. Before they could even complete their fall, he surged forward and kicked each one in different directions, scattering them down the street like discarded debris. In the same motion, he leapt after the first one he had launched.
"Hmm?"
Something briefly blocked the light above.
Flash!
The object was split in two before it could reach him. The halves passed by his sides and slammed into the ground below.
A car.
"Makes sense." His voice sounded almost bored.
He propelled himself again, running through the air as he tore across façades and balconies at height, slicing apart other vehicles that plummeted toward him like improvised ammunition. Each automobile was divided with precision before it could touch him.
Identifying the source, he pointed his hand toward the parking structure from which the cars were being hurled.
FLASH!
A colossal slash tore through all four levels of the concrete building at once. The structure was sliced horizontally, columns giving way as entire floors slid out of alignment.
Amid the collapsing wreckage, the responsible creature had its head severed cleanly from its body.
For a second.
The head reconnected to the neck with a wet snap.
"Huhhh? What did you do?" Shugen asked, genuinely curious as he watched the skull settle back into place on its shoulders. "Hm?"
Boom!
The other three—already reassembled—appeared around him in a coordinated encirclement, retractable blades emerging from their arms once more.
Foosh!
He spun and slipped past them by mere centimeters, feeling the displaced air brush against his face. Then he surged forward with open palms, touching the chests of two of them almost simultaneously.
"Cleave."
Flash!
Their bodies were shredded from the inside out, reduced to exploding masses of flesh and blood that splattered across the ruined asphalt.
And still—they began to reform.
Fragments vibrated.
Blood recoiled.
Tissues restructured.
'I see…' Shugen rotated his hand, unleashing a horizontal Dismantle that swept everything before him, tearing through already-damaged buildings and forcing the creatures to regroup once again. 'This regeneration is possible through two Quirks.'
His eyes analyzed every detail of the process.
'The first is Super Regeneration. The second is Cellular Activation—forcing every cell in the body to reconstruct simultaneously. Even an instant-kill attack doesn't work. I need to destroy everything at once…'
He slowly opened his arms.
'In other words… flesh, bone, and blood. All at the same time.'
Distortions began forming around him, like fractures in the atmosphere itself. With a wide motion, he released another devastating wave.
The remainder of the parking structure was reduced to pulverized rubble, and portions of the buildings ahead had their façades torn away as if made of paper.
…
At the shattered penthouse of Roppongi Hills Residence B, dust still lingered in the air like dense fog. Amid twisted beams and fractured concrete, Taiju Kanzaki stood firm, his broad frame partially illuminated by the city lights behind him. Before him, occupying much of the remaining space, stood an even larger creature.
Its body was grotesquely muscular, surpassing even Taiju's physique. Its black skin had an artificial, almost rubber-like texture. Its head was encased in a smooth metallic structure, cold and seamless, with two yellow eyes glowing through narrow slits. Each breath from the monster seemed to vibrate the building's frame.
"Nomu…" Taiju muttered, assessing the opponent with an experienced gaze. "A High-End? No… perhaps beyond that."
"Correct."
The voice did not come from the surroundings.
It came from the creature's metallic head itself, echoing with a faint mechanical distortion.
"This is a Tyrant. A Nomu designed specifically to surpass you, Taiju Kanzaki." The voice carried a satisfied tone. "Tailor-made. Something beyond the High-Ends—which, for you, were already child's play, my old friend."
Recognition was immediate.
Taiju clenched his fists, the muscles in his arms swelling slightly as the memory of that voice resurfaced like a shadow from the past.
"I thought you were dead."
"My death was… greatly exaggerated," the voice replied with dark amusement. "But let's set that aside."
The tone shifted.
Colder now.
"I've come to realize something, you see. There are certain individuals who become inconvenient obstacles in the future. People too strong. Too influential. And you… are one of them, Taiju Kanzaki."
The night wind swept through the open penthouse, carrying fragments of dust between them.
"Is that so?" Taiju answered simply, adjusting his stance.
A risada ecoou novamente, agora mais aberta.
"Yes, yes. So… could you die for now?"
As if those words were the final command, the Tyrant moved.
Boom!
The monster stomped down with brutal force, further fracturing the already-damaged structure. The entire building trembled from the impact.
Then it roared.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
The sound was deafening, reverberating across the skyscrapers of Tokyo.
…
A few blocks away, Shugen kept the four Nomu buried beneath the remains of a forty-story commercial building. The structure had already been compromised by dozens of previous slashes and now leaned precariously, like a giant moments from collapse. He landed on a fractured slab, extended his hand, and activated Cleave once more.
The building was divided with brutal precision into four colossal pillars, separated by perfect vertical cuts. Concrete groaned, beams snapped, and the massive sections began sliding apart, crushing the monsters beneath tons of debris.
"From the looks of it…" Shugen commented as he observed the irregular movement under the rubble. Fragments of flesh still attempted to reassemble—but with less vigor than before. "The damage accumulates. The regeneration's getting slower. Even their blows are weaker."
He dropped to the ground, eyes fixed on the desperate attempts at reconstruction.
"So your extra Quirks have limits too, huh? Just slightly higher ones."
Then the sky trembled.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
The roar echoed across Tokyo, rattling windows kilometers away. The shockwave tore through the air like a stormfront.
Shugen instinctively turned toward its source.
"…Father."
All traces of curiosity vanished from his gaze.
It sharpened.
Turned cold.
He bent his knees and leapt upward, hovering briefly above the divided structure.
"Playtime's over."
FLASH!
From the sky, millions of cuts descended like an invisible tempest—serrating, slicing, grinding, vaporizing.
The entire building was reduced to microscopic fragments within seconds. Concrete turned to dust. Steel disintegrated. Flesh, bone, blood, and cells were severed simultaneously on such an absurd scale that nothing remained to regenerate.
When the assault ceased, there was no building left.
No bodies.
Only an open void carved into the urban landscape, dust drifting slowly through the night air.
Shugen was already moving.
Toward the roar.
.
.
.
.
.
Sirens wailed in the distance, blending with the heavy rain that now poured from the sky, thunder cracking overhead and streaking Tokyo with violent white lightning. The battlefield had been completely demolished—buildings reduced to concrete skeletons, craters torn open in the asphalt, smoke rising in thin spirals beneath the storm.
At the center of that devastation, one figure remained standing.
Or almost.
Shugen was drenched in red. His hoodie, pants, and sneakers were soaked in blood, the rain unable to wash away the dark stain embedded in the fabric. His black hair clung to his forehead and cheeks, tangled with water and dried crimson. The eyes that had once been sharp and calculating were now empty.
Dead.
"Ah… Ah… Ah…"
His breathing came uneven, ragged, dragging through his chest. His body trembled—not merely from exertion, but from the crushing weight beginning to settle in his mind. Slowly, he raised his hands to his head, fingers digging into his own hair as he fell to his knees on the rain-soaked ground.
Tears began to fall.
Silent at first.
Then uncontrollable.
Before him, the Nomu was unrecognizable. The grotesque body lay utterly destroyed, sliced into dozens of irregular pieces. There were bite marks. Deep claw gouges. Cuts far beyond any strategic necessity. Chunks were missing. Limbs were gone.
The head was gone.
"Dad… what did I do?" His voice cracked—small, almost childlike—lost beneath the rain and the distant sirens.
Then he lifted his gaze.
Under the moonlight veiled by dense clouds, Taiju Kanzaki's body remained suspended—impaled by multiple iron rods that had pierced through his torso during the structural collapse. Blood ran slowly down the metal shafts, washed away again and again by the relentless rain.
The words barely left his lips. His voice faltered, nearly swallowed by the rain that fell with growing violence. More tears streamed down, blending with the stormwater as his shoulders shook beneath the weight of something he had never felt like this before.
Loss.
The feeling tore something open inside him.
A hollow space.
A bottomless abyss forming behind his ribs.
And within that emptiness, something began to take shape.
First came desire—raw, instinctive.
Then hatred—dense, suffocating.
Next, anger—hot, pulsing through the blood still staining the ruined field.
But above all of it, one thing rose dominant.
Revenge.
Shugen remained kneeling for seconds that felt like eternity. Then, slowly, he lifted a hand to his hood and pulled it over his head, covering his soaked hair and partially bloodstained face.
His eyes, once empty, began losing what little humanity remained in them. There were no tears now. No hesitation.
Only something cold.
Sharp.
Absolute.
"I will… kill whoever did this." His voice was low and steady, without a tremor. "No matter how long it takes…"
He rose slowly, rain streaming down his sleeves, dripping from his fingertips.
"And no matter who I have to kill."
Lightning split the sky above Tokyo, illuminating for a single instant the city—one percent of its territory left devastated by a lone figure who vanished with the fading flash of thunder.