CHAPTER 100: THE CONCERNS OF THE OGRE
"!? Has the 'Monster' awakened from his nap?"
Colonel Stryker's face turned grim. He reached for his radio, his voice frantic as he tried to de-escalate. "Wait! Just a moment! It's just some minor personal business! I'll be right back up!"
The voice in the chopper didn't respond, but the pressure radiating from the dark cabin didn't decrease—it intensified.
Through a tiny gap in the helicopter's sliding door, a "Gaze" shot out. It swept across the deck, locking onto every single person in the Grand Ballroom for a micro-second.
Ren Shiroki, Katsumi Orochi, Yagyo Hikoichi, Kyara, Marco, Joichi Yagyo.
Every one of these high-level warriors felt a physical sensation. It was as if the claws of a prehistoric predator had just dragged across their cheeks. Some actually reached up to touch their skin, expecting to find blood.
"Is... is it him? No way..." Atsushi Suedo whispered. His voice was trembling so hard he could barely form the words. He remembered the stories of the man who had once "killed" his Master, Doppo Orochi.
Stryker tried to keep talking, but the cabin door was suddenly kicked wide.
BANG!
A backlit silhouette of a man appeared in the doorway. His presence was a void that sucked the air out of the room. It was impossible to look away.
"Hah! Stryker! You found a nice place to enjoy the sea breeze, didn't you?"
The man didn't wait for a ladder or a rope. He didn't use a "Fast-Rope" transition like the Colonel. He simply took a casual step forward, as if he were walking down his own front porch.
He stepped into the empty air, falling nearly a hundred meters toward the deck.
ZIP!
As he neared the steel floor, the man reached out with a single hand. He caught a dangling rappelling line, the friction generating a cloud of dust and heat as he used his raw grip strength to instantly cancel his downward momentum.
He landed on the deck as light as a feather.
The man stood with one hand in his pocket. He released the rope, the steel cable frayed and smoking from the force of his catch.
His physical form was an insult to biology. His muscles were carved into impossible, "Demonic" shapes, radiating a sense of explosive, volcanic power. His skin was a metallic bronze, and a mane of dark red hair flowed over his shoulders.
He stood over 190cm (6'3") and weighed well over 120kg (265 lbs) of pure, functional mass.
He wore a simple black sleeveless top, black martial arts trousers, and cloth shoes. His face was a map of absolute "Wrath" and "Menace"—a set of features that only existed once in human history.
One word described him: MIGHT.
The instant he appeared, the entire deck fell into a state of biological paralysis.
It was the "Antelope and Leopard" effect. When the prey realizes there is absolutely no path to escape, its brain enters a state of frozen, desperate panic.
"How... how is he here...?" Suedo gasped, his knees hitting the deck. "YUJIRO HANMA!"
The name acted as a catalyst, snapping the other "Monsters" out of their trance.
Yujiro Hanma. A name whispered in every corner of the world.
Kakerou's archives. The Kure Clan's dossiers. Urban legends from war zones. Mercenary campfire stories.
No matter where you heard it, the titles were always the same:
THE OGRE.THE GIANT.THE STRONGEST CREATURE ON EARTH.
Stryker walked over, wiping sweat from his brow. "Yujiro... I'm handling it. We're seizing an arms shipment to prevent a terrorist strike. Just a routine job."
Yujiro didn't even look at his old friend. His predatory eyes were locked on the two bloodied figures on the deck: Ren Shiroki and Katsumi Orochi.
He performed a clinical evaluation of their state in less than a second.
"Left second and fourth ribs: snapped. Right fourth and fifth: fractured," Yujiro noted, his voice a low, vibrating rumble. "Mandible: cracked. Multiple teeth loose or missing. Forehead: lacerated. Right bicep: micro-fracture of the humerus. Soft tissue damage... significant."
"Both of you have a dozen internal hematomas and incomplete bone breaks."
Yujiro inhaled the salt air and let out a scoff.
"The scent of your 'Struggle' is as bland as an appetizer!"
Yujiro raised an eyebrow, gesturing to the deck. "Fine. Stand up. Don't mind me. You can continue your little play-fight now."
"..."
The ballroom went dead silent. No one could believe what they had just heard.
Continue?!
To Yujiro Hanma, the life-or-death, sound-barrier-breaking battle between Ren and Katsumi was merely the "Opening Act"?
Seeing that the two fallen fighters couldn't move, Yujiro let out a bored sigh. "Still too green. Looking at you makes me sleepy."
He scanned the room, his gaze passing over the other warriors. "Since those two are broken... does anyone else want to scrap?"
Joichi and Hikoichi Yagyo bowed their heads, declining the invitation. They knew their limits.
Kyara wanted to step forward, but Madarame Baku was holding his arm with a death-grip, staring him down with a look that said: Don't you dare ruin my plan by dying today.
As for Marco, the giant simply raised his hand. "Marco... doesn't want to fight!"
Yujiro: "..."
A slow, genuine grin spread across the Ogre's face. It was the smile of a demon enjoying a rare piece of comedy. "A child's honesty... I suppose that's worth a few minutes of my time."
His interest vanished as quickly as it had appeared. He turned back toward Stryker. "We're leaving!"
"Ah... right!" Stryker followed him, but not before signaling the Leader of Kakerou to ensure the missiles were handed over to his transport team.
Just as Yujiro reached the edge of the deck, Sadakuni—the revolutionary who had already lost everything—erupted into a fit of manic laughter.
"HAHAHAHA!"
He was a dead man walking, so he had discarded his fear. He channeled his inner poison into his words.
"The 'Strongest Creature on Earth'? What a joke!"
Sadakuni pointed a trembling finger at Yujiro. "I've heard the legends, but looking at you now... you're just a 'Man.' A biological toy."
His gaze swept the room, mocking everyone. "You're all trash! Martial artists? Gamblers? You're irrelevant in the face of bullets and missiles!"
"Against a real soldier, your 'Might' is a child's tantrum! Even an Ogre dies when a 9mm round pierces his skull! Even a god burns when the thermal wave of a ballistic strike hits him!"
"My revolution isn't over! One day, the fire will fall from the sky and erase monsters like you from the map!"
The Ballroom froze. No one dared to breathe.
Yujiro stopped. He turned around slowly. He wasn't angry. He was smiling.
"Did you hear that? The blind man with the glasses says... his fight isn't over yet."
"What a beautiful sentiment!"
Yujiro laughed, his eyes glowing with a terrifying light. "Stryker! I told you once to challenge me once a year. I told you to use every dirty, unfair tactic you have to try and make me feel 'Fear.' You should learn from this blind man!"
"Swords, guns, explosives, nuclear fire... use everything you have to struggle against reality!"
WHOOSH!
In a blur that bypassed human vision, Yujiro lunged. He executed a simple, mid-level front-kick.
THOOM!
A sharp CRACK of bone echoed through the Grand Ballroom. Sadakuni's neck was snapped instantly. The revolutionary was launched through the air like a discarded rag, his body spraying blood before slamming into the bulkhead wall.
He slid to the deck, motionless. He looked like a mosquito that had been swatted by a giant.
Yujiro retracted his leg and turned back toward the chopper, not sparing the body a second glance.
"Since you were still 'Fighting,' I accepted your challenge."
"The result: I won."
He walked past the prone Ren and Katsumi without stopping. He had found something much more interesting to think about.
Stryker caught up to him. "Ren-kun was impressive, but you seem distracted. What brought you to Tokyo so suddenly?"
Yujiro spared his old friend a sidelong glance, a rare, paternal sigh escaping his lips.
"My son... Baki. He seems to have reached that age."
"The age where a boy starts thinking about romance. It's... a nuisance."
☆☆☆
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