Heavenly Wolves, an order of martial artists that took part in the Sino-Japanese War, suddenly appeared on the battlefield to aid the Japanese side in overwhelming the Chinese army.
Nikaido Ren was its captain, the chief who had mastered the Heavenly Wolf Fist along with its secret techniques. Yet, despite this, in just a single exchange of his fight with Shinra, this 16-year-old brat had his body so critically damaged that he was almost defeated.
'If I hadn't hurriedly attacked...'
When Nikaido looked at his ankle, which was still reddened and tingling with pain due to Shinra's tight grip, he shuddered in horror.
Still, even so, while his mouth was still bloody and his entire body was in pain, which made him unable to breathe, Nikaido forced himself to face Shinra, who, despite making himself smaller, exuded an aura that was bigger than him, which almost swallowed him.
'Deluge...'
If Shinra wasn't being playful before, Nikaido knew that he would be lying on the ground, defeated so pathetically, like one who dies from drowning. Ugly and pathetic.
'I'm not as weak as all the fighters that you have fought. Once you let me go, I will bite you to death!'
Humiliation and rage filled his bloody, demon-like face as Nikaido thought to use his secret technique to end Shinra!
As their fight was about to continue, many people engaged in discussions, pondering how the fight would unfold.
"He is also using aikido, Sen. What do you think?" Nogi Hideki looked at his long-haired fighter by his side, who was also his representative fighter, Hatsumi Sen.
"He is good."
Yet, inwardly, Sen felt a cold sweat and wondered whether his old lover chose this aikido user fighter for revenge. Still, he wouldn't lose, he thought.
'Let's meet in the quarter-finals, boy.'
Unfortunately, Sen probably wouldn't be able to meet Shinra as he would lose to a certain man in his block, and he also lost his lover.
"Win, then."
If Nogi lost, then he knew he would lose everything, so he had to have Sen win.
"SHINRAAAA!!"
Meanwhile, while Karura screamed excitedly, Kure Erioh looked at Shinra with his dim eyes curiously, yet also quite interested, thinking that it was rare for a young man to be able to master a soft martial art to such an extent.
Yes, in this world, there were two types of martial arts, hard and soft.
The hard one was obvious, which was to meet force with force. It was a technique where one used their power, and the stronger their physical ability, the stronger they were. It was direct, simple, yet also destructive.
On the other hand, the soft was the opposite, as it deflected the attacker's force to their disadvantage, with the defender exerting minimal force and requiring minimal strength.
In soft martial arts, the defender uses the attacker's force and momentum against them, by leading the attack in a direction where the defender will be advantageously positioned and the attacker off balance; a seamless movement then affects the appropriate soft technique.
Yet, this is why this martial art is even more challenging, as it requires reflexes, vision, intelligence, experience, and many other elements.
Still, this was also normal since if one wanted to defeat someone stronger than them, then they had to use extra efforts.
However, the fact that Shinra was able to use Nikaido's strength and almost even take him down in just a single exchange showed that his mastery over this martial art wasn't low.
Yet—
"Is he naive, arrogant, or simply a fool?"
If a reason existed why Shinra let go of Nikaido's ankle, what was it?
Erioh put all his focus on the arena as his heart filled with sadness, thinking that his great-granddaughter had fallen, yet... if Shinra was strong, then... it couldn't be helped, could it?
Regardless, no matter what everyone was thinking, Nikaido had made his attack, charging forward like a wolf, agile yet dangerous, waving his fists like claws that would take down his opponent. Yet, facing such a flurry of seamless attacks, Shinra could easily deflect them.
If they were normal people, their arms would be crushed as each of Nikaido's fists contained fa jin energy, an explosive energy that was similar to the crack of a whip.
Yet, facing Shinra, all of his fists seemed to hit cotton, and Nikaido couldn't even exert his power as Shinra deflected his fists before he could unleash his full strength, which made him grow increasingly frustrated as he realized how powerful Shinra was.
Still, during this moment, Nikaido used his secret technique!
'Secret Technique: Qilong!'
When Shinra didn't realize it, Nikaido used this mysterious three-step technique, reputedly impossible to pull off even while sparring.
The first step is Xu!
Nikaido compressed air within his palms before releasing it all at once when his target was within range. All those exposed to the "blast" within the 1.5 metre range would instinctively stop moving for a moment.
"What is that sound?"
The "blast" apparently gave off an uncomfortable sound that could be heard by those even in the arena's audience.
The second step is Huan!
Nikaido whispered a secret "spell" into their ears while their complete attention was directed to their hearing.
This is a form of instantaneous hypnosis.
The third step is Guan!
'Now, it is over!'
As Shinra was defenseless, Nikaido sent a Fa Jin strike to Shinra's kidney to end him!
Yet—
Nikaido's wrist was pushed away naturally, like a flowing water that was divided by a rock in the river.
Shinra successfully deflected the secret technique of the Heavenly Wolf Fist, which made Nikaido dumbfounded and stunned silly.
"Interesting martial art."
As Shinra said those words, Nikaido's eyes widened as Shinra made a clapping hands gesture that mimicked that of the first step of the secret technique, Qinlong!
'No!'
BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!
As the blast echoed, Nikaido was stunned and shocked, yet, for everyone who heard this uncomfortable noise, their shock was also not lower than that of Nikaido, as they were still stunned, watching Shinra, who performed the secret technique of the Heavenly Wolf Fist flawlessly!
The second step, Huan!
Shinra whispered the mantra that he remembered, which had made Nikaido completely hypnotized before—
BAAAAAANGGGGG!!!
Nikaido didn't know what was happening, but as he woke up, he was hit by an intense pain before he was blown away into the distance as blood poured out from all of his orifices, and he passed out without being able to hide the shock on his face.
Fa Jin strike!
"Interesting."
There were many pieces of knowledge that Shinra wanted to learn, so he missed many powerful techniques, such as Fa Jin.
"N-NIKAIDO HAS FALLEN! T-THE WINNER IS SHINRA UCHIHA! UCHIHA SHINRA DEFEATED NIKAIDO WITH NIKAIDO'S TECHNIQUE!"
At that moment, everyone couldn't look away, and their hearts were beating so fast, filled with nervousness and pressure that came from how Shinra defeated Nikaido.
To defeat his opponent with his opponent's technique.
Was this a coincidence?
Of course not!
So, did Shinra learn that secret technique instantly?
If so, all of them realized this young man was a more fearsome opponent than they had imagined.
Only, Shinra's focus was on the Heavenly Wolf Fist that he had just learned, thinking that he could create something interesting with it.