Chapter 19: Strip Away the Secrets, Keep the Combat

Shigure Ryouhachi was Experimental Subject No. 8 produced by the Shigure Institute. Cold and volatile by nature, he commanded a troop of bossa-zoku-styled ninjas, often using a baseball bat to smash the skulls of his enemies, instilling terror in all who opposed him.

This terrifying Shigure was, a second ago...
Slammed headfirst into the ground.

“——”

The junior ninjas were struck dumb; the shrine maiden, poised to intervene, stood slack-jawed; and the employees of Sairang Electronics wore expressions as though they had just laid eyes on the King of Hell. Only the stereo on the motorcycle continued to faithfully churn out its wicked tune.
“The great axe fells the bodhi tree, corpses pile into a tower to the skies! Yeah! Through heaven and earth, I alone am honored!”

Shigure Ryouhachi remained motionless, resembling a corpse.
The gray-haired young man let go, stood up, stretched his neck, and used psychokinesis to snatch a baseball bat from the hands of the biker ninjas. Slinging the metal bat over his shoulder, he swept a glance over the horrified ninjas.

“The music is too loud. Do you mind turning it off?”
“——What the hell are you joking about, bastard!”

The extreme provocation ignited the ninjas' nerves. The leader of the pack leaped forward and threw a shuriken!
“Aba—!”
Yet the shuriken reversed course midway and buried itself in his abdomen, rendering him combat-inexpensive. Ten more ninjas hurled their shuriken!
“Aba—!”
The exact same horrifying spectacle repeated itself, and this time another ten ninjas were taken down by their own thrown weapons!

Gongsun Ce raised the baseball bat and brought it down on the stereo mounted on the motorcycle.
*Crack!* The stereo and the motorcycle shattered together, and the heavy metal music ceased. He raised a single palm, offering a formal greeting.
“Domo, members of the Martial Assembly Vanguard. I am Gongsun Ce, an Esper from the Canopy City.”
“Mr. Gongsun, behind you!” Rina’s anxious voice rang out. Gongsun Ce’s back was swallowed by a looming shadow.
“OOOOOOOH!” It was Shigure Ryouhachi, his face drenched in blood!

Shigure Ryouhachi’s hands were clasped together, flesh and bone melting like candle wax as his arms instantly re-formed into a pale, square-headed bone hammer.
“Wild Phase · God-Penetrating, Iron-Blood Plundering Savage Hammer!”

Shigure Ryouhachi’s manic Mind Image twisted his body into a bloody, violent heavy object—a terrifying bone hammer capable of completely pulverizing anything it struck. Even a brush with the wind pressure generated by his attack would strip a person of their senses. This was a merciless, inhumane, unpredictable technique that didn't even afford an opponent the chance to recite a haiku!

“OOOOOOOH!”
The giant hammer smashed against the pure white barrier, yet failed to inflict any damage!
“What?!”

Without looking back, Gongsun Ce merely raised his white-matter-coated arm and pressed it firmly against the biker leader’s chest.
“Formless Fist.”

In an instant, Shigure Ryouhachi’s abdomen caved inward, as though he had taken a direct hit from a giant’s iron fist! The afro-sporting Shigure’s body flew backward, slamming heavily into the white-matter wall. Blood sprayed from his mouth, drowning out his dying shrieks as the Esper delivered a ruthless sentence.
“Ten consecutive strikes.”

The remaining nine heavy punches landed simultaneously, and Shigure Ryouhachi let out a shrill wail!
“Aba——!”
A rain of dense, heavy blows beat the Wild Phase practitioner’s body into visible indentations. Shigure Ryouhachi lost consciousness on the spot... completely incapacitated!

*Thud.* Shigure’s body slid down the wall, his head hanging limply, facing the damaged Hall of Worship. *Namu San,* like a believer confessing to the gods!

“Aieeeee!”
Once again, screams tore through the air. The ones letting out these cowardly shrieks were the ninjas straddling their bikes! Without so much other than a glance at the fallen enemy behind him, Gongsun Ce spoke in a smooth, gentle tone, much like someone introducing themselves.
“There are three things I despise above all else. ‘Rude behavior,’ ‘abuse of violence,’ and ‘insults to others.’” Gongsun Ce pushed up his glasses. “Your leader, Mr. Shigure Ryouhachi, managed to break all three at once...”

The Esper sharply raised his voice.
“Making a racket inside a shrine is one thing, but you actually dared to lay a hand on civilians?! What face do you have to call yourselves official Unchanging Law Practitioners?”

With his psychokinesis pushed to maximum output, he ripped the ninjas from their motorcycles one by one and slammed them down onto the approach path before the Hall of Worship.
“Aba-!”
“Aba-!”
“Aba-!”
Every single junior ninja was left kneeling and unconscious, their heads drooping powerlessly as though they were corporate employees participating in a collective worship session right behind Shigure Ryouhachi!

Violence had been crushed by an even more tyrannical violence. Upon grasping the current situation, the bald employees of Sairang Electronics let out sharp, piercing wails.
“Aieeeee! An Esper?! Why is an Esper here?!”

*That person is an Esper!* The child of misfortune, the demon child wielding ominous powers who should have been shipped off to the aerial maximum-security prison the very second his identity was discovered! Countless rumors regarding Espers flooded the ordinary citizens' minds, and the overwhelming wave of emotions assailed their brains once more. Ninjas, riots, and now an Esper—the excessive shock caused the law-abiding employees to pass out cold.

“Aieeeee...” Only Furuhashi managed to endure, sustained by the sheer mental fortitude he had honed in the corporate world. Gongsun Ce handed him an energy bar.
“Sorry, old man, I can’t treat everyone to sushi, but take this as compensation instead.”
Furuhashi clutched the energy bar like a drowning man grasping a lifeline. “Chugen? What about the real Chugen?”
The Esper looked toward the shrine maiden, and Rina quickly explained.
“He’s at the zoo in the next city over, watching koalas with his wife.”
Furuhashi nodded in a daze. “Thank you, thank you...” Whether he was thanking anyone in particular remained unclear before he, too, finally passed out.

At last, the ancient Yomi Shrine returned to silence. Scarcely two minutes had passed since Shigure Ryouhachi forced his way through the shrine gates. The Shinto priests, armed with gohei and paper talismans, arrived shouting at the top of their lungs only to be greeted by the bizarre spectacle of the entire biker gang kneeling in seiza before the Hall of Worship, as if engaged in a joint pilgrimage.
The Yomi Shrine was terrifyingly quiet, as though someone had cast a Silence Rune.

*Crunch, crunch.* The only sound left was that of metal being tortured. It came from the gray-haired youth’s hands as he crushed the baseball bat into a useless scrap of iron.

Having finished tormenting the bat, Gongsun Ce turned around with a smile and said, “Pardon me, Miss Rina! I couldn't quite control my strength during the fight and ended up gouging a hole in the shrine courtyard. The gods won’t hold a grudge against me, will they?”
“N-No, they won’t...”
Rina slowly shook her head. Far more surprising to her than the man’s burst of temper moments before was his ability to revert to his usual smiling demeanor. The manic Esper had transformed right back into that witty gray-haired older brother in the blink of an eye. This shift, akin to an actor swapping masks, was profoundly unsettling to those watching.

“I knew it. You went berserk again, didn't you?”
Shigure Rei rose to her feet, entirely unfazed. Having suffered a severe beating due to Gongsun Ce’s volatile temper when they first met, she knew precisely where his trigger points lay.
Rina cried out urgently, “More importantly! Mr. Gongsun, your fortune is terrible today, you shouldn't take any further action—”

*It doesn’t matter. My luck has never been particularly good to begin with, and life goes on just fine anyway.*

Bending down, Gongsun Ce began rummaging through Shigure Ryouhachi’s pockets. “Miss Rina, yesterday Ms. Izumo told me about the Zero Island philosophy of destiny. It’s quite esoteric, a bit different from what I learned in Canopy City. Care to hear about my hometown’s view on destiny?”
*It’s something taught to me by a senior I deeply respect!* the Esper proclaimed.
harboring a bad premonition, Rina sighed and asked, “And what is Canopy City’s view on destiny?”

Fishing out Shigure’s phone, the Esper whistled and gave a thumbs-up.
“A real man should grab destiny by the throat! Beat the enemies bringing bad luck into a pulp, and there’s no such thing as bad luck anymore.”
Covering her face with her hand, Rina groaned, “I knew it... Hey, Ms. Alice, what are you all going to do about your mission?”
“Exactly. Have you got any sense of awareness at all?” Yukimi Rinako let out a yawn. “Wasn’t this supposed to be a secret mission?”
“The secret part ended a moment ago. Now comes the mission part. Kira, do me a favor and unlock this.”
Kira, visible on the phone screen, stared at him for several seconds before entirely abandoning any attempt at persuasion and helping him unlock Shigure Ryouhachi’s phone. With helpless resignation, she said, “Gongsun Ce, his phone doesn't store any intel useful for the mission. His most recent call was to Shigure Shuuichi three hours ago.”
According to the records, Shigure Shuuichi was Shigure Gemi’s “biological son” and a trusted confidant who managed Amamura Pharmaceuticals in his stead.

“Kira, consider this an opportunity to play hacker.”
“Don’t get your hopes up too high...”

Without a second word, Gongsun Ce dialed Shigure Shuuichi’s number. After three short rings, a familiar, mild-mannered voice sounded from the other end.
“Brother Ryouhachi, it’s Shuuichi.”
“Hello, Shigure Shuuichi. I am Gongsun Ce.”
No emotion could be detected in Shigure Shuuichi’s voice. “Pleased to meet you. Thank you for looking after my older brother.”
“Don’t worry, I generally don’t kill people. In exchange for my mercy, how about you pass along a message for me before we hang up?”
“Please go ahead.”
Shigure Shuuichi seemed like a reasonable person to talk to, which made things much easier.

“Pass a message to your father for me,” the gray-haired youth said with a smile. “Tell him that a fiend from Canopy City has come looking for him.”

With polite courtesy, the gray-haired youth said his farewells and hung up the phone. Under the young shrine maiden’s gaze—which suggested she was looking at a ghost—he asked, “Kira, how’s the progress?”
Though the Martial Assembly Vanguard knew of his and Shigure Rei’s abilities, they might not possess intel on Kira’s capabilities. Information advantages could vanish at any moment, so naturally, he had to squeeze as much out of this golden opportunity as possible!

“I’m trying... Shigure Shuuichi is inside the Amamura Pharmaceuticals building... Their defense level is extremely high! Oh my god, look at all this data, this must be meeting minutes... Please, just let me glance at it... Just the first few pages... Yay!” Kira cheered. “Shigure Gemi is at the Ninety-Nine Capital Tower in the mega-city Yashiro!”
“As expected of super-hacker Kira!”
Embarrassed, Kira covered her face. “Hehe... I’m getting shy.”

Gongsun Ce snapped his fingers. “The situation has changed, we are altering the operation. First we storm Daigashima, then we storm Yashiro City, followed by the Ninety-Nine Capital Tower. We’ll apprehend Shigure Gemi, interrogate him for the truth, and call it a day. How do you like the feasibility of this plan?”
“You know, you actually manage to come up with decent plans every once in a while!” Shigure Rei said cheerfully.
“Oh god... Are you guys serious...” Izumo Rina clutched her head and groaned incessantly.

The Esper stepped past the unconscious priests and walked up to the damaged Hall of Worship. Taking a large bill from Shigure Ryouhachi’s wallet, he dropped it into the offertory box, then picked up the half-broken boomerang with his own hands.
*Clang, clang!* He used the boomerang to ring the shrine bell. Bowing twice, clapping twice, and bowing once more, he completed the traditional ritual of worship.
When he finished, the gray-haired youth looked up to find the elderly shrine maiden walking out from the depths of the shrine leaning on her cane.
“Good morning, Ms. Izumo. I’ve finished my prayers.”

The old woman looked at him with a deeply conflicted expression.
“Ah, traveler, you truly are... The vortex has already begun to spin, and the threads are tangling ever tighter. If you act too rashly, the God of Calamity will no longer answer your prayers.”
“It’s fine, my luck has never been any good anyway.” The Esper pushed up his glasses. “Thanks for having us last night! Farewell, everyone!”

Gongsun Ce hopped onto one of the illegally modified motorcycles and waved to his partner. “Care to ride on the back?”
“Who’d want to sit with you?” Shigure Rei straddled another motorcycle, shouting over the roar of the starting engine, “Smashing vehicles and hijacking them—you look far too practiced at being a street punk!”
“I’ve never been a street hoodlum.”
“Liar.”
“Do me a favor and turn off your ability before we chat, will you?”
“Sore loser, aren't you, kid!”

The morning sunlight glinted off the polished silver bodywork as the tires of the illegally modified motorcycles rolled forward, carrying the bickering pair past the sacred boundaries of the torii gate and out into the human world beyond the shrine.

Rina waved away the smoke billowing from the exhaust pipe. “Grandmother?”
The old shrine maiden smiled kindly at her. “Rina, there is no rule saying guests must clean up our messes for us.”
“—I know!” the young shrine maiden replied cheerfully.

***

Minutes later, a third motorcycle chased down the two from the rear of the mountain path. The shrine maiden, maneuvering her bike to ride abreast of the two guests, asked with a smile, “Do our two guests require a guide?”
“Frankly speaking, yes. I just realized this bike is running low on gas.”
“Are you an idiot?! Did you just act entirely on impulse fueled by nothing but momentum and hot air?!”

Three bright silver streaks slid down the mountain path, someone’s shout drifting away into the forest on the wind, carrying the warmth of sunlight and the passionate spirit unique to youth.
“When you’re out and about, all you need is momentum and friends! Let’s move out!”