28 The Black Impulse? A Sudden Power-Up? You’re Overthinking It.

"What? Are you already done for?"

As always, Hojo Kyosuke did not press his advantage aggressively; elegance is the exclusive right of the strong. Sano Manjiro could only dart around him incessantly, while he allowed the other to attack freely, even permitting his opponent to rest before the next round.

"Far from it."

One hand braced against his knee, Sano Manjiro struggled to his feet.

In order to get close to Hojo Kyosuke and unleash his nuclear-level kick, he had continuously charged, changed directions, and charged again. Though he failed to close the distance to Hojo Kyosuke, he had successfully placed an immense burden on his own legs.

Seeing Mikey stagger upon rising in the arena, Draken, serving as the vice president, knew it was time for him to make a decision. Although Mikey would never want them to interfere in this duel, but...

"Lads, all together now!" Draken shouted, taking the lead and charging forward.

"Roar!" The Toman members, who had long been impatient, immediately launched their charge.

"Yo, is it finally time for my most familiar one-versus-many segment?"

Looking at the crowd swarming toward him, Hojo Kyosuke wore a cheerful smile. Come to think of it, both of his battles since his debut had been one-versus-many, or rather, taking on an entire organization by himself.

"Bastard, who ordered you to come!"

Unlike Hojo Kyosuke's delight, Sano Manjiro was furious as he looked at his subordinates.

"Mikey, this is Toman's pride!" Draken passed his president without pausing, charging straight at Hojo Kyosuke.

Under normal circumstances, he would have said Toman belonged to him and so on. But right now, feeling the powerlessness spreading through his legs, Sano Manjiro fell silent.

"Draken, the man who can send someone flying dozens of meters with a single punch, a monster among men."

Standing at the edge of the arena, Kisaki Tetta watched Toman's vice president lead the charge toward his boss, his expression shifting as he prepared to rush in. But the moment he lifted his left leg, he stopped again.

Well, in front of Hojo Kyosuke, it seemed no one else was qualified to be called a monster.

"As expected of the Handless Demon!"

Hanagaki Takemichi and the others watched with glowing eyes.

What those underlings were thinking, Hojo Kyosuke had no idea. Looking at the golden-braided figure charging toward him with a raised fist, he only felt his DNA activate.

Instantly, his vision locked entirely onto that fist, that arm.

A downward slash!

The moment the opponent entered his attack range, he precisely struck the arm with a single blade, then used the rebound force to backhand strike the opponent's forehead.

Draken collapsed, eyes rolling back, without even uttering a groan.

"Draken!" The Toman members let out a roar, then rushed forward wave after wave.

Hojo Kyosuke now possessed an extremely rich experience in dealing with mob attacks. No sooner had he cut down Draken than he leaped backward, dodging a punch from an orange-froled punk.

Mid-leap, he had already raised his bamboo sword high, and descending, he slashed the orange-froled punk to the ground with a single blow.

Standing outside the crowd, Sano Manjiro watched those familiar faces fall one by one, suffering a massive mental shock as the emotions in his eyes seemed to continually vanish.

He was unaware of the unique nature of Hojo Kyosuke's attacks, assuming that all his comrades had sustained severe injuries. After all, in their delinquent world, unless struck by a fatal blow, people wouldn't just fall and stay down; even with a broken arm, they would get up and keep fighting.

Huh? Is this about to trigger a power-up?

While Hojo Kyosuke was happily dishing out chops, he suddenly noticed something amiss with the short blonde fellow. Those gradually emotionless, vacant eyes—wasn't that the textbook definition of a power-up?

That simply won't do. You're no beautiful maiden, so stop trying to script yourself an extra scene.

With a sudden burst of acceleration, stepping with devilish footwork, Hojo Kyosuke instantly broke through the encirclement of dozens of people and arrived right in front of Sano Manjiro.

"Bedtime~"

A voice filled with malicious playfulness was the last thing Sano Manjiro heard before losing consciousness.

"Mikey!"

Just like Sano Manjiro, the Toman members assumed their president had been taken down. Though saying he was taken down wasn't strictly wrong, Hojo Kyosuke's attacks merely caused people to log off briefly.

"Yes, yes, yes, try a bit harder."

Looking at the Toman members who all seemed transformed into enraged mini-bosses, Hojo Kyosuke's smile grew even wider. Before getting involved, he would steer clear of trouble, but once trapped in it, he wanted to say: please, hit me harder!

"Hojo-kun is truly amazing, so cool!"

Hanagaki Takemichi and his four companions watched with boiling blood, desperately wishing they could rush in and fight alongside Hojo Kyosuke. Unfortunately, the pain in their bodies constantly reminded them of the reality that they were mere weaklings.

My heart aches. Listening to Hanagaki Takemichi's words and watching the adoring look in his eyes as he gazed at Hojo Kyosuke, Kisaki Tetta felt a sense of betrayal.

It took about ten minutes or so. As the night veiled the sky and stars emerged, all the Toman members had been knocked flat onto the ground by Hojo Kyosuke.

At that moment, the roar of motorcycles echoed from outside the park.

"Kisaki?" Hojo Kyosuke turned back to look at Kisaki Tetta.

"Hehe, the president is fighting while his subordinates are wining and dining—that would be too unseemly." Scratching his head, Kisaki Tetta said with a sheepish smile.

Hojo Kyosuke was just about to scold Kisaki Tetta a bit—if you wanted to call for backup, you should have done it from the start and saved him the trouble. Now that he had finished fighting, what were they here for? Cleaning up the battlefield?

Before he could open his mouth, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind:

"You must remember to watch the comet on Thursday evening...

...

You must watch it! I will... watch it with you!"

Before he could figure out where the voice came from, a sudden wave of urgency gripped him, because from this spot the sky was completely invisible, the broad tree canopy blocking everything except for a tiny patch of space directly above this clearing.

"I must see the comet tonight!"

Hojo Kyosuke's inner voice told him, as if his past self were shouting out.

Should he run up to the building outside to look?

No, there's no time, the inner voice told him once again.

At that moment, Maki Kyosuke walked in along with Kisaki Tetta and Tsuzuki Yoshio.

"Hahaha, a hearty and thorough victory, President!"

Before he even walked all the way in, Maki Kyosuke's hearty laughter preceded him.

"Maki, you guys came just in time. Help me pile all these people together."

Finishing his sentence, Hojo Kyosuke took action himself, dragging an unconscious Toman member with one hand and tossing him beneath the only patch of open sky.

Though unaware of what Hojo Kyosuke intended to do, sensing the urgency in his voice, Maki Kyosuke took action immediately.

His strength was likewise immense; lifting a person with one hand, he casually tossed them to stack them together. Those who were thrown over soon regained consciousness, but quickly found themselves pressed under one body after another, rendering them unable to move.

The Haitani brothers, Katagiri Tomoji, and other Tokyo Manji Gang (Banshee Angels) officers who had arrived with Maki Kyosuke also began to move into action.

Those Toman members woke up one after another as they moved, but they also recognized these notorious delinquent seniors. Adhering to the fine tradition that the victors write the history, they remained silent and let themselves be arranged at will.

With everyone pulling together, the human mountain was quickly built. Hojo Kyosuke dragged the still-unconscious Sano Manjiro and Draken with each hand, climbed up the human mountain alone, tossed the two right to the very top, and sat squarely down on Sano Manjiro's back.

This shorty had received special treatment from him; he wouldn't be waking up until tomorrow morning.

Raising his head to look at the sky, his line of sight completely unobstructed, Hojo Kyosuke then nodded with satisfaction, the sense of urgency in his heart finally easing away.