Reminder, I have a pat reon, look up azndrgn making fanfic. Donators get perks!

This story has been beta by ZShaq.

The next day at Koryo High, the principal gave sobful news that Tirawit had transferred back to Thailand due to family issues. It was sobful due to the fact that he had been crying when he delivered it, as it would mean one less foreign student.

The days passed as there was a small lull. Yomi was preparing its next step, so it allowed Kenichi some time to relax and once again work on being friends with Chikage, who seemed receptive about it if only to probe for more information about her true nemesis, Honoka and Kaede. She may have forgotten about the fact that her enemy was supposed to be Kenichi due to the fact those two girls hurt her pride. Of course, with Niijima bribing Chikage with sweets and even taking her to a cafe specialized in sweets, not to mention her age, it was easy for Chikage to even forget why she was there. Miu baking sweets to also tempt her didn't help her case either.

However, there was one thing that changed in Kenichi's training, or more specifically, in his weapons training. Shigure had found out via rumors that Kenichi could shoot a bow, and with that, chained Kenichi up and dragged him to a makeshift archery range with a wooden bow that Akisame helped construct.

"Why!?" cried Kenichi, "You already have me learning two other weapons!"

"Because... I found out... you know how... to use a bow," huffed Shigure, unhappy her disciple had hidden this talent from her.

"I'm not that talented," blushed Kenichi, "And how did you find out?"

"Miu," replied Shigure, pointing to a waiving Miu.

"You never told me!" shouted Miu, "And how come Natsu knew before me?"

"It wasn't relevant," muttered Kenichi in embarrassment, "And it was because of that hunting trip with dad. And I just got lucky!"

"And yet you kept hitting the bullseye at school," snickered Niijima, who was currently at Ryozanpaku to gather and compare data with Akisame.

"Now, for your first assignment," ordered Shigure, pointing to a rather small target 80 meters away, "Make all your arrows hit the target. You miss... punishment."

Kenichi soon found out the punishment for missing a shot was an electric shock from the chain and ball that he had been hooked up to.

The others at the Shinpaku base were also stepping up their training. Ukita began to spar with Takeda more often to allow Takeda to deal with grappling techniques while Ukita tried to counter his anti-grappling techniques. Tsuji had come back and immediately began sparring with a singing Siegfried. Freya had decided to head back to her grandfather for more in-depth training.

Meanwhile, at a Yami base, several of the One Shadow Nine Fists had gathered to debate on who would fight Ryozanpaku's strongest disciple. However, each of the masters found themselves reluctant to actually send their disciples to fight someone who clearly knew how to use Ki no Shouka despite his young age. Not even Kushinada, who boasted about her disciple being a prodigy, was too keen on having Chikage fight.

"Kekeke, so boring," yawned Jenazad, "If there's no other agenda, then I propose we disband this meeting for now as nobody has made a decision."

He had other things to do, such as plotting how to nab Kenichi.

"Sounds good to me," nodded Agaard.

"No objections," said Hongo.

The other masters nodded in agreement. Not to mention One Shadow himself wasn't here, he couldn't order anyone to have their disciples fight. In fact, if he did, they would've volunteered to have his disciple, Satomi, to go if he was so eager to have someone fight Kenichi.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the loser club!" exclaimed a voice.

The others directed their attention and annoyance towards the stranger that had just barged into their meeting.

"What's with those looks? Can't decide which one of your weakling disciples are going to fight and cry?" taunted Mihai, the scythe wielder.

"Mihai Stirbey, your presence is neither welcomed nor warranted. Why are you here?" demanded Kushinada.

"Don't be a sourpuss hag, I just came by to say hi," cackled Mihai, causing Kushinada to twinge in anger, "Heard you pussies couldn't decide and were having trouble deciding who to go next. Man, I bet if my disciple went, he'd bring that so-called 'Strongest' Disciple's head without the body!"

"In that case, why don't you have your disciple go next?" offered Hongo.

"Huh?" blanked Mihai.

"You seem so eager to volunteer, so go ahead," nodded Ogata. "We can expect great things from your disciple if he's as strong as you praise him to be."

"Uhh... yeah!" stammered Mihai, "I mean, he's obviously stronger than your disciples!"

"Perfect!" grinned Diego, holding up an invitation, "Then perhaps you'd like to prove it to the world in a Master Disciple Tag match battle on my cruise boat that I had planned for the next battlefield, DIEGO QUALITY! Lots of witnesses to see your victory!"

"You know, I know you're all playing me... but fine. I'll show you that you unarmed division masters are just weaklings as are your disciples!" laughed Mihai as Diego tossed him the invitation, "Just tell me the date and my disciple and I will bring back the head of a master and disciple!"

Mihai left in a huff, not knowing what he had landed himself into.

"You know, despite his obvious boasts, I like him," mused Jenazad, as he could see Mihai wasn't a Satsujinken, but rather followed the path of a demon, like him. A Gedo(Demon Fist) master.

"Anyone feel any guilt just making a stage for him to humiliate himself?" asked Agaard, "Because I sure don't."

"His own actions will be his own downfall," hummed Cyril, "But out of curiosity Laughing Fist, why do you have such an invitation on hand already? Were you planning on a preemptive challenge if your disciple wasn't chosen?"

Diego laughed before replying, "If Ryozanpaku's disciple wasn't that monstrously strong for his age, then yes, I would admit I would've done that. I just happened to have several jobs here that I need to do, but as stated, I AM AN ENTERTAINER! One of the invitations just happened to be on my hands."

"And perhaps it was you who told Mihai about this situation without giving him certain relevant details?" asked Ogata, "Hoping for an outcome like this."

Diego looked to the side and whistled innocently before sending a jet black smoke up in the air to signify the meeting was over.

Renka whistled a tune while heading over to Ryozanpaku to meet up with her father for a nice (forced)) lunch together. It had been some time since she had the chance to eat with him. As she walked over, she noticed a mailman riding a motorcycle heading over to Ryozanpaku.

"Hello? Do you have something for Ryozanpaku?" asked Renka, stopping the mailman.

"Ah yes, a package for Ryozanpaku and their disciple," nodded the mailman.

"I'll take the package for you. My papa, Ma Kensei, is a master at Ryozanpaku and I'm her daughter," offered Renka, showing her ID to him.

"Well alright, that works out for me!" smiled the mailman as he handed the package to Renka, "Means I can head on over to my other routes faster."

"Hmm, such a nice parcel," mused Renka as she looked at it, "They even put a ribbon on it. Wonder who's it for... wait. This smell... smells like perfume... a familiar one... must be that girl!"

Renka quickly took the package into Ryozanpaku, presenting them with the package while telling them of her suspicions.

"Oh, and where is Kenichi and Miu?" asked Renka, noticing their absence.

"They're on a date," yawned Sakaki, "So it's a challenge from Yomi?"

"That's what I believe," nodded Renka, "This scent is the same perfume that Yomi girl Rachel uses. What if they found out Kenichi can't really fight girls?"

"Only one way to truly know," hummed Akisame as he opened the package.

Inside was indeed an invitation from Yomi with masks included for a Master Disciple Tag team match set for tonight, the same as the last timeline. However, instead of a picture of Diego and Rachel, it was a photo of Mihai and Sigmaringen wielding their scythe, sponsored by Diego Carlo at his luxury cruise boat.

"Hmmm... quick master meeting!" exclaimed the Elder, gathering the other masters of Ryozanpaku into another room.

Kensei quickly apologized to his daughter before shutting her out, stating that they really needed their privacy. Once the room was secured, the Elder quickly made the phone call to Kenichi.

Ring... Ring...

"Hello?" answered Kenichi.

"Kenichi, I need you to cut your date short and return immediately," stated the Elder gravely, "Bring Miu and Niijima with you."

"Hmm? Oh right today is when Diego Carlo sends his invite for a tag team battle, right?" asked Kenichi.

"Yes, but he's not the one challenging this time," said the Elder.

"... I'll be right there," said Kenichi as he hung up.

Minutes later, Miu, Kenichi, and Niijima were inside, much to Renka's annoyance that she still couldn't listen in on it.

"Mihai Stirbey and Sigmaringen Schmidt?" blinked Kenichi as he read the invitation.

"Yami's armed division, one of the Eight Shining Executioner Blades," muttered Niijima.

"What do they want with Kenichi? And why are they picking the fight?" asked a bewildered Miu.

"The only way to really know... is to ask them," declared Niijima as he dialed a number from his phone, putting it on the loudspeaker.

A few seconds a voice none of them imagined picked up.

"Hello? Who is this and how the hell did you get this number?" demanded Sho.

"It's Niijima from Shinpaku, I'm with Ryozanpaku and we have a question for you," replied Niijima, "As for how I got it... I have my ways."

"I'm so going to change numbers after this call," groaned Sho, "And give me a good reason why I shouldn't just hang up on you right now."

"It's about Yami's Armed Division. They just sent Kenichi a challenge," clarified the Elder.

"... Go on, I'm listening," said Sho.

After a short explanation of what they had gotten, Sho hummed in amusement.

"I think I know something about that. My master told me how Mihai barged into their meeting, barking like a Chihuahua about himself. I'm not sure of the full details, but I guess Mihai brought it up himself to challenge you guys? Where does the location say again?"

"Diego's boat," replied Kenichi.

"Sounds like something he would do for himself," voiced Sho, "I'd have to ask Rachel for more details. In the meantime... Don't ever call this number again!"

With that, Sho hung up.

"How did you get his number?" asked Kenichi curiously.

"I asked your gardening club member Izumi," shrugged Niijima, "Sho gave it to her."

"Now children, we have work to do," ordered the Elder as they looked back at the package. Along the invitation was also a photo of a bomb with Diego smiling next to it. Miu winced as she remembered trying to disarm that bomb only to fail miserably.

"Well, you'll be glad to know that I, the great Mihai Stirbey, have just shown the stupid unarmed division how it's done! My disciple and I are going to show them how easy it is to defeat Ryozanpaku's disciple!" bragged Mihai as he walked into a room with Rin, Mildred, and Raki.

Rin blinked as he took in that piece of information.

"You idiot, you decided to barge into their meeting didn't you?" accused Raki.

"Yea, so? They weren't getting anything done," shot back Mihai.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" asked Mildred.

"Why the hell not?" shot back Mihai.

"You know... never mind, just do whatever you want since I got allowed to send my student over to Koryo," shrugged Rin.

"I will!" fired Mihai as he stormed out.

"Something you wanted to add?" asked Raki, looking at Rin.

"His disciple is going to get his ass kicked by Kenichi if they do fight," stated Rin calmly as he sipped his tea, "Nice tea you made, by the way."

"Thank you," blushed Raki before clearing her throat, "But what makes you say that?"

"My disciple nephew is already capable of using Ki no Shouka," answered Rin calmly, causing both Mildred and Raki to spit out their tea they had been drinking.

"Say what!?" coughed Raki.

"You didn't mention that at all when we went to spy on him and Kosaka," choked out Mildred, "Nor did you say that in our meetings!"

"It wasn't relevant," shrugged Rin, "Nobody asked, and nobody was really too interested in Ryozanpaku's disciple like the unarmed division was."

"Mihai might just kill him and claim that his disciple did it," warned Raki, "It's something the scumbag would do, he's not very honorable."

"I'm sure he'll be fine as long as he sticks with his master," shrugged Rin, "Plus, Laughing Fist is going to be there. For the sake of entertainment, even he wouldn't let Mihai team up with his disciple just to 2v1 Shirahama Kenichi."

"Hopefully you're right," sighed Mildred as she stood up, "If you'll excuse me, I have to train with my disciple. She's been on the edge a little and the damn Shirahama name still annoys me though I still don't know why."

"When I said I wanted a father-daughter outing, this wasn't what I meant," muttered Renka as she walked with her father to the cruise ship.

"Feels weird to actually be coming here to fight," admitted Kenichi to Sakaki as they walked with them.

"Well, I'm feeling lucky tonight," grinned Sakaki, "Got a good chance to gamble a bit and get some nice alcohol... Oh and to get that scythe back to Shigure.

There had been a rather big debate about just who would be coming to fight Mihai. Shigure had volunteered at first, stating Mihai had a scythe made by her father that she needed to reclaim. The others also clambered in, presenting their cases too. Apachai made an especially good case as he had actually met and fought Mihai in the past before. He had been the one that Apachai had been worried about hunting Kenichi, as he knew the man had no honor or qualms killing Kenichi in a sneak attack and then bragging that he or his disciple had been the one to kill Kenichi in an 'honorable' match. In the end, it had been voted to have Sakaki, Kensei, Kenichi, and Renka to head towards the front while Miu and Tsuji, whom Niijima had called in, would sneak inside the boat. Shigure had fought Kagero, Akisame against Alexander, and Apachai destroyed Retsumin. So therefore, the two other masters argued that it should be their turn next. In the end, the two got what they wanted, though there would be backup waiting for them if things turned south.

At the command station, Diego frowned when he saw two masters with two disciples from Ryozanpaku, though he really didn't consider Kenichi as a 'disciple', considering his level right now. But it was a rather minor detail that he wouldn't sweat over too much. Not to mention, he realized that they probably didn't trust Yami to try to 2v1 a single master with both him and Mihai here. Not that he would, he had his honor and entertainment pride, but Mihai would most definitely do something scandalous like that.

"Oh well! Perhaps we can make it so my disciple and I fight Ryozanpaku's Ma Kensei and Ma Renka! Now that's exciting! A father-daughter/disciple duo!" exclaimed Diego.

And yes, Diego did consider Rachel as his daughter, considering their biological shit for heads parents never too care of them. It was official in Mexico, too!

"Shh," hissed Miu as she snuck into the cruise ship with Tsuji, with Tochumaru and Noir acting as animal backups.

"Man, this isn't manly," moaned Tsuji, only to get an elbow from Miu to remind him to be quiet.

"Remember, we have to perform reconnaissance to verify the bomb is here," stated Miu, signaling Tochumaru and Noir to help scout ahead of them. With their small size and craftiness, while also taking the fact that humans don't look up too often, they were able to signal the two to sneak in further. Miu easily picked the locks into the no authorized entry zones before they soon found themselves staring at the big bomb hidden inside the cruise ship.

"That's a big bomb," stuttered Tsuji in shock, "I wonder if I can punch it till it's disarmed?"

"Idiot!" lectured Miu as she slapped Tsuji's head, "What type of bomb can be disarmed like that? You'll most likely trigger it instead!"

"Hey, does it feel like someone's here?" asked a voice from around a corner.

Miu quickly jumped up to the walkway above them, landing safely and quietly onto the metal plates as did Noir and Tochumaru. She quickly extended her hand towards Tsuji, urging him to take her hand.

Tsuji, however, decided to be stealthy by brute force. Meaning... as soon as two guards turned the corner, he placed his palm right onto one of their heads, surprising them.

Koppou no Tooshi

Tsuji's attack knocked one of the guards unconscious while the other gaped at the blatant attack. Before he could do anything though, Miu had already jumped behind the guard and kicked him on the head, knocking him out. Tochumaru and Noir hopped down and smacked Tsuji's opponent on the head once more for good measure.

"Not what I meant by stealth," huffed Miu, smacking Tsuji on the head.

"It worked, didn't it?" shot back Tsuji, "Now how are we going to do this?"

Before Miu could answer, she pushed Tsuji out of the way just in time to dodge an attack from above. The attack crashed into the metal plating, creating sparks from her hard elbow and knee pads as the next assailant attacked. It was quite a familiar sight, especially for Tsuji.

"Hey, you're that cute Spark girl!" pointed Tsuji as the pink hair whipped in front of him. It was, after all, hard to forget someone with pink hair.

"Cute!?" blushed Raichi as soon as she heard that, finally getting a good look at who she was fighting.

"Is now the time to be flirting?" asked an exasperated Miu.

"Hey, I was just stating my opinion!" bragged Tsuji, causing Raichi to blush even more. Luckily she snapped out of it when two more guards appeared, rushing at them, only to be smacked down by Raichi. She later explained that she was actually on bodyguard duty with one of her clients here, and since the bomb was a major threat to her client, she would be more than willing to team up with Ryozanpaku.

"Sweet!" cheered Tsuji at both the revelation they were getting an ally and at the sight of ten more security guards rushing at them.

At the same moment while Miu was picking a lock

The four of them were led to a balcony seating with complimentary food and drinks while watching Rachel tackle more opponents in an effort to show off. At one point, she kicked her opponent's tonfa so hard that it flew right towards Renka in the interest to see what she would do.

"Chowa!" yelled Renka as she kicked it back to Rachel, who easily maneuvered her two opponents right in front of the tonfa to not only block but knock her opponents out with a well placed hit to the head from the tonfa.

As the crowd cheered to Rachel, who was taking in all the attention, another opponent hopped in to attack her. Rachel, of course, already noticed this and had been prepared to make a show out of it once more when someone quite literally cut his way into the fight.

"The stage would look much better bathed in blood," chuckled Sigmaringen, licking the blade edge of his scythe as the other opponent grasped at the cut on his chest.

"You idiot, this is my stage," hissed Rachel, unhappy that the attention was now being drawn to Sigmaringen.

"And now it's mine to show you how much superior weapons are to fists," taunted Sigmaringen as he looked at the bleeding opponent, "Now then, time to die!"

Sigmaringen began slashing at his opponent/victim, drawing more blood from the man until he looked ready to collapse. Before he could do so, Sigmaringen grabbed the man's head.

"I think my blade could use some sharpening," grinned Sigmaringen, pulling his head towards his scythe, intending to use him like a whetstone.

Before he could grind his victims head on his scythe, he suddenly let go of the man to dodge several plates thrown at him. Sigmaringen looked at the direction from where those plates had come from with an annoyed look, just to see Kenichi standing with a thunderous expression.

"Hehe, so you want to play?" taunted Sigmaringen, not bothering to give his victim another look as he managed to stumble out of the stage, taken by some nurses standing by.

Even though Diego planned to blow up the ship, he never compromised on having DIEGO QUALITY health care.

"Why don't you come on down here so we can get this show started!?" shouted Sigmaringen, leering at Kenichi now.

Back at another balcony, the master balcony, sat Mihai and Diego, who had been watching the show.

"About time!" cackled Mihai when he saw Kenichi, "Looks a bit plain, too, doesn't he? You sure that's him?"

"Yea that's him," nodded Diego, "Don't underestimate his skills in fighting... or wooing. According to our sources, he's dating the Invincible Superman's granddaughter. And I will admit, she's quite a looker."

Diego passed over a photo of Miu to Mihai, who whistled at the photo before tossing it to Sigmaringen, who caught it. Taking a look at the photo, he nodded in approval before looking at Kenichi, who had jumped down and was walking towards the ring.

What Mihai and Sigmaringen didn't notice was Diego subtly waiving the cameras to focus on the fight scene that was about to come... except Diego wasn't expecting a fight, but a one-sided beatdown. It would be a good way to analyze Ryozanpaku's disciple, get a good laugh at the armed division, and generate money!

"Nice girl you got," commented Sigmaringen as he flicked a photo of Miu, "Maybe after I kill you, I'll comfort her and show her what a real man is, by force if needed."

"Overcompensating," coughed Rachel from the side as she adjusted her own personal camera. When Sho heard about this fight, he requested Rachel to record it, to which she happily did. She had been planning to do it herself too.

Kenichi had been ready to pull out his three sectional staff when he heard that comment. Originally, Shigure had ordered Kenichi to defeat the Yomi disciple with a weapon, as a way to show not only was he trained in unarmed combat, but he was just as good as using a weapon. It would also serve as a snark to the armed division that he was better, to beat them at their own game. However, after hearing that comment, Kenichi had no desire to follow that order, but rather sink his fist deep into Sigmaringen's face.

Kenichi slowly turned his head towards Sakaki and Kensei, who both could only sight at the poor tactless fool. If Kenichi didn't beat him up, then the Elder most likely would. Add to the fact he was probably watching the stream right now thanks to Niijima hacking into the systems... it was a miracle he hadn't shown up yet.

"Fine, go for it," said Sakaki, "I'll be the one to explain to Shigure about it."

"Oh ho? Acting like a couple now, aren't you?" teased Kensei, causing Sakaki to flush red.

"Are both fighters ready? And did the masters want to make this a tag team match?" asked Diego, looking at Sakaki and Kensei. He did offer that, after all.

"I'm fine not doing that if he ain't going up," replied Sakaki, grabbing another cold bottle of beer.

"If he wants his disciple to die with the chance he can't save him, I'd say go for it," laughed Mihai as he grabbed his own drink.

"Alright then, ready? " declared Diego, "Let the match between Ryozanpaku and Yomi begin!"

"And end!" shouted Sigmaringen rushing at Kenichi with far more speed than he had shown previously. He had hidden how fast he really was in his previous fight as a way to surprise his real opponent.

'It's over!' thought Sigmaringen as his scythe began its descent towards Kenichi's head.

Then, quite similar to Jihan, Sigmaringen found himself in a world of hurt.

Kenichi sent a lightning-fast jab right into Sigmaringen's face, causing him to wince as he took a step back, but Kenichi took two steps forward and slightly left, allowing the shaft to land on his shoulders instead of the toe of the scythe cut into him. Sigmaringen tried to pull his scythe back to cut into Kenichi's back, only to lose strength in his arms as Kenichi punched him hard in the stomach. If Sigmaringen hadn't taken in his master's style and didn't wear the anti-shock plating over his stomach as well as a bulletproof vest, then Sigmaringen would've lost consciousness already.

'I still-' thought Sigmaringen, only to have that thought process interrupted as Kenichi grabbed his right arm and flung him into the ropes surrounding the ring. Sigmaringen desperately tried to grab the rope with his left, hoping it would keep him in place, but the recoil was too strong for him to keep his grip on the rope, though amazingly he still had a firm grip on his scythe.

Sigmaringen tried to attack, using the recoil speed in hopes of surprising Kenichi, only to see a black-covered knee slamming into his face. Kenichi did a Hanuman Thayarn, or a flying knee, right into Sigmaringen's face. Sigmaringen's whole body did a 270-degree flip in the air from the impact. However, Kenichi wasn't done. While still in the air, he twisted his waist and threw a chopping right at Sigmaringen's head, forcing his head to crash down into the floor, landing face down and clearly unconscious now.

"And that's the match!" declared Diego, who could clearly see that Sigmaringen was out for the count, if all those erratic twitching accounted for anything, "And that was... 15 seconds."

Diego snickered at that part. He had put his own personal bet that the fight wouldn't even last past a minute with Kenichi winning. A lot of people apparently disagreed and placed bets against him. Of course, the only disappointing part was that apparently someone placed the same bet as he did, and would be taking half the profit. Still, it was fun to watch the one-sided fight. Now if only Kenichi had done a lariat instead of a flying knee after that beautiful rope action, and then ended it with a flying press. Then that would've been a flashy ending.

He then noticed the seat next to him was empty, along with the scythe Mihai used. Diego raised his eyebrow as he noticed Mihai already rushing towards Kenichi with a depraved look on his face.

"Better get this party started," mused Diego as he stood up.

Kenichi had heard the cackling laughter, the sound chilling his spine as he remembered just who made such a sound. In one swift motion, he took out his three sectional staff, bundled it tightly while grabbing the ends with each arm, and blocked a gleaming blade threatening to sever his neck at a downward angle. The impact shook Kenichi's arms and legs as he was forced down onto his knees with his elbows bent in, but at least the blade was stopped.

"Tch, that stick of yours is something special, ain't it?" scoffed Mihai in disappointment, "I'll be taking that as a souvenir along with your head!"

Before Mihai could make another swing, Sakaki punched him in the face, sending him flying away from Kenichi.

"You bastard," spat Mihai as he spat out some blood, "I thought you Katsujinken were all about honor and shit."

"Says the asshole trying to kill my disciple in a fit of petty rage," fired back Sakaki, "And what would you know about honor? Masters aren't supposed to intervene when disciples fight."

"Screw that shit! As long as I kill everyone on the ship that matters, people won't know what really happened, and the truth will be what I say it is!" shouted Mihai, "That's all that matters!"

"Well then I can't let you do that now, can I?" humphed Sakaki as his eyes began to glow with Ki, "Kenichi, you know what to do."

Kenichi nodded as he scrambled away, passing by Sakaki before muttering something into his ears. Then Kenichi kicked open a door and left. Mihai tried to give chase, only to be swiftly punted out of the room through the windows and onto the deck.

"Let's take this somewhere else, shall we?" grinned Sakaki as he jumped after him.

Diego saw this and jumped to follow Kenichi, only for Kensei to tackle him in midair, forcing the both of them back onto the ground, right onto the ring.

"I wonder where he's going?" mused Diego as he stared at Kensei, "Party isn't over yet."

"Indeed, but perhaps you'd be interested in a fight? A master/disciple fight like you wanted against my daughter and me?" offered Kensei.

Diego stared at Kensei for a moment before pearls of laughter burst out from his mouth. To think Ryozanpaku would make such an offer that he couldn't refuse! With a snap of his fingers, more of his camera crew took their places to record such an epic fight! The first video, of course, had already been saved and a copy had already been sent to Sho.

"Castor! We have a fight challenge!" laughed Diego as Rachel quickly jumped over to him, "Ryozanpaku vs. Yami! Fight!"

Kensei and Diego leaped into action towards each other while Rachel and Renka rushed towards each other.

Kenichi hopped over a few more guards, punching them out until he finally landed right next to Miu and the others, who had managed to finish fending off 10 guards. Miu was currently trying to defuse the bomb with a Noir and Tochumaru holding a PDA with a camera attachment on it. Niijima on the other line, trying to help out as much as he could with Kenichi's legendary How to series, this one titled How to disarm a dangerous bomb even if it has a failsafe.

Miu had also brushed up a little more on how to disarm bombs as the last time she did this, she had almost caused it to detonate.

"Doing alright?" asked Kenichi.

"Fine, don't distract me," ordered Miu, focusing on the task at hand.

Kenichi nodded, not offended by Miu's harsh tone as she did have a rather difficult task on hand.

"Above!" warned Raichi, noticing a rather huge shadow coming towards them as if to flatten them.

Tsuji, Kenichi, and Raichi all jumped back, dodging a huge body as it slammed into the ground.

"Hahaha, I am Meatman, the toughest underling out of all of Diego-sama's troops! Meatman is the one in charge of making sure this bomb explodes," declared Meatman as he stood up.

"Toughest, eh? I'd like to see that," grinned Tsuji, "Let's see how tough you are!"

Tsuji charged forward, intending to attack Meatman when Meatman spat out a fine mist out of his mouth

Poison Rasp

It wasn't actually poison, but rather a diluted form of pepper spray that Meatman could hold in his mouth, in a small capsule at the back of his mouth. Tsuji, though, was experienced with dirty tactics such as this and had already taken his shirt jacket off, tossing it at Meatman's face. The jacket capsuled the pepper spray and slapped right onto the Meatman's face.

"My eyes!" cried out Meatman. "I'm the toughest but even this hurts!"

Tsuji grinned as Meatman put his hands on his eyes in reflex, punching the Meatman in the gut. However, Tsuji found his hand merely sinking into the flab of fat flesh.

"The hell!?" blinked Tsuji before getting smacked aside by Meatman's flailing arms.

"Hahaha! Did you think your puny attack could work so easily?" laughed Meatman as he managed to stop rubbing his eyes, "Whatever you do is useless! Even if you somehow disarm the bomb, there are other ways, like right now!"

Meatman tried to point towards a nearby television set, but he was off by a few feet due to the blurry vision, but the fact the 'audience' watching the fight was now being used as obstacles/targets was enough for them to understand.

"My client!" screamed Raichi.

"Go to him," ordered Kenichi, "We can handle the situation here."

Raichi nodded and ran towards the exit, stopping only to quickly help Tsuji up.

"Be careful," said Raichi to Tsuji before jumping away.

"Foolish of you sending one of your allies away," laughed Meatman, "If she had stayed, then maybe you could've delayed me for a bit longer! Though you'll never have any chance of beating me! I am the assistant instructor for Diego-sama!"

"That means you're part of Yomi then right asshole?" grunted Tsuji.

"Nope! Only Castor-sama is part of Yomi, the one who will inherit the title of 'Steel' and become one of the Nine Fists! I'm different than her. No matter how hard I try, I'll never become a master. Some people are just given more than others at birth, it's just how the world works!" shouted Meatman as he rushed at Kenichi, "Pitiful man, you smell like the same as me! Never to be a master!"

Kenichi's eyes glowed with Ki as he used Ki no Shouka, taking a step forward.

Taiho Shouha

Kenichi slammed his feet into the ground as he stuck his palm out, bouncing off Meatman's rush and sending him stumbling back.

"Don't think it'll be that easy to rush in...?" started Kenichi, only to trail off as he saw Meatman raising his hands to his head.

"No... impossible... you can't have... you shouldn't have reached that level far beyond what you were supposed to be limited to... impossible... impossible... impossible...! There's no way you're there! You're the same as me, the unfortunate!" muttered Meatman, going through a life-crisis after an earth-shattering revelation. That Kenichi was already so close to that realm even though it should've been impossible.

"Impossible!" shouted Meatman as he tried to run forward again, only to pause when he felt two palms on the side of his stomach.

"No idea what the hell you're muttering about, but thanks for standing still for me to try this new move out!" grunted Tsuji.

Koppou no Shometsu

A twin palm strike smashed deeply into Meatman's flesh, going through the fat and muscle before finally hitting his internal organs.

"Not... possible," wheezed Meatman as he fell to his knees, feeling that attack. Kenichi walked up to him, and with a light push to the head, caused him to collapse onto his back.

"That was so much easier than last time," muttered Kenichi.

"And got it!" grinned Miu as she cut the final wire, disarming the bomb.

Unfortunately, just before Meatman finally went unconscious, he managed to grab a small red button inside his wrestling uniform and pressed it.

Immediately, a screen popped up in front of the bomb with Diego's laughing face on it.

"Hahaha, so you managed to not only defuse the bomb, but also defeated my precious assistant instructor tasked on guarding the bomb! Congratulations... except I, Diego Carlo, always have a backup plan! Enjoy your time!"

A timer immediately came up, much to their surprise.

"But... I disarmed it!" wailed Miu.

"Hold on, let me check something!" panicked Niijima, flipping through the book.

"If you're wondering what to do, good luck! I took this from How to make a bomb that still detonates even if someone disarms it while using the How to disarm a bomb even if it has a failsafe book!"

"Son of a!" cursed Niijima, tossing the book away, "Is there a how to how to... whatever the counter is for that!"

"No time!" warned Kenichi, seeing the bomb had been set for only one minute.

"Then it's my turn," declared the Elder, his voice coming off from the screen.

"There's the flagship!" waived a crew member from inside the bridge.

"Good, now we need to wait for Diego-sama," nodded the captain, "Stop being distracted men!"

Quite a few of the crew members were gawking at the fighting happening on the deck with Sakaki and Mihai.

"Stop punching my face!" screamed Mihai as he tried to slice Sakaki, "Why do you keep focusing on my face!"

Sakaki merely smirked as he landed another punch onto that face, relishing the feeling. Kenichi had told him that when he punched Sigmaringen in the stomach, he felt something absorbing a lot of the impact. So it wouldn't be too far off that the disciple had copied off his master. Plus, he remembered Apachai saying that he wore a bulletproof vest so he didn't need to dodge, relishing the fear of people's faces when they saw their guns being useless. Of course, he could easily smash through that flimsy shield, but why put effort in doing that when punching the face felt so much better! Not to mention Sigmaringen had to have learned that despicable behavior from somewhere, and who better to emulate than his master? Speaking of which, time for another punch to the face!

"Err, captain?" blinked the same crew member, "I... think I'm seeing things?"

"What is it? Spit it out," ordered the captain.

"Yes sir... honestly... there's an old man running on top of the sea!" panicked the said crew member, "He suddenly jumped from the flagship and is running towards us!"

That instantly drew attention from the fight towards the sea just in time to see the Elder jump onto the ship, and without delay, ran into the engine room. Without hesitation, the Elder grabbed the megaton bomb and lifted it up above his head.

The Elder had indeed been watching the stream, and when Sigmaringen had said that statement, he almost burst out of the ship to destroy the boy. Sigmaringen was very lucky that the Elder had been restrained….. somehow.

"Is he crazy!?" gaped Tsuji as the Elder rushed upstairs, barging right into the main hall where Kensei and Renka were fighting Diego and Rachel. Diego had already taken off his Smiling Mask and was using Angry Mask. Rachel and Renka were suffering severe wardrobe malfunctions from their fight.

"Haha, so you guys did discover the bomb! And no doubt you sent your disciple to disarm it, judging from the wires cut that I can't even delay the explosion with my button. I suppose getting blown up together for entertainment wouldn't be too bad as a final punch line!" grinned Diego.

The Elder merely grinned, waiting the time to tick down, winding up for a throw. At the one second mark, the Elder threw the bomb through the window Sakaki had made so fast that by the time it hit zero to blow, the ship was already safely out of the explosion radius.

"Was that a fucking bomb? The shit is that doing here?" shouted Mihai, looking up at the explosion before managing to peak inside the room, "The hell is that geezer doing here? Fuck this, I'm out!"

Of course, while he intended to say that, his words came out mumbled due to the fact Sakaki had punched him in the face so many times that it was swollen now. Mihai jumped off the ship, landing safely on a hijacked motorboat that had been waiting for him with Sigmaringen on the driver's seat.

"Coward!" shouted Sakaki as the two drove off, "Tch, Apachai was right when he said Mihai was a slippery snake."

Of course, Sakaki could've given chase, but he opted to instead help escort civilians to safety. Not point in chasing if they weren't a threat anymore. That, and the driver had switched to Mihai when the boat started to veer. Poor Sigmangen had not fully shaken the concussion. Sakaki looked around to see Kensei finishing up the fight against Diego.

Shintou Suikyou Soushou (Twin Penetrating Water Surface Palm)

Diego took the attack, holding his ground for a bit before looking around for a camera. Once he found it, he calmly walked towards it, making sure it captured his whole body.

"I am Laughing Fist Diego Carlo! Even when I fall, I am an entertainer. This is DIEGO QUALITY!" announced Diego before finally succumbing to his injuries, blood splattering out of his injuries as he coughed up blood. He dramatically fell backward, allowing the camera to capture just who had defeated him. Even in the face of defeat, he still dramatized everything perfectly.

In that instant, the flagship blew its steam whistle as it began to turn all cannons towards Diego's ship, intending to sink it and kill everyone on it. Before it even fired though, a clean snap of a finger could be heard.

"Take it down and take control of the ship," ordered Niijima, coming out from the shadows.

In that instant, dozens of the Zanshin Taisha-ryuu members all came spilling out of various rooms, quickly gaining control of the bridge and cannons on the flagship while never spilling blood. Niijima giggled as his plan went off without a hitch. Having learned that a flagship would be there with two more cruise boats intending to take the people that weren't on the to be killed list, Niijima hacked into Yami's system and found out where the flagship would be coming from. After that, it was a simple matter of silently getting onto the ship without being noticed. Niijima managed to rent several boats for them all, and as soon as they got close, the Elder snuck most of them onto the flagship before just waiting. It was there that Niijima used his PDA to connect to the other PDA that he had given Miu.

"It has been finished," reported Kurando, "The Elder of Ryozanpaku has also disabled the main cannons as a precaution by... completely bending it out of shape."

"Seriously, I didn't think it was possible," whispered Tsukasa.

"Good, good," nodded Niijima, "Now to see what data I can grab from their mainframe."

"Hahahaha!" laughed Diego as he could hear the cannons being forcefully dismantled, "Now is a good time to die! Now... Kill me!"

Having lost in a fight, it was Yami's logic that the loser died in a fight. However, being Katsujinken, Kensei refused to do so, not even when Diego slowly began to plead for it, stating it would be good for the ratings. In the end, seeing that Kensei wouldn't do so, Diego summoned the last dregs of his strength to finish one task.

"It can't be helped. The loser has to obey the winner... and I must uphold my manners as a Luchador. I present you with this mask!"

Diego removed his Angry Mask, revealing to the world his 'Naked Mask', a mask that was extremely simple in design but never revealed before in Diego's life. After all, he showered with his mask on still! Not even Rachel had seen the mask before, only having heard of it. After presenting the mask to Kensei, Diego collapsed from exhaustion.

"Don't worry Laughing Fist," said Kushinada, hopping onto the cruise ship from a hovercraft that she had driven, "I'll kill you."

Without hesitation, she managed to grab Diego by the head, and with one hand, threw Diego overboard. Rachel roared in rage as she charged at Kushinada.

"Don't!" warned Kensei.

"Should you really be worrying about the enemy?" asked Kushinada with a dreary tone.

Instantly, images of Kushinada appeared behind Kenichi, Miu, Renka, Tsuji, and Raichi, who had just arrived, each image threatening to grab one of them. Kensei instantly rushed in, kicking the image grabbing Renka and Tsuji. Sakaki bellowed as he destroyed the one behind Raichi.

What surprised Kushinada the most, however, was Kenichi and Miu instantly turning around, both lashing out with a kick into the afterimage Kushinada. None of the other teenagers had even noticed their very lives had been just threatened.

'Curious,' hummed Kushinada as she easily subdued Rachel, 'To think those two could react to my Ki feints when the others couldn't. I don't think anyone in Yomi is able to either.'

Kushinada instantly knocked Rachel unconscious before seemingly teleporting in front of Kenichi, burning his face into her mind.

'His age... matches his physical age, but his mentally... interesting. The same with Hayato's granddaughter,' mused Kushinada before jumping off the cruise ship just as the Elder hopped onto the cruise boat with Diego over his shoulders.

The reason why Kushinada had even come in the first place was out of curiosity of Ryozanpaku's disciple, but now she was just as curious about Miu. This would be something she would ponder about some more, but for now, it was time to depart.

Two days later, Kenichi was walking to school with Miu when Sho suddenly appeared, walking next to them.

"What do you want?" asked Kenichi, "And where's Rachel?"

"She's safe," shrugged Sho, "Currently under the One Shadow's protection, Saiga-sama."

Both Kenichi and Miu winced at this, knowing that who they thought was Saiga wasn't actually Saiga, but Senzui in disguise. But who actually knew the truth, though? From the last timeline, it seemed as if most of Yami knew as well as Satomi, but did Yomi know?

"Anyways, I just wanted to thank you for that fight!" grinned Sho.

"Fight?" blinked Kenichi.

"Well, not really a fight, but more of a one-sided beat down!" laughed Sho, "You totally beat the shit out of that scythe dude! What the hell made you so... violent anyways?"

"He insinuated rape at Miu," said Kenichi stiffly, causing Sho to stiffen up. He slowly looked at Miu, then back to Kenichi before asking, "And he's not close to death... why?"

He knew that they were Katsujinken, and of course, they wouldn't kill. But he had met the Elder, and could tell he was fiercely protective of Miu. The fact that he wasn't in a hospital with every bone broken was a miracle.

"He got lucky," frowned Miu, "If he does come at me, I won't hold back and aim for his manhood."

"Well, changing the subject now, that fight was beautiful!" said Sho, forcefully trying to not think of that, "Rachel sent it to me as soon as she finished recording on her personal camera, and I couldn't help but watch it so many times. I sent one to my master as soon as possible, too!"

The school day went on as normal when Izumi led Kenichi to where Chikage had made a flower bed. What was adorable was that Chikage had reverted to child mode upon having her own flower bed. Sadly, because her genius intellect was slightly forced on her, she didn't realize that a flower blooming after four months didn't equate to planting a seed in April and suddenly sprouting into flowers the next day.

"Pfft, even I knew that," laughed Sho from the side.

"Shut up, mister I destroyed my flower bed with a hose!" shouted Chikage, causing Sho to sputter.

Sho had opted to use a hose instead of a watering can, thinking it would save time and energy. However, when he pointed the hose to his own flower bed, he forgot to check the hose nozzle setting. Instead of a gentle shower, a stream of water blew right into the flower bed, scattering the seeds he had just planted and digging a trench as he continued to 'water' the plants. It was only after he finished did he turn off the nozzle, turning to see Izumi gaping at him. After a quick explanation and pointing to all the dirt that had been dug up, along with the seeds, Sho spent a good minute apologizing.

Kenichi could only snicker as the two went back to their respective flower beds. As the end of the day came, Kenichi was struck with a thought. Chikage hadn't given her letter of challenge to him at all. Did something happen that caused Chikage to forget or change her mind?

Later at night, meeting with both One Shadow Nine Fist and Eight Shining Executioner Blades

Members from each division had come together via computers. From the unarmed division: Hongo, Kushinada, Cyril, and Ogata, while from the armed division: Mihai, Mildred, Raki, Rin, and Marmaduke.

"So I heard the wrestling idiot got himself captured," scoffed Mihai, looking oh so proud of himself.

"He lost, and the loser obeys the winner," replied Ogata neutrally.

"Unlike you, who ran away," added Hongo.

"You!" snarled Mihai, but Hongo continued on.

"I heard you fought against Shio?" asked Hongo in an amused tone.

"That karate asshole? Yea why, do you know him?" growled Mihai, "Fucking asshole kept punching my face! Always the face! Was he so obsessed with hitting someone's face?"

'That doesn't sound like him,' mused Hongo, knowing Sakaki's habits even though it had been years since they fought, 'Unless something about Mihai ticked him off. Which is something I can easily see.'

"That explains the packs of ice you had people bringing to your room," mused Mildred out loud.

That caused Hongo, Cyril, Ogata, and Rin to smirk while Mildred and Raki giggled.

"Shut up!" shouted Mihai in anger as he subconsciously felt his cheeks. It still felt bruised even after all that treatment.

"Out of curiosity, how did your disciple fare against Ryozanpaku's disciple?" asked Rin.

"Huh? Oh, that fight? Ummm... it went well," lied Mihai, "My disciple almost killed him if it wasn't for that damn karate master's interference."

"Curious you should say that because I believe I saw otherwise," countered Hongo, snapping his fingers. Nearby, Sho nodded as he uploaded the video for them all to see.

Silence reigned for a good 30 seconds after the video had finished, which included Mihai trying to attack Kenichi, only to fail after his initial slash was blocked and then punched away by Sakaki.

"Almost killed him huh? It seems to me that you may need to get your eyes checked," mused Cyril, observing Mihai's increasingly red face.

"Pathetic," commented Kushinada, "Both the ability to raise a disciple and your own strength."

"I'll cut you up, you old hag!" roared Mihai, "Starting with those bloated chests!"

"Maybe we can finally kick him out," whispered Raki to Rin in a private channel.

"Now, now, that's enough," said Rin, ignoring Raki for the moment, "Though Sigmaringen lost, it was to be expected. Especially since Shirahama Kenichi has already achieved Ki no Shouka at such a young age. Most, if not all of our disciples, are currently not capable of matching against him as of now."

"What!?" blinked Mihai and Marmaduke.

"You must be joking," said Marmaduke before noticing everyone's lack of surprise, "You're not! He's so young, though."

"You fuckers knew and didn't say anything!?" shouted Mihai, finding his voice again.

"A notice was placed about Shirahama Kenichi as soon as it was discovered. If you choose to ignore it, then it is nobody's fault but your own," stated Hongo.

Mihai blustered as there had been one, but as it had been from the unarmed division, most of the armed division ignored it.

"Such irrational behavior will be the death of you," lectured Kushinada.

It was because she had gotten a good look at Kenichi that she had Chikage delay the letter of challenge. As of now, there was a 99% chance of Chikage losing to Kenichi. She wouldn't let Chikage fight in such circumstances.

"Screw this I'm out!" shouted Mihai as he stood up, flipping his computer screen as he did so, causing it to crack.

"Well I suppose that'll be all for today," hummed Rin as they all logged off.

Sho whistled while passing through the medical center before noticing Tirawit lying on the bed. Curious, he changed his path, heading to see Tirawit.

"What are you doing here?" asked Sho.

"Recovering from training," winced Tirawit.

"Training... oh right, you told Agaard-Khru to not hold back," hummed Sho, holding back a laugh, "How's that treating you?"

"Terrifying," admitted Tirawit, "But beneficial."

"Well, since you're bored, want to see the video of Yomi's armed division getting owned by Kenichi?" asked Sho as he pulled out a video recorder.

"You do realize they are a part of our organization, and thus our allies?" remarked Tirawit.

"So you don't want to see it?" frowned Sho as he began to put it away.

"I never said that," said Tirawit quickly, causing Sho to grin as he quickly played the clip.

"The poor fool never had a chance," mused Tirawit as the clip finished, "Sadly, this just shows that Shirahama Kenichi is still much further than us. However, I intend to close the distance."

"Yea... so do I," sighed Sho.

"Ah, are you doing better?" asked Agaard as he popped into the room, "I hope I didn't hit you too hard."

"I'm fine, but it'll take me a day to recover," sighed Tirawit as he put the recorder down.

"Hmm? What are you two watching?" asked Agaard.

Sho quickly rewound the video and showed it to Agaard, who chuckled at the beat down.

"And this is the disciple of the Eight Shining Executioner Blades? Pretty pathetic," chuckled Agaard, "Well if you're still recovering, I'll try to work out something tomorrow."

"Khru-Agaard, I believe Kano Sho has shown interest in taking the same training," stated Tirawit, causing Sho to blink before growing pale.

"Really? Good, I haven't trained you for awhile," beamed Agaard as he grabbed Sho by the scruff of his neck, "C'mon, I should check your progress too. Don't worry, I won't be too hard on you, but I won't hold back."

"Wait... but... I..." stuttered Sho as he was dragged out of the room.

Tirawit smirked before laying back down on his bed.

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Cruise arc done, next up... find out!