Chapter Sixty-Four: "The Fierce Tiger" Wakatsuki

“From the time you were a child, you’ve never lost control of your strength again! That’s something we achieved together!” Gu Hai’s expression was not one of surprise, but of terror.

Takeshi Wakatsuki was born with congenital superhuman syndrome. With muscle density fifty-two times greater than normal, he had to live in a specially reinforced room as a child. Even then, young Wakatsuki would often crush custom-made titanium game controllers in his hands. It wasn’t until Gu Hai—who wasn’t yet president at the time—took charge of his life that things began to improve.

“That’s right, Gu Hai.” Wakatsuki loosened his grip, letting fragments fall to the ground. “It was you who, when I was a cautious child, encouraged me to use my full strength for the first time—on you. You spent half a year in the hospital because of it. After that, as if something clicked, I never lost control of my strength again.”

“I always believed my strength was an extension of my will, perfectly obedient to my command. But…”

Wakatsuki removed his headphones and looked up at Gu Hai, who stood beside him. Gu Hai noticed—his pupils were trembling.

“Two days ago, when that boy named Kagami Hakudo—when that ‘monster’ defeated Julius… my trembling hand crushed it.”

“How could that be!” Gu Hai staggered back a few steps, his words escaping as a near-moan. “If you, at your current level, lose control again…”

He didn’t finish. But both men knew what would happen.

—It would be no different from a rampaging humanoid press machine!

The hand Gu Hai meant to lay familiarly on Wakatsuki’s shoulder was quickly withdrawn. When Wakatsuki was a child with fifty-two times the muscle density, a single blow had put Gu Hai in the hospital for half a year. Now, with Wakatsuki in his thirties and in his prime, even the slightest touch could send him straight to the afterlife!

As an old friend, Wakatsuki understood Gu Hai’s panic. He hadn’t said this to seek comfort, but simply to express his feelings.

“So, Gu Hai…” His muscular hand slowly clenched. “In this match… I’m going to fight with everything I have, without restraint.”

“From start to finish… with nothing held back! My full strength!”

~~~~~~

In the first round, thanks to the passionate and rousing introductions by announcer Katanae Chiyoka, the contestants had already made themselves known to the audience. Now, in the second round, it was enough for the fighters to simply step onto the arena.

Wakatsuki Takeshi stood on the sandy surface of the arena. Clad only in a pair of fighting trunks, he revealed a physique different from Julius’s but no less striking in its intensity.

Unlike the monstrous, grotesquely swollen muscles of a ‘beast,’ his were honed and tempered—a cold, unyielding ‘tiger.’ Simply standing there, he exuded an overwhelming sense of pressure, as if a heavy stone was pressing on every spectator’s chest. The air grew thick, breathing became difficult. Every gaze was drawn to the sheer presence he radiated, unable to look away.

Until a young man appeared.

Unlike two days before, the youth had now brushed his hair back, exposing his angular features. Like Kiryu Setsuna, he wore only a pair of trousers, his upper body bare, muscular, and chiseled.

“Sorry, sorry, I didn’t bring many clothes to the island,” Kagami Hakudo said with a smile. “You guys are all freakishly strong—I can’t go ruining all my outfits.”

His handsome grin once again caused the secretary from Ohsakura Academy in the audience to spurt a nosebleed. Beside her, the academy director, eyes sharp as blades, roamed hungrily over the physiques of both fighters, far too absorbed to pay her any mind.

But standing opposite the youth, Wakatsuki Takeshi, and the veteran referee Yamamoto Koishi, both broke into a cold sweat.

Wakatsuki could feel his dense muscles twitching and contracting. It was as if, like a normal person’s breath quickening under stress, his body was shifting into combat mode under the boy’s pressure—something that had never happened to him, not even before the “Fang of Metsudo.”

“You’re the one who’s ‘freakishly strong,’” the blond giant muttered without preamble.

Kagami Hakudo only smiled in reply.

“Are both sides ready?” Yamamoto Koishi called out, confirming their status.

“Ready whenever, referee,” the youth replied, bouncing lightly on his toes.

But as the corners of his mouth curled ever higher, an aura as if he could devour the world began to rise from him. Wakatsuki, too, settled into a solid left forward stance, the hallmark of a seasoned karateka.

“I’m ready as well.” The man known as the ‘Tiger’ of the tournament, once on the battlefield, transformed all his pre-fight anxiety into a burning will to defeat his enemy. His gaze was sharp as a blade, his presence blazing like fire.

“Then… begin!”

……

Bang!

As Yamamoto Koishi scrambled back for safety, a deafening crash exploded behind him—loud enough to fill the entire stadium even without a loudspeaker.

The instant the referee’s hand fell, two fists collided in midair!

The shattered air roared, and the sand at their feet was blasted into a circular pit, exposing the ground beneath. Their stomping points—the base of their power—smashed the revealed floor into powder.

Creak, creak—

Beneath the unwavering fists, muscles twisted like braided steel cables, producing a sound not of flesh and blood, but something to make the teeth ache.

Whoosh—

A shift in balance, a twist and a step. Wakatsuki’s other hand, powered by that super-dense muscle, launched a rising punch straight at his opponent’s head. The spiraling fist tore through the air with the roar of a tiger. Every transition, every strike, revealed his solid foundation in karate.

But Kagami Hakudo’s response was not what he’d expected—not a direct counter or a dodge. With a joyful smile, the youth shifted the contest of strength, using the moment Wakatsuki changed his center of gravity to press his advantage, not pulling back to defend but doubling down, forcing Wakatsuki’s fist off course.

Then, brushing past Wakatsuki’s diverted punch, he intercepted with his wrist and parried the incoming spiral punch head-on.

Bang!

That incredible force expanded the ring-shaped pit beneath them even further. The network of cracks in the floor doubled in size. Now, both men’s ankles were already buried in cement rubble.

“I told you, didn’t I?” The youth’s wrist shook off Wakatsuki’s iron-hard arm, his excited eyes locking onto his opponent’s. “If you’re all about brute strength, then let’s really see who’s stronger!”

Whoosh!

Toes gripping the earth, waist twisting for power, he swung a Russian-style hook at Wakatsuki’s jaw. The gale of his punch creased Wakatsuki’s cheek before the fist even landed.

But Wakatsuki, having recovered from the blow, now gritted his teeth, eyes sharp as a hunting beast. He raised a bent arm and elbow to guard his face and, at the same time—

—Twisted his waist and punched!

Offense and defense in one—midsection thrust!