Chapter 149: Eyes (Patreon)

After Katahara Metsudo's words fell, the entire underground garage sank into a brief, total silence. Then, with a roar, the crowd erupted.

Everyone had realized that this was no joke. It was real: the Kengan Association was about to face a new Chairmanship Struggle, the first since the one sixty years ago!

What's more, nobody else was pushing it. By the look of him, Katahara Metsudo himself was itching to join the fray. He might even be engineering the whole thing with his own hands!

But what was he after?

Sixty years ago, the struggle that put Katahara Metsudo in power had erupted mainly because postwar Japan, having rebuilt itself, had entered a new round of rapid growth.

Now, after the golden age, in an era where the classes were slowly calcifying, Katahara Metsudo didn't need to do a thing. The enormous weight the Dai Nippon Bank had accumulated over sixty-odd years would carry him forward on its own.

Under those circumstances, never mind Yang agreeing to launch a struggle. Even if Nogi Hideki and the others rose up together to force his hand, a man of Katahara Metsudo's ability could crush it easily, as long as he was willing to pay a modest price.

But now...

No.

People quickly realized something. Yang had been slipped into the Kengan matches by Katahara Metsudo's chairman's privilege. That was to make sure Tokita Ohma couldn't win, which made perfect sense. But looking back over Katahara Metsudo's rise, it was clear that this old madman had never lacked for crazy moves, even in his youth.

Seen from another angle... intervening in a Kengan match through chairman's privilege, and then launching the struggle himself... that meant—

The Kengan Chairmanship Struggle had been started by Chairman Katahara personally?!

True or not, at that moment nobody was still sitting down.

Some had already pulled out their phones and hurried toward the corners. Others rushed off with their secret techniques. Still others began checking, right then and there, which strong fighters might still be available, hoping to leap straight to the top in the Kengan Association's shift of power.

And at the eye of the storm, Nogi Hideki stood rooted to the spot, his expression grave.

Katahara Metsudo paid Nogi Hideki's face no mind. He simply wore a leisurely smile and beamed at Yang.

"I'd thought I might have to use a few tricks to bring this about. I never expected it to start so quickly, and so easily~ Truly, heroes rise from the young!"

"Not bad." Yang shrugged, unbothered.

But Katahara Metsudo clearly liked Yang's personality. Hearing that offhand reply, he wasn't angry in the slightest. Instead he turned, full of feeling, to look at the people behind him.

"I had my doubts before, but now I understand why you think so highly of this brat. So, then, does anyone here plan to join this feast?"

At Katahara Metsudo's words, Kure Erioh stepped unhurriedly out of the shadows, chuckling.

"The Kure clan certainly won't miss a feast like this... After all, Raian's been muttering about A-Yang quite a lot lately."

"Huh? Me, muttering?" Behind Kure Erioh, Kure Raian made a face of open disgust.

"Old man, you've finally gone senile, haven't you? I don't remember ever muttering!"

"He really hasn't been muttering," Kure Hollis agreed from beside them, nodding and waving hello to Yang as he went on. "He's just a lot steadier than before. He trains harder, too. He's even picked up the secret techniques again..."

"Hey!"

Watching the chattering, long-winded Kure Hollis, Kure Raian cut in with a scowl.

"Since when are you this long-winded? Nobody asked you! Could you shut up? If you want a fight, just say so!"

Kure Hollis showed not a flicker of anger at Kure Raian's words. He simply raised a hand and mimed zipping his mouth shut, to say OK.

The gesture was lively enough, but Kure Hollis had been born with an honest man's face, and even a playful motion like that came off as strangely solemn... even a little wooden.

Still, Yang understood what he meant. He made an OK sign with his hand, and Kure Hollis gave a silent nod, completing their secret exchange.

Watching the two of them communicate with their eyes, Kure Raian bared his teeth in annoyance, but in the end said nothing.

Mostly because the change in Kure Raian over this period was plain for everyone to see.

His temper and personality were as foul as ever. A little conversation was enough to set him off into sarcasm and deliberate provocation.

But, to be fair, compared with the old Kure Raian, who looked down on every member of the Kure clan, who thought everyone but himself was trash, and who thought the ones who couldn't achieve Removal were the trash among the trash...

Good and bad are only ever a matter of comparison.

Compared with the days when he'd hiss and swipe his claws at anyone he saw, a Kure Raian who merely kept people at arm's length could absolutely be called a perfectly well-behaved house cat.

Yang didn't mind, though. He just lifted his chin toward Kure Raian.

"Come spar sometime when you're free."

"No problem," Kure Raian sneered. "I've prepared plenty of surprises for you. I'll open your eyes for sure."

At that, a flicker of interest crossed Yang's gaze. "Then I'll look forward to it."

Just as Yang was speaking, another voice rang out from nearby.

"Grandpa! Long time no see! Have you been well lately~!"

Hearing that girl's energetic voice, Kure Erioh, who had been so solemn and composed a moment ago, lit up. His aged face softened with affection.

"Of course I've been well! It's just that I haven't seen Karura for so long that your grandpa has nearly~?"

Kure Erioh turned around, expecting Kure Karura to throw herself happily into his arms.

But it went a little beyond his expectations. Kure Karura did come running over with a delighted face, but she ran straight past him and hugged Yang instead. Then she looked back at Kure Erioh.

"Um, Grandpa, can you speed up the wedding between A-Yang and me?!"

Kure Erioh: "..."

Watching Kure Karura cling to Yang's arm, her face aglow with spring, Kure Erioh turned abruptly to stone. He stood rooted there, as if his soul had drifted out of his body some time ago.

Seeing this, and knowing full well that Kure Erioh was a doting-grandpa fool, Kure Raian burst into roaring laughter.

"Hahaha! Looks like Karura's been completely conquered by Yang~ The doting grandpa's about to lose it~~~"

Strangely enough, Kure Erioh had been teetering on the edge of losing it. But hearing Kure Raian's cackling, he scowled, swung his cane, and cracked it hard against Kure Raian's head. Only then did he turn his eyes back to Yang.

His expression had settled somewhat, but a careful look showed more or less a trace of displeasure in it.

But it was only displeasure, nothing more.

After studying Yang for a moment, Kure Erioh nodded in satisfaction. Most of the displeasure left on his face faded at once, and he spoke unhurriedly.

"A-Yang's potential hasn't fully matured, and you're still green yourself, Karura. Marriage is a matter of sooner or later. There's no rush."

Kure Karura pouted, unhappy, but she knew Grandpa meant well and said nothing more.

Seeing Karura's long face, Kure Erioh sighed sincerely about daughters who just can't be kept at home, which set Kure Raian off laughing again.

The two old men paid it no mind. Kure Erioh even turned with interest to Tenma Nozomi and the others, who were shrinking timidly behind Yang.

"I heard from Sayaka that you're planning to form a women's fighting group, A-Yang?"

"Yeah." Yang nodded and tipped his chin toward Chun-Li and the others. "Some excellent female martial artists aren't well suited to traditional underground fighting. So I'm planning to set up an event, and maybe draw out some things that can't stand the light of day."

Katahara Metsudo and the others nodded in agreement.

None of them had any illusions about what had happened before. Balrog had been snatched by the Shadaloo Dolls while being transferred to an Interpol maximum-security prison. It was no secret to them.

And the most striking part of that incident was M. Bison's descent of spiritual power through the Shadaloo Dolls' remote link.

Combined with earlier research, most things were still uncertain. But one thing could be said for sure: among the spiritual power wielded by Shadaloo's leader M. Bison, women showed greater compatibility.

And a women's fighting group really would make a fine bait.

"If that's the case, I can sponsor one billion in my own name." A look of anticipation crossed Katahara Metsudo's face. "It's only seed money, but with it, we should draw the eyes of quite a few strong fighters."

"Mm." Yang nodded in understanding, then added, "But in the end, it'll all come down to violence."

Or rather, in the end, the only thing that could truly draw those martial artists was violence.

Hearing Yang's words, the anticipation on Katahara Metsudo's face grew until it became a brilliant smile.

Katahara Metsudo loved bloodshed.

In his youth he had lived through the Second World War. At first he was gentle and timid, and he stayed behind working in a factory at home.

Later, as the war situation grew desperate, he became a kamikaze pilot, welded into a crude cockpit with a half tank of fuel, on a flight with no return...

Then he rammed his disposable plane into an American warship and, against all odds, survived. Drifting amid the wreckage of plane and ship, face to face with the terror called death, his entire spirit changed from the inside out.

After the war, he did business on the black market, trading supplies with the American military bases. During that time he met the first Fang of Metsudo, Kure Erioh.

His exceptional mind and that frenzied resolve won him the respect of the young Kure Erioh, who was just as mad. Riding the wind of postwar reconstruction, he gained membership in the Kengan Association and founded his first company, Katahara Distribution.

In middle age, he bet everything he owned to launch the previous Kengan Annihilation Tournament. He won, becoming the 58th Chairman of the Kengan Association, and ruled from that seat for over fifty years, the longest-serving and most secure chairman in the Association's history.

Unless another world war came along to knock everything down and start over, there might never be anyone able to contend with him.

And what Yang wanted to do let him smell strife... or rather, challenge.

Hearing this exchange, Tenma Nozomi and the others only hunched their necks nervously, with no idea what to say.

They were martial artists, but their worldly experience was hardly greater than Yamashita Kazuo's. Never mind anything else: simply meeting a legendary big shot like Katahara Metsudo had already struck their little hearts hard.

It was then that Nogi Hideki, standing nearby, finally couldn't hold back and cut in.

After a brief silence, Nogi Hideki turned to Katahara Metsudo and asked gravely, "So what you're saying is that neither Shikano Gen nor Yang... was ever your man."

"Never was," Katahara Metsudo said with a nod.

"Then why... did you start this fight?" Nogi Hideki's confusion deepened.

Katahara Metsudo was silent for a moment, then said calmly, "Aging."

"Aging?" Nogi Hideki grew only more baffled. "You?"

Before today, Nogi Hideki might have believed that Katahara Metsudo really had grown old. But now he had felt the aura that was still growing within him, and he could only think Katahara Metsudo was joking.

Katahara Metsudo shook his head.

"I really am aging. I can feel my body growing more stagnant and sluggish, every joint in it as if crusted with verdigris."

"But today, I came alive again." Katahara Metsudo split into a grin. "Mitsunari Tokugawa was right, after all! Only fighting and strife can make a man like me feel the vigor of life!"

Katahara Metsudo smiled warmly at Nogi Hideki, and nothing in him showed the slightest decrepitude one would expect of an old man.

"To reclaim the blood and fire of my youth, neither power nor holding onto my rule does a thing... Only chaos and competition let me feel true 'youth' and 'hot blood'!"

"...If there's nothing else, I'll be going."

Watching Katahara Metsudo and Nogi Hideki launch into some conversation out of nowhere, Yang straightened his coat and prepared to turn away.

Seeing that Yang was about to leave, Katahara Metsudo asked curiously, "Oh? You don't want to chat a little more?"

"The fight's over. There's no reason for me to stay. I've got other things to take care of."

With that, Yang beckoned to Juri Han.

It was time to wrap up the matter of Juri Han's eyes.