Minato Ward, Tokyo.
Inside a small underground bar, forty to fifty delinquents had gathered.
“Who do you think’s gonna win?” “Big Sis, obviously!” “Like that street-brawling bitch could ever beat her?” The delinquents split into their usual groups, gathering in twos and threes as they waited for the show to begin.
“By the way, did you guys place your bets?” A blond punk proudly raised the ticket in his hand.
“Looks like we can win prize money.” “Of course!” The flashy delinquent girl beside him slapped down a thick stack of tickets.
“I went all in on Big Sis!” “There’s more room to move than I expected.” “Mm.
The soundproofing isn’t bad either.” “And quite a few people came just to watch the fun.” Behind the crowd stood three women whose clothing and bearing were completely out of place in a room full of delinquents.
The woman on the left wore an azure kimono.
She had a gentle face, an elegant bearing, and spoke with a Kansai accent.
As she looked over the crowd, her gaze made it seem as if she were sizing up one walking wallet after another.
The woman in the middle wore sportswear.
She had a pretty face, with a beauty mark beneath the outer corner of her right eye.
There was defiance in her eyes, but her expression was full of gloom.
She looked as lifeless as an office worker who had just been fired.
The woman on the right wore a leather jacket.
Her bangs were parted down the middle, a single ahoge stuck straight up from her head, and her mouth was full of shark-like teeth.
Her expression was vicious, with a trace of madness flickering deep in her eyes.
“This business looks doable.” After roughly calculating the “potential” income by headcount, the kimono woman’s lips curved slightly.
“Are you sure nothing will go wrong?” The woman in sportswear sounded a little worried.
“Relax.
This place sits in the gap between several groups’ territories.
Nobody’s going to come looking for trouble here.” “Besides, we have Ichika, don’t we?” The kimono woman glanced at the leather-clad woman.
“It’s fine!” The woman in leather snorted disdainfully.
“Tokyo has underground fighting groups crawling all over the place.
A temporary little project like ours doesn’t even qualify to attract the attention of the Anti-Crime Unit.” “Then… shall we begin?” The kimono woman raised her right hand and gave a gentle smile toward the center of the dance floor.
Standing there was an unusually handsome young man.
The young man was 187 centimeters tall, with a tall, lean build and sharp, handsome features.
Standing among the delinquents, he was like a crane among chickens.
He wore nothing more than simple jeans and an old black biker jacket, yet somehow made the outfit look retro and stylish.
At that moment, he held a microphone in his hand, pretending to be an emcee as he stood straight in the center of the stage.
Jingu Yoru.
A rider who had only recently joined the Jinguji Group.
On either side of him stood a fierce-looking female delinquent.
The one on the left had a head full of red hair, bandages wrapped around her chest, and faint bruises visible across her body.
Her face would barely score a three out of ten, and it was filled with disdain.
The one on the right had straight bangs cut across her eyebrows, a face covered in freckles, bulging eyes, and a cigarette hanging from her mouth.
Every inch of her face screamed arrogance and defiance.
Behind them was the crowd of delinquents, already prepared with snacks and drinks as they waited to enjoy the show.
“Welcome, everyone, to the ultimate street showdown!” After receiving the boss’s signal, Jingu Yoru copied the posture of a combat-sports referee and loudly announced toward the pockmarked delinquent, “First up, the undefeated ruler of the streets, known as the Queen of Street Fighting—Shinohara Julia!” “Boss Julia is the strongest!
The strongest!
Kill her!” The moment his introduction rang out, the crowd erupted into shrill cheers.
“And her opponent is the bare-knuckle brawling queen—Kobayakawa Yumi!” Yoru turned his gaze toward the ugly redhead.
His voice trembled with the same “excitement,” dragging out the final syllables as he pushed his acting to the limit.
Being chuunibyou was embarrassing.
But being poor was even scarier.
To make money, he had no choice but to flexibly lower his bottom line.
“Boss Yumi is the strongest!
Slaughter her!” Sure enough, Japan ate up this kind of dramatic chuunibyou-style announcement.
The moment he finished, the crowd started roaring at the top of their lungs.
“Today, these two will settle everything on this stage!” “Let us see who… is the true Queen of the Streets!” “The ultimate showdown is about to begin!
Anyone who hasn’t placed a bet yet, hurry up!” While his excited shout still echoed through the room, Yoru had already stepped off the stage and slipped to the edge of the crowd, hiding his achievements and fame.
“Yoru, that was pretty good.” Seeing that he could hype the crowd with over-the-top lines while still reminding the customers to place bets, the leather-jacketed woman looked very satisfied.
“Mm.
Much better than the waitresses at my shop.” The kimono woman narrowed her eyes with a smile.
Since this match had been organized on a whim, there had not been enough time to prepare properly.
She had originally planned to randomly pull a waitress from her shop to host it.
Fortunately, before they left, Yoru had just returned from making a delivery.
There had been no need to think after that.
With a handsome face like his, he could attract a huge number of votes all by himself.
Now, it seemed that decision had been right.
The opening had gone well.
The little coins were about to come rolling in.
Ufufufu…
… “Filthy bitch.
This time, there aren’t any cops getting in the way.
I’m definitely gonna kill you!” “Heh… the one dying is you!” Under everyone’s gaze, surrounded by frenzied cheers, Shinohara Julia and Kobayakawa Yumi both felt their vanity swell.
Their threats grew fiercer and more arrogant with every word.
Just being watched by this many people already felt this good.
If one of them actually won, wouldn’t she become the flashiest girl on the whole street?
Hahaha…
“An ultimate street duel fought on the pride of a queen!” “Now… begin!” Seeing the air between them grow more and more explosive, Yoru raised his right hand at just the right moment.
“Ptooey!” Street fighter Shinohara Julia reacted incredibly fast.
The instant she heard the signal, her bulging eyes widened, and she spat the burning cigarette butt in her mouth straight at her opponent.
“I’ll beat you to death!” Then, while Yumi blinked, Julia slammed a heavy right hook into her cheekbone.
Fighting Technique: Burning the Eyes with Smoke!
“Bitch!” Although Kobayakawa Yumi was still young, she was already a veteran of the streets, and her reaction was not slow at all.
“I’ll kill you!” The moment her head was knocked sideways, her right hand instinctively grabbed Julia’s hair and yanked it down hard.
At the same time, her left fist smashed fiercely into the back of Julia’s head.
Finisher: Hair Grab and Skull Smash!
“Aaah… I’ll kill you!” Her scalp stinging from being pulled, Shinohara Julia screamed like a madwoman.
Blue veins bulged across her pockmarked face as she swung wild, desperate punches.
“Heh, can you?” Kobayakawa Yumi’s face twisted viciously.
She grabbed hair, tore at clothes, and kicked hard with her thigh, her expression savage.
Bang!
Bang, bang!
There was no technique.
Only instinct.
The fight reached a white-hot state the instant it began.
The two of them tangled together like crazed alley cats, beating each other with everything they had.
“Yes!
That’s it!” “Boss Julia, finish her off!” “Tch!
Boss Yumi, kill her!” The crude and savage violence made the delinquents’ blood boil.
One by one, they roared until their faces reddened and the veins in their necks stood out.
This was also one of Japan’s specialties.
The samurai spirit had vanished from the real world, yet it grew wildly in the realm of fantasy.
Anything involving fighting or martial competition was treated as if everyone had thrown their lives away.
Although the competitors were only street delinquents with no technique to speak of, the level of savagery and violence surpassed some proper tournaments.
They truly fought as though they would beat each other to death unless someone died first.
Brutal as hell.
“This is fighting?” “Isn’t this way too intense?” The smell of blood mixed with sweat spread through the air.
Screams and roars echoed nonstop inside the sealed underground space, and the scorching atmosphere made the room feel hotter, leaving Yoru’s body restless.
Yoru licked his dry lips.
Compared to this, Boruto was trash.
Public security back home had been too good.
Forgive him for being inexperienced, but this was the first time he had ever seen such a savage street brawl.
No wonder so many people liked going to concerts.
So this was the charm of experiencing something live.
This atmosphere, this infectious energy, this excitement that rose uncontrollably with the audience’s screams—none of it could ever be felt through a screen.
“Fighting?” “Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about what fighting is?” At some point, the woman in sportswear had walked over to Yoru’s side.
Clearly used to scenes like this, she gave a disgusted evaluation.
“No structure, no rhythm, no technique.
This is just a street catfight.” “It’s fine.
As long as the atmosphere is hot enough, whether the performance is actually good or not doesn’t matter.” The woman in the leather jacket, however, held a different opinion.
“Exactly.
As long as the atmosphere is hot enough, we can definitely make money.” The kimono woman’s lips curved into a smile, her eyes practically glowing with gold.
As everyone knew, violence had always been one of the easiest ways to stir up humanity’s primal urges.
And once people got excited, they stopped being able to control their wallets.
This business was worth doing!