Bullet's Smile

[Bang! Bang! Bang!]

Inside the Konoha Squad's dedicated training hall, everyone had stopped what they were doing and gathered silently to watch the fierce battle.

Vidal stood among them, smiling with his arms folded across his chest. It was already the last month of the year, and less than a month remained before they left for headquarters.

There were actually three people fighting: two against one!

Vincent, the Konoha Squad's captain and a headquarters lieutenant, and Ogden, its vice captain and a headquarters captain, were fighting Bullet, who was only a headquarters seaman first class.

The reason Captain Ogden was the vice captain was simply that he had lost to Vincent before.

About twenty minutes earlier, Ogden had challenged Bullet without giving a reason.

But Vidal knew exactly what he—or rather, what they—were thinking.

They thought Bullet was young, had only just joined the Marines, and was merely a seaman first class, yet he bossed them around because he was Vidal's son.

They had been keeping their doubts to themselves all this time, but today they had finally had enough.

After asking Bullet what he thought, Vidal agreed to the challenge. The outcome, however, surprised most of the onlookers: Ogden was defeated in less than ten minutes!

The reason was that Bullet had already mastered Tekkai. Even more astonishingly, he could fight freely while maintaining it!

Vidal was somewhat surprised too. Only somewhat, because he knew the kid was a body technique genius.

What surprised him was, first, how little time Bullet had spent learning the Six Powers. It had been less than three months.

Second, he had not expected the kid to master the so-called Iron Body Fist so easily. Of course, that was a term from fan circles in his previous life; there was no such name in the official Six Powers.

The reason was simple: before the future CP9 member Jabra, no one had ever done anything like it.

Strictly speaking, masters proficient in Tekkai could move parts of their bodies while using it, but their movements were extremely stiff.

No one had ever fought at high speed while maintaining Tekkai at all times, as the future Jabra and the present Bullet could.

But the effect and power of doing so spoke for themselves.

Just now, Bullet had given Ogden a one-sided beating while Ogden stood rooted to the spot, using Tekkai like a punishment stand and only able to defend himself.

The key was that the kid really knew how to show off. When Ogden asked in stunned disbelief why he could move, Bullet raised an eyebrow and asked in return, his face expressionless, "Why can't I?"

According to him, he had never been unable to move since mastering Tekkai, so he was the one who found it strange that Ogden and the others couldn't move!

Listen to that! Was that something a person should say? He had left Ogden, Vincent, and the other Marines at a complete loss for words. How were they supposed to answer that?

Wasn't being unable to move the basic rule?!

But then Bullet brought up his father. Looking at Vidal, he continued, "He can move too."

Vidal had been taken aback for a moment. What does this have to do with me?

But faced with everyone's startled, questioning looks, he could only nod honestly and admit that he could indeed do it too.

That left Ogden, Vincent, and the others completely speechless. Was it because they were just that bad?

In truth, however, Vidal could do it entirely because his body was different from theirs. The power of his Special Paramecia had long since turned him into a plant man.

All he had to do was use his fruit power to turn the inside of his body into wood while using Tekkai, then control the wood to propel himself.

So he had used a cheat to take a shortcut, whereas Bullet was the one who was truly gifted.

But the first time Bullet had seen Tekkai was when Vidal used it on the beach, so that first impression led him to think being able to move was normal.

He even thought Ogden and the others couldn't move simply because they were too stupid and had too little talent, and that it had nothing to do with Tekkai itself!

Of course, he kept those thoughts to himself. He wasn't stupid enough to say them aloud.

After that, Vincent, as captain of the Konoha Squad, couldn't stand by and watch. He came over and asked Vidal whether he could join the fight too.

Although it was awkward for two men to fight a thirteen-year-old child, he couldn't let things end like that for his deputy, a headquarters captain.

After all, he was also going to enter Zephyr's special training camp next year, so once they left, Ogden would have to take charge of the squad.

Today's affair couldn't end like this. Otherwise, he felt Ogden would have a hard time commanding the others' respect.

But if he joined in and they still lost to Bullet, it would show that their opponent was too strong, not that Ogden was too weak.

Besides, he had long found Bullet irritating. Not only was the kid a head taller than him, but his legs were longer too!

Bullet had no objection, so naturally Vidal wouldn't refuse either.

The three-way fight had now entered its fiercest stage. Ten minutes had long since warmed their bodies up.

Ogden no longer used Tekkai. Instead, he supported Vincent's attacks, engaging Bullet with the Shigan he excelled at and the Konoha Style Body Technique he had begun to master.

Lieutenant Vincent, the main force, fought Bullet at high speed. Over this time, Benson had been the most diligent and hardworking, and had learned Konoha Style better than anyone else.

He had always especially liked fighting with his legs, so he became absorbed in practicing the Konoha Style Body Technique. It had even gradually replaced the Six Powers as his main means of fighting.

Soru and Rankyaku had become supporting moves for Konoha Style!

They were fast, and their exchanges came in rapid succession. Many of the people present could only see a repeating sequence: the fighters vanished, collided, separated, and vanished again.

Bullet was fearless in battle too. He met speed with speed: when a Konoha Great Whirlwind came kicking at him, he answered with a heavy, hard iron fist. He met it head-on!

He had no intention of using Konoha Style at all. Instead, he used the Six Powers as a foundation and continued fighting in his old battlefield style!

Meanwhile, Ogden, the third fighter, was at a loss. He spent most of his time trying to catch up with the other two.

He also realized that both Vincent and Bullet had long since surpassed the level of junior officers.

He deeply regretted not paying more attention to training Soru. Was speed really a little more important than strength?

"So strong. They're frighteningly strong!" The Marines watching could no longer contain their excitement and began talking among themselves.

Some of them even thought this fight was more exciting than Vidal's earlier battle with Comil.

"The scary one is Bullet, okay? He's only thirteen! Thirteen, can you believe it?!"

"Where on earth did Instructor Vidal find such a terrifying kid?"

"I think I understand what kind of ability it takes to qualify as his son."

"So does Enel have that much talent too? I couldn't tell."

As they talked, the fight shifted from moment to moment. After the clock on the wall ticked forward another three marks, Lieutenant Vincent finally began to lose ground.

His breathing grew visibly more labored, hot sweat poured down his forehead like water, and his legs began to go numb, making him use Soru less and less often.

With every head-on clash against Bullet, he was driven farther back. He even needed Ogden to hold Bullet off for him at times. His stamina was giving out!

Bullet, on the other hand, was neither red in the face nor short of breath. Instead, his face wore a playful grin as he enjoyed the fight.

This book has risen another place in the rankings! It's now ninth overall on the public authors' new book chart and third in the light novel category! The biggest problem now is that there aren't enough collections. As of now, there are 469—not even 500. Looking at the two books above it in the light novel category, one passed 500 long ago, and the one in first place has reached 1,000! I'm really envious.

Postscript: Just now, this book finally got a contract!! But why am I not on the contracted new authors' new book chart?