A Fated Showdown

"You want me to keep going? Too bad. Even if you didn't want me to, I'd keep beating you until you couldn't fight back."

"Tokugawa..."

Tokugawa's determination had clearly moved Byodoin as well, but Byodoin still wasn't satisfied with the strength Tokugawa had shown.

So when he heard Tokugawa say he would push himself harder to defeat him, Byodoin found himself looking forward to it.

"What do you two think?"

"Although Tokugawa has improved rapidly over the past year and surpassed the level Byodoin was at a year ago, I don't believe Byodoin is the kind of person who would allow himself to waste a year."

"I can feel it. There's a powerful force hidden inside Byodoin now.

As for why he's doing this, I think Tokugawa hasn't fully awakened that power yet."

Off the court, Horio watched Tokugawa, who was focused on the match, and put a question to Irie and Oni, who had returned.

As for the match that had just begun, Oni and Irie clearly knew that Byodoin had to be capable of more than this.

Oni, in particular, could sense it more clearly, having awakened the power deep within himself.

"If this match had taken place yesterday, all Tokugawa could have done would have been to keep pushing Byodoin to his limit.

But a night has passed since then. Maybe Tokugawa can make history."

"What do you mean? Did you teach Tokugawa something else when you trained him last night?"

"But one night shouldn't have been enough, right? Could it have something to do with that commotion last night?"

Remembering how Byodoin had failed to ambush him last night and injured his wrist instead, Horio looked forward to the moment Tokugawa defeated him.

Hearing the implication in Horio's words, Oni and Irie, who had only appeared