It had to be emphasized that even though the man named Skello had been running CP9 for many years, not all of its official members were his loyal supporters. In fact, knowing which way the wind was blowing was an essential skill for all government employees, no matter where they were.
Even if Spandine was a dog, he was a dog with powerful connections and an impressive background. Everyone knew what choice to make next. After losing his superior's support, even the once-mighty Mr. Skello could only step down in disgrace.
Skello understood this perfectly well. But despite that, his thirst for power and contempt for Spandine had already left him unable to stop. This was exactly what it meant to be a cornered beast fighting back.
He needed greater power, more achievements, and more talent.
So after Louis and Xiluo had both shown their resistance, the less desirable Stuart caught his eye. This time, things had gone very smoothly. The man named Stuart was at odds with those two.
"Useless!!"
Naturally, when the Instructor saw the situation on the field, he couldn't help silently cursing.
It was bad enough that Stuart had tried everything and still couldn't touch Louis. But he'd lost his temper and his reason so easily, completely losing control of the fight. How could he possibly win?
"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!!!"
Stuart's roar shook the whole field. His body flashed rapidly as he used Soru, one of the Six Powers, without pause. He couldn't remain invisible and keep moving at high speed the way Xiluo could, but the gaps between his bursts of speed were already very small.
Every time he used Soru, a huge opening appeared in Louis's body, making for a rather unsettling sight.
"Hey, Xiluo, has a minute passed?"
Louis's shoulder caved in as he easily dodged another one of Stuart's attacks.
Most of the Wind Rider's strength came from activating every hair and the skin on his body. Every part of him was extraordinarily sensitive, and he was keenly aware of even the slightest movement of air. Louis, meanwhile, had exceptional control over his body and astonishing reflexes. It would be genuinely difficult to make him fail to dodge. Louis thought he'd probably learn Observation Haki pretty easily.
The stronger the attack, the stronger the wind pressure it generated—and the easier it was for Louis to dodge. That was all there was to it.
"Oh, it's just reached a minute, meow."
Xiluo deliberately paused for a few seconds, then called out with a laugh, "You can fight back now, Brother Louis!"
"Boom!!"
Louis's Iron Fist shot forward. Stuart's body suddenly appeared in midair, and Louis smashed him in the face with a punch. He was blasted away like a cannonball and slammed into the field, smashing the ground to pieces as he skidded backward, sending rubble flying everywhere.
"If you don't surrender,"
Louis tilted his head.
"Don't blame me if you end up dead."
Soru was impressive, its speed making it hard to track, but its weakness was just as obvious. Everyone had their limits when it came to reaction speed. It was hard to control your body while moving at high speed, and Soru always moved in a straight line. Even Xiluo, who could use Soru continuously and change direction at will, was hard to react to the instant he started moving. Stuart was even worse: he couldn't change direction at all before his Soru charge was complete.
The gale created by his high-speed movement made him impossible to hide from Louis. He couldn't control his body, and Louis's reflexes were astonishing, so it wasn't surprising that Louis could punch him out of his Soru dash.
"Mm!"
Down below, the smile on Xiluo's face began to fade. Just as he'd said, Soru was his greatest strength.
"How is this possible?!"
Stuart scrambled up from the ground, his bloodied face filled with utter disbelief—and jealousy.
"How is this possible?!"
"How could it not be?"
Louis's voice came from behind him.
"So fast!!"
Xiluo cried out.
"Super fast, meow!!"
"Boom!!"
Wind howled overhead. Stuart barely had time to raise an arm to block, but the impact against it was surprisingly light. Then a dark blur slammed hard into his face.
"Wah!!"
Stuart screamed. In a flash, he realized this was the same trick Louis had used against Yerika earlier: using Kami-e to leave his opponent's defenses completely exposed.
"Rankyaku Guillotine!!"
The attack was powerful, but not enough to knock Stuart unconscious. Still, he could tell that in terms of strength, the kid was slightly weaker than him.
Stuart's body leaned backward, then suddenly began to spin. He swung a leg at Louis behind him.
"Boom!!"
The ground shattered, but his attack couldn't touch Louis at all.
"Haven't you learned your lesson yet?"
Louis's body became extremely narrow and flat, allowing him to dodge Stuart's attack with ease. He kicked Stuart in the chest.
"Ugh!"
Blood sprayed from Stuart's mouth as he shot into the sky.
"Since you refuse to surrender, I have no choice."
Louis sighed and shot upward.
Geppo!
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!"
Louis moved through the air even faster than Stuart was flying. Geppo combined with Soru gave him incredible speed.
"Shigan Siege Cannon!"
Louis clenched his fist.
"Tekkai!!!"
Stuart bellowed.
"Boom!!"
The ground burst apart like a bubble. Rubble flew everywhere, and the tremendous shock left the students nearby struggling to stay on their feet.
"..."
Louis landed on the ground, but his expression wasn't good. He'd already pushed his defensive and evasive skills to their current limits, but—
"Hahahahaha!! Looks like you're not all that great after all!!"
Stuart shot out of the smoke, his face alight with wild laughter.
"Weren't you acting so cocky just now?"
Louis's punch had landed, but the man hadn't taken much damage.
Shigan and Rankyaku were ordinary Six Powers techniques, and at this stage, they couldn't generate enough force to pierce Stuart's Tekkai defense. After all, judging by their last exchange, there wasn't much difference between their Doriki Values. Louis was even slightly weaker.
Louis had never been so eager to improve his offensive power.
"Hahahaha! Die! Iron Fist Great Pinwheel!!"
Stuart did the splits and spun around, slamming his feet into the ground again and again. Like a rolling wheel, he hurtled toward Louis.
"Looks like you've misunderstood something."
Louis sighed.
"A moment of triumph can't last forever."
"Snap!"
The hair tie at the back of his head broke, and his long black hair began to fly.
"Boom!!"
Stuart's foot slammed into Louis's shoulder.
"Wah!"
Stuart screamed as his foot bounced back. A powerful force rebounded into his leg. Even with Tekkai, he couldn't ignore the pain.
Tekkai: Utsugi!!
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!"
Several black snakes shot out from behind Louis. The instant Stuart's leg bounced away and he lost his balance, they wrapped him up tightly.
"What is this stuff?!"
Stuart struggled desperately, but the things binding him felt like countless iron wires twisted together. He couldn't break free.
Tekkai—the ten thousand strands of hair that had been strengthened with Tekkai were woven together. Their strength was obvious.
"I'll ask one last time, Mr. Stuart,"
Louis said softly.
"Are you willing to surrender to me?"
"Heh heh heh hahahaha!! Surrender?"
Stuart laughed.
"Tekkai!!!"
"Come on, try and beat me!"
A black snake shot into his mouth like an arrow, and blood gushed out.
"Stop!!"
Only then did the Instructor finally intervene.
"Sorry about that."
Louis casually tossed Stuart's trembling body onto the ground. Looking somewhat disgusted, he snapped off the strand of hair that had pierced through Stuart's mouth, then turned to the Instructor with an apologetic expression.
"Stuart was too strong. I had to give it everything I had, and I accidentally... went too far."
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