"You..."
Ogi Zenin looked like an old man whose body was on the verge of failing, forced to bow his head in a miserable semblance of kneeling homage.
The arrogance and commanding air he had cultivated through years of pampered living had been utterly crushed.
His self-important dignity had been trampled beneath Araki Itsuki's contemptuous foot.
Especially when he thought of his daughter Maki watching from behind him, Ogi Zenin felt so ashamed he wanted to crawl into a crack in the ground.
Maki, whom he had always considered a disgrace and a lifelong stain on his honor, had witnessed him in this wretched state.
"Aaaagh!"
His fury burned so fiercely it nearly consumed Ogi Zenin's reason.
He roared, abandoning every trace of his usual cold composure!
With anger, shame, and a host of other emotions suddenly churning together, his long samurai-style hair was already drenched in sweat.
Sweat even poured down his neck like rain.
Drip, drip, drip!
His humiliating sweat splattered onto the old wooden floor.
Fighting desperately against the pressure, Ogi Zenin slowly raised his head, his congested, crimson face gradually lifting.
He was almost able to look toward the clan head's chair.
"You think you're worthy of looking me in the eye?"
Araki Itsuki brutally planted his right foot on Ogi Zenin's skull, slowly grinding it down with mocking amusement.
Thud!
Despite his desperate struggles, Ogi Zenin's head was driven firmly into the wooden floor.
"Aagh!"
Blood splashed around the shattered floorboards, and Ogi Zenin could not resist in the slightest.
Veins bulged on Jinichi Zenin's right fist, and his muscles swelled.
Given their supposedly deep brotherly affection, he would not have cared if Ogi Zenin were beaten to death.
But now Araki Itsuki was trampling the Zenin Clan's dignity underfoot as well.
"Araki Itsuki, let