"Human beings are glorified flesh bags
made for holding in blood and shit."
He'd repeat this to himself again and again.
The Assassin's Fist.
The head of the Lightning Spirit Style, Rei Mikazuchi.
Rei doesn't think twice about murder.
He has conditioned himself beyond guilt.
Killing is like breathing in.
Killing is like breathing out.
Killing is as natural as eating.
Breathe, eat, piss, shit, kill. Repeat.
Killing is part of daily life.
Hesitation and mercy have no place in that plan.
Today, Rei continues his killing in silence.
But the plan has changed.
What could a guest be doing here at this hour?
RINO KURAYOSHI GOLD PLEASURE GROUP CEO
Are you here to kill me, mister?
Rei Mikazuchi fell deeply in love.
SIX MONTHS LATER
Ah, looks like I win again!
Mm.
Rei, do you remember our conversation?
Yeah. I keep thinking about it. And you're right.
THE PUBLIC
Assassins live in a deep, dark part of an underground world.
THE UNDERWORLD
I can't keep on killing anymore.
Not if I want to be with you.
I've made up my mind, Rino.
The Assassin's Fist Lightning Spirit Style is over.
Starting today, the Lightning Spirit Style lives on!
Rino, I need you.
Can you arrange a Kengan match?
SUICIDE ATTACK
Yeah!
Saw Paing is a 30-year-old fighter hailing from Myanmar.
JERRY TYSON SAYAKA KATAHARA
His father is none other than Pa Paing, the famous Showa era fighter.
Ne Win Paing was his older brother,
one of our beloved fighters that passed away suddenly two years ago.
Saw currently resides as a humble citizen of the Village of Dawn located in Kyushu.
Surnames don't exist in Myanmar,
so he uses the same last name as the village chief, Yoroizuka,
to show respect for his hometown.
You know, I heard a rumor
that Saw Paing was deliberately holding back a special move in round one.
You heard that right.
It's the most powerful move in Lethwei.
And that's the headbutt!
Saw Paing won eight out of his previous 18 matches
with this signature move.
Six of those wins were after he responded to an opponent with a counter-headbutt!
Saw Paing clearly has the advantage in a close-range fight.
But I'm sure his opponent is fully aware of that too.
On the other hand,
the full power of his opponent, Mikazuchi, is still a mystery.
Yeah! We know for sure that Mikazuchi's speed
has definitely been a threat in the past.
But none of the information I could find
had any actual details about his fighting style.
That's certainly exciting to hear.
On my left, a hand-to-hand brawler from Myanmar!
And on my right, a mysterious and brooding assassin!
In life, these two would have never met, but now, they can't avoid it.
The battle is on!
Yeah!
Time for me to win! Ha!
Apologies. I'm not losing today.
You are done.
My love for Rino is strong.
Bring it on!
Let's rock!
TWO YEARS AGO
Brother, no!
Your late father suffered the same painful end,
like that of a fighter.
It happened five years ago.
That's when your brother Ne Win first started coming in to see me.
He dominated each fight he was in with the ferocity of a god.
He wouldn't listen to me when I tried to pull him back.
He'd push past his limits time and time again.
And finally, during his last match,
he collapsed to his knees in the ring.
I learned about it later.
And the village where his siblings still lived
had fallen victim to its own terrible brand of misfortune.
I learned that the villagers had received a demand for an exorbitant sum
to avoid eviction.
Oh, those poor fools!
Why couldn't they have come to me for help?
"A warrior never accepts a handout."
That was my brother's favorite saying.
We all ended up losing our home.
Gramps, do me a favor?
Of course. I would do anything for you.
Please let my family and anyone else who was kicked out of the village
come stay here at yours instead.
Huh?
Try not to worry too much.
I guarantee I'm tougher than my brother was.
And I'm gonna follow in his footsteps!
Damn right.
I know what I have to do.
I have to protect the village.
Yeah!
Fighters ready!
Begin!
I knew it. This one was different.
He was planning to take the hit from the start.
-Yeah! -Hm.
LIGHTNING SPIRIT STYLE ILLUSION STEP
Illusion Step.
An original stepping technique invented by Sei Mikazuchi,
the 65th head of the Lightning Spirit Style.
The irregular movements with variations in speed
served as the lead-up to his fastest attack,
the Flash of Lightning.
Oh yeah!
FLASH OF LIGHTNING
Hmm?
The way he moved.
I think I understand him now.
Hmm. Do you see it, Saw Paing?
You might actually have a chance at winning this fight.
Yeah! I'll slice you up like French fries!
Left!
He's baiting him to hit him so he can counterattack! Ooh.
It's much more than that.
Curling up his body decreases the exposed surface area of his chest.
That limits how many ways the enemy can attack him.
Unfortunately, it leaves the top of his spine completely exposed to attack.
However, Saw Paing's back doesn't seem to be a weak spot for him.
Those attacks won't be enough to crack his bones.
Ha! That all you got?
That blow must have hurt.
Your fighting style isn't good for long-form matches.
I am surprised though. How is it that you haven't collapsed yet?
He's coming!
-Oh my! -Saw Paing dodged it?
Oh, Sayaka! What just happened?
It looks like he's dodging!
Saw Paing is avoiding attacks with an almost inhuman speed!
This superhuman who has been absorbing blow after blow,
just so that he could return them, is now trying to dodge his enemy's attacks!
The Burmese Iron Hammer! There it is, folks.
He missed, but you can see how powerful that attack is.
Anyone who does get hit by this is not gonna last very long.
I mean, incredible!
He's strong.
He almost landed that.
I let myself get lured in too close. I have to be careful.
I see what he was trying to do.
Oh. That man seems pretty tough.
He saw how close Rei was getting
and tried to counterattack before he even got a chance.
It would have been over if Rei had stepped in just a bit more.
He learned how to play the game of push and pull.
He's grown since the last time I saw him fight.
Yeah!
I can't believe you dodged that. That was incredible!
That was nothing special.
Huh. I'm better than you.
Kaolan had concluded that Saw Paing had the upper hand
because of Mikazuchi's fighting style.
Many of the techniques in the Lightning Spirit Style
are focused on assassination.
That requires the assassin to understand how to kill someone efficiently,
using tools to maximize effect while minimizing effort.
If the rules of this match had allowed for the use of weapons,
the fight would have ended already.
And yet, despite the gap in skill,
the battle continues.
This is quite a common dilemma for assassins.
ERIO KURE KURE FAMILY HEAD
They focus exclusively on killing.
Not so much on defeating an enemy.
Gensai Kuroki from the Kaiwan style was top-class in his balance of techniques.
The kid with the Inaba style used a lot of similar techniques.
So if you're the head of the Lightning Spirit Style,
show us how good you really are.
Oh! It looks like Mikazuchi is changing his stance.
I promised the woman I love I would not kill.
So try not to die on me.
In 1588, the shogun issued an edict to confiscate all swords.
Only the samurai were within their rights to carry weapons.
Many of the individuals working in the shadows as assassins were not samurai.
They needed to find alternative ways of ending a life.
They had to employ two main methods.
The first, assassinating the target by taking a commonly used object
and concealing a weapon within it.
The other method of assassination,
using their bare hands.
Flash of Lightning is a classic move
originating from the Lightning Spirit Style.
This elusive form is known to change and evolve over the years.
It adapts with the times.
Let's go!
GEKAN, SHOSHO, SEIMEI, SHIHAKU, SHINTEI, GEIKO
Each strike to the face uses a different fist shape,
shifting his fingers to inflict maximum damage.
This is known as Lightning Spirit Style, Heat Haze.
Yeah!
Mikazuchi is trying to create some distance between them,
but Saw Paing will not let him find space!
-Rei! -I won't last long.
It only took two hits for him to crack the bone.
Rei's attacks aren't working as well as I thought.
Is the size difference just too much?
The difference in their weight isn't the issue.
What matters most is their compatibility.
Rei Mikazuchi's sequence of attacks was exquisite.
He switched his finger placement for each part of the face.
His ability to strike his target accurately is impressive.
He's unlucky.
It's simply the fact that he's up against Saw Paing.
His skull is probably thicker than any other in human history.
It can easily withstand the force of any attack.
He's a good compliment to Bando's innate flexibility.
HAJIME HANAFUSA
His skeleton seems to be hard enough to absorb just about any blow
that might try to expose his weak points.
It's not effective enough to neutralize damage,
but it's enough to cut it in half for sure.
That hurt. Oh man, that really hurt!
Saw Paing launches an onslaught of attacks!
Mikazuchi is forced to fall back and focus on defense.
He keeps dodging. It's easy to see you're good at this, but I don't care.
I have to win!
Here comes the knee!
BURMESE IRON HAMMER
Hmm.
Fa Jin, yoroi-doshi, ura-ate, and tesshi.
These attacks damage the internal organs
via a shockwave of force from exterior hits.
Lightning Spirit Style, Brutal Lightning!
Come on. Keep moving.
-Hmm. -Huh?
SEN HATSUMI
He looks like he's playing it safe.
It's possible for Muteba to pull it off,
but normally aiming for the eyes on a moving target is risky.
I guess he keeps punching him like that for a reason,
so he continues to rattle his brain.
Even if there are no external injuries, he's still racking up damage.
How is he still going like this?
Dad,
brother,
I'm gonna be okay.
I gotta make sure my little brothers and sisters are okay.
I gotta protect the village.
I know that I can protect all of them!
He pulled away!
Did he slip on something?
No. He's creating distance!
Low kick! Wow, look at him go.
That leg sure looks like it's starting to swell up.
Whoa! Look at that crescent moon kick!
He refuses to back off! Saw Paing is back and stronger than ever!
I'm sorry.
I'm the one who read you better.
I'm better.
The second blow to his chin.
The Howling Fighting Spirit
falls before The Lightning God.
Match over!
Whoa! And with that, it's finished!
The Myanmar Monster has met his downfall on Ganryu Island!
This marks the first time in the fighter's entire career
that he loses by a knockout.
The winner of this matchup is none other than The Lightning God himself,
Rei Mikazuchi!
-Whoa. -He's good.
Huh.
He's gonna be a bit of a challenge.
Oh, my goodness. Look at that silly boy.
Why does he look so unsatisfied when he won the match?
I've got work to do.
I didn't think I would meet someone who could take that many hits.
I've been overconfident.
It's time for me to reevaluate.
REI MIKAZUCHI ADVANCES TO ROUND THREE
Are you awake?
Kaolan.
That second headbutt was pretty cocky.
He felt out your timing and used your momentum against you.
We both know that this would be a very different conversation
if you had landed that first headbutt.
That's not relevant.
But now you know how small the gap is between winning and losing.
Take what you've learned from today
and use it again in the future if you want.
I can't say that it really matters to me.
Hmm.
Saw Paing?
I'm sorry,
Kaolan.
I've had enough.
I've… I just…
You what?
You've had enough?
Are you thinking about what you're saying?
Because I believed you were a better man than this!
This is the first time you've tripped.
Won't you get back up no matter how hard they knock you down?
Answer me, Saw Paing!
Kaolan,
I don't…
I don't think I can fight anymore.
You're infuriating.
I can't believe you ever considered yourself a rival of mine.
You are nothing more than a damn coward.
If you don't want to fight anymore, then I'm done with you.
Kaolan,
you don't understand.
My time here is done.
The Exquisite Beast arrives again.
His cold eyes remain focused on a single target. The Ashura!
Witness the reveal of Rakshasa's Palm!
Next episode, "An Old Friend."