GENSAI KUROKI
I thought I told you.
I'm going to use everything I have.
He evolved at the last second!
Agito Kanoh continues to evolve!
GIANT STAR
Twenty-three years ago…
METSUDO KATAHARA
Let's dig a little further.
Watch out for falling rocks!
It's truly the work of the devil.
To think, they're performing Kodoku with humans.
Kodoku is an ancient Chinese spell.
It involves sealing centipedes in a jar and waiting for them to devour each other.
The last one left alive becomes a cultivated dose of poison.
Who in the world would do such a thing?
I found the entrance!
-Huh? -Huh?
Pry open the door!
Don't let your guard down!
Bring over some more help!
We're too late.
They're all dead.
It seems Kodoku was a failure.
Huh?!
Metsudo! There's a survivor!
That was how I met Agito.
Agito was the only survivor of Kodoku.
Having endured those savage conditions,
it was as if he was possessed by a mad beast.
After I took Agito under my care,
I decided to educate him so he could learn self-control.
As a result, Agito grew to become a calm and collected war machine.
However, I wasn't able to completely suppress his inner beast.
That look that shows up on his face from time to time
is a twisted expression of his suppressed instincts.
Formless is nothing more than what happens when he loses control.
INNER TACTICS
FORMLESS
INNER TACTICS
Kanoh is using both Inner Tactics and Formless to fight.
It's as if Kuroki is fighting two masters of two completely different styles.
A dislocated left elbow!
Four broken fingers on his right hand!
Having lost both his left and right Devil Lances, Kuroki is cornered!
Even so, Kanoh was about to evolve even further!
Whoa!
Kuroki can't use either of his hands! He's in trouble!
Is the match about to end?!
It's no use.
Now that I've torn off both your wings, you've got nothing left up your sleeve.
What?!
His left arm is back?!
No.
He didn't injure me with his left arm.
His thumb?!
The Devil Lance did not die, and neither did Kuroki.
What?! Kanoh's left hand is bleeding!
And Kuroki's left arm seems to be okay!
That swing before…
He used centripetal force to snap his elbow joint back in place!
Kuroki performed that difficult move like it was nothing.
This made Kanoh even more cautious!
Sensing Kanoh's hesitation, Kuroki leaps on the offense!
Will he go right or left?
INNER TACTICS LEFT HOOK
Kanoh is overcome with sharp pain upon impact!
Organs don't have the ability to sense pain.
Pain is felt in the peritoneum covering the organs.
The impact was transmitted through his peritoneum and reached his liver.
The decrease in blood flow impairs his performance.
Kuroki's turned his thumb into the point of a spear!
FORMLESS
HEAD BUTT
The Devil Lance?!
LEFT ELBOW
Kanoh's only taken three hits, but the damage is severe!
How are Kuroki's hits so effective?
The Herculean who may have the most powerful strikes in the world,
Takeshi Wakatsuki.
The man who stands at the pinnacle of striking martial arts
and throws the fastest punches,
Kaolan Wongsawat.
Kanoh made it through fights with both of these powerful men.
So how is he losing this fight after only three strikes?
INNER TACTICS FORMLESS
VOID
RIGHT HAND CHOP
The answer is "Void."
"Void" is the moment Kanoh switches between Inner Tactics and Formless.
Kuroki had already noticed this was happening.
Kanoh had been wary of The Devil Lance since the match started.
That caution is what slowed his reactions to other attacks.
Since the attacks came from outside his awareness,
he wasn't able to defend against them in time.
Therefore…
They were direct hits!
These heavy blows, perfected by Kuroki after decades of training,
struck Kanoh without warning.
And they struck hard.
A seiken punch with broken fingers?!
Agito Kanoh was already using Indestructible.
But even that wasn't strong enough to block him.
Not missing his chance, Kuroki knocked him off balance with a palm heel strike.
MIDDLE FINGER KNUCKLE STRIKE
Wow! The attacks are having an effect!
He's letting him have it! Agito Kanoh is driven into a corner!
He puts my inexperience to shame.
It's not enough to have a few strong attacks under your belt.
"Use the right attack at the right time."
Kuroki already embodies the ideal essence of Inner Tactics.
After sending him flying with a right palm heel,
he waits for the pivotal moment…
TAKESHI WAKATSUKI
N-No way! He started using kicks this far into the match?
Agito!
Are you still trying to evolve further?
In the nick of time, he evolves!
INNER TACTICS
It landed! With a wide swing like that?!
What?!
He's already switched over!
INNER TACTICS
He reduced the lag time between Inner Tactics and Formless!
In terms of time, it was only a few milliseconds.
INNER TACTICS FORMLESS
A difference of mere milliseconds made it possible for him to use kicks!
He has surpassed my expectations.
I thought the match was over,
but no one knows how this will end yet.
This is why they call him "The Emperor"!
This is why they call him "the Fang"!
He has begun his revenge!
From tangible to intangible
and intangible to tangible.
A new ability he had developed after suffering intense damage.
He blocked it! Kuroki is closing in on him!
He fell into his trap!
One-Inch Punch, the move that finished Sen Hatsumi,
is an attack launched from a super close range.
It's the fastest strike from the shortest distance with the least amount of motion.
Dodging it is almost impossible.
It's the most powerful attack that Agito Kanoh currently has.
Kanoh had named this move
"Dragon Shot."
The Dragon Shot misfires.
He had broken his trapezium, trapezoid,
capitate, hamate,
scaphoid, lunate,
triquetrum, and pisiform, all in his right wrist.
It was a compound fracture of all eight of his carpal bones!
Agito Kanoh loses use of his right arm.
Wrist Reversal.
Kuroki saw the One-Inch Punch coming and didn't miss the moment Kanoh stopped.
Kuroki used Wrist Reversal to bend the direction of the Dragon Shot.
Of course, Kuroki didn't come away completely unscathed.
He bore the full force of Dragon Shot with just his right fist.
The only finger that wasn't broken before, his thumb, was now broken too.
But Kuroki was able to make a fist by forcing his muscles to contract.
There is more to Kaiwan style than just The Devil Lance.
It's just like Niko Style's Bone Binding.
How does he know Bone Binding?
I acknowledge you, Agito Kanoh.
As a worthy opponent, I shall give you your coup de grâce.
Kanoh was feeling an emotion
that was neither anger, impatience, nor despair.
Kanoh had fought 160 matches to pay back an obligation.
He had fought countless strong opponents.
Each time, he evolved and emerged victorious.
And now, Kanoh is confronting the largest obstacle he has ever faced.
He instinctively understood
that every battle he had fought was leading to this very moment.
"I fight. Therefore, I am."
With his very existence at stake, Agito Kanoh confronts Kuroki!
Kanoh had been able to foresee Kuroki's attack.
But his grip strength had weakened,
and his hand was pushed away.
RIGHT KNEE KICK
RIGHT KOKEN
Kuroki had also been able to foresee the future.
RIGHT KNEE KICK
Gensai Kuroki…
Looking at his movements, you can't even tell he's severely injured.
So this is how powerful a person who has perfected Inner Tactics can be!
So what?!
Victory is our destiny!
The Fang of Metsudo knows no defeat!
After the koken, it's a strike to the chin!
A monkey elbow counterattack using his whole body weight!
Kanoh's movements have stopped!
SIX SEIKEN IN A ROW
It's over.
The legend of Agito Kanoh, the Fang of Metsudo, is coming to an end!
Even with a concussion,
even with his right arm broken,
The Emperor will not die.
The Fang of Metsudo will not stop.
Agito Kanoh will not cower.
However,
the moment had finally arrived.
Gensai Kuroki…
Someday, I swear
I'm going to pay you back for this…
Two giant stars collided,
and one of them fell.
The star that was brighter, fiercer, and stronger…
That name of that star is…
Match over!
The winner is
Gensai Kuroki!
Oh, king of the Kengan matches…
You were truly a strong man.
Who would have been able to predict this shocking ending?!
The Fang of Metsudo, Agito Kanoh, has been defeated!
The Emperor of the Kengan matches has been wiped out in the semifinals!
Whoa, so what's gonna happen now?
This match will have unfathomable consequences.
It was the end of an era.
The fighters all realized
that the Kengan Association was about to undergo a revolution.
With Gensai Kuroki as the new king,
a new era of war was about to begin.
Huh?
Master.
Ever since you saved my life,
I've lived for the sake of paying you back.
But I was unable to accomplish my mission.
I…
Agito. There's something I have to tell you.
I'm the one who invited Gensai Kuroki to this tournament.
Well, now you know.
I'm the one responsible for your defeat.
You have nothing to feel bad about.
Why?
I was bored.
I've forgotten how long it's been since I became Kengan Association chairman.
It's been so long since my position as chairman was last under threat.
I was bored from the bottom of my heart.
Tired of being the king of a small pond.
So we were big fish in a small pond?
That's right.
I wanted a fight between equals.
Just like when I won the position of chairman way back when,
I wanted a fight that made my blood boil with excitement.
The tournament was a godsend.
The Kengan Life-or-Death Tournament,
a place where both Kengan match fighters and outsiders compete.
Many fighters put themselves on the line to battle for what they want.
Just as I had hoped,
a fresh breeze has begun to blow through the Kengan Association.
These were the most exciting days of my life.
That said, I didn't expect you to lose.
The curtain has closed on my long tenure.
I can feel my blood rush with excitement.
I get to tackle new challenges again, even at this old age.
Just like I did in the postwar period, when I had nothing but ambition.
I'm still in the game!
There's life in me yet!
And that means the time has come for you to follow a new path too.
I have high hopes for the new chairman
and the new Kengan Association
he is about to bring forth.
And for you, too, Agito.
Once you move past this defeat and emerge from this tiny pond,
I am hopeful that you will evolve even more.
Master…
Agito, thank you for everything.
Yes, sir!
Well, then.
Let us bear witness
to the final fight and the dawn of a new era.
Subtitle translation by: Arisa Nitta
Do you remember?
The time and the place where Ohma and Yamashita first met?
See how far these two have come!
Next Episode: "The Finals."