GENSAI KUROKI
I told you before.
I will use everything I have to defeat you.
AGITO KANOH
Another quick change at the last moment.
Agito Kanoh was evolving once again.
♪ Now it's been a while ♪
♪ And your kisses, they got even better ♪
♪ You think I don't know You're flaunting smiles ♪
♪ My love is what counts ♪
♪ But your face just clouds my honest feelings ♪
♪ I can only look at you with doubt ♪
♪ Don't forget, no connect ♪
♪ Maybe no because you're in my head ♪
♪ The love in me went away ♪
♪ I see the beauty ♪
♪ Beauty ♪
♪ Nothing can be in vain ♪
♪ You are the only ♪
♪ Only ♪
♪ You feel my pain ♪
♪ I can't wait ♪
♪ Don't be too late ♪
♪ Feel my pain out loud! ♪
GIANT STAR
Twenty-three years ago…
METSUDO KATAHARA
We'll dig down a little further!
Watch out for rock slides!
What we're seeing here is the work of the devil.
They would dare use humans for Kodoku?
Kodoku is a style of magic that was performed in ancient China.
KODOKU
Centipedes are locked in a jar to devour each other.
The final one that remains
becomes the poison.
It's enough to make you stop and wonder,
"Who would do something like this?"
The entrance! I think I found it!
-Huh? -Huh?
-Pry open the door! -Don't let your guard down!
We need more help!
Hmm.
We were too late.
All of them are dead.
It appears the Kodoku was a failure.
Huh?!
Metsudo, there's a survivor here!
No!
That was the day I met Agito.
He was the only remaining survivor of the heinous Kodoku.
Agito made it through unfathomable conditions.
When he fought, it was as if he was possessed by a mad beast.
After bringing him under my protection,
I taught him techniques to help him keep the beast under control.
As a result, Agito grew from that wild animal
to become a calm and collected machine of war.
However, it was impossible to keep the beast within him
completely suppressed.
Occasionally, that rabid mutant inside of him
reared itself up, despite our best attempts to repress it.
Fighting with Formless
is nothing more than the state of being out of control.
INNER TACTICS
FORMLESS
INNER TACTICS
Kanoh was using both Inner Tactics and Formless.
It felt as if Kuroki was fighting against two masters
of completely different styles, one after the other.
His left elbow was dislocated.
Four of his right fingers were broken.
He'd lost Devil Lance with either hand.
Kuroki was against the wall.
And as he powered through,
Kanoh's abilities were about to develop even further.
Wow!
If Kuroki can't use either of his hands, he's in a real pinch!
Does this spell the end of the match as we know it?
It's no use.
I've torn off both your wings.
You have nothing else left to try.
Huh?
What?
His left arm is back.
No.
It wasn't his left arm he used to hurt me like this.
He did that with his thumb?
The Devil Lance will not die.
Kuroki will not die.
What?!
Look at his left hand!
Kanoh has started to bleed.
And it seems like Kuroki's left arm is back in the game.
So that's what he did.
He used centripetal force to snap his elbow joint back in.
Kuroki pulled off a difficult move with ease.
As a result, Kanoh become even more cautious.
Kuroki took advantage of Kanoh's hesitation and moved to strike.
But with his right or left?
INNER TACTICS LEFT HOOK
Kanoh is overcome with agony upon impact.
Organs cannot sense pain.
The peritoneum that covers them is what triggers the nervous system.
The force of the impact shuttered through his body
and reached his liver.
Any decrease in blood flow resulted in worse physical performance.
Now a one-fingered spear strike with his thumb!
FORMLESS
HEAD BUTT
Another Lance?
LEFT ELBOW
Kanoh's only been hit three times,
but the damage is done.
What is it that makes Kuroki's hits so devastating?
There was the Herculean fighter
whose strikes may be among some of the strongest in the world,
Takeshi Wakatsuki.
And the one who stands at the pinnacle of striking,
the martial artist that possessed the fastest blows,
Kaolan Wongsawat.
Kanoh was skilled enough to hold his own against them both.
But in this fight, he was losing after only taking three hits.
How was that possible?
INNER TACTICS FORMLESS
VOID
RIGHT HAND CHOP
Because of Emptiness.
Emptiness is what occurred
the moment Kanoh switched between Inner Tactics and Formless.
Kuroki had already begun to notice this.
Kanoh had his guard up
but was more focused on the Devil Lance since the beginning of the match.
His hypervigilance towards the Devil Lance
made him slow to respond to other attacks.
The attacks had come from outside his sphere of consciousness,
leaving him defenseless as a result.
He got direct hits.
Kuroki had spent several decades training to perfect the devastation of his strike.
And Kanoh was caught off guard by the sudden blow…
…which meant they were more effective.
He punched him with broken fingers.
I can't imagine the pain.
And Kanoh was already using Indestructible.
Even that isn't enough to block Kuroki's power.
Never one to miss a shot,
Kuroki knocked Kanoh off stance with a palm heel.
MIDDLE FINGER KNUCKLE STRIKE
Wow!
It's working!
I don't believe it! It's working!
Things are looking pretty dire.
How can Kanoh get out of this one?
He's getting absolutely wailed on.
He puts my immaturity to shame.
So what if he knows some powerful attacks?
That isn't going to be enough.
It's about using the right attack at the right moment.
Kuroki already embodies the essence of Inner Tactics,
but that was nothing more than an ideal.
He sends him flying with another palm heel,
then waits for the right moment.
THE DEVIL LANCE
Uh…
No way. He started using kicks this far into the match?
Agito,
you're still finding new ways to adapt?
Just in time,
he was able to evolve.
INNER TACTICS
Huh! Direct hit!
But that was such a wide swing!
What?
He's already made the switch.
FORMLESS
INNER TACTICS
He eliminated the lag between Inner Tactics and Formless.
In real time, he had shortened it to only a few milliseconds.
INNER TACTICS FORMLESS
But that miniscule change made all the difference
when it came to the possibility of Kanoh using kicks.
He's far surpassed the limits of my imagination.
I thought this would be as far as he could go.
But now it's anyone's guess how this match will end.
This is why they call him the Emperor
and why he's known as the Fang!
His revenge story starts now!
Tangible and Formless.
Formless and Tangible.
A new ability emerges,
erupting from the blood and agony of his wounds.
He's blocked it!
Kuroki is starting to close the gap between them.
He got sucked in,
just like he planned.
This was the attack that ended Hatsumi,
a One-Inch Punch launched form close range,
the fastest strike from the shortest distance
with the smallest movement possible.
Trying to dodge it is a losing proposition.
It's the most explosive attack that Agito Kanoh currently has available.
Kanoh gave it a simple name.
He called it Dragon Shot.
The Dragon Shot misfired.
In less than an instant,
he could feel the trapezium bone,
trapezoid bone,
capitate bone,
hamate bone,
scaphoid bone,
lunate bone,
triquetrum bone,
and pisiform bone in his right wrist shatter.
Each of his eight carpal bones suffered a total compound fracture.
Agito Kanoh has now lost the use of his right arm.
Hand Twist,
the counter to One-Inch Punch.
Kuroki made his move the moment Kanoh stopped
and strategically deployed a Hand Twist
to manipulate the force of the blow from the Dragon Shot.
Of course, he was not left unscathed.
He bore the full brunt of the strike with his right fist.
Though his thumb had not been broken before,
it was now.
However, Kuroki was still able to make a fist
by forcing his muscles to contract.
Kaiwan Style is so much more than just the Devil Lance.
That looks like Bone Hold in Niko Style.
But how does he know how to use that?
I admit it, Agito Kanoh.
You are a challenging opponent.
I shall deliver your coup de grâce.
It wasn't anger, impatience, or despair.
Feelings coursed through Kanoh that he wasn't able to identify.
He had fought 160 matches to honor an obligation.
He faced off against countless opponents.
Each time, he continued to grow
and emerge victorious.
And now, standing poised before him was the largest obstacle of his life.
Pure instinct informed him that every challenge he overcame before
had been building to this very moment.
Hmm.
With only one truth,
"I fight, therefore I am…"
His very existence, hanging in the balance,
Agito Kanoh goes in to strike.
Kanoh had the foresight to see through Kuroki's attack.
But his grip strength had been weakened earlier in their match,
and his hand was pushed away.
RIGHT KNEE KICK
RIGHT KOKEN
Kuroki had also made his own predictions.
RIGHT KNEE KICK
Gensai Kuroki…
You would never guess he'd been hurt this bad
with how sharp he moves.
This is a testament to the power of perfecting Inner Tactics.
But who'd care?
It is my destiny to win.
The Fang of Metsudo will never know defeat!
After Arc Fist comes a blow to the chin.
A Monkey Arm counter backed with his full body weight…
Kanoh appears frozen in midair.
SIX SEIKEN IN A ROW
It's over.
The legend of Agito Kanoh, the Fang of Metsudo,
is over.
Even with his brain shaken,
even with his right arm broken,
the Emperor will not die.
The Fang of Metsudo is ceaseless.
Agito Kanoh will not cower.
However, though it was long delayed,
the moment finally arrived.
Gensai Kuroki,
I will find you once again,
and I will have my day.
Two giant supernovas collide.
One of them collapses.
But one star was brighter,
fiercer,
strong enough to overpower the other.
And that star…
Match over!
The winner is
Gensai Kuroki!
The Emperor of the Kengan Matches, huh?
You're a strong man.
Truly quite the specimen to behold.
Who could've seen any of that coming?
I mean, that ending was a total shock.
The Fang of Metsudo,
Agito Kanoh, has been defeated.
He got all the way to the semifinals
before the Emperor of the Kengan Matches was taken out.
Man oh man. Consider my mind blown.
I can't imagine the consequences of this match.
An era was coming to an end.
It was then the fighters realized
that the Kengan Association
was about to undergo a revolution.
Dawn was breaking,
lit from the fires of warring states
with Gensai Kuroki as the new king!
Hmm.
Master,
you saved me.
And since that day, I've tried to live my life
in the hopes that I might repay that debt.
But I…
I failed in that purpose.
And I…
Huh?
Enough.
Agito, there is something I must share with you.
Gensai Kuroki was invited into the competition for a reason.
That was all my doing.
I couldn't tell you everything.
If you see this as a failure, then you should blame me for it.
As far as I'm concerned, you have nothing to be ashamed of.
But why?
I've grown so tired.
I've forgotten how many years have passed
since I became chairman of the association.
But it's been a good long time
since my position has been under any kind of real threat.
It's become quite exhausting, really.
What thrill is there in being a king
if the world I rule is so small?
So you're saying it's like we're living in a bubble?
Uh, yeah.
I wanted it to be a true match against equals,
like when I won the position of chairman all those years ago.
I wanted to see fights that thrilled me to my core.
Being able to host this tournament has been a godsend.
The Kengan life-or-death matches,
where powerful fighters gather from inside and outside the association,
where warriors battled fiercely for what they wanted,
to put their very bodies and souls on the line.
And it'd all gone just as I planned.
A fresh breeze has begun to blow through these stale halls.
I don't think I've ever been this excited before.
That said, of all the things I was expecting to happen here,
you losing was not one of them.
So now the curtain has finally come to a close on my tenure.
And that means it's the dawn of a new chapter.
Even at this age, I still get to face new challenges head on.
Reminds me of the postwar years
when I was a young sprout full of spunk and ambition.
It's not over.
If I feel like this, I'm still in the game!
Which means, the time has come for you to find a new path of your own.
I have high hopes for the future of Kengan.
I see a world of possibilities
under the fearless watch of its new chairman,
whichever of them ends up winning the fight.
And you as well, Agito.
Once you move past this defeat and leave this small world,
I believe that you will continue to evolve.
Master.
No, Agito.
Let me thank you for everything you've done for me.
Sir!
All right, then.
Time to follow through to the end.
Let's go watch the last match
and, with its conclusion,
witness the birth of a new age.
♪ Like this, biatch… ♪
♪ Say what? ♪
♪ You say you running the city… ♪
♪ Say what? ♪
♪ Hey, when I snap ♪
♪ Put damage on your cap… ♪
♪ Say what? ♪
♪ You say you running the city… ♪
A memory flickers to life.
The place where Ohma and Yamashita first met many years ago.
And now, the two of them have made it this far.
Next episode, "The Finals."