Infinite Realm

"Yamamoto Ichiro?" Sato asked curiously.

Instead of replying, the young man glanced at Yato.

When he had heard that name, Yato was stunned but it didn't take him long come to his senses.

"I should have guessed it." Yato sighed.

"Yo, Yato. Who the heck is Ichiro?" Seiichi asked.

"Can't you guess? How many Ichiros do you even know." Yato said with an annoyed look.

"Ichiro...third gen Ichiro?!" Seiichi yelled after figuring it out.

"Yeah." Yato replied exasperatedly.

"Haha." Seiichi laughed.

Yamamoto Ichiro, as his nickname implied, was a third generation of a large family in Shinjuku, the Yamamoto family. Originally, the Yamamoto family was based in the Capital but they lost their position as a top family of ISJ to the Kurosakis a couple of years back. Even so, the Yamamoto family was still very powerful and influential. So much so that it is believed that the Yamamotos in Shinjuku are actually a branch and this branch is among the top 3 families of Shinjuku. Ichiro's father happens to be the head of the family down here and so he could be said to be a child born with a diamond spoon, enjoying the best of the best in the family. Luxury cars, mansions, resorts, you name it. Ichiro had access to all the properties owned by the Shinjuku Yamamoto family. As for how he was related to this incident, Ichiro was pursuing Mia or rather, he is Mia's 'new' boyfriend.

"So he probably did this to force you to stay away from Mia." Seiichi nudged his glasses.

"Doesn't make sense. If this guy didn't tell us about this, we wouldn't know it was his doing." Sato said. He then asked, "What was Mia's reaction when you broke up with her?"

"Her reaction?" Yato then replied, 'I didn't get a good look but I think she was a bit sad. No, she might have been sad because I believe she had emotions for me before. So me suddenly breaking up with her would hurt her a bit. Why do you ask?"

"Ichiro must have wanted to teach you a lesson for that, maybe." Seiichi answered him with a look of realisation though unsure of his reply.

"...is that possible?" Yato said with a low voice. If Ichiro really did this to him for Mia then it meant that he really liked her. In such a case, Yato wouldn't have any chance of getting her back. Though he might have broken up with Mia, a part of him still wanted her back. Yato only steeled himself and held back the urge to face Ichiro because he didn't want to let his friends, no, his family, down.

"Maybe, but if that is the case then he must have really liked her. But I doubt that. It's also possible that he might just have wanted to deal with probably because you were hanging around his girl. He couldn't have done it before since you were still dating Mia and that could affect his plans but now that he has Mia in his hands, he shouldn't be scared to do so." Sato said.

"Yeah, you're right." Yato recovered to his senses.

"However, this tells us of something."

"What?" Yato and Seiichi asked at the same time.

Sato answered, "Ichiro probably has someone spying on you. Otherwise, how would he know that you and Mia have broken up."

"Someone spying on me?" Yato suddenly felt that there were eyes lurking in the dark.

"Don't over think it buddy. It's either that or the news got to him some how but there's no harm in being cautious." Seiichi patted Yato on the back.

"Okay." Yato nodded.

"So now we are done here, what else are you guys waiting for?" Sato glanced at the young man and his squad.

"Allow me to introduce myself properly. I'm Wu Shiyi [1]." The young man declared.

"Wu Shiyi? What's someone of the Chinese Federation doing here?" Seiichi asked.

"Is there any rule that says I can't?" Wu Shiyi asked back with a smile.

"You're right." Seiichi smiled back.

"So what are you waiting for Mr Wu?"

Wu Shiyi glanced at Sato and said, "I want to spar with you."

"A fight?" Sato asked.

"No. Just a spar. We don't need to do anything deadly or fight with our lives or honour on the line. Just a regular spar between martial arts enthusiasts." Wu Shiyi smiled.

"Okay." Sato nodded. He wasn't afraid that Wu Shiyi was tricking to get his guard down and even if it was so, Sato wasn't scared. There was no way he would let his guard down just because he's opponent wanted him to do so.

"What do you think the boss is doing?" Second Mu whispered to Sai.

"I don't know but the boss should know what he's doing. Just follow his lead." Sai said.

*Stomp*

Wu Shiyi heavily stomped the floor, fixing his foot in position and taking a stance.

Sato on the other hand kept a serious look with his two arms raised in front of him. He didn't plan on underestimating Wu Shiyi as he did with the other fighters. Wu Shiyi was able to see his moves from his last fight and with that, Sato concluded that it was possible that Wu Shiyi might be as strong as he was.

"I'm coming." Wu Shiyi smiled before propelling himself forward with his right foot.

Unlike First Mu, Wu Shiyi was a lot faster, so fast that Yato and Seiichi couldn't even see him that clearly. But Sato wasn't Yato not Seiichi. He clearly saw Wu Shiyi's moves but even so, Sato didn't have an easy time doing so.

Wu Shiyi's first move was a thrust with his right palm. His hand wasn't clenched to form a fist but was open with his fingers stuck closely to one another. Unlike a punch, it would be more convenient to describe it as a 'chop' but performed as a thrust.

Like a spearhead to it's target, Wu Shiyi's hand approached Sato quickly aiming for his chest. Sato saw the attack coming and he noticed it was very fast; so fast that it almost made him take the fight seriously. To avoid the strike, Sato tilted his head and at the same time his head was in motion, he lifted his left leg to deliver a kick at Wu Shiyi.

Attacking while dodging! A risky procedure that required perfect concentration and calmness in the face of an attack.

Wu Shiyi wasn't like First Mu and was a lot stronger. He easily discovered Sato's actions and so stopped his attack and used his hand to block the kick while at the same time, sending out a kick of his own at Sato with his left leg.

Attacking while blocking!

Wu Shiyi might not have been able to dodge Sato's leg in time but he countered in his own way that wasn't so different from what Sato did. It was as if he was saying "What you can do, I can do too".

Sato smirked seeing this and so blocked the attack too. This resulted in a scene where both fighters had blocked the other's left leg with their right hand.

Using their right legs, they shoved themselves backwards, creating space between each other. Once there feet was on the ground, they spurred into action once more, not wanting to give the other the liberty of making the next move first.

*Pa* *Pa*

Sato and Wu Shiyi exchanged fists and kicks with each other, trying to force the other into submission. Even though Wu Shiyi had called it a spar, he was taking the battle a little bit more serious than he would take an actual spar. Sato never intended on going easy on the target so he also didn't take the fight as a regular spar. However, none of them used a martial arts technique, except for a few basic ones like energy control and the rest. Only punches and kicks were used in the fight.

Wu Shiyi kicked and Sato dodged while moving close to him and punching out. Wu Shiyi spaced away from Sato but returned quickly with a fist aimed at Sato's face. Sato blocked it before sending a kick at Wu Shiyi, which he blocked. The kick sent Wu Shiyi 3 steps backwards while the punch sent Sato 2 steps backwards. The difference in steps wasn't to say that Sato was stronger, after all, Sato had used a kick while Wu Shiyi used a punch. One's kicking power is said to be greater than their punching strength so calculating their abilities with such a situation wasn't ideal.

"We can stop here." Wu Shiyi suddenly said.

"Okay." Sato acquiesced, looking as if the fight was just a warm-up.

"Then, till we meet again." Wu Shiyi said before turning around to leave.

Sato then suddenly asked, "You aren't the one from back then right? From your stance and bearing, you look more like a direct fighter than a stalker. That means you guys aren't complete right? Who was the other one?"

In truth, Sato didn't expect Wu Shiyi to reply but he wanted to know whether he was acquainted with the stalker back at the Dorms' area.

"Oh? A stalker you say?" Wu Shiyi turned around. "That should be my senior brother."

"Okay." Sato nodded. He watched as Wu Shiyi left with his gang members before turning to Yato and Seiichi.

"Let's go. It's almost 6 PM."

"Alright." Yato and Seiichi nodded.

As they headed to the dorms, Yato asked, "Shouldn't we invite Katsuo too?" He had already ignored the incident that just occurred after all, there was nothing he could do about it. Ichiro was someone above him and unless Seiichi helped using his family's connections, Yato couldn't do anything about it.

"Already did." Seiichi said.

"When?" Yato asked with a surprised tone.

"When Sato asked me to do so."

"When was that?!" Yato halted his footsteps.

"What do you mean when? Back before the fight."

"But, but, but I was with you guys the whole time. How come I didn't hear anything?" Yato couldn't help being stunned.

"Who knows." Seiichi nudged his glasses.

Yato glanced from Sato to Seiichi but he didn't know how to react or what to say. In the end, he just sighed and caught up with the two.

"Remember, 6:30 PM. Better be on time." Sato said to Seiichi once they reached the Dorms' area.

"You shouldn't worry about me but yourself. Be sure to make it back home in time. Alright, later." Seiichi waved the two goodbye before leaving for his room.

"You have take a ride home in other to make it in time especially since you're just going to be starting for the first time." Sato said to Yato as they both got on their bikes.

"No worries. I know how to set my priorities straight. Black Mountain Town right?"

"Yeah." Sato nodded.

"Okay then." Yato replied as the two rode their bikes back home or rather, back to the school gate.

. . . . .

"Boss, why did we have to apologise to that kid? We didn't complete the mission and we would end up offending that Yamamoto since we revealed his identity to them." Sai asked to Wu Shiyi after they had departed from the basketball court.

"Offending a Yamamoto? So what? Much less a branch member, I would even offend a direct descendant rather than that guy. He's a lot worse than that Yamamoto kid." Wu Shiyi replied.

"!!!" Sai was surprised but he didn't doubt his boss but he still found it a bit unbelievable. Even if Ichiro was a branch member, the Yamamotos couldn't be taken lightly, especially in Shinjuku where Ichiro's branch family ruled the city.

"Boss. If I may ask, who is he?" Second Mu carefully asked.

"Who is he? I tell you this, that move he used against your elder brother was one only Grand-masters know how to use. That guy couldn't use it well enough but he did do a good job with it. This shows that he is below the Grand-master rank; probably a master level martial artist." Wu Shiyi replied.

"Sthhh." Everyone took in a cold breath of air. Even Second Mu's back began sweating heavily.

A Master level martial artist. Even if these guys were below grand-masters they were still a force to reckon. Only their boss, Wu Shiyi, was a master level artist and he was just an early stage one but could easily take them all on with one hand. What more, this guy was a young one like their boss. This proved to show that he had a lot of potential and could possibly reach the Grand-master level.

"But still, even if he is a Master, this is still not enough reason to offend the Yamamotos." Second Mu said slowly in fear that he might annoy Wu Shiyi.

Masters weren't rare unlike Grand-masters. One of the requirements to open a Dojo was to be a Master and there were quite a few Dojos in Shinjuku, since exercise was quite important for people, even more so in this age. In other words, the appeal of a Master warrior is nothing compared to the Yamamotos.

"True, Masters aren't that rare but now answer me this. How many Master have you seen at that age apart from me and him?" Wu Shiyi asked with a playful smile.

"...only 2 and those two are National level fighters." Sai replied. Martial arts and exercises were now taken much more highly and so, it was inevitable that a few would want to make money from these. As such, martial arts and hand-to-hand combat battles became popular but this is to be discussed another time.

"Only 2 right? Now what do we - those 2 and myself - have in common apart from our ranks and our age?" Wu Shiyi asked again.

"Hmm... your teachers are all Grand-masters?" Sai replied.

"Correct. You should have already guessed it but for those who still haven't, that guy was able to use a skill only Grand-masters could use. Now who do you think taught him that?" Wu Shiyi playfully asked.

"It can't be?! He has a Grand-master as a teacher!" Second Mu and the rest, apart from Sai who had already figured it out, yelled in surprise.

"Don't be so loud now." Wu Shiyi said while picking his ear with his finger. " Now you get it?"

"Yes boss." Everyone nodded. Compared to a Grand-master, the Yamamotos were nothing, even more so a branch family. They finally understood why their boss made them apologise.

Even if he had a Grand-master backing him too, Wu Shiyi wouldn't want to attract trouble to himself or his teacher, especially so since he doesn't know the name or level of the Grand-master backing Sato.

Wu Shiyi suddenly said, "It would be good if we could get close with that guy. Who knows, he might be able to help us someday. As for that shit head Yamamoto who didn't investigate properly, no one tell him about this. Let him go provoke the hornet's nest himself. We might find out the identity of the Grand-master and also pay back that Yamamoto in kind for the injuries Little Mu and his brother received. Two birds with one stone."

"Yes boss."

"You're truly wise."

"Boss is right."

All the gang members began to grovel and fawn over him.

"Haha. Alright, let's get back to base and look at their injuries." Wu Shiyi chuckled.

"Alright."