The fortified school was still sealed under military lockdown when the encrypted report left its communications hub.
The subject line alone carried weight:
SUBJECT: HARUKO ZOLDYCK – UNRECORDED POWER CLASSIFICATION
DESTINATION: SUPREME COMMAND HQ
Within an hour, the file was on the desk of Supreme Commander Xerrat.
He scanned it without changing expression — page after page of unverified readings, eyewitness accounts, and video stills from the Bloodline Pool incident.
When he reached the final note, he exhaled slowly.
"Unmeasurable output level. Sensors failed."
His lips tightened into the faintest of grins.
"This one… will require personal attention."
That evening in the Zoldyck estate lounge, the main television cut into regular broadcasting with a breaking news banner.
Aerial shots showed two enormous figures trading fists in the middle of a city street. Both had tails, both moved with such speed that the cameras caught only the aftermath of each collision.
Each impact left craters in the pavement and quieted the crowd.
The helicopters above kept their distance, but every resident in range had gathered to watch.
Haruko leaned forward. In the sea of faces below, he recognised multiple awakened bloodlines, inter-world migrants, and foreign clan members. Too many interesting faces for a "random" fight. His gut told him there was more at play.
Beside him, Selina's tail gave a single sharp flick.
"Yujiro…" she murmured, almost under her breath, "…son."
That pulled Haruko's focus away from the screen. "Grandma… related to us? They've got tails — Saiyan blood?"
She nodded slowly, her eyes still fixed on the fight. "Go to them. Tell them Selina is calling. Be respectful. One of them is your uncle."
After morning training with Keaton, Haruko didn't hesitate.
He booked the earliest possible flight, a small private charter, and within thirty minutes of landing he was threading his way through downtown — following the growing roar of the gathered crowd until the noise became a wall.
It wasn't just a gathering — it was a living tide. Every gap closed instantly. Sweat, camera flashes, and muttering blurred together until he pushed his way close enough to see the improvised "ring" in the middle.
Then a voice came, cutting through the noise without a single raised decibel — deep, resonant, and inescapable:
"Baki, my boy… you can defeat your father."
The crowd froze almost as one. Many searched for speakers or drones, but the truth walked in front of them — a towering phantom.
Part translucent, part solid in presence alone, he came closer, his steps heavy in the mind if not the pavement.
The fight in the centre paused as Yujiro Hanma, the terrifying "World's Strongest Creature," turned sharply toward the voice. His aura flared with visible annoyance.
His words were clipped: "Why are you here… Yuuichiro?"
Every whisper in the crowd sharpened into understanding — this was Yujiro's father.
But Yuuichiro's phantom wasn't focused on his son. His gaze had already drifted… to Haruko.
The phantom circled him once. His eyes took in the tail, the stance… and then narrowed on the faint, shifting markings of aura-fur crawling at Haruko's shoulders and neck, a more refined demon back covered with tiny silver hair.
"…Oh boy," Yuuichiro said quietly, "Hanma blood. Boy, who are you?"
That name — Hanma — drew both Yujiro and the younger fighter, Baki, into staring directly at Haruko.
For a moment, Haruko's mind ran the connections:
Grandma Selina's sudden interest,
the shared Saiyan tails,
the Hanma frame and build…
And then it clicked.
"You're Yuuichiro," Haruko said evenly. "Brother of my grandmother Selina. She sent me to take my uncle Yujiro—" he nodded toward the towering fighter— "and my cousin, Baki," he glanced at the younger man, "to see her."
Yuuichiro's expression cracked for the first time. "Selina…?"
His voice carried a mix of recognition and the faintest trace of disbelief.
"Yes," Haruko confirmed. "She specifically told me to bring you back — both of you."
Yujiro's eyes narrowed at the mention of Selina. Family ties, here or in any world, had their own rules and debts.
Baki, for his part, looked like a man dropped into a deeper story than he'd prepared for.
The phantom's gaze locked on Haruko again.
"Tell her," Yuuichiro said slowly — voice more intent now — "she can come to the island… if she wants."
There was a second's pause. "If she dares."
With that, his translucent form began to peel into drifting wisps, floating upward until they dissolved against the hot city air.
The crowd's murmur rushed back like a wave. Yujiro gave Haruko a long, unreadable look, then grunted.
"If Selina's calling, we'll settle this here another time."
Baki simply nodded at Haruko, still measuring him with quiet curiosity. The fight was over — but for Haruko, this was only the opening exchange.
The Hanma bloodline connection was no longer a rumour.
It was family.
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