"Damn it! Just who the hell are you?!"
Yusuke scrambled up from the ground and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.
The contempt in his eyes as he looked at Asuka had faded. Wiping his mouth, he raised his hands back into a boxing stance.
"Your fists are hard, and your technique is weird, but I'm not the kind of wimp who gives up just because he took a beating!"
Yusuke took a deep breath, squeezing out the Spiritual Energy within his body once more.
Blue aura circulated and boiled across his skin, visibly enhancing his speed and strength.
"Bring it on!"
Yusuke roared, charging at Asuka again.
This time, he abandoned his wide, sweeping attacks. Instead, mimicking Master Genkai's techniques, he unleashed a storm of close-quarters strikes.
Jabs, hooks, uppercuts, knee strikes, elbow thrusts.
Yusuke's assault was relentless, with every blow infused with his Spiritual Energy.
If any of them landed solidly, even the toughest body would suffer broken bones and torn muscles.
Yet, standing at the center of this storm, Asuka remained completely calm.
His body shifted and weaved through the gaps in Yusuke's attacks with incredibly precise, minimal movements.
Through his eyes, Yusuke was transparent; the twitch of every muscle and the flow of his aura were laid bare.
Had Yoruichi not warned him against getting into a fierce conflict with Yusuke, he could have subdued the boy long ago.
He deflected Yusuke's heavy punches with the back of his hand and knocked away his knee strikes with his elbow. Occasionally, finding an opening, he would strike Yusuke's pressure points and muscle joints with lightning-fast finger jabs, leaving the Spirit Detective groaning in pain.
"Ugh!"
Yusuke's rhythm grew increasingly chaotic.
'This guy... he's completely seen through my movements!' A storm of shock surged in his heart. 'And he hasn't even used any Spiritual Energy! He's suppressing me purely with physical strength and technique?!'
"If hand-to-hand combat won't hit you... then try this!"
Yusuke suddenly abandoned his defense, taking a palm strike from Asuka head-on to use the recoil to slide back several meters.
As he retreated, he brought his right index finger forward, aiming it squarely at Asuka.
Blue light gathered frantically at his fingertip. "At this range, let's see you dodge!"
"Spirit Gun!!!"
From a point-blank range of less than five meters, Yusuke unleashed the Spiritual Energy within his body without holding anything back.
The azure beam of energy roared forward, filling Asuka's entire field of vision!
Facing this unavoidable strike, a hint of seriousness finally appeared in Asuka's eyes.
"Forcing a Kido-like attack at such close range? What a reckless guy."
He lowered his legs slightly, dropping into a stance as steady as a mountain.
Pulling his right arm back sharply, his muscles swelled to their absolute limit, veins coiling around his arm like dragons.
In the split second before the Spirit Gun struck him, Asuka threw a ferocious right punch, meeting the blue pillar of light head-on!
"Hakuda・Ikkotsu!"
This was the ultimate Hakuda technique, said to be capable of shattering a Menos Grande in a single blow. Asuka had never used it since learning it.
Boom!!
Flesh and Spiritual Energy collided head-on!
Under the sheer might of his punch, the Spirit Gun blast actually began to shatter inch by inch from the front, scattering into countless blue specks of Reishi in all directions.
A visible shockwave erupted with the two at its center. A nearby newsstand was instantly blown away, and even a layer of the asphalt road was forcefully scraped off.
The blinding light made it impossible to look directly at the clash.
As the smoke and dust gradually cleared.
In the middle of the intersection, Asuka stood firmly in his punching stance, completely unscathed.
"H-How is this possible?!"
Yusuke Urameshi stared at his own finger, frozen in disbelief.
"Are you done throwing a tantrum, kid?"
Asuka's voice rang out, calm but carrying a trace of sternness.
He slowly retracted his right fist, shaking off a faint red mark left by the searing heat of the Spirit Gun.
"You have good eyes. You threw that punch without hesitation to protect your companions behind you, didn't you?" Asuka said flatly.
The terrifying killing intent and malice that had previously permeated his body were now completely withdrawn without a trace. "But next time, before you make a move, you'd better figure out whether the other party is an enemy or just a bystander."
"If I truly had any hostility toward you, your head would have rolled the moment you threw your first punch."
Yusuke looked into Asuka's calm black eyes and fell silent.
Through the clash of their fists, Yusuke was able to keenly grasp the other man's emotions.
He had indeed felt the trembling oppression radiating from Asuka, but it was purely overwhelming strength, not the evil desire of a demon or monster looking to slaughter prey.
"Tch..." Yusuke dropped his stance and scratched his head in frustration, complaining, "Your fists are ridiculously hard, man..."
He turned his head and shouted irritably at Botan in midair, "Hey! Botan! How the hell are you reading auras, you idiot guide?"
"Even though this guy looks like a killer ready to chop someone up at any second, he doesn't have any demonic aura on him at all! You almost got me killed!"
Botan hovered in the sky, awkwardly sticking out her tongue. She pressed her hands together in a flurry of apologies. "I'm sorry, Yusuke! That aura that suddenly popped out of him earlier was really scary! I was just trying to warn you..."
"Forget it, forget it." Yusuke waved her off and looked back at Asuka.
Even though they had just fought, he actually felt a bit of interest in befriending this unfathomably strong, black-haired man.
For Yusuke, this kind of mutual respect built through a fistfight was more effective than any explanation.
"Hey, I'm Yusuke Urameshi, a Spirit Detective." Yusuke rubbed his aching shoulder and asked casually, "Mister, who are you? With those weird black clothes and the sword on your hip, you don't look like an ordinary guy."
Hearing the term 'mister', Asuka's eye twitched slightly, suppressing the urge to give the brat another punch.
"I'm Asuka," Asuka replied concisely. "I'm a Soul Reaper."
"A Soul Reaper?!"
Not only Yusuke, but even Botan in midair let out a gasp of surprise.
Yusuke looked at Asuka with a face full of doubt, then glanced up at Botan. "You're saying you're the same as this half-baked girl? A Soul Reaper?!"
Botan also flew down curiously, circling Asuka and Shinobu Kocho a few times. "Wow, wow, wow! How can there be such a powerful Soul Reaper? You feel just as unfathomable as Lord Koenma."
Although he didn't understand what this 'Lord Koenma' was, Asuka couldn't be bothered to ask.
He cut straight to the chase. "None of that matters. What matters is, do you know what's happening in Sarayashiki City right now?"
"I was sent to investigate exactly because we don't know." Yusuke scratched his head helplessly. "It feels like the streets are in total chaos. There are monsters I've never seen before everywhere."
"Those aren't monsters, they're Blanks," Shinobu Kocho explained with a smile.
She briefly explained the purpose of their group's arrival to them...
"The Valley of Screams?" Botan pressed a finger to her lips, thinking in confusion. "Never heard of it... And this Soul Society thing sounds really weird too..."
Yusuke Urameshi was also dumbfounded listening to all this. The Dangai, the balance of the Three Realms, the cycle of souls...
These grandiose concepts sounded like absolute gibberish to him.
On this point, Asuka actually shared a lot of common ground with him.
"Miss Kocho, I don't understand all those big theories you're talking about... Are you saying that if this damn fog keeps spreading, my mom, Keiko, and Kuwabara will all be in danger, right?"
"That's right," Asuka nodded.
"Then that's all I need to know!" Yusuke slammed his fist into his palm, his eyes turning incredibly resolute. "I don't care if it's the Soul Society or the Spirit World. As long as monsters dare to threaten the World of the Living, I, Yusuke Urameshi, will take responsibility for sending them all flying!"
He turned around, wanting to confirm the situation with the girl who had just displayed such astonishing power.
After all, that girl was also holding a sword capable of whipping up tornadoes; maybe she knew some intel about these monsters.
"Hey, Senna, do you also know what's going on..."
Before Yusuke could finish his sentence, his voice abruptly cut off.
He stared blankly behind him.
It was completely empty.