33 YEARS AGO
Wow. I guess this place is locked down pretty tight, huh?
I've never seen this part of it before.
I didn't realize you had an underground facility.
HEIHACHI FURUMI STUDENT
It's a very tightly kept secret.
Only our top executives know about this.
SANPEI FURUMI FURUMI PHARMA CEO
But I finally decided
that it's time for my heir to learn everything he can about this company.
Okay.
Now, then,
this entire laboratory and facility was created to keep him safe.
Wait, who?
A child?
BLAST CORE
His name is Takeshi Wakatsuki.
WAKATSUKI (AGE SEVEN)
Our company worked very hard to arrange a permanent contract with his parents
to house, feed, and educate him.
In exchange, we have the right to conduct studies on him to collect research data.
Hang on. What kind of data? Is this kid, like, sick or…
Huh?
Oh, I'm sorry. I broke another one.
"Another?"
Are you starting to understand now?
This child is so strong
that he can crush a custom-made titanium controller to bits with his bare hands.
And he's still only seven.
If this child's body continues to rapidly develop like this,
he literally won't be able to survive on his own.
I want to do whatever I can to give this boy a fighting chance.
-Uncle… -Hmm?
Just a thought. Can I try talking to him a bit?
Huh? I'm not punching an old man!
He thinks I'm old?
You won't get in trouble for it.
Here. I want you to punch me as hard as you can. Go on.
Hmm. I don't wanna do that.
I'll hurt you if I hit that hard.
Hey, Takeshi,
got a question for ya.
Have you ever allowed yourself to, you know, really let loose before?
-Uh-uh. -Got some advice.
This old man might actually teach you somethin' as well.
Somebody famous said it a long time ago.
"Know thy enemy like you know thyself and you will never be defeated."
If you know who you really are and what you're capable of,
then you can never lose,
no matter how many times they try to take you down.
I think you're always trying to suppress that strength of yours.
You hold yourself back from goin' all-out, right?
It's time to find out how strong you really are.
You won't know that if you can't let yourself go.
You need to know your limitations, 'kay?
It's easier to control the rest when you do.
Let myself go?
Are you sure? You really want me to hit you that hard?
You betcha! Put it right here, in the old--
He was seven years old.
It was the first time Takeshi Wakatsuki had punched someone as hard as he could
in his entire life.
It was much like a child learning how to ride a bicycle for the first time.
I think it took me another extra year to graduate from college
if I'm remembering right.
After I finally got my degree, I took over from my uncle
and became the chief executive officer of Furumi Pharma.
I spent considerable time with him after that,
watching him grow into a man and learn how to control his strength.
And here we are now.
He's become a great fighter.
The pride of our company.
But despite the support behind him, the fighter trembled.
I can't stop shaking.
Agito Kanoh warned me I would meet a fighter that outranked me.
I've sensed them.
One of them is Raian Kure.
And the other
was this man,
Julius Reinhold.
So now I have to face him here.
This is probably the first time in my life I feel like I might be outmatched.
All right. I'm not gonna be afraid anymore.
Begin!
SAYAKA KATAHARA JERRY TYSON
Damn! What a powerful attack right at the top of the match!
They're an even match.
No matter who wins, neither of them is going to come out of this unscathed.
What do you think of this, Kaolan?
KAOLAN WONGSAWAT: "THE THAI GOD OF WAR"
It's clear that Wakatsuki is an admirable fighter.
But if I'm being honest, I'm expecting Julius to win.
He's far too capable to get eliminated in the second round.
Huh? Why are you rooting for Julius to win?
TOMARI TOHGO IWAMI HEAVY INDUSTRIES PRESIDENT
I'm asking you who you think is gonna win, dumbass!
Oh, come on, don't be ridiculous. I'm not a martial arts commentator.
MUTEBA GIZENGA: "THE GENOCIDER"
I don't know which of them is the better fighter.
Julius is the one that's easier to kill.
That guy's nothing but a big ball of muscle.
It'd be easy to get the upper hand on him.
Those two are some of the top fighters in this tournament
in terms of physical strength.
If I had a choice, I'd rather take on the easier one.
ELENA ROBINSON MOKICHI ROBINSON'S YOUNGER SISTER
I've seen this somewhere before.
In the movies I watched with my brother.
The way they fight, they look like massive Kaiju monsters!
Whoa! These guys are giving it their all!
War of the Gargantuas.
Wakatsuki!
What an incredible fistfight! Neither of them is backing down!
In terms of hits, Wakatsuki is in the lead.
However…
…his guard is tight!
Their frames are different.
They're an equal match in terms of their muscular strength,
but their size will determine the outcome.
Whoever has the bigger frame can take more hits.
I can only see one way for Wakatsuki to be able to realistically make a comeback.
Hmm.
So he does have one.
Oh no.
Kanoh had to have seen that.
That was supposed to be my secret weapon for that fight.
It's the Blast Core versus the Fang of Metsudo.
This ability has a similar mechanism
to releasing a spring that's been compressed to the limit.
Wakatsuki compresses the muscles in his body towards a single point.
He pulls them to his core.
Once he has gathered all his strength to the center of his body,
he releases it.
This move, in particular, bears a very similar resemblance
to a no-motion reverse punch in traditional karate.
He refers to this move as Blast Core.
Takeshi Wakatsuki lost to Agito Kanoh, the "Fang of Metsudo,"
and created this move for their rematch.
He lost to a fang, then sharpened his own for the battle!
This is the first time
he's ever let anyone see him use Blast Core in an official match.
The fact that he's using it means that he had no other choice.
Julius Reinhold's body
was shuddering against a shock unlike anything he'd experienced before.
I let my guard down.
If that had gotten any closer to a vital organ, I'd…
Whoa! How the hell is he pushing him?
Wow, that no-motion punch is really one hell of a sight to see!
Whoa! Julius catches him off guard and throws him into a reversal!
Oh! Now Julius is backing away?
That punch must've scared him off!
Come on now! Go get him!
Takeshi Wakatsuki.
I had underestimated him.
I didn't know he was hiding something so powerful.
Don't let him win yet, you idiot.
I'm using you to fish for more information.
He did so much damage with just a single attack.
He's as intimidating as ever.
And the burden's still big.
So what?
I knew I'd take a beating on the way to Kanoh.
I'm not scared of getting hurt!
This body can heal.
I am more than prepared to give up whatever I have to.
I wanna fight him.
The Fang of Metsudo, Agito Kanoh!
BLAST CORE
Just give up, Takeshi Wakatsuki!
Th-That bastard.
He must have dodged right before the impact.
The first thing I noticed after you used that attack
was that you missed any vital points.
When you tried to use that move again, you saw that I distanced myself,
and you relaxed out of it.
That's when I realized that your attack range must be limited with that move.
I calculated it would be two fist-lengths shorter than a normal punch.
That's why you weren't able to land a blow
anywhere on my body that actually mattered.
I know about that old injury on your foot.
Just before impact, I changed the distance and made you miss.
It doesn't matter how hard you hit
if you can't connect with any of my vital organs to end the match.
All this foolishness.
Did you think he was only superhumanly strong?
"The flesh is knowledge."
Julius isn't just some huge oaf without a brain.
In order to increase the effectiveness of his strength,
he has studied sports physiology,
sports medicine, psychology, and even physics.
His intimate knowledge of the human brain and body
allows him to make educated decisions in the blink of an eye
while locked in the heat of battle.
His muscles and physical build are unmatched in human history,
and his intelligence equals that strength.
Nothing you can possibly conceive will work on Julius.
This is a real tough situation, folks!
This is no joke.
We can hear his bones snapping all the way from the announcer table!
Can Wakatsuki manage to escape this crazy bear hug from hell?
What's going on?
Wakatsuki's doing something.
Is he shrinking?
BLAST CORE
Oh!
Hot damn!
THE FANG VS. WILD TIGER
Utterly uninspiring, tiger cub.
Ooh.
-Yeah! -Whoa!
The leg muscles are more than three times stronger than the arms.
He used Blast Core to distract his opponent,
then snuck in with a hard kick at close range.
In the end, what decided this match was strategy.
Uh… the match is over!
And the winner is
Takeshi Wakatsuki!
Whoa!
-Director Hayami. -Hmm?
What are you two doing here?
We're very sorry to hear about Julius.
GUNJI KITO, LONG MIN GUARDIANS IN HAYAMI'S PRIVATE ARMY
Ah, yeah. I know he was your own little tiger cub, right?
He has failed to live up to my expectations.
So… is that what you thought I was going to say?
As long as one of the fighters from my stable wins this tournament,
I come out of this perfectly fine.
And if none of them do,
then they can look forward to those consequences later.
Agreed?
SANEMITSU YOROIZUKA VILLAGE OF DAWN CHIEF
You can be so cruel.
Are you absolutely sure you don't want to go to the medic's office?
Yeah. I don't wanna risk having any more information leak.
For those injuries on your face, we still have some cultured skin in stock.
It won't attach itself in a single day, but it should manage to do the job.
At least for the meantime, anyway.
The real issue is my right ankle.
It's in a lot worse shape than I thought it would be by now.
And during the match, I think I might have injured it again.
And, uh, the big problem
is that the other fighters have now seen my Blast Core attack.
So it can't be my wild card. Not anymore.
Hmm.
GEN SHIKANO GANDAI DIRECTOR
Things are starting to get real weird, honestly.
Yeah. Toyo Electric was eliminated in Round 2.
President Hayami seems to be losing influence by the day.
I don't care about what happens to that bearded old fart of a man.
I'm talking about who's gonna win.
Hmm?
Furumi Pharma's already made an announcement.
HIDEKI NOGI NOGI GROUP DIRECTOR
They said they're going to choose Nogi as the director.
Well, they are part of the same faction, after all.
I'm sure there's some sort of secret agreement between them, though.
How can you be so calm about this?
Let's say Hayami does fall out of favor.
If someone shows up to replace him, then it's all pointless!
I can't say I agree there.
Be honest now. What are you trying to tell me?
Shikano,
out of every piece of shit that participates in the Kengan Association,
you're one of the least shitty.
I can help you make it all the way to the top if you want me to.
I just need you to pledge your loyalty to me!
Ha. I feel so honored.
Admittedly, this does sound like an intriguing offer.
It would throw off the power balance within the Association.
But, uh, you really think I want to answer to you?
I think you may be a little too presumptuous about this, yes?
I knew you'd say something like that.
I know how we can settle this.
Whoever's fighter wins the next match will be chosen as faction leader!
-Hey! -Huh?
I went out and grabbed what you wanted.
Oh! Yeah, thanks a lot.
But, uh, mind if I ask what you need this for?
Haruo, haven't you ever watched pro-wrestling before?
Uh, no. Actually, I've never seen a match.
Sorry, sir.
Give me a break. You're useless.
If you wanna be a real man, you gotta keep up with pro wrestling.
Uh, okay.
Oh, well.
Take a closer look here, Haruo.
I think it's time I teach you what pro wrestling is all about.
A demon has arrived. Tremble in fear, mankind!
An evil monster has been summoned from hell
and will paint the arena in blood!
Marvelous! Next episode, "The Clown."