Chapter 20: The Story Concludes

"So you mean I'm the one who owes you an explanation? You've got it backwards."

Siano sneered coldly. "Isn't it you who should be giving Junichi an explanation!"

"Junichi..."

"Don't call my name!!!!"

Junichi's breathing grew rapid, his eyes red and swollen, his teeth grinding so hard they nearly shattered his gums.

"So you're the mastermind behind it all? You're the one secretly controlling Asakura Island? Then what do these past five years of my life count for? And what about that emotional performance you just put on?!"

Glancing around, he looked despairingly at the corpses lying on the ground.

"This is just one day's work, and you've already killed so many people. In five years—five whole years—how many insane atrocities have you committed? Why would you do this!!!"

Sakuraba Ki followed his gaze to the corpses, his expression indifferent.

He then fixed those emotionless eyes upon Junichi and spoke softly, his voice sounding as if it came from the depths of a withered well.

"Do you remember what I once told you about your mother?"

"Mother?"

Junichi grew even more furious, roaring, "Why bring her up now? What right do you have to mention her after all this! Didn't she fall ill and die ten years ago while traveling with you!"

"Aya did pass away during that journey, but not from illness."

"Not long after that trip began, while passing through the Goa Kingdom, two elegant noble Young Ladies boarded our ship. They hit it off with Aya immediately and became friends within days."

"They often held tea parties in the afternoons, and at night they would sit together on the deck watching the stars, laughing, playing, and talking about everything."

"Aya had struggled alongside me since my days of poverty; after so many years of hardship, except for when you were first born, those were almost the happiest days I had ever seen her enjoy."

"Until one day..."

"Those two noble Young Ladies suddenly mentioned wanting to play soccer, but where on a ship could one find a ball?"

"So their temperaments suddenly changed; they flew into a Lei Ting rage, beating and scolding their own guards, and even ordered the guard captain to be killed and thrown overboard to feed the fish."

"Aya couldn't bear to watch, so she stepped forward to persuade them, thereby saving the guard captain's life. She then borrowed materials like a pig's bladder from the kitchen, intending to help sew together a makeshift ball."

"After spending half the night making the ball, Aya was very happy, because now she wouldn't have to worry about those two noble Young Ladies taking out their anger on the guards again."

"She went early in the morning to deliver the ball. I slept in a bit longer before going to find her. Guess what I saw?"

Sakuraba Ki's face was utterly blank.

It was as if he were recounting a story that had nothing to do with him.

"Aya's head had been cut off. Those two noble Young Ladies were using her head as a ball, kicking it with great delight. The ball she had worked so hard all night to make was trampled into ruins and tossed aside because they deemed it too ugly."

Wh-what?! Junichi's pupils contracted sharply; he stumbled backward two steps, his body trembling violently.

Siano, however, let out a long sigh and fell silent for a moment.

In his heart, he had already formed some suspicions regarding the identities of those two noble Young Ladies.

Yet he did not speak up to interrupt, allowing Sakuraba Ki to continue speaking on the platform at his own pace.

In the vast, empty dojo, only that voice, devoid of the slightest emotion, echoed:

"... At that time, I stood stunned for a long while before finally snapping out of it. I drew my sword like a madman and rushed forward, only to be suddenly blocked by that guard captain."

"My swordsmanship, of which I was so proud, seemed like a joke in front of that fellow; I couldn't even last a few seconds before being pinned beneath his feet."

"At that time, I truly couldn't comprehend it. Only after painstakingly investigating for a long time afterward did I finally understand..."

"Those two Young Ladies were not nobles of the Goa Kingdom at all, but Celestial Dragons who had secretly left their homes to play in the Goa Kingdom! As for the guard captain whom Aya saved, he was none other than Vice Admiral Steelres of Marine Headquarters!"

"How funny, how funny... How hilarious!!!"

Sakuraba Ki suddenly threw back his head and burst into manic laughter.

"Hahaha, Aya thought she had made two new friends, unaware that in their eyes, she was merely like a kitten or puppy they decided on a whim to tease."

"And that fellow, who had specially knocked on my door the night before to express gratitude for saving his life, personally cut off Aya's head the very next day!"

"And me? I was kicked into the sea like a dead dog, drifted for a month, and only barely escaped with my life!"

"No wonder after returning from that trip, you remained silent and spoke little for several months..." Junichi painfully clutched his hair, muttering in a daze, "But after holding Mother's funeral, didn't you gradually move past it?"

"Move past it? I never moved past it!"

Sakuraba Ki scoffed mockingly. "I only chose to escape and forget, continuing to play the role of the good master and good father I used to be, just so I could continue raising you and maintain the dojo I founded with my own hands."

"The real Sakuraba Ki, the original Sakuraba Ki, drowned ten years ago the moment he fell into the sea!"

"I originally thought I could keep escaping like this forever. After all, what else could I do? Seek revenge? Revenge against whom? The Celestial Dragons or a Marine Vice Admiral? I wasn't even a Sword Master; where would I get such ability!"

He curled his lips into a grimace.

"But fate simply refused to let me bow my head!"

"Five years ago, during that shipwreck, I nearly drowned again while trying to save others, but in the end, I survived. Not only that, but I also found a Devil Fruit among the wreckage drifting over from a merchant ship!"

"As for what happened afterward, you all more or less know."

Sakuraba Ki finally turned his entire body around; at the spot on his chest previously pierced by a blade, wooden shards surged forth, instantly repairing it to its original state.

His expression gradually became utterly indifferent.

"Fate saved me twice and then delivered the power of a Devil right before me; this clearly was encouraging me to embark on the path of revenge."

"Thus, I personally destroyed everything belonging to Sakuraba Ki."

"The dojo, my family, old friends... these things would only make me reluctant to give up, causing me to continue cowering on this tiny island, a pitiful creature licking its wounds, afraid to take the step toward revenge!"

"As for the lives lost at my hands over these past few years?"

Sakuraba Ki let out a disdainful laugh and shook his head slightly.

"Rest assured, none of them died in vain; they had value. Over these five years, these puppet dolls earned me over a billion Berries, allowing me to finally save enough money and acquire the capital needed to seek revenge."

"Shameless! You... you... do you not feel even a shred of remorse or guilt!"

Junichi's face was deathly pale, his finger pointing at Sakuraba Ki trembling. "You are truly mad! Completely insane! You went mad five years ago already!"

"Those two Celestial Dragons deserved to die! I too wish nothing more than to chop off their heads to avenge Mother! But must you use this method?! Would Mother want to see you act this way? Seeking revenge by killing so many innocent people, when you eventually die too, will your soul still have the face to meet her!"

"Speak with more respect, Junichi."

Sakuraba Ki's voice suddenly turned icy, "Five years ago, I was already prepared to kill you, but in the end, I softened my heart and let you drift on the great sea to live or die as fate decreed; essentially, I saved your life."

"But of all the mistakes you could have made, you absolutely should not have returned to this island just as I was preparing to take my bow and leave, and you even brought along a..."

"Little brat who loves getting in the way!"

The moment the words fell.

Hundreds of puppet threads suddenly flew out from the crown of his head, dancing wildly and growing in the light, transforming into countless dark yellow vines as thick as a human arm.

Sakuraba Ki's voice sounded again, mechanical and cold like a wooden puppet, unlike that of a human:

"A thing may be done once or twice, but not a third time. Junichi, since you cherish so little the chance at life I gave you..."

"—Then simply, together with this little brat, turn entirely into my puppets!"

Hiss-hiss!

Amidst the sound of tearing air, the dark yellow vines shot forward with great speed, and in an instant, surrounded Siano and Junichi below from every angle.

Siano gazed at these thick threads writhing crazily like a swarm of snakes.

"Do you still have the strength to fight?" he suddenly asked, turning his head, "If you do not wish to fight him, I can understand that too."

"... I, I..."

Junichi silently gazed at the figure on the arena, suddenly wiped away a tear, and gritting his teeth said:

"I do not want to flee, Boss! My father, Sakuraba Ki, just as he said himself, died long ago. The one on the stage now is nothing but an evil spirit wearing his shell."

"He wants revenge? Then he can wait; let me get my revenge for my father first!"

Siano glanced at Junichi with slight surprise.

"Take this."

He directly took out the 'Masamune' blade and tossed it over, "This ability is indeed a bit troublesome; I will deal with the main body, and you will be responsible for chopping off those vines for me."

Junichi subconsciously caught it and stood back-to-back with Siano.

Swish-swish! Before he could even get used to the feel of the hilt, several puppet threads attacked from the side.

He immediately held the blade horizontally in front of him, blocking the first wave of charges, then suddenly slashed down from the side, instantly cutting those thick threads in two.

Such a fast blade... Junichi could not help but be startled; even Teacher Teacher Gengsilang's Wado Ichimonji was no sharper than this.

Siano, meanwhile, had already lifted his head, narrowing his eyes to look at the source of those puppet threads.

"Who allowed you to still be up there, playing tricks with ghosts and gods!"

He suddenly extended both hands, firmly grabbing the nearest few vines; his knotted biceps suddenly bulged like hills as wild power poured in, and he yanked fiercely!

"Get down here!"

Crack-crack, that was the sound of the arena's edge cracking open from friction; Sakuraba Ki's body, like withered branches, was instantly pulled flying off the ground.

What astonishing monstrous strength... Sakuraba Ki narrowed his eyes.

Although he had witnessed the scene of the puppets being utterly fragile during his feigned death earlier, experiencing it on his own body felt completely different.

However, he was not an inflexible puppet.

Urging his will, the soles of his pair of feet immediately creaked open like two small wooden doors.

Countless fine puppet threads shot out from within, pierced through the dojo's floor tiles, and plunged deep underground, firmly anchoring Sakuraba Ki's body in mid-air.

No matter how surging the pulling force from below became, it could not move him even a fraction now.

Next, it should be... Hmm? Sakuraba Ki's expression suddenly changed; in his pupils, a shadow was rapidly enlarging, while in his peripheral vision below, the ground where Siano had been standing was already empty!

Wh... When did this happen?

Without time to think further, Sakuraba Ki hurriedly urged his body to fully transform into a puppet.

For those he controlled, this equated to completely destroying their autonomous consciousness.

But for him, the ability user himself, converting his entire body into a state of hard wood, then layering it repeatedly upon the skin surface, constituted the best defensive armor.

Boom!

Siano grabbed a steel frame hanging from the ceiling, kicked off the load-bearing pillar behind him, and using this final leverage, suddenly closed the distance of several meters.

Finally, at the very instant Sakuraba Ki completed his puppet transformation, he appeared in the air to his left.

"Got you!"

He grinned ferociously and smashed his fist hard into Sakuraba Ki's left shoulder; a shockwave exploded outward in a ring.

The hardened puppetized body instantly collapsed inward over a large area, revealing the empty chest cavity within.

Flying wooden shards grazed the surface of Siano's muscles but could not pierce them at all; after being deflected, they fell to the ground one by one.

How can this be... Sakuraba Ki's pupils contracted sharply.

Previously, he had tested his blade against his own torso countless times; with his swordsmanship, he could at most cut through the first layer of hard wood shell, utterly unable to injure the interior.

Yet this little brat actually pierced through it with a single punch?

This is bad!

Even though he had already estimated high, this fellow's strength was still far greater than he had anticipated!

A sense of panic, long unfelt, surged into his heart.

Before he could even react, Siano directly took the opportunity to step firmly onto his body.

The youth's delicate face was right before his eyes, but at this moment, when he bared his teeth in a grin, to Sakuraba Ki, he looked as terrifying as a devil.

"Perhaps you do not know, but your texture really, really resembles the orange trees back in my hometown."

The corners of Siano's mouth stretched nearly to his ears, "And unfortunately, during the farming off-season back home, the thing I liked doing most was beating orange trees."

Boom!

Before the words even finished, Siano directly straddled Sakuraba Ki and unleashed a set of Fist Style strikes, urgent and heavy like a thunderstorm, bombarding the opponent's chest.

He had once practiced hundreds, even thousands, of sets of Breathing Fist Style daily against those tree trunks or wooden posts; accumulated over a year and a half, that amounted to hundreds of thousands of sets.

Sweat is never wasted.

At this moment, with the target's material texture being nearly identical, everything became second nature.

Boom, boom, boom! Punch after punch, amidst the unceasing dull thuds, Sakuraba Itsuki's aura visibly weakened at an alarming rate.

His consciousness was also gradually scattering.

No, it cannot be like this... I cannot fall here!

Sakuraba Itsuki's life had clearly already ended!

I should be completing that long-planned scheme of revenge under a new identity and a new name!

His right hand struggled and trembled slightly; he wanted to manipulate those puppet threads initially released from his head to counterattack, but not a shred of feedback came back.

What is happening again?!

Sakuraba Itsuki strained to shift his gaze downward; in his blurred peripheral vision, he could vaguely see—

Down on the ground, Chunyi, wielding a tachi, was still darting and slashing amidst those thick vines.

Taking advantage of the time his main body was restrained, who knew how long he had been cutting, but by now, he had nearly sliced all the puppet threads into fragments.

"The final punch!"

The instant despair surged up, Siano's low shout rang out beside his ear.

Boom!

The surface of the hard-wood body was already shattered; under this strike, it completely severed its connection to all the puppet threads.

The unsupported body plummeted straight down from a height of seven or eight meters, crashing heavily onto the ground and smashing out a huge crater.

Siano stepped down, crunching over the opponent's knees, and turned to look toward the center of that spiderweb-like network of cracks.

—There, Sakuraba Itsuki's eyes were widened to their limit, glaring at the ceiling full of unwillingness, yet his withered body remained motionless, devoid of any breath.

(End of Chapter)