Now, you might be wondering, why the hell would Kaizo involve himself with something as troublesome and dangerous as the mafia?
Answer: EXPERIENCE!
Kaizo doesn't have a clear understanding of his strength compared to others so, he needs to find some opponents to try it out.
Before you think that's retarded, let's go back to Kaizo's character: He likes to fight, strengthen himself, Nico Robin, eating sleeping etc. so, it isn't farfetched to say that he'd do something like this.
He also fought a bear when he was a kid so, yeah, normalcy isn't something he adheres to.
As he tailed Monterrey, Kaizo saw the Tombo member enter a tavern, Kaizo followed behind him and looked around.
'There's no one outside but I can hear voices inside, either a cover for their operation or a business that's in for a quick buck. Regardless, I won't back now.' Kaizo thought as he entered the tavern.
It was quite a nice tavern, for the era I mean. Remember that scene in Starwars when Luke meets Han Solo? The tavern had a vibe like that, except no aliens or weird music cept for some folkloric ones.
Still, Kaizo could still feel that the tavern wasn't what it showed.
His sense of smell, honed from various trainings could still feel Monterrey's scent coming from within the staff only side of the tavern.
Having thought of a plan, Kaizo got closer to the clerk.
"Excuse me, could you tell me where's your bathroom?" Kaizo asked feigning holding it in.
The clerk gave an amused raised eyebrow and just pointed at the door parallel to the staff room. Kaizo thanked him and went towards the WC.
You know what's the good thing about these cheap-ass places? The foundations are cheap. Meaning that if you remove some planks form the floor…
*CLANG*
There's bound to be dirt under them instead of concrete or stone. Perfect for Kaizo to dig in.
Many Chinese martial arts involve the imitation of movements that resemble animals, therefore Kaizo spent a lot of time studying various animals to develop even more martial arts that wouldn't be usable for normal competitions.
'Beast Arts: Mole Escape.' Kaizo.
He swiftly moved aside the dry, hard dirt as if it were smooth clay and shortly but surely made a hole he could fit in, after making it deep enough, he cleaned the dirt from the bathroom floor and placed the planks back in their places.
Soil is not airtight air and scents move through pores and gaps between soil particles. Kaizo has been developing a sensitive nose during his 3 year training, mostly because he needed to enhance his senses in case sight and hearing weren't enough.
Kaizo still had to be fairly near the surface in order to smell properly but it was fortunate that Monterrey smelled…off.
Remember the water Kaizo dumped on him? It was actually water with Alcohol. The strong smell lingered in Monterrey and made him stick out as a sore finger, making it easier for Kaizo to pinpoint his location.
(Meanwhile with Monterrey.)
To say his day was going horribly would be an understatement, he first failed to pluck Kaizo's money, then he failed to report back and now he's feeling quite uncomfortable, for a guy that knocked the schnozz out of him he fell to a simple attack.
'Whatever, probably overthinking it.' Monterrey reassured himself and took a deep breath.
*SNIFF* *SNIFF*
He didn't paid attention before due to the adrenaline but now he's really smelling the alcohol on his body, no wonder his colleagues said that he smelled like shit, he was starting to feel sick from the smell.
'First thing after the meeting, I'll take a bath.' Monterrey made a mental note and followed the guards.
In case you haven't figured it out Monterrey is going to report to the person in charge here. After entering their "staff door," which was actually part of some hidden tunnels around tavern that guided them towards their true hideout.
Which is why Monterrey is currently walking through this passage with these two guides.
They eventually found themselves at the end of the passage and the two guards signaled Monterrey to enter by himself, with a deep breath, Monterrey entered the room.
Inside reside a man with two guns stripped at his waist and a blue hat barely covering his eyes, he's leisurely reading a playboy, or at least the playboy One Piece version, magazine without paying attention to Monterrey.
"You've really fucked it up now, eh, Mijo?" The man said casually as he took out a cigarette from his pocket and put it on his mouth.
"It was nothing Padrón. I just had some... "issues" with some pendejo." Monterrey.
"Some "issues" huh? *The man closed his magazine and took out his gun* seems like you got a broken nose in this "issue" of yours, eh?" He aimed his gun at Monterrey.
"Woah, woah, woah, Padrón. T-things don't have to escalate, right?! I'm still useful to the family!" Monterrey.
*BANG*
A bullet grazed Monterrey's ear and ricocheted from the wall to the floor and passed through the man's cigarette. The hot bullet lit it up enough for the man to take a huff of smoke and put his gun away.
"Monty, Monty, Monty~ This why I like you, you're way too serious. All I needed was a straight, truthful answer, and you'd be set to go home, maybe eat supper and sleep. But now you've lied to me and forced me to be all "menacing" like this, so *The man lies again on the couch with a relaxed expression and his magazine* Wanna try again?" The man gave Monterrey a "gentle" smirk.
"Y-yeah…Padrón Alero." Monterrey nodded and started to explain when...
*BANG*
A loud sound moved the room around. Monterrey lost his balance and fell to his knees whilst Alero shifted his attention from his magazine.
"W-what's that?" Monterrey.
"An earthquake? No, it's not that." Alero got up from the couch and took out his revolvers.
*SMASH*
The room started to fill up with grunts assigned to the hideout and they were clearly distressed.
*SMASH*
Alero calmed them down and ordered them to prepare for anything. Each of them took out their weapons and looked around for where the sound came from.
*SMASH*
The floor kept vibrating as the tension started to rise, the quakes were getting stronger and stronger at the moment.
*SMASH*
A part of the floor started to swell outwards as the quakes followed.
Everyone stood quietly looking at the floor getting more and more cracks around it with each hit.
It was clear to them that this wasn't their usual situation, someone was coming, and they weren't sure if they'd be ready for whoever it was.
Alero focused his senses on the area of the floor, he couldn't imagine who on all the island had the strength to attack them from beneath.
*BOOM*
The floor shatters under the immense strength of the assailant and from it emerges a figure, just that he didn't emerged from where he was expected.
It wasn't from the place in front of them, but behind them was heard a powerful strike. Taken by surprise, the shockwave pushed various mobsters back and even disarmed some of them but Monterrey and Alero retained their weapons.
The smoke cleared out and the assailant was none other than Kaizo, who was brushing dirt aside from his clothes as he took deep breaths.
'Infiltration successful.' Kaizo smirked at his handy work.
Sure, it wasn't anything stealthy, but that wasn't the idea in the first place, Kaizo just wanted to make a nice entrance.
It was time for him to put his plan in motion.
"Monterrey~ It seems I was a tad too merciful with you, eh? Why don't we try this again?" Kaizo asked with a wicked smirk.
Monterrey didn't said anything but he didn't had to, Alero took the initiative by lightly throwing his left revolver upwards.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
Six rapid shots were aimed at Kaizo as Alero holstered his right revolver and grabbed his left one mid-air.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
With even faster reflexes, Alero shot another barrage at Kaizo.
Kaizo was impressed by the rapid fire and smirked. The bullets were shot precisely to predict his next move, if he moved he'd dodge the lethal ones while getting hit by at least 1 or 2 non-lethal bullets.
But Kaizo wasn't going to do that.
He already caught Alero reloading his left revolver, meaning that he would continue the assault should Kaizo allow him.
Making his arms all the way to his fingertips vibrate, Kaizo used both of his hands to redirect the bullets, just like a gentle droplet of water falling from the leaves of a tree, Kaizo gently guided the bullets from himself towards Alero.
Unfortunately, Kaizo isn't that used to using this technique, which is why he could only redirect 6 bullets while the other 6 grazed him.
'Taichi: Revolve.' Kaizo.
All the potential energy had been redirected and was sent back to Alero in 6 bullets. Alero, who had finished reloading immediately noticed that although the bullets were aimed at him, most of them would hit his men.
In that split moment he shot another barrage directly at the bullets, the bullets crashed and exploded from all the energy they had when they clashed.
This made Kaizo smirk as he brushed his small wounds from the grazed bullets.
"Who's paying you?" Alero asked.
In this moment, with the tension between Tombo and Tomhi it wouldn't be crazy to deduce that some other family may have contracted an assassin to take him down.
"None. I was just wondering about something that needed the confirmation from someone like you." Kaizo spoke confidently as he walked towards Alero.
Alero had already reloaded his revolvers but he wasn't a trigger happy, he didn't sensed any bloodlust from Kaizo. His men raised their weapons but he hold them, a part of him was also curious about the situation.
But he never holstered his revolvers.
"Speak, you've earned my attention." Alero.
"I'm Kazuto D Kaizo, a Martial Artist. Rumors say that the Tombo Family is losing against the Tomhi Family regarding the jungle territories, am I right?" Kaizo asked.
This was one of the few "exclusive" tidbits of information that Oscar gave him to prevent him from "getting" into trouble.
Alero's face twisted in rage at that.
'If even an outsider knows about this, then the Tomhi's attack must be drawing closer.' Aloer thought as he aimed his revolver at Kaizo's head.
"Your point?" Alero spoke with a cold killing intent.
"I want in on that action." Kaizo said cockily as he kept getting closer and closer.
???????
This left everyone in the room baffled, why would someone get in the middle of a battle between factions?! Only a madman would do something like that...…or a man with too little to lose.
Alero was equally shocked, he wasn't expecting that his intruder would tell him to involve him in this war.
This however wasn't an easy choice, involving Kaizo in this is both foolish and irresponsible, he couldn't allow a complete stranger to be involved in his business.
On the other hand, Kaizo has proven to be someone strong. Throughout the island only the Dons and their right hands could ever react to his rapid fire of 0.5 bullets per second. And Kaizo even managed to deflect them back at him.
Before he could think more, Kaizo was now at gunpoint of Alero. In that moment, Alero felt an immense pressure he hasn't felt in a long time.
-----------------
'Remember Alero, even if you get stronger in the future, there'll always be someone stronger than you.' An adult wearing a black suit spoke calmly as he patted Alero's head.
'How can I tell who's stronger than me?' A kid Alero asked with glee.
'When your whole body tells you that something's wrong, it is when you'll know the difference between yourself and your opponent.'
---------------
Alero knows something for sure, Kaizo wasn't asking for permission, he had a goal and he didn't cared if it were Tombo or Tomhi who prevailed, he would accomplish his own goal regardless.
This wasn't a test, nor him asking permission, it was Kaizo letting Alero make a choice, and Alero knew how to answer.
*CLICK*
The gun was about to shoot a bullet but Kaizo noticed Alero's intentions from his gaze so he swiftly placed his finger between the hammer and the cylinder.
Kaizo then let out a hearty laugh as he took his hands off Alero's revolver, Alero also started to laugh heartly at the situations. Everyone else however were so confused right now.
"Never expected to see such a crazy bastard in my life!" Alero laughed as he holstered his guns and extended his hand.
"You had the balls to shoot me point blank after I released by killing intent, I guess it'll be worth working with you." Kaio extended his hand as well.
They both clutched them tightly as they kept smirking.
In the world were the strong devours the strong, neither of them would back down, if either did then this "partnership" wouldn't last what it should. Kaizo puts his life on the line as an act to prove his worth to Alero and so he would comply with his request.
Alero on the other side was showing Kaizo that he wasn't someone he could easily trample over, which meant he had to show the minimum of respect. With such mutual understanding, how could both of them NOT become friends after this simple introduction?!
"Ready to turn this island upside down?" Kaizo.
"First the Tomhi, then the island, Vale?" Alero.
They both nodded and laughed again.