Ten fingers, ten puppets.
The people controlled encompass nearly all the major figures in the upper ranks.
The entire Asakura Island, including its pride—the Seven Great Dojo and the Swordsmanship tournament—fell unknowingly to becoming tools for the "Carpenter" to earn dirty money.
"So it was you, such a despicable villain, causing trouble behind the scenes!"
Junichi drew his sword, remembering the bitter adversities he and his father endured over the years, gritting his teeth and nearly bursting into tears, "Absolutely... absolutely unforgivable!"
As he was about to rush towards the "Carpenter," the sound of wind-breaking suddenly came from behind him. In just an instant, the Bamboo Blade in Junichi's hand was cut in half.
Junichi was stunned and turned his head, only to find it was his father who had severed his Bamboo Sword.
At this moment, Sakuraba Itsuki's face was ferocious and twisted, his right hand tightly gripping a pale pink long sword, maintaining the motion of striking downward, while the other hand desperately tried to restrain his right wrist.
Clearly.
The target of that sword just now was never intended to be Junichi's Bamboo Blade.
But rather his head.
"Go... go, go!" Sakuraba Itsuki squeezed painful screams from his throat, "Stay away from me, Junichi!"
"Father!" Junichi's eyes widened. Before he could react, a powerful hand grabbed his arm and suddenly dragged him back over ten meters.
"Boss Shano, let go of me, I can't abandon... I need to save my father!"
"Don't say foolish things."
Shano forcefully tossed him into the corner of the wall, and said coldly:
"Staying by his side only harms him! You've seen puppetry before, right? To stop this performance, there's only one way, you must kill the person manipulating it from behind!"
"Do you think, with your skills and a broken Bamboo Blade, you can reach that person?"
Junichi raised his head, staring blankly towards the distant "Carpenter."
"What are you looking at, kid?"
The Carpenter sneered, spitting out a smoke ring, suddenly swinging his left hand, as two fingers on his right hand aimed south.
"Since these old guys are no longer needed, puppetize them completely for me!"
—Swish! Swish!
An invisible wave rippled through the air, manifesting as strands of silk shooting toward the front row of seats on the southern side of the audience.
The seven dojo masters suddenly emitted a clattering noise, all rose to their feet, stepping stiffly forward, seven shiny sharp blades simultaneously unsheathed with a clang.
As they moved, their elbow joints and knees emitted dull thudding noises like wooden balls colliding.
Their exposed skin surfaced with denser and denser wood patterns, eyes rolled upward, crawling with dark yellow silk threads, appearing extremely eerie.
In an instant.
The seven of them faintly gathered into a semicircle.
While protecting the "Carpenter" behind them, they also sealed off all escape routes around the arena.
"And you!"
The "Carpenter" laughed wildly, his right index finger pointing at Sakuraba Itsuki, as another dark yellow puppet string shot out.
"Aren't you quite rebellious? Try rebelling against me again, at such close distance, under my abilities, there's no room for you to struggle!"
"You beast..."
Sakuraba Itsuki's forehead veins bulged as he exerted all his strength to resist.
But ultimately, it was futile.
He could only despairingly watch as his body's surface also began to grow one circle after another of wood grain.
His left hand gradually lost control, slowly releasing, while the right hand holding the sword little by little turned toward Shano and Junichi's direction.
And his once-clear mind became increasingly hazy.
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, seemingly finally making a decision.
"Puppetization is irreversible, I don't want to become a monster with no consciousness..."
"Perhaps this is my best fate."
Sakuraba Itsuki smiled, "Goodbye, Junichi."
"Father..." Junichi's eyes widened, as if suddenly realizing something, fearfully rising from the ground, scrambling to rush onto the stage, but was held down firmly by Shano beside him, only able to wave his arms wildly, shouting with tearful eyes, "No... no! Please don't! Father!!"
Shh!
In just an instant, the sharp blade in Sakuraba Itsuki's hand abruptly turned, fiercely thrusting into his left chest, rapidly twisting around.
"..." Junichi's movements suddenly froze.
In the reflection of his pupils, that emaciated body with a smile squeezed out with the last bit of strength collapsed onto the ground.
The world seemed to collapse in that moment.
"Mr. Sakuraba Itsuki!"
"President!"
From the audience came roars of anger and sorrow, mixed with waves of sobbing.
…
Under the spotlight.
The black-haired youth reappeared in the ring at some point, staring at the face that was motionless, and frowned slightly, but ultimately said nothing.
Then he turned to look at the audience.
"What are you all still looking at?! Aren't you afraid of dying? Do you think this is still a match?!" Shano took a deep breath and roared with all his might, "Run!!!"
The audience was startled with fright.
Looking at the grim-faced "Carpenter", and the creepy puppets that seemed to step out of a horror movie, they finally realized what this scene truly meant.
"Run quickly!"
"I, my legs are weak... Help me, pull me up!"
"Ahhh! We're going to die here!!!"
In an instant, panic and screams erupted, and people scrambled and rushed toward the front and back doors.
The host also crawled away through the staff passage, just before exiting, he didn't forget to grab the two trembling broadcast Radio Snails from the wall and take them with him.
There were also unwilling swordsmen who wanted to turn back to help in the fight, but were coldly stopped by Major Tomte and the Sheriff, mercilessly sprayed into sieves with the flintlock guns.
Blood fog swirled in the air.
The "Carpenter" leisurely flicked the ash from his cigarette.
"I say."
He gazed at Shano on the stage, clicking his tongue in wonder:
"Kid, I didn't expect you to care about the people so much. Can't even protect yourself but still have the thought to let them go first. It almost makes me want to recruit you."
"It seems you've misunderstood something."
Shano slowly looked up, startling the "Carpenter" slightly, for he saw a pair of excited, blood-red eyes like a beast:
"—I told them to scram just because I didn't want them in the way, it would be quite a hindrance to me!"
"Stop boasting! Kid!"
Being stared at by those eyes made the Carpenter somehow feel unstable inside, forcing a sneer, "As you said, this is not a match. Even if your swordsmanship is good, what can you do with that broken Bamboo Blade?"
Swish!
Two dojo masters stepped forward, their blades gleaming brightly, easily slicing Shano's bamboo sword into pieces.
Then, two swords were placed firmly, one at his neck and another at his chest.
"Blame yourself for trusting this Sword Dao tournament too much. As a swordsman, you didn't even bring your real sword."
The Carpenter then completely relaxed, laughing arrogantly, "Now tell me, kid! What's the difference between a swordsman without a sword and a lion with its claws cut off!"
"Talking to yourself, in the end..."
Shano looked at the remaining hilt of the bamboo sword, suddenly releasing it to let it fall.
He looked up, grinned, "In the end... who told you... I am a swordsman?!"
Thump!!
As soon as the words fell, two large hands suddenly reached out, pressing down hard on the heads of the two dojo masters beside him.
Crack!
Their skulls instantly made a sound like cracking walnuts, rapidly deforming under immense pressure, their facial features gradually distorting and twisting.
Their skin cracked inch by inch, but no blood flowed from the open fissures.
Instead, dark yellow puppet strings like hairworms gushed out wildly, trying to entwine Shano's wrists.
However, the moment they touched the skin, they were crushed to dust by the bulging arm muscles.
"Is that all?"
The power infused in Shano's fingers kept increasing, becoming more terrifying, more violent!
Creak! Even the hardened skulls of the two masters could no longer withstand the force, breaking with ten round fingerprints imprinted.
The next moment, Shano, as if throwing a bowling ball, exerted a powerful force to hurl them fiercely!
Boom!
The two puppets launched like cannonballs toward the audience, crashing down rows of seats, and when the dust settled, their bodies lay folded and twisted at acute angles, no longer capable of movement.
The wooden grain covering them all over shimmered with a waxen pallor under the spotlight.
"..."
The "Carpenter" stared at the scene dazedly, the cigar at his mouth falling to the ground with a plop.
Screech—The sound of clothes tearing suddenly came from behind.
Startled, he turned around just in time to see Shano tossing aside the expensive kendo uniform he had bought, like discarding trash, down the stage.
Without the clothing constraint, the knotted muscles on his body burst forth, expanding outward like breathing, the thumping of his heavy heartbeat clearly audible.
The figure on the stage, already massive enough, seemed to swell further, overlooking him like a small mountain.
"You, you..."
The Carpenter instinctively swallowed, his legs shaking as he retreated, nearly tripping.
"Warm-up's over."
The black-haired youth before him licked his dry lips, speaking with a grin, the muscles at his cheeks twitching spasmodically, not from fatigue but from the thrill before a predator's pounce.
"—Now, it's your turn."