Chapter 45: "Guts, Broken Bones, and Naruto's Greatest Hits (Of Motivational Shouting)"
In which Kenichi tanks a professional beatdown, Naruto turns into a one-man TED Talk, and Ryuto proves that childhood grudges age like fine trauma.
Kenichi Maou Shirahama had two rules in life:
Avoid conflict.
Especially avoid conflict with childhood friends who now look like anime villains in white suits.
Unfortunately, today was breaking both rules.
Kenichi stood in front of Ragnarok's gang like a deer caught in philosophical headlights. Around him were dozens of fighters, a rising sun, a light breeze, and the absolutely crushing pressure of expectations.
Naruto leaned against his reinforced baton like it was a walking stick and whispered, "You okay?"
"Nope," Kenichi whispered back. "Very much nope. I am emotionally allergic to dramatic showdowns."
At the center of the Valkyrie-and-Sumo-flavored chaos, Ryuto stood with the calm arrogance of someone who definitely practiced smirking in the mirror.
"You look nervous, Kenichi," Ryuto said, voice like smooth ice cream with a bitter aftertaste. "Don't worry. This will all be over soon."
Kenichi stepped forward with a deep breath. "Ryuto… listen. I'm not afraid of our duel. Not anymore. But I don't want to fight you. We were friends once, right? Friends can spar, not fight to destroy."
Ryuto blinked, slowly. The breeze caught his coat like he'd been waiting for that exact moment to do a dramatic hair flip.
"You broke our promise," Ryuto said. "You left. I trained every day while you were living your peaceful life. Eating lunchables and playing video games while I was fighting grown men."
"I don't eat lunchables," Kenichi muttered. "Much."
"Point is," Ryuto continued, "if you want to be my friend again, you'll have to earn it."
"...What happened to just sending a text?" Kenichi whispered.
Naruto decided this was his cue to step in. He adjusted his biker jacket, walked forward, and raised a hand between the two boys.
"Okay, Odin—Ryuto—whatever dramatic name you're going with," Naruto said, casually twirling the reinforced baton Loki had given him. "You clearly like attention. But why exactly are you forming this 'Ragnarok' army? What's the endgame here? Besides making Kenichi cry."
Ryuto straightened, his voice cold and clear.
"Yomi."
Naruto tilted his head. "The underworld?"
"The young generation of Yami," Ryuto clarified. "The children of monsters. Assassins, mercenaries, Ki demons in human form. They're already out there, and they're growing stronger every day. I'm building a force that can fight them. Crush them. End their threat before they grow."
Naruto frowned. "Okay. Big problem with that. You're insane."
"That's not a counterpoint," Ryuto said with a smirk.
"I mean it!" Naruto gestured to the kids behind him. "Most of these guys don't even know what Ki feels like yet. You're going to throw them into a war?! They're not ready."
"Of course they're not ready," Ryuto replied smoothly. "That's why I'm training them."
Naruto's jaw twitched. "That's no different than what I'm doing."
Ryuto raised an eyebrow. "Then why object?"
"Because intent matters," Naruto said, stepping forward. "I'm training them to become elite agents, protectors, people with careers and purpose. You're training them to become your personal army."
"Semantics."
"No," Naruto said, eyes narrowing. "It's morality."
That earned a low chuckle from the crowd. And then—
"Actually," a calm voice cut in.
Freya—no, Kaname—stepped forward, her long dark hair tied up in a regal braid, her expression unreadable.
"My Valkyries agree with Odin," she said. "Yami represents everything rotten in the world—power used for domination, greed, cruelty. If he's serious about standing against that, then so are we."
"And us too," Thor—Yuma, a tank of a guy with spiky hair and fists the size of small dogs—grinned. "I just want to fight strong dudes and figure out this whole Ki thing. If Ragnarok gets me there, cool."
Naruto looked around, heart pounding.
It felt like the start of a battle manga arc. And he wasn't sure if he was the hero... or the guy giving the inspirational speech before getting one-shotted.
"You can do better under me," Naruto said, voice steady. "You'll learn Ki. You'll grow strong. But you'll also live long enough to actually use that strength. Just because someone fights evil doesn't mean they're good to you. Look at how Ryuto talks. Look at the way he treats his so-called friends. He doesn't care if you break or bleed—as long as you win."
Ryuto chuckled.
"Then prove me wrong," he said, stepping back. "Because all this talk is—let's be honest—cheap."
He gestured with his cane.
"Let's do this the old-fashioned way. Battle. You win, they follow you. I win, they follow me. Kenichi," he called, his voice ringing across the field like a bell of doom, "you're first."
Kenichi gulped.
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Kenichi had always thought that if he were ever in a showdown, there'd be dramatic music, slow motion, maybe even a cool wind blowing his hair like a shampoo commercial. Instead, he was standing in dusty sneakers, sweating buckets, with Naruto of all people whispering in his ear like a budget sports anime coach.
"You've got this, Kenichi," Naruto said, patting his back a little too hard. "Go out there and show him you're not some weakling trying to survive—you're a fighter. In here."
He poked Kenichi in the chest, right over his heart.
Kenichi coughed. "I'm also trying not to go to the hospital today."
Naruto grinned. "A little bruising is just character development."
Kenichi glanced at Ryuto—no, Odin, because apparently everyone was contractually obligated to have at least one dramatic codename now. Ryuto stood like a marble statue sculpted by a guy with a superiority complex. He twirled his cane lazily, as if this fight was just a mild inconvenience between brunch and his ego massage.
"I'm not using Ki for this," Ryuto said coolly, facing Naruto now. "Let's not make this sound noble. I simply don't need Ki to beat Kenichi."
He turned to Kenichi with a mocking smile. "This is going to be a demonstration. A reminder of what you could've been."
Naruto stepped between them briefly, eyes narrowed. "Good. Because if you used Ki against Kenichi, I'd turn you into a pancake before you could finish saying 'Yomi.'"
Ryuto smirked. "Please. I'm not some Saturday morning cartoon villain, Hyoudou. I don't pick on ants with cannons."
"Then step up," Naruto said. "And watch that 'ant' punch you in the face."
With that, he stepped aside.
Kenichi took a shaky breath. His legs felt like jelly, and his arms weren't much better. But something about the way Naruto looked at him—that insane trust in someone who probably couldn't bench press a bag of groceries—made him clench his fists.
"I might be normal," Kenichi muttered to himself, "but normal people can punch too."
He stepped forward. The dusty wind blew. The crowd of Valkyries, sumo wrestlers, and wannabe martial artists collectively held their breath.
"Ready?" Ryuto asked, casually removing his glasses and placing them in his coat pocket.
"Yes!," Kenichi replied.
And then—he charged.
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Odin raised an eyebrow as Kenichi sprinted toward him.
"Huh," he said, adjusting his cravat like he had all the time in the world. "He actually charged. What a reckless amateur."
His underlings—Freya, Thor, the Valkyries, and the ex-sumo squad—watched with varying levels of interest. Some were betting on how many seconds it would take before Kenichi hit the dirt. The numbers were not flattering.
Naruto, on the other hand, leaned forward, eyes sharp and hopeful. He whispered to Ddraig inside his soul (because, yes, Naruto had anime-style internal monologues with his dragon roommate now), "If he survives ten seconds, I'm calling that a win."
Ddraig snorted. "You're too soft. I give him fifteen. He's wearing steel-toed boots. That's got to count for something."
Kenichi, meanwhile, was going full tilt. He was wearing the Akatsuki squad's new standard-issue outfit—black and red jacket, reinforced vest, steel-toed boots—and had a kunai holstered at his hip. Naruto had told him to use everything. Kunai. Smoke bombs. Trickery.
But Kenichi?
Kenichi had principles.
"I want to fight him fair," he'd said earlier. "He's not using weapons, so I won't either."
Naruto had stared at him for a solid minute before responding. "Okay, but when you lose, I'm not letting you have my pudding."
Now, with Ryuto—Odin—standing tall in his white suit like a walking Armani ad, Kenichi aimed a high kick straight at his head.
Odin didn't move. Not a step. Not even a blink.
He simply raised his arm, redirected the kick with a palm, spun, and—CRACK!
His elbow smashed into Kenichi's shoulder. Kenichi stumbled back, gritting his teeth. It hurt. A lot. But he didn't fall.
"Not bad," Odin said, cracking his knuckles. "You actually trained."
Kenichi rushed in again, this time with a feint followed by a punch to the ribs. Odin blocked, but Kenichi spun with a back kick—Muay Thai style—then tried to grab Odin's arm for a judo throw.
Odin smiled.
"Too slow."
He dropped low, twisted, and flipped Kenichi over his shoulder with perfect form.
Kenichi hit the ground hard. But he rolled with it and sprang back up, his jacket dusty but intact. His shoulder throbbed. His back screamed. His pride... surprisingly intact.
Because he wasn't down.
"Let's go again!" he yelled, surprising even himself.
Naruto clapped from the sidelines. "YEAH! That's my boy! Show that anime villain wannabe what a real underdog looks like!"
Kisara looked impressed. "I didn't think he'd last this long."
Loki nodded, arms crossed. "I'm updating his danger rating from 'baby rabbit' to 'angry squirrel.' Still doomed, but scrappy."
Odin narrowed his eyes now. He wasn't smirking anymore.
"This isn't how you fought when we were kids," he said, voice a little quieter.
"I didn't train under lunatics back then," Kenichi shot back, breathing heavily.
They circled each other. Odin's posture changed—lower, more aggressive. He wasn't underestimating Kenichi now.
"Let's see how long you can stand against me," Odin muttered.
And Kenichi, though every part of his body told him to lie down and pretend to be unconscious, raised his fists.
"Long enough to remind you who your real friend was."
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Kenichi's knuckles were scraped, his lip was split, and he could barely stand straight—but somehow, somehow, he was still standing. The crowd that had gathered around the Akatsuki base wasn't sure whether to be inspired or call an ambulance.
Odin—Ryuto—had stopped smiling. His white suit was still crisp and clean, not a wrinkle in sight. It was almost insulting. His punches, however, were anything but clean—they were calculated, brutal, and fast enough to make the wind whistle.
Kenichi charged in again.
This time, Odin met him halfway.
A brutal knee to the stomach. A palm strike to the chest. Then a roundhouse that sent Kenichi spinning midair like a badly thrown frisbee before slamming into the dirt.
"STAY DOWN," Odin barked. His voice wasn't cocky anymore. It was commanding, cold, absolute.
But Kenichi didn't stay down.
With his arms trembling, he pushed himself up. His right elbow popped. His left wrist was bent at a weird angle. A doctor would've fainted on the spot. But Kenichi just groaned and clenched his teeth so hard it was a miracle they didn't crack too.
"...I'm not done," he muttered. "I—I still have one more thing to say."
Naruto had been shouting enough catchphrases to fill a sports anime opening.
Meanwhile, Kenichi, broken and bleeding, stood on one foot—because the other was possibly fractured—and looked Odin in the eye.
"I'm sorry."
Odin raised a brow.
"I'm sorry I broke our promise," Kenichi said, voice hoarse. "I'm sorry I forgot. I'm sorry I didn't get strong sooner. But I'm not gonna back down now. And I'm asking... as your friend... please reconsider."
For a second—a split second—Odin faltered.
Then his eyes hardened again.
"This is what I hate about you, Kenichi," he muttered. "You don't know when to give up. You always act like words are stronger than fists."
He raised a fist. "Let me fix that."
He stepped forward—
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Naruto finally yelled, stepping between them.
Kenichi collapsed behind him like a puppet with its strings cut.
Odin glanced down, then back up at Naruto. "You want to fight me now?"
Naruto's expression, for once, wasn't playful. "No. I want to beat some sense into you."
Odin scoffed. "I have another appointment. Make it quick."