Buchikome High Kick- -final- -aokumashii- «2027»

Inside: a ticket. And a note.

"If I fall, don’t avenge me. Finish what I started. The Final Buchikome isn’t about revenge. It’s about proving that even in a bruise-colored world, one clean strike matters."

The Kurokawa men stared. The lieutenant’s cigarette fell from his lips. Buchikome High kick- -Final- -Aokumashii-

"The high kick isn't about height, Kenji. It's about intention. You don't kick to win. You kick to end something. A fight. A fear. A future you don't want to live in."

Akari smiled. It was a small, fragile thing. But it was real. Inside: a ticket

Not away. Not to the side. Into the kick.

He answered with his own weapon: the Buchikome High Kick —a jumping, 360-degree roundhouse aimed at the temple. Goro raised an arm. The kick connected with his forearm instead. The sound was a gunshot. Goro’s arm went numb. He grinned. Finish what I started

And in the center of the cage, Goro Mutō waited.

"I finished what you started," he said. "No more Kurokawa. No more fear. The dojo—I’m going to rebuild it."

Kenji moved.

The sound was a wet crunch. Kenji flew backward, slammed into the chain-link, and crumpled. He couldn't breathe. His sternum was fractured. A piece of rib had punctured his left lung. He tasted copper.