章 160: Chapter 157: The Kidney Stabber's Redemption
The silver-white wrist blade pierced through the man's clothes and into his skin, heading straight for the kidney.
*Squelch!*
It went through.
The blade was withdrawn.
White steel in, red steel out.
"Ah!"
The man who had been stabbed let out a wail, stumbled forward, and fell to the ground.
A sword wound remained on his back, the kidney completely pierced by the wrist blade.
By all accounts, this kind of severe injury should have caused a normal person to bleed out on the spot and go into shock, leading to an instant death.
But strangely, not much blood flowed from the wound where the wrist blade had pierced the man.
"Is this the effect of the Life-and-Death skill?"
Fujino narrowed his eyes as he observed the man whose body had been pierced by the wrist blade.
Although he didn't quite understand the mechanism behind it, the wrist blade did indeed behave as the system had described, causing the exact kind of damage to the target as Fujino intended.
When he stabbed the man, a flash of insight flickered in his mind.
It was as if the blade was an extension of himself, part of his being.
The injury seemed like a biological instinct, controlled by his thoughts.
The man didn't bleed profusely because Fujino didn't intend to damage his arteries or veins with that strike.
Most of the blood vessels around the kidney weren't pierced; only the kidney itself was damaged, so naturally, there wasn't much blood.
The wrist blade truly lived up to its status as a golden item.
Golden items were indeed extraordinary and defied logic.
He had thought that the assassin's robe with its built-in space was already impressive enough.
But then there was this painless kidney-removing wrist blade.
If he used this blade to perform procedures like removing kidney stones or an appendix painlessly, he could probably become a legendary healer.
The others turned around and saw Fujino holding a one-meter-long, silver-glowing sword. Their faces twisted in horror.
"Sarilang! Sarilang! The Rice Flower Batman, Sarilang!"
One of the thugs panicked when he saw his boss get stabbed.
Panicking, he rushed toward Fujino, trying to escape the alley.
"Get back! That's not—"
Before the person behind could warn him, Fujino punched the thug squarely in the face, knocking him to the ground.
Of course, this was just the reaction of a newly recruited thug.
The other thugs were much calmer, though their legs shook, and cold sweat ran down their backs.
Before the remaining three could say anything, Fujino flicked his wrist, producing three bat-shaped shurikens. One of the thugs fell straight to the ground.
After using the bat shurikens for such a long time and with the help of his learning abilities, he could now wield them as skillfully as Conan with his tranquilizer darts.
Oh, it seemed he had missed one?
One thug was still standing.
The last thug finally reacted and tried to pull out a knife...
But after glancing at Fujino's one-meter-long sword, then looking at his comrades writhing on the ground in pain and another lying unconscious for some reason, he gave up on fighting back.
Fujino noticed this thug's strange movement.
Suddenly, Fujino felt a chill run down his spine, a sensation as if danger was looming, ready to explode in his mind.
After pondering for a moment, Fujino figured out what was happening.
If he guessed right, this was probably one of the wrist blade's inherited skills—a rare chance to sense impending danger.
It was like Peter Parker's Spidey-sense.
"Take out what's in your pocket and show it to me."
This feeling only lasted a moment. Afterward, the sense of danger vanished. Fujino calmly approached the thug, who hesitated to pull something out.
The thug gulped and took out a butterfly knife from his pocket, showing it to Fujino with trembling hands.
He had no intention of fighting.
Fight? What was the point?
How could his small toy, not even ten centimeters long, compare to a one-meter-long sword?
Charge? How?
Would that be suicide?
"Is this it?"
Fujino took the butterfly knife, sounding a bit disappointed.
He had thought it was some kind of strange contraption.
But this was it?
Fujino sighed and silently pocketed the butterfly knife.
He then shortened the wrist blade to ten centimeters and quickly stabbed the thug in the kidney.
*Swish, swish, swish...*
In just two seconds, he stabbed ten times, each strike hitting the kidney precisely.
The man, stabbed ten times, let out a scream under the intense pain and then fainted.
Fujino turned gracefully, flicking the blood off the wrist blade as he admired its gleam with a slight smile on his lips.
Yes, it was certain now. This wrist blade was not only obedient but also very stable.
When he intended to stab the kidney, it stabbed the kidney—nothing else.
Not a single blood vessel was cut.
However, he couldn't shake off a strange feeling.
The redemption of the kidney stabber?
Of course, it wasn't he who needed redemption but rather the two unlucky guys he had stabbed in the kidneys.
Fujino then turned his gaze to the female high school student curled up in the corner.
He walked over and tore off the tape covering her mouth.
"Mr. Batman! I really like you!"
Then, the blonde high school girl threw herself into his arms.
So, she was a little fangirl of the Rice Flower Batman.
She seemed to have been frightened.
"Ahem."
Fujino cleared his throat, feeling something heavy collide with him, making him a bit uncomfortable.
Referee! That's a charge! She ran into me with the ball!
High school students these days are really enthusiastic...
He then gently pushed the blonde girl away and said, "You shouldn't walk alone at night anymore. Lately, things haven't been safe around here... Anyway, head to the nearby police station and report this."
"Mr. Batman, did you come here just to protect me?"
The girl, seemingly forgetting the thug attack she just experienced, spoke to Fujino in a sweet and coquettish tone.
Her blue eyes seemed filled with hearts.
Ugh~
Fujino shuddered. He pointed behind her and said in a serious tone, "Look behind you!"
"Huh?"
The girl turned her head, looking at the empty alley.
When she turned back around, Fujino, who had been standing in front of her, had vanished.
"Mr. Batman! Take me with you! For you..."
"Whew..."
On the rooftop, Fujino watched the girl leave the alley and let out a sigh of relief.
He was used to situations like this by now.
But one this clingy...
That was a rarity.
Shaking off the thought, Fujino checked the time and decided to head home.
On his way back, he passed the utility pole he had tested his blade on before.
Curious, he wanted to test the power of the wrist blade.
So he used the wrist blade at full power and slashed...
The utility pole snapped.
The power went out in the surrounding area.
This made Fujino truly appreciate the terrifying power of a golden item.
Though he had gotten a bit stronger, it wasn't to the extent that he could achieve something like that on his own.
Clearly, the wrist blade played a significant role in cutting through the pole.
...
Bruce Fujino's little experiment ended quickly, and the next day arrived.
It was a sunny day, with not a cloud in the sky. It was the fifteenth.
Since tomorrow was the midterm exam, there was no school today.
Early in the morning, Fujino got up from bed as usual and stood on the balcony, taking in the view of Rice Flower Town.
"Ring, ring!"
The phone suddenly rang.
Fujino took out his phone and saw Suwa Koji's name on the screen.
After a moment's thought, he answered the call.
"Today is the day for the Kendo Shodan ranking exam, Fujino. You've prepared well, haven't you?"
"Is it today?"
Fujino frowned upon hearing this.
He'd been so busy lately that he'd almost forgotten about this.
Plus, with the timeline of this detective world, it was hard to pinpoint exactly when the fifteenth would come around.
But after a brief moment, Fujino regained his composure and said, "Yeah, I'm ready. But what does the Kendo ranking exam usually involve?"
"For the Kendo ranking exam, it mostly involves practical combat along with some basic knowledge," Suwa Koji explained after a brief pause. "However, the main focus is on practical combat. Participants advance through group stages, with priority given to those who rank highest in combat."
"I see."
Fujino let out a sigh of relief.
If it had been theory-based, he might have found it a bit troublesome.
But if it was practical combat, he was confident. Even if all the other participants ganged up on him, he was sure he could take them down one by one with his wooden sword and smack their behinds hard.
"With your skills, Fujino, you'll definitely advance."
On the other end of the line, Suwa Koji seemed to sense something, mistaking Fujino's reaction for the nervousness of a first-time participant.
He would never have guessed that Fujino was already planning how to end the battles quickly and dominate the competition.
Fujino drove his Ford Taurus to meet up with Suwa Koji.
Led by Suwa Koji, Fujino joined two other kids who wanted to participate in the ranking exam, heading to the competition venue set by the nearby Kendo association.
There were about forty participants in this exam. According to the competition rules, only the top ten would advance.
The competition began quickly and ended in the late afternoon.
Kendo competitions, unlike Go tournaments, don't last for several hours, nor can they rely on endurance tactics to bully seniors in their fifties or sixties.
In Kendo, victory and defeat are decided in an instant.
Naturally, Fujino succeeded in advancing.
After all, his current level of Kendo and physical condition was beyond what ordinary people could match.
He cut his way through the tournament to become the champion of the ranking exam without any contestant being able to withstand more than three moves against him.
Interestingly, during his initial matches, Fujino was not quite used to using someone else's wooden sword and went all out.
And then, the wooden sword shattered.
His opponent was scared out of their wits at the time.
That kid, probably not much younger than him, might be haunted by this memory for the rest of his life.
(End of this chapter)
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