The marked men lay scattered across the ground — bruised faces, chipped limbs, crooked teeth.Jin stood above them, pretending to puff a cigar between his fingers.
"Man," he said, tilting his head. "If I had a cigar right now, I'd look way cooler. Too bad I don't smoke."
Ogi smiled through a few missing teeth."Aye… this is a good way to go out. Finish me off, Jin."
Jin dropped the fake cigar act and blinked at him."Huh? You're not gonna die. I don't like killing. You're all gonna live out the rest of your lives under the Hunter Association — locked up. Same with the rest of Scissors. Except that one boy… no clue how he moved that fast with a manta ray."
Ogi pushed himself to his feet."My wish is to die to a strong opponent in a blaze of glory. You're a good guy, Jin. So complete my wish."
Jin walked over calmly and offered a hand."Well, instead of that… since you're pretty strong, how about joining the Hunter Association and working under me? What do you say?"
Ogi dropped to his knees — and spat on Jin's hand.
Jin exhaled sharply, raising a fist to end it cleanly. But when he swung, his punch landed on nothing. His fist only caught fabric as Ogi twisted behind him, slipping into Jin's blind spot while the jacket fluttered down.
Ogi's hammer came crashing down where Jin once stood.
Blood rolled down the side of Jin's face from the earlier hit."Alright," Jin said, wiping it away. "I've got it figured out. That mark you all carry — it steals your youth in exchange for power. That's why you looked so weak earlier… you were too afraid to use it. That's how that boy suddenly moved so fast and fled on his manta ray. All that youth he had… it's gone now."
Ogi stuck out his tongue, eyes wild."I'm going out in a blaze of glory whether you like it or not!"
Jin punched him once — then twisted his shoulder back, delivering another strike straight into Ogi's chest.
Every punch… he's getting stronger. The hell? Is he playing with me?Ogi gritted his teeth and swung his hammer with everything he had, smashing the ground where Jin stood.
When the smoke cleared, Jin stood perfectly unharmed.
Then he unleashed a barrage — each punch faster, heavier, sharper than the last, building on top of the previous blow.
"I'm sure you get my Bloodline ability by now," Jin said between strikes. "I've trapped us in a restriction — we can only deal damage in proportion to how many consecutive hits we land. For a speed build like me? It's perfect. But for a power build like you? You're helpless."
Ogi collapsed onto himself, shaking, but still smiling."Aye… I'm not done yet. Come finish me off… Second Asura."
Jin's smile was small but genuine.
"Then die in a blaze of glory, Ogi… Menace."
A Yokai formed behind Ogi, jaws splitting open as it swallowed him whole.