Leon hadn't planned to get involved.
He only stepped in because he saw the Red Flag S9 being bullied on the highway — and decided to help, just a little.
He never expected that the Apollo ahead of him would be so fragile.
A light bump from Diomas Nilo, and the supercar spun out like a toy, flipping midair in a five-roll spiral before crashing off the track.
Even Leon was momentarily surprised — he hadn't meant to hit that hard.
Next to him, Shaw (Deckard) instinctively covered his head with both hands, thinking the windshield was about to explode.
When the glass held, he let out a shaky breath.
"Bloody hell… sitting in your passenger seat is a death sentence,"
he muttered, legs trembling, drenched in cold sweat.
Leon smirked.
"Relax, that was just a nudge."
Before Shaw could reply, a black-and-white blur sliced through the turn ahead of them — smooth, stylish, almost dancing around the corner.
It overtook both Diomas and the Red Flag S9 in one clean, perfect drift.
"Wait, what?! He was way behind a second ago!"
Shaw's eyes widened.
Leon didn't even seem surprised.
He eased off slightly, waiting for the Red Flag to recover — and then watched as that ghostly black-and-white car, the legendary AE86, slipped through traffic like vapor and overtook the racer nicknamed 923.
The maneuver was flawless — unnaturally so.
Shaw, used to American muscle racing and brute-force drifts, looked stunned.
"That's no ordinary driver…"
Leon chuckled, eyes narrowing with respect.
"He's not. That's Takumi Fujiwara, the Drift God of Japan. When people think he's fallen behind — that's when he's already preparing to overtake."
Takumi's driving was silent, precise, and terrifyingly fluid.
He didn't just drift — he flowed.
When everyone else thought they'd shaken off his AE86, it would suddenly reappear behind them in the next corner, like a phantom on wheels.
"If you ever race him," Leon warned, "don't relax. The moment you do, he'll be in your rearview — and then in front of you."
Shaw nodded, gripping the handle.
Even for him, this was unnerving.
Leon's smile returned — calm, confident, dangerous.
"Alright, everyone hold on. Time to show them how America drifts."
Everyone in the car tensed. No jokes this time.
Even Shaw's expression hardened — he could sense something monstrous coming.
"Let's go."
Leon floored the accelerator.
ROAAARRR!
The Diomas Nilo screamed — a sound like a furious beast reclaiming its throne.
Its thunderous roar echoed for miles, shaking the highway.
This was the rage of a king being challenged.
Speed climbed — 200, 250, 300 km/h — in seconds.
The G-force slammed everyone against their seats, crushing them back.
No one dared to breathe.
Ahead, the AE86 and its driver — Takumi Fujiwara — were in full control.
But even Takumi tensed when the shadow of the Diomas grew larger and larger in his rearview mirror.
"Takumi! Block him!"
shouted Itsuki, the panicked co-driver.
"Got it," Takumi said calmly.
He twisted the steering wheel — the AE86 slid sideways, blocking Leon's path perfectly.
"Heh, let's see you get through this!"
Itsuki grinned, confident they had the Diomas trapped.
To their sides, cliffs rose sharply. In the center — a divider filled with trees and barriers.
There was no space to pass without wrecking the car.
They thought Leon was stuck.
But Leon's smirk only widened.
"You're celebrating too soon."
Takumi's eyes flicked to his mirror — and froze.
"No way…"
Behind them, Leon turned the wheel sharply right — and the Diomas Nilodrove up the mountain wall.
The car climbed.
Tires gripped the vertical slope, wheels screeching like claws on stone.
For a second, it looked impossible — then everyone realized:
He was driving on the wall, sideways, like a gecko.
"Holy—! That's insane!"
Itsuki's jaw dropped.
Leon and the Diomas clung to the mountain at impossible speed, the car's weight perfectly balanced by centripetal force and momentum.
The Gecko Technique — a maneuver no human should attempt.
Using inertia and precise tire pressure, Leon turned the vertical surface into his racetrack.
He shot past the AE86 on the wall itself — dust and debris raining down like a sandstorm — before landing back on the asphalt with a soft, perfect thud.
Not a single dent. Not a single wobble.
The spectators were speechless.
"That's not the fastest in America," Itsuki finally shouted, voice shaking.
"That's the fastest in the world!"
Takumi's hands trembled slightly on the wheel.
He'd seen many things in his career — even invented the Gutter Drift.
But this…
This was beyond human.
"He's… incredible," Takumi whispered. "He did something even I wouldn't dare."
Leon's "Gecko Technique" instantly entered racing legend — a world-first maneuver that defied gravity and reason.
The Diomas Nilo thundered ahead, a silver blur of dominance and fury, leaving Takumi and the AE86 shrinking in the distance.
Takumi could only watch, awe and dread mingling in his chest.
"That car… that driver… He's beyond the limit. Truly a God of the Road."
~~----------------------
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