Chapter 156 - Redemption of the Kidney Harvester
Redemption of the Kidney Harvester
The silvery-white Hidden Blade pierced the man's clothes, penetrated his skin, and went straight for the kidney.
Schlick!
It went clean through.
He withdrew the blade.
White blade in, red blade out.
"Aargh!"
The man struck by the blade let out a howl, stumbled forward, and collapsed.
A wound remained on his back where the blade had entered, his kidney pierced through by the Hidden Blade.
Logically, with such a severe injury, a normal person should have bled profusely, gone into shock, and died on the spot.
But strangely, the wound inflicted by the Hidden Blade wasn't bleeding much.
'So this is the effect of the Power of Life and Death skill?'
Fujino stared at the man's body, which the blade had passed straight through, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Although he didn't understand the exact principle,
the Hidden Blade indeed functioned as the system described, allowing him to inflict specific damage based on his intent.
The moment the blade struck the man's body, it was as if a spark ignited in his mind.
As if innate, he and the Hidden Blade felt like one entity.
The damage inflicted, like a biological instinct, could be determined by his thoughts.
The reason the man wasn't bleeding heavily was mainly because Fujino's strike hadn't intended to damage the arteries or veins.
Most of the kidney's blood vessels remained intact; only the kidney itself was pierced, so naturally, there wouldn't be much blood.
One could only say, the Hidden Blade truly lived up to its Gold item status.
Gold items truly lived up to their reputation.
All so ridiculously powerful, defying common sense.
He originally thought the pocket dimension and the Assassin's Robes were already outrageous enough.
He hadn't expected a Hidden Blade capable of painless kidney harvesting.
If he used this Hidden Blade to offer painless kidney stone removal or appendix removal, he'd probably become a legendary surgeon.
The remaining men turned around. Seeing Fujino holding a meter-long, silver-gleaming sword, their faces filled with terror.
"It's him! It's him! It's the Beika Batman!"
One of the thugs, seeing his boss stabbed, panicked.
In his panic, he charged towards Fujino, attempting to flee the alley.
"Get back here! That's not—"
Before the person behind could warn him, he was met with a fist to the face from Fujino and knocked to the ground.
Of course, this was just the reaction of a newly joined thug.
The others were much calmer, relatively speaking – their legs were just trembling, and they were breaking out in cold sweats.
Before the remaining three could speak, Fujino casually flipped out three bat-shaped shurikens from his sleeve. One of the thugs immediately collapsed.
After using the Bat Shurikens for so long, aided by his learning ability,
his skill with them was now akin to Conan's proficiency with the tranquilizer watch – pure skill...
Wait, one didn't go down?
Looks like he missed.
The last remaining thug finally reacted, about to pull out a dagger...
But after glancing at the meter-long sword in Fujino's hand, then at his companion twitching in pain on the ground, and the other one who had suddenly fainted for unknown reasons, he abandoned the thought of fighting desperately with a knife.
Fujino also noticed this thug's unusual action just now.
Inexplicably, in that instant, Fujino felt the hair on his body stand on end, a sense of impending danger flashing through his mind, like it was about to explode.
This felt just like Peter Parker's Spidey-sense.
But after a moment's thought, Fujino understood what was happening.
If he wasn't mistaken, this should be the Hidden Blade Legacy's skill – the small chance of sensing impending danger.
"Take out whatever's in your pocket and let me see."
This feeling lasted only an instant. Once the sense of crisis vanished, Fujino walked slowly forward, approaching the last thug who had been about to pull something out.
The thug swallowed hard, took out a butterfly knife from his pocket, and tremblingly showed it to Fujino.
He had no intention of fighting.
Fight? With what?
How could his little toy, not even ten centimeters long, compare to the other guy's meter-long sword?
Attack? How?
Was he looking for death?
"That's it?"
Fujino took the butterfly knife, his voice tinged with disappointment.
He thought it might be some novel gadget or something.
Turns out it was just this?
Fujino sighed softly and silently put the butterfly knife away.
He then shortened the Hidden Blade in his hand to ten centimeters and rapidly stabbed towards the last man's kidney area.
Shhk, shhk, shhk...
Ten stabs in just two seconds, each precisely hitting the kidney.
Under the stimulation of intense pain, the man stabbed ten times let out a wretched scream, then fainted.
Fujino turned gracefully, flicked the blood off the Hidden Blade, observed its still-gleaming surface, and smiled faintly.
Mhm, confirmed. This Hidden Blade is not only obedient but also well-behaved.
It remained stable even after continuous use.
When he aimed for the kidney, it hit the kidney, not touching anywhere else.
Not a single blood vessel was severed.
But inexplicably, he felt a strange sensation.
The Redemption of the Kidney Harvester?
Of course, the one needing redemption wasn't him, but the two unlucky fellows whose kidneys he had just stabbed.
Fujino then turned his gaze towards the high school girl huddled in the corner.
He walked over and ripped the tape off the girl's mouth.
"Batman-sama! I really like you so much!"
Then, the blonde high school girl threw herself into his arms.
Ah, so she was a fangirl of the Beika Batman.
Looked like she was quite frightened.
"Ahem."
Fujino cleared his throat lightly, feeling somewhat uncomfortable as something heavy bumped against his chest.
Referee! She fouled! Charging with the ball!
High school students these days are really enthusiastic...
He gently pushed the blonde girl away, saying, "Don't walk alone at night anymore. Beika isn't safe recently... Right, go report this at the nearby police station first."
"Batman-sama, did you come specifically to protect me?"
The girl seemed to have forgotten the attack she just endured, speaking to Fujino in a cutesy voice.
Her blue eyes looked like they were about to sprout hearts.
Eww~
Fujino suddenly shivered, then pointed behind the girl, saying gravely, "Look behind you!"
"Huh?"
The girl turned her head upon hearing this, glancing at the empty alley.
When she turned back again,
Fujino, who had been standing in front of her, had vanished.
"Batman-sama! Take me with you! For you..."
"Phew..."
On the rooftop, Fujino watched the girl leave the alley, sighing in relief.
He was actually quite used to this kind of situation.
But one this... clingy?
Truly rare.
Putting his thoughts aside, he checked the time and decided to head home.
On the way back, he passed the utility pole he had test-cut before.
Curious, he wanted to test the Hidden Blade's power.
He then used his full strength to strike with the Hidden Blade...
The utility pole snapped.
The surrounding area lost power.
This made Fujino deeply feel the terror of Gold items.
Although his strength had increased somewhat compared to before, it wasn't that much stronger.
Clearly, his ability to sever the utility pole owed a great deal to the Hidden Blade's contribution.
Bruce Fujino's wondrous little experiment quickly concluded. The next day arrived.
The weather was clear, not a cloud in the sky. It was the 15th.
Since the midterms were tomorrow,
there was no school today.
Early in the morning, Fujino got up as usual, stood before the balcony, appreciating the Beika scenery.
"Dri-li-li!"
His phone suddenly rang.
Fujino took out his phone and saw the caller ID: Suwa Yuji.
Fujino thought for a moment, then answered the call.
"Today is the day for the Kendo Shodan ranking, Fujino-kun. You've prepared well, right?"
"Is it today?"
Fujino frowned upon hearing this.
He'd been busy lately and almost forgot about this.
And with the Conan world's timeline, it was really hard for him to be sure which day was the 15th.
But after a moment, Fujino recovered and said, "Mhm, I'm ready. But for the Kendo ranking, what exactly do they test?"
"For the Kendo ranking, it's mainly practical combat plus basic knowledge."
Suwa Yuji, on the other end, thought for a moment, then continued, "But the main event is practical combat. Matches are conducted in a group elimination format. Participants with higher ranks in practical combat get priority for promotion."
"I see."
Fujino sighed in relief.
If it involved theoretical knowledge, he might feel a bit stressed.
But if it was practical combat, honestly, even if all the candidates present ganged up on him,
he was confident he could beat each one of them with his bokken and give their butts a good whack.
"If it's you, Fujino-kun, you'll definitely get promoted, one hundred percent."
Suwa Yuji, on the other end, sensed something.
He thought Fujino might be feeling some pressure participating in such a competition for the first time.
He would never have guessed that Fujino was actually thinking about how to quickly end the fights and dominate the entire field.
Fujino drove the Ford Taurus to meet Suwa Yuji.
Led by Suwa Yuji, Fujino, along with two other children also participating in the ranking exam, went to the competition venue decided by the local Kendo association.
There were about forty participants this time. According to the rules, only the top ten could successfully be promoted.
The competition started quickly, and by late afternoon, nearing sunset, it concluded.
Kendo matches weren't like Go, lasting for hours, where one could unscrupulously use stalling tactics against 50- or 60-year-old grandmothers.
In Kendo, life and death were decided in an instant.
Fujino, naturally, successfully achieved his promotion.
After all, his current kendo level and physical condition were beyond comparison to ordinary people.
From the beginning all the way to the championship of the ranking tournament, not a single candidate could withstand more than three of his moves.
Interestingly, in the initial matches, Fujino, unaccustomed to using someone else's bokken, went all out.
Then, the bokken shattered.
His opponent was terrified at the time.
It probably left a lasting psychological scar on that kid, who wasn't much younger than him.