"Did you hear. Apparently there are some sketchy characters out there... wreaking havoc." Shishiba said as Osaragi drove our limo

"Oh gee. I sure am super scared of bad guys!" Nagumo said with a smile

"You're not very convincing." Hyo said crossing his arms

As usual Takamura was just muttering inaudible stuff. I was thinking about that group dinner I had the other day. I don't know how I felt about it, I've pretty much been alone my whole life, so it felt pretty weird. But it was also kind of nice. I personally wouldn't do it a lot because of who I am, but I get why people like it. I can't say I expected Sakamoto to be one of those people though. I refocus back on the conversation in the car

"They have a hit list. It's pretty interesting. Nagumo and I are S rank, Shishiba is A rank, Osaragi is A- rank..... And Hyo..... B rank." I say reading off the list

"Tch!" Hyo scoffed but knew he couldn't really rebuke it, he was a hardworker but without talent its hard to become a top tier

"How am I ranked below you 2." Shishiba said annoyed

"Don't be mad Shishiba an A is still pretty good. That's like 70% on a test." Nagumo said smirking

"Don't patronise me!" Shishiba said

"Osaragi weren't we meant to make a left?" Shishiba said looking out the window

"I missed it." Osaragi said matter of factly

"I'll just back up." Osaragi said reversing

"We're on the freeway." Shishiba said done with Osaragi

"You look cool driving like that." I say as she reverses

Osaragi makes a bit too abrupt of a turn causing Takamura to smash his head against the window. Hyo panics and goes to check on Takamura

"Osaragi! Drive more carefully! We've got an elderly passenger!" Hyo shouted

"Be quiet. Takamura ain't some fragile guy. He could kill all of us if he wanted to." I said with a sigh

"Shishiba said go ahead." Osaragi retorted

"No I didn't. 2 hands on the wheel." Shishiba said nonchalantly

"Anyways who cares if they're death row inmates. Anyone who causes trouble in Japan is dead meat." Hyo says

"Oh! That line! Some guy who died at the beginning of the movie I saw yesterday said that! Did you see it too Hyo?" Nagumo joked

"HUH?!" Hyo exclaimed

"Don't provoke him Nagumo." Shishiba said

"Right. Don't pick on weak people, it's bad taste." I muse

"You're doing the same thing. Osaragi turn signals." Shishiba said

"I was about to." Osaragi said before signalling

"Well anyways they may be deranged killers but they're still amateurs. Wonder what Slur could be thinking, is he trying to make fun of us." I say

"Who knows." Shishiba said

"Well they're completely lacking moral ethics or a conscience, so there's nothing holding them back from killing, that could make them potentially challenging." Osaragi said giving her 2 cents

"Do you have breaks as a killer?" I ask

"Sure I do." Osaragi said monotonously

"Lying is bad Osaragi." Shishiba said

BZZZZZ

A fly flies past Takamura

"Shit/Uh-oh/ Hey!" Me/Nagumo/Hyo say knowing what comes next

"Osaragi get down!" Shishiba says

I press Osaragi's head down in the knick of time

In an instant the top half of our limo is cut off. Takamura resheathes his sword and goes back to sleep

"Well we have at least one in our midst." Nagumo said amused

"More like someone with their foot on the gas." Shishiba said

"Damm this limo's a rental as well. The company sure won't be happy." I say looking back at the havoc Takamura caused for other cars

"Well if there's 4 enemies that's less than one target each." Shishiba says

"Let's go eat pork cutlets for good luck."Osaragi says to

"Sure." Nagumo said

"Not you." Osaragi replied

"Well Hyo can sit out, it'd be troublesome to get a replacement." I say with a sigh

"Hey!" Hyo shouted

Short timeskip(With Sakamoto)

Right now Sakamoto was training with Heisuke. Heisuke shot 100 rounds ricocheting them off random surfaces.

"YOOO! That was sick Taro. You caught 99 shots in a row." Heisuke celebrated

But Sakamoto was disappointed that he missed one

"So this is what it's like having friends! Let's do this more when no one's around." Heisuke said blushing

"Way to go Mr Sakamoto! But of course when you die you die y'know." 'Shin' said coming out of nowhere

'Shin' walks up to Sakamoto before he whips out a knife and tries to stab Sakamoto

"What do you want Nagumo? I prefer Sano's way of doing things." Sakamoto said

"You got meee! Sano's boring." Nagumo said

"Whoa your vibes different today Shin! Did you change your hairstyle?" Heisuke said oblivious

"So Mr Sakamoto. I heard through the grapevine that you've been sniffing around for some escaped criminals." Nagumo said

"What if I am?" Sakamoto asked

"The order's on it already. Your local civillians can stay out of it." Nagumo said semi-jokingly

"Nope. I'm guessing a hit has been put out on them. I want information about X, before they're killed." Sakamoto stated seriously

"Sano was right. You really are a trouble magnet now and a naive one at that. Do you know how your enemies view you now? Here." Nagumo said passing the hit list to Sakamoto

"B Rank. Sano and I are S rank by the way." Nagumo said putting up a peace sign

Sakamoto's glasses crack from Sakamoto's frustration

"Don't feel too bad. You're the same rank as Hyo." Nagumo said before disappearing

With Shin and Lu,

Shin and Lu were at a shop to find materials to reinforce the exterior of the store.

"Can we play with the cats for a bit. Whats the rush?" Lu whined

"There's a pack of serial killers on the loose!." Shino said said exasperated

"Ah Mr Sakamoto can handle em." Lu said dismissing shin's concerns

"That's not the point! Right now you and I are burdens to Mr Sakamoto. We have to get stronger if we want to hang with him."

Shin's pleas fell on deaf ears as Lu was engrossed with playing with a cat. A staff at the store offers Shin a puppy to play with. He tries to resist at first but gives in and begins playing with the dog

"Um.... Shin maybe we should get going." Lu said deadpanning

Suddenly all the animals at the shop started making sounds in one direction. The duo turn their heads to see a middle aged man in a plaid jacket

"Stupid animals. When they encounter a predator they should run with their legs between their tails, not bark at it." The guy said

"You're not gonna eat the dogs are you?" Lu asked concerned

"No. I'm ex military. I've seen plenty of fighters die like flies. That's why I'm dedicated to providing beautiful endings. Take mr fatty for example. Before he goes he should lose all those close to him." The guy starts rambling

He takes an axe out of his bag before swinging at Shin's side, sending him flying through the shelves of the store.

"I can't waste time on side characters." He mused watching all the other people in the store panic and evacuate

The guy's caught off guard by a crowbar flying at him. Shin had blocked the axe at the last moment with a crowbar.

"Not bad. You move well Shin. You're a worthy opponent so I'll tell you my name. I'm saw." Saw says impressed.

"Huh? You know my name?" Shino asks

"Yeah you're on this hit list I got. Lu xiao tan C rank. Clairvoyant Shin D rank." Saw says looking at the paper

"What! I'm ranked lower than her. She's just a drunk woman." Shin says slumping on the ground

"Oh shut up! That's not important now!" Lu said annoyed

"Chin up Shin. Rankings don't matter in death." Saw says

Shin steels his resolve and dashes forward at Saw. He reads Saw's mind and ducks and throws up a bag of dog food. Saw cuts through the bag of dog food before Shin kicks his jaw upward.

"That's more like it." Saw said with a bleeding nose

Shin gets on guard for whatever Saw's going to do next

"Don't look so tense. I'll make your lives extremely interesting." Saw says menacingly unwrapping the rope connected to his axe

Shin attempts to read Saw's mind but the only thing on his mind is to kill.

Saw chucks up his axe, letting the rope get taught before he swings down with force, cutting a line through the ceiling. Shin barely jumps to the side and avoids it.

The duo begin running away to try and find something to use to counter Saw's crazy weapon. Shin ducks under the axe which is thrown at him.

Saw smirks seeing them running. He chucks his axe at a sign up above, the axe wraps around the sign changing its trajectory and cutting Shin on the back.

"Maybe you're not that interesting after all clairvoyant Shin. You're pretty dull." Saw says about to swing down and end Shin's life

Lu shoots him with a nail gun in his leg, temporarily distracting him. Shin manages to get the jump on him and blasts fire out of a blowtorch at him. But Saw just comes out unfazed

"The more you struggle the more interesting your end." Saw says amused

He launches his axe at a coolant box causing it to explode. Lu shoves Shin out of the way shielding him from the impact.

"Hey Lu!" Shin shouts worried

"Want drink...." Lu says groggily

Shin begins panicking and blaming himself for Lu's injuries. But these life or death situations are what help people break their limits little did he know he was about to awaken a power which would make him much more formidable.

"I can't wait! After I kill you two I'll kill his family. The death of a father who's lost everything, now that's a wonderful ending!" Saw says excited before going for a finishing blow

But Shin ends up behind Saw without him realising. Saw is a bit weirded out but doesn't let it phaze him.

As he goes to swing at Shin again, he's shocked when Shin holds his right arm before he even started to move.

"I can see your future." Shin said staring Saw down

Shin then starts pummeling Saw with a barage of punches which Saw can't seem to dodge. Saw gets up and dashes at Shin again. Shin continues to preemptively move to dodge Saw's attacks.

Shin was now reading the subconscious thoughts of Saw. Allowing him to react a tenth of a second before Saw moves. Giving him a massive edge in this fight.

"I won't let you hurt those I care about." Shin said says running straight at saw

Suddenly what feels like electric shocks reverberate throughout his body stopping him in his tracks. Saw takes advantage of the situation and wraps his rope around Shin before smashing him into the ground, knocking him out

When he thinks the fight is over a hand lands in his face and throws him through multiple rows of shelves. It was Lu in her drunken state but her vibe seemed different from previous times.

"Anyone who messes with my family- Snore*" Lu fell asleep mid sentence

"Gee you 2 really gave me a decent fight." Saw said approaching the 2 unconscious bodies to finish them off

"Sorry I can't let you do that. Not after what they just showed." I say impressed with Shin's growth

"Who're y-" Saw is stunned when he looks up and recognises me

"S-rank. Ryu Sano." I say lighting a cigarette

"I couldn't find any information on you. I can't give you a good ending that way." Saw said cracking his neck

"Oh no such a shame." I say dashing at him and going for his throat. He jumps back barley dodging my trusty knife

"You have some good instincts, like animal. Maybe you'll give me a run for my money." I say my eyes starting to glow

I can beat him. I reacted to his blade. Saw thought to himself

Saw spins his axe before slashing at the ground below me. He tries to use the dust as cover to hit me with his axe. I jump over the axe before doing a roundhouse kick in the air. Seemingly missing Saw's chin.

"You mis-"

The next thing Saw knew his face met the ground. His brain was probably vibrating inside his skull. I clipped the skin on his chin, which sent a shockwave through his skull. I saw it when Baki fought pickle, pickle's skin was too tough for brute force attacks to do anything so he used finesse to knock pickle out. It's all in the timing and speed of your hit, you need to accelerate just before you make contact with the skin for maximum effect. I managed to get Hyo with it multiple times.

I wanted to have a bit more of a fight. The last food fight I had was against Shishiba, but that doesn't count since we weren't actually gonna kill each other.

"3 2 1." I slap Saw's face with both my palms to stop his brain vibrating

"You awake?" I ask as Saw regains consciousness

"Come on surely that's not your limit. You have good eyes." I say looking down at Saw

Saw grits his teeth before getting up. Enraged he swings his axe wildly destroying the store even more.

"Don't mock me." He says using a pole to change the trajectory of the axe. The axe comes for my shoulder but its easy enough to dodge

I start bouncing on my toes trying out another fighting style from baki

"I won't let you get close to me!" Saw says launching his axe at me

I sidestep before kicking off the ground closing the distance between us. I use my finger tips to slice horizontally through his face. I then kick off the ground again and land a right hook. I finish off by kicking off the ground and landing an uppercut which sends Saw's head flying off his body.

"Well that was fun." I say taking out my phone to call Chiaki

"Floaters are on the way." Chiaki says without me needing to say anything

This is why I hired her. Saves me so much trouble

I pick up Shin before going to pick up Lu. Lu seems to wake up a bit

"Who's the handsome-"

She fell back asleep.

I pick her up and walk to Sakamoto's store

I walk in and steal a bag of sweets before going to find Sakamoto.

I see him with Heisuke at the counter.

"I got a delivery of 2." I say plopping the 2 employees on the table

"They ran into a serial killer?" sakamoto asks

"Yup. Shin did pretty well. He was like seeing the future and stuff but I'm guessing it takes a toll in his body." I explain

"You picked a good protege Sakamoto." I muse

Sakamoto just nods before sticking out his hands

"Pay up for the sweets." Sakamoto says

"Gee I help save your employees and this is what I get." I say

"You wouldn't have done it if you weren't after the target as well." Sakamoto says

"I might've." I say handing him a dollar

"And for the other day." Sakamoto says

I begrudgingly give him another dollar. Nothing gets past this dude.

For clarity, Sano's ability isn't to copy stuff he sees. His brain comes up with counters. So for example when he saw baki vs pickle his brain figured out how to counter pickle which just so happens to be the same way baki does. Its kind of like copying but in a more roundabout way. But that's also why he's never beaten Sakamoto, his brain couldn't come up with a counter for his inconsistent fighting style. As for the second part of the fight. For weaker opponents there are way more ways to counter so Sano can kind of pick his poison and doesn't need to stick with one style of counter