“Wh-What the!?” Astounded by the sudden shock of pain, Wolfman could only stand there, aghast!
Gggshhh!!!
Ggggggshhhhh!!!!!
Wolfman’s stomach distended further and further with each impact!
“You’re...!?” Wolfman was in complete shock!
Our astute Dear Readers must already realize what was happening! That’s right!! Wataru was punching his way out of Wolfman’s stomach!!!
“Rrh!!!!!”
Gggggggggggggggshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wolfman’s whole body quaked as an incredible shock shook through him!
“Blergh!” Wolfman heaved and threw up his stomach contents, i.e., Wataru!
“Hooooooo-aaaah!!!!!” Wataru shot out of Wolfman’s mouth! “All right!!!” He rolled on the ground and bounced right up onto his feet, standing on the wasteland sand, brightly lit by moonlight! Hot-blooded Fighting Teen WATARU was back!
Tears of joy sprang from Aria’s eyes! “W-Wataru!” Wataru was Aria’s last hope of saving her parents from the Demon Lord, as well as her comrade with whom she had survived trials and tribulations and band practice! A hot-blooded tear trickled down her cheek!
“What took you so long, Wataru?” Résistance gave a relieved smile as she sheathed her sword! Despite her insistence on keeping a neutral standing, she considered Wataru a close friend!
“...Sorry for the wait!” Wataru apologized with a breezy smile, crossing his arms!
The word “impossible” had been scrubbed, erased, and censored completely from this man’s dictionary... In fact, his dictionary contained only the word “possible”!!!!!
“D-Damn... I didn’t expect you to start beating on my guts... Quite impressive, Wataru!” Wolfman shouted as he panted in pain!
“I thought so, too! Who are you, anyway!?!? Where’s that old man!?!?!?”
That’s right! Since Wataru had been fast asleep until moments ago, he’d had no way of knowing that the old man had been Wolfman in disguise!
“Wataru! This werewolf is Wolfman, the Fourth Master! He was just putting on the guise of a deteriorated old man! He was tricking us!” Aria jumped in with the swift and accurate explanation!
Now, Wataru was completely caught up... and enraged!!! “That’s not fair... How dare you attack your opponent while they’re asleep! You’re going to pay for this!!!” Wataru shouted!
“Hmph! Did you expect monsters to play fair!? But now it seems I’m forced to fight you head-on!” Wolfman took a fighting stance with one perfect fluid motion! He squatted low, and outstretched his right arm in a dramatic tableau with the grace of a kabuki actor!
Wataru witnessed this stance and cracked a grin! “Your muscles, your stance, your aura... Not bad!!! I’m gonna take you on with all I’ve got!!!” Wataru reached into the pocket of his school uniform’s jacket! He produced a meter-long, crimson piece of fabric!! It was a hachimaki, a Japanese headband!!!
“A headband... What good do you think that’s going to do you?” Wolfman asked, still maintaining his pose!
“What...? It’s a hachimaki! What do you think!?!?!?” Wataru shouted with the face of a nio, and tied the hachimaki around his head with a swift yet passionate motion!!! “I’ll tell you what this is!!! This legendary hachimaki has been passed down through my family for generations!!! The Exploding-Blood Demon Slayer!!!!!” The tails of his crimson hachimaki danced in the wind! Wataru now resembled the Japanese folktale hero, Momotaro, or “Peach Boy”!! A hot-blooded, fighting Peach Boy, ready to slay the demon!!! “With this hachimaki around my head, my hot-blooded energy is multiplied a hundred fold!!!
Wolfman couldn’t contain his amazement! There was no telling how much of Wataru’s claims we could trust, but we must have faith that our protagonist knew what he was talking about!! By equipping said hachimaki, Wataru’s hot-blooded energy was multiplied a hundred fold!
(*Hachimaki — Our well-read Dear Readers, as intellectuals, might have read that the word hachimaki has its origins in the Japanese hachi, meaning “pot” and maki, meaning “wrap,” and that in feudal Japan, they called the wrap that kept their helmets on their head hachimaki, since hachi was also slang for the dome of one’s head or their helmets. You read wrong. The true origin of hachimaki dates back to the brilliant strategist of Ancient Rome, Hachi Maki (99 B.C.E. ~ ?). Before each battle, he provided every one of his soldiers with a thin strip of fabric to wrap around their heads in order to boost morale and to identify their comrades more easily in combat. This tradition spread around the world, and became known as the ubiquitous hachimaki we all know and love today. In Japan, the word hachimaki can be written to mean two different meanings: “pot wrap” or “hot-blooded Demon Slayer.” [9])
“Hmph! You think you’re stronger now because of some cloth around your head!?” Wolfman challenged!
“Just wait and see!!!!!” Wataru switched to his fighting stance! He lowered his center of gravity, and spread his feet wide! This is a universal fighting stance found in the likes of sumo wrestling!
“Are you ready, Wataru!?” Wolfman shouted!
“Yeah! Bring it on!!”
“Aaarrrrooooo!!” Wolfman howled, his brown fur standing on end! He lunged at Wataru, raising his right arm as his mane fluttered in the wind!!
“Wataru! Watch out!” Aria cried out!
Wataru was in danger!!!
“Hraaaagh!!!!!” Wolfman charged Wataru at incredible speed! The werewolf was nearly 10 feet tall, while Wataru stood at six foot four! This wasn’t looking good for our protagonist! Much to everyone’s surprise, Wataru showed no sign of dodging the attack, but only let out a deep exhale! “Woooooragghh! Take this!” Wolfman’s fist was fast approaching!! At this rate, Wataru would be defeated not long after his miraculous return from the werewolf’s belly!!!
Just as Wolfman’s fist was about to reach his face, Wataru shouted!!! “Dflct!!!!!”
Braggghhhkkkt!!!!!
An explosive sound echoed through the wasteland! But it wasn’t Wataru who was blown away, but Wolfman!!!
“Wh-What the...!?” Wolfman was dumbfounded, even as he was still in the air! Who could have blamed him for it!? Wolfman had just experienced being deflected by some sort of invisible wall the instant he was sure his fist would land on Wataru! “Th-This isn’t over!” Wolfman regained his balance in mid-air, and landed on his feet with a heavy thud! He swung his right arm again, charging dauntlessly at Wataru!! “Rrrrrragghhhh!”
Still...!
“It’s no use... You can’t set foot in my territory...!!!!!”
Braggghhhhhhkkkkrrrrrgggggrrrrrkkkkk!!!!!
There was another reflective sound, and Wolfman was turned aside once more! Wataru was moving too fast for him to understand what had happened!
Résistance, too, failed to follow! “This fight is far beyond me...! I don’t have a clue what’s going on, but there’s no way Wolfman can win!”