102. One Against a Thousand: The King of the Prison

Hozuki City Prison loomed on the edge of a precipitous cliff. Outside the walls of the prison square, turbulent waves crashed relentlessly against the rocks below.

At dusk, as the sun dipped westward, golden rays bathed the expansive courtyard. This hour was a rare moment of harmony within the prison walls; inmates, having concluded their day of forced labor, would gather in the square to unwind, chatting and laughing.

Yet today, the square was deathly silent.

Not a sound disturbed the air.

One massive hand, that of Hozuki, with fingers spread wide, gripped the head of the Giant Bear gang leader, dragging the heavily injured and unconscious man across the ground, leaving a vivid trail of blood behind.

With a swift motion, as if discarding refuse, Hozuki tossed the man into the crowd ahead. Startled, the inmates hurriedly stepped back, clearing a path.

A soccer ball rolled out from the panicked throng, bouncing to Hozuki’s feet.

He glanced down, then raised his foot and crushed the ball with a thunderous stomp, the ground beneath fracturing like a spiderweb beneath the force.

Then, under the watchful eyes of all, he strode step by step toward the center of the square.

“Is that the shark guy? I heard the captain himself ordered that whoever takes him down will be handsomely rewarded.”

“First it was the Wild Wolf gang, then the Skeleton gang, and now even the Giant Bear gang has been brought down by that Hozuki guy. There’s never been anyone this fierce in this prison before.”

“What’s he up to now? His mental state looks off.”

“…”

Whispers and murmurs rippled through the inmates as they gathered from all directions.

From above, the prison square’s floor revealed crimson lines forming a complex pattern, resembling a blooming blood-red flower.

Hozuki stood precisely at the heart of this pattern.

He slowly surveyed the hostile faces closing in around him before finally speaking:

“I’m done playing these endless petty games with you vermin. Hand over my amulet now, or…”

His voice faltered briefly, then twisted into a classic villain’s grin. “I’ll beat every last one of you.”

Though quiet, his words cut through the square, echoing until they reached the ears of over a thousand prisoners.

The crowd erupted.

Madness—pure madness.

“Who does this shark guy think he is? Does he really intend to take on every inmate in Hozuki City alone?” a prisoner sneered, voicing the collective sentiment.

In this prison, every inmate’s chakra had been sealed by the Fire Escape Prison technique, leaving them reliant solely on their physical strength and pure martial skills—barely stronger than ordinary men.

Under such circumstances, even the strongest could only hold their own against ten foes at best.

A thousand inmates, even if they didn’t fight back and let him pummel them one by one, could still wear him down to exhaustion.

Members of the Hundred Victories gang and the Fierce Tiger gang exchanged gleeful glances.

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