For a brief moment, the noise of the arena becomes convenient. The two fighters in the ring are still trading at a reckless pace, throwing everything into every exchange, and the crowd responds in waves that shake the venue.

That intensity gives Kirizume something to lean on, something to look at other than the insult Ryoma threw at him so far.

This is already the third card of the night, and it has been like this since the opening bout. And there is a pattern to it now, one that is not accidental.

"Left hook to the body... no, counter right hand from Shigenobu!"

"They’re not stopping! Matabei comes back in... another flurry at center ring!"

"This is turning into a war of attrition! Neither man is willing to take a step back!"

For this Night of Revenge, Ryoma did not just assemble fighters for entertainment value. He structured the entire event around pressure.

The double purse for knockout victories changes everything. With that incentive in place, no one is thinking about point-scoring or long-term strategy.

After all, these fighters are not elite technicians chasing perfection. They are mid-tier fighters who understand exactly where they stand in the hierarchy.

And so they fight accordingly; direct, urgent, and desperate to secure the reward in front of them rather than the reputation beyond it.

The ring erupts again as both fighters collide at close range, neither willing to give even half a step. Hooks crash in from both sides, bodies fold and reset, and the referee briefly steps in before the exchange immediately resumes.

Kirizume knows these fighters. He knows all of them; the two inside the ring now, and the four who fought on the previous cards before them. They are Tokyo stable fighters. At one point or another, he has invited them under his own promotional banner.

And yet, none of those fights ever looked like this, never this violent, never this desperate, never with this kind of refusal to slow down.

There is no real reason for it either, no title, no career-defining stake, no immediate consequence that should push them beyond their usual limits.

And still, they are fighting like the outcome decides something far more permanent than rankings.

"What’s wrong with these guys?"

Then his eyes shift briefly toward Ryoma. His mind starts working faster than he would like to admit.

"Did he offer them higher purses?"

The thought forms easily. It is the most rational explanation available. Incentive structure, a simple adjustment that changes behavior.

But even as it forms, Kirizume rejects it internally, because he has done the same before, but it has never produced this kind of result. And yet here it is, three undercards, six fighters, all of them throwing themselves into exchanges like there is no tomorrow waiting outside the ropes.

Ryoma actually glances sideways toward him and notices the tension. And Kirizume immediately looks back to the ring, as if the fight itself has suddenly become the only thing worth observing.

The fight should be exciting, engaging even. But Kirizume’s expression turns sour from something he is unwilling to name directly.

Ryoma exhales lightly, almost amused, as if he can read the direction of Kirizume’s thoughts without hearing them.

Then, without much ceremony, he shifts the conversation again. "Anyway, have you found an opponent for our Satoru yet?"

Kirizume answers flatly. "Not yet."

"What, should I help you lessen your workload?" Ryoma continues, tone light but edged with mockery. "Or maybe you should just let Ronin Fight Management host that event instead."

"We already made an agreement about that," Kirizume replies.

"Yes," Ryoma says, "with one condition. You put Satoru in the semifinals, and you find an A-class boxer as his opponent."

"For a rookie who just got his B-class license?" Kirizume shoots back immediately. "You’re asking too much. No one is going to accept that fight."

"Everyone will do anything if you offer enough money," Ryoma says, a faint smirk forming. "Why? Isn’t that what you taught me back then, Kirizume-san?"

Ryoma then turns his attention back to the ring. "Well, if you don’t want to spend that much, why don’t you just give us Kazuya Tojo? Might as well turn this into a war between two reputable stables in Tokyo."

Kirizume clearly does not like the intention behind the challenge. It is not just the words themselves, but what they imply. Because they immediately bring back a pattern he has seen unfold before his eyes in this industry.

He remembers Nakahara’s gym standing in the aftermath of two major stables being broken down in sequence. Raging Fox Boxing and Narisawa Gym.

Raging Fox lost Liam Kuroda last year, a mixed-race fighter with strong international potential who did not renew his contract and instead moved to Australia. Not because he lacked ability within Japan, but because he no longer trusted his management to match the scale of his ambition.

Then, early this January, Narisawa attempted a high-profile rematch between Hamakawa and Umemoto, both former Japanese champions in the super lightweight division.

On paper, everything was there; rivalry, reputation, history, tension built over years. The event should have carried weight. The arena was full, Korakuen Hall was alive, the atmosphere was undeniable. And yet, it did not last.

The attention faded quickly. The fight became something people referenced briefly rather than remembered deeply. The only name that consistently entered the conversation afterward was not from either stable, but from Nakahara’s camp when Ryohei was brought into discussion.

Those two gyms, along with Kirizume’s own, were once the dominant pillars of Japanese boxing narratives for nearly a decade. Three names that shaped the industry’s center of gravity.

But over the past two years, that structure has started to shift. Their influence no longer feels stable. Raging Fox and Narisawa fell after its rupture with Nakahara’s orbit. And Kirizume after losing Renji Kuroiwa, the balance around his own gym never fully returned to what it once was.

Now, hearing Ryoma speak, Kirizume understands exactly what this is meant to echo.

"Nakahara said you were concerned about the future of my gym," Kirizume says at last, bringing the memory fully into the present. "Suggesting I push Serrano into international boxing to avoid Aramaki. And now here you are, speaking like this, as if you want to erase my legacy outright."

Ryoma responds with a small shrug, as if the weight of the accusation is not particularly heavy.

"I did say that to Nakahara," he replies. "And I really hoped you would listen. But you chose to ignore it just to prove a point. So I’m going to prove mine too. By beating Serrano and Kazuya Tojo... and then watching how your gym collapses."