Novel Full Chapter 523: The Capital Is No Longer Neutral
Chapter 523: The Capital Is No Longer Neutral
Ryohei takes the seat still warm from Umemoto’s departure. The cameras flash, capturing his mangled face. But as he leans into the microphone, a familiar playful glint returns to his swollen eyes.
“Yamada-san!” a reporter from Osaka Daily barks. “Umemoto-san calls your win a freak accident. The fans are calling you a thief. How does it feel to wear a belt everyone thinks you didn’t earn?”
Ryohei lets out a raspy chuckle that turns into a wince as it hits his ribs. He shrugs with a jovial careless gesture.
“You’re right. I’m weak, aren’t I? I spent seven rounds as a human heavy bag,” Ryohei says, his voice light despite the grit. “But honestly, you guys are asking the wrong person. You should go back and ask Umemoto himself… how does it feel to lose your life’s work to a lucky punch from a guy as pathetic as me?”
The room falls into a stunned silence. But Ryohei’s grin only widens as he deliberately offers a bloody defiant spectacle.
“I hope the next challenger thinks exactly the same way. Please, keep believing I’m just lucky. It makes the victory walk so much shorter.”
The journalists scramble to note the quote, the atmosphere shifting from mockery to a strange bewildered fascination. But the focus quickly pivots to the man sitting next to him.
“Nakahara-san!” another reporter interjects. “Ryohei won via the Class-A tournament ticket, meaning he must defend this title within 120 days. Given his condition, will you ask for a medical extension like you did for Ryoma?”
Nakahara clears his throat, adjusting his glasses with the calm of a man holding a royal flush. “The doctor’s report is clear. Ryohei looks like he was in a car wreck on the outside, but structurally, he’s intact. There will be no extensions.”
“Does that mean we should expect another heated purse bid like you had back in April?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Nakahara says, his voice dropping into a professional stony resonance. “We have already reached an agreement with Narisawa Boxing Gym. Ryohei Yamada versus Shoji Hamakawa will take place on August 24th at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium. It will be a double-main event. Two titles, one night.”
The room explodes as the journalists scent the biggest story of the year.
Ryoma’s OPBF defense at Yoyogi is already a national sensation. But a double-title bout involving the two most influential gyms in Tokyo, Nakahara and Narisawa, is a masterstroke no one saw coming.
“Wait, you spoke with Narisawa Gym before this fight?” a reporter shouts over the din.
“Yes,” Nakahara adds, fueling the fire. “And it’s not just the title fight. The undercard will feature our Okabe Shuji against Narisawa’s Wakabayashi Yasuhide in a ranked featherweight bout.”
The chaos reaches a fever pitch. They start assuming that this old man isn’t just looking for a win. He is building an empire in the shadows.
It wasn’t long ago that he orchestrated a similar gym-war against the Raging Fox Spirit in Kobe. Now, he’s raising the stakes, aiming squarely at Tokyo’s crowning jewel: the Narisawa Boxing Gym.
“Hold on, Nakahara-san!” one journalist realizes the implication, his voice sharp with suspicion. “You made this deal before Ryohei even stepped into the ring tonight. Were you that certain of his victory? Or did you simply never view Umemoto as a real obstacle?”
Nakahara is caught off guard for a microsecond. He glances at Ryohei, then back at the sea of hungry eyes before offering an evasive hum.
“Ah… I never said that,” Nakahara says, standing up to signal the end of the night. “Let’s just say I got lucky that everything suddenly fell according to our plan. That’s all. And I hope that’s the last question for tonight.”
The press room is a sea of reaching microphones and blinding flashes. As Nakahara leads his battered champion toward the exit, the journalists surge forward like a breaking dam.
“Nakahara-san! What about the rest of the card?”
“Can we expect big fights for Aramaki and Kenta as well?”
“Will we see the biggest undercard in JBC history?”
Nakahara maintains a polite impenetrable smile, raising a hand to signal the end. “Everything is being finalized. We will make a formal announcement once the ink is dry. For tonight, let my champion rest.”
He disappears behind the heavy security doors, leaving the media in a frenzy of speculation. The small old man of Tokyo boxing has officially set the board on fire.
***
The sun rises on May 19th over a Japanese boxing landscape that has been fundamentally reshaped overnight. What began as a controversial title change in Osaka has mutated into a national fever, fueled by the audacious blueprint laid out by Nakahara in a cramped press room.
Across the newsstands of Tokyo, the morning editions of Nikkan Sports carry headlines that scream in bold, black ink:
“THE YOYOGI DOUBLE-HEADER: NAKAHARA DECLARES WAR ON THE CAPITAL.”
The lead editorial in Boxing Monthly is more ruthless, questioning the legitimacy of the new champion:
“Yamada’s ’glitch-fueled’ victory in Osaka was a miracle of biology, not boxing. But can a miracle survive a collision with the clinical precision of Shoji Hamakawa? Nakahara isn’t just betting on his fighter; he’s betting on lightning striking twice.”
On social media, the digital discourse is a battlefield. #YoyogiAug24 surges to the top of the trending charts, amassing hundreds of thousands of mentions as fans dissect every second of the Osaka footage.
@TokyoRingRat: “Double title bout at Yoyogi?! Nakahara is a madman. He’s basically telling the Narisawa Gym that their prestige doesn’t intimidate him anymore. Absolute cinema.”
@OsakaBoxingFan: “Yamada is a fraud. He’s still pissing blood and he’s already booking a stadium? Hamakawa is going to end his career in three rounds. #FakeChamp #UmemotoRobbed”
Clipped articles shared across forums highlight the aggressive pattern of Nakahara’s recent movements. A piece from The Fight Journal titled ’The Suburban Hostile Takeover’ notes:
“…First, it was the ’Gym-War’ against the Raging Fox Spirit in Kobe. Now, Nakahara has bypassed the traditional gatekeepers to strike at the heart of Tokyo’s elite. By securing the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, he has forced the entire industry to orbit around his grand design. The unspoken rules of the hierarchy have been shredded.”
Clips of Ryohei’s jovial and defiant response to the Osaka media are played on a loop, juxtaposed against Nakahara’s stony calculated announcement.
“How does it feel to lose to a guy as pathetic as me?”
The narrative is clear: Nakahara is no longer just a participant. He is the architect of a spectacle that promises to either crown a new dynasty or incinerate it in the bright lights of Yoyogi.
***
May 20th – Korakuen Hall
JBC Super Featherweight Championship Title Fight
The air in Korakuen Hall is thick with the smell of sweat and tension. In the challenger’s locker room, Leonardo Serrano of the Kirizume Boxing Gym sits in silence as his hands are taped.
The room is shared with fighters from smaller gyms, their cornermen hovering in the background, creating a crowded claustrophobic atmosphere.
But then, when the door opens, the chatter dies instantly. They expect for one of the officials, but no, it’s Kenji Nakahara stepping in, his presence acting like a sudden drop in barometric pressure.
Two years ago, he would have been ignored. Now, every eye in the room, including the fighters in the far corners, is locked on him.
Renji Kuroiwa, the former Lightweight Champion and current WBC 8th-ranked contender, leans against a locker, a smirk playing on his lips.
“Well, if it isn’t the man of the hour,” Renji calls out, his voice cutting through the silence. “To what do we owe the honor, Nakahara-san? Finally decided it’s time for me and Ryoma to settle things? Sadly, I’ve got my own dance scheduled soon.”
Nakahara slightly raises a hand with a casual smile. “I’m aware of your upcoming bout, Renji. And I wish you luck, hope you take the win this time.”
“Of course I will,” Renji scoffs, though his eyes sharpen with curiosity.
From the center of the room, Daisuke Kirizume stands up. As the head of one of Tokyo’s twin pillars of boxing, his gaze is ice-cold. For decades, Kirizume and Narisawa have split the glory of the capital. So to him, Nakahara’s sudden momentum is an intrusion.
“Then what are you doing here, Nakahara-san?” Kirizume asks, his voice vibrating with suppressed irritation. “After the stunt you pulled lately, I’m starting to think you came here to challenge Serrano before his hands are even in his gloves. If that’s the case… you’re becoming quite bold, challenging everyone in Tokyo without a shred of respect for the hierarchy.”
Nakahara meets the cold stare of the veteran promoter without flinching, his calm demeanor a direct contrast to the aggressive energy in the room.
“Hierarchy?” he echoes softly, the corner of his mouth twitching with a faint enigmatic smile. “I’m simply trying to ensure that every seat at Yoyogi is filled to capacity, Kirizume-san.”
Kirizume’s eyes narrow, his voice dropping into a dangerous register. “By hoping that my Serrano loses his title fight tonight?”