*Starting Scene*

Within the forest's confines, quick-paced panting escapes from Ilya, Yuki and Trace as they aimlessly run in search of Dante after being directed by some civilians that a young man matching his description had entered the forest. Eventually, the trio find Sano's campsite, halting there to momentarily catch their breath while examining the surroundings.

Yuki scans the area with curiosity brimming while standing a few meters behind Ilya and Trace. "What is... This place?"

Trace walks up to Sano's tent prior to bending forward as he cautiously peeks inside, verifying what it contains via his right hand opening the tent's entrance. "Clearly, home to someone." The aqua-eyed person closes the tent, fixes his posture and turns to the two teens. "Though, whoever lives here, isn't around at the moment."

Ilya travels towards the campsite's center amidst steadying her breath, folds her arms together and taps her right index finger onto her chin with a contemplative expression as she mumbles, "I wonder if Dante passed through here... The motel attendant informed us he was very interested in where that Son Goku Clan is and left without saying anything." She slowly spins herself to confront Yuki and Trace, however, doesn't make eye contact with them while lowering her right hand as Ilya continues to grip her right arm via her left hand. "Sad thing though, the attendant couldn't tell us the exact location of the clan, just that they're in the forest." The girl drops her head, lets out a soft sigh with her eyes temporarily shut and then gazes upward while demonstrating a worrisome composition. "Please, don't get into too much trouble, Dante."

Despite how he may not want to immerse himself much with Dante's friends, especially after promising to kill the green-eyed individual one day, Trace gradually advances towards Ilya upon registering her demeanor. Once he reaches the beauty, the gentleman gives Ilya a firm look with both hands in his pockets. "Ilya."

Ilya locks eyes with Trace, mildly displaying intrigue. "Yes, Trace?"

Just as Trace was about to speak, rustling resounds from the forest's section towards his right, which would be Ilya's left, while all three simultaneously veer their attention to that direction. Soon enough, two figures come flying out, one elevated higher than the other, as a familiar voice joyfully cries out, "Whoo-hoo!"

Following that outburst, it's revealed that Dante's soaring through the air while remaining closer to the grass than Sano, who's several meters above the blonde as both show a delighted behavior. 

Because of that, Ilya commandeers her body to face the duo and unconsciously takes a couple of steps in front of Trace since Dante's heading straight at the purple-haired individual with her left hand no longer grasping her right arm to put it down before shouting, bewilderment emanating, "Dante!"

Dante rapidly blinks for an instant with minor surprise, passively retorting, "Ilya." He then sharply lands his left foot on the earth below him as the lad decelerates while leaving a trail extending towards the white-haired female. A second after doing that, Dante glances over at Sano, realizes something that forces the blonde to return his focus to Ilya, and without fully detaining his advancement, swiftly grabs the hazel-eyed chick via both his hands.

At the same time, Ilya's baffled by Dante's unexpected action as she cries out while lightly blushing, "Dante, what the-?!"

Not allowing Ilya to finish, Dante promptly picks her up while preventing any further movement towards Trace, carries the teenager marital-style and leaps westward. Right after that, the hoodie-wearing character urgently looks over to Trace without releasing his grip of Ilya. "Head's down, Trace!"

Confusion plagues Trace following him momentarily directing his sight to Dante until hearing Sano let out a distressful yell. This compels the vested fellow to turn back towards where he was facing and becomes stunned due to witnessing Sano still soaring at him while only three meters away. Both of them then try to brace themselves prior to their heads harshly knocking into each other with so much impact that Trace is driven backwards onto the ground not long after while Sano's sent flying up in an uncontrollable spin.

Dante chuckles a tad and ceases his mobility not too far away, retaining Ilya within both arms. "Told you to put your head down."

Shortly afterwards, Sano manages to land on his feet several meters behind the currently downed Trace. Unfortunately, the boy isn't coming out of the head collision unscathed as he favors his forehead via both hands, which now has a red bruise on it, and torques himself around from pain with his eyes closed while exclaiming in a frustrated tone, "Hell, that was smart!"

Meanwhile, Trace expels an angry groan with his right hand planted onto his own forehead to cover a similar bruise as he slowly rises to his feet. Then, with intensity resonating in his visible eye, the Caucasian steers himself towards Sano. "What's the matter with you?! Why don't you watch where you're going?!"

Sano snaps his head to Trace. "Really?! I oughta' be the one shouting like that, not you!" He hangs both hands to their corresponding regions and quickly marches up to Trace. "What the hell are you doing in my camp anyway?! I didn't invite you!"

Trace rebuttals with an enraged scowl forming. "No, shit!" The gentleman points his left hand at Dante. "I'm here because I was searching for that jackass!"

Dante slants his head westward while portraying an innocent attitude. "What did I do?"

During that, Ilya's silent as the headband-endowed teen's face is quite red, compliments of feeling embarrassed that Dante's holding her in such a manner and thinks while gazing to the side, "How long am I going to be like this?! This is SO awkward!" She glimpses towards the end of her dress. "I hope my panties aren't showing...!"

Yuki steadily draws near the other four located at the campsite's center with a scrutinizing behavior established, irritably thinking, "Why is Dante carrying Miss Know-It-All that way? And is that her underwear I see?"

Trace lowers his left hand after ignoring Dante's question, persisting his rage. "Now, apologize!"

Sano's briefly amazed until becoming upset and yells with both hands clenched into fist, "Like hell, Cyclops! Go fall into a never-ending ditch!"

Trace's wrath spikes to another level before situating his face close to Sano's. "Do you want to die, Monkey-boy?! Do you... Want to... Die?! Do you really?!'Cause if you do, I'll be kind enough to oblige!"

Sano confidently smiles. "Give it your best shot, if you think you got what it takes!"

Dante strives not to laugh while straightening his head's posture and shuts his eyes as he thinks, "This seems sorta' familiar, right down to the name calling. They're just like..."

Ilya interrupts Dante's thoughts, nervousness demonstrated. "Ummm... Dante?"

Dante switches his concentration to Ilya with curiosity displayed. "Yeah, Ilya?"

Ilya hesitantly replies without making eye contact. "C-Can you p-please... P-P-Put me down a-already?"

Dante smirks as he nods. "Of course. Sorry about that." He then helps Ilya stand on her own two feet prior to creating minimal separation between the two amidst standing to her left and asks while viewing the dame out of the corner of his eyes, "Better?"

Ilya refrains from depicting Dante, combing her hair via both hands with slight redness still existing. "Yes, thank you very much."

Yuki mockingly mutters with agitation in her voice, "Thank you very much..." The pink-haired teen soon blurts out while placing both hands on her hips, "Hey! Can we get to the main point of us being here?!" She directly focuses onto Dante. "Why did you suddenly run off again, Dante?"

Dante nonchalantly shifts his attention toward Yuki before giving her a sincere grin. "I wanted to make another friend!"

Both Ilya and Yuki are abruptly baffled as all they can do is stare at their companion after Ilya managed to lower her hands.

In the meantime, overhearing Dante's statement, Sano brings his vision to the gentleman while rendered speechless and thinks, "Is he... Talking about me?"

Trace scoffs upon folding his arms amidst steering himself towards Dante and calmly remarks, "You really like doing whatever you want, don't you? Question though... Don't you ever consider the feelings of other people? Because leaving without notification will eventually get tiring. I bet no one would want to stick around you if that were to continue."

Dante shrugs, watching Trace out of the edge of his eyes. "Oh, well. I'm not gonna' force them to stay if they don't want to, but that'll be their choice alone. After all, I won't ever leave them for good."

Trace's right eyebrow twitches while sort of ignoring the last thing Dante said. "So, you don't even care?"

Dante earnestly smiles. "I am who I am. If I were to change, it'd be only on my terms. Nobody else's."

Shock etches itself onto Sano, a hint of admiration joining in prior to wholeheartedly smirking. Not long after, the golden-eyed boy distances himself from Trace so he can advance towards Dante, and before long, is right ahead of the blonde. "I appreciate your previous kind words, but it'd be best that we aren't friends."

Dante promptly frowns, attentive of Sano now as he cocks his head westward. "How come?"

Sano hangs his head with a shameful look and stares at the grass near his feet. "It's just... I'm no good."

Surprise rapidly envelope the quartet as Trace closes in from Sano's right since the black-haired individual is the closest out of the current group.

Sano speaks further while carefully reaching behind himself via both hands and grabs his Ruyi Jingu Bang. "I'm what people would call an abomination. You probably already know. It's something I unconsciously think about and you obviously can read my mind."

Ilya navigates her vision to Dante, concern invoked. "What's he talking about, Dante?"

Dante stays quiet for a moment and observes Sano until some sadness overtakes his face. "You can go ahead and say it, Sano. One thing you'll need to know about me is that I like it when folks express their mind over me simply hearing their thoughts. That kinda' goes hand in hand with explaining things involving others, unless you want me to."

Sano grins. "It's fine. I'll tell them that way they'll understand." The teenager recedes by a few steps to witness everyone and quickly gathers up his courage. "I'm a half-breed."

Yuki can't help growing confused as she removes both hands from her hips. "Half-breed?"

Trace's eyes widen out of disbelief. "You couldn't possibly mean...?!"

Ilya interjects herself into the conversation, horror displayed. "The forbidden conception of a child between an ordinary human and Spellcaster!"

Sano's eyes veer away from them, depression surfacing. "That's right. My dad was a human with no magical powers and my mom was a Spellcaster, apparently from a prestigious Spellcaster Family. I never found out which one though 'cause my mom died giving birth to me and my dad didn't bother to tell me."

Dante intently stares at Sano before seeing an image of a preteen Sano happily peering at an older man that significantly resembled the golden-eyed boy, even to the clothing. In contrast however, the figure is more muscular and owns darker eyes as he's carrying the staff Sano now wields. Afterwards, the green-eyed person chuckles while briefly flicking the tip of his nose via his right hand. "You're really proud of your dad, huh?"

Sano snaps his concentration to Dante while caught off guard until cheerfully nodding. "You bet! My dad was the best!"

Dante contentedly smiles. "Then, don't be ashamed of who you are. If you can take pride in those who gave you life and their love, screw the labels!" He swings his right arm towards the side while managing not to hit Ilya as she's continually standing next to him. "You are Sano!" Dante extends his right appendage to the lad. "That's who I want to be friends with!"

Yuki joyously grins, thinking, "Another great Dante statement."

Trace shuts his eyes amidst restraining himself from smirking so that none of the others could figure out that he's accepting of Dante's words.

On the other hand, Ilya's plagued by uncertainty and thinks, "I don't know if Dante befriending him is such a good idea. That usually translates to somebody joining us in our journey back to Velkry." The individual faintly glares at Yuki while thinking, "I already have to deal with one hassle in the form of a snobbish princess..." Ilya returns her gaze to Sano, who has yet to accept Dante's hand, as she thinks, "However, if he were to invite one who's an illegal offspring, the Royal Council and the citizens of my beloved Velkry will not be too pleased." The beauty then wishes to deliver a comment, but is unable due to Sano neglect of shaking Dante's hand.

Instead, Sano gently plants his left hand atop Dante's to put it down prior to wholeheartedly utterring, "Thanks again, Dante." He retracts his left hand to once more grab his Ruyi Jingu Bang. "I won't forget your kind words. No one has ever said anything like that."

Dante confidently responds after lowering his eastern limb. "I meant every single word!"

Sano nods. "I know." He glances over to the right because that's the direction Axis originated from earlier and then resets his focus to Dante. "I have something important to take care of, so if you don't mind..."

Dante casually deviates his attention. "Okay." The blonde reverts his sight towards Sano. "Although, just to make it clear, I won."

Confusion dwells within Sano, slightly shaking his head. "What're you talking about?"

Dante softly laughs. "The race. I reached the middle of your camp first, remember? That means I'm the winner."

Sano swiftly recalls the fact that Dante indeed touched the heart of his campsite to move Ilya out of the way before the golden-eyed teen bumped heads with Trace. After that, the tanned fellow narrows his eyes in disappointment and hangs his head. "Very true..."

Dante laughs louder this time with his eyes closed. "Don't worry though! I'll gladly give you a rematch if you want!"

Sano brings his head up to grin at Dante with excitement overflowing. "For real?!"

Dante sharply nods amidst emanating an honest demeanor. "Of course! What are friends for?!" He calms himself a bit. "Also, you and me are very much alike."

Curiosity overruns Sano after mildly frowning. "In what way exactly?"

Dante replies without any effort. "First, we aren't too fond of losing. That's why it rarely happens to us, but when it does, we always look to even the score."

Sano nods. "You have a point there. Anything else?"

Dante places both hands behind his back. "Yup, there's a ton more. Though, the one I think we oughta' really hold close to ourselves is the fact that by other people's opinion, we're both freaks."

Sano tilts his head westward as he's somewhat stunned.

Dante expels a small cough. "Anyway, go do what you got to do. You mentioned it was important, didn't you?"

Sano regains his composure upon hastily blinking a couple of times amidst fixing his head and firmly nods. "Right. I'll be off, then." The character takes both hands off his orange staff, turns towards his right and hurriedly runs into the forest by passing behind Trace.

Witnessing Sano leave, Ilya sets her sights on Dante while still uncertain. "Dante, are you-?"

Dante interrupts Ilya via suddenly putting his right hand over the hazel-eyed chick's mouth as he locks eyes with her. "I don't need to hear your thoughts to know your inquiry anymore. You pretty much always ask the same thing, so let's skip over that. Okay?"

Ilya gives Dante a bland stare, thinking, "This guy..."

Dante pulls away his hand from Ilya with a sly smile. "I'll safely assume you're in agreement with my request." Realization unexpectedly envelopes Dante. "Which reminds me, you three can head back to the village now. There's something I wanna' check out." He navigates himself westward and walks in the direction Sano left.

Trace watches Dante's back, a solemn conduct emitted. "Are you seriously running off again without telling us where you're headed? How many times does someone have to tell you how annoying that is for you to take their complaint into consideration?"

Dante does his best not to laugh and answers without viewing Trace. "Probably a trillion times... And even then, it may not be enough."

A frustrated scowl overcomes Trace while thinking, "Why do I try, really?"

Dante chuckles as he's about to enter the forest and mutters, "Because we're friends."

*Scene Change*

Going back in time a tad, Axis had traveled to the Son Goku Clan's residence right after talking with Sano. The place looks like an immense Buddhist temple stationed upon a treeless field similar to the area Sano made his home as the dirt-covered earth had been leveled for combat. At the moment, there are many Caucasian men, unquestionably students of the Son Goku Clan based on their appearance. They're dressed in dark orange training uniforms, which resemble a type of jumpsuit, and are currently practicing Kung Fu in pairs while others did staff wielding training via a large group until registering Axis' arrival. Because of this, they all switch their attention towards the man and politely bow to him.

Axis lightly waves at all of them in acceptance to their welcome. Shortly after, the glove-wearing character focuses on an elderly, slim, tanned man with receding black hair sitting upon the temple's wooden floor that's in front of the entrance leading inside. He's presently wearing a grey robe containing shiny, dark orange writing vertically running along the sides that says "Son Goku" on it.

The old man takes a sip of herbal tea he's holding in a small, clay cup via both hands while his eyes are zoomed onto its confines after creating a bit of separation from his lips.

Concurrently, Axis reaches the elderly man and bows in the same manner everyone else did towards him with his eyes closed. "I have returned, Lord Yosen."

Yosen vacantly gazes at Axis with his dark brown eyes, resting his cup of tea towards his right. "Welcome back. Your timing's perfect, Axis. You have a guest awaiting you in the main hall. I instructed him you would not be long from accomplishing your errand."

Faint worry establishes itself on Axis upon straightening his posture to lock eyes with Yosen. "Did he mention who he was?"

Yosen sternly answers. "He chose not to give his name, however, he said it was imperative you two spoke. Something to do with old business. It intrigued me, very. May I sit in to hear your conversation, Axis?"

Axis glances over at the entrance as the feeling of him being watched struck him hard. Following that, the individual diverts his vision to Yosen with a fake smile formed while shutting his eyes again. "It'd be best if you didn't. I hope you don't mind."

Yosen blankly analyzes Axis' stature before taking another sip of his herbal tea. "If you insist. On another note, I see you did not bring back the Ruyi Jingu Bang. Honestly, not much of a surprise."

Axis rolls his eyes. "Sad, but true. I did give him a fair warning to turn it in by the end of today or there will be repercussions."

Yosen sighs amidst lowering the cup to his crossed legs. "Highly doubtful that he will heed it. We will just have to do the same to him that we did concerning the Spellcaster."

Axis coldly nods. "Seems like it, although it's for the good of the clan and the village. Wukong Village is the only human civilization in Bosque, and when unacceptable people enter our territory, we must swiftly deal with them. We have no other choice. We don't want a repeat of five years ago when Lord Sayuma lost his life over a wretched Spellcaster who wasn't even alive anymore."

Yosen's eyes dull not long after peering down at his tea. "No need to remind me, Axis. Despite how quick you are to learning our ways, you are still several decades behind to be talking to me in such a manner. The selection of the new heir is tomorrow. It is not automatically yours. Once Ruyi Jingu Bang returns to us, then your status will be discussed in full seriousness."

Axis deeply inhales. "You are correct, Lord Yosen. Please, accept my apologies. I didn't mean to sound commanding or anything of the sort." He begins to walk up the few steps that separate him and Yosen. "I'll be going now."

Yosen watches Axis pass his left with uncaring eyes until noting something ahead of him and grins. "Just a minute, Axis."

Axis suddenly stops in his tracts, asking in a composed voice amidst maintaining his focus onto the path before him, "What is it?"

Yosen responds as it can be seen that all of the men who were practicing their martial arts have ceased and are now giving whatever Yosen's witnessing an apathetic glare. "It seems we have another guest. This one I believe we should dedicate priority to, if you do not mind."

Axis swings himself around prior to widening his eyes out of astonishment. "I'll be damned... This is beyond expectation. And here we thought the day you'd comply to our request would never come... Sano."

Sano stands where Axis entered from earlier with both arms folded together while demonstrating a strong conduct. "Well, since you gave me such a loving invitation, I thought it'd only be right to show up! So, here I am!"

Axis travels back down the temple's steps with skepticism radiating. "Oh, how nice of you! Then, that signifies you've accepted me as the rightful heir and owner of Ruyi Jingu Bang, eh?!"

Sano scoffs as annoyance is portrayed. "Do I have to ask you to jump off a ledge again?! Obviously, you got a real hard time listening! Ruyi belongs to me, jackass! Whether I'm the Son Goku Clan's heir or not, won't change that!" A devious smiles abruptly summons itself. "I'll give you a chance to win it though."

Interest adds onto Yosen's person.

Axis gawks at Sano, poised ten meters from the golden-eyed teen. "Say again?"

Sano chuckles with tenacity resonating. "I'll give you a chance to win it. All you'll have to do is beat me in a one on one fight."

The surrounding crowd start to murmur among each other.

Axis lets out a fake laugh. "Really?! And what?! If you win, you want to be the next heir?!"

Sano shakes his head. "Hell no!"

Everyone's instantly dumbfounded while some are enraged, however for Yosen, his interest greatly spikes.

Sano remains firm. "I never cared about being the Son Goku Clan's heir and becoming it isn't what I want. I told my dad that. Wanna' know what he said?"

Everyone eagerly await for Sano to continue his speech.

Sano happily smiles. "NICE! THAT'S MY BOY!"

Devastation is felt by the crowd around Sano and Axis as they all begin to yell out atrocious insults towards the teenager due to Sano rejecting the honor of being the clan's heir while others ignorantly made comments on how his father would have never stated such a thing.

Sano callously glances over at them. "Go ahead and keep judging me. All I did was tell the truth." He veers his sight to Yosen, emanating a small amount of sadness. "I'm sorry, grandad..." Sano hastily shuts his eyes as he rephrases his words before making eye contact with Yosen once more. "I mean Lord Yosen. I get that I'm not what you wanted in a proper heir. Dad was more like that than I'll ever be. That's 'cause he wished to become the Son Goku Clan's heir with every fiber in his soul."

Yosen gently sighs prior to gazing at the ceiling above him. "I see." The elderly character commandeers his focus back to Sano and harshly utters, "No matter. You would have never made a good leader for this clan anyhow!"

Sano sheepishly nods. "You're absolutely right."

Yosen promptly switches his concentration to Axis with seriousness implemented. "If you want to be our new leader, Axis, then retrieve the Ruyi Jingu Bang from him!"

Axis snaps his head to Yosen with dismay establishing itself. "What?! By myself?!"

Yosen narrows his eyes, delivering towards Axis a scrutinizing stare. "Is that a problem? As the heir, you will have to do much more than just this simple task. This is unlike the circumstance with that Spellcaster, where you and practically all of the Son Goku Clan's students ambushed him, not allowing him to use his magic. Plus, I originally ordered you to retrieve Ruyi Jingu Bang and you dared to come back without it in the first place. Be grateful I am permitting you with a second opportunity. Do not fail, Axis."

Axis gulps out of nervousness until suddenly hearing a loud thud, grabbing his attention instantly. Soon after, the black-haired male sees that Sano had taken Ruyi Jingu Bang off his waist with the grey lace still wrapped around his body and planted one of its ends onto the ground where he's situated. Then, Axis grits his teeth out of anger before passionately shouting, "Don't get cocky! Remember who's superior!"

The crowd releases a loud cheer of approval towards Axis' outburst.

Sano confidently retorts. "That'd be me, obviously."

The crowd boos at Sano with clear prejudice.

Yosen turns to one of the men in the crowd of orange-wearing personnel, who's holding a black staff thinner than Ruyi Jingu Bang. "You there... Lend Axis your weapon."

Axis hurriedly rests his concentration upon Yosen again. "What for?!"

Yosen bluntly answers. "It's only correct if you both used a weapon. In addition, in the six years you have been with us, I never witnessed your staff handling. Sure, you are highly versed in the art of Kung Fu, which is very important... Although, it alone will not gain you the title of leader."

Axis grinds his teeth out of rage as he thinks, "Shit! That's the one thing I haven't practiced whatsoever. I did Kung Fu because it was easy to trick people into believing I had full mastery over it!"

Meanwhile, sitting atop a tree branch located five meters behind Sano, Dante casually kicks his feet with both hands gripping the horizontally-positioned wood for leverage and gingerly laughs while thinking as he keeps his eyes on those in front of him, "So, that guy's a manipulator and deceiver, huh? He won't fair too well against Sano." He momentarily smirks until taking into account something about Axis, narrows his eyes a little and softly remarks, "Wait a second... Are those what I think they are...?" The blonde joyfully smiles amidst retaining his voice down. "This is gonna' be epic!"

Concurrently, Axis is handed the black staff as nervousness can be noted while muttering, "Alright. My best shot is to force the fight to a hand to hand combat. I'll simply disarm him and take him down with my fists." He tightly grips the staff at the end of that last sentence and then states with confidence overflowing, "There's no way he can match up to their power!" The blue-eyed fellow peers at Sano, immediately bewildered at the unexpected sight of Sano twirling Ruyi Jingu Bang around while doing multiple practice strikes to display how adept in using it. Afterwards, Axis strengthens his resolve with an intense glare aimed at Sano. "Fuck it! I'll just punch him when I find an opening and that'll be the end of it! One blow's all I need!"

Sano twirls Ruyi Jingu Bang a bit more before halting it behind his rear via his right hand and presents the palm of his left hand towards Axis to demonstrate that he's prepared. "Let's go already! I don't have all day!"

Fury rises from within Axis. "Cocky son of a bitch!" He quickly dashes towards Sano and blindly swings at the boy's left side as soon as he feels he's close enough.

In response, Sano effortlessly blocks with his orange staff, causing Axis to be overwhelmed by disbelief prior to the blue-eyed individual going with a barrage of swings. Simultaneously, the jacketed lad pulls his Ruyi Jingu Bang behind himself through use of both hands while bending forward. This allows Sano to evade the first swing that appeared to be directed at his head from the right, spins himself around in a clockwise manner so he can gain distance amidst avoiding the second strike aiming for his body, and by doing that, hits Axis in the gut via a reverse thrust.

A split second later, Axis slumps over while desperately gasping for air, foolishly taking his eyes off Sano as he strains himself to say, "What... What precision...! It hurts more... Because of where... The hit landed... Than the... Force..."

Sano coldly comments, having drawn his hands down to one end of his staff to hold it like a baseball bat, "You shouldn't waste time talking."

Axis frantically looks up precisely when Sano swung Ruyi Jingu Bang and hits him square in the face so hard that it sends the man soaring backwards to the ground right before Yosen.

Watching that transpire, Dante throws a fist in the air out of delight.

In the meantime, Yosen stares Axis down as he's clearly not too fond of how the bout for Ruyi Jingu Bang has started off and contemplates in his mind, "Axis... He does not know how to wield a staff, does he?" Disappointment overruns Yosen after shutting his eyes and thinks, "I am such a fool sometimes."

Taking the unmistakable loss in confidence on Yosen's face into account, Axis regains his stature by rapidly getting up with intensity radiating. "This is unfair, you know!"

Sano rests one of his staff's ends upon the terrain again while lifting his left eyebrow with suspicion. "What are you whining about? In what way is this unfair?"

Axis points his right hand at Sano and possesses the black staff in the other. "The Ruyi Jingu Bang's giving you an insane advantage! There's a reason it's the leader's weapon! There has to be an unimaginable power to it!"

Sano's taken back for an instance. "Really?! I didn't know that!" He swiftly makes an agitated expression. "Oh, wait... Yeah, I did. You wanna' see exactly what it is since I haven't used it yet?"

Axis can't fathom that declaration whatsoever as he steps back a tad. "W-W-What...?! You know about it?!"

Yosen intervenes with ever-growing dissatisfaction after taking another sip of his tea. "Certainly. He is Sayuma's son, after all. Despite every warning I gave that boy of mine, he treated his son like a father should. Trusting him with everything. If a parent is unable to do that with their child, they have failed as such." He sincerely smiles. "Now, show him what Ruyi Jingu Bang is truly capable of, Sano."

Sano nods in determination. "With pleasure!" The gentleman sprints forward with impressive speed to shrink the gap between him and Axis. After doing so, Sano releases a melee of attacks through Ruyi Jingu Bang from alternating angles while moving in almost a dance-like way by performing sharp turns and precise strikes via any position he decides.

Axis hastily blocks while avoiding the assault as best as he can with anxiety present. After numerous seconds of the same series of attacks go by, suspicion consumes the blue-eyed male amidst thinking, "What's up with this? That old man told him to show me what Ruyi Jingu Bang is capable, but this isn't much different from when we started."

During that Axis' internal dialogue, Sano intently observed his opponent as a sinister grin came forth without ceasing his melee. "This is just me warming up, so don't get comfortable, Axis!" The golden-eyed boy promptly administers a heavy, right-angled blow via his staff that's strong enough to shove Axis several meters rearward.

Axis, having braced himself on impact, takes a moment to collect his bearings and shortly examines the black staff in his possession. It doesn't take long for him to realize that the staff isn't faring too well due to there being a split upon its surface. Instead of worry though, Axis smirks out of relief while thinking, "This is exactly what I needed! If he breaks it, that'll give me the perfect excuse to fight with my fists and end this abomination's life!" He brings his attention back to Sano, exclaiming confidently, "Ha! Is that the best you got, Sano?!"

Sano chuckles in a devious manner. "Not by a long shot!" He points one end of Ruyi Jingu Bang at Axis. "Extend!"

Horror hurriedly drowns Axis, witnessing the unexpected increase in size of Ruyi Jingu Bang while heading straight at him with blinding velocity. As a result, the only thing the gloved character could do is put the black staff in Ruyi Jingu Bang's path, which was directed at his abdomen. Then, the tool immediately breaks in half under the pressure created by Sano's staff, compelling Axis to dodge eastward since Ruyi Jingu Bang's advancement wasn't going to stop and gets grazed on his left side, however, it doesn't end there.

Sano happily smiles before swiftly pulling his staff to the opposite side from Axis, ultimately releasing a powerful swing that easily reaches Axis.

Axis frantically ducks to elude the staff as some horror remains present until mustering up his courage and dashes towards Sano in a low stance after tossing away the broken remains of the staff he was utilizing. "So, this is the true power of Ruyi Jingu Bang! The ability to grow in length!" Once he gets a few inches from Sano, the foe pulls his left arm back with his hand curled into a fist. "I'm not THAT impressed!"

Yosen displays urgency, firmly ordering, "Halt, Axis! You must not fight him without a staff!"

Sano's eyes dull, his smile dissipating, and sternly retorts towards Axis'. "I have to call bull on that." He abruptly plants the extended end of his staff onto the earth beneath it and impulses himself into the air to evade Axis' fist. This leaves a shocked composition to arise from within Axis prior to Sano sharply spinning himself backwards amidst shouting, "Retract!"

Per the command, Ruyi Jingu Bang's size shortens to revert to its former length while Sano rapidly lands on the ground in a sideways position with his right foot forth, behind Axis. Following that, the teen lets out a soft grunt as he thrusts his staff at Axis one more time with both hands continually holding it, but this time, focused on the man's lower back.

An upset expression radiates from Axis as he glances behind himself and then hastily turns around while taking a quick step to his right. This allows the fighter to once again dodge Ruyi Jingu Bang and promptly leaps forward to throw a Superman punch on Sano's left cheek. 

Fortunately for Axis, Sano seemed unable to react in time and took the strike, apparently causing the fellow's legs to buckle as he eventually falls onto one knee. Now, his staff is within his right hand since he's using his opposing limb for leverage via its placement on the ground.

Axis stands upright with a stuck-up demeanor, gazing down at Sano. "Well, look...! You're kneeling before me now!" He arrogantly chuckles. "I'd say that's the perfect sign to me being both the true heir of the Son Goku Clan AND Ruyi Jingu Bang's owner, if I'm able to even make the ABOMINATION submit to me!"

Sano scoffs without viewing Axis. "Is that seriously what you think this means...?"

Axis' eyes narrow, anger starting to make its way onto his conduct.

Sano peers at Axis while dead serious eyes are demonstrated. "Because that punch just now was stupidly weak! And it showed nothing of the Son Goku Clan's teachings, you freaking wannabe!"

Bewilderment plagues Axis as he contorts his body towards Sano a bit. "What was that?!"

Dante contentedly laughs, his head tilted back for a second until reverting his attention to Sano and Axis. "Seems like Sano already knew about Axis' little secret." A menacing grin forms on the young man. "Although, there's another secret he's keeping in that head of his." Dante expels a short laugh. "But we'll get to that soon enough."

Axis becomes enraged, compliments of Sano not giving him a response, with his right hand clenched after raising it to the upper part of his abdomen. "Answer me, damn it!"

Sano lowers his head with one end of Ruyi Jingu Bang pointed at his adversary. "Sure... After this! Extend!" At that command, Ruyi Jingu Bang increases in size without permitting any opportunity for Axis to dodge and collides into the black-haired guy's jaw, forcing him to stagger rearward. Seeing that, Sano quickly grabs his staff via his other hand to sweep Axis' legs from the blue-eyed person's left.

In conclusion, Axis harshly drops to his left side while his eyes are shut and a loud groan escapes his mouth. Then, the individual lies on his posterior amidst straining himself to regain his vision. 

Once Axis manages to open his left eye though, Sano instantly stands next to him in an upright posture. Additionally, his orange staff has gone back to its normal size while pinning Axis to the earth via an end of Ruji Jingu Bang placed onto his throat. 

That compels Axis to hastily open his other eye as he grabs Ruyi Jingu bang and tries to remove it from his throat, but to no avail for some reason amidst thinking, "What's this?! Why can't I push it off me?! It feels like a ton of bricks are on top of me!"

Sano keeps himself from laughing at Axis' helpless attempt and tenaciously remarks, "Now, I'll answer your question. I said that you're weak, even with those gloves that double your strength."

Shock consumes Axis again while Yosen's eyes reflect fury while confusion is visible on the crowd watching.

Sano can't help releasing a chuckle after depicting Axis' behavior. "I may not be able to read minds like someone I just met, but I can make a pretty good guess what you're thinking based on that look." The lad briefly pauses. "You must be wondering how could I possibly know about those gloves. Well, if you think hard enough, it's easy to figure out."

Axis stays quiet until realization arises, commenting in a strained tone, "No! It couldn't be...! Your father knew?!"

Sano smiles with no change to his body's positioning. "Duh! As if my dad wouldn't know a snake when he sees one!" He adds more pressure onto Axis' neck via his staff. "Nothing ever gets pass my dad!"

A sly grin creeps upon Axis' being with a demented attitude appearing. "You think so?! Then, how come he had no clue it was ME who gave him away to the Einsburn Family, ultimately causing his death?!"

Yosen exhibits disbelief as he rapidly gets to his feet. "Axis, you...!"

Silence overcomes the spectators since they are all equally stunned by Axis' words. At the same time, Dante's glee vanishes while emptily observing Sano as the blonde awaits the teen's rebuttal. 

Not long after, Sano heavily sighs, having his focus temporarily deviated prior to locking eyes with Axis. "Do you feel better after saying that?"

Axis' perplexed by Sano's reaction. "Hold on... Don't tell me you also were aware..."

Sano stares Axis down with intensity. "I had a suspicion. It was too much of a coincidence THAT man found my dad a year later from you joining the clan, no matter how anyone looked at it. I simply needed to be sure before I did anything."

Axis suddenly chuckles in a malicious manner. "So, now you know! Don't think it'll change anything! Everyone's disgust towards you won't disappear! They'll never accept you! You're a monstrosity! I may be the bad guy, but at least my existence isn't a blasphemy!"

Sano refrains from speaking, no emotion established.

Taking that into account, Axis evilly smiles as a sense of accomplishment resonates inside him. "Go ahead and be proud that you caught your father's murderer! That's all you'll ever have!"

Sano finally replies. "This is why I ask you to go fall off a ledge... That's where egotistical morons like you belong."

Yosen calms down, thinking, "Sano."

Sano continues, drawing his face closer to Axis'. "You didn't kill my dad. You're only a deceitful jackass who was too weak to take on my dad by himself. You're simply a coward. Nothing more, nothing less." The boy  swiftly pulls away his staff from Axis while maneuvering backwards a few steps. "Get up. I wanna' show you something else."

An unsettling feeling bothers Axis, eventually complying with Sano's request and rises to his feet as the two individuals face one another. "What is it?"

Sano grins while horizontally carrying Ruyi Jingu Bang in front of him as it's leveled with the lad's lower torso. "I'm gonna' give you an even bigger handicap. You use Ruyi and I'll fight bare-fist. That way, there's no whining from you about how unfair things are. You can use those gloves too." The teenager tosses Ruyi Jingu Bang at Axis with ease.

Yosen gasps out of horror. "Sano!"

Axis delightfully smirks with a hint of maliciousness presented. "Fool! You've made the worst mistake of your life!" He manages to catch the orange staff, although abruptly drops as both his hands and Ruyi Jingu Bang crash onto the landscape, which kicked up a lot of dirt, while leaving an insanely deep impression on the earth. Following that, Axis expels a pained cry while left in a crouching position, desperately striving to free himself with now bloodshot eyes. "GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! IT'S CRUSHING MY HANDS! GET IT OFF!"

Amusement envelopes Sano. "Did no one tell you? Ruyi weighs almost 9 tons. 17,550 pounds to be exact."

Axis snaps his head up with watery eyes, panic portrayed. "WHAT THE FUCK?! WHAT KIND OF MONSTER ARE YOU?!"

Sano slowly travels towards Axis after folding his arms together, issuing a skeptical look. "Are you for real? It's natural for me to be able to deal with that much weight. All the Goken men had to train themselves to deal with it. If not, they could never call themselves Ruyi's owner or even the Son Goku Clan's leader." He glances over at Yosen. "Isn't that right?"

Yosen reluctantly nods in agreement.

Axis continues to do everything he can to free himself from Ruyi Jingu Bang as he tries to calm down. "So, when it was on me, it wasn't that you were unbelievably strong, but this damn thing's own weight?!"

Sano nonchalantly responds amidst reaching Axis. "No, it was actually me. You see, as long as I desire it, Ruyi can be lighter than a feather. That's the kind of connection I developed with it after all the extreme training my dad put me through ever since I was 3 years old. Like seriously, can you imagine lugging around a half ton boulder on my back at that age as the beginning of my preparation to use Ruyi? My dad was a really funny guy." He chuckles.

Stress instantly overruns Axis. "Fuck funny! Your father was insane!"

Sano wholeheartedly grins. "And so what if he was...?!" The gentleman bends onward, grasps Ruyi Jingu Bang via his right hand, removes it from the distraught man's hands and straps the staff behind his back once more. "My dad would say that it's always better to be yourself than be anybody else!"

Before Axis had a chance to deliver a comeback, Sano unprecedentedly gets serious amidst pulling his right leg to the side and then yells as he lands a powerful knee strike onto Axis' left temporal lobe. 

That results in Axis' eyes becoming vacant, ultimately passing out while keeling over to his right. 

Concurrently, Sano ceases the momentum he made by implementing that assault, his rear turned to the defeated Axis, as he states lackadaisically, "Just shut the hell up already and go to sleep. I'm tired of hearing your bull." The fellow veers himself to confront Yosen while the crowd doesn't know if they should applaud the defeat of the one responsible for their former leader's death, considering it occurred at the hands of Sano.

Meanwhile, Dante cheerfully kicks his feet from excitement, tightly clenching the branch he's sitting on with so much force that the wood almost can't take much more and may soon give out.

Yosen's the first one to act, gradually heading towards Sano with a composed behavior. Afterwards, the elderly man bows to Sano, forcing a surprise gasp from the spectators, and utters with his eyes shut, "I sincerely thank you for what you have recently done." Yosen fixes his stance as he emanates a serious personality and makes eye contact with Sano. "I am sure your father would have been proud, especially in how well you wielded Ruyi Jingu Bang."

Sano sheepishly smiles. "Of course. I'm its owner."

*Scene Cuts To Black*

To Be Continued...