Compared to Aizawa's confusion, The Gambler didn't look surprised. If anything, he seemed to be expecting it.
"Yeah," he said slowly, rubbing his jaw. "That lines up with what we heard."
The boy—Sasuke—nodded. "Of course, there are additional benefits, depending on how well you perform. For each injury you inflict on me, I'll add between one and five million yen to your payment. I will determine the exact amount—but as you can see, I'm not short on funds. You won't need to question my fairness."
He spoke with the same calm certainty. Not boastful. Just matter-of-fact.
The Gambler tilted his head. "You don't have much of a reputation," he said, tone polite but pointed. "But from what little we were told, you seem to keep your word."
He gave a brief pause, then added with a thin smile, "There's a flaw in your logic, though. What happens if we succeed? If we kill you—doesn't that leave us with nothing?"
Sasuke smiled. He reached into his pocket and tossed a phone through the air.
The Gambler caught it easily. His thumb brushed the screen—then froze.
He stared at the display. For a second, his face went blank.
"T-This…" he stammered.
"That's enough incentive, no? The only thing needed to access that phone—and the bank account it links to—is my fingerprint." He held up a single finger. "You'll have to take it by force, of course."
Silence followed.
The Reptile didn't move. The Gambler just kept staring at the kid, eyes still locked on the phone like it might bite.
Above the arena, Aizawa shifted against the beam and pinched the inside of his palm. He waited. Nothing changed.
It wasn't an illusion. No mental interference clouded his senses. Everything he saw was real.
Which only made it worse.
Paying villains to try and kill you… This kid wasn't just a clown—he was the whole damn circus.
And yet, based on what Aizawa had overheard, this wasn't the first time he'd done something like this. The two villains knew the offer. Others had accepted it before. And somehow, the boy was still walking around without any visible scars or permanent damage.
Which meant, behind the theatrics, there had to be some level of competence. Maybe more than just some.
The Reptile gave a low, rumbling grunt—this time edged with caution instead of boredom. Then he spoke for the first time, voice deep and rough, like a smoker gargling gravel.
"Why?"
His eyes had sharpened. The sleepy look was gone. He was studying the boy now, not dismissing him.
Not smart, exactly—but not stupid either. He'd likely drawn the same conclusion Aizawa had.
Sasuke smiled. "Oh, well," he said lightly, "that's a bit of private information. You'd have to pay for that."
"How much?" the Gambler asked, finally breaking out of his daze.
"Five mill—" the boy began, but the Gambler cut him off.
"We'll pay."
His voice was sharp and certain. No hesitation.
Sasuke tilted his head, visibly surprised. "To be honest, I didn't expect you to care that much. None of the others who took my offer did. I was just trying to save us all some time—it's not really relevant to your task."
The Gambler clicked his tongue. "How else am I supposed to know if we're dealing with a psychopath or simply someone with obscure reasons? Depending on which it is, I can adjust. Psychos fight different. Unpredictable. But if you've got logic behind it, then I've got a better chance of killing you. Five million's a low price, considering it's your own damn money."
From his vantage point, Aizawa let out a quiet sigh.
Smart villains were always the worst.
Why couldn't this bastard just get himself a license and use that brain for something useful?
Sasuke laughed. It was light, genuinely amused. "I suppose you're not called the Gambler for nothing. Color me impressed. Still, you don't have to give anything back. That'd just be cumbersome."
He paused, then gestured to the open space around him—the warehouse, the sand, the tension still crackling in the air. "As for the reason behind all this... It's not that complicated. There's an aspect of my... quirk I haven't awakened yet. And I have strong reasons to believe that being in a life-or-death situation will help me trigger it."
The Gambler blinked. His expression shifted, somewhere between comprehension and disbelief. He scratched the back of his head, then shook it off.
"Okay, fine. I won't question the validity of that, you know yourself best after all..." he said. "But the reason you don't just waltz into some gang's territory and pick a fight is…?"
"Now now, why would I want bad blood?" Sasuke replied casually. "Sure, it might help me reach my goal—but making enemies for no reason? That's never been my style."
The Gambler exhaled slowly through his nose. His expression didn't shift much, but his eyes sharpened.
"So instead, you hire and provoke people like us to simulate life-or-death fights in a space you can control," he said. "But flashing that much money still puts a target on your back. Someone you can't handle would eventually start hunting you..."
He took a step forward, inspecting Sasuke like a puzzle he almost understood.
"You must be using more than one location for these little games. Probably rotate between them. You keep your identity hidden behind that mask… probably a wig, too. And I'd bet that name you gave us is fake."
Sasuke offered no reply. He kept smiling, lips curled in that same unreadable way.
The silence stretched long enough to say more than any words.
From behind the support beam, Aizawa watched in disbelief.
This was, without exaggeration, the dumbest plan he had ever witnessed. Smart in execution, maybe—but still absolutely insane.
"I'm done asking questions," the Gambler said, stepping back as he clapped a hand onto the Reptile's shoulder. "Reptile, don't hold back. Let's take this kid's money."
"Finally," the Reptile said as he bared his teeth in a wide grin. His eyes gleamed, and his fingers twitched in anticipation.
He dropped his trench coat onto the sand. His grotesque, scale-covered body loomed large in the dim light, muscles shifting like coiled cables beneath green skin.
He slammed down onto all fours and launched forward like a missile. Sand sprayed behind him as he barreled toward Sasuke, claws extended and ready to rip the boy apart.
Up above, Aizawa's body tensed. He almost jumped down to intervene—but stopped himself.
Because what he saw didn't compute.
The kid didn't panic. He ducked directly under the Reptile's sweeping arm, sliding along the creature's rough scales as if skating on a rail. With one fluid motion, he raised his hand toward the Reptile's throat.
A flick of his fingers followed.
Blood streaked across the sand.
The Reptile jerked his neck away, twisting with inhuman reflexes, but not fast enough. A clean cut had opened across his neck, far too deep for a barehanded strike.
But it was still but a scratch for the mutant. He let out a guttural snarl and lunged, jaws snapping shut with force that could crush concrete. At the same time, he swept both arms inward, trying to pin and crush Sasuke's body.
But his claws only closed around empty air.
Sasuke had already slipped between the Reptile's legs and spun to a stop behind him, standing back-to-back with his opponent.
"I do try to hire people I believe can actually pose a threat," he said without looking behind him. His gaze, or at least the mask he wore, remained fixed on the Gambler, who still hadn't moved.
The Reptile spun and lashed out again. His elbow cut through the air. His tail followed in a brutal arc.
Sasuke bent backward, letting the elbow pass over his face, then pivoted to avoid the tail. The tail struck the sand underneath and it blasted it away to reveal the stone below, cracked.
"I sure hope I didn't make a mistake this time," Sasuke added, still watching the Gambler as the Reptile let out another furious roar behind him.