In this chapter, we learn that the protagonist's father is a karate instructor, and that he works with his sister and brother-in-law in order to support his family. The protagonist tells his grandfather that he wants to get stronger so that people will not push him around. He says that he heard somewhere that "true strength" comes from "money and power," and that a gun "will always be stronger than a sword." The grandfather tells the protagonist that he will be leaving shortly, and the protagonist asks if he can keep an eye on his son. The grandfather says that the boy is his own son, but that he did not tell the protagonist anything about his father's martial arts training. When the protagonist enters sixth grade, he says that his father called him "sa it," or "fight," and would "whoop his ass whenever he lost." The protagonist says that by the time he entered middle school, he had ruled the town, and then his life got "all messed up," and he became a "yakuza" and a "chap" at karate.