GT7 x Initial D - Second Stage 08 - |VARIOUS CIRC.| A Shadow in the fast Lane!

While Ryo was in Germany with Manthey Racing for the grueling 24-hour endurance challenge, life in Japan seemed calm on the surface. Takumi, Itsuki, and Iketani were spending the evening doing what they loved most—friendly runs through the night-lit streets of Tokyo. It was supposed to be an easygoing session. No stakes, no pressure… just three friends keeping their skills sharp.

But hidden in the shadows of the expressway, someone waited.

A presence with a purpose.

Reaper.

His machine was a monster in every sense of the word—
a heavily armored Nissan GT-R R35, its chassis reinforced like a war machine, its body shell welded and plated for brute-force impact. But the true insanity lay under the hood: a Bugatti Chiron W16 heart, pushing nearly 2800 horsepower to all four wheels. No philosophy. No finesse. Just overwhelming, violent speed.

Reaper had sworn to erase the Akina Squad from the map.
Their ideals of technique, discipline, and driving art disgusted him.
To him, only one rule mattered: power decides everything.

So when Takumi entered the long straight after the hairpin, Reaper struck.

Without warning, Reaper’s GT-R slammed into the back of the AE86 with catastrophic force. Takumi’s eyes widened—no chance to react. The GT-R continued pushing, grinding him forward like prey locked in a predator’s jaws. Metal screamed as the AE86 was shoved over the straightaway. At the end of the line, Reaper twisted the wheel and sent Takumi crashing brutally into the guardrail before disappearing into the night.

When the dust settled, Takumi staggered out of the battered Hachi-Roku, breath shaking, mind spinning.

Who was that?
Why target him?
And what did he want from the Akina Squad?

Questions that needed answers—
but only once the team was whole again.


---

With his AE86 nearly destroyed, Takumi faced a hard truth:
this incident wasn’t a random attack. The squad was being hunted.
And if he wanted to keep up with what was coming… he needed a modern car.

But without Ryosuke’s financial backing, there was only one old-school way to get one:

race for the papers.

Takumi borrowed his father’s AE86—feeling immediately how different it was from his own—and challenged a GR86 owner in Kyoto.
One full lap of the longest Kyoto Driving Park layout. Winner takes the registration.

The GR86 driver stunned Takumi with how effortlessly he danced the car through the corners. The way he rotated the chassis, the way he committed into turns—it was exactly how a GR86 should be driven. Takumi even noticed something shocking: he had grown so accustomed to his own modified AE86 that Bunta’s untouched version actually gave him trouble.

But not enough to stop him.

Precision. Patience. Timing.
When the decisive moment arrived, Takumi executed a clean, perfect overtake—and crossed the line first.

A new chapter began.
Takumi Fujiwara was now the owner of a GR86.
And his mind was already overflowing with ideas on how to transform it into something truly extraordinary.


---

Meanwhile, Ryo and Ryosuke had just landed back in Japan. Manthey’s team leader, Olaf, had gifted Ryo a rare treasure to celebrate his endurance victory: a Porsche 993 with secret Manthey modifications. Naturally, Ryo wanted to stretch its legs on real Japanese asphalt, so the duo chose a long back road route home.

But Reaper had been tracking them.

What he didn’t know was that Ryo wasn’t in his Escort—
he was in the Porsche.

So when Reaper attacked, he targeted the wrong driver.

With a devastating impact, he smashed Ryosuke’s FC into the guardrail, leaving the car crippled and Ryosuke shaken but alive.

Ryo’s heart dropped.
Then anger swallowed him whole.

This wasn’t rivalry.
This wasn’t racing.
This was war.

Back at the Akina headquarters, the team found a handwritten note taped to the entrance:

“Meet me on Special Stage Route X.
Bring your car papers.
– Reaper”

Ryo didn’t hesitate.
Didn’t breathe.
Didn’t think.

He grabbed the Escort.
Turned the key.
And with rage burning hotter than any turbocharger, he launched toward SSR X—
ready to show Reaper what happens when you hunt the wrong driver.

This time, the Reaper would learn fear.