Chapter 7
Opening round! The Demon's Strength and the Will of the God
The arena was buzzing with anticipation. Everyone that had packed the arena had investments in the tournament or had people competing that they were allowed to watch. More so, people in the audience also happen to be some of the fighters in the tournament that were fighting later on in the day or the next day.
In the crowd, Yamashida was overwhelmed how massive this whole venue was and saw that in the upper rafters there were political figures from every country in the audience. This shocked him not realizing that the Kengan Association had many of these people watching for their investments to pay out. Next to him Ohma was sitting there bored out of his mind and just waiting for his turn in the tournament. While also watching to see Naruto and his performance given that he was the disciple that his master took on after him, plus he was annoyed this asshole would not fight him unless he made it to the finals. But he would wait, as when he fights him or Kiryu that is the only way then he would feel complete knowing he is the strongest.
In another part of the arena, Tsunade and Jiraiya who were sitting there with everyone from the Elemental nation minus Kakashi who was in the booth with Kagomii to make sure no one tried anything against her for the tournament. Next to them they smiled seeing the girls, Ino and Hinata, excited about the tournament while Lee and Gai were shouting about this youthful tournament in which they wished they could participate in the matches. Sadly, due to Naruto competing for the company they didn't have that chance. Konohamaru was watching in anticipation to see his boss fight after so long and know he has come a long way since the beginning. But Sakura, she was sitting there annoyed and angry about the whole proceeding, more angry that fact that Naruto was fighting in this stupid tournament. She felt that Sasuke was better suited for the tournament and also felt he was responsible for the recent change to Sasuke's bounty in which he is to be hunted and killed with a bounty high enough that every nation was gunning for it.
The lights dimmed and out of it came a blond hair woman with red eyes and a very busty figure that made Jiraiya droll a bit until he was hit in the side by Ino for his behavior. She was wearing a tight forming red dress and with a microphone around her head she shouted,
"Thank you all for waiting!" She threw her hand in the air and struck a pose, "Now let the Kengan Annihilation Tournament Begin!"
Bright lights and fireworks went off and the arena was lit up in anticipation for the tournament and everyone shouted or were just awestruck by the venue.
Down on the bottom floor waiting in a tunnel was Naruto who had opted for a pair of orange and black shorts showing off his company's logo on the side while having his village's symbol on the front of his shorts. He had his eyes closed taking a few deep breathes and whispering,
"Time to start." His blue eyes shined brightly and he looked into the arena, "Watch me Jiji I'm going to make you proud in this bout."
"Naruto."
'Its fine Kurama, I'm ready for this. Plus with you healing my body between matches, I can consider this fair play.'
"True but please be careful there are people in this world that I didn't believe existed, even the Sage would struggle against some of them."
'I know but with this, my will, and my drive I will win this tournament and start on my goal of becoming the Strongest.'
The fox smiled and cut off communication so he can focus on his fight.
Back in the Arena
"Now ladies and Gentlemen due to the uneven amount of competitors this year it should be noted we have one Exhibition match that will determine who will compete in a match tomorrow after the final bout of the first round! So to draw attention to the board," She pointed to the screen above her and everyone saw the brackets set out in the tournament. Everyone saw fighters and some cursed that certain fighters are fighting in certain bouts or in certain rounds. "The winner of this bout shall be fighting the winner of the first round of the C-block matches," the board highlighted the path that this would take and then showed the two borders highlighted, "From here, the winner of this bout will move on to face the winner of the opposite C-block bout. This is to keep the tournament fair but also interesting, what say you!"
The audience roared to life approving of an additional competitor in the tournament if it would make things even more interesting as a whole.
"Now then," She pointed to her right, "Hailing from the land of Desert and sun! This man is known as the handsome prince of the tournament! Having fought his way into the tournament by passing on the SS-Cruise line! His speed is unrivaled by most and considered one of the fastest warriors in the entire tournament! The man is only 27 years old, standing at 178cm, weighing in 80kg, this man has over 20 wins and zero losses in Kengan matches! With a network of over ¥220,576,000,000 it's!" She pointed to her left, "THE ARABIAN WHIRLWIND, Hassad!"
Loud explosions came out at his entrance and entering the arena was a tan complexion man who had long black hair and a very refined and noble air about him. He had clean shave face and appeared to be fairly built. The man is wearing long black pants with tape around his fist and feet and a stern expression in his brown eyes.
"What an impressive man! It would seem the female audience members are being driven wild by his gorgeous looks!"
It was true, most of the female audience members were cheering wildly at the sight of this man but he was focused on the man he could see in the shadows.
"Now from this corner comes this man!" On the floor the audience saw his face being put there with it being of him smiling brightly,
"He is hailed as the TIGER SLAYER, the man that has defeated Meru the Tiger Queen in his first Kengan Match. Feared for his overwhelming skill and talent, this mysterious teen has swept into the competition. Will he clear the tournament in this unusual situation!? Standing at 6ft 6 inches, weighing a total of 200 lbs even, at the age of 16 this is his second match in the Kengan Association! His company net worth: ¥4,987,546,298, fighting for Kagomii Research!" She pointed to Naruto, "The Demon, Naruto Uzumaki!" Explosions went wild and Naruto strode out of the entranceway making some of the women shout out love and proclamations for him. At the seats with his friends,
"He looks good." Tsunade agreed with Jiraiya,
"Yeah the brat definitely is more fit than most his age. If I was a few years younger I'd be all over him."
Jiraiya turned green while Ino whistled,
"Damn who knew the class clown was ripped like that?" She turned her head and saw Hinata was blushing and holding her nose, "Geez even after all these years you can't look at him without getting a nose bleed?"
"I'm sorry, but you don't see what I can see."
Ino blushed knowing now what she was hinting at while Sakura scoffed,
"Sasuke is still hotter." The group rolled their eyes while Hinata glared darkly making the girl turn completely from her in fear of Hinata beating the shit out of her again.
In another part of the arena was a red-brown hair teen with brown eyes, wearing a red shirt, black jeans, and white and black tennis shoes. Next to him was a massive man with shaved blond hair and pale white skin and having a massive frame that he literally was taking up two seats by himself. Behind them was a bald man with a, eye-patch and wearing a plad shirt and jeans, an elderly short man in a green hakami and white skirt that covered is knees.
"So this is the man that your father wanted us to watch huh?" The teen smiled,
"Yeah Dad said some interesting stuff about this kid and after seeing him I can agree this guy must be impressively powerful in his own right. More so," He turned to his half-brother, "He has said that he is closer to him in strength than me or Jack."
The tall man scoffed,
"Well let's see if the kid can pull that off Baki."
"Yep." Baki smiled, "This is going to be interesting for sure but I have a feeling Dad might be more right than we can possibly imagine."
The man with the eyepatch smiled,
"Yeah I can see that. Lets get this fight started now."
Not too far away from the group, there sat a blond hair man with a blond goatee and massive muscular frame sitting next to a man with a man bun and massive muscles and tattoo on his face both watching the fight.
"This kid," the blond started,
"Yeah I can see it to Wakazuki." The large man frowned, "That teen, he is going to win this without a doubt."
"Yes," He frowned, "To think this is the same person that defeated Meru, the Tiger Queen."
The large man smiled,
"That's right, you lost to her during the tournament before she had to forfeit the next round right?"
"Yes the one person that I know I have to beat before I can be happy with claiming the title of the strongest competitor next to Agito."
"Yeah but something tells me that this kid is going to do some serious damage in this tournament."
"We shall see."
Back In the Arena
Naruto faced down Hassad and sighed, he was not looking forward to this fight. It was not going to show the full measure of his skills while Hassad glared at him,
"Surrender." The referee and Naruto glanced at him, "I do not fight children but I will kill you if that means to show you how outclassed you are in this tournament. This is not a place for children to play around."
Naruto scoffed,
"Talk shit when you actually do damage bitch." The man glared,
"So be it."
Hassad took his stance with his left hand forward while his right was in the back similar to that of a karate stance. Naruto on the other hand kept his hands at his side and just stared at him.
"Fighters ready!" Both nodded their head not breaking eye contact, "Then Begin!"
Hassad took off in a mad dash charging straight at Naruto. But the teen watched his right hand come at his head and just tilted it away from the punch. Hassad followed this up with a left hand hook to the head but Naruto just rolled under the punch. Leading to Hassad throwing a kick at his head while coming under but Naruto just blocked it with his right arm with his elbow blocking most of the impact.
Hassad grunted and leapt away from him feeling his leg go numb just from the block.
'What the hell! That felt like all my nerves were hit at once!'
Naruto looked at the man and sighed,
"I'm really not in the mood for this so how about this? I'll just block for the next minute until you can land a blow and if not then I'll end this quickly and painlessly."
Hassad eyes became wide and he charged at Naruto again and this time throwing more punches in fast succession and even throwing kicks at his head. But while the audience saw blurs Naruto saw nothing but slow motion, compared to Meru this guy was a B-class warrior while she is an S-class.
'So easy.' Naruto dodged all the punches and kicks aimed at his head and only pivoted away when he kept pushing forward and while this is going on, he is dragging his foot on the ground pivoting on his back foot.
Hassad frustrated at not having any success for a bit, threw a high kick at his head or at least feinted into thinking he was before throwing everything he had with a powerful straight punch to the face.
People saw the punch flying at Naruto but everyone was shocked when he caught the wrist of the hand and without warning flipped him through the air senindg him flying across the arena.
Audience
Yamashida was shocked,
"But that movement that is the same as Ohma's move!"
"Yeah but it seems he took a hold of the wrist rather than just going by the hand or the palms." Rihito being on the receiving end of this move knew what happened and could see the full move in play, was equally shocked.
Baki on the other hand, he was just smiling,
"He is toying with this guy."
The group nodded their head but the short elderly master said,
"Indeed, but it is surprising to see him using the Niko style. Is this a style that your familiar with Baki or something you can use?"
Baki smiled at the aged Shibukawa,
"No I don't, this is more style oriented than my own to be honest but it would seem he developed his own base and it is a pretty impressive base." He smiled and could feel his blood pumping, "Now lets see what he has next for this guy, after all his opponent should realize he can't win."
Doppo, the eye patch man smiled,
"So you guys saw it too?"
Jack grunted,
"Of course, honestly I wish he would finish this fight already, this is starting to get boring."
Wakatsuki and Jun were shocked,
"Hey you're seeing this right Wakatsuki?"
"Yeah and honestly, it is terrifying."
Arena
Naruto looked at Hassad,
"You done now or are you going to continue pushing forward?"
The man growled,
"I'll kill you!"
Naruto sighed,
"I guess then you should at least go down with this, be honored the man that used this was known as a God."
Naruto taking his hands he put them out in front of him with his palms facing his opponent. His stance is now more rigid with them firmly planted into the ground.
Audience
Tsunade's eyes widen and looked at Jiraiya,
"You didn't!"
"No." Jiraiya smiled, "The old man left a scroll for him to learn from and how all the moves work." Turning to Konohamaru and Asuma who both were shocked and crying a little, "I think he left it for them to show that he would teach them the style that he couldn't."
Tsunade smiled, Her sensei was really Naruto's loving grandfather no matter what anyone said. In fact, he was more of his student than the Sanin given the mess they turned into.
'Watch closely Sensei, Naruto is going to show you the fruits of his labor and your love for him.'
Arena
"Ready?"
"Die!" Hassad rushed forward and threw straight punch at his head but Naruto redirected the move, holding the wrist, and taking his other arm he pulled the elbow of his opponent inward to his chest while pinning it against his other arm. Everyone in the arena heard a sickening crack and saw Hassad holding his now limp arm.
"Damn you!" He charged again and threw his other arm but Naruto just swatted the strike away and with his free hand jammed his fingers into his eyes causing blood to spurt out and start covering his chest. Hassad jumped back unable to see clearly with the blood pouring out of his eyes and him only able to see blurs. Without waiting or hearing his owner shouting at him to stop he rushed again and threw a punch where he thought he would be from his previous location. But in the end, he found himself again redirected but this time downward and then felt two things entering his ears and his world went silent.
During this exchange, Naruto redirected his punch and quickly swung his arms around and slammed his thumbs into his opponent's ears thus leaving him deaf and bleeding. The man fell to the ground and Naruto just looked at him wondering what his first action would be given that he should know he has not changed his location at all other than peddling around on his feed to form his own personal circle. He knew that he would lash out but depending on the strike he would have to choose how to end it based on the angle and timing.
After a minute of waiting Hassad leapt to his feet again and whiffed on a big punch at his head, allowing Naruto to get behind him and say,
"You might not hear this but you should know that you never stood a chance but thank you for this has made me even stronger." Naruto then slammed his fist into the man's spine while hardening his punch with his Adamantine form causing the spine to crack and the man to release a scream of pain while falling to the ground in a heap.
Naruto stood straight up and bowed to the man for the fight while bowing to the fans thanking them for watching this bout.
He turned to the sky and whispered,
"This fight, was for you Jiji." Naruto smiled, "I hope you were impressed."
Naruto left the circle while the referee shouted,
"WINNER! MATCH OVER!" He pointed to Naruto who was walking away from him with a blank expression on his face, "NARUTO UZUMAKI!"
"There you have it folks!" The announcer, who had stopped being so green in the face, smiled, "The opening match ends with a brutal display of the Demon! Now the question people are going to ask is this the extent of his power or is there more to see in the future!?"
Naruto smiled, amused that the announcer never saw it, oh well he was sure the real fighters and his home village saw it.
Audience
Ohma was gritting his teeth, he hated this guy more now and wanted to smash his face in. He had toyed with his opponent while demonstrating he could finish fights in brutal manners with such ease.
Baki, he smiled knowing that there was no doubt now. His father was right this kid was going to be interesting watch throughout the tournament. More so since he demonstrated talent for quick and brutal fights but also talent to drag them out. Plus, what he demonstrated with his own little circle, he showed that he could toy with opponents and while still giving them a handicap and even then, he can win.
Tsunade and Jiraiya were crying seeing their teacher's personal Taijutsu style again. While they watched Naruto fight they could see their sensei overlapping Naruto and they cried knowing that he was still with them even in the Shinigami's stomach.
Agito smiled darkly, he was perfect opponent for himself and he could not wait to see more of him down the line,
Kuroki was smiling seeing he did that, he might do the same thing in his match too, just to show that he is willing to meet him step for step, and Yujiro?
Well he is in his private booth with Katahara laughing his ass off at the display and smiling down at his grandson for such a wondrous and brutal performance. It was about time someone of his bloodline to have the talent and skill to stand out but at the same time, not be a complete bitch about killing those that get in your way when the time calls for it.
Naruto walked back into the walkway and sighed,
"This tournament is going to be interesting for sure."
Chapter End