Leads

Near the entrance of the Jouzhou Yuan Temple, Fujian Province, China…

Hide aka Crow found some valuable information after breaching the hotel room of Bogdan Dragunov. It was possible that Crow might have found the address to where Cain was hiding. He would have to reveal this information to Urenna once they meet back at the courtyard. However, Urenna was already waiting on Crow before the designated time. She was glad to see Crow return.

Crow: "Urenna?"

Urenna (Whispers.): "Master. I found out some things. Can we talk in the shadows?"

Crow: "I found some information too. Let's go over here."

Under the shaded side of the Courtyard left wing…

Crow: "Ok. You go first."

Urenna: "Master. Listen to this." (Plays her voice recorder.)

Voice recording ends…

Crow: "Well that explains why Bodgan is fighting in the tournament. Scratching people's backs for money and resources."

Urenna: "They also said that Heihachi cannot win the tournament. Why is that?"

Crow: "He belongs to an immensely powerful family in Japan. His father developed the Zaibatsu, an organization specializing in weapon and engineering merchandise. They made contracts with many nations around the world as their influence is slowly but surely spreading. I can see why the Five Elders are so worried. By Heihachi winning this tournament, this could feel like a significant blow to the Chinese people seeing that they were under Japanese occupation some decades back. Of course you read up on that right?"

Urenna: "Hai." (Nodding.) "Now what did you find?"

Crow: "So I managed to get inside Bogdan's apartment. I happened to find this booklet with all of Bogdan's contacts. However, at the very end in an address that might pique your interest. Take a look." (Hands the pictures to Urenna.)

Urenna (Sees the address): "Why this is…."

Crow: "Yeah. He could be there."

Urenna: "In Vietnam?"

Crow: "I don't know for sure, but it did have his name on there."

Urenna: "Then we should go Master."

Crow: "Not yet. I would not like for you to face him alone. There is a 50 to 50 chance that he is there or that he is not. I will only know 100 percent until I face Bogdan on my own."

Urenna: "Well what if Bogdan doesn't tell you where Cain is?"

Crow: "I will have him talk, one way or another."

The crowd yells in approval one another fight ending within the temple grounds…

Crow: "Well…let's get out of here. I need to do some preparation for my match tomorrow."

Urenna: "So you won't be watching any of fights today?"

Crow: "Not at this time. Tomorrow I will watch some competitors fight after my match."

Urenna: "Understood Master."

Later that day in the tournament…

Heihachi: "Ccchhhheeaaaaaa!"

Heihachi easily dominated his first match. It was the final fight for the opening round that day. He crushed his opponent with an unconventional, yet highly effective jumping power bomb slam! His unfortunate victim was an Eskrima expert coming out of the Philippines who basically got treated like a ragdoll. Safe to say everyone in the arena was in awe of Heihachi's strength. Even some of the five elders who were watching him closely were in shock. The other competitors looked on with various reactions.

Heihachi: "Gehahahahahaha!"

Leroy Smith (Looking on from his seat.): "Damn!"

Wen Yungi: "He's good, I'll give him that."

Bogdan Dragunov remained silent but not as impressed…

Wook Doo San: "Incredible!"

A referee declares Heihachi the winner…

The crowd cheered in approval. Even though Heihachi was from Japan, he was quickly becoming a crowd favorite by the mostly male audience. The medics literally had to pull the Filipino fighter from out of the rubble that his body created after getting crushed onto the limestone. It would likely be that man's final fight in his martial arts career.

That night in Urenna's hotel room…

Urenna prepared herself for bed despite the night being so early. Hide would have his first match coming up tomorrow. She still could not get her mind off Cain and the people around him who killed her family back in Nigeria. Many years have passed since then. The fact that this person was still roaming around untouched and free really bothered Urenna. If Cain was really in Vietnam, why couldn't they just leave the tournament now and get him!

The Next Morning…

Crow got plenty of rest as he finished putting on his ninja outfit for his first round match. After he left his room, he went over to the room next door by his and knocked on the door. Urenna should have been up by know. Crow waited, but there was no sound. He knocked on it once more and yelled for Urenna to hear him.

Crow: "Urenna? Urenna! Are you up?"

The door opens…

Urenna: "I'm here. I was wiping my face."

Crow: "Oh. You had me worried."

Urenna: "I know you have to fight first thing this morning."

Crow: "Yes. Hurry up so that we can a little breakfast."

Urenna: "Don't eat too much, it might slow you down once you fight."

Crow (Laughs): "I'll try not to."

Later at the Temple courtyard…

Crow's name was called in first to enter the area in full view of the audience. He still wore all black for his ninja gear, except the headband was a Burgundy color with the clan's symbol up front on a metal plate. Urenna was once again hiding from the crowd by leaning on a wall near the sitting area. She was only told to stay quiet and keep an eye on some of the fighters like Bogdan and Heihachi who were watching the fights this time. She noticed Heihachi had someone sitting above him who looked like him, but he kept a smug look on his face. Once Crow's opponent was called to come outside, she stopped looking at the young man. The man who stepped forth was a large being. He had to be at least 7 feet tall! This man was called Aksel from Norway. Apparently, he studied Pankration and he possessed abnormal strength. Crow did not seem phased at all by Aksel's overbearing looks. Aksel just grinned at Crow not knowing the quick embarrassment that he was about to experience. The gong hit for the match to begin.

Aksel: "Wrrrraaaaa!"

The large man rushed at Crow. He threw several haymaker punches at the ninja. Crow easily avoids them all until he jumped high in the air and stood on top of Aksel's shoulders! The sight was certainly amusing for the crowd to witness. Aksel tried to smack Crow's legs but the ninja jumps away in time as the large man slaps himself with both hands!

Aksel: "Gggggaaa!"

Most of the audience laughs, Even Urenna chuckled quietly…

The man was angry now. He decided to lunge after Crow with his patented tackle move, but Crow makes another surprise by catching the man's arms and using Aksel's momentum to side toss him over the ring. There were no ring outs, but the move definitely hurt Aksel. He slowly got back up on his feet. Now he was pissed!

Crow was in no hurry to beat this guy, but safe to say the ninja was rather disappointed that this man in front of him posed no real challenge. Aksel jumps high in the air to chop Crow from where he stood. Crow simply blocks the attack with both hands. Aksel did not stop there. He tried to punch Crow at the midsection, but Crow was too quick. Crow gave his palm strike right in the abdomen sectino of Aksel. Aksel was immobilized from this attack. This gave Crow the opportunity to execute his Salamander style Izuna Slam. He did this by booting Aksel in mid air first. Then he teleported to catch Aksel by his waist to flip in him over going into the ring stomach down! The impact of slam made a huge noise. Crow jumped off the back of his opponent. Aksel was down for good. The crowd erupted in amazement! It was a one sided match, but it was definitely the best finish so far outside of Heihachi's power bomb.

Urenna (Clapping quietly): "Alright. Way to go Master."

Outside the gate of the courtyard…

Crow: "Why did they give me such an easy opponent?"

Urenna: "Now now Master. The real tough guys are right around the corner. Round one is supposed to be easy right?"
Crow: "Maybe. Still would have been good to at least get a shot at Heihachi or even Bogdan already."

Urenna: "Oh. Speaking of Heihachi, there was this guy sitting above him. He looked a lot like him but he had a nasty look on his face like he wanted to fight someone really bad."

Crow: "Is that so? I didn't pay attention to that. Hmmm…I wonder if that is who I think it is."

Urenna: "Master?"

Crow: "Point me to him after we find somewhere to sit away from the crowd. The day is still young. We can watch some more of the tournament."

Urenna: "Understood Master."

Now sitting along the highest portion of the stands, Crow and Urenna did not have the best view of the matches, but Crow did have binoculars available in his duffle bag. When Crow used them, he could eventually see the front rows on the other side of the courtyard. Urenna then tapped on his shoulder and instructed Crow to look more to the right side. Then he spotted the young man Urenna mentioned.

Crow: "Nani?"

Urenna: "You see him now?"

Crow: "So the rumors were true! He did survive that fall from the cliff near Mount Eniwa!"

Urenna: "Huh?"

Crow (Putting the binoculars): "That boy is none other than Heihachi's only son. Kazuya."

Urenna: "K…Kazuya?"

Crow: "Yes. But…the common story was that Kazuya died as a young boy after falling off a cliff while training alone. Looks like that was a complete lie."

Urenna: "I don't understand. I mean shouldn't there an uproar about that? I mean he is right there."
Crow: "No. Most of the people here either do not know about Kazuya at all or they know it is him. It's just that they are rich men here who are aligned with Heihachi's Zaibatsu company. If one of them even tried to rat out that Kazuya is alive, well let's just say it would that person's last words."

Urenna: "Wow."

Crow: "The young man looks formidable. Stay away from him if you can Urenna. If he wanted to he could probably beat some of the fighters here at this tournament with ease."

Urenna: "He's that strong?"

Crow: "No question. I bet he wants to ring Heihachi's neck right about now for whatever reason, but he's probably here to only watch the fights out of amusement."

Urenna: "Well…I won't get near him them." (Now looking at the fight) "Who are these two fighting?"

Crow: "I do not know that bald one, but the guy with the long hair is Leroy Smith. He is Wang Jinrei's chosen fighter. One of the elders."

Urenna: "A Kenpo user. And a good one! Wow!"

Crow: "Yes. He's very proficient. This match is over."

Leroy's opponent was an expert of the Lotus style, but it did the man no good with Leroy's incredible precision with his punches. The monk went down like a stack of cards lying flat on his back after taking 10 rapids hits around the torso area. When the match ended, Leroy respectfully bowed to the Five Elders before leaving the ring. Then Leroy took the time to glare at Heihachi on his right before exiting the side gate. Heihachi gave him a thumbs down to piss Leroy off even more.