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This story has been beta by ZShaq and TheReader2011. Enjoy, leave a review for me to improve!
This chapter was probably one of my favorite to write. Find out why!
Night fell as Ryozanpaku and the Shinpaku Alliance readied themselves for the banquet. Well, most of them. Natsu had suddenly disappeared after being assigned rooms. Renka was ready to find him and drag him to the banquet with her, but to her anger, she couldn't find him. She still needed revenge for that prank he played on her! With no time left to search, she huffed and joined the others. She had gotten a new red Cheongsam that reached that extended down to her ankles but had slits on the side so her legs were free, but in a rather provocative style so as to bait others into looking at her legs. Mainly for tease Natsu, though, and perhaps get Kenichi's attention.
Still, Kenichi was sticking very close to Miu, wearing a black tuxedo with a purple tie while Miu wore a purple dress, similar to the one she wore in the last timeline. Her hair was braided elegantly while she wore dress gloves. Miu had asked Kenichi to dress up appropriately as it could be considered a date at a fancy banquet, even if it was at the enemy's territory.
Shigure wore a pink dress with a large window on her chest to show her cleavage, though not really caring about it, similar to the last timeline. She also had her sword with her at all times.
However, surprising them all was Sakaki, who was wearing a blue tuxedo and a pink tie to match Shigure. When asked why he was dressing up, he merely mumbled some excuse that couldn't be heard, though Shigure seemed to stay near him.
In the Shinpaku Alliance, Niijima opted for a suit with strange eldritch designs. Siegfried, having his own concert attire, stuck with that. Everybody else went with dresses and tuxedos, slightly excited to be able to take them home with them.
"Oooh, you look good in that Kisara!" complimented Ukita.
"You think so?" blushed Kisara a bit, as she was wearing a red dress that went down to her thighs.
"Captain Ukita, do I look good in this?" asked Shiratori in her dress.
Ukita blinked as he stared at Shiratori. His mind was telling him that Shiratori should have been a male, but those unmistakable bumps on those chests said otherwise.
"Ah right, Ukita doesn't remember that Shiratori is a girl," facepalmed Takeda, "He kinda forgot when the three of you kicked the daylights out of him when he tripped."
Any more conversation ended when a light chime rang through the banquet hall before a voice was heard, "Everyone, it's time for the greeting of the executive producer, Smiling Fist Carlo Diego! Please direct your attention to the front."
Lights dimmed as show lights flashed towards the stage. The silence seemed to ensue as nobody seemed to be walking towards the center stage when...
"HAHAHAHA"
Everyone looked to the source of the voice above them to see Carlo Diego flipping into the stage from above, grabbing everyone's attention.
"Welcome to the Desperate Fight of Disciples, otherwise known as D of D! I'm your host, Carlo Diego, the Smiling Fist of One Shadow, Nine Fist! As everyone is aware, this tournament is sponsored by the extremely wealthy but generous Fortuna. He's quite the expert in martial arts. As you all know, this fight is a worldwide tournament for young martial artists under the age of 20! Fortuna has aided Yami regularly, and so as a show of thanks, I have been chosen to help host it! My motto is 'For the beauty of a fight, I will do anything!'"
The audience clapped with enthusiasm as Diego waved in appreciation before motioning them to quiet down, "Right now, everyone here is a guest! Enjoy the banquet! But tomorrow, the young ones who will shed their blood will also be the chosen ones! I've created a high-tech Coliseum on this island, just like the Ancient Romans. However, it will not be the blood of the slaves that baptize this Coliseum with blood, but the chosen ones! In essence, tomorrow we shall open the curtains to rigorous fights that'll surpass all fights, whether past or future! Now to introduce you to the Coliseum! Draw your attention to the large screen behind me!"
The screen flashed, and unlike the old timeline, everyone could see the Coliseum. Since the Shinpaku Alliance had received a formal invitation, there was no need to crash the banquet.
As Diego was explaining all the fine details of the Coliseum, Kenichi's eyes wandered around a bit. He didn't see Tsutomu, which was to be expected since he had a family now. He found a few of the same competitors as last time as well.
"That's all the details for now," finished off Diego, "Now go mingle! Have fun, talk to each other! Cause tomorrow, your fists, legs, or weapons will be doing the talking!"
"Come on, let's dance a little," smiled Miu as she pulled Kenichi on his arms. Coincidentally, they ran right into the Pankration team.
"Ah, greetings, you must be the Ryozanpaku team," greeted the one with a scar on the right side of his face, his hair tied in a ponytail, "Do be careful, as the floor is quite slippery sometimes. I am Spartacus, representative of team Pankration."
"Nice to meet you, too," greeted Miu and Kenichi.
"Let us meet in battle," smiled Spartacus, extending his hand to Kenichi, who shook it with a firm grip.
After saying their greetings, the Pankration team waved their goodbyes, heading off towards another part of the floor.
"Was it that weak-looking boy?" asked Alec, the male with frizzled hair extending down to his neck, "Surely he's not the one they call the strongest?"
"Maybe they're hiding their true force?" suggested Crixus, the taller of the two females on the team, wearing a hat, "Perhaps they thought this banquet could be a trap?"
However, when they didn't get a reply from Spartacus, all of them turned around to see Spartacus actually shaking.
"Spartacus, what's wrong?" asked Iris, the other female member of the team.
"He truly is strong," whispered Spartacus, "He definitely qualifies as the strongest! When you shake someone's hand, you can generally feel their true power, even if you try to hide your Ki. There's no doubt in my mind. Listen up, we mustn't let our guard down, no matter what. We will crush anyone that stands in our way for freedom. If we encounter him... then I will take him down with me to allow you all to earn your freedom."
"Spartacus, you can't be serious!" hissed Oenomaus, the last female member of their team, "He's that strong? Can't we just team up against him?"
"That was with us teaming up," nodded Spartacus, "I doubt we can handle him even with three of us. We will need all of our power combined, and I will have to risk my own life to earn our freedom."
The Pankration team fell silent as they mulled over their thoughts.
Renka huffed as she didn't see Natsu around, and decided to drag her father away from the maids as it was embarrassing.
"Well this is unexpected. Who would've thought the person responsible for the Phoenix Martial Arts Alliance would be here? Elder Ma Kensei, am I right?" drawled a voice, "And his daughter, Ma Renka, is here too!"
Both Ma members turned towards the source of the voice to see two boys and one girl wearing a rather skimpy Qi Pao.
"We're the representatives of the Black Tiger White Dragon Alliance, the Three-Headed Dragon," greeted the middle man with an evil smile and gray hair, "We are a team of the three biggest martial arts in China!"
"Hohoho, those are names I haven't heard in a long time," chuckled Ma, "Is that you, Kaku Shin Ten? You've certainly grown."
The named Kaku gripped his fan tightly with anger at the apparent lax of attitude from Ma, "Elder certainly is kind to remember me. Are these riffraffs the people you spend time with now?"
"What's with this guy?" whispered Takeda to Renka, "He seems to be holding a super grudge."
"Well, back then, our organization used to be one," explained Renka, "Then my ancestors, the Ma family, killed about 10 of their chiefs over a simple fit with ease...,"
Unable to contain his anger, Kaku snapped the fan he had in hand in half.
"It is our responsibility as a clan to hold such a grudge," snarled Kaku, "We'll beat the shit out of you peace loving weaklings. Especially the one they call 'Strongest Disciple'! No hard feelings Elder!"
With a huff, Kaku marched away with the others.
Kenichi and Miu had not noticed the conflict as they were too busy dancing with each other. Just as a song ended, a hand tapped Miu's shoulder.
"Mind if I cut in?" asked Sho with a smile, wearing a blue tuxedo.
"Kano Sho? What are you doing here?" blinked Kenichi as he pulled Miu behind him by instinct.
"Just came to join in the festivities," cheered Sho, "My master didn't want to let me participate, but he allowed me to watch at the very least! Oh, and since you already know me and Yomi, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to introduce you the some of the other members! We're missing a few, as they said coming to this was stupid."
Kenichi blinked as Tirawit, Boris, Chikage, and the Stanley siblings appeared before him, all wearing tuxedos and dresses, though Chikage stuck with her usual Japanese uniform. Inside his soul, he was screaming in fear. This wasn't supposed to happen! Most of Yomi wasn't supposed to be here yet!
"So this is the one you were talking about," said Tirawit in his usual calm manner.
"Doesn't seem much," commented Chikage with her emotionless tone.
"Don't be too quick to judge," warned Boris, "I thought the same too."
"He's right," nodded Tirawit as he walked around Kenichi to observe him, "He would seem like someone that could be killed very easily, and not someone you'd expect in our world or to have the 'Strongest disciple', but there's something there that I can't seem to analyze quite correctly."
"Ah, who cares?" laughed Rachel, "C'mon wonder boy, let's dance! I won't steal your boy toy for long!"
Without hesitation, Rachel dragged Kenichi with her.
"Hey wait, if anyone's getting a dance with him next it's me!" shouted Renka as she dashed forward.
"Well, seeing as he's occupied, want to dance with me?" asked Sho, "Maybe I can sweep you off your feet?"
"Is that so?" asked the Elder, suddenly appearing behind him.
"Ehehehe, just a joke?" gulped Sho, shivering at all this killing intent towards him. He had completely forgotten that the Elder was there. Even Tirawit, Boris, Chikage, and Ethan stepped away from Sho in fear, "Please don't break my body. I promise I'll be a perfect gentleman and won't do anything."
Sho would deny begging for his life.
The Elder gave him a glare, pointing two fingers at his own eyes before pointing them at Sho, telling him that he would be watching before slowly retreating.
"So... may I have this dance?" asked Sho, trying to calm himself while silently begging one of the members for a napkin or handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his hands and head. Boris obediently handed him one to use.
Miu giggled and decided to allow him one dance.
Meanwhile with Rachel and Kenichi, they were dancing... or rather Rachel was taking the lead while Kenichi was barely holding on. They were the starlight was upon them, which Rachel loved.
"We make a good combo," grinned Rachel as she closed in to give him a kiss.
She ended up kissing the air as Kenichi suddenly seemingly teleported away from her as she got closer. Meanwhile, the Elder, who was watching Sho, saw what Kenichi did and smiled.
Yomi, however, wasn't the only surprise guest.
"Ah Shigure, it's good to see my disciple sister again," said a familiar voice to Shigure.
Shigure whirled around to see Rin Tachibana standing there, in a tuxedo.
"What are ... you doing here?" asked Shigure with caution.
"I was actually invited to watch," shrugged Rin, "Diego actually had the gall to send an invite to the Armed Division of Yami, bragging that our disciples would lose. I admit I was tempted to enter my disciple in it just to shove it in his face. Instead, I decided to come and watch. I'm curious about this 'Strongest Disciple' I've been hearing about. Is it true that you're teaching him actual weapon combat?"
"Yes...," replied Shigure in her usual dull tone.
"Hahaha, now I'm tempted to see how my disciple would match up against him!" laughed Rin, "I guess the fact that he's your disciple makes me his uncle in discipleship... so to speak in the Kosaka style. Now I wish I did bring my disciple here!"
"Then... why are you... here?" asked Shigure.
"Well mainly to watch, as I said," shrugged Rin, "That, and someone from the Armed Division actually did accept the invite. Not one from the Eight Shining Executioner Blade, I assure you."
He then lowered his voice to a whisper, "However, I am worried that someone from our group has snuck in someone older than 20 and master class at that as retaliation against Diego. Our relations with each other isn't very nice if you know what I mean. I'm only here to make sure our name doesn't get disgraced with dishonor."
After clearing his throat, he looked around and saw Sakaki wearing a tie that complimented Shigure's dress.
"Ah, is he your date?" asked Rin, moving away from the subject now.
"Yes," replied Shigure with a small smile.
"Excellent, perhaps I'll talk to him then," laughed Rin, "Gotta make sure he doesn't take advantage of you!"
Meanwhile, Sakaki could feel the killing intent emanating from Jennifer, even if she was doing her best to hide it.
During the banquet, in the shadows of the night.
"Man, why did we end up with patrol duty?" yawned a guard as he and his partner were patrolling the grounds.
"Master Fortuna expects us to be vigilant," lectured the other, "Otherwise the Captain of the Guard might get angry."
"Who's going to come at this time at this place?" complained the first one, "We're missing out on all the food!"
Just as they passed by a rock, a shadow darted right past them.
"Stupid fools," muttered Natsu, in his Hermit gear. He darted from shadows to shadows, getting closer to his main objective.
"Hey, you!" shouted a voice.
Natsu immediately reacted by elbowing the guard calling out to him, followed by a punch to the head to knock him out. The second guard tried to stab him, only for Natsu to spin away and kick him in the face.
"Ahahaha, look what we have here?" chuckled another guard, this one bigger than the other two while wielding a trident.
Natsu's eyes narrowed as he focused, knowing this one was stronger. As the guard spun his trident while threatening to chop Natsu into pieces, Natsu heard a familiar voice.
"Axe kick."
Quickly obeying, Natsu kicked his opponent's leg while blocking the trident by hitting the shaft. The guard yelped in pain and surprise at this.
"Front kick with a backslash."
Natsu parried the trident away, spinning before kicking the guard in the stomach. After forcing the guard to bend down, Natsu slammed a palm strike into the guard's face, knocking him out.
After regaining his breath, Natsu blinked as he looked at the source of the voice, who was leaning on a pillar drinking some white rice wine. Natsu quickly attacked the shadowy figure, who parried all his blows with one hand before catching his wrist in between his index and middle finger.
Natsu winced as he tried to pull it out, but despite just two fingers latching onto his wrist, he couldn't pull it out.
"Seems like you did your homework and some more brat," smirked Ma Sogetsu as the moonlight revealed his face.
"I found you at last... Ma Sogetsu!" grinned Natsu.
Soon, the two of them were in a building reserved for Sogetsu's own purpose. Some other guards that came across them questioned why Natsu was here, but a flick to one of the guard's forehead forestalled any more arguments.
"So how'd you know I'd be here?" asked Sogetsu curiously.
"Because you'll always show up in a place with alcohol and chaos," grinned Natsu.
Sogetsu couldn't help but chuckle in agreement, taking another swig of his wine. He then easily caught another attack from Natsu, who started to argue that Sogetsu had not fulfilled his end of the deal of teaching him martial arts.
"Watch your tone, boy," growled Sogetsu darkly, but Natsu wouldn't budge, glaring at him.
"Hmm, for somebody with some talent in martial arts, plus great determination... not bad," declared Sogetsu as his growl turned into a smile as Natsu managed to free his wrist once more, "Alright brat, it's time to move on to the next level."
"Yes... master," smiled Natsu.
Silence reigned in between both of them for a bit.
"So Kaede wants to see you again," coughed Natsu, "Something about the next match being the 100th win."
"Cocky girl!" growled Sogetsu, "I'll win next time! Plus, it's only been 98 losses, not 99!"
Natsu couldn't help but giggle at this. Despite all their strength and power, Kaede had the two wrapped around her pinky.
"So, are we going to watch the matches?" asked Natsu.
"Normally, I'd so it's a pathetic game for children, but if I recall, the boy from Ryozanpaku will be attending, right?" asked Sogetsu, getting a nod from Natsu, "Perhaps we'll watch his match. Anything else would be boring and wasting time. Plus, there are quite a few masters martial artists here that'll give me a fight, excluding Ryozanpaku."
"Weren't they hired by Fortuna?" asked Natsu, "Weren't you also hired by him?"
"Hmph, I may have taken his money, but I'll do whatever I want," grinned Sogetsu.
"You haven't changed at all," sighed Natsu with an eye-roll, "You and Ryozanpaku really do get into scamming your scammers. I can see why you and Kensei are brothers."
A bit curious about that statement, Sogetsu asked Natsu to clarify that statement. He started laughing when he heard what the dojo challenge fee.
The next morning came as Ryozanpaku and Shinpaku were walking to the arena. As they did so, there was a noticeable gap between Kisara and Ukita, with Kisara shooting glances at Ukita.
Flashback
The banquet had ended, and so they all returned to their rooms. Ukita ended up at the balcony with Tsuji, Thor, Siegfried, and Takeda, talking about the upcoming fights.
"So you seemed really nervous back at the docks Ukita," commented Takeda.
"Yea, well, I'm the weakest of all of us," trembled Ukita, "Even with a master, I'm not seeing the gap closing between any of us. In the past, the technique trio was something to be feared. Now, you're so far away that I'm struggling to even get to you. We used to be of similar strengths! Now everyone's leaving me behind, with or without masters!"
Of course, both of them had excluded Koga completely, but nobody cared about him.
"Man, you're trembling!" laughed Tsuji.
"Shut up!" shouted Ukita.
"Hey it's not an insult," grinned Tsuji, "Sure you're scared, but you manned up and stepped into this world, didn't you? That's a point in my book."
"And I'm sure you've gotten stronger. Our fights back at the underground arena proved that," nodded Takeda.
"Lalala, the songs of your courage is pouring out of your body!" sang Siegfried.
After some more encouragement, Ukita looked like he was finally ready to face tomorrow.
"I may not stand out as much as you all, but even if I have to die, I'll put my body on the line! Oh, and don't tell Kisara about this conversation," stated Ukita.
The trio were clueless to the fact that Kisara, Shiratori, and Freya were just around the corner and had heard everything.
"That guy is planning to put his body on the line for you," commented Freya, "Looks like he really likes you Kisara. Are you happy?"
"Who would be happy with that blockhead!?" hissed an embarrassed Kisara.
"Well... I don't mind him," said Freya off-handedly.
"Does that mean you don't mind if I get to know him better?" asked Shiratori.
'Eh!?' thought Kisara in shock.
Flashback ends
Sakaki glanced at Shigure, who nodded back at his glance. Sakaki had gone to scout the perimeter a bit but had been unable to find much information. He would be trying again later on while everyone's attention was at the Colosseum with Shigure. Sakaki hoped that Jennifer's jealousy wouldn't jeopardize that mission, along with Rin watching.
Soon enough, they were all lined up with the other competitors. Renka opted to stand with Ryozanpaku as she was Kensei's daughter, who was in Ryozanpaku. There were, of course, some fine details that needed to be worked out, but she didn't care. She just wanted to fight too!
Standing in front for the Shinpaku Alliance was Niijima himself with Matsui behind him, proudly waving the flag of the Shinpaku Alliance.
"Now, without further ado, please allow our host, one of the One Shadow Nine Fists, Carlo Diego, to make his opening speech!" announced the announcer, wearing a Lucha Libre mask styled with a single eye in the center.
Diego coughed a bit to clear his throat before taking a deep breath, "The Desperate Fight of Disciples begins now! I have poured my heart and soul into this, so do enjoy my work. I'll give a brief summary of the rules, though it's really not complicated. Five people make a team, and all you have to do is defeat them all! Winning teams advances to the next round, the battle format can change from the situation. If someone has enough confidence, there's no need for a five man team, but your chances of winning are lower. And finally, please make this a superb show!"
The audience politely clapped at the end of the speech as fighters made their way to their waiting areas. Ryozanpaku and Shinpaku opted to sit together in the same booth for safety with the masters.
"And let's begin our first match!" declared the announcer, "Our first team has no name, their nationality unknown, they are the unknown special forces! We'll be calling them Black Force since they didn't want to give a name and left it to us!"
Kenichi, Miu, and Niijima tensed up, ready to react at what the next words would be coming from the announcer's mouth.
"And their opponents will be... the Capoeira team from southern Brazil! Which two of these team will win! Let's find out now!"
The trio blinked in surprise at this, unable to hide their shock.
"Remember, you can't expect past events from the old timeline to be the same," said the Elder, using his Obstructive Lung Voice technique to let only the time travelers hear his voice.
The trio looked at each other and nodded. Niijima had warned them about the butterfly effect, but had been just caught off guard at the sudden change. He would have to plan more around this.
In the end, the Capoeria team had won the fight, though not without sustaining a few injuries. It had been a 5v5 fight in a ruins setting. Aishe, the only female on the team, had many cuts all over her body but was lucky not to lose a limb. Silvio, the male member wearing a turban, aka Shinobi, had tackled Aishe out of a wire trap from the captain of the Black Force, Captain K. If not for that, then Aishe would be a leg short. Instead, Silvio's turban and strands of hair had been torn into pieces, though he didn't care as long as Aishe was safe. As the Capoeria leader delivered a knockout blow to Captain K, Aishe was starting to see Silvio in a new light.
During the fight though, Sakaki had slipped out of the booth under the pretense of heading to the bathroom. Sakaki was casually jogging away from the Colosseum and towards whatever suspicious place he could find. One of them being a building that had many cables leading towards it. He stopped as soon as he noticed someone near him.
"So, you've decided to come out here, my fiance," stated Jennifer as she came out of hiding.
"So it is you, Jenny," stated Sakaki with his eyes narrowed before relaxing, "You won't really pul-"
Bang bang bang
He didn't get to finish as he had to dodge several shots from Jennifer.
"That's dangerous dammit!" cursed Sakaki as he managed to get behind Jennifer, grabbing her arm to stop her from shooting, "Why are you still a wildcat? Being hit still hurts like hell!"
"You broke your promise," pouted Jennifer, "You promised to marry me, you big liar!"
'Kenichi and them weren't joking about Jennifer still holding onto that promise,' sighed Sakaki before retorting, "That was something I said when you were little and I was drunk!"
"Liar!" cried Jennifer, "Cheater!"
One of the guards came to investigate the noise, only to be threatened by Jennifer to get back to his post, making Sakaki feel sorry for the guard for having a horrible boss.
Fast forwarding a bit, and Sakaki was 'arrested' by Jennifer and three others. He was taken to a base with Shigure following them. When Jennifer mentioned the codeword 'Angel', Sakaki grinned as he punched one of the guards through a wall, simultaneously freeing the imprisoned American marines and knocking the guard unconscious. Jennifer swiftly turned and fired at the other two guards, who could barely believe the betrayal from their captain. They were quickly knocked out by Sakaki and Shigure, who suddenly appeared behind them. It was there that Jennifer revealed herself to be an FBI special infiltration agent.
"Speaking of Ryozanpaku," said Jennifer after introducing Sakaki, "Who is that woman! Answer me Shio, aren't I your one and only fiance!? I saw you with her at the banquet! Who is she! Are you cheating on me!?"
"Lat-" started Sakaki when Shigure poured oil onto the already burning inferno.
"His... mistress," stated Shigure, "He was... very passionate... when we were... alone."
Choju giga animals danced around when she released this time bomb. Jennifer turned into stone for a moment while Sakaki paled, whirling around to Shigure and almost begging Shigure to tell the truth, that nothing had happened. Then he heard a gun being cocked and turned to see Jennifer carrying a heavy machine gun from seemingly out of nowhere and pointing it at Sakaki. The barrel of the gun was already winding up as Jennifer's finger was closing in on the trigger.
Due to her rage, they almost lost the element of surprise.
Back at the Colosseum, it was currently the Nanken (Southern Fist) team versus the Three Headed Dragon. Though both teams were from China, it didn't stop them from doing their damn best to show which Chinese team was better.
While the fighting was going on, Fortuna's chair, specifically the armrest, vibrated for a 0.01 seconds before falling silent. Fortuna glanced down on his chair before deciding it was just his imagination.
Back at the command center, Jennifer had managed to disable the alert system just in time while Sakaki and Shigure took care of the rest of the guards. Though the room itself was riddled with bullet holes, many of which originating from Jennifer's brief rampage. Jennifer had chased Sakaki with her gun, shooting indiscriminately for a bit. When Sakaki crashed into the main control room, the guards blinked in shock, which was followed by their captain of the guard Jennifer with a big gun. None of them knew that Jennifer was an inside agent, and thought she had it handled. Which, in their defense, couldn't be faulted when Jennifer began to spray all over the room, miraculously missing the computers. It was only a swift reminder from the American marine that Jennifer snapped back to reality.
So, back at the Colosseum once more...
"I'm bored!" yawned Sho, sitting in the same booth with the Stanley twins, whose team name was Team Gemini. The other members of Yomi who attended the banquet were also there.
"Hmm, you'd think Chou Enshin would be interested in this fight, considering it's Chinese Martial Arts," commented Rachel. "Though wouldn't you be interested too since you practice it?"
"Bah, I can take all five of them out easily," bragged Sho, "It's just ants vs ants. Eight seconds flat to kill them all."
"Ten for me," analyzed Tirawit calmly.
"I don't see the point of watching these fights," stated Chikage stoically.
Boris just remained silent, standing straight and observing, mostly watching Kenichi.
All five competitors fighting heard Yomi's claim and resisted the urge to just team up and fight those damn braggarts. It was so tempting as they were of the same nationality.
In the end, the Three Headed Dragon Team won in the 1v1 matches, with only Chou Yin Lin and Yo Tekai, the female of the group and the other male with an eye patch, coming out to fight. Kaku didn't even need to get up, though he glared at Ryozanpaku and Yomi before gesturing at them with a finger across his throat.
"Heh, he's underestimating us all," grinned Takeda as he flipped him off.
"Bah, I wanna fight now!" shouted an eager Tsuji.
"Hmph, I'll show him the power of the Ma family and the Phoenix Alliance!" stated Renka.
"Alright next up shall be a team of three known as the Tri-Blades vs... Mysterious Teenager Garyu X!" declared the announcer.
This time, all actual teenagers, and not ones that time traveled, face faulted as soon as they saw that Garyu X was the Elder wearing a mask with a robotic design similar to the famous Super Sentai series.
"Ok, what the hell now!?" shouted Sho, "That's obviously a disguise!"
"Hahaha, I am the judge, and so I make the rules!" laughed Diego, "I thought you knew this."
"I can't tell you just how wrong this is!" exclaimed Sho, "For one he's obviously past 20! Look at his damn facial hair!"
"Hmm, but on the application, he put his age as 19," hummed Diego.
The Elder had learned from the time travelers that he had made the mistake of putting his age as 20 when the tournament was under 20, not 20 and under.
"Wow, so this is what it's like to be on the viewing side?" whispered Kenichi to Miu, who giggled.
The audience were confused but let it slide, as they knew Diego would do anything to make it entertaining. Apachai was stating that he was confused, that the Elder was still next to him. Next to him was makeshift disguise that anybody but Apachai could see through. The Shinpaku Alliance wasn't faring any better, though Niijima told them to calm down.
"Bah, it's just an old man," sneered one of the swordsman as he drew out his sword, "Yomi's freaking out over nothing. Guess that's why the Armed Division is better."
Sho heard this and grew a muscle tic, "You know what, forget it. I'd rather get a front row seats at these losers now."
"Alright, round 3 fight one start!" declared Diego.
Fortuna chuckled as he asked why he would allow someone so obvious to potentially ruin the show. Diego merely smirked as he told him to just enjoy the show.
"Prepare to die!" shouted the young swordsman as he raised his sword high, "You're already halfway to the grave, so I'll send you there!"
"What is he thinking!?" Ukita almost shrieked out loud while other members of the Shinpaku Alliance tried to comprehend what was happening.
"Relax, there's a good reason for this," smirked Niijima.
Suddenly, inexplicably, the swordsman tripped and fell down to the ground.
"Oh, it looks like Sando pushed too much and tripped!" exclaimed the announcer.
The now named Sando abruptly got up in embarrassment, ready to defend himself, but Garyu X was a truly 'honorable' person and not attacking while his opponent was down, something the announcer picked up on. Sando tried to stab Garyu X, just to stumble again. And again... and again.
"Oh, what's going on? Is Sando nervous?" asked the announcer.
Diego was giggling like a child while Fortuna asked what was going on.
None of the teenagers could tell just what was going on. Sho, Tirawit, Kushinada, Boris, Ethan, and Rachel had fallen silent, trying to squint to see why Sando kept stumbling. The same was with the Shinpaku Alliance members. Even Renka, who was possibly the strongest out of their group with exception to Miu and Kenichi, had trouble seeing what was going on.
Back in the stands, hidden from view, Natsu lightly sweated at seeing the fight. Even though he couldn't see it, he could tell that the disguised Elder was doing something. His master, Ma Sogetsu, had also fallen silent to watching this spectacle.
'Why do I have a sense of deja vu?' thought Oosugi of the Muay Thai Taifun.
Both Kenichi and Miu squinted at the fight, just barely making out Elder's movements. That said, it was quite impressive for them to do so, though they were roughly 28ish now in terms of mental age. They were technically older than Shigure possibly.
Meanwhile, Sando was sweating buckets, his hands barely able to grip the sword due to the sweat.
"Hey, what's wrong? Do you need a hand?" asked Garyu X as he bent down, offering a hand, though his eyes were glinting with power that shone through the eye holes.
Sando's mind shouted at him to flee, and flee he did. Sando abandoned all pretense of fighting and dived out of the ring into the water surrounding the ring, eager to get away from Garyu X as far as possible.
"I can't explain it, but after 11 seconds, Sando forfeits the match without Garyu X even touching him!" shouted the announcer.
"Wh... what just happened?" blinked Tsuji.
"I don't know," said Thor with a sweat.
"Lalalala, the youthfulness of Garyu X pushed him away!" sang Siegfried, though also clueless at what happened.
"Kekeke, you didn't catch it?" asked Niijima.
"Shut up alien, I doubt you did either!" shouted Kisara.
"Ah but I did," smirked Niijima, "I can tell you that Garyu X was using speed so fast to trip Sando."
Before Kisara and the liars could call him a liar, Diego's voice carried over to have them watch the big screen. There, in front of everyone, was an instant replay of the eleven-second match. The video was played at 1/10th speed, but nothing seemed to show up. It wasn't until at 1/1000th speed was that everyone saw Garyu X's right leg actually becoming a blur. A commotion rang up at what this was until Diego explained that Garyu X had basically tripped Sando for the whole eleven seconds with just his right leg. The teenagers of Shinpaku Alliance looked at Niijima with shocked eyes while Siegfried sang praises to his demon lord.
"Hey, what should we do?" asked another weapons user with wide eyes from the Tri-Blades, looking nervous while starting at the supposed leader, who was a female, "He seems really dangerous!"
The leader stood there, not sure what to do.
"Hmph, enough," scoffed Garyu X before pointing directly at them, "Stop playing and come forth!"
"Oh, what's this? Is Garyu X challenging the leader of the Tri-Blades?" announced the announcer.
"Wrong! I'm talking the person behind you!" shouted Garyu X, "Slashing Murderer, Kiryu Aryu!"
The nervous looking male suddenly changed visage, his eyes narrowing with blood lust in his eyes. He quickly drew his sword and was about to slash his own 'teammates'.
The female cried out in fear, covering her head as she did so. She was prepared to die as she saw the blade come up. Then... she felt nothing. Or rather, she noticed that she didn't feel any pain, any discomfort, nothing. She slowly opened her eyes to notice Garyu X had managed to halt the blade as it was descending down to her with just his thumb and index finger.
"Just because you were exposed doesn't mean you can kill indiscriminately Kiryu!" growled Garyu X.
"Bah, she was just a distraction, some stray I picked up off the streets," spat Kiryu, "She couldn't even her job right, to hide me. But it's an honor to meet the 'Invincible Superman'. As you expect, I'm 54 years old, many of which are calling my master class. Though I'd prefer to think myself closer to Grandmaster class, rivaling the famous 'Ryozanpaku'. But how did you know who I was? I had plastic surgery done to change my appearance."
"It matters not if you can change your appearance, I can hear every cell in your body!" exclaimed Garyu X, "And your bloodthirst... well you never hid that well."
"Hmph, I only came to show the unarmed divisions who was better," scoffed Kiryu, "And the grand prize of millions of USD was a nice bonus. But the Invincible Superman's is surely worth 100x that, especially if it so exaggerated!"
Hyaku ha chinomichi (100 leaves blood trail)
Kiryu had heard about the Elder, but kept on thinking that people were so exaggerating his accomplishments. After all, he was unarmed, what could he do? Not to mention his age now, surely he had slowed down? Those were his last thoughts before Garyu X knocked him out with a two finger flick to the face, sending him flying to Diego.
"Wrong, it's a million times more worth!" declared Garyu X as he sent Kiryu flying.
Diego easily snatched the unconscious Kiryu out of the air, his hand gripped onto the man's head.
"Masked Host, isn't this person a master class fighter?" asked Garyu X, his finger still pointing at Diego.
"Hoho, I'm sorry," apologized Diego with a smile, "But it did allow me to witness a great performance."
"Hmph, so you already noticed it from the start, but let me handle it... I don't care," sighed the Elder before turning to the remaining female of Tri-Blades.
"What's your name?" asked Garyu X softly and gently, ignoring the announcer's praises.
"Y-y-yui," stuttered the named Yui, "I was an orphan from the streets when my master picked me."
"Do you still view him as your master?" asked Garyu X.
Yui shook her head, "He taught me how to use a sword, but he also abused me. He gave me shelter but made me work for it. He... he kept ranting about how my body was too young, and that when I was older, he couldn't wait to taste me."
"It's alright now," said Garyu X softly as he gave her a hug, "He won't hurt you anymore."
Tears that Yui kept locked inside her spilled out of her eyes, finally feeling free.
Garyu X was trying to figure out what to do with her when someone stepped close to them. He turned to see Rin Tachibana standing there.
"I can take her," said Rin, "I promise on my name that she will not be hurt or punished. Kiryu was scum, and we were already deciding to expel him from Yami. This just finalized it, though."
"What will you do with her?" asked Garyu X, standing up to face Rin while pushing Yui behind him.
Rin merely kneeled down to Yui's height, asking Garyu X with his eyes if he could speak with her. Garyu X complied, shifting just a bit so Yui could see Rin.
"Yui, I'm sorry what you went through all this," said Rin softly, "I can tell you have no wish to be in this world any longer, but the world won't let you go so easily. So allow me to offer a compromise. I have a half-sister who's blind. Yet she has never allowed that disability to hinder her. But as her older brother, I still worry for her safety and companionship. So could you come live with my little sister? I'd prefer she have someone who can help her and be her friend at the same time. You would have food, shelter, and education. I promise you on my name and the Eight Shining Executioner Blade that you will not be harmed nor harassed while living with my sister. Anyone who dares will feel my wrath."
Yui looked at Rin, his eyes showing no deceit. She looked up to Garyu X, who gestured that it was her choice and that he would respect any choice she made.
Yui took a deep breath before walking forward to Rin.
"Will I never have to fight again?" asked Yui, "To never see Yami again?"
"I can't promise that," coughed Rin, "Despite my complaints, my little sister is involved in the martial arts world. There are some people that visit her that are from Yami, though they all know never to attempt anything. As for fighting, my sister might fight with you for fun. But never in a deathmatch for sure."
Yui nodded her head before turning to Garyu X and bowing to him.
"Thank you for saving me," thanked Yui, "But I wish to go with him."
"Do what you will child," said Garyu X as he gently rubbed her head, "This man seems trustworthy enough. But if you ever need help, just look for Ryozanpaku, and aid will surely arrive."
Rin took Yui by her hand softly and began to lead her away when he noticed Shigure and Sakaki were missing.
'Hmm, perhaps the two got bored and decided to have a private date?' mused Rin before laughing at that thought.
"Oh, that Garyu X really is cool!" commented the Elder, sitting next to Apachai and the others, as if he had never left.
All Shinpaku members except Kenichi, Miu, and Niijima, yelped and jumped back in surprise.
"Whoa, when'd you get back here!?" shouted Tsuji.
"Hmm? I've been here the whole time," replied the Elder.
'Liar,' thought the time travelers.
"Well since Garyu X finished his job, that means he's done with the tournament, right?" asked Renka, "It is a tournament for teenagers, after all."
The Elder took a deep breath for a second before turning on all of them, his eyes glowing in power as his whole figure somehow grew larger, "Garyu X is a teenager in the springtime of his youth! Of course, he's aiming for the title of champion!"
He then relaxed, as if he hadn't yelled at them, "At least, that's what I think."
The teenagers turned white with fear while Choju Giga animals behind them did the same. Matsui and Mizunuma almost had their souls escape from their body, only for Choju Giga animals to push them back in.
"Alright let's get to the next round!" declared the announcer, "The next match shall be… Ryozanpaku vs. Muay Thai Taifun!"
'SHIT!' thought Miu and Kenichi together. They had been so preoccupied with the fact that Yomi had come, and that another armed's division member joined the tournament while trying to sneak a master in, that they forgot the original master that the Elder had taken care of in the old timeline.
Even the Elder looked perturbed by this situation. The Kicking Demon Gorobee Rofusagi was hidden inside that team, though weaker than Kiryu Aryu. While Kiryu was clearly in the master class despite overestimating himself, he was the stronger of the two. But it still worried him.
"Yea let's go!" cheered Renka, only for Kenichi and Miu to stop her from joining them.
"We'll handle this one ourselves," stated Kenichi.
"After all, we are the prime members of Ryozanpaku," stated Miu, putting Noir, whom she had been petting the whole time, into Renka's hands, "Plus I need you to help keep my kitten safe."
"But... but!" started Renka, only for Ma Kensei to hit his daughter with a sleeping needle in a sleeping point.
"What was that for!?" exclaimed Thor.
"It's safer for her to not know," shushed Ma Kensei as he gently placed her back onto the chair.
"Ready?" asked Kenichi, tightening his muay thai wraps.
"With you? Always," replied Miu as she stretched her limbs.
The two of them walked towards the middle of the arena where the five members of the Muay Thai Taifun were waiting.
At Yomi's booth, each one of them fell silent as they observed the upcoming fight. Chikage still felt like her initial assessment was correct, but didn't voice it. Boris leaned forward, wanting to know more about that light within Kenichi. Tirawit was relaxed, but his eyes were focused not on Kenichi, but rather the bald member of the Muay Thai team. Rachel just wanted to be on the stage to show off. Ethan observed Kenichi, taking note of everything.
Sho, however, stood up to get a closer look.
'Show me why I see those wings,' thought Sho, 'Show me why Miu chooses to stay with you.'
There was one more spectator that nobody even knew about. Diego nor Fortuna didn't know, Ryozanpaku didn't know, and not even the time travelers knew. Sitting at one of the booths in the Colosseum in the more hidden area, a blind spot from Diego himself, sat Saiga Fuurinji himself, in his disguise. His heart breathed a sigh of relief when Diego paired Kiryu Aryu against his father. That was an opponent he did not want his daughter to face. However, Diego had paired Ryozanpku against the Muay Thai Taifun. He knew that Diego knew that their fifth member was Gorobe Robusaki, someone who was clearly above 20 and master class. If this was Diego's way of eliminating the 'Strongest Disciple'... then he would intervene.
"We'll be making this interesting!" announced Diego, "For the sake of fairness... it will be a 2v4 match up! Then, if Ryozanpaku somehow wins, then it'll be a 2v1! Let's see who the lucky... or unlucky winner, depending on how you see it, will be!?"
On the widescreen, each member of the Taifun team was labeled 1-5, with Gorobe being #3. A lottery ball machine could be seen in the screen, with multiple balls inside it. Suddenly, a ball shot out of the machine, going through the pipes before suddenly actually firing right at Diego from under the widescreen. Diego easily caught the ball before holding it up before the camera.
"Looks like #3 is going to be benched! Go on and take a seat so we can get this show on the road!" announced Diego.
Gorobe, who had been trying to act all shy, suddenly looked angry before pushing that visage back, walking back towards the booth.
As the four members of Taifun team surrounded Miu and Kenichi, the announcer raised his mic once more, "Let the match... begin!"
"And it'll end now!" taunted Oosugi, a member of team Taifun, as he charged forward. The other members followed his action, eager to pummel the 'strongest disciple'.
As they got closer and closer, Miu suddenly jumped up into the air. They all ignored this in favor of striking at Kenichi. Kenichi suddenly took a step forward, rushing towards Oosugi, who tried to smash Kenichi with an elbow to the head. Kenichi easily blocked it while maneuvering his body around Oosugi, tripping him as he did so. Oosugi stumbled right into the captain, who had been behind Kenichi, the two of them going down in a pile. The other two turned to strike at Kenichi when they both felt something slam into their head, knocking them unconscious.
Miu, who had faded from their minds, had done a perfect split kick, knocking both contestants out before landing on the ground in a crouch.
"Bitch!" shouted Oosugi and the captain as they tried to attack Miu, only for Kenichi to spring off Miu's back with his hand and perform a sideways scissor kick, knocking both opponents out at once.
With just a few moves, Kenichi and Miu ended the battle in seconds.
"And it looks like Ryozanpaku has easily taken care of the four members of team Taifun in just... seven seconds!?" shouted the announcer in shock and awe.
Silence ensued for a bit before thunderous applause rang out from the audience.
"Hmph, that was pointless," sighed Sho as he leaned back, "That told me absolutely nothing. I could've taken out those jokers in the same amount of time."
"Then the next fight should provide more interest," stated Tirawit as he finished his analysis of Gorobe, "The bald fighter isn't what he seems to be."
"Oooh, how so~?" asked Rachel.
"For one, though he seems our age, he is actually over the age limit," shared Tirawit, "It took me a while, but I recognize their 5th member. I believe Smiling Fist already knows this and wishes to use him to test out just how strong the 'strongest disciple' is."
"Just who is that person?" asked Kushinada.
"Robusaki Gorobe, the kicking demon," replied Tirawit, "In terms of power, he's a master low-level class, though pretty shitty from what my master says."
"Wait, that means they're going up against a master, shouldn't we stop that!?" Sho almost shouted.
"Indeed, that sounds rather crude," frowned Boris.
"Well from what Ogata, the Sage Fist, said, this Shirahama Kenichi is much stronger than all of us. So perhaps Smiling Fist decided to test that theory out, though he chose not to send the weapons master against them, probably because he didn't want to be that cruel," theorized Tirawit.
"That doesn't make me feel better," frowned Sho, "If Miu gets hurt because of this...,"
"Oh just relax leader, I'm sure my master has everything under control," stated Rachel as she stretched her arms, giving anyone who was staring at her a good view of her assets, "Plus, it'll be nice to see what the wonder kid can really do."
Meanwhile, Renka had managed to snap herself back awake in time to see it was now 1v2 and pouted. She desperately wanted to fight, but for some reason, her father was holding her back. She would just have to see why.
Gorobe grumbled under his breath as he took the stage. This was not how he had planned to appear in this tournament! It should have been simple! His four rather useless teammates were supposed to cover him. He would be the hidden ace in the team, barely showing his real power if possible. If it was a team fight, then he'd strike while others were distracted. He even underwent plastic surgery for this event! Which cost him a lot, and had left him in the red, so to speak. But with the prize money, he'd easily be able to live in a life of luxury!
Then came the appearance of Garyu X. He had no doubt that it was the Invincible Superman, though the question is why he was here. Then, of course, he discovered that he wasn't the only one with the same plan. Kiryu would have been a rather big obstacle in his plan, one that had been taken care of.
'I can still salvage this,' thought Gorobe, 'No doubt the host will kick him out now that Kiryu has been taken care of. I can still win this!'
Adopting a nervous and shy look, he stuttered, "Uhh, p-p-please be g-gentle."
He would lure these brats into false pretense and kill them. Gorobe barely heard the announcer yell begin as he was still mentally plotting. Turning to meet them, he almost yelped in shock at what was happening.
As soon as the announcer had yelled start, Miu and Kenichi blitzed at Gorobe at speed far beyond the usual disciple class. Miu arrived first, forcing Gorobe to try to punch Miu in the face when she suddenly disappeared from his view. Gorobe looked up in a panic, automatically thinking Miu had jumped, just to see the blue sky.
Miu had slid under Gorobe's leg, already behind him. Kenichi tried to knee Gorobe, only for Gorobe to quickly block the knee. Suddenly, he felt something latch onto his head. Before he could try to pry off whatever latched onto his head, Kenichi crouched and attacked his legs. Seeing his legs leaving the ground, Miu began to hurl Gorobe out of the arena with her legs. She had caught Gorobe with her feet while doing a handstand, and in one smooth motion, tossed Gorobe into the air.
"They did it!" shouted Kisara in excitement.
Unfortunately, that statement was proven false. Gorobe managed to grab the edge of the arena with just his fingers, stopping his momentum. Miu had been unable properly throw Gorobe as he escaped Miu during mid-throw.
"Presumptuous brats!" snarled Gorobe, losing his meek facade while his eyes snapped open, "I'll kill you both!"
With a grunt, Gorobe threw himself up into the air, diving towards Kenichi and Miu.
"DIE! Chou Jikuu Tobi Chaker!" (Super Dimensional Flying Knee Assault)
A barrage of knee attacks came flying towards Kenichi and Miu, each hit that would've killed a normal person.
Kenichi was already using Ryusui Seikuken while Miu had already ignited her own Ki to heighten her senses. With those active, the two of them dodged or parried Gorobe's attack before leaping back after he landed.
"Hoo, not bad, but how long can you last!?" mocked Gorobe as he dashed forward. He threw a barrage of punches, kicks, knees, and elbows at the two, ramping up the speed as he did so. It was then Gorobe noticed he was only scoring glancing blows. Suddenly, Kenichi intercepted one of his attacks and dove into his chest, shoulder bashing him as he did so. The sudden attack interrupted his own rhythm and Gorobe found himself blocking an arc kick from Miu. Soon, the other two were attacking Gorobe while he was on the defense, something that angered him a lot.
"Don't get so cocky!" roared Gorobe as he tanked a few hits from Kenichi and Miu, diving in between the two. With a swift kick to Kenichi and an elbow to Miu simultaneously, he separated the two from each other. Both had managed to block the attacks, but the kick sent Kenichi much further away, which was what Gorobe wanted. He quickly focused his attack all on Miu. Finally, he clinched Miu and got a knee right into her stomach.
Miu coughed up blood as Gorobe kneed her two more times before throwing Miu into the floor. Gorobe was ready to crush her skull under his foot when he felt killing intent from behind. Gorobe's senses went into overdrive as he jumped away from a rising overhead knee to his face.
"Miu, are you alright?" asked Kenichi frantically as he stood over Miu, protecting her from further attack.
"Yea, my inner Ki and muscles took it," groaned Miu before coughing up a bit more blood, "Just give me a minute to recover."
Kenichi could tell that Miu was lying. Just from a single glance, she could tell her ribs had been heavily bruised, if not fractured. He was no strangers to those injuries, considering whom his masters were (Especially with Apachai!).
"How dare you!" growled Kenichi as he glared at Gorobe.
"How dare I?" taunted Gorobe, "How dare you stand in front of me right now! If you hadn't just given up earlier, then none of this would've happened. If you hadn't stopped me from crushing the girl's head, She wouldn't be suffering right now!"
Kenichi eye's narrowed before putting his fists up once more. Gorobe would've charged in to take Kenichi out... if it wasn't for the fact the Ki he was feeling from Kenichi now far surpassed his. It was clearly Ki no Shoaku, something even he hadn't achieved yet. Though he was in the Master Class, he was still Low Class Master. Even Master Class Masters barely touched Ki no Shaoku, mainly using Ki no Kaiho. Those that could use it were regarded as Grand Master level, and those with complete mastery of it were Legendary Masters.
"What... the... hell?" stated Sho slowly as he stood up, reeling from the Ki he was feeling from Kenichi. Sho glanced around to see he wasn't the only one who was reacting like this. Boris's eyes had widened, Ethan was now standing, Rachel was blinking rapidly, Kushinada, whose eyes had been wandering, locked right onto Kenichi, and Tirawit looked like he was suffering a slight malfunction. Inside Tirawit's mind, program Tirawit_ had stopped functioning.
Even Carlo Diego, who had been appreciating the show while leaning on his arm, slowly stood up, as if to get a closer look. Fortuna, who was still sitting on his chair, gazed hungrily at Kenichi.
From his hiding spot, Saiga had been ready to intervene when he saw his daughter in danger, only for Kenichi to prevent that. Then he felt Kenichi release his Ki and blinked in surprise. He recognized the fact that Kenichi was willing to fight a Master Class fighter, granted a rather low one, to protect Miu. Perhaps... this boy was someone whom he could trust to protect Miu.
"Thats... thats..," stammered Renka, barely able to form a sentence. When Gorobe had attacked, she could tell that Gorobe was stronger than he seemed. When her father admitted to just who Gorobe was, she screeched, saying she could've helped. Now that she saw Kenichi and Miu fight for real for once, she had our doubts whether she could've helped or would've just been in the way.
At one of the long hallways leading to the Colosseum, Ma Sogetsu merely raised his eyebrow. He was well aware that Kenichi had learned Ki no Shouka, as he had been using it to observe his fight with his brother. Still, this fight certainly would be educational for Natsu and entertaining for himself. Natsu himself was staring at the fight with intense concentration.
The Shinpaku Alliance sat nervously as they saw Miu coughing up blood. The Elder himself had to restrain himself when he saw Miu take the hit. He almost ran into the ring when he saw Gorobe raising his leg to attack Miu while she was down. He wasn't the only one to do so, as Kensei, Akisame, and Apachai were also ready to strike. Then came Kenichi, driving Gorobe away.
"It really is in his nature," smiled the Elder, "Whenever his friends are in danger, his true potential shows."
"Apapa, go Kenichi!" cheered Apachai.
It was when Kenichi released his Ki that Takeda and the others truly realized that Kenichi was at a different level than them all.
"Should we be worried that Kenichi has publicly revealed his control of his Ki?" whispered Kensei.
Akisame shook his head, "It was bound to come out eventually. It just means we'll have to up Kenichi's training by twofold once more."
The other competitors who were watching this fight also faltered when they felt Kenichi's Ki wash over them.
Back with the fight, Kenichi slowly shifted his stance until he took a stance similar to modern Muay Thai.
"Ha, fighting me, a Muay Thai master with Muay Thai!?" taunted Gorobe, "You're a fool to do so! Not to mention, your stance is all wrong! Let me show you how a real Muay Thai fighter fights!"
Sho couldn't help but glance at Kenichi's stance, looking puzzled at his stance too. He figured that Kenichi learned multiple styles like he did, but something about the stance threw him off.
"No... That's an Ancient Muay Thai style, Muay Boran!" exclaimed Tirawit, his mind having rebooted from the unexpected crash.
"Muay Boran?" asked Sho with interest, "That's not something I'm aware of."
"My master hasn't taught you that yet," replied Tirawit distractedly, "It's the original muay thai, before it became a national sport. It was designed to kill people."
"Isn't he a part of Katsujinken, though?" inquired Kushinada, "Why would he use such a murderous style?"
"Perhaps this opponent isn't someone he can afford to use a soft style on," theorized Boris.
"That all doesn't matter," snorted Rachel, "What's most important is... that he's showing off way too much! It's going to be hard for me to draw all the attention when I fight now!"
The others almost face faulted while Rachel continued to whine while her brother tried to comfort her.
Indeed, Kenichi was using Muay Boran. He had learned it when Apachai stated that Kenichi was good enough to start learning it, as he also wanted to pass down its style to him just like his master did before. Of course, learning it was a rather huge hurdle. Not just because of Kenichi himself, but rather Apachai really didn't know how to hold back on that style. On more than one occasion, Kenichi had almost died just sparring with Apachai using that style. It was rather effective, as the style was ingrained into his body, even if it was via fear.
Kenichi charged at Gorobe, intent on pushing the fight away from Miu to protect her. Gorobe complied, throwing an Ti Sok or elbow strike at Kenichi's face. Kenichi responded by spinning away from the hit before countering with a spinning Ti Sok. Gorobe parried it, shooting his hands out to clinch Kenichi's head to knee him. Kenichi quickly broke apart the clinch, putting his hands down to prevent the knee from landing.
Kenichi then jumped to knee Gorobe in the face, who merely leaned back to dodge it. Gorobe eagerly began to step forward only to get a snap kick right into his face. Kenichi had transformed the knee strike into a snap kick.
Gorobe growled in rage as he punched Kenichi in the stomach. Kenichi managed to put his hands in to guard, but the impact still drove him back, sending him tumbling to the ground. Kenichi managed to right himself and narrowly dodge a rushing knee strike from Gorobe. The two of them began to clash, dodging while attacking. Kenichi was more defending for his life as Gorobe was still more experienced despite his own mastery of using Ki.
Gorobe found a hole through Kenichi's defense and landed a liver blow at Kenichi. He was quite surprised to see Kenichi still standing despite taking the hit, but merely continued his attack.
'He's almost done. If a liver punch won't do it, then I'll just take off his head!' though Gorobe.
Suddenly, Kenichi stepped forward, dodging left to dodge a fist to his face. His right arm caught around Gorobe's neck and forced his head down into a headlock.
'He's desperate,' thought Gorobe as he was ready to punch Kenichi in the gut to get himself out of this headlock. Then Gorobe found his face in a world of pain as Kenichi rained in backward heel strikes all over his face, Kenichi's eyes glowing with Ki.
Narok Ginali Ren Nam
Before Gorobe could force himself free, Kenichi had already let go, letting Gorobe back up when he resisted just in time to get a snap kick to the face.
"Asshole!" roared Gorobe as he recovered and landed a huge arc kick right at Kenichi's side. Kenichi coughed up blood as he took the hit.
"It's over," sneered Gorobe, knowing he had landed a good hit at Kenichi's internal organs. With the total damage, Kenichi should black out.
Suddenly, Kenichi grabbed Gorobe's leg, locking him in place.
"What, how!?" shouted Gorobe, "You should be unconscious or internally bleeding!"
"He's using Naizouage," stated Sho from the side, his eyes narrowed and completely focused, when his fellow members looked in shock and confusion, "It's a breathing technique in karate that raises the user's organs into their rib cage to protect them from enemy hits."
"Let go," growled Gorobe as he tried to pull his leg back.
Kenichi refused to do so, and with his remaining strength, clung on tight and shouted, "MIU!"
Gorobe felt a monstrous amount of Ki welling from behind him and gulped. He had forgotten the fact that it was two vs one, and that Miu wasn't knocked out yet. He turned his head back to see Miu already up, the pupils in her eyes glowing with fire and ki. Gorobe tried to pull his leg back, but Kenichi wasn't letting go. Instead, Gorobe began to focus on withstanding the pain that was surely about to come, tightening his muscles and condensing the ki within his body.
Miu wasn't one to disappoint. She bent her knees slightly, coiling her whole body before launching herself at Gorobe. She slammed a double punch right into Gorobe's back, starting her attack. Next up, she coiled around Gorobe's body, using her knowledge of Silat to disable an arm joint. Then she kneed his head as hard as she could.
At this point, Kenichi had finally let go of Gorobe's leg, though not before doing his best to break his knee while holding it hostage with one of the first moves he learned from Kensei.
Miu spun around Gorobe's body a few more time, punching and kicking as she did before finally sending Gorobe away, kicking off him. While Gorobe landed on the ground on his back, he was still very much capable of fighting. All he had to do was tank this last hit, and if he was still conscious, he would murder these brats!
Miu felt her ribs hurting even more as she attacked, but she couldn't give up. Kenichi as bought her time to regain control of her body, taking heavy damage as he did so. He had sacrificed so much for her. If Gorobe wasn't out by the final attack, she knew they would lose.
She imagined what the future would be like. A future where they died. A future where Ryozanpaku would seem so empty without them. A place where her father would never know that she knew the truth and forgave him. A future full of sadness, a future where she wouldn't be able to fulfill her dream of becoming a bride. A future where Yomi killed her friends. A future where Kenichi's family mourned for their only son.
Memories caught up with her, where she experienced a mother's hug from Kenichi's mom, Saori. It was truly her first time experiencing such a thing. Her father, coming to see her play, as well as her grandfather, along with the rest of Ryozanpaku. All the happy memories she had.
This was something she was never willing to give up!
"HHHHAAAA!" screamed Miu as she began her descent down for her most powerful attack.
With all that emotion, the fact that she was really 28 in terms of mental years, and the fact she had been training to catch up to Kenichi in terms of Ki control, she momentarily touched that realm.
The realm of Ki no Shouka.
Even the Elder stood up in surprise, sensing his granddaughter's Ki control just hitting that realm. Saiga stood up from his seat, his heart beating louder and louder as he watched Miu. He was worried about his daughter's future now that she showed she could reach Ki no Shouka at such a young age, but most importantly, he felt pride for his daughter.
"Can you see her now, Shizuha?" whispered Saiga, "Our daughter has come so far. She's a bird, leaving her nest now to fly in the endless sky."
"Oh come on, her too!?" complained Rachel, "How am I supposed to outshine them if they keep doing shit like this?"
"Another one?" mused Tirawit, "It seems Ryozanpaku's training are leagues beyond our own, or those two are truly geniuses."
"It will be a hard battle if we fight Ryozanpaku's strongest disciple," noted Boris.
"Yea, but not everything is based on power and skill," said Sho distractedly, "My master has always told me the most important factor is the tenacity for victory."
He was too busy admiring Miu right now.
"Hoho, another one? It seems like this got more interesting," chuckled Carlo.
"I want them," drooled Fortuna, "I want them, I want them, I want them, I want them, I want them for my collection!"
'Good luck with that,' thought Carlo, 'You'll have to go through the Invincible Superman, and I don't think he likes that idea.'
"Oh you got to be shitti-!" gulped Gorobe, unable to finish his sentence as Miu's attack landed.
Fuurinji Kou Suzaku Yoku
With the final touch of Ki no Shouka, her ultimate move was upgraded from just a phoenix into one of the most powerful one of them all.
Miu's leg smashed into Gorobe's chest, drilling in while disrupting Gorobe's own Ki control in defending. With that final move, Gorobe fell unconscious.
Miu limped over to Kenichi, who managed to pick himself up and limp over to her. The two of them collapsed onto each other, using each other's body to support their own.
"And the winner of this round is Ryozanpaku!" announced the announcer, causing the captivated audience to wildly applause for them, "What an incredible match! The other competitors will be hard-pressed to match this one."
As soon as that announcement came out, the Elder was already upon them, taking Kenichi and Miu before rushing them towards Akisame and Kensei.
"You both did well," stated the Elder proudly as he gently placed both of them onto stretchers that had arrived, "Get some good rest. The injuries you received today were not light. Akisame and Kensei will treat your injuries."
Seeing as they were back to safety now, exhaustion caught up to the both of them viciously as the adrenaline wore off. As the two time travelers faded into sleep, their hands were clasped together, never letting go as they were transported to a hospital room with Kensei and Akisame
Ta daa! Hope you've enjoyed this chapter! Next up will be Shinpaku vs... it's a surprise!
Review if you can! And also, omake!
Omake: What really happened that night!
Sakaki had been drinking a lot of heavy stuff. And why wouldn't he, he had just earned a fortune! Even with Miu confiscating more than half, it was enough to get him shit drunk to celebrate!
"Bartender, get me another Earthquake!" laughed Sakaki.
"Yes sir," nodded the bartender before turning a bit, "And for you, young miss?"
"I'll... have the... same," said Shigure.
" #$%#^ ," cursed Sakaki as he almost jumped out of his seat, "When'd you get here?"
"Miu sent me... to make sure... you get home safely," replied Shigure.
"She didn't have to do that," muttered Sakaki, "I don't get that shit faced drunk."
"She was worried you might with your winnings," replied Shigure.
Sakaki mumbled a bit more before taking the cocktail and drinking it in one go. Shigure took a sip of hers and slightly winced at the alcohol content. She was about to try once more before Sakaki took it off her hands.
"That drink is way too strong for someone who rarely drinks at all," explained Sakaki before calling the bartender over, "Get my friend a Cinderella."
"Ah, a nice choice of drink," nodded the bartender, "One beautiful drink for the beautiful companion of yours, coming up."
Both Sakaki and Shigure blushed and mumbled some unintelligible words while waiting.
A few hours and several drinks later, Shigure ended up carrying Sakaki's arm over her shoulder while dragging him home. A few muggers and gangster tried to … mug or use other forms of violence, only to be sent flying into the wall by a punch, their clothes sliced into pieces, or kicked into the air before landing on the pavement with a splat. Even if Sakaki was drunk, it meant nothing when going against the average person.
"I'm tired!" shouted Sakaki quite drunkenly, "Let's just sleep on the floor."
"There's... a hotel... here to use. Can be used... to stay... overnight," suggested Shigure, pointing to a nearby building. In front of the building had the prices, including overnight stay.
"Eh, sure. Here's 8000 yen, should be enough," grunted Sakaki as he gave the yen to Shigure.
The two of them walked into the hotel, Sakaki never noticing the heart signs next the hotel's name as well as price listed not only for overnight, but for hours, ranging from one hour to three hours.
That morning
"Urg, my head," groaned Sakaki as he woke up, "Haven't gotten shit faced like that for a while. Now where am... I...?"
He trailed off as he noticed the ceiling wasn't the usual wooden ceilings of Ryozanpaku, but of a red color. He could feel that he was laying on a rather comfortable bed with silk sheets on top of him, which was weird as he had never bought those before. He blinked once more as his eyes roved over the room, noticing the rather explicit contents in the room. He then felt something very soft pressed against his chest, and slowly looked down while giving off a cold sweat.
There lied Shigure with her hair down, and based on the fact he could feel skin, she wasn't wearing clothes. He noticed his own jacket was off before slowly lifting the blanket just to confirm something.
Yep, no clothes there either on either of them.
'What the hell happened!?' screamed Sakaki mentally as he began to quickly go through his own memories.
Sakaki remembered entering the hotel, and how weird it was that they had to press a button to get a specific room key, and how they paid through a slot in the wall where they couldn't see the receptionist. He quickly took that information in before realizing the truth.
'We're in a love hotel!? Did I actually do it with Shigure? I don't remember anything after that! All I remember is climbing onto the bed... and everything else is blank! Shit, maybe Shigure knows... nononono don't move your legs towards Sakaki Junior!'
Shigure yawned as she raised her head to look Sakaki in the face.
"Hehehe, morning," greeted Sakaki nervously, "Err... we didn't actually... you know?"
"You were … very passionate," replied Shigure, causing a gasket to detonate in Sakaki's head.
'Shit, I did do it? Dammit, why can't I remember? Oh man Akisame is going to kill me!' thought Sakaki.
In truth, they didn't do anything. Sakaki had fallen straight asleep after landing in bed. Shigure, however, stripped him of all his clothes while he was sleeping while also disrobing. Shigure was used to either sleeping nude or with just a very thing bathrobe that barely covered anything. She thought other people also slept in the nude, and thus disrobed Sakaki to make him comfortable. As she was also raised very differently, nudity amongst friends and family did not offend her at all. Shigure had taken baths with her previous master completely nude, even if he was old. She only attacked Kensei due to principles.
As for the passionate part... Sakaki was a cuddler. As soon as she laid down next to him, he automatically hugged her tightly, to which she didn't mind. And so, she fell asleep like that...