Chapter 7

A Month Before the Joint Tournament

Military Academy of Torifune- Gymnasium

Jin shook his head, around him stood sixteen frozen students. He snapped his finger, and the ice melted, freeing the sixteen students.

"None of the students here are up to standard." Said Jin, irritated after wasting his time testing the sad display of the recommended "top" students.

'And I didn't even use Yukianesa. How could the quality of students decrease so much after only a few years?'

"But they are all the best we've got…" Said the combat tactics instructor.

Jin: "You mean the best the Duodecim's got."

Combat tactics instructor: "What?"

'If only this incident happened two years ago… then I could have just let Tsubaki enter the tournament.'

Jin: "The names from this list are all from the Duodecim, or people related to them. Where are the regular students?"

Combat tactics instructor: "Major, you of all people should know, the children of Duodecim aren't just some arrogant nobles, they are all trained from birth. They are elites for a reason."

"You are not answering my question. I asked you where are the regular students? You didn't even consider them, did you?"

"There is no need." Said the combat tactics instructor with a smirk. "They are just hunters, what are hunters compared to soldiers?

Jin narrowed his eyes. "I decide what is or isn't needed, Instructor."

The Instructor was not happy. He was Jin's former Instructor. Just five years ago, Jin was calling him "Sir".

"There is one student that might qualify." Said Estella Mckenzie, Jin's other former instructor.

Combat tactics instructor: "You can't mean…"

Military Academy Field

"There he is." Said Estella, pointing to a brown haired student sparring with a slender, blonde student.

'What!' That person looks… no, when Jin looked a second time, he discovered that there's no resemblance at all. But why? For a moment, Jin thought he saw Him.

"Naoto Kurogane. senior year."

The girl he was sparring with, on the other hand, was quite something. Able to use wind Ars to glide around Naoto's attacks, and it was even powerful enough to lift Naoto into the air and then drop him down. Naoto twisted his body in midair and landed on his feet.

"Who's the other one?" Asked Jin.

"The female student is Raquel Alucard."

"Alucard?"

"As far as we know, she has nothing to do with that vampire family."

"As far as you know?" Asked Jin.

"Kurogane pulled some strings to get her into the academy."

"Pulled some strings? What strings?"

"Somehow… he has some contentions with the Hazuki clan."

Jin Paused. 'Hazuki clan? The Lord Marshal Invictus?'

He looked at Kurogane again. His fighting style looks like random street fighting, with some sort of Kobujutsu mixed in.'

"Disappointing." Said Jin. 'And the girl is clearly more powerful.'

"Take a look at this." Said Estella, passing Jin a file.

Jin looked through the file, and…

"Both his arms and his right leg, prosthetics?"

"Yes. A year ago, he was found and sent to the hospital with both his arms and right leg missing."

"So I take it he has military grade prosthetics. Is that why you recommended him?"

"There's more. The one who created his prosthetics was Colonel Relius Clover."

First the Lord Marshal, and now Relius Clover. The plot thickens. But Jin couldn't care less.

'It's pointless to speculate what some mad scientist was thinking. In the end, all that matters is his abilities.' Thought Jin as he walked up to them.

"Instructor Estella?" Said Naoto when he saw them walking towards him. 'And the person next to her… is that-'

"Hello Kurogane." Greeted Estella. "This is Major Jin Kisaragi. He has some business with you."

"Major!" Saluted Naoto, while Raquel copied his action. "It's an honor-"

"Enough pleasantries." Said Jin as he pulled out a wooden sword. "Let's see what you got."

Five minutes Later…

'Interesting, even after I froze his blood, he still has some control over the solidified blood.' Thought Jin, looking at Naoto, who was caged in ice.

"Is this the best you got?"

"I yield." Said the half frozen Naoto. "So can you release me now? It's freezing…"

'Normally, an adult human have 1.2 to 1.5 gallons of blood, and we need at least sixty percent to survive.' Jin looked at the blood on the ground.'Where is he storing all that blood? Does his body produce blood faster than normal people?

"Major, free him first." Said Estella.

And with a wave of his hand, the ice turned into water, Naoto fell to the ground, and Raquel walked over to him and helped him up.

Jin: "Despite that sorry display, You pass."

"Pass? Pass what?" Said Naoto, still shivering.

Jin: "You will be representing the NOL in the Joint Tournament with Remnant."

Naoto: "What? Tournament? Remnant? I never agreed to this."

Jin: "This is an order, cadet. And in the Librarium, even cadets must follow their superior's orders, or do you want a dishonorable discharge?"

Naoto: "You…"

Jin: "The same goes for your girlfriend."

Raquel Looked to Jin when he mentioned her.

Naoto: "What? Why? She has nothing to do with this!"

Jin: "She's only here because of you. The moment you leave, no one is going to protect her, I could kick her out with one word."

"Major, this isn't necessary." Said Estella.

"You." Said Raquel Alucard. "You think you can threaten me?"

The surrounding air suddenly became cold, and a small blizzard surrounded them, but it was hard to tell who was responsible.

Jin: "You are powerful."

Naoto: "Stop!"

The snow storm stopped, and Raquel turned to Naoto.

'I promise Raquel a normal life, I will keep that promise.'

Naoto: "I'll do it."

Estella: "Well, that's one. Fifteen to go."

Jin: "No. One is enough."

Estella: "But, if you… I'll be frank, if you choose a non Duodecim over them, the Duodecim families will throw a fit."

Jin: "Some will, but as long as there are good results, they will stay quiet about it."

Estella: "You have that much confidence in Kurogane? I mean, I trust my student, but he will be facing against unknown opponents."

Jin: "I said good results. He doesn't need to become the champion. And he will not be fighting blind."

Present Day

Kagutsuchi Arena, Joint Tournament- Day two

Announcer: "On the left comer, the Warrior Monkey King, Sun Wukong!"

Yang: "GO SUN! Kick his butt!"

Nora: "Break his legs!"

"Ca… calm down… we don't need to go that far…" Said Jaune, looking around nervously, hoping no one else heard her.

Pyrrha: "This is so exciting. I rarely get to see Ars Magus fight, I'm so glad to came here."

Sun waved to the crowd, and when he saw Blake, he waved at her. On the right, a young man in a black jacket and pants walked on to the stage.

Announcer: "And on the right comer, our representative… Naoto Kurogane, Theeee Bloodedge!"

"Wait What!? What did you just call me!?" Said Naoto, shocked.

"Blood edge?" Wondered Jaune. "Like that wanted rebel?"

Ruby: "Blood edge?"

Penny: "Ragna the Bloodedge, has the highest bounty in history, and NOL's most wanted criminal."

"I remember! I saw his poster all over the city. Ugly too, a face only a mother could love." Said Neptune, siting beside Weiss.

Jaune: "Yeah, there're so many zeroes on his wanted poster… . What did this Ragna do anyway?"

Weiss: "He attacked NOL bases and killed NOL officers. One of his biggest crimes however was the destruction of the weather control system in the city of Akitsu-Kou. Now that place is covered in ice and snow."

Jaune: "Wait… weather control system?"

Weiss: "Yeah. I was surprised too. It seems NOL can even control the weather."

Yang: "Hold on! Is Ragna the name of a group or a person?"

"It's a person." Weiss pulled out her scroll and showed them.

"Wow… he is ugly." Commented Nora, looking at the screen.

Ruby: "You weren't kidding about the zeros…"

Yang: "So he's going around attacking NOL bases? Is he really that strong or is the NOL that incompetent?"

Weiss: "Probably both. And I'm sure he had help."

Announcer: "Fighters! In your position!"

Ruby looked down at Naoto. "No weapon? That's disappointing."

Yang: "Not even a gauntlet? Weird…"

Blake "He does wear combat gloves."

Yang: "Well, those gloves had better be bulletproof, or he can say goodbye to his hands."

Weiss: "So, what do we know about Sun's opponent?"

Blake: "I did a little checking online, and got nothing."

Yang: "So he's a nobody? Sun got this!"

Pyrrha: "But since he's the only participant, that would mean he is at least one of their top fighters, I think."

Neptune: "And Sun is the best fighter in Haven."

"Really? What about the other participants?"

Neptune: "Mercury and Emerald? No offense, but I've never even heard of them before coming here."

"Yeah, about that, isn't that weird? That the NOL only have one fighter?" Yang turned to Weiss. "Did your sister tell you anything?"

Weiss: "I asked her, she didn't know."

Ruby: "Uncle Qrow didn't know either."

Weiss: "But it seems that the guy in charge, that Major "hero", doesn't really care about the tournament."

Nora: "Major hero?"

Ren: "She meant Major Kisaragi. Right?"

Weiss: "Winter told me that he was self-centered, apathetic, aloof, and not to mention, rude."

"And a bully! Uncle Qrow called him a spoiled brat too. Just remembering how he treated Noel." Yang punched her left palm. "I wanted to kick his ass. You think they'll let me challenge him when I win the tournament?"

"When you win?" Commented Weiss, raising an eyebrow.

Yang: "Well, look, let's be honest, it's either me or Pyrrha."

Pyrrha: "I don't think-"

"It's starting!" Said Jaune, changing the subject.

In the Ring

Sun: "Are you sure you want to fight like that?"

"Let's just get this over with." Said Naoto, turning and cracking his neck, did a few hops, and then went into a fighting stance.

'Its clear that he's an unarmed fighter, so I'll just keep my weapon in staff form and keep him at a distance.'

Sun thrusts with his staff, but Naoto shifted his body and dodged the thrust and suddenly moved in front of Sun and kicked him right in the chin, sending him flying up the sky, and then Naoto pursue and jumped, spun in the air and kicked Sun in the back and sent him back on to the ground!

The Crowd was speechless, the announcer was speechless.

"Not bad, I underestimated you because you don't have a weapon." Said Sun as he got up, and turned his staff into two nunchucks.

"Now, time to get serious!"

Three days before the match

Jin threw a file at him

"His weapon has a staff form but can spit into two nunchucks. In both forms it can also function as shotguns. Study it, I'll send people who are familiar with staff and nunchucks to advise you later.

"Where did all this information come from?"

"They handed it over when they entered our territory. What, do you really think we would just let anyone enter our dominion without at least checking their weapons?" Said Jin "However, we don't know anything about his Semblance. But he wouldn't want to reveal all his aces in his first battle. Defeat him before he decides to use his shotguns or his Semblance!"

Present

VIP's Box

Jin looked down at the fight, with a frustrated look on his face.

"That was an incredible display." Commented Glynde Goodwitch.

"That was stupid. He just let victory slipped through his finger."

'You didn't finish your opponent when you had the chance, fool. Your biggest weakness is that you don't use weapons, so it's impossible for you to win at speed or reach. Sen Sen no Sen versus Go no Sen. And yet you let a chance like that slipped by." Thought Jin. 'There is no first strike for you, you will always be reacting, countering.'

'Not unless you use your Drive.'

In the Ring

'I either need to wait for his arms to get tired, or interrupt the swinging myself.' Thought Naoto.

Turning his staff into two nunchucks, Sun begun to spin and attack Naoto in rapid succession; Naoto immediately created a barrier, and deflected the nunchucks. The nunchucks bounced back stronger than Sun predicted, and unbalanced him - Naoto saw an opening, and kicked forwards, but Sun saw it coming, and bent his stomach back, and evaded the kick. Naoto didn't let that chance go, and did a round house kick with his left leg, but Sun was more agile than he thought, and ducked under it, and struck Naoto in the shin of his right leg with his nunchucks, but… it was like Naoto felt nothing, and he just moved back.

'He took a nunchuck to the leg! What is his leg made of!? Or does he just have a powerful Aura?' Thought Sun.

'That really hurt! Why did Relius have to put in pain receptors!' Thought Naoto, doing his best not to show any discomfort.

After Naoto instinctively took a step back, he suddenly remembered something. 'NO! If I step back, he will just shoot me! Forward!"

He rushed back in, and just as he thought, Sun stop spinning his nunchucks, and pointed the barrels at him, two over his shoulders, and two squeezed between his armpits.

SLASH KAID! (without blood)

Naoto charged forward and slash at Sun's head with his hand before Sun could pull the triggers, but Sun just bent backward and did a back somersault kick, hitting Naoto right in the chin with his foot and tail!

"That's payback for before!" Said Sun as his landed on his feet and started attacking Naoto with his Nunchucks from both sides again.

'So agile! Like a… a monkey! I have no choice…' Thought Naoto.

Blocking a strike with his right hand, Naoto ignored the attack from the left and grabbed one of the nunchucks with his right hand while keeping the barrel of the weapon away from him.

Bump!

A strike! On the left side of his head! But instead of letting go of Sun's weapon, Naoto grabbed the other nunchucks and pulled on both of them, unbalancing Sun, and then, with all his might, kicked Sun's abdomen! Sun was ripped from his nunchucks and sent flying, and landed on the ground, butt first.

GRIM OF PHANTOM!

And when Sun tried to get up, a giant axe, formed from blood, hacked down at Sun, slamming him back to the ground!

BEEP!

Announcer: "And it's over folk! The winner is Naoto Kurogane!"

Audience's Seats

"Shit… so much blood… I can't tell if he's bleeding or not." Said Neptune. "Sorry to leave so soon girls, but my bro needs me."

And after that, he left toward the exit.

Blake: "Hemokinesis… so that's why he is called Bloodedge…"

Yang: "Hemo what?"

Penny: "Blood manipulation."

Yang: "I don't get it, why would anyone want to use their own blood to fight?"

Ruby: "Yeah, isn't that like, kind of dangerous? Because you know… you kinda need your blood to live?"

Yang: "Not to mention it's just blood, right? It's just like water, how much damage can water cause?"

Blake: "It's a Semblance, can you choose your Semblance?"

"You play with the card you've been dealt." Said Ren. "I don't even have a combat-based Semblance."

"I don't even have a Semblance." Added Jaune.

Weiss: "And besides, you will be surprised at how much damage water can cause. Ever seen a hydro jet?"

"Naoto!" Cried the blonde woman who was seating next to them, as she stood up and ran out of the stadium.

Announcer: "Naoto Kurogane has fainted!"

Team RWBY and JNPR immediately turned their attention back to the arena, and saw Naoto on the ground, and medics rushing towards him.

Yang: "What? What happened? Why did he faint?"

Pyrrha: "Before he knocked out Sun, Sun hit him right in the head."

Yang: "So…does this mean Sun won?"

Ruby: "I hope so."

Weiss: "I doubt it. We determine who's the winner by seeing who's Aura drops to fifteen percent first. Naoto still had…" She looked up at the screen. "Sixteen percent left."

"But…" Yang pointed to Sun, who, while covered in blood and still a little dazed, already gotten up on his own, without the help of his teammates around him. "Sun can still fight!"

Weiss: "Rules are rules."

Yang: "Rules like that are stupid. In a real fight…"

Weiss: "Well, this isn't a real fight."

To be continued

Sorry for the late update. A series of unfortunate events involving electrical devices cause this. First my laptop died, then my microwave, and then my induction cooker.

I'm not giving up on this fan fic, I already finish Calamity Trigger arc and at least 20 percent into Continuum Shift. I could work faster if I have editor/beta reader.