And here's the first day of the tournament!

Chapter 5: The Opening Ceremony

The next morning, as early sunrise starts to come up, everyone in Shanghai Secluded Valley was ready to take hold of the introduction to the kung-fu competition and for Musaki, that totally meant this this was it. As he walked along with the rest of the crowd, he seeks Taji from behind and when he turns around, Taji was ecstatic to see him and said, "Hey, Musaki!"

"Good morning, Taj." Musaki greeted.

Taji chuckled softly at that nickname he gave him and figured that it pretty much stuck with him and he said, "It's not everyday that they don't call me that name."

"Oh, really?"

Taji nodded his head and said, "Yep. Most of my friends from where I'm from call me Taj, T.J.; you know, things like that."

Musaki chuckled softly at this and he said, "Awesome, man."

Just then, in comes Kang-Dae and as he looks at both Musaki and Taji, he walked past them with a menacing look in his eyes, but he's more focused on Musaki and motioned his fist to make sure he means business. He snarled at him and said, "You...you're mine."

Musaki just shook it off like no one's business as they kept walking and Taji was surprised at how he managed to handle it so well and he asked, "What's his deal anyway?"

"Eh, he's just having a bad morning." Musaki replied.

Taji sighed heavily and said, "Yeah, I know that guy. He always wants to win a fight whether it's by innocent bystanders or even the innocent. I was his target whenever I walk through my hometown streets and he was always the first one that calls me out, demanding to fight me or even make my life miserable. Even more ironic is that he's a street-fighter."

That shocked Musaki to the core to hear him say that Kang-Dae is a street-fighter and never knew he came across one, which is how he can tell from his arrogant attitude and street machismo bravado smart-wise. Taji then went on to say, "Doesn't that make you sick to see that you use kung-fu for the wrong reasons?"

"Oh, totally." Musaki agreed.

And just then, in comes Liu Shang coming that near Musaki and he was surprised to see him and he said, "Hey, Musaki."

Musaki turns around and sees Liu Shang in front of him and said, "What's up, Liu?"

The young lion chuckled softly and replied, "Just looking forward to the opening ceremony of this competition."

"Yeah, me too." Musaki added.

Just then, Musaki turns to Taji, who has a little curious look on his face and said to Liu Shang, "Taji, this is Liu Shang. Liu Shang, Taji. He's one of the contestants too."

"Hey, nice to meet you." Taji said.

Liu Shang shook his paw and happily said, "Yeah, you too. I'm really looking forward to battle with you guys."

As soon as they all hit the Rai Song Stadium, a crowd of 2.5 million people showed up for this event and the contestants all sat to the front of the seats, in which a certain spot is called 'Contestant's Row' appears. And as the sun began to rise, in comes Oak Sung coming in, wearing a custom blue japanese robe with a straw hat on his head, making the crowd cheer and applaud loudly, including Musaki, for which he is excited to see that his grandfather is there.

As he stood there, he waved at all the people and then signaled them for his attention and Oak Sung went on saying, "Good morning, everyone. I know that you are all excited to take part in this event that has been going on for generations now. Many of you will remember my son, Sakamoto Bushido-Akio..."

"Sakamoto Bushido-Akio, may he rest in peace." the crowd stated.

"...that he used to be a contestant for this event and he was the 19th family member of this clan to pertain taking part in it. He won some fights and he lost some, but those things never detered him because he was very humble and always gracious to be a part of something grand. Furthermore, he was ready to be a humble warrior that keeps his feet off the ground and will fight for honor, even though he wants to use them for a good purpose. Just recently, we have gotten half of our family back...Xing-Fu Musaki Ko-Kanji Bushido-Akio Meng Cheng Xi-Wang has resurfaced when he set foot back to us the past year along with his adopted family members in tow. Many of you have heard of the notorious warriors in China, the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior..."

All of the crowd went double crazy when they heard Oak Sung mention them and Musaki was the only one in the crowd that wasn't surprised when his grandfather mentioned it to the crowd because he was talking about his adopted family anyway.

"And Master Shifu...that they took my grandson in with them after 10 years of being in an orphanage after both of his parents were killed by Tai Lung since he was three. After 14 years, we have gotten our family back and we should also remember that Xing-Fu is currently the 20th member of the Bushido-Akio clan to enter this feat. Some have rumored that he might win this competition, but rest assured, my grandson will take whatever final result will be."

All of the crowd clapped and cheered for Musaki and he never anticipated something like this to come across to give him a huge mention, but he was flattered by it regardless.

And then, Oak Sung decided to bring in something to start off the competition with and he said, "And now, I will bring out one quote that my son had made before he retired from this sport at the age of 18."

He cleared his throat and began to say, "Remember that we're all winners no matter what and don't let anything like this change who you are. Even though some believe that they'll fight for the title, do not let anything stand in your way. And you'll always be a warrior to your family and your friends while still being a good person and stay true to who you are. It's not so much the moves you have, it's how far you'll come to accomplish something you will accomplish and be proud of yourselves, no matter how many times you fall and get back up. Win or lose, we're all warriors."

Everyone took a minute of silence to take in whatever Sakamoto put into that speech and for Musaki, he knows that it's all true.

After that, Shao and Shin Hai came to the stage to set up the fireworks for this stadium and as they flew up, they can already tell that the competition has just begun.

"And with that, we are ready for the tournament!" Oak Sung exclaimed, while the crowd started cheering and clapping all over the stadium.

Now how's that to kick start off the awesomeness! Here's where the games begin!