That urge to summon irritable mustelids inside of people's clothes has come back. At some future point when you've got the free time, you might want to look into why such an odd, unholy impulse keeps coming over you. For better or worse, though, you once again repress the idea and go with something a bit less nuts.
"You know," you say in an almost conversational tone, "this would be the ideal time for Lu-sensei to make an entrance."
"Be quiet!" Scowly Guy snaps at you. Naturally, you do exactly the opposite.
"I mean, he could see me not immediately resorting to violence to solve my problems, being mindful of the rules of the tournament-"
Stone Face flinches again, obviously having recalled the section that forbids fighting out of the ring. A bit smarter than he looks, then, although still not overly bright if it took him this long to think of the potential implications of this little "visitation" he and his pal were set on.
"-and just generally being a reasonably decent representative of my home country while I'm abroad, y'know? I mean, heck, two guys I don't even know just jumped me in a shady corridor with unfriendly intentions, and I'm not even trying to throw stone-shattering ki blasts at them. That's like, a huge show of restraint on my part."
Scowly Guy looks more frustrated than ever. You can understand why he's ticked; he was well on his way to breaking through your guard before you opened your mouth, and all that talking should have been enough of a waste of oxygen better-spent elsewhere to let him finish the job. Your choice to raise your ki to boost your defenses made the difference and then some, bringing you to a point where you could comfortably hold Scowls off for several minutes more - assuming he doesn't augment himself as you have - even as the words you've picked in an attempt to stall served to give Stone Face second thoughts about this entire affair. Plus Briar caught on as soon as you mentioned Lu-sensei's name, taking off in a streak of light and a burst of profanity that you doubt either of the older ninja-boys perceived. Between her speed and ability to bypass the crowd, she's probably reached your master by now, so aid should be on the way... and Stone Face has just reached out and put a hand on his partner's shoulder in what looks like a gesture of restraint. Scowly Guy stares down at it, then looks up at his friend's impassive features for a long moment before finally nodding.
Gained Acting F+
Gained Cool F++
Gained Evasion F+
Gained Threat F
"Calling it quits?" you venture brightly.
Scowly Guy glares at you, but does not answer the question. "Understand this, foreigner," he says instead. "That perverse hybrid of ki-use and sorcery that you call a fighting style is an affront to all true practitioners of the martial arts. While there are those who would be willing to overlook the insult it represents as the ignorance of a poorly-tutored child, others are not so lenient - and associating with filth like the Tengu brat will not help your position with either. If that bloated American ego has not driven all sense out of your head, you will have no further contact with the unclean one, and you will never again foul the ring with that demon-tainted obscenity."
Gained Japanese E+++
Wow. Hypocrite, much?
Okay, you can see how he might be mistaking your next-to-unique approach to magic for the far more common method of tapping into external power. Without that important bit of knowledge, even somebody with the means to perceive magical energies as you do could easily take your lack of visible connections to any external agency to mean that you've conspired to hide those links, rather than that you're merely drawing on your own soul's power. After all, there aren't many human souls that possess that kind of mystical oomph, and the few that do seldom come into as much of their potential as you have by age eight. Never mind that he, his buddy, and most of the other ninjas you've observed in the tournament have reasonably potent souls themselves, and the ability to conceal the mystical ties they make to the elements. And as for ego - seriously, has this jerk ever stopped and listened to himself talk? Even leaving that aside, who the hell does he think he is, to tell you to drop a meeting that the leader of his ninja clan - excuse you; "private company" - gave his own approval for?
"Well, brat?" Scowly Guy says. "What is your answer?"