Mana blinked a couple of times, still struggling to believe this unexpectedly taxing fight was over. From what she could gather, whatever exotic form of chakra Gunshi Aspen used, he still had a decent chunk of it—certainly rivaling Mana's. And even though he didn't quite look in top shape from taking a hefty beating throughout the fight, Mana wasn't exactly holding up too well herself.
"Sorry about the whole blame game thing. Though, honestly, you should really cut me some slack here. A lady no one's seen around just walks in and takes someone's spot while another contestant no one can remember is flat-out deleted from existence and even history itself. It all just screams evil plot to take over the plane," Gunshi smiled, scratching the back of his head while he turned to leave the arena on the extending bridge platform. Seeing the terraformers flooding the stage, Mana hurried after Gunshi with the healers surrounding them both to help them make their way to the infirmary for a checkup and some help for the mean licks they took in this fight.
"You looked like you could still go. Don't get me wrong, Gunshi-san, I'm happy that you gave up, but…" Mana approached her opponent from the side, asking him if he was truly more injured than Mana could perceive or if there was some other reason he threw the fight.
"You don't strike me like the type to lose sleep over unresolved fights. I was probably one good punch away from a knockout anyway. Even now, my whole body feels stiff and light at the same time. I think I'm losing like… A lot of blood," Gunshi mumbled, covering his face. From the bottom of his hand that obstructed the priest's eyes, Mana saw a smirk gleaming through.
"Didn't you magicians plan to establish a magical nexus in our world? Our plane, as you called it? It just struck me as odd that you would discard something like that after going through so much trouble," Mana shrugged, unsure if she wanted the magicians' dream carried out or not.
"It's not just "your world"," Gunshi shook his head, though slowly, as if he felt lightheaded and every sudden move invited excruciating fits of migraine. "If you were to imagine your universe as a marble, there is an infinite number of marbles just like that positioned in a void of infinite length and infinite width. That is what is called a multiverse. However, there is another, larger measurement–an infinity of multiverses, existing simultaneously in a different space, an overvoid, so to speak. Then, if you imagine your omniverse as a sheet of cloth, that's what is known as a "plane". To understand better the cosmology at which the magicians operate, you need to imagine a plane as a flag, floating and rustling in a limitless space alongside countless other flags, just like it."
"We've used to have technology capable of connecting two different universes and timelines with a bridge. While the sheer scale of it is mind-boggling, you're not exactly blowing my mind," Mana admitted.
"Hmm… I didn't imagine the inhabitants of this plane to be able to jump between universes. Still, that's billions of years of advancement behind what is necessary to leave the tethers of your plane and join the magicians who walk between planes," Gunshi replied, politely refusing the help of a healer who tried supporting his walk to the infirmary alongside his opponent.
"Well, it doesn't exist anymore. We kind of screwed about with space-time and ended up deleting it from the timeline by undoing that which led to its invention," Mana sighed.
"Yeah, crap like that happens to us every day. It's not something a lot of planes can deal with. Establishing a nexus here would have allowed the other magicians easier passage onto this plane. This plane would have been elevated to the level of advancement that is indistinguishable from magic to you, however…" Gunshi looked down, becoming grim all of a sudden.
"There is a downside?" Mana wondered.
"All the existential conflicts, mad archwizards and lich-lords you can imagine, tyrannical draconic overlords that measure in the planar scale, not to mention the devils from the Further Beyond that won't stop spilling over from me… You'd be exposed to the meddling of all those guys too. As someone who had a handful of his girlfriends, my sister, my family, and most of my friends either die to these archfiends or become corrupted by them, trust me–you've got it just fine the way it is now. After meeting so many hot babes and drinking so much fine booze on this plane, I'm not going to have it turned into some asshat's demonic lair or have it hanging over my head," Gunshi explained. "The pressure you applied on me in that fight made me contact all the demons floating around in my head more times than I'd like, and… They were strangely excited. Don't get me wrong–they're usually excited to cause carnage and mayhem, but… It's as if they wanted this nexus too. If they want it, that means I don't, the Triumvirate and their machinations be damned."
"Wow, the way you put it, I'm not sure if I want that nexus here or not either," Mana looked away. "You know, technically, the Sheikh is considering me to be fighting for the magician faction, so, if I won, you could still treat it as it's a victory by the magicians."
"Don't bother," Gunshi waved his hand in dismissal. "What's the point of overcoming death and learning to bring back the dead, just as lively and bright as they were when they died when some jerkwad will just flay their soul and eat it raw in front of you? The more ways you learn to break the natural order, the harder the natural order swings back."
"I understand where you're coming from, Gunshi-san, but… I still don't think I'll ever be okay with death," Mana looked back at him with a determined expression. "If I can ever help it, I'll make it so that no one has to die again."
"That scares the shit outta me, not gonna lie," Gunshi laughed out, scaring the healers that surrounded the stumbling pair by drawing the sword from behind his back and lighting it up with black lightning, surrounded by vivid scarlet outlines. Putting his shoulder behind it, Gunshi slashed a bleeding wound in the fabric of space-time. The rift sparkled with otherworldly electricity and shimmered with pixels of starlight, inside it Mana could peer shifting, tripping spectacles akin to a kaleidoscope. "Well, I'm off. If everything goes well–you'll never have to deal with another jackass magician, necromancer, lich, or dragon for as long as you live. Take care…"
Before any of the healers could say an unintelligible thing in the gibberish language they muttered in, Gunshi leaped through the rift, swirling into its embrace like space-time he occupied flushed down inside it. With the causation of the rift being gone from the plane it occupied, the rift promptly closed and the last of the magicians or their reality-defying shenanigans were gone from this plane. Likely forever, or for what it would feel to someone with a limited understanding of space-time as forever.
Just like she felt before, Mana still hadn't decided if she thought it was a good or bad thing.
The methods these healers used weren't exactly medical ninjutsu. Some kind of chakra manipulation was involved, but it was more akin to something meant to accelerate the effects of the medical ointments and elixirs that the healers made. Mana just let them do their thing, knowing that it was in their best interest that she recovered in time before the next match. They also brought plenty of food, likely expecting it to help restore Mana's chakra.
That was a very noble goal, but Mana doubted how successful their attempts would be. Given how the quarter-finals would have half the amount of fights that the previous round had, that meant that, in all likelihood, it would conclude on the same day. Chakra usually took a couple of days of rest to restore to its fullest. That was why Mana may have acted a bit conservative in the last match and took a few unnecessary risks by taking hits she thought she could handle over-relying on defensive techniques to slip away from harm. Still, her chakra was nowhere remotely in a good place and ready for another match in the same league as her last.
Mana didn't expect the door to her ward to open so soon. What she expected even less was to see the entire crew spilling over into her ward, Ryoku Genshi included. He still wore a version of Agbarah hospital robe and had bandages soaked in the healers' finest ointments wrapped all over his body, but he was walking around and joined the Stars in checking up on Mana. Given how no one was allowed to see the contestant immediately after the match until the healers were finished with their work on them, Mana wagered that the Stars went to check up on Genshi first, waiting until the healers would let them see Mana too.
"That was a show-stealing match, Mana!" Shige-H clapped for her squad mate, making Mana pretend to bow to her adoring audience while still bedridden, wincing in pain after her torn intestines and shattered ribs reminded her of her internal injuries that would take at least overnight to heal. "They are healing you with elixirs and ointments? You should strip those bandages and let me heal you. It shouldn't take too long to put you back on your feet."
"That's okay, Shige-san, please preserve your chakra for if we end up encountering those death-defying Fennec goons. That doesn't sound like a fight that will leave everyone unharmed either," Mana politely refused Shige-H's extensive check-up. "I think we should use Agbarah's contestant welfare policies to their fullest."
"Man, with how hyped everyone was over your match, I'm so bummed I didn't get to see it," Genshi stuffed his hand into the pocket of his robe, looking down in disappointment.
"That's okay, you wouldn't have been able to see much anyway," Endo teased the blind Fusion Ball player with his trademarked insensitivity. "What you should be worried about, on the other hand, is what your plans for the future are when Mana kicks you out of this tournament in the semi-finals. In case you haven't caught on, you're going to face her in the next round."
"Ugh, please don't remind me…" Genshi groaned. "My previous fight with Yoibetsu-N was so intense that I ended up breaking the fancy new suit of armor that my sponsors brought me. All I've got now is spare parts of it."
"That's okay, Damisan will help you fix them up and get them ready for the finals," Mana smiled, replying in a kind tone.
"The finals? No, Mana-san, we'll be facing each other in the semi-finals… Wait…" Genshi became confused. At first, the crippled young athlete pondered to himself, as if trying to wrap his head around if he got something wrong or not, but then it occurred to him what Mana meant by it.
"Don't tell me you're going to throw your match!" Asuka objected. "Our odds to win are still best with you as the horse we put all our chips on. After the last match, you've made that very clear."
"Don't you have any pride at all?" Endo hissed. "To give up to just some guy who's not even a warrior, just some guy throwing a ball around and tackling other guys with the safety of thick armor for imaginary points."
"Mana-san, you don't have to throw the match for me," even Genshi objected to Mana's decision. "It's not sportsmanlike. I won't accept winning a match that way."
"If it's a matter of logistics, I can assure you that I can both repair your prosthetic leg and fix Genshi's armor parts that haven't been irreparably totaled in time for the semi-finals," Damisan insisted. "You're not forcing me to play favorites here, Mana. I'm fine with leaving it to the two of you to decide which one moves on."
"Ugh, you guys make it seem like this tournament means anything to me," Mana rolled her eyes, clinging to the thin linen sheets of her infirmary bed. "This match was just something I had to do for myself–prove that I can still dazzle the crowd like I could in my prime. I believe I've done the best I can and I can say I am happy with the results. However, beyond that… What is it I still have to prove here? The Allied Ninja don't want me to win this tournament. They just need us to make sure that Fennec's crew doesn't win it, which they won't. There's still an option of them trying the path of a violent takeover, but that's why we're still here, isn't it? What do I care about meaningless things like who's the strongest? That's not what I fight for. On the other hand, to Genshi-san, this tournament is everything. It's his reason for being, it's him fighting for acknowledgment, for the acknowledgment of the humanity and ability of every athlete alive. I will not stand in the way of that."
"What about that thing you told me on the Flintory when we were alone?" Damisan crossed his arms. "This tournament could be your chance to realize that dream."
"What dream?" Shige-H switched her attention between Damisan and Mana, requesting that one of them explain what they spoke of during that intimate time together.
"Ugh… It's… It's not so much of a dream as it was… Musings…" Mana groaned. "I was just wondering about what there'll be for me when I retire. Getting crippled was all the proof I needed that I wasn't immortal, I had just gotten over the lowest point I've been in in my whole life. I was just considering options for what I would do if I were to retire then and there."
"What dream?" Endo repeated Shige-H's question.
"I just… I was just wondering about finding a settlement of my own," Mana smacked her forehead, feeling embarrassed to even admit it. "My biggest dream as a ninja hasn't changed, I've always wanted to become a Sannin, the type of ninja that deters violence and war by their mere presence. I just… I just wondered if I might find my own place where people could come and live in that peaceful shadow, in that sanctuary. At some point, Konoha was meant to be that, but centuries of politics, assassinations, and plots have turned that village into just another military organization, posing as a village. I wanted to establish a place where people could live their lives the way they wanted, with no need to teach children to fight and to glorify violence and killing, without wars and conflict and political quarrels."
"That sounds idealistic," Endo turned his nose up and turned away before opening his eyes with a softened look. "Just the kind of thing I'd imagine you thinking up of. A pity you've abandoned that dream, given your persistence, I'm sure you could have made it happen."
"Not going to lie, now I kind of feel like a hack for merely trying to establish a worldwide sports games competition…" Genshi scratched the back of his head. "I mean… On one hand, you've got a whole lot of sports games, on the other–world peace, basically."
"One woman's dream isn't inherently worth more than someone else's, no matter how grand," Mana said. "Dreams are just that–dreams. It's only when they start becoming something tangible that they gain weight. You don't dream just of worldwide sports games tournaments, you dream of a drastic change in how athletes are perceived in society. You seek grand societal changes, you seek acknowledgment of the value of your entire life. That is no meaningless thing to be dismissed. Besides, you're just a few steps away from making that dream a reality, whereas I… I'm no closer to becoming Sannin than I was when I realized I wanted to be one."
"That's why you should leave it up to an honest competition," Shige-H crossed her arms, scanning the two of tournament competitors who would be duking it out in the semi-finals. "Leave it up to fortune to decide the one whose dream it favors the most."
"Nonsense," Mana shook her head. "I'm already battered and hurting, my chakra's perhaps at a quarter of what it should be. It won't be much better tomorrow, except maybe living will hurt a lot less by then, after this ointment will work its magic. Genshi's grand and invincible sponsored armor has already been busted, he's only got leftover scraps that require repairs. What do you think will be left by the end of that match out of either of us to compete in the finals?"
"You're not the only one hurting," Shige-H insisted. "Who's to say the other finalist will have that much easier of a time?"
"Besides, you only need to ask us, your good old pals, and we'll make sure that the other finalist doesn't make it to the arena," Asuka winked at Mana, with a malicious look on her face that made it look like she was only half kidding.
"No!" Genshi stomped his foot down with a vocal thud. "Mana-san, I won't accept that kind of victory and I won't accept your surrender! What's the point of being accepted by society if you have to become a person who doesn't deserve that acceptance? What's the point of having a worldwide stage to showcase your talents, if you haven't worked your way up there and have just been handed that stage that rightfully belongs to someone else? If you quit that match, or if I find out you've held back on me, Mana-san, I promise… I won't accept that victory!"
"What happens if Mana throws the match and Genshi doesn't accept it?" Endo turned to Asuka with a distasteful squint of his eyes that relayed just how nauseating he'd find such an outcome.
"The other semi-final match would probably become the final," Asuka shrugged.
This wasn't the first time that Mana felt inclined to compete in a match she didn't want, yet felt obliged to fight for the sake of someone else. She only hoped that the outcome of this match would be different than the finals of the Chuunin Exams. Back then, Mana made Stea's dream of reviving Getsugakure true, whereas now she'd only be crushing another man's hard-worked dream.