Tora announces that Hiroyuki will be fighting Yumi. Once it's announced Hiroyuki sits down, closes his eyes and folds his arms. Tora asks for him to hurry up but then Hiroyuki doesn't move at all.
Yumi: "I get it, he doesn't want to fight me because he thinks it would be a waste of time. Well he's right, so I concede."
Since Yumi conceded the match Hiroyuki was declared the winner even while doing absolutely nothing.
Tora rolls her eyes and then announces the next match.
Tora: "Instead the next match will Bezune Versus Kanju!"
Both of them stand up at exactly the same time and just stare. Obviously there's tension between them. Nino starts the match.
Immediately Kanju places his hand on the ground creating a magic circle that he pulls a staff out of. He swings it around showing precision as he gets into his stance. Bezune's hair and hands glow bright as he charges in towards Kanju. Bezune throws a punch emitted with a great force of heat. When Kanju blocks it with the staff it breaks in half and Bezune grabs Kanju's face and throws him. Kanju gets up and touches his face because there's a mark and it's burning. Kanju tries to summon something else but he can't cause Bezune rushes towards him again throwing a combo. Everything gets perfectly blocked by Kanju as he kicks Bezune away. It isn't until mere seconds after he starts to feel the effect. Kanju looks at his palms, his arms and his ribs only to notice that there are burn marks on them and that his whole body is tingling and aching. Kanju falls to one knee as the pain starts to increase. He looks at Bezune.
Kanju: "My body! It hurts! Why!?"
Bezune: "Your body can't handle the amount of heat I emit from my palms."
Nino: "Can you continue Kanju?"
Kanju: "I... can't."
Nino gives the win to Bezune.
Kanju starts shaking as his muscles are under extreme intensity as his body starts to become weak.
Bezune grabs Kanju.
Bezune: "You have to calm down! The effects will ware off, but you gotta calm down to regulate your normal body temperature!"
Bezune takes Kanju to the healing room with everyone else who is injured.
Tora: "Well the last match of the first stage will be Shiro versus Limbo!"
Limbo and Shiro face off in the middle of the fighting arena. The last match, who will be the last to make it to the second stage. Nino starts the match and both of them make a move. Shiro throws the first punch but it goes straight through Limbo and he counters by uppercutting Shiro. Shiro remembers that Limbo has the ability to phase his body through some forms of matter. As they fight Shiro keeps making the same mistake of attacking first and being countered by Limbo. Finally instead of just one attack Shiro uses combos, he throws a punch that would obviously go through Limbo, but then once he sees Limbo attack he attacks in the same instant. Shiro isn't fast or agile enough to dodge attacks while he attacks so ultimately he takes damage while also hurting Limbo. The fight drags on and the both of them are hyperventilating. Shiro looks around in the crowd and sees his family watching. Limbo does the same as both of them get ready to go all out. They both charge each other, when Shiro throws a punch Limbo dodges it without phasing and then throws a punch that connects right on Shiro's jaw pushing him back and making him fall.
All Limbo needed was an instant, the fact he didn't phase made Shiro feel flustered for just a second leaving him open to get hit by Limbo's last bit of strength. Shiro just stays on the ground then eventually says he gives up due to extreme fatigue. Leaving Limbo as the winner.
After Limbo wins, Tora tells everyone that the first stage(preliminaries) is over and the second will begin in one hour. Giving everyone time to fully heal and recover from previous fights.
Asuna leaves the arena because he senses something. He looks around, but doesn't see anything or anyone. He closes his eyes and senses chi from the outside of the village. Asuna becomes concerned because he can sense the chi, but can't pinpoint exactly where it is. Asuna walks over to Nino and tells him the situation, but he whispers it because he doesn't want anyone to panic. Nino nods at him and leaves the area to contact members of the core. 6 core members respond and go see if they can find the infiltrators. Asuna goes back into the arena where everyone is gathered and waiting for the second stage to begin.
Natsumi is in her seat and notices the strange chi as well. She becomes concerned, but also feels safe to see Asuna. Seeing Asuna always makes her feel relieved.
The hour passes and the second stage is about to begin as Tora already has the matches lined up.
Tora: "First match will be Poku versus Mikoto!"
Poku is still injured from her first match, but still goes out to meet Mikoto. Nino begins the fight and before anyone can make a move. Mikoto quits.
Poku just stands there puzzled on why.
Mikoto walks away saying: "I said from the beginning I don't care about this stupid tournament."
Poku doesn't have the same will as Chiori, so she stays quiet and takes the win because she knows that Mikoto can really hurt her.
Tora: "Alright well Next match then! The second match is Hiroyuki versus Haruna!"
Hiroyuki walks out and is met by Haruna. Nino tries to start the match but Hiroyuki doesn't let him.
Hiroyuki: "This tournament has been a waste of my time and training."
Haruna: "Hey, look here, I may be a girl, but I'm far from weak!"
Hiroyuki: "So you would actually give me a challenge?"
Haruna: "I'll give your more than that! You just might lose!"
Nino starts the match and in a split second Haruna's whole body is covered in ice. She struggles to escape but realizes she won't be able to. Hiroyuki walks up to her and just looks at her.
Hiroyuki: "You lied to me."
As he walks away and is declared the winner.
Tora: "These matches are going fast, it's kinda hard to enjoy them. Anyways, the next match is Shizuko versus Kisaiju!"
Both of them stare at each other. Obviously there's tension between them. Nino tells them to begin and immediately both of them clash with each other and begin to fight. Both of them being mid-long range fighters after their exchange they back up and begin using their abilities. Shizuko making waves of fire leaving it almost impossible to dodge. Kisaiju gets hit by a wave and takes a lot of damage. He forms a square with his hands trying to trap Shizuko in a cube prison, but Shizuko knows how to evade all of his attacks and counters with a huge flame wave that hits Kisaiju directly making him crash into the wall. Kisaiju falls to the floor and is greatly injured and rendered unconscious. Shizuko is the winner, and for him it's a sweet victory and an important feat for him.
Tora: "Finally a great match! Now we move on to the next one. Kame versus Limbo!"
Both of them stare down at each other. Kame begins to smile and it makes Limbo uncomfortable. Nino begins the fight and no one moves, but for different reasons. Kame wanted him to attack first, but Limbo is scared to attack. He has seen Kame's strength and knows that if he gets hit once he's done for.
Limbo: "Frankly, I see no logical way to win this."
Just as he starts to think to himself, Kame grows impatient and attacks first. Limbo being frightened phased through the attack and then backed away from Kame. Limbo begins to sweat because while phased he still felt the force of Kame's attack which has never happened before. Kame attacks again, but Limbo decides to just stay phased the whole match and wear down Kame. At first the plan starts to go accordingly, but then Kame catches on. Limbo has the ability phase through matter that being most objects physical. Gravity on the other hand and force effect him greatly. Kame ends up backing away and throwing a punch from far away that creates a shockwave that pushes Limbo back and causes him to phase through the arena wall. He comes back and is extremely nervous knowing that Kame has found a loop hole around his ability. Limbo falls to the floor on his hands and knees.
Limbo: "I give up! I can't win! No matter how I look at it, I just can't win! It's not worth the injuries I will sustain, I quit!"
Kame stares at him and doesn't say anything. Then he just walks away and goes back up to the second floor stage. Nino watches Kame as he can see a hardened look on his face that tells him that Kame isn't happy about what just happened.
Nino to himself: "Hmm, he seems to be disappointed that the fight ended like that. Wow! A true warrior!"
Tora: "Next match will be Jiro versus Omoi!"
Jiro and Omoi walk down together as they both say good luck and then stand in front ready to face each other. They begin fighting and at first Jiro unleashed a wave of fire that spins towards Omoi, he tries using wind to stop it, but it just makes the flames bigger and faster leaving Omoi almost no time to dodge. Luckily for him he did, but starts to think to himself that he can't use his wind on jiro's fire it'll just make it stronger. Jiro unleashes a barrage of fire attacks one after another trying to hit Omoi. Instead of attacking the fire head on with wind, Omoi used it to his advantage for defense. Using wind to move more swiftly around and evade the attacks. Right after, Jiro attacks with a huge wave of fire. It looks like it hits Omoi from Jiro's point of view, but in reality Omoi used his wind to go up in the air. The fire clears and Jiro is looking for Omoi until he finally looks up to see him, but at that point it's too late and Omoi punches him, making him him hit the floor and bounce up. Omoi does an air palm attack pushing Jiro making him hit the wall. Jiro gets up and is attacked by a barrage of air strikes over and over again. Jiro finally puts his hand up and unleashes probably one of his strongest fire blast, it's also his fastest as it hits Omoi dead on. After being hit, Omoi falls to one knee and looks up; only to see Jiro in front of him as Jiro swiped his arm and creates a flame wave at point blank range giving Omoi no time to dodge. The fire clears and Omoi has his arms crossed as he took the blast head on, but still took significant damage. Once the fire and smoke clear, Omoi trips Jiro and tries to kick him, but Jiro lands on his hand and turns to kick Omoi in the face. Omoi blocks it and throws his elbow towards Jiro's rib cage. It lands and does a tremendous amount of damage, breaking Jiro's ribs. Jiro clinches his ribs and then turns to kick again, with this kick landing and immediately after he uppercuts Omoi with his elbow breaking his chin. Both of them create space as Jiro is holding his ribs and Omoi his chin. They look at each other, smile and then charge into each other. Both of them know who ever lands the first significant blow will win. Omoi throws a punch, but it's blocked and countered with an elbow from Jiro. That gets blocked and countered with a knee from Omoi trying to hit Jiro in his ribs. Again it's blocked and countered with a head-butt. The head-butt connected and left Omoi wobbling, so Jiro did a spinning back kick and hit Omoi into the wall finishing the match, winning it!
When Jiro won, the first thing he did was go to Omoi to shake his hand and see if he was alright.
Jiro: "Great match! Are you okay?"
Omoi: "Yeah I'm fine haha, that was a great match you deserved to win."
Jiro picks up Omoi and takes him to the injury room where both of them will need to be attended to.
Tora: "That match was a great one! Might have to be my favorite one from this tournament! Anyways, the next match is Ziku vs Bezune!"
Before Ziku goes out to the stage, he goes to Jiro and Omoi and congratulates both of them on a great match.
Jiro: "Thanks! Good luck out there."
Omoi: "Yeah, do your best!"
Ziku smiles and nods at both of them then fist bumps with them. He goes over to begin the match and as soon as he gets ready Nino starts the match.
Bezune: "If I'm being honest you're at the top of my list for people I've been wanting to fight."
Ziku: "Huh?.....Me?...Why?
Bezune: "For one, you're a Nakamura and I heard of you guys to be formidable."
As soon as he says this he rushes in a throws a punch with his hand glowing.
Bezune: "Now lets see if that's true!"
Ziku blocks it and they start fighting. They fight for a decent amount of time with Ziku being the clear winner of the exchange. Bezune backs away and then again his hair and hands start to glow and he charges in again. Ziku prepares for it and then has lightning aura surrounding his hands. As both of them fight again exchanging blows. Bezune intensifies his attacks, and starts to gain the upper hand.
Bezune: "Come on Nakamura!"
Once he says this, it triggers something inside Ziku and he grabs both of Bezune's hands stopping him from punching. He looks him into the eyes and then kicks him. Once he gets kicked he goes flying and catches himself, but can't see Ziku anywhere. He tries looking around and then gets kicked from behind, he starts to think to himself just how fast is Ziku. Then Ziku hits him a total of 20 times in 2 seconds. Every time he sent Bezune flying he caught up to him to hit him again making a combo. Meanwhile no one could see Ziku as he was just a blur. Bezune falls to the floor and gets up to one knee to look around for Ziku again. He finds him just sitting on the ground. He tries to get up, but can't as he starts breathing fast and gets dizzy as his muscles become heavy.
Bezune: "I don't get it!"
Ziku just lifts up his hand and shows Bezune a spark of electricity running through his fingers.
Bezune's eyes open wide as he just stares at Ziku.
Nino: "I guess that makes Ziku the winner since Bezune can't continue."
Ziku is declared the winner and moves on to the semi finals of the tournament.
Tora: "The semifinals will begin in 2 hours, giving you guys time to rest."
Nino: "Poku has informed us that she concedes the rest of the tournament because she feels that she is way out of her league. As for Jiro he suffered a broken rib cage from his fight with Omoi so the nurse has determined that he is done.
Shizuko: "That's stupid! Other people suffered worse injuries and yet they still fought! Why can't he?!"
Nino: "Just relaying the message kid."
Tora: "You guys have 2 hours to rest, use it."
Just as she says this, she looks over and sees Kame training and working out.
Tora: "Or not?"
Ziku goes over to Natsumi so he could talk to her. Shizuko goes over to his family and Hiroyuki just stands in one area as his mother comes to him.
As they are talking with parents and family Asuna goes to check to see if the mysterious chi has been taken care of. When he goes he notices that the chi has become more prominent like it's getting closer. It doesn't take long before he can pinpoint the exact location. He closes his eyes and places two fingers in the ground. This allows him to know how many people it is and how much chi each possesses. He comes to the conclusion that there are two large amounts of chi heading towards the village, but at a slow pace. Nino comes out because he has a strange feeling. Asuna tells Nino that's he's going to check it out, but Nino tells him no and the he will go because if they are truly a threat they're going to need Asuna here in the village. Asuna agrees and watches as Nino goes alone.
Asuna: "Be careful Nino!"
Asuna goes back into the tournament grounds and just waits for the semifinals to begin. He starts to think to himself.
Asuna: "Why are they coming here? What do they want? Why now? Nino is strong, but I should go help. No, no, no, no, I have to stay here just in case that's only a diversion for an even stronger enemy."
Tonamura looks up and notices the chi as he looks towards Kame and knows it's almost time.
The 2 hours go by and everyone gets ready for the semi finals.
Tora: "The first match of the semi finals will be Kame versus Shizuko!"
Kame stretches then punches his fist full of excitement. Shizuko just walks out and looks up towards his dad, who just nods. Asuna begins the match and right away Shizuko backs up and just unleashes waves of fire all over the stage. After a few seconds he stops and then sees Kame running towards him. He backs up again and does the same thing, but this time bigger flames are forming. After a few huge waves he stops again and sees Kame just standing there with his arms crossed.
Shizuko to himself: "Does he block my flames with just his arms?!"
He takes a look at Kames arms as he sees the wraps that go on his arms are burning off. They end up falling off and Kame's arms are exposed. Everyone sees a bunch of scars and bruises all over his arms. This shocks Shizuko as he thinks of what he went through to obtain so many battle scars and just how strong he really is. Kame lifts his head up and makes eye contact with Shizuko as he runs towards him with his arms crossed. Shizuko blasts him with fire from point blank range, but Kame just brushes past it and kicks him in the chin, as Shizuko gets hit in the air Kame jumps up, but Shizuko looks down and blasts him with another fire wave that pushes Kame down and causes him to hit the floor with impact. That seems to be the right amount of fire Shizuko can use to hurt Kame. Shizuko is forced to hold back because if he goes all out his fire can really do damage to his opponents, but when it comes to Kame he doesn't know how much of his fire is actually enough. He lands as him and Kame stare off at each other ready to fight again. Kame runs towards him again, Shizuko jumps up and opens his mouth to unleash a wave of fire from his mouth that hits Kame directly. When it clears Shizuko is in front of Kame and hits him directly again with nothing but fire. Kame gets pushed back, but then rushes towards Shizuko again with his arms crossed and just before Shizuko does another attack, Kame steps on the ground with lots of force, breaking it as he reaches Shizuko in a hurry and throws an elbow that connects with also throwing combos that all connect. The final blow being a spinning kick forcing Shizuko to go flying and almost break through the wall. Shizuko tries to get up, but could breast move. He starts punching the ground and then looks up towards his father who has this disappointed look on his face then closes his eyes and crosses his arms. Shizuko continues to punch the ground and starts to tear up. He punches the ground and breaks it. Only to look up at his father and start yelling.
Shizuko continues to yell out of anger until he finally reaches his boiling point. In a split second a huge wave of fire covers the entire stage and Kame. And it's burns for what seems to be an eternity. Finally after it clears, Shizuko sees Kame standing there with his arms crossed and his whole body just covered in ash. Kame looks up and then falls due to fatigue. Once he falls Shizuko is declared the winner and moves on.
Kame is picked up and placed on a stretcher. He gets taken to a room to be examined while Jaken and Kenshi accompany him. When they get into the room, the nurse leaves to go get water and towels. Once she leaves Kenshi places his hand on Kame's shoulders and starts shaking him.
Kenshi: "Hey wake up! I know you can hear me!"
Jaken: "What are you...."
Kame jerks up.
Kame: "Ok, ok I am up!"
Jaken looks at Kame confused as to what's going on.
Kenshi: "Why did you give up the fight?"
Kame: "I did not give up! I let him win!"
Kenshi: "Ok, but why?"
Kame: "Winning seemed to be more important to Shizuko than it ever was for me, I just want to prove hard work can even fight with those at the top!"
Kenshi: "Well, for what it's worth, I think you proved that today."
Kame smiles as him and Kenshi fist bump.
Tora: "Next we have Hiroyuki versus Ziku!"
Ziku's walks out and as he's walking he looks up to Natsumi. She smiles at him and whispers good luck. Ziku and Hiroyuki face off against each other. The crowd starts to cheer because this is what they've been waiting for Hiroyuki the top student of the class versus Ziku Nakamura the son of Kasai Nakamura. The crowd starts chanting "Nakamura" and Ziku starts to get nervous and overwhelmed. Natsumi can see it in his face that he's extremely uncomfortable, but there's really nothing she can do to help. Asuna starts the fight, but Ziku can't hear cause he's in his own head listening to all the chants. Because of this it leaves him wide open to be attacked by Hiroyuki who slides on ice towards him and then grabs him, slamming him to the ground. Hiroyuki gets on top and tries to punch him, but Ziku rolls out of the way and gains distance. Then the both of them just stare at each other. Finally the "Nakamura" chants have stopped so Ziku can focus.
Ziku looks over at Hiroyuki then rushes at him, like before he's just a blur he tries to punch Hiroyuki, but he misses and ends up hitting ice. He backs up and attacks again the same way, only to get same result. Ziku pauses as he looks shocked.
Hiroyuki: "you may be fast, but as long as I can sense your chi you won't be able to touch me."
Ziku stands up straight then dashed towards him again, this time not attacking right away. He body flickers all around Hiroyuki trying to confuse his sense of chi. It still doesn't work and Ziku just ends up hitting ice again, but this time breaking his right hand. Ziku brushes it off because he's left handed, but he's getting aggravated not being able to even touch Hiroyuki. Ziku thinks to make afterimages of himself moving so fast around Hiroyuki that it looks as if there are clones mimicking Ziku. Ziku attacks using afterimage and it looks as if all of them attacked, Hiroyuki tries to block the ones he can see and totally forgets to sense chi. He attacks the ones he can see, but they just disappear and then in the same instant Ziku lands a kick that sends Hiroyuki flying. He catches himself and then looks at Ziku who just gets into a stance ready to fight. Hiroyuki uses ice to freeze the whole arena leaving ice everywhere. Like before Ziku reacted fast enough to dodge it. Only thing is it's too slippery for him to run on, when he tries he just falls. Hiroyuki covers half his body with ice and attacks Ziku. It becomes hard for Ziku to do anything so he could barely dodge, leaving Hiroyuki to attack and hit Ziku with combos. He punches Ziku in the stomach making him cough up blood and then grabs his face sliding it across the ice before throwing him. He goes to Ziku and picks him and traps him in an iced shell.
Hiroyuki: "This by far was the most excitement I've got out of this whole tournament. Still disappointed that a Nakamura could only land one hit. This village praises Nakamuras, but I don't understand why. You must be a disappointment to your clan and father."
Once he says this, he sees Ziku's eyes go from twitching to completely wide open. Hiroyuki backs up and then Ziku's eyes get a spark of lightning that turns into aura covering his whole body. The aura around him breaks the ice and Ziku looks at Hiroyuki with rage in his eyes. He dashes towards him, but Hiroyuki makes 5 ice shields to slow him down, but Ziku just punches through all of them. He gets close to Hiroyuki and throws a punch, but Hiroyuki makes an ice clone that when Ziku touches it, it covers his whole body in ice again. Giving Hiroyuki time to retreat. The aura around Ziku's body quickly melts off the ice and Ziku just stands there.
Ziku: "My clan and father are both gone! I'd never want to disappoint either of them! So right now, I'm going to show you the power of a Nakamura! You will respect my clan!"
Hiroyuki looks with fear in his eyes. As Ziku jumps in the air and spreads his arms out as lightning starts to accumulate on both of his hands.
Asuna: "Is this the attack he was talking about?! If he uses that, he would destroy half the village!"
The lightning in Ziku's hands continues to grow and Asuna tries to get him to stop.
Asuna: "Ziku! You have to stop this!"
Ziku doesn't listen and lightning streaks start to hit the stage and everyone goes into an immediate panic! The whole arena begins to shake and everyone become scared!
Natsumi: "Ziku! Stop! If you unleash that attack you will kill everyone here! You have to stop please!"
Natsumi's voice is the only one Ziku hears as he starts to calm down before completely snapping out of it. Ziku returns back to his normal state and then looks around to see everyone scared and worried. He gets sad and falls to the ground due to extreme fatigue. Asuna runs to him and checks to see if he's alright. He picks him up and notices that he's unconscious with no telling when he'll snap out it. He looks over at Hiroyuki who's completely scared with a face expression that no one has ever seen from him before. Asuna hands Ziku to a nurse who takes him to a room. He walks over to Hiroyuki who is completely frozen, he has to snap him out of it and tell him that he's fine.
Asuna: "Hiroyuki!"
Hiroyuki: "I could have been killed!"
Asuna: "When I trained with Ziku, I saw all of that power deep inside of him. It's not that he can't bring it out, he's just afraid to."
Hiroyuki: "All this time I've been at the top, it was all a lie!"
Hiroyuki jerks his arm away from Asuna and walks away. Asuna just watches him and then thinks to himself.
Asuna: "The heart of these kids is incredible!"