Kyoto rolled his shoulders back.
He was currently in an empty grey room.
There was a tunnel on the left that would lead to the arena.
Right now all he had was his body.
He had been given an ai. Something that all the beginners had to wear.
He would be up against someone who was apparently above average.
He had only managed to enlist as a fighter since this above-average fighter wanted an easy win.
Kyoto had been told by a worker that no chakra could be used and if any was, it meant disqualification.
That meant no body-enhancing either.
Kyoto had a well-trained body however against the giant from earlier, even he was beginning to feel unsure.
Nevertheless, Kyoto was confident he could take on pretty much anyone with a normal trained physique.
Kyoto could hear muffled talks from above him.
He felt overwhelmed and nervous over the following fight.
He just had to get in there, throw his punches, and win.
Winning would garner him 1500 Ryo but as long as he kept winning he would be able to amass more Ryo.
(1000 Ryo=11.39 pounds for those wondering so around 16 pounds.)
That would be more than enough for food.
Kai had also successfully gotten a job as a drink cooler.
Apparently, there had been complaints from the wealthier customers about the warm temperatures heating their cold drinks.
Kai made 500 Ryo an hour.
The two had found work.
Kyoto's black hair that had flopped over his face was rolled back, a few strands still lay over his eyes.
It didn't look like there were age restrictions. Even though Kyoto could be considered not an adult he was allowed to participate.
Kyoto tightened his ai and a horn sounded from above him.
They were aware that the participants could hear them.
A muffled shout called out to Kyoto.
"Oi, Uchiha. Get out there."
Kyoto whistled lightly.
"Alright."
He was already sweating all over. The sweat glistened over his tight muscles.
Although he looked healthy and vigorous, he was too slim and streamline to fight the beasts of this fighting arena. It looked like shinobi from all around the globe had arrived to bet and drink.
As Kyoto exited the tunnel, the light blinded him.
Shouts and screams filled his ears.
Empty food bowls were thrown down. Kyoto evaded them all but to normal people, it looked like he had just gotten lucky.
Kyoto's opponent was far more muscular than he was. He had tanned skin and compact muscles. He had already lost the shirt, showing off a huge 6 pack. His opponent had bleached blond hair and a nose with a huge scar down the middle.
His eyes looked like they had been burrowed out, but they were just very dark and hidden under some kind of eyeliner.
Kyoto's opponent had a team of four instructing him. Kyoto found one dull guy waiting for him.
Kyoto waved and the dull helper reluctantly waved back.
"Any advice?"
Kyoto swung his head around as he asked an innocent question.
Kyoto's instructor looked at him, pitiably.
"Just get knocked out by the first punch, kid."
"Ha."
Kyoto felt like spitting out. A look of snark formed on his face.
"Thanks."
The instructor shrugged his shoulders like he had said the truth.
Kyoto ignored all the people and their shouts. Right now he just needed himself.
Kyoto's opponent was not arrogant or kind. But deadly.
Kyoto could not see any whites in his eyes, just death.
A shrewd commentating voice soon descended into the arena and the crowded stands.
"Welcome watchers and fighters! Here we have the one... the only... the murderous..."
The stands began chanting his name.
"Lifeblock."
"Lifeblock."
"Lifeblock."
The shouts continued for another dozen of seconds.
"LIIIIFE BLOOOOCK."
Kyoto looked at his instructor, annoyed.
"When do I get my nickname?"
His instructor just looked at him blankly.
"On your gravestone, if this keeps up."
Kyoto let out two dry laughs.
"Haa. Haa."
The chants finally died down and the commentator's voice reappeared.
"And on the left, we have a new participant. It's rare to find not just a shinobi, but an UCHIHA here."
Silence consumed the stands.
"An Uchiha?"
"Did that guy just say an Uchiha?"
Whispers and mutters crawled through the crowd like an infectious disease.
Soon loud shouts and insults came at Kyoto.
"NO MORE FIREBALLS AND SHURIKEN TARGETS FOR YOU."
"GO HOME."
"CHAKRA IS YOUR WORST ENEMY HERE."
Kyoto remained ignorant. Merely continuing some stretches with his arms.
The commentator broke up the violence.
"Alright, alright. Let's get this fight on."
"Fighting stances, in 3."
Kyoto tightened his muscles, assuming a stance of two fists before his chest. As long as he was agile and powerful, he would be fine. At least he hoped as much.
His opponent began twisting his neck around, assuming an extremely defensive stance, with his head locked behind two vascular-tanned arms.
His way bleached hair was waxed back for this fight.
"FIGHT."
Silence descended upon the crowd. All mutters held.
Although the chances of Kyoto winning were so low that one could become wealthy in 2 minutes if they bet on him, every once in a while. A dark horse rose and charged.
Kyoto and his opponent circled each other with their guards up, neither willing to make the first move.
Anxiety and momentary stage fright devoured Kyoto.
Truthfully he felt like he was constantly falling despite his feet being stationary on the ground.
The silence soon reached the 30-second mark.
Shouts roared from the stands.
"FIGHT ALREADY."
"WASTE O' RYO."
"I GOT RYO ON THIS."
Lifeblock looked at Kyoto stoically.
His voice was deep as you might expect.
"I have given you 30 seconds of life. Now I shall give you..."
"Death."
Kyoto felt like retorting with a comical quip but held himself against it.
Truth be told, he was feeling pretty spooked right now.
Kyoto just continued circling Lifeblock, staying just out of range.
If Lifeblock did a move he would punish it and go with the flow.
The shouts from the stands continued but were cut off halfway as Lifeblock charged.
Kyoto realized that he was at the edge of the platform and that he had been cornered.
Lifeblock went for a straightforward kick with his right leg.
Kyoto felt the wind part through force.
Kyoto weaved it narrowly by turning his body inhumanely fast to the right and swiftly found Lifeblock's straight stretched leg right in front of him.
Kyoto remembered his previous plan.
' Punish it and go with the flow.'
Kyoto used his left arm to keep the leg in place through force, acquiring a tight grip that stretched his opponents leg even further outwards.
Kyoto rose his right elbow before smashing it down with such speed that the crowd had to blink twice to check their eyesight.
Kyoto's attack landed right in the joint.
Lifeblock let out a faint groan as immense pain struck into his right leg.
"Guh."
Spit flew into the crowd below. The crowd above looked revolted but at the same time excited and wondered.
Realizing how vulnerable Lifeblock was with one leg rose, Kyoto crippled Lifeblock's other leg with one harsh kick to his calf.
Lifeblock landed with a thud as both his legs were airborne for a moment.
Still shocked, the crowd was noiseless.
Kyoto then looked at the stunned Lifeblock and began pummeling him. Essentially falling into a position from above him that would let him release his full power.
Lifeblock had put his guard up, lessening the damage but his right leg was heavily damaged and his left leg was still stinging from the kick it had received. He was in a terrible position.
Kyoto just kept punching at Lifeblock's guard no matter how painful it felt or how red his hands went.
Kyoto's mind went haywire as thoughts flew by insanely fast.
'This is bad, I can't kick in this situation and my specialties are kicks."
Kyoto just kept on pummelling Lifeblock by smashing his fists downwards.
'None of my hits are doing real damage.'
He didn't know how much time had passed when a loud whistle blew out in the arena.
His fists slowly retreated.
Kyoto looked up in surprise. Had he broken a rule? Such thoughts buzzed in his mind.
As Kyoto got up and straightened his back, Lifeblock couldn't seem to get up. His guard was still present.
Kyoto's voice was hoarse as he called out.
"Hey. The match's suspended."
"Hey?"
Kyoto parted Lifeblock's guard and realized that Lifeblock was unconscious.
The world seemed to pause.
Before resuming steadily.
Who knew when he had fallen unconscious? It seems that Kyoto's pummeling had a far higher effect than he had assumed.
The arena was still silent. Everyone had suspected that Lifeblock would get back up and thoroughly thrash the newbie in front of him.
But it turned out that Lifeblock had gone unconscious from the pain. His own fists had been driving into his head for 2 minutes straight.
A referee that had been by the sidelines entered, holding Kyoto's hand before swinging it up loosely.
The commentator paused for a moment before remembering his line.
"W-winner... UCHIHA."
The crowd began chanting rhythmically.
"Uchi-ha."
"Uchi-ha."
"Uchi-ha."
"UCHI-HAA."
"UCHI-HAA."
"UCHI-HAA."
Kyoto felt revealed to the entire shinobi world at that moment.
His pants revealed a few mutters as his eyes sparkled.
"Hey now. This isn't that bad."
The crowds kept going until Kyoto was escorted out. Kyo felt ecstatic over his victory but somewhere else, a separate entity was feeling rather pleased.