Kyoto was back in the same-old slate grey changing room.
His opponent was Hajime. The #42nd Ranked fighter. Kyoto remembered Kai's words from earlier.
Supposedly, he would be able to receive a huge opportunity if he won this fight.
"Doesn't sound too bad."
Kyoto whistled to himself.
As far as he was aware, just getting in the ring and throwing out some kicks would win him a match.
Futo had been a somewhat close call but in the end, his kicks were far too honed and powerful for Futo to stay afloat.
Fortunately, Futo hadn't inflicted any permanent damage on Kyoto during their bout.
"OI UCHIH-."
The words muffled.
Kyoto rolled his shoulders back examining himself in the mirror.
He had dressed himself in the usual inky-black ai and his hair was done in a man-bun once again.
His leg muscles felt soothed and empowered whilst his arm muscles felt ready to take some hits.
They tingled like bad scratches.
Kyoto yanked himself away from the mirror and began to head out to through the strict grey tunnel.
And so he exited, into his pathway.
The same blinding lights approached him.
Just minutes back, Kyoto had been in the very same crowd that was hollering at him currently.
The commentator seemed to have already begun as Kyoto casually strolled down the walkway, being examined by all.
The commentator had quite a rifling voice.
"And here's the dark horse we've all been waiting for."
"Will he continue Futo's legacy or will he fall and falter?"
"No matter what happens, he'll still be the one and only..."
Ignoring the biological incorrectness of that statement the crowd let out one word in reasonably good sync.
"UCHIHA."
Kyoto felt the crowd get to his head. His steps felt like the start of a musical dance.
As Kyoto approached the edges of the ring, his opponent Hajime had already begun cockily wandering over to Kyoto's side.
Hajime was your average muscle-head. It looked like he had a bad balance of huge arms and rather weaker legs. His head had some sort of failed mohawk experiment consisting of a half-done mohawk.
He had unnaturally pale skin and quite an unordinary quantity of veins infested over his skin.
He wore an entirely white ai that had been ripped to shorten the arm's length and trouser length.
His face screamed insecurity and sellout.
"Even if you were born stronger..."
He began some sort of nonsensical speech.
Kyoto just rolled his eyes and let him finish.
"In this place, even the most ordinary man can fight gods."
"There is no chakra, just fighting skills."
"No luck. Just the constraints of mortal power."
"On this mat, we are both 1. And I shall be your last."
Kyoto raised his eyebrows in wowzers.
"Cool."
Hajime walked off with a bit of funkiness. He truly looked quite goofy.
Kyoto was confident that Hajime was going down with one good solid kick.
When no one expected it the commentator rushedly hushed the yabbering crowds.
"Fighting stances in 3."
It seemed that the higher-ups had pushed him swiftly.
Before Kyoto knew it, he was going against Hajime.
Kyoto loosened his shoulders and bounced to and fro.
His legs did some light stretches.
Hajime didn't move an inch, only his eyes followed Kyoto's every movement.
"FIGHT."
Although the two wore similar clothing, Hajime looked far larger than Kyoto.
His muscular body far out shadowed Kyoto and his broad shoulders made his frame like that of a boulder.
Kyoto at first wanted to go in for a kick but then realized that Hajime used no technique whatsoever.
The bastard just charged in wildly and unleashed some semi-proportioned punches.
It would seem that Hajime relied almost entirely on his huge overbearing figure to beat his opponents.
Kyoto instantly concluded in his mind as he saw how Hajime ran at him.
Hajime had gotten to his rank by fighting those far weaker than himself. The exact opposite of Kyoto.
As Hajime unleashed a few solid hooks, Kyoto used his refined build to side-track them and loosely blocked them with handwork. Kyoto dodged a particularly obnoxious right hook with footwork before going for a regular front kick.
The kick landed, and Hajime was forcibly pushed back a few steps.
However...
Other than being pushed back a little, the attack didn't seem to have fazed Hajime. Rather Hajime became even more energetic after receiving a tough kick to his chest.
Kyoto continued trading blows with Hajime, finding himself under heavy fire. Hajime was a tank, taking 5 hits if it meant he could get in 2.
Kyoto couldn't deal any significant damage no matter what he did.
Kyoto realized that he wasn't getting anywhere. The crowd had gone briefly silent before going back to their yobbish general state.
Kyoto ended up going with heel-kicks. Only through heel-kicks where power was concentrated into a smaller area would he be able to deal good powerful damage.
Kyoto was still easily staying afloat in the fight due to his superior footwork, skills, and body refinement but the fight was going nowhere.
Weaving left and right, Kyoto moved like he had no bones. His entire figure struck clockwise as his legs spun around like wild blurs.
Hajime who was fighting like a brute just kept running on foolishly. He was quickly hit by a swift combination of heel kicks to his head.
Hajime had blood soaking out from his mouth but he didn't seem to mind.
Like a naive brat, he ran forwards and clocked Kyoto in with an unexpected right hook.
Bang.
The impact made an unholy sound as Kyoto felt the force of a bullet smash into his right cheek. Soon, his face felt like hellfire.
Kyoto was wrong.
It wasn't that Hajime was a man who relied on only his figure.
His entire fighting style just made it seem that way since it relied so much on his boundless durability.
Kyoto started circling away from Hajime.
Dipping in and out from Hajime's long-stretched punches Kyoto released a multitude of calf kicks to hopefully cripple Hajime through pain but Hajime didn't mind. He only got faster as Kyoto had to release risky attacks one after the other.
Kyoto and Hajime began clashing slowly. Kyoto would often hop in and out occasionally winning the exchanges and occasionally losing. It all relied on how well Hajime performed. Sometimes Hajime would land solid blows other times he would just work into flurries of hits. He fought like he was brainless.
Kyoto still felt like he was throwing a ball at a solid wall, hoping it would go through.
Through the madness, a thought stuck out in Kyoto's mind.
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
Kyoto's voice rang out in his head.
Kyoto knew what his mind was getting at.
He had to sweep Hajime.
Kyoto had easily referenced earlier that Hajime was weak in the legs. Was this how he utilized that?
Kyoto wasn't confident he could even sweep Hajime's iron figure.
Nevertheless, Kyoto gave his all. His pants and Hajime's pants were all the two could hear. The yabbers from the crowd had become numb to their earbuds.
As Hajime charged forwards, Kyoto grasped onto the muscles covering his arms. Shaking Hajime violently whilst Hajime was still confused and taken aback, Kyoto used his off-balance to sweep the leg.
Thud.
The titan of iron fell to the ground.
Kyoto instantly sidestepped behind Hajime before crushing him into a headlock.
Hajime's pants became gasps for air as his eyes widened horrifically.
Kyoto knew that he would have to hold out until Hajime fainted.
Since Hajime knew essentially no technique, he couldn't slide his hands in front of his neck to stop the headlock even though he had more than enough time to do so.
Kyoto's arms shook uncontrollably as Hajime attempted to use brute force to escape.
His shoulders felt stiff and it was torture to maintain the head-lock.
Kyoto contained the iron giant for as long as he could.
Gradually, Hajime's punches became weaker as his fists met with Kyoto's back less and less.
It got to the point where Hajime's punches became too slow and frail to even reach their target, just falling short.
Kyoto watched calmly as Hajime was put to sleep.
"End."
Kyoto muttered, shoving a bit of force into Hajime to end the fight peacefully.
The referee ran in as Kyoto looked at Hajime, uncaringly.
"THE WINNER STANDS BEFORE YOU ALL."
"THE RUTHLESS..."
The crowd put hands around their mouths all at once.
"UCHIHAA."
Kyoto's ai was drenched in sweat. The referee hung Kyoto's arm up tightly.
As soon as the ref let go, Kyoto dropped down. He wasn't dead exhausted however his arms were full to the brim with pain. Hajime had resorted to his entire being in the beginning moments of Kyoto's headlock.
In all honestly, Kyoto wasn't sure how the fight would've gone if he had missed the headlock or never attempted it at all.
It would've most likely been a battle of attrition.
By now, the praises from the crowd had become standard to Kyoto.
As Kyoto lay down, with his body sweaty, the commentator revealed something to the crowds.
Just as Kai had claimed he would.
"Now, those in the stands and those on the mat. An announcement shall be made."
A deep and stern voice went into the commentator's stands. It sounded wise and cunning.
"The Shinjit tournament will begin in a week. This tournament will consist of all those under the #50 range. Uchiha has become the last member to join said tournament. The prize pool will be 7,500,000 Ryo and there will be 6 rounds and only 1 victor."
"May the fighters enjoy their well-earned rest. Because the Shinjit is just around the corner."
The voice retreated.
A tidal wave of pitch crashed into the stands.
The Shinjit Tournament was held every 5 Years. Kyoto had arrived just in time. This was the perfect chance.
If Kyoto won, he would earn enough funds to travel the world as he had been tasked to.
He could finally use a shortcut to get a scarce true victory.
Kyoto met Kai later that day and the two had some more Gyoza with the 5000 Ryo Kyoto had earned.
Something seemed different about Kai that day.