~jeiku~
the next phase of the tournament begins today, the bottom 875 shinobi were eliminated, luckily i placed right in the middle of the remaining thousand. i dont know who my opponent will be, i dont think i have to worry about facing any of the 10 just yet. since these fights dont have time limits the pace of the tournament will most likely slow down significantly, this is the point where only 10 fights will be going on simultaneously to make it more of a show for the audience. im in the waiting area for my match, even though theres a thousand people in here it still feels fairly empty compared to how it was during the preliminaries. the size of this place never ceases to amaze me.
"jeiku of the leaf village and the rogue shinobi jo please make your way to arena number 4" a voice over the loudspeakers says and my heart drops, jo, he was there in the mist village. he was one of the few that survived, this reunion has to be fate. i make my way to the arena, i spot jo a little ways ahead of me, he looks determined, i dont get a good look at him but i can tell theres a fire in his eyes that I'll have to extinguish. i make it to the arena, its been expanded to give us more room to fight.
"this match will end when either fighter is unable to continue fighting or surrenders, lethal force is strictly prohibited and will result in immediate disqualification" the referee shouts out "begin!"
the fight begins before i can even think about what to do, this ref is wasting no time, and neither will i. i lock eyes with jo for a brief moment and theres a silent understanding between us, may the best man win.
jo makes the first move, advancing towards me, i get into a fighting stance and prepare for the duel. jo walks forward almost rhythmically, his steps following the same tempo each time, then in an instant he switches tempos and rushes at me at full speed, the speed change throws me off guard and jo is able to land a hit directly to my jaw. he goes for another and it connects, his movements are calculated and fast, too fast, he goes for a large sweeping swing and i duck under it where im met with a knee to the face, my nose breaks and blood flows from it, i stumble back clutching my face.
"you cant beat me number 9" jo says
"you-" i stutter "you know about the 10?" my hopes that i wouldnt have to face any of the 10 early on fade away.
"of course i do. now its your job to figure out where i place" jo runs at me and hits me in the side of the head, my ears are ringing from the strike. so jo is a 10, i wonder when that happened, the jo i knew from the mist village didnt seem particularly strong but this is a whole new person. im hit with an uppercut and i feel several teeth get knocked out of my mouth, i fall down and im kicked in the stomach, i cough up blood
"stand up and fight!" jo yells, his voice cracks as he says this. i manage to stand up shakily, i throw a few punches but jo easily dodges each one, im hit again and again but i dont back down. jo pulls his arm back for one final strike, his hand is flat, i guess hes going to hit me in the stomach with the jab to finish the fight. then the world goes in slow motion, i make a split second decision, i buckle my knees and fall, jo's strike which would have hit my stomach instead made contact with my heart, his hand breaks the bones and i feel excruciating pain as my ribs pierce my heart, everything goes dark. suddenly the world lights up brighter than ever before, i extend my hand and its pure white, almost as if its a blank space. i look down at my body and its also the same blank pure white. it looks almost as if im made of white flames.
the only explanation for this is shinriki no kainyū, divine intervention, jo accidentally helped me tap into this power, this is the power bestowed onto me by none other than king himself, these white flames will guide me to victory.