"Gather everyone!"
Dash, who entered the Dojo, looked at the new as well as the veteran students. All those who had spent a year training in Sakuda Bushido had been promoted, but that didn't mean they were the best.
As for the new students, they were all waiting while watching the scene unfold.
"Is he Dash Hale?" One of the new students looked at the tall guy who had entered and admired how strong he seemed.
"I heard he's a five-time All Valley champion. Many say he could have won last year's tournament if he hadn't gone to Japan to participate in another tournament, which he, by the way, won."
A bespectacled guy nodded and said, "Let's just watch the show; it's bound to get more exciting now."
"Formation!"
"Yes!"
The dojo had undergone significant changes, allowing both veteran and new students to fit in a single space. This would make things easier for Dash, who had a lot to say and didn't want to speak in three different places.
"First of all, I would like to congratulate you on your participation in the All Valley tournament. Although the male competition was a complete disappointment, in the female division, Devon Lee honored us with her great victory."
"It was a complete disgrace!" Victor shouted, wanting the young ones to be reprimanded for the terrible defeat they had suffered from equally inexperienced students.
Liam, among the crowd, smiled sheepishly. He knew he could have done more, but it turned out differently, so he had resolved to train more seriously from now on, his big goal for this year.
"Can you close your mouth? We're going to get punished with more training, and tomorrow I have gym class at school..."
Victor raised his hands innocently and said, "A complete dishonor!"
Dash sighed, walked in front of all Sakura Bushido students, and said, "Now that we've shown how shameful a defeat is, I want to ask you something. Why did we lose in the male division?"
"They were worse in the tournament." At that moment, a voice in the group of new students spoke up, and everyone turned their heads to the guy in the crowd.
"Demetri?" Dash looked at the guy who was Eli's friend and was surprised to see him among the new students.
"Well, I'm here to see if the classes are worth the exorbitant price they cost since the first class is free, right?" Demetri looked at Dash and smiled, but after seeing that more than a hundred people were staring at him silently, he felt embarrassed.
Dash sighed, refocused on what he was saying, and shouted, "We lost because we don't have a hunger for victory. For years, we haven't felt the desire to win because you've always considered yourselves winners."
"Your victory is my victory!" Dash pointed to those words written on the wall and said, "That applies to people who actually strive for their victory, not for someone who simply allows themselves to be beaten and defeated in front of so many people."
"We've been winners since the Dojo was formed, maybe not in the same division consecutively, but we have enjoyed continuous victories. This has filled your brains with an unbearable sense of peace. You are not winners if you don't fight in tournaments with the intention of winning."
Upon hearing all these words, even the veterans who were not allowed to participate in the tournament fell silent. Even the new ones, Demetri saw a seriousness in Dash's words that he couldn't replicate even if he joked.
Everyone understood that Sakura Bushido enjoyed many victories in local, international, and national tournaments. However, everyone knew that those tournaments were mostly Dash Hale and Devon Lee, who were the first students of Mr. Kim.
Some had won different divisions in different tournaments, but that didn't mean they would be winners for life. If you want to win, you need to learn, and that's what was done in Sakura Bushido.
"Many fail to understand what I mean. We're not angry about your defeat, but about your will. Why did you enter a tournament where you wouldn't give one hundred percent of your abilities? Didn't anyone want to lift the winner's trophy?"
Dash looked at the students who had been promoted and said, "I fought until my bones broke, my muscles bled, and my knuckles shattered. None of you can understand what that means without fighting for real."
"Are you filming a movie?" Demetri heard Dash's speech and was about to say something when the lights suddenly went out.
"This fight must not leave Sakura Bushido. In the private tournament in Japan, as the winner, I was privileged to have these fights, but they must not be posted anywhere foolish."
By the time Dash's words ended, a projector played a video of Dash's last fight where the three finalists fought.
Everyone who was scared suddenly fixed their eyes on the playing video. They all saw how the fight unfolded, and upon seeing the Sakura Bushido logo on the fighter's back with the face censored, they realized that it was Dash who was fighting.
Devon, who had watched all the fights, frowned. Those fights were brutal, but that's how mixed martial arts tournaments work, with the only difference being that in the tournament Dash won, there are no points.
As the fight went on, Dash smiled slightly and said, "Not everyone is ready to harness the full capabilities of their body, but they must understand what it means to carry the Sakura Bushido logo on their backs."
"Do you understand now?"
"Yes, Sensei!"
"Did they just call him Sensei?" Demetri, who was still stunned by the fight they had just seen, asked confused.
"Don't you see the belt around his waist? He has the right to teach, so he's Sensei. I guess we didn't just watch the same fight..."
"I didn't mean that..."