I held my loud mouth as I ran my way out of the arena, thanking the Lord that my behavior had gone unnoticed by the two men.
'It was certainly spectacular.' No, I wasn't talking about the Ogre's show of strength when he smashed 40 of those stone slabs.
Nor was I talking about the little back and forth between Master Ryuu and Yujiro about the usefulness of fighting things that couldn't even fight back.
"If martial arts exist, at least in part so that the weak can become stronger, and if they're suddenly able to smash through something that they weren't able to before," my master continued to explain his point of view on the subject, giving his final lesson even when walking into the jaws of that beast, "they get a sense of accomplishment without hurting anyone else."
"So I disagree," he finished while tying his shirt around his waist, "I can't say that it's completely meaningless since it can symbolize one's personal growth."
"Oh yeah?" Yujiro spat back while glaring at my dear master with eyes that could only be described as demonic.
'Really, Master, giving him a whole explanation about why we break these things while you would only yell at me to do it during our training. So mean...'
However, despite the unfair treatment from the man, even I couldn't bear watching him being manhandled down there.
"Don't move. Trust me, you'll regret it..." It seemed that demon still had a heart somewhere deep inside him, as he even gave my master one final warning before completing his free 'facial' routine.
Still, he wouldn't be the great Master Ryuu if he wasn't at least this stubborn, grabbing Yujiro's wrists in hopes of stopping his next action.
"Ahhh, here we go..."
"Splat, Swack, Plackh..."
"You used 'em for a hundred years. Time to switch 'em out," the man spoke after annihilating my master's resolve, throwing his now ripped-off face into the hands of a nearby minister of martial arts.
'Oh no, you don't...' I intercepted his throw, making sure to handle the 'organ' with perfect care. I had even worn surgical gloves just in anticipation of this moment.
'Doctor Umezawa better live up to his reputation; otherwise, flying him all the way over here would have been for nothing.'
The crowd was obviously still shocked by the defeat of their great symbol of strength, a profound pillar of Chinese martial arts.
"I'm guessing this means the fight's over now, right?" he continued, adding insult to injury, even as my master was being held up by some of the other disciples from the temple.
"I'll see you later..." The man seemed to be talking to the three ministers from the Chinese Ministry, but his words struck deep within myself.
'Just you wait, Yujiro, I—' My noble vows of taking revenge for my poor old master were cut short, however, by a yell from my fellow disciple of the same master, as if taunting me by showing more 'care' for the old man than I had.
"Yujiro Hanma!" The great Kaiou Retsu entered the arena. Despite being uninvited, he was certainly beloved by the crowd.
"Well..." The Ogre seemed happy about his early introduction into the arena.
"You bastard!"
"But your match wasn't called yet."
'See, even Mr. Hanma agrees with my feelings, Retsu...'
"I challenge you to a fight, right here and right now!" Kaiou Retsu spoke with such seriousness, as if putting his very life on the line in his attempt to uphold his master's honor in his stead.
"HAHAHAHAHA," I finally couldn't hold it in, receiving weird looks from the crowd as I carefully handled the bloodied 'face mask' into the cooler filled with ice I had also prepared under 'the connector's' instructions.
"Alright, if you insist..." Truly, Yujiro had such a big heart, obliging the request of even such a young and inexperienced disciple. "This will be quite a treat..."
Kaiou Retsu had just gotten into his trademark stance when he was interrupted by Master Ryuu, who, even when filled with pain and barely able to still stand, walked up to his young disciple to reprimand him for his childish behavior.
He made his way over to his disciple, walking ever so slowly, each step taking great strength to do so, while covering his face with a now-bloodied white towel that had been provided to him under my instructions.
"Are you trying to insult me?" The man spoke while squeezing Retsu's shoulder with his hand, as if requesting him to stop his attempts for 'revenge'.
'But he wouldn't be the great Kaiou Ryuu if he couldn't take at least another hit...'
He truly did give it his all, trying to distract his opponent by throwing the towel at his face in an attempt to hide his next kick from below.
'It's useless.'
As someone who had worked tirelessly to 'pull one over' on the man, I knew just how much effort it would take to 'block' his senses or catch him 'off-guard,' if such a thing were even possible.
Thus, as if by decree, my master missed his shot despite his little use of 'tricks,' only grazing the man's shirt as his opponent had already anticipated his next move.
"What a sly geezer you are..."
'Tell me about it...'
I could only complain in my head at my old master's behavior, rushing to pick him up before he could even fully fall to the ground from Yujiro's next kick to his head, thus finishing the match.
I had no time to waste either bickering with my fellow disciple of the temple nor to respond to the stares of the man who seemed to be becoming ever more curious about my actions.
"We have a winner." The announcer seemed similarly shocked and displeased at the outcome of this match, seemingly still in disbelief at how quickly it had ended.
"Doctor Umezawa, I'm leaving him in your care. If he's being fussy, just give him enough sedative to knock out a bull. I'm sure he can take it." I continued to talk about my master's treatment with the doctor, choosing to miss the match between Kaiou Jo and Muhammad Ali Jr. as both of them were 'washed' fighters in their own regard.
I thanked the doctor one last time before making my way back to the arena, just in time to view the last snippet of the next fight.
There he was, the 'champion' standing proud in the arena after having just been cured by the hands of Kaiou Ri.
'Looks like it all worked out in the end...'
The little devil performed a small bow as the crowd cheered his name, looking better already, before exiting the arena through the entrance tunnels.
Still, I followed the boy to make sure my promise to Captain Strydum was fulfilled, eventually reaching the boy wonder as he was mid-feast, having just finished drinking kilograms of sugar water that my dear fellow disciple had so graciously provided.
Although I wanted to make fun of the man for using his hands to stir the water instead of the spoon that I had so graciously provided during our brief catch-up as I carried Master Ryuu out of the arena, doing so would only further sully the good reputation I had tried so hard to maintain.
'Well, it's more so to uphold my image in front of Baki rather than him, but I digress...'
"Hello Baki, my name's Kuzan. Nice to meet you!" I put no effort into hiding my excitement at meeting the supposed 'hero' of this world, congratulating myself for my patience until now.
It was so wonderful to see him continuing to become stronger, getting past one of his most dangerous periods of growth and overcoming it just like I had wanted him to. 'It'll be so much easier now to plan everything moving forward.'
I had always been worried about the 'impact' my actions or even my very existence could have on the 'narrative' of the world. I had grown up watching these 'characters' fight, and now that I had been given the chance to truly live among them, I wasn't going to do anything that would put their 'survival' in jeopardy.
'At least not until I've had my fun with them first...'
By now, I had already gotten the most use I could from the knowledge of the future that I possessed, using it to become stronger both in status and in strength. Thus, I finally introduced myself to the boy as I no longer had to tiptoe around the possibility of changing the 'future' to a great degree.
Unfortunately, despite my positive attitude towards the situation, the young man thought it best to refuse my attempted handshake, instead choosing to shield Kozue from me.
'Chill, man, I don't like her anyway.' Still, I decided not to let my thoughts surface, instead attempting to lighten the mood with some jokes.
"Come on, Retsu, what have you been saying about me behind my back?" I asked the man with a friendly smile after putting my arms around him to show the 'little boy' that I meant no harm.
However, that only caused even more people to become annoyed at my presence, as the great Kaiou Retsu didn't take my attempts at closeness too nicely, instead choosing to 'free himself' from my hold.
'Hey, that hurt, you know. I still have a heart.'
Still, under the glaring eyes of the two competitors, I was forced to exit the awkward situation. 'Ain't that funny, the only person I don't want the attention of is the only one giving me a chance.'
I shrugged my shoulders while acting hurt at their little display of 'isolating' me from the club and walked away from them, as it was getting closer to the start of my match.
It had taken a lot of back and forth with Master Kaku for us to finally come to an agreement at the tournament match-ups, and if I didn't show up on time, I would receive a whole plethora of lectures from the man.
"Kaiou Han has entered the arena!" I could hear the announcer yelling out the introduction of my next foe in excitement, providing a whole background to keep the crowd busy as I was a bit late to the show. He provided a quick introduction to Kaiou Han's skillset and past before finally taking a breath after I entered the arena.
"Kaiou Kuzan has entered the arena!"
"The next fight will be a pure test of skill, folks, as for the first time since the start of this match, both of the men entering the arena have earned themselves the title of Kaiou!" The crowd still seemed enthusiastic at the mention of our titles, despite the fact that all three of the previous Kaious had been demolished by the 'outsiders'.
"Kaiou Kuzan, despite having been born in America, was taken in by the Bailin Temple at a very young age..." the commentator continued introducing me to the rest of the crowd with the introduction I had myself prepared and had asked to be read out, "there, for years he has honed his skills under the guidance of Master Ryuu, even receiving personal instructions from Kaiou Emperor Kaku himself during his training."
"But that's not all, folks... this young man is far from inexperienced! He has made the Bailin Temple proud by snatching the title of Kaiou back from abroad, beating the previous Kaiou Samwan with ease, thus returning the glory of the Kaiou title! He stands here today, as a symbol of the new age of Chinese Martial Arts!"
I decided to ignore the half-truths hidden within the announcer's words, who was currently busy portraying me as a 'Chinese' martial arts master, and continued my walk forward towards the center of the arena.
I couldn't really blame him, considering the last few fights had disrespected the 'sanctity' of the tournament, as well as giving Grandmaster Kaku a lot of leeway in describing my 'origins'.
'Hey, all that matters is that I get to be on the more fun side when it comes down to it.'
Eventually, I reached the center stage, glaring into the eyes of my opponent who was clearly unimpressed by both my young age as well as my tardiness to the party.
"So, Kaiou Han, what'll it be?"
"A test of strength or a test of skill?"