It had to be said that in this world, fighters, aside from a small handful, mostly had pretty good mindsets. They could pick things up and let things go, and they could accept losing. Generally, they wouldn't complain much unless their opponent did something extremely excessive.
But under normal circumstances, losing in the ring just meant losing. They wouldn't say anything about it. After all, if you can't beat someone, then you can't beat them, just train hard and win it back next time.
So, after discussing it, the Japan Team chose to forfeit.
An entire team forfeiting without any of its members even stepping onto the stage was a very rare situation, especially in a world-class tournament like this. But no one said anything.
Aiden's performance was obvious to all, he could defeat opponents in a single move without even using his full strength. There was no need for anyone else to go up and get beaten.
Afterward, the organizers announced that the Kagura Team had taken first place in the winners' bracket.
They also announced that tomorrow, the team advancing from the losers' bracket would be decided.
But honestly, everyone already knew the Kagura Team were the champions. Unless some even stronger fighter appeared, which was basically impossible, tomorrow's matches were only to decide second and third place.
Next, the first day of competition ended. The audience left in an orderly fashion, while the fighters gathered together again instead of leaving. The organizers had prepared a rich banquet for the evening, and of course they weren't about to miss out on free food.
After stepping down from the ring, Aiden walked over to the Kagura sisters. At the moment, they were chatting with the Psycho Soldier Team. When they saw Aiden approach, everyone tacitly stopped talking.
As Aiden walked up, Chin Gentsai spoke in a self-mocking tone, "All my decades of experience, and I actually misjudged you. I even shamelessly thought about taking you as a disciple. If word got out, people would laugh at me."
Hearing that, Aiden shook his head slightly. "I only have this strength because of a twist of fate. Compared to the power you gained through years of bitter training, I can only say I was lucky."
"Luck is also a form of strength." Chin Gentsai shook his head, then said no more.
But although Chin fell silent, Athena hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Um… little junior brother…"
"What is it, senior sister?" Aiden looked at her and asked curiously.
"It's nothing." Athena smiled sweetly and shook her head, but behind her back, she flashed a little "victory" sign at Sie Kensou.
The two of them had made a bet earlier. Kensou bet that if Athena called Aiden "little junior brother," he definitely wouldn't respond. But now that Aiden replied without hesitation, Athena was delighted.
"Tch…" Kensou curled his lips disdainfully, thinking to himself, "He's probably taken a liking to you…"
But soon he hesitated again, because he felt maybe it should be reversed, perhaps it was his own junior sister who liked Aiden.
"Mmm, I think I kind of understand what Athena meant earlier." Kensou nodded in sudden realization. He thought the two of them were really interesting.
'Was this… their kind of flirting?'
'Tsk, they really know how to play!'
Kensou couldn't help sighing.
Chatting with the Psycho Soldier Team was only the beginning. Afterwards, fighters from other teams also came over to talk to Aiden.
At this point, everyone had already accepted that the Kagura Team would be this year's champions. Calling it "chatting" was really just everyone trying to get acquainted. After all, the world of fighters wasn't that big, they'd meet again sooner or later, and being on good terms would make it easier to help each other in the future.
Fighters were people too, they understood social relationships.
Even the usually stern Heidern from the Ikari Team came to chat with Aiden for a bit.
After talking to Heidern for a while, Kyo Kusanagi arrived as well. This boy, around the same age as the Kagura sisters, was technically still a high school student, yet he spoke maturely. After offering a few compliments, he left.
Aiden continued talking with the fighters, and soon more people came over. This time, they were the guests invited by the organizers to watch the tournament.
These people were all dignified figures, upper-level executives of major companies or local political figures. Very quickly, Aiden's hands were filled with business cards, along with a whole pile of compliments.
After seeing those guests off, Aiden casually handed the stack of cards to Chizuru. They were basically useless to him, but very useful to the Kagura Foundation. Even though the Kagura family was already one of Japan's top conglomerates, expanding internationally still required the help of such people…
After that, everyone headed together to the hotel reserved by the organizers for dinner.
After dinner, the fighters all went their separate ways. Since there were still matches tomorrow, they needed to rest early. Even if the championship was already decided, having a ranking was still worthwhile.
Once Aiden saw Mai Shiranui, Shermie, and the others into their car, he returned to the shrine with the Kagura sisters and Nyotengu.
———
Nothing happened during the night, and time moved on to the next day.
Today was the losers' bracket ranking matches, so Aiden and the Kagura sisters, having already secured the champion's spot, naturally sat in the audience.
They could have sat in the fighters' rest area, but since Shermie and the others weren't participants, Aiden figured it was better to watch the matches with them from the stands.
Eating snacks and drinking his favorite drinks, Aiden's gaze fell on Mai Shiranui and the others. Their opponents today were the Ikari Team.
They had pretty good luck, because the Ikari Team had no real desire to compete. Beating them would let the Women Fighters Team climb one rank higher.
Then Aiden looked toward the Psycho Soldier Team. Master and disciples were just like yesterday, Chin Gentsai absentmindedly drinking, Kensou munching on buns like the reincarnation of a bun spirit, and Athena warming up. Their opponents this time were the Kim Team.
The last matchup was Fatal Fury Team versus Art of Fighting Team. The two teams' average strength was similar. Their top ends were Ryo Sakazaki and Terry as anchors, while their lower ends were Robert and Andy. Their match would probably be the most exciting among today's teams.
As for the Japan Team, even though they surrendered yesterday, they were still the most favored for second place… Originally, they were expected to be the champions, but because they ran into Aiden, they could only fight for second.
Since they had already won two rounds yesterday, they had a bye this round. After the remaining six teams produced three winners, the Japan Team would join the draw.
However, Aiden looked around the arena several times and still didn't see Kyo Kusanagi anywhere. He couldn't help feeling curious.
At that moment, Maki also noticed that the Japan Team seemed to be missing someone. She asked, just as puzzled, "Why isn't Kyo Kusanagi here? Did something happen to him?"
Chizuru frowned slightly. "Something happened? Impossible. Maybe he's stuck in traffic? I heard he went back to his hometown last night. It's a bit far from here, and he'd have to pass through several busy main roads."
"That's possible. Tokyo's traffic is terrible." Helena nodded. She'd already experienced Tokyo's awful traffic the first time she visited.
Aiden spoke thoughtfully, "Still… why did Kyo go home last night?"
"Who knows? Maybe he went to see his girlfriend or something." Chizuru shrugged.