"Kaguya-sama, that Himuro Ryo probably won't come to help you."
Following beside Shinomiya Kaguya was her attendant Hayasaka Ai, who at this moment was expressionlessly suggesting to Shinomiya Kaguya, this person who acted like a normie at school.
"I know it's like that too..."
Shinomiya Kaguya looked expressionlessly at the deep and straight passage ahead. The further forward they walked, the deeper they sank into darkness, with no light visible shining from the depths of the tunnel. Even her eyes had gradually adapted to this darkness.
"But there's no choice in the current situation. Talented newcomers must be contacted, those with potential must be watched, and veteran fighters would be fine if they're willing to help..."
"This is already my last way out, Hayasaka."
Hearing Shinomiya Kaguya say this, although Hayasaka Ai's face didn't change, she sighed inwardly.
She understood Kaguya-sama's words better than anyone.
Because the internal competition within the Shinomiya family had indeed reached an extremely fierce level, so Kaguya-sama, whose position in the family was relatively weak, was naturally gradually developing toward being a tool for political marriage.
In the Shinomiya family, Kaguya-sama had no allies.
Even herself...
Thinking of this, Hayasaka Ai slowly closed her eyes, then followed Shinomiya Kaguya out of the tunnel, arriving at the unlit audience seats of Great Universe Bar's underground fighting arena, taking their designated seats.
"But don't worry too much, Hayasaka. Being able to obtain Kengan Association membership is already a very important step. Temporary setbacks don't mean anything. As long as we achieve victory in the long-term future, it's no different from always winning."
Hayasaka Ai, who understood very clearly that Kengan was Kaguya-sama's only hope, nodded at this moment.
"I understand, Kaguya-sama."
...
Erina leaned against the wall of the contestants' passage, looking at Mutou Judai beside her who had already changed into clothes convenient for movement, and sighed slightly.
"Speaking of which, back when I was grouped with you for the field study trip exam, I could never have imagined that in just these few short days, the situation would develop to this point..."
Mutou Judai listened to Erina's sigh and glanced at her with his peripheral vision.
"So you're going to try to persuade me at this time too?"
"No, that last time was my final advice to you."
Erina crossed her arms and looked at Mutou Judai with her unique strong-willed posture:
"Now even if you regret it, there's nothing you can do. If you lose, you'll also be beaten badly by the opponent, so if you want to return here coolly, you can only achieve victory."
"I'll be waiting for you here... Good luck."
Hearing Erina say such words, Mutou Judai was somewhat surprised.
"I thought you were specifically waiting here before I went on stage to curse me to die early in the arena."
"...What kind of person do you think I am!?"
What kind of person?
Hmm...
—Probably a pampered young lady with a terrible personality.
Mutou Judai just thought about it in his heart, then walked toward the exit of the tunnel.
"Erina..."
"Mm?"
"See you later~"
Mutou Judai waved his hand with his back to Erina, while Erina was stunned for a moment before smiling and shaking her head.
"See you later!"
...
Whoosh—
The arena lights were lit the moment the two contestants entered, and even from special mechanisms around the arena, several flames were shot toward the sky.
The temperature of the flames ignited the air in this not-so-large fighting arena itself.
And Mutou Judai and Himuro Ryo walked to the inside of the venue in this temperature, facing each other.
This was Mutou Judai's first time participating in this kind of event.
As expected...
Now it was different from all the feelings he had when he first heard about fighting techniques—
Feeling this temperature, looking at the opponent in front of him...
The current Mutou Judai—was far more excited than when he first heard about fighting techniques!
—Maybe he really was a battle maniac.
With Mutou Judai's thoughts, Himuro Ryo looked into Mutou Judai's eyes, felt the fighting spirit burning within them, and prepared for battle.
At this moment, Okuya Ken walked out to the judges' seats, personally taking the microphone and speaking:
"Welcome everyone~"
"The contestants for this Kengan match are our Kinokuniya Bookstore's representative fighter—'Ice Emperor' Himuro Ryo!"
With his voice, the Kengan Association members watching the match below, although they wouldn't cheer, still applauded in the darkness.
Many of them had come specifically for Himuro Ryo, this super rookie.
His current record was four wins in four matches, having been judged to possess first-class fighter qualities after fighting only a small number of matches.
After introducing Himuro Ryo, Okuya Ken continued:
"And then the representative fighter sent by the Nakiri family, um..."
When he saw Mutou Judai's title, Okuya Ken was stunned for a moment, but after reacting, he directly laughed.
"'Tiger'..."
Hm!?
When Okuya Ken said the title Tiger, the Kengan Association members below were obviously stunned.
After all, Tiger... that was a legendary fighter who had lost only two matches out of hundreds!
They didn't expect that after the Nakiri family lost Floating Cloud, they would invite Tiger!
Just as they were all thinking, Okuya Ken burped from alcohol, then finally said the name.
"—'Tiger' Mutou Judai!"
Ah, this...
Many Kengan Association members were stunned, but they weren't stupid. After thinking carefully, they discovered that the Kengan Association really had no rules against contestants using the same title.
Then... their thoughts became the same as Erina's initially.
—Using such a nickname, that real Tiger would definitely get angry!
But this matter had nothing to do with them, and no one said anything. Just for this title, those who had already started applauding could only continue.
—Consider it giving Tiger some face!
This resulted in the situation where, although this was clearly Himuro Ryo's home ground, the applause for Mutou Judai was obviously more intense.
"As expected, this nickname was chosen correctly."
Hearing Mutou Judai say this, Himuro Ryo couldn't help but curl his lips.
"I hope you'll still say such things when you face that Tiger..."
"You don't need to worry about that."
Looking at Himuro Ryo taking a Jeet Kune Do stance, Mutou Judai also moved his shoulders.
After introducing the contestants, Okuya Ken made his final announcement with the loudest voice he had made so far:
"Match—begin!"
With his voice, Himuro Ryo directly took a small step forward, then looking at Mutou Judai's straight punch, among his previously raised hands, his right hand stood up, directly blocking Mutou Judai's straight punch. Then his other hand pressed on his elbow, taking over Mutou Judai's hand from his right hand. Then he himself stepped further forward, and his freed right fist struck toward Mutou Judai's chin, which hadn't established good defense due to throwing the straight punch.
This was a quite classic Jeet Kune Do pattern.
Using the opponent's attack to tear open their defense and launching an attack at the fastest speed—basically, the moment Himuro Ryo's fist went out, his foot also stepped out. If you only focused on his fist, you would inevitably suffer in terms of footwork.
Moreover...
—This was impossible to prevent in advance.
Because Jeet Kune Do was a no-routine fighting form, and people who fought this way were more imaginative than those who learned other fighting techniques!
Although classic in pattern, what the opponent would do next was completely beyond imagination.
Eye pokes, groin attacks, joint strikes—all these moves were allowed.
Movements were simple and swift.
Fighters who used Jeet Kune Do to fight typically finished battles in times measured in seconds!
That's why Himuro Ryo was so confident.
But—
The moment Himuro Ryo's fist landed on Mutou Judai's chin, Mutou Judai's fist also landed on Himuro Ryo's face!
This action itself exceeded Himuro Ryo's expectations.
Because although Himuro Ryo's fist clearly hit the chin, it actually didn't even make Mutou Judai retreat half a step! The opponent's reaction didn't pause either, and his left hand still managed to get around his left elbow and land on his face!
Even such a punch that was difficult to generate force with still sent Himuro Ryo's feet off the ground!
—What kind of monster physique was this!
Moreover...
The moment Mutou Judai's fist landed on Himuro Ryo's face, he also silently activated the curse he had previously placed on Himuro Ryo.
'Ah—'
In an instant, although Himuro Ryo lying on the ground clenched his teeth, an extremely miserable scream was still squeezed out from between his teeth.
Although he didn't faint, it was quite impossible for him to get up from the ground.
—Actually, even if he got up, it would be useless.
If it were general fighting techniques, then enduring full-body muscle spasms to get up might still have some techniques for fighting in such a state.
But Jeet Kune Do...
This fighting style had become too focused on speed and imagination after entering modern times, and most Jeet Kune Do schools were too dependent on reactions and adaptation.
So...
The effect of a full-body muscle spasm buff on a Jeet Kune Do user was devastatingly good!
Moreover, the effect of this curse exceeded Mutou Judai's expectations.
Himuro Ryo couldn't even crawl now.
After the Kengan Association inspectors came on stage, checked Himuro Ryo's condition, and then checked whether Mutou Judai was carrying weapons.
Finally, they reached this conclusion.
Mutou Judai.
—Won!
This Kengan debut match for Mutou Judai took a total of 3 seconds or less from the announcement of the match start to his victory.
He had taken down the Kengan match super rookie Himuro Ryo with one punch!
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