"He shit himself~"
When Mutou Judai saw Erina push open the contestant waiting room door, he looked up and shrugged helplessly.
"I saw..."
"But I didn't expect to see overtime in a Kengan match... well, although Kengan has quite a long history, something like today's incident is probably happening for the first time."
Listening to the noise and laughter coming from the audience seats outside the contestant passage, Erina didn't know whether to laugh or sigh for a moment.
"But Judai... although such an incident did make Takeshi momentarily want to just lie on the ground and play dead, that's still Takeshi after all. When he comes back on stage, his condition will probably be restored."
"I know..."
Mutou Judai said this, then glanced at Erina.
"Erina, do you think if I hadn't been talkative just now, would this match have been directly counted as our win?"
"Probably not."
Erina shook her head.
"After all, the stakes for this match are too big... The shares held by Toyo Electric's largest shareholder are only single digits. If Toyo Electric had to hand over 2% of their shares because of such a ridiculous incident, they definitely wouldn't accept it peacefully."
"True..."
Mutou Judai responded this way first, then suddenly reacted.
"How did it become 2%? I remember it was 1% before?"
Hearing Mutou Judai's question, Erina smiled.
"Don't forget our division of labor... you're responsible for defeating the opponent, while I'm responsible for maximizing your victory—while you were training, while you were fighting, I was also working hard."
"I see."
Saying this, Mutou Judai glanced at the time, then smiled and stood up.
"The venue is probably cleaned up, and Takeshi's condition has probably recovered too—although it would be more advantageous for me if we could rest for an hour, half an hour is half an hour..."
Mutou Judai walked toward the contestant passage while saying this, then with his back to Erina, waved his hand.
"Wait a moment, I'll go get those 2% shares you worked hard to secure!"
Mutou Judai said this, then under Erina's gaze, pushed open the waiting room door and stepped into the venue again through the contestant passage.
Erina also walked out of the waiting room at this time.
"Is it really okay not to tell him the specific situation of this matter?"
As Erina walked out of the contestant waiting room, Nakiri Senzaemon, who had been leaning against the corner of the passage since who knows when, slowly opened his eyes.
"What do you mean, Grandpa?"
"About you actively approaching Toyo Electric to increase the stakes, even putting the entire Totsuki Corporation on the line to get Toyo Electric to add another 1% in shares..."
The stakes of this Kengan match were originally perhaps equal in various senses.
But now they actually weren't equal.
Because Erina had actively increased the stakes, making Totsuki's side bet almost everything, the value of stakes here far exceeded Toyo Electric's side. Otherwise, Hayami Katsumasa couldn't have agreed to increase the stakes again.
"Grandpa, you didn't stop me either."
Nakiri Senzaemon and Erina looked at each other, shaking his head slightly.
"Because I know you wouldn't act recklessly... but I didn't expect you wouldn't plan to tell that boy Mutou about the importance of this match."
Hearing Nakiri Senzaemon say this, Erina smiled.
"Because there's nothing to say."
Erina said this, then looked through the contestant passage toward Mutou Judai who had walked back onto the arena.
"This matter was just a small thing to begin with—because no matter how much we bet, what we bet doesn't matter."
"And even if the opponent bets just a little more, it's pure profit for us."
After all...
"—Judai won't lose to a mere Takeshi."
Mutou Judai wasn't aware of what was happening on Erina's side. Right now, he saw that Wakatsuki Takeshi had regained his expressionless appearance and started warming up across from him.
Seeing such Wakatsuki Takeshi, Mutou Judai suddenly smiled.
"Takeshi... did you clean up properly this time?"
Mmm...
Wakatsuki Takeshi's brow furrowed directly, but soon relaxed.
"Yes, cleaned up... that was indeed my disgrace earlier."
Wakatsuki Takeshi finished his warm-up while saying this, then came directly across from Mutou Judai, using his height advantage to look down at him.
"This time you can rest assured, Mutou... even if I shit out my stomach, I'll punch you while hanging by my intestines!"
Right.
After calming down, Wakatsuki Takeshi didn't think his diarrhea on the arena was disgraceful—instead, he felt that losing his fighting spirit on the arena over such a small matter was truly disgraceful!
If it were Hatsumi Sen the Cloud or Kanoh Agito the Fang of Metsudo who had defeated him, even if they had diarrhea on the arena, they would probably continue fighting!
After all...
Gladiators aren't fighters.
They don't need martial spirit, don't need competitive spirit, don't need fairness.
The only thing they need is—victory!
Gladiators who use dirty tricks are gladiators, gladiators who commit fouls are gladiators, gladiators who kill maliciously are also gladiators—only gladiators who give up victory are no longer gladiators!
Hearing Wakatsuki Takeshi say this, Mutou Judai was stunned for a moment, then showed his smile again.
"Takeshi... you're too pure like this."
So...
"This time I absolutely won't let you have a comeback!"
Hearing Mutou Judai's words, although Wakatsuki Takeshi didn't understand what "purity" meant, he also smiled.
"If you can do it, then try!"
With their words, the referee beside them also raised his hand high.
The match——
"Begin!"
Bang, boom—!
As the referee announced the start of the match, before his words had finished falling, a sound like cannon bombardment exploded directly in the center of the venue!
The terrifying air waves blew the sand and dust from the arena floor in all directions, and the scene in the center of the venue instantly concentrated everyone's attention.
If Mutou Judai and Wakatsuki Takeshi were both testing strategies during their first exchange, this time it wasn't like that.
—This time was much more direct!
At the first moment the match began, Wakatsuki Takeshi's jab landed on Mutou Judai's body, while Mutou Judai's fist also slapped Wakatsuki Takeshi's face at the first moment!
The venue was shaking, as if the air itself was trembling under the collision of those two terrifying forces!
This...
Honestly, this scene was something no one expected.
Because Wakatsuki Takeshi... his fists could already be said to be the pinnacle of striking among Kengan Association gladiators!
Even reinforced concrete walls would collapse with a thunderous crash under Wakatsuki Takeshi's punch.
Even Hatsumi Sen and Kanoh Agito, who had once defeated Wakatsuki Takeshi, had never faced Wakatsuki Takeshi's punch head-on!
But Mutou Judai did something that no one had dared to do until now!
And moreover...
Wakatsuki Takeshi was pushed back quite a distance by Mutou Judai's punch!
As for Mutou Judai...
"This monster has nothing wrong with him after taking Takeshi's punch!?"
Prison Angel, master of ukemi, and quite possibly the most durable active gladiator in the current Kengan Association, Sekibayashi Jun exclaimed instinctively from the audience.
Wakatsuki Takeshi was also somewhat surprised...
Because if Mutou Judai had used his arms to block his punch, Wakatsuki Takeshi could have accepted that.
But...
—He didn't defend at all!
He took his punch directly with his sternum, which should be considered a vital point for all humans!
Then Mutou Judai's reaction to this was... he moved his shoulders, didn't even step back half a step, and looked at him like nothing happened.
"Come on, continue!"
Seeing such Mutou Judai, Wakatsuki Takeshi's pupils contracted sharply, then his gaze became even more determined than before!
Mutou Judai really was a monster...
However.
—Even if he's a monster, I will fight and defeat him!
Because...
I am a gladiator, Tiger Wakatsuki Takeshi!