The second semi-final then erupted into motion as soon as the signal was given.
Sai wasted no time his body ignited with fiery energy as he charged straight at Ban, his movements sharp and aggressive, flames trailing behind him like a comet streaking across the battlefield.
But Ban was unfazed.
With a calm, almost mocking precision, he sidestepped the attack, his skeletal frame shifting with uncanny agility.
The ground-like earth scorched where Sai's strike landed on, but Ban's dragon-like eyes glowed a bit but faintly, watching Sai with a predator's patience.
The clash was quickly shifted in tone.
Yoi was silent and shadowed, then stepped forward to join Ban.
His aura seeped across the arena floor like a creeping fog, shadows twisting unnaturally as poison mist began to rise.
Together, Ban and Yoi moved in unison, their combined presence pressing down on Sai like a suffocating weight.
It was now a two-on-one battle.
Sai stood alone, flames flickering around his fists, his breathing steady but tense.
He knew the odds had shifted against him.
Meanwhile, Kane Eguchi remained still at the edge of the arena.
His arms were folded, his expression unreadable.
The air around him shimmered faintly, as though time itself bent to his will, but he made no move to intervene.
Kane's silence was deliberate, he was watching, calculating, waiting for the perfect moment to act.
The clash grew fiercer as flames and shadows collided across the arena floor.
Sai pressed forward with relentless aggression, his fire magic roaring around him like a living inferno.
Ban, however, remained calm, his skeletal frame moving with uncanny precision.
In a sudden blur of motion, Ban's blade flashed.
He sidestepped Sai's fiery strike and, with a swift arc, sliced across Sai's back.
The sound of bone scraping against flesh echoed through the arena as Sai staggered forward, the wound burning with pain.
The crowd gasped, expecting the strike to be fatal.
But Ban's weapon was not forged of Vengestone, the cursed material that prevented healing.
Sai's body glowed faintly as his ultra-regeneration ability activated.
Muscles stitched themselves back together, skin sealed, and the wound vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared.
Sai straightened, his eyes blazing with renewed fury.
"You'll need more than that to put me down," he growled, flames erupting around his fists once more.
His aura flared brighter, defiant against Ban's cold, dragon-skeletal presence.
Ban tilted his head, unimpressed, his ember-lit chest glowing faintly as if amused by Sai's resilience.
Yoi lingered in the shadows nearby, his poison mist curling across the battlefield, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
The crowd roared with anticipation, sensing the imbalance.
Sai's fire burned brighter, defiant against the encroaching darkness of Ban and Yoi.
The arena floor cracked beneath their combined pressure, the atmosphere charged with the promise of devastation.
The arena floor trembled beneath Sai's feet as Ban's blade withdrew, the wound already sealing thanks to Sai's ultra-regeneration.
But Sai was not finished, his eyes narrowed, and his aura flared brighter than ever.
With a roar, flames erupted from his body, spiralling upward like a raging inferno.
The fire twisted and condensed, wrapping around him in layers until it solidified into a blazing suit of armour.
Each plate shimmered with molten energy, glowing like volcanic steel.
The crowd gasped as the heat radiating from Sai's form warped the air, making the battlefield shimmer as though reality itself was burning.
Sai raised his hand, and from the heart of the inferno a weapon began to take shape.
Flames coiled together, hardening into a blade that pulsed with raw power.
His fire sword gleamed like a shard of the sun, its edge radiating heat so intense that the stone beneath him cracked and smoked.
Clad in his fiery armour, sword in hand, Sai stood transformed, no longer just a captain, but a warrior reborn in flame.
His presence was overwhelming, a beacon of defiance against Ban's skeletal might and Yoi's creeping shadows.
Ban tilted his head, his dragon-like eyes narrowing as embers glowed faintly within his chest.
Yoi's poison mist recoiled slightly, hissing against the heat, though his shadow aura continued to writhe and twist.
From the sidelines of the arena, Kane Eguchi remained unmoving, his arms folded, his gaze sharp.
The air around Kane rippled faintly, as though time itself was just waiting for his command just to be able to function.
Kane then watched in silence, calculating, while the crowd roared in anticipation of the clash to come.
The battlefield was set ablaze, Sai, armoured in fire and wielding his sword of flame, stood ready to face two opponents at once.
The semi-finals match was just about to escalate into a storm of destruction.