Second Round

Because Kurenai and the two men unanimously targeted Daido, the referee immediately announced the start of the match.

The atmosphere below the stage began to stir at the sight, but in Genma's eyes, this was downright infuriating.

Kurenai clearly had never interacted with those two men before, yet now she had joined forces with them to deal with the man who was presumably Daido.

First, he was certain that Daido was absolutely the one being targeted. Whether it was his bearing or his character, he greatly resembled the Daido of the future.

Second, the two men who had teamed up with Kurenai looked utterly detestable. They looked like petty vendors carrying lemons, their faces practically screaming, "If it's not sour, it's free."

The more Genma watched, the angrier and more bitter he became. He wanted to rush up there and skin those two idiots alive. But the match was still ongoing, and if he went up there, he might be hated—or even considered someone making an unreasonable scene.

Endure it, endure it. Aren't ninjas supposed to endure?

Genma kept consoling himself. Just as his mouth was turning sour from holding it in, he finally saw what he most wanted to see.

The two idiots Kurenai had egged on were utterly crushed by Daido in an instant, completely unable to resist. The sheer decisiveness of it nearly made Genma shout in delight and start dancing on the spot.

But he quickly calmed down, because Daido was now pointing his wooden sword directly at Kurenai, his icy gaze making everyone deeply uncomfortable.

Just when the sourness was gone, here came the spice. Someone actually dared treat his wife so fiercely. Genma viciously wrote this guy down in his little notebook.

Daido did not seem to underestimate Kurenai because she was small and sweet-looking. Judging by his stern expression, he seemed even more serious than when he had dealt with those two men earlier.

His sword moved. With astonishing speed, it carved a phantom through the air. Kurenai barely managed to block it by bracing her sword with both hands.

Their first exchange immediately revealed the gap between them. Whether in speed, strength, or reaction time, Kurenai was clearly weaker.

Still, managing to block that strike was already a good showing. After all, Kurenai had only practiced swordsmanship for a little over two years, and she was already far stronger than many beginners.

But before the audience could breathe a sigh of relief, Daido moved again. Using his greater strength, he knocked Kurenai back, then slashed at her with even greater speed than before. At that moment, she either had to dodge or clash head-on to blunt his force.

But Kurenai, whose speed was clearly inferior to Daido's, had no choice but to meet him head-on. Yet not long after their wooden swords collided, Daido twisted his blade around hers, sending Kurenai's sword flying from her hand.

The result was obvious: Kurenai had lost. The loss might not have hurt physically, but for a swordsman, having one's own sword knocked away was a tremendous humiliation.

She had practiced swordsmanship for so many years, yet before an opponent who also used a sword, she could not even keep hold of it. One could only imagine how humiliating that was.

Kurenai lost the match, but she neither made a fuss nor got angry. She even appeared unusually calm. Still, Genma could tell that she was not in a good mood.

So he pulled Raidō over and discussed it with him. "Say, Raidō, even though we can't have a final duel with the experts from the Land of This, we can't just let what happened to Kurenai go, right?"

"Mm~ That guy really is hateful, but he won't be easy to deal with either~" Namiashi Raidō put on an act, his face shifting between anger and hesitation. How could Genma not see what he was after?

"One all-you-can-eat roasted meat meal. How about it?"

"Oh! Unforgivable, absolutely unforgivable! He actually dared bully someone from Team 8. Whoever he is, we'll beat him up first!"

"..."

Shiranui Genma really wanted to point out that Raidō had clearly been hesitating just a moment ago. But if he said it aloud, the price might go up, so he could only join Raidō in righteously condemning the man.

The preliminary selections for the Sword Group had already ended. After two rounds of major matches, thirty-three people remained in the Fist Group, while twenty-two remained in the Sword Group.

None of them left, because the referee said there would be another elimination round. Although the previous battles had drained much of their stamina, everyone who stayed behind wore excited expressions.

This was a rare Imperial Martial Competition. It was said that only the three strongest participants from each group would be chosen. Because of the war, the rewards for the strongest had changed from material prizes to military ranks.

According to reliable sources, the champion would become the commander of five hundred men, the runner-up would command two hundred men, and third place would command one hundred men.

Judging by the reactions of the Land of This experts on the field, these positions must come with considerable benefits. Yet one person remained an exception.

Daido, standing among the crowd, was not particularly striking in appearance. Instead, it was his indifferent gaze that made him seem detached from the world at first glance.

From the moment he defeated Kurenai, Genma had hated him, so he had kept watching him closely.

"It's fine, Genma. Stop worrying about me. It's already over~"

Genma's condition was no secret within the team. Although Kurenai still did not know that he and Raidō had agreed to target Daido, seeing him get angry because she had been bullied gradually took her mind off things.

"Ahem, I'm not worried for you. I'm genuinely angry. Why did he have to treat you like that? It would have been enough to defeat you, but he had to humiliate you too. I just can't stomach it!"

After saying that, Genma pouted and glared furiously at that iron-block-like man again, as though he wanted to burn him to ashes with his rage.

Seeing how much Genma cared about her, Kurenai was stunned for a moment before taking his large hand in hers. "It's fine, I'm not that fragile. I only lost one match. At lunch, I want you to feed me~"

For some reason, Kurenai suddenly remembered the new skill she had learned before.

The moment she used it, Genma's ears twitched with incredible agility. He immediately turned around and said delightedly, "Hehe~ Is this real? I'm not dreaming, am I?"

Genma's mixture of surprise and happiness made Kurenai laugh despite herself, so she reached out and pinched his side.

"Hiss~ That hurts, but I'm so happy~"

"Pfft~ You're just as silly as when I first met you~"

"Hehe, fools have foolish luck~"

"I'm not talking to you anymore. Everyone's here~"

Only then did Genma realize that the people around them who knew what was going on had all perked up their ears, wearing expressions of sudden understanding.

What exactly had they discovered!?

The group exchanged looks, the smiles at the corners of their mouths growing wider and wider, as though they had uncovered Genma's great secret.

For a moment, Genma could not figure it out, but he felt uncomfortable all the same, so he grabbed Raidō.

"Say, what exactly did you guys find out?"

"Cough, cough, bro, bro, I was wrong. Could you loosen your grip first? Besides, we still have our agreement~"

"Oh, fine. Go on, I'm listening. If you explain it well, there'll be meat for you!"

Namiashi Raidō's face darkened. Roasted Meat suddenly didn't seem so easy to earn. His eyes flickered a few times before he awkwardly smoothed down his collar and spoke. "Well... you and Kurenai have been together for so long... We've actually all been pretty curious about what having a girlfriend is like. And then... after seeing you like this, well, we sort of get it now~"

Seeing Raidō speak so seriously, with an expression that seemed fairly sincere, Genma's suspicions eased somewhat. But he had clearly seen that lewd grin earlier, so he was still rather puzzled.

However, Raidō had already put on such an attitude, and since they had made an agreement before, Genma couldn't press him too hard. He could only let it go for now.

"The second preliminary round of the Imperial Martial Competition, Fist Group, is about to begin. The rules are as follows..."

The referee's forceful voice rang out as he read aloud the various rules and precautions for the fist-fighting matches.

Since there were still many contestants in the Fist Group, it remained a free-for-all. Only, it had changed from one winner out of six to one winner out of three.

But that made no difference at all to Might Guy. At worst, he would just fight two opponents at once.

Ebisu and Dieyewasi, however, looked rather grim. They were both ninja who excelled at ninjutsu. Though they had some experience with Taijutsu, it was not their specialty.

When they had faced six opponents before, it had been difficult too, but the battlefield had been chaotic enough. Their smaller builds and greater agility had allowed them to make the most of their advantages.

But with only three people, the two others would inevitably join forces to deal with the weaker-looking pair.

Facing two opponents who had emerged from a six-person brawl at the same time was difficult even for ninja like Ebisu and Dieyewasi.

"Whoa!! I can feel the roar of youth ringing in my ears! I really want to get out there already!"

After his impassioned declaration, Might Guy immediately lowered his head and began doing push-ups. Perhaps because of him, the spectator stands were filled with chirping voices and lively excitement.

"What's in that guy's head besides all this stuff? So boring~" Ebisu glanced helplessly at Might Guy, who was diligently training, then found a spot with more adults. He craned his neck, a strange smile spreading across his face.

As for the other contestant, Dieyewasi, it was unclear whether he was nervous or what, but he took out packet after packet of sunflower seeds and snacks to eat. He looked even more like a spectator than the spectators themselves. But someone even more shameless reached out and took Dieyewasi's snacks without saying a word, eating them while using a Telescope to sneak glances at the stands.

Match after match began. Though three-person brawls lacked the visual impact of six-person melees, they were no less intense.

The whistling force of punches slicing through the air, the roars of exertion, the crashes of fists and feet colliding—everything radiated thick masculine hormones.

No one knew what sort of situation Noma was in up in the spectator stands. Quite a few female audience members seemed to bounce in full of energy, only to be carried out foaming at the mouth.

Yet he never came down to the arena to join the others. Apparently, he was having quite a good time.

Before long, Ebisu was the first to take the stage.

As soon as the referee announced the start of the match, the other two quickly reached an understanding and began pincering Ebisu, since he looked weaker.

Ebisu was naturally not easy to deal with. After circling around several times and occasionally landing a few probing strikes, the two muscular men were already starting to pant.

When the two men slowed down even further, Ebisu began his counterattack. Compared with his opponents, his smaller and lighter body had only exerted itself about as much as if he had run a little over ten kilometers. He still had plenty of stamina left.

Seizing the instant one of the burly men stumbled clumsily, he drove a punch into the man's ribs. When the other charged over to help, Ebisu used his lower center of gravity to duck, spin, and kick.

Continuing to fight and maneuver like that, he finally brought down both men.

It had indeed taken quite a while, but he had made clever use of tactics. Besides, it had been two against one from the start, so the referee had nothing to criticize.

After being declared the victor, Ebisu walked off the stage with light steps, breathing slightly heavily as he happily accepted the many cheers meant for him.

The chapter title was a little lacking.