Once their three-person squad was formed, Hitomi took a roll of parchment from his pack, untied its leather cord, and unfurled it. It was a map of the island.
Using the scale to estimate the island's size, Hitomi marveled, "The longest straight-line distance across this island is 136.63 li, and the shortest is 101.72 li. Isn't that a little too big for a battlefield with only a hundred people...?"
At that, Mitsuki said, "Actually, it wasn't this big at first."
Hitomi asked, "Oh? How so?"
Mitsuki said, "You didn't know? The first Grand Martial Arts Tournament had only two rounds: a written exam and the Battle Royale."
Hitomi said, "So the final winner was decided right here on this island?"
Mitsuki smiled. "Exactly. Back then, the island was only half its current size, but even that wasn't enough room for the strongest ninja to go wild. When they met and fought, their battles could affect practically the whole island. The other ninja could do little but hide and watch helplessly. They barely got to participate at all, which is why the first Grand Martial Arts Tournament was also called the 'Battle of the Gods.'"
"To prevent that from happening again, the island was expanded to its current size starting with the second tournament, and a third round of arena battles was introduced."
"Personally, I don't think expanding the island made much difference to those top ninja. What mattered most was that they developed a mutual understanding. They stopped making such a huge scene in the second round so the other contestants could perform, saving their strength for the third round's arena battles instead. Even so, the gap in strength was still obvious, and most mid-tier contestants had a miserable time."
Hitomi listened silently to the glorious exploits of his father's