Fair Sparring

Twenty minutes later, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, venue of the Kanto High School Karate Tournament.

Lin Xinyi and the others had arrived by subway.

"Ugh, that charcoal-head really had no sense of restraint."

"How could a handshake leave someone this badly hurt?"

Suzuki Sonoko grumbled unhappily about Makoto Kyogoku's "violence" as she firmly took Lin Xinyi's hand and applied ointment to it.

The karate tournament venue naturally had ample first-aid supplies for external injuries, from cold compress ice packs and pain-relief sprays to ointments for bruising and blood circulation.

They were just what Lin Xinyi needed after shaking hands with a human-shaped Gundam and suffering patchy subcutaneous bleeding across his hand, leaving a large bruise.

"Um, Miss Suzuki, I can apply the medicine myself."

Lin Xinyi instinctively wanted to keep his distance.

But seeing how concerned and focused Suzuki Sonoko looked as she treated his injury, he could not bring himself to refuse.

After hesitating several times, he quietly accepted.

"By the way, remember to apply medicine to the injury on the back of your neck too," Lin Xinyi reminded her kindly.

"It's fine. Once I'm done applying yours, you can help me apply mine later."

Suzuki Sonoko casually lifted her bangs, making things very difficult for Lin Xinyi.

And beside the two of them—

Makoto Kyogoku: "..."

He stood silently nearby, his wheat-colored face seeming even darker.

Because he had accidentally used too much force while competing with Lin Xinyi, he had instead created an opportunity for Suzuki Sonoko, who was wholeheartedly pursuing Lin Xinyi, to slightly close the distance between herself and him.

The thought left Makoto Kyogoku rather depressed.

He almost wished he were the one whose hand had been injured.

At that moment, Lin Xinyi noticed something strange about Makoto Kyogoku as well.

This human-shaped beast, whose strength was beyond imagination, stood silently not far away, staring intently at him with eyes full of "fighting spirit."

Hey, why was he looking at me with the resentful eyes of someone who had just realized he'd been scammed out of sixteen million by a fake stamp?

I was obviously the one who got hurt, wasn't I?

"Um..." Lin Xinyi asked with some concern, "Mr. Makoto Kyogoku, don't you need to prepare for your match?"

The other competitors had rushed off to change into their gis, put on protective gear, and warm up as soon as they arrived.

Only Makoto Kyogoku seemed to have nothing to do, quietly following Lin Xinyi and Suzuki Sonoko around.

"Uh... I'm only here to lead the team. I'm not competing."

Makoto Kyogoku answered somewhat guiltily.

He was already the Japan Karate Champion, so of course he would not enter a regional karate tournament like this.

This time, Makoto Kyogoku had come mainly as the captain of Beido High School's Karate Club, leading his school's team and acting as something like a coach for the younger competitors.

He really did not need to compete, but logically, he should have been with his club members now, giving those younger students a pre-match pep talk.

But... Makoto Kyogoku had something more important to do now—such as standing around blankly beside Suzuki Sonoko and Lin Xinyi.

"So you're free right now?" Lin Xinyi immediately became interested. "Want to spar?"

Only training against the strong could force a breakthrough. No matter how hard he trained alone, he could never develop real combat ability.

Many martial arts masters looked fierce when practicing forms, but the moment they stepped into a ring, they fought as if they had never learned martial arts at all, throwing nothing but wild, unstructured punches. That was because they only practiced routines and lacked real sparring experience.

So, in order to become stronger, Lin Xinyi was now extremely enthusiastic about fighting.

"Now?" Makoto Kyogoku hesitantly glanced at Lin Xinyi's hand.

"It's only a bruise. It won't affect my performance." Lin Xinyi confidently clenched his fist.

"Alright!"

Makoto Kyogoku's fighting spirit instantly surged.

He was not good with words and had a reserved personality, making him embarrassed to reveal his feelings. It was perfect—he could display his charm before Miss Suzuki through the fighting he excelled at most.

"No!" But Suzuki Sonoko firmly objected.

Lin Xinyi was clearly weaker than Makoto Kyogoku, something even an outsider like her could see.

"You have no sense of restraint. What if you hurt him again?"

"..."

Makoto Kyogoku felt deeply frustrated. After pondering for a long time, he finally answered in a calm tone.

"I can suppress both my strength and speed to the same level as Mr. Lin Xinyi's, and we can have a fair spar."

Hearing that, Lin Xinyi was even more impressed.

Strength and speed were not things one could simply suppress at will. Since Makoto Kyogoku dared make such a promise, his control over his body had surely reached an incredible level.

There was no doubt that he was an opponent Lin Xinyi could not defeat at all right now.

"However..."

"If we only compare techniques and not strength..."

"Then I might not necessarily lose."

Lin Xinyi smiled confidently.

He immediately met Makoto Kyogoku's gaze with imposing momentum, and Makoto Kyogoku looked back at him with equally high fighting spirit.

Thus, the two left the infirmary and headed to the small dojo prepared for competitors to warm up, ready for a fair and "friendly" spar.

"What? Senior Makoto Kyogoku is going to fight someone?"

The news spread instantly, stirring up excitement among the competitors.

That was Makoto Kyogoku, the strongest in Japan—a legendary figure.

Compared to watching Makoto Kyogoku spar in a real fight, even the afternoon matches suddenly seemed less important.

And so—

Before Lin Xinyi and Makoto Kyogoku had even taken their positions in the dojo, the area around it was already packed with young karate competitors who had come after hearing the news.

They had all changed into neat karate gis and sat in an orderly circle around the edge of the dojo, surrounding Lin Xinyi and Makoto Kyogoku in the center.

Looking at the scene, Lin Xinyi almost felt as if he had somehow traveled onto the set of Ip Man 1.

"Do you want to wear protective gear?"

Before they began, Makoto Kyogoku asked kindly.

"No. I trust your control."

Lin Xinyi boldly chose not to wear any protective gear.

As long as Makoto Kyogoku could control his strength, he would not be badly hurt.

And if Makoto Kyogoku failed to control his strength, then with that guy's physical ability, wearing protective gear would be no different from wearing none.

"Sun-dome, or Full Contact?"

Makoto Kyogoku once again placed the choice in Lin Xinyi's hands.

Sun-dome was the sporting rule mentioned before: stopping just short of contact.

Full Contact, as the name implied, meant real combat, with every punch and kick landing solidly.

Ordinary fighting enthusiasts would choose Sun-dome rules when sparring with Makoto Kyogoku. After all, he was simply too strong, and a Full Contact match against him was frightening.

But Lin Xinyi still boldly answered, "Full Contact."

The martial arts he was best at were killing techniques, not competitive moves.

If they did not fight Full Contact, he would not be able to bring out their true effect.

When everyone heard Lin Xinyi choose Full Contact rules, the dojo immediately erupted with gasps.

"He actually dares fight Senior Makoto Kyogoku in Full Contact?"

"This guy is definitely going to lose."

The one who said this was Wada Hina, a talented female fighter from Beido High School's Karate Club and Makoto Kyogoku's junior.

She was the seeded competitor for Beido High School's team this time, as well as one of the favorites to compete with Mouri Ran for the women's division championship.

Wada Hina had also been present when they encountered the thug at the train station earlier.

Now that she understood the rules of Lin Xinyi and Makoto Kyogoku's spar, she could not help but laugh.

"Even in a fair match where strength and speed are suppressed and only techniques are compared, Senior Makoto Kyogoku is still the strongest in Japan."

"If it were Sun-dome rules, that Lin Xinyi might at least lose with some dignity."

"But now... he'll definitely lose horribly."

"What are you talking about? They haven't even started yet..." Hearing Wada Hina dismiss Lin Xinyi as worthless, Suzuki Sonoko, who had followed them to the dojo, instinctively wanted to argue back.

But at that moment, Miss Mouri Ran, who was also present, did not take her best friend's side at all.

"Indeed... Mr. Lin Xinyi chose wrong."

"Senior Makoto Kyogoku practices Kyokushin Karate. Sun-dome rules could still limit his performance to some extent, but under Full Contact rules, dealing with him will be truly difficult."

Kyokushin Karate was a modern fighting style derived from traditional karate.

Traditional karate styles emphasized Sun-dome, competition, and stopping at the point of contact, while Kyokushin Karate insisted on practical combat and focused on Full Contact matches where every strike landed.

In Kyokushin Karate competitions, participants wore no protective gear. Aside from prohibitions against striking the head with the hands and attacking the groin, every other part of the body could be directly attacked. Hands, feet, elbows, and knees were all used, with no weight classes.

This was what Makoto Kyogoku had trained in since childhood.

Lin Xinyi was not demanding protective gear or Sun-dome. Fighting entirely under the Full Contact rules Makoto Kyogoku excelled at was practically choosing hard mode for himself.

"Is that so..."

After Ran explained it, Suzuki Sonoko understood the difficulty involved.

Even someone as strong as Ran thought Makoto Kyogoku was unbeatable—even with their physical abilities suppressed to the same level—so Lin Xinyi was probably in serious trouble.

However—

Miss Suzuki would not admit defeat just like that.

"Lord Lin Xinyi, you have to do your best!"

"I believe you can win!"

She stood boldly from the edge of the dojo and loudly cheered Lin Xinyi on.

Although everyone present looked at her strangely, Suzuki Sonoko did not care in the slightest—she had always been this bold by nature.

"Thank you. I'll definitely do my best."

Lin Xinyi turned and gave her a smile.

Although he had deliberately kept his distance from Miss Suzuki, whose enthusiasm for her idol went a little too far, when everyone doubted him, Lin Xinyi naturally would not reject the only friend willing to believe in him.

After returning Suzuki Sonoko's smile, he immediately turned his attention back to the dojo.

Back to Makoto Kyogoku.

Huh?

Lin Xinyi observed Makoto Kyogoku, whose aura had changed drastically.

Why did it feel like...

This guy's fighting spirit had suddenly grown much stronger?