After the fierce clash between Alex and Mori, Tomoa stood up with a commanding voice.
"The next match will now begin... Kinto Kutsekabe vs. Rin Tahariuchi of the city of steel!"
The arena buzzed with excitement, people yelling in excitement. Rin, wearing a calm smile, casually stepped forward, her eyes locked onto the battlefield. She turned back "See you later guys", shouya and kazu waved back "Sure" shouya saud calmly, "Do your best" kazu waved. Meanwhile, Kinto remained where he stood, visibly annoyed.
"Tch... I can't believe I have to fight her. A girl. Are you kidding me?!," Kinto muttered under his breath. "Girls are already annoying enough to deal with... and now, in a world where everyone's got powers, they're even worse. Damn it! Ive never felt so intrigued to run away before in my 12 years of living"
Alex, overhearing him, called out with a smirk, "Hey, don't think too hard. You've got this. Just go down there and do what you have to do. Win or lose, we're still getting promoted to C-rank."
Kinto shot him a dry look and sighed. "It's not about winning or losing., that's true... It's about fighting someone who thinks she has the upper hand. That's what's bothering me. People who have all the skills and talents think highly of themselves too much, it makes them more annoying and easy to beat."
Tomoa raised an eyebrow. "If you don't want to fight, Kinto, you can just forfeit. You'd still make it to the next rank regardless."
The spectators burst into laughter, and someone in the crowd shouted, "What a bitch!". Another person exclaimed "He's probably shit himself." Another spectator exclaimed "Probably right."
Kinto clicked his tongue and finally made his way toward the stage "I want to bomb this entire stadium so badly", he muttered to himself while walking down. From the stands, Kazu was already laughing.
"You think that sorry excuse for an assassin can beat Rin? She's ranked number one among the youngest female assassins in Steel City. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure I sensed energy from this guy at all. Does he even have any sort of abilities or skills?"
Alex looked at him with a sharp glare. "That's the dumbest thing I've heard today."
"What did you say?" Kazu snapped.
"I said Kinto may not look like much, but he's one of the deadliest and smartest assassins this city has. You might wanna watch your mouth before it gets blown off from your face with those cocky words of yours."
Levi, watching with a skeptical expression, muttered, "This fight's not going to go well... but not for Kinto."
Sughi, sitting beside him, asked, "What makes you say that?"
Tomoa's voice interrupted them all. "If either of you is unable to continue, the match will end in elimination. Now... begin!"
Kinto and Rin faced each other, eyes narrowed. Rin's playful grin turned into something far more sinister.
Kinto's eyes widened. Something's coming—
BOOM!
A thunderous burst of sound erupted from Rin's hands, a shockwave slicing through the air. Kinto narrowly dodged "Shit! That was fast!" but another wave hit him square in the chest, launching him into the wall.
As he staggered up, dazed, he gasped, "What the hell was that?! Sound? Tch!"
Rin tilted her head with a mocking smile. "I have the ability to manipulate sound waves. Depending on how much power I use, they move much faster than sound itself."
She unleashed another barrage of sound waves. Kinto intercepted her barrage of sound waves and started running, weaving, rolling while each sound wave was causing huge explosions of dirt and rubble. As kinto kept weaving as fast and as skillfull as ever, he thought to himself "Hitting me with a barrage of sound waves from the jump huh? Not bad. She's the type to go full onslaught without hesitation!"
Levi leaned forward, concerned. "If this keeps up, he might actually get serious... and if that happens, someone could die."
Kenji appeared beside him. "Her ability is long-range and wide-range. For a C or D-ranker, it's almost impossible to dodge. Although, that kid kf yours, he's pretty dsmn tough, most people would have gotten a few broken bones from just a hit of rin's attacks."
In the distance, Alex yelled, "Kinto! You got this! Dont lose to that cocky idiot of a girl!"
Kazu laughed. "Rin, obliterate him!"
Kinto grimaced and pulled out a set of small explosives from his pockets. "Alright... enough running."
Rin chuckled. "If you're thinking of doing something stupid, I suggest you don't. It won't work."
She unleashed a barrage of sound waves at full power. Kinto began sprinting again, zigzagging across the battlefield, and throwing explosives at her barrage of attacks. The entire arena was covered with explosions of flames and sound.
BOOM! BOOM!
Each blast of kinto's explosives was deflected by rin's sound waves, but the smoke began to fill the arena. Rin kept blasting, keeping her guard up "Parrying my attacks with explosives won't work!" She exclaimed with a grin on her face.
Suddenly—whoosh!
Kinto burst from the smoke, fist cocked—only to be repelled by another wave of sound.
He hit the ground hard but stood up again in an instant, panting. "Just a few left... I need to use them wisely. She's keeping her distance, and she hasn't moved from that spot. I can't just keep throwing explosives around. It's a dumb idea. I have to use another tactic."
"You can't dodge forever," Rin sneered. "You're too predictable."
Kinto responded by summoning two clones. They split up, each charging her from different sides at full speed.
"Don't make me laugh," Rin said coldly with a smirk.
She kept firing sound waves at Kinto's clones, but Kinto's clones were weaving and dodging as fast as they could, each of them both had explosives on their fingers. Eventually, they both threw a set of explosives at rin. Rin got annoyed "Again with these fire works?!" And sent huge waves of sounds at Kinto's clones and his explosives. This caused an explosion that wiped away the two clones.
But in that moment, out of the smoke, the real Kinto appeared behind her, while another clone appeared in front—both holding explosives.
"Too slow," Rin smirked.
She unleashed her ultimate move—"Ear Shock" she exclaimed as she blasted away kinto and his clones.
A colossal blast wave exploded outward. The entire stadium trembled. The blast was enough to shake city blocks to the ground.
As the dust settled, Sukuna whined from the audience. "There's no way he tanked that... Is he okay?". Alex exclaimed with a look of shock "Ahhh. Kinto!"
Kinto lay on the ground, motionless. Alex stared, shocked. "No... it can't be."
Kazu crossed his arms smugly. "Told you. No chance. The kids just fast and throws around fire works."
Rin turned away with a confident smirk. "Next time, know your place, before getting any confident thoughts of winning a fight!"
But something felt off.
Her eyes widened.
Her entire body was wrapped in small explosives.
"W-What...? When did—?!" Rin gasped.
Kinto rose slowly, wiping blood from his mouth. "Hm, gotcha! If I wanted to win that badly... I could've ended it from the start."
He grinned. "I knew you'd blast every explosive I threw. That smoke gave me more than enough cover to attach some to you without you even noticing."
Rin was frozen in shock "Huh? But... how didn't I notice that?"
"You're too confident. That arrogance gave me at least 200 chances to strike... and even kill you. You really think keeping your distance from me and not moving around was a good idea? Please, If that's how things worked, fights wouldn't make sense."
"Shut up!" she snapped, trying to peel one off.
"Don't," Kinto warned, holding up a detonator. "Try removing one, and I'll blow them all." He had a smirk on his face with blood leaking from his right eye and mouth.
He smiled darkly. "Admit defeat, and I'll let you off."
"You wouldn't dare—"
Kinto smirked "Daring me now, are we?" He started to count down "Five..." he began while his grin started to widen.
"Four..."
"THREE" Kinto continued to count. "OKAY! OKAY!! I GIVE UP!!" Rin screamed in annoyance.
Kinto stopped with a smirk. "Thought so. Next time, try not to underestimate me. Or else, I'll blow your face away."
Tomoa raised his hand. "The winner—Kinto Kutsekabe!"
Cheers erupted across the stadium. Alex turned to Kazu with a smug grin "Told ya!".
"I told you he'd win."
Kazu growled. "Shut up."
Meanwhile, atop the arena building, Ukina stood with Kenji, watching it all unfold.
"In a few moments," Ukina muttered, "everything begins. Although, I've gotta say, these kids really are incredibly strong."
Kenji bowed. "All pieces are in place."
"You've done well," she praised while folding her arms.
He turned to her. "So what's the goal?"
Ukina's eyes glinted. "Once Shouya loses control, the tournament ends. Alex and his friends will have to chase after him. When that happens... I'll see Alex's true strength. And then... I'll have someone take it from him."
She laughed softly, mockingly.
Meanwhile, far away, Kazuki stood in a silent valley, his purple flames dancing around him. He looked toward the sky.
"Damn... I'm gonna be late for my match."
END OF CHAPTER.