Round 3: The Fights and Reflection

Fight One: Storm is Coming.

The crowd of people made a painful "OOOOHHH" Sound as Tsuyoi's fist connected the final time with his shinobi opponent. His head shot back and he bounced a few painful times on the hard stone before landing on his chest. He tried to stand up but quickly succumbed to his injuries and fell to the stone.  The match overseer went to the fallen fighter and proclaimed the fight for Tsuyoi Asukai.

There were some cheers from the students that say a great fight. It was short and quick, but it showed how much he had trained for the even. The opponent didn't even get to lay a hand on him.

He looked at the people and the kids were excited over the fight but many of the older shinobi were looking at him with less than happy looks. Sins of the past. he thought to himself.

He took the sheath from his back and sheathed his sword. Walking off the stage he went to the back area where the medical tents were set up to check on the contestants.

Shigeru was already back there standing by a wheelchair that had Namida in it. She was covered with bandages on her left side. She had been hurt badly by the wolves in the forest and was deemed unable to fight in the third part of the exam. She looked at Tsuyoi with worried eyes.

"Do you two really have to fight this soon?" She asked looking back at Shigeru.

Shigeru was looking at Tsuyoi. He was chewing on a tooth pick. "It is going to happen one way or another. I saw his last fight, that was barely a warm up much less a struggle. I want to fight him before he tires out." He said confidently.

Namida slapped his stomach. Shigeru winced and looked to Nami.

"Don't be so confident! Dumbass! You spent most of the prep time sleeping and hitting on girls!" She shouted 

During the argument Tsuyoi had shrugged off the fight and walked to a far away tent location.

Shigeru and Nami stopped fighting to look over and Tsuyoi was gone.

"See you Dumbass.... you ran him off!" She yelled

"Don't blame me! He was tired of your hag like voice!" 

"Hag like! He was embarrassed to be near a man whore like yourself!"

"At least I have had some successes you pint sized stuck up drama queen!"

The looked at each other for a moment and then just sighed.

"Don't worry about me Nami... I have an ace in the hole." Shigeru said.

She looked at him and started to pet Yu.

"What kind of "ace"?" She asked

"His own since of honor...." Shigeru said walking away to his own fight. Soon, they will see who the strongest is.

Song for this fight
( www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNUeHm… ) The lyrics are TOOOOO Perfect... if any one listens HAHA.

Tsuyoi stood looking at Shigeru, the two teammates did not take an eye off one another.

"So, didn't think it would come down to this so soon." Shigeru said 

Tsuyoi just looked at him and nodding his head.

"So are you going to use your sword Tsuyoi?" He said with a devilish grin on his face

Tsuyoi reached for his sword and unclasped it from his back. Holding it in his hands he looked back up at Shigeru.

"You know that I cannot do that. I cannot strike you with something I swore to protect you with." He said calmly. Turning to the crowd. Seeing one of the squads upfront he looked to them.

One was a angry looking boy with wild black hair, the other was a blue haired man with tan skin, and the last one was a overly happy girl with blue eyes and auburn hair. 

"Hold this for me." he said tossing the sword to the squad. The little girl perked up like a rodent to cheese and went for the sword, but the taller blue haired man ran up and pressed his hand on top of her head and pushed down so she could not grab the sword. He reached  out and caught the sword and nodded to Tsuyoi. 

"I think it would be in better hands if I hold on to it." He said

The black haired boy laughed at the girls denial of the sword and she began to complain.

"Hmm you and your honor code. Fine then we will both play it that way." He said unbuckling his utility pouch and throwing it to the side.

Tsuyoi smiled. His smiled held back the pain he was feeling to fight his friend. They both wanted to win and he wanted both of them to make it to the finals. But, they were both here for different reasons and his required him to beat down Shigeru to reach it.

"You know I have to beat you to get stronger...to protect you and Nami." He said

Shigeru wiped his nose and looked hard at Tsuyoi.

"Save that protector crap till after you win. Nami and I don't need protecting. We are just as good as you."

Namida looked at them with wide eyes from her chair. She was torn over her anger that she needed protecting but was touched he was willing to give up so much to for them.

Tsuyoi made the first move and closed in on Shigeru. Shigeru only laughed as he brought his arm up to block the kick that was coming.

"Can't catch me off guard Tsuyoi! I used to train with you remember!" Shigeru said confidently

Tsuyoi dropped his leg and brought his fist around for another hit. Shigeru blocked it again with easy. He took that opportunity to try and hit Tsuyoi in the chest with his fist but Tsuyoi countered by bringing up his left leg and deflecting it upward.

Shigeru looked stunned.

"You used to train with me." Tsuyoi said coldly and dropped to the floor and spun tripping Shigeru taking his feet from under him. Continuing the spin he brought his right leg up and landed it home in his gut. The force pushed Shigeru back and he rolled on the stone floor.
He coughed a few time but seemed unharmed. He spat out a few curses.

Tsuyoi looked at his fallen friend. It was hard for him to see him in pain.

"Hey! Hey you long haired DUMBASS!" A loud voice came from his side. The black haired boy from the group that had his sword was at the stage edge yelling. Tsuyoi gave him a blank stare.

"Stop with all this honor bullshit. You are not being honorable by not fighting 100%. I know when people are pulling their punches and you are pulled a ton of them! Now man up and kick his ass so I can fight!" The boy yelled

Tsuyoi looked down at his fist. He was holding back. But not to be disrespectful. He didn't want to hurt him. But he had to win.

Shigeru stood up. That Kitsune clan freak didn't know what he was talking about. Back when they were growing up he was little if no where near his own strength. No way in the last month would he improve so much over him.

Shigeru charged at the Tsuyoi and brought his foot to his face.

"Got him!" he said excitedly.

Tusyoi brought his arm up and blocked the kick.

Shigeru's face went to a surprise. Tsuyoi pushed the leg outward and unleashed a small furry of punches into his chest and then finished with and upper cut. Shigeru flew back and landed on the stone again.

"Shit!" Shigeru said as he got up. his chest hurt and his lip was busted. The taste of blood lingered in his mouth. Bastard!

He charge Tsuyoi and the two exchanged a few punches but Shigeru was starting to fall behind. Soon Tsuyoi was over taking him and he was again struck with a few more punches and again was pushed back. 

"Please Shigeru... give up now." He pleaded

Shigeru looked up at him. He wiped the blood from his lip.

"You know that I won't... girls don't like to hang on to weaklings. So shut your mouth and lets do this." He said

Tsuyoi showed a rare moment of emotion and it was anger. He didn't want to hurt Shigeru, but it was going to happen.

Time passed by slow for Shigeru. Like he had accepted his fate. His strength he had back when they were younger was from hard work. He had gotten lazy to chase after money and well girls. Oh yeah lots of girls.

Tsuyoi finished his punching attack and jumped into the air and landed on his hands. Bending them he aimed his legs at Shigeru's chest and pushed off.  With one power kick from both legs, Shigeru went airborne. 

Man... I am going to get so much pity booty for this. Shigeru thought as he hit the stone floor.

Tsuyoi had won.

Shigeru laid there for a few minutes and then looked up. He saw Tsuyoi looking down on him.

"Come here to gloat? That is not your style." Shigeru said.

Tsuyoi cracked a smile and extended a hand to his teammate.

"I might be a death bringer...but not this fight." he said and helped him to his feet.

The Epic music I chose for this fight
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3t6Y7…

""HA HA Who would have thought I would be facing the oldest Asukai here!" Michio boasted as he readied himself with his sword.

Tsuyoi just stood there, his sword draw and staring at his opponent with his one uncovered eye.

"Ho so you are not a talker. I can respect that. Well I hope I met your expectations." He said happily.

The coordinator shouted the match to begin.

Tsuyoi and Michio ran towards each other. Swords poised to strike one another. Michio went low and the two swords spark with collision. The two grunted as the force pushed back on them. Michio was smiling over having a worthy opponent. Tsuyoi continued to look unamused and strained.

They parried each others blows for what seemed like and eternity. Tsuyoi was impressed that someone of this caliber was facing him already. He was starting to be concerned that he was more than a match for him.

Michio brought his sword up with both hands on the handle and drove it down to Tsuyoi. Tsuyoi barely had time to block the strike. He struggled to keep himself from being cut. This Michio person seemed to be stronger and more skilled with the sword than him. Maybe if he could get the sword away from him he could stand a better chance.

Pushing away from Michio he planned a new attack strategy. He tried to parry the next wave of strikes but was nicked a few times. His arm and leg now bleeding from the small flesh wounds. Michio was not giving up. His passion was fueled by something and Tsuyoi admired that. But he too was driven to win.

Michio brought down another strike and Tsuyoi was ready this time. Countering the hit he forced the blade upward. Using the angle to his advantage he jumped upand brought the open part of his blade down trapping Michio's sword. Once it was slide to the hilt Tsuyoi twisted the blade and brought his knee up hitting Michio's armored hand causing him to let go to the blade. Slinging his own sword to the side, Michio's sword slid out from Tsuyoi's sword and flung it across the arena. 

Michio was not fool when it came to combat and quickly reacted with his own attack. He open palmed struck Tsuyoi's sword arm and forced the blade from his hand and sent it to another end of the arena.

Tsuyoi did not wait or think about going for it, he hand Michio where he wanted him. Bringing his sword arm around in a fist around and struck Michio's jaw. He backed up only one step and turned with a passion in his eyes that said he was enjoying the match. Michio brought back his own fist and landed a punch of his own. Tsuyoi made a step back. The two exchanged blow after blow. Their fist were red, bloody, and scrapped. Both faces were torn up but it appeared Michio was slightly underhanded in the hand to hand fight. Tsuyoi was getting a well timed block in every so often, but Michio's stamina was holding out strong.

After a few more blows Michio was seeing that hand to hand would take to long and would cost him much in recovery. Breaking the cycle he thrust both arms out knocking Tsuyoi back and he started to the area his sword fell. Tsuyoi got up and ran towards Michio and slid across the floor trying to trip his feet. Michio heard him coming and jumped to avoid his leg and turned mid air. He brought his fist down but Tsuyoi caught the attack and used his momentum to flip him over his shoulder and on his back. Tsuyoi got to his feet and just as fast Michio did the same. The two again exchanged blows this time further apart and using arms and legs. They were moving so fast and so skilled it was more like and dance than it was a fight. The two were almost equal in every way but unlike with swords Tsuyoi still seemed to have the upper hand. If Michio was going to go all out, it would need to be with his greatest strength, and that was with his clan's weapon of choice.

Finding the right moment would be hard but he soon saw and opening and managed to strike Tsuyoi's fist with his own. The power of both Asukai rippled between the two of them. The overall strength of Michio was incredible and forced Tsuyoi back. Equally Michio was force back but this was part of the plan. Putting all he could he darted towards Tsuyoi and before he could come up with a counter move was clotheslined. The air violently ripped from his chest. His lungs burned from the force and he struggled for breath. Michio stopped and Tsuyoi rolled down the arena floor. 

Tsuyoi looked up to see Michio picking up his sword. Tsuyoi had a moment of rare panic till he saw his sword not but a meter from him. Stumbling to his feet and grabbed his weapon as well.

They were back where they had started. Again the clashed like titans in the sky. sparks flew from their weapons. 

"You will need both hands if you expect to win!" Michio informed Tsuyoi bringing another violent strike against him.

Tsuyoi could not. It was against his training. He needed to be able to defeat all with one arm. He needed to be strong enough to beat all without using everything. To prove he could do it all single handedly so to speak. The charms he had on his sword carried pieces of the ones he loved and could not touch them, taint them with his past. What his left side represented.

He braced himself again for another strike and another. Michio seemed to be reveling in the fight. Tsuyoi made a strong strike against Michio before jumping back and readying for another attack. The two warriors knew that this....this would be the final strikes. They would be the win or fall of them. Tsuyoi took the first charge and Michio did the same. 

For everything that ever was! Tsuyoi yelled in his mind Slamming his sword again Michio's. Agian, they clashed one more time before pulling back for one more blow.

The crowd cheered and cringed as the two passed each other.

"I... am... sorry..." Tsuyoi said weakly as he hit the stone floor. Blood began to pool around him. His white hair was now stained with blood and sticking to his head.

"Hey Tsuyoi! You should come and play with us." A girls voice cried out.

She came closer to Tsuyoi.

"Come play with me!" She yelled happily and was in arms length of him. She touched his hand and started to scream. Her hand was beginning to melt away leaving only bone behind. By this point the other kids started to run over to her. They all were scared and angry. Angry at Tsuyoi. One tried to help her but the melting process spread to him. One kid pushed Tsuyoi and he too started to melt away. 

It wasn't long before all the kids were melting away. Soon he was surrounded by skeletons and ash. The sky grew dark and the grass died fast. 

"Well, do you see now? Do you see why they call us Death Bringer!" Shigeru's voice came from behind. He turned to see him standing there, smiling. Tsuyoi ran up to Shigeru and grabbed his shoulders.