10 CHAPTER 10

After confirming multiple times that my Quirk wasn't Super Strength, I finally was able to sit alone in the waiting room to watch the other matches.

'Just because someone can kick hard doesn't mean that he has super strength, jeez. Quirk'sist much.'

Looking back at the match, he should have noticed the signs. The absence of a guard, multiple openings in his body that screamed 'HIT ME!', and the lack of a good stance. Sighing at his mistake of overestimating his opponent, he tuned into the matches.

It seemed that after his performance of K.Oing someone, the participants now were starting to follow along nicely, now not holding back anymore as they swung with the intent to knock out his/her opponent, which was a good thing at least.

While watching one of the fights where a Karate User was against a Muay Thai User, he had a revelation.

'Why don't I just, you know, play it slowly against these people instead of going all out to copy more moves? I'll just play with them until I sucked them dry before knocking them out!'

Patting himself on the back for the amazing idea, he decided to go with the Sucking Them Dry™️ Plan to 1; copy more techniques, and 2; increase the level of understanding for each martial art he sucks (For the development of Eye of the Mind).

'Damn… Sometimes my genius — It's almost frightening.'

'On second thought, maybe delaying the inevitable was a bad plan. '

He thought to himself as he dodged another leg swing, this time was a Taekwondo side kick which he absorbed into his mind.

It was now the finals for the group stage, and boy, was it boring! They were unbelievably slow, and clunky when fighting. Heck, he even had an opponent who just stood there for a while, unsure of what he wanted to do!

Think about the fight before the fight even began, damnit!

Raising his right hand to block another roundhouse, he decided that it was time to end this and move on. So, after baiting his opponent by faking an attack, he waits until the guy (Didn't hear his name) panic swings again.

Using his shin to block the mid-section roundhouse kick, he grabs the thrown leg before raising it high, causing the guy to unbalance. Using this clearly open opening, he closed the distance to arm's length before slamming a straight into the guy's face with 60% power (He'd finally calibrated his control) which instantly knocks out his opponent.

"And ladies and gentlemen! Jin Gohru advances to the Quarter Finals!"

Cheers erupted from the spectators as he walked back into the waiting room.

'I wonder if Kenichi's done with his matches. I'd like to watch them.'

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After a two-hour break for lunch since it was now 2 in the afternoon, the quarter-finalists were required to gather at the main waiting room. While waiting for the staff, me and Kenichi were sitting together, talking about their past fights.

"There was this guy with some type of speed Quirk that made it hard to hit him, but since we trained at fast fights, I managed to shut him down quickly. That guy was a pain since he used Wing Chun, countering everything I did until I was able to trap him in a corner."

He explained as he told Gohru the bits and pieces that he was able to gather about Wing Chun, letting Gohru absorb it unconsciously.

"So, he prioritized protection at the core in both attack and defense plus deflected all your hard-hitting moves to counter all your disadvantages? That's annoying to deal with."

"Right? And if you couple with the fact that their fighting style was mostly countering and dodging, it's a deadly combination when up against CQC-orientated fighting techniques!"

He said, growling in annoyance to which Gohru nodded in agreement since it was an annoying fighting style to combat against, especially with Karate.

"Excuse me, if I can get your attention!"

A voice rang as everyone looked at the source. It was one of our main instructors and one of the organizers of the tournament. He clears his throat before announcing.

"Like before, we are going to draw lots to decide the pairings for the tournament. So, if everyone could please come up one by one to take it…"

While waiting for the line to form, his eyes started wandering around the place, eyeing the competitors. All of them looked like real martial artists instead of the chumps from earlier, he noted. They had the look of someone who trained martial arts, not as a hobby but instead, as a possibility of it being their job.

Good, that means he could copy and learn real martial arts from them.

After shuffling the papers inside the box and grabbing one of them, he took it out and presented it to the staff.

"Number 8. Alright, next!"

Number 8, that means that his fight will be the last one before the semi-finals. The added benefit was that he would be able to watch the fights prior, which was going to be amazing for his martial arts collection.

"So, what did you get?" Kenichi asked after he sat down at their spot.

"8th."

"Damn! I got 3rd, that means I can watch your fight too!" He grinned as he glanced at a girl that looked about his age wearing a Mongkhon on her head, presumably his opponent.

"Muay Thai, huh? That means you must be careful about all 8 limbs. This is going to be a challenge." Gohru offered his advice as Kenichi just nodded, lost in his thoughts.

'He must be imagining situations against her since I doubt he had lots of experience fighting Muay Thai fighters.'

But this was going to be exciting to watch. A first-grade Karate User with extraordinary range + power versus a Muay Thai User with all 8 limbs that were usable as a weapon + the fact that the user was a woman that naturally has a more flexible body, that is going to be an amazing match to watch!

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The first match was intense, and it was exactly how martial arts were supposed to be fought. It was a Boxing User against a Jiujitsu User, which at first glance was an interesting match-up, but the moment the invigilator started the fight? Holy shit, it was amazing.

The two were bouncing while analyzing their opponent when the Jiujitsu User struck the first blow with a heavy right low to the thigh, causing a loud PAH! sound to be heard, signifying the amount of power that went into the kick.

The Boxer responded with two quick jabs to the face but was both dodged by the Jiujitsu User through backsteps before they went back to Neutral, the state where both fighters disengage to try for opportunities to strike.

The Boxer realized from that trade that the Jiujitsu User had a smaller range since he had to step into the Boxer's reach, so he started jabbing to wait for a counter. The Jiujitsu User raised his arm upwards to protect himself and dodge the jabs.

Suddenly, the Jiujitsu User ducked a jab, causing the Boxer to immediately pounce at him with a jab straight combo, but the Jiujitsu User was waiting until he was closer to act! In a blink of an eye, the Jiujitsu User grabbed onto the Boxer's back, making the Boxer panic since if he falls to the ground now, he will lose to the Jiujitsu User.

The problem for the Jiujitsu User was that because he weighed less and was smaller than the Boxer, the grab didn't really work, so he disengaged and then went back to Neutral again, jabbing and feinting to find an opening.

There, when the Boxer went for another jab, he accidentally stepped into the Jiujitsu User's range. The Jiujitsu User quickly swung a straight to the Boxer's face which landed but was too weak since his stance was weak, dealing only little damage.

Realizing that he was faster, the Jiujitsu User confidently stepped into his range, weaving through punches as he himself retaliated with weak but effective punches.

As it stands, the Jiujitsu User would have won, but then plot twist, the Boxer had faked his speed the entire time! Waiting until the perfect chance when the Jiujitsu User finished his punch to the body, he swung a swift uppercut to the chin that Gohru almost missed due to the position of his back facing him.

BANG!

The Jiujitsu User took a step back, concussed before falling to the ground.

THUD

The crowd exploded as the Boxer raised his hand in victory while professionals ran to the Jiujitsu User to check on him.

"The Jiujitsu User didn't try to take the Boxer down after the first attempt, instead he went for small attacks that do damage. Honestly, it was close. If he had implemented more kicks and grabs instead of focusing on punches, he maybe would have won."

Kenichi muttered while noting the Boxer's movements before getting up. It was now him against the Muay Thai fighter.

"I'll see you in the semis, Kenichi." Gohru voiced out his good luck to Kenichi who grinned and raised a thumbs up, before walking to the sparring area.

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