Pleader

somewhere in china

A man with short orange hair was walking down a brightly lit corridor. He wore a traditional robe that was fit for battle. His right arm and chest were exposed showing off his shredded body, while a strange red stick hid away in his ear.

As he reached the end of the corridor the room suddenly got bigger. It was fully decorated in jade dragons and ancient beasts known only in myths and legends. And at the end of the room was a set of stairs that led all the way up to a golden throne decorated in only the most luxurious of stones and minerals. A man sat atop that throne wearing nothing but black. His hair was long but wild and his moustache was sharp.

The orange-haired boy got on his knees and shouted.

"I greet my father, the emperor of China"

He replied "Rise, my son"

The orange-haired boy picked himself up from the floor while bowing. The man then sitting on the throne shouted to him,

"As the heir to this country I declare, you will participate in this year's curse battle tournament."

The boy replied saying,

"yes father"

Before he left the royal palace room the father quickly halted him with one more statement,

"If you lose this year's tournament like your Elder Sister has before you, I will not hesitate to cast you out of this country as well."

Back to Japan

The two boys stood on each end of the arena like once before. It was only a mock battle so nothing serious was at stake, however there were new rules. The first sorcerer to get pushed out of the arena or have their wrist grabbed would instantly lose the fight.

Hikaru forced a random bystander to serve as a referee for the fight. Naturally feeling pressured by the school's strongest asking him for a favor, he was forced to accept the small chore. He quickly finished the countdown before running away from the arena.

Hikaru possessed no innate technique, however, his sheer amount of cursed energy and incredible talent gave him the ability to control a variety of shinigami at an unknown cost.

He pulls out one of the mass-produced demon hunter daggers and slices a small part of his thumb allowing him to bleed. He presses the thumb on the floor causing the area around him to be enveloped in smoke.

As the area cleared a red Oni holding an iron club stood before him. Its size was roughly over 3x that of Akumu(5ft 9"). 

Haikaru points at Akumu and shouts at his shikigami,

"BEAT HIM UP!" 

The Oni screamed towards the sky before wildly running after Akumu who stood at the other end of the arena amazed. This was the first time he had seen a shikigami summon up close.

As the Oni closed in on him, It prepared to heavily swing its Iron club which it launched vertically on Akumu. He quickly dodges but the ground below him is immediately destroyed. 

The Oni gets his Club stuck in the arena so it struggles to pull it out for a good while. Akum uses this opportunity to use black spring to jump just in front of its head.

Ever since that fight with Mozu Akumu felt his cursed energy was different. The feeling wasn't the same as when he used black flash but rather it was as if his energy was lighter now. He quickly conjures a large black whip before instinctively molding it into a giant oversized mallet.

Although the weapon was light for him to swing around, for the enemy it was as if it was being run over by a semi-truck. As the Mallet crushed the Onis' skull it instantly dissipated into a pile of smoke. Still holding the Black Mallet Akumu asks,

"You got any more?"

The annoyed Hikaru promptly summons another Oni but this one was Blue. It was female and wore a kimono compared to its almost naked red counterpart. This one wielded a Shamisen1 which it played loudly. Its music had a hypnotic effect which made anyone with less cursed energy than Hikaru fall asleep. Unfortunately for him, it had no effect on the opposing Akumu.

Akumu quickly approached the panicking Hikaru and grabs his wrist. 

The Winner is Akumu

After the end of the fight, Hikaru partially acknowledges his inferiority. 

"You're Lucky I didn't get to use my trump card on you. If I did this whole school would have been razed to the ground", he angrily declared.

He quickly runs off never to be seen again until the day of the tournament.

Akumu decides to go visit Hagone. He hadn't talked to him since he woke up so he wondered how he was doing. As he made his way to the dorm room however he had come across an unusual sight. Hagone was being chased by Grandma Zenin again. Unfortunately he was coming in his direction.

"AKUMU-KUN HELP MEEEEEEEE", Hagone shouted.

Seeing the situation, Akumu immediately runs away as well.

The two did not get any sleep that night.

The Next day the group of 5 would be called into Omo's office. Expectedly Hikaru was not present for that meeting. Unexpectedly though Gojo Owari was hiding in the corner like a child.

[Omo] As you all know, you guys have been chosen to participate in the curse tournament this year. Its starting date has already been decided to be in 2 weeks but its location has yet to be revealed. What we do know are the types of matches that will be structured so I think it would be best for us to decide team pairings right now.

They were all confused about what the teacher was saying. Usually, the tournament would consist of one one-on-one matches against each country that would take over a month. Sensing the confusion Omo quickly explains,

"Unlike previous years the tournament will be split into two halves. The first will be game-themed. One player from each team will participate in a type of minigame. And then in the final half, we will have the usual one-on-one battles. Another addition will be the point system. Depending on the wins or losses of a match each country will be given points. The country with the most points is considered the winner. In the whole tournament, only 4 countries are allowed to participate in the tournament as well: Japan, United Korea, America, and the most brutal among them right now China."

Akumu then asks,

"who decides what countries participate?"

Omo only told him that he would know if he actually attended school.

[Owari] I can't wait to see you guys give it your all in that arena.

But Omo quickly stops him,

"You can't go to watch them personally. It would be like taking a hydrogen bomb to a shooting gallery. Every other country will try to bring theirs and before you know it we will end up with another world war."

Gojo moaned in the corner condemming the world for making him too strong.

As they discuss the team pairings Grandma Zenin breaks the door down scaring Hagone and Akumu. She then asks,

"I only count 4 where is that orange-haired brat?"

Omo only tells her that he went to train elsewhere.

[Grandma Zenin] I have been brought out of retirement by the school to train you guys up. So get re-

Without even finishing those words all the students jumped out the nearby window in the room. They were all fully aware of her unorthodox training methods and the two weren't ready to experience it again.