Chapter 24: Bracket Five

A day later quickly passed. I'm standing next to the stage once again. Bracket five will begin shortly. The bleachers surrounding the stage are still packed full but the stage is different. It's larger. I stare at the stage observing the large circle before I hear footsteps approaching my right side. 

I glance to my right and see Naoya walking towards me with a grin on his face. I lock eyes with him as he stops standing directly next to me. 

" Did you hear the news, Gen? We're the only Zenins left in the tournament. "

He says to me. That's right, yesterday besides my victory and Naoya's every other Zenin lost. I nod my head at him and cross my arm. I look towards the stage and watch the announcer walk up onto the stage holding the microphone in his hands. 

He looks through the quiet crowd grasping onto his microphone tightly. A grin appears on his face as he yells into the microphone.

" Good morning, and welcome to the fifth bracket. 10 contestants remain but surprisingly out of those ten only two of them are from the Zenin clan. I'm sure you've noticed the stage's increased size. And that is because there will be a new set of rules for the fifth bracket. "

" The fifth bracket won't be one-on-one instead being a massive free-for-all. All of the remaining contestants will battle each other on this stage. There is only one rule during this stage: you can't kill the other contestants but besides this, everything goes! All of the contestants please come onto the stage."

The crowd roars out in excitement at the new rules. I look through the crowd before scoffing. I stop looking through the crowd and start walking towards the stage. Naoya quickly follows me. I swiftly walk up the stone stairs and walk to the middle of the stage. Naoya stands directly to my left as I watch eight other contestants walk onto the stage. We are all bunched up in the middle of the stage. 

I observe the remaining contestants and see the Panda and Inumaki. I'm not sure who the other contestants are but I'm sure they are quite skilled to be able to defeat kids from the Zenin clan. But while I observed them I noticed that they were glancing at each other. A grin appears on my face and I look over at Naoya.

He instantly looks over at me and we lock eyes before he scoffs shaking his head. Looks like he noticed as well. I reach into my robe and pull out two knives. 

"Hey Gen, since you're not a meathead like Maki, I'm sure you have already noticed this but this isn't going to be free for all. "

Says Naoya as the announcer raises his hand above his head. This is going to be a 2v8, not a free-for-all. The remaining contestants are going to ally with themselves to defeat me and Naoya. I start stretching as the announcer yanks his hand down signaling the start of the match. 

Without wasting a second all of the other eight contestants lunge towards us. Naoya and I stare at them charging towards us until I hear Naoya chuckle and give a remark. 

" How about you take 3 and I take five? That sounds fair doesn't it, Gen? "

As soon as he says this, his body flickers from my vision surprising me. He reappears behind Inumaki throwing a kick that slams into his jaw rocking his head back. He might even be faster than me. I watch him throw a barrage of attacks at Inumaki until a Panda comes into my vision towering over me, casting a shadow that engulfs my small body.

The panada grins at me before throwing a punch. I bend my knees ducking under the punch before slicing up at his wrists. My blade is about to slice his wrist until a leg slams into my wrist knocking my arm back. I smack my lips annoyed. 

A small girl with blonde hair wearing a pink kimono threw that kick. She shuffles her feet throwing a spinning kick at my jaw. I pivot out of the way of the kick and slice my blade toward her leg. I'm about to pierce her leg until in the corner of my eye. I see a cluster of moving entities buzzing towards me. I feint my attack and dash back gaining distance while staring at the entities before realizing that they are bugs. 

My eyes move staring at the bugs as I track them back to the source before seeing a tan girl wearing a green robe with long black hair. The bugs are coming out of her sleeves. I stare at her until she sticks out her tongue mocking me. 

Tch, looks like this is going to be more difficult than I thought...