Ryuma was standing in the middle of a stadium.
Standing some distance from him was Akira, still wearing his mask.
People were cheering from the audience, most of them were cheering for Ryuma because Akira had defeated Kurotsuchi in the previous battle.
"Are you both ready?" The proctor asked.
Both of them nodded.
"Then begin."
Ryuma unsheathed his sword and charged toward Akira.
Akira dodged his attacks while making some hand signs.
'Water style: Water Bullets.'
Akira shot bullets of water from his mouth at very close range but Kazuki used his wind chakra-coated sword to block them easily.
"Not bad." Ryuma said as he charged at him with his maximum speed.
Ryuma's sword was about to reach Akira's throat when it suddenly stopped and Akira's whole body got covered in lightning.
Kazuki's and Onoki's eyes widened. Kazuki thought, 'Now it's confirmed, it is the lightning armor that Raikage used, but how does he know this? Is Akira his student or something? Shit, there are so many unknown variables, I thought I knew everything.'
Meanwhile, Ryuma grinned and increased the chakra flow in his sword, his sword slowly started piercing the lightning armor and grazed Akira's neck before he suddenly vanished.
Akira's voice came from behind him, "You leaf shinobi sure are troublesome. I didn't think I'd have to use this so soon."
Ryuma turned behind and said, "Why do you hide your face with that mask?"
Akira said, "It's none of your business," and made a shadow clone.
Both shadow clones started making hand signs.
'Water Release: Great Waterfall.'
'Lightning Release: False Darkness'
The deadly combination jutsu made its way towards Ryuma.
Ryuma wielded his sword with both hands, held it over his head and released a vertical slash downwards, cutting the incoming jutsu in two. But the jutsu clashed on the wall behind him and came back with much less power.
Ryuma used chakra to stand on the water and unsheathed his second Sword, Akira was already making hand signs for his next jutsu.
Ryuma took his stance, 'Hatake Style: White Flash'
The next moment, Ryuma was standing behind Akira, his sword sheathed.
A cross mark appeared on Akira's mask, and it shattered into pieces.
The next moment, everyone in the audience was stunned, no one said anything. Even Kazuki and Onoki were left speechless.
A little girl broke the silence. She screamed, "M-monster, HE'S A MONSTER."
Soon, everyone in the audience started talking about him, saying stuff like "He's a monster" or parents telling their children to never go near him.
Ryuma finally looked behind, his eyes widened, and he gripped the handle of his sword tightly.
While Akira's skin was human, he had shark teeth and gills under his eyes.
Ryuma pointed one of his swords towards Akira and said, "Those gills, I know them. Tell me, who are you? How are you related to him?"
Meanwhile, Akira was hearing voices in his head.
'See, he really is a monster.'
'Don't go near him, I heard that he's a monster.'
'Hey, why do you hang out with a monster.'
Then, the last voice was the final trigger for him, it was his mother's voice.
'This is all your fault, I wish you were never born.'
Akira's eyes opened, his body was overflowing with lightning chakra.
He rampaged towards Ryuma like a wild beast, there was so much power behind his attacks that Ryuma was barely blocking them with both his swords.
In the audience, Kazuki had a worried expression on his face. 'This is bad, he looks really powerful and Ryuma isn't in his right mind right now. I hope nothing happens to him.'
Akari and Yuki were grim-faced, they remembered the horror of that day.
Kazuki reassured Yuki, "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to anyone in my team. I'll jump in if something is about to happen to Ryuma."
Yuki looked at Kazuki and just nodded.
Meanwhile, Ryuma was having trouble stopping Akira's attacks.
Ryuma made a wind clone and then jumped backwards to make some distance between them.
Suddenly Akira heard a voice in his head, 'Akira, are you okay?'
Akira came back to his senses and realized what had happened, he looked at Ryuma, who was already in a stance.
He also riled up his chakra and prepared for an attack.
'Hatake Style: Duel Crescent Moons'
'Lightning Release: Lariat'
Akira charged at Ryuma with the rapid speed of his lightning armor, while Ryuma released two crescent-shaped slashes from his swords.
The slashes smashed into Akira's lightning armor, almost breaking it, which left a red mark on Akira's chest and slowed his charge, but Akira didn't stop.
He shouted, "I WON'T BE DEFEATED BY THE LIKES OF YOU LEAF SHINOBI."
Ryuma was hit by Akira's Lariat, which sent him flying backwards and slamming into the stadium walls, leaving the entire area covered in dust.
The dust cleared and Ryuma could be seen lying down on the floor. The proctor raised his hands to announce Akira the winner but Ryuma held his sword and slowly stood up, he was bleeding all over.
He slowly murmured, "I'll take your revenge, Keiko, I will defeat him and prove that I can protect my team."
Everyone was left speechless, Ryuma was still standing after taking a direct hit from an attack that powerful, without any defensive jutsu.
Blood spurted from his mouth, and he needed the support of his sword to even stand.
Akira saw the scene and charged toward Ryuma again.
When he was about to reach Ryuma, a sword covered in flames came flying and struck the ground between them.
Kazuki said from the stadium, "Hey Akira, can't you see he's already unconscious?"
The proctor looked at Ryuma and saw that he was unconscious and was only standing with the help of his sword.
He raised his hand and said, "The winner of this wound is Akira."
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