IW: Chapter 191 - Red Rope Ninja Outfit for Fun, Unexpected Teammates!
"Joan was completely wrong! That Ninja outfit and red rope you mentioned ended up becoming tools for the other party's amusement!"
Inside the Hotel.
Mai Shiranui confronted Joan with a barrage of questions, while Kasumi Todoh sat by, listening intently.
Kasumi had just fought Mai when Mai came looking for her.
She acknowledged Mai's strength. Though it was their first meeting, the friendship between women is strange; with just a few words, they instantly became best friends.
And upon hearing Mai's complaints, while Kasumi was innocent, it didn't mean she knew nothing at all.
Kasumi's expression was calm, but her heart was already in turmoil. Was this truly content she could listen to without paying?
As a female high school student, she had watched one or two movies.
She hadn't expected this older sister, not much older than herself, to be so open-minded.
"Impossible, did you not follow what I taught you?"
Facing Mai Shiranui's questions, Joan's eyes held some confusion. The previous plan was perfect, wasn't it?
She had taught Mai to start by flattering the other person, making them think they were amazing, then use props to make it difficult for them to refuse. After the other person was exhausted, immediately switch to a posture of looking at them with a 'you good for nothing' gaze.
This would surely make the other person, even if they couldn't, force themselves to show they were capable.
Finally, after being defeated, they should completely submit to Mai Shiranui.
Her plan was so perfect, how could it fail?
After summarizing these points, Joan ultimately attributed the failure to Mai Shiranui not following the steps she had envisioned.
"How could that be? I clearly followed everything you said!"
Mai Shiranui could admit she failed, but the reason for her failure was absolutely not because she didn't listen to Joan's plan.
She clearly made no mistakes; everything was done according to the plan.
"Why?"
Joan didn't understand. If Mai Shiranui followed what she said, then how could she fail?
There had to be a reason, right?
It wasn't until Mai Shiranui stated the reason that both of them fell silent.
So the reason for the failure wasn't a flaw in the plan or Mai Shiranui not following it.
The plan failed simply because Mai Shiranui was too weak.
"So you can still blame me?"
Joan reacted, feeling frustrated with Mai Shiranui's lack of effort.
How could this matter be blamed on her?
No matter how she looked at it, Mai Shiranui had an undeniable responsibility.
"Oh, Joan, think of something else!"
Mai Shiranui also felt a bit guilty. Earlier, she was just upset, which led to a bit of temper.
She didn't know how she had endured these past few days. At first, she thought she had victory in her grasp. But whenever she thought of her bold words from before and her subsequent pleas for mercy while tied up, she felt like she had no face to stay by Bai Ye's side anymore.
She lost this time, but that didn't mean she would lose in the future. If possible, she wanted to defeat Bai Ye once.
"What else can you do? I've given you all the methods, but you had the chance and didn't use it!"
Listening to Mai Shiranui's words, Joan felt a headache. She had already designed everything perfectly!
"But I didn't expect this to happen. Won't I have no face in front of him anymore?"
If she had known this, she shouldn't have provoked him earlier.
"Um... do couples care about that?"
Kasumi Todoh raised her hand and asked innocently.
From Mai Shiranui's earlier words, it was clear that Bai Ye would marry Mai Shiranui after this fighting tournament. So they would soon be a couple. If they were a couple, would they still care about this?
Kasumi Todoh had heard many complaints about husbands being incapable, but she had never heard of a husband being capable and still having such issues.
"It's normal for children not to understand!"
Joan shook her head. Kasumi Todoh was still young, so she naturally wouldn't know.
"I'm not small!"
Kasumi Todoh's eyes widened. Don't underestimate her age! At her age, she had watched at least two films!
And that was just her; she had even heard that other female classmates in her class had already matured.
"You don't understand. This kind of thing isn't about who's strong or who's not; it's about balance."
"Mai understands!"
Joan nodded in agreement.
"Mai, I'll talk to you about this later, alone. There are still children here!"
Joan didn't want to dwell on this issue for too long. The reason she had kept talking earlier was simply because Mai Shiranui's first sentence made her feel like she was being blamed.
She had to understand clearly. So, after understanding the whole story, she also knew what had happened and didn't want to continue. After all, there was still a high school girl here.
"Alright, let's talk about the KOF. This time, we must get a good ranking!"
Last time, their Women's Fighting Team really lost badly. This time, it wouldn't do!
"Kyo, your Kusanagi Divine Technique is complete?!"
Following Kyo Kusanagi to the training ground, Daimon and Benimaru were personally witnessing this monstrous technique.
This divine technique, which was once impossible to use, Kyo Kusanagi could now use again.
"Let's participate in the KOF!"
"Have you recovered your spirit?"
In the past, after being severely injured in a fight with a mysterious person, and having his ultimate technique easily countered, Kyo Kusanagi had felt extremely frustrated and defeated.
He even planned to give up on this KOF. Now, after completing his ultimate technique, he believed he could definitely defeat that mysterious person if he met him again!
And now, he was going to regroup and participate in the KOF!
"Of course!"
After Kyo Kusanagi spoke, the three exchanged smiles. How could the KOF be complete without them?!
Inside a decaying ancient temple.
Iori Yagami was meditating. The door behind him was pushed open, and two figures emerged from the light: "The KOF has invited you. Your old rival Kyo Kusanagi has already joined. Are you hiding here because you're afraid to be enemies with Kyo Kusanagi?"
"Heh."
Iori Yagami raised his head, his face devoid of any expression except calm. But in the next second, Iori Yagami lunged directly at the two.
The three wrestled together. In the battle, it seemed like the two were suppressing Iori Yagami, but Iori Yagami was also holding back.
After dozens of rounds of fighting, Iori Yagami stopped his movements and looked at the two, asking, "Your purpose."
"We want to team up with you for the KOF!"
Vice slowly said.
"Alright."
Listening to Iori Yagami's straightforward agreement, Vice and Mature's faces flashed with a hint of surprise. He actually agreed so quickly.
But since he agreed, with Iori Yagami's personality, he would definitely not go back on his word.
After leaving the ancient temple, Vice also reported the situation here to a certain person.
Looking at the direction the two left, Iori Yagami roughly guessed who these two were.
"Yuri is still angry with father?"
Inside the Kyokugenryu Dojo.
Ryo Sakazaki looked at Yuri Sakazaki with a hint of helplessness.
When the invitations for this KOF began, Yuri Sakazaki's first target was the Women's Fighting Team she had participated with last time.
But she was stopped by their father, Takuma Sakazaki. Takuma Sakazaki was not participating in this KOF, so the person representing the Kyokugenryu Dojo could only be his daughter, Yuri Sakazaki.
After learning this news, the two argued continuously, and finally, Yuri Sakazaki succumbed, choosing to withdraw from the Women's Fighting Team.
Although she yielded, she still felt somewhat upset deep down.
"I'm not really angry. They've found teammates now, so I need to prepare well. I'll definitely defeat Joan and them then!"
A hint of excitement flashed across Yuri Sakazaki's face, completely devoid of her previous gloomy expression.
She was indeed very depressed before. She was upset that she had stood someone up. If her withdrawal caused the Women's Fighting Team to be unable to participate in the competition, she definitely couldn't accept that.
And after learning that Joan and Mai Shiranui had found new teammates, she was naturally happy.
Looking at his sister, who stood up and began preparing enthusiastically, Ryo Sakazaki suddenly understood why women were the most incomprehensible creatures in this world.
His sister, who had just had a very sad expression, now looked like she was going to prepare well, which was indeed perplexing.
"The information is here. There's nothing too problematic with the organizers of this KOF, but this time, there are guys like Howard and Big."
Mercenary Force.
Heidern placed the KOF information in front of Clark and Ralf, then continued, "I will not be participating in the competition this time."
Because those big figures from the dark world were participating, Heidern planned to move behind the scenes this time to see what their true intentions were.
"Leona, she will replace me and team up with you!"
After Heidern spoke, a young girl with blue hair walked out of the darkness.
Looking at the person in front of them, Clark and Ralf's eyes were filled with shock. He actually sent her over.
It seemed Heidern took this KOF very seriously!
"Teacher, let's go out too! This is the KOF!"
"That's right, Teacher!"
Athena Asamiya and Sie Kensou had long yearned for the KOF.
They had wanted to go to the previous two tournaments. Having trained in the mountains for so long, they naturally wanted to show their skills to the world.
But Chin Gentsai had always disagreed with this matter. Seeing their eager eyes, Chin Gentsai also hesitated.
Should they participate this time?
However, unable to resist the persistence of his two disciples, Chin Gentsai decided to participate in this KOF.
At the same time, Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge, under Gin's intimidation, began a hellish training regime more than double their previous one, all to win the KOF championship this time.
"This KOF, after collecting enough energy, will also be soon..."
Guenitz held the intelligence on the participating teams of the fighting tournament, focusing his gaze on Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami.
The Three Sacred Treasures families, truly disappointing.
Last time when he encountered Kyo Kusanagi, he was very much looking forward to it. After all, he was from the Three Sacred Treasures families and had participated in two KOFs, but the result greatly disappointed Guenitz. He never expected to defeat the opponent so easily.
Thus, he also felt somewhat disappointed with the other two of the Three Sacred Treasures families.
In his opinion, reviving Orochi was only a matter of time.
"Bai Ye, have you found people to team up with?"
Mai Shiranui called Bai Ye, concerned.
Although she had been thinking that she had no face to see Bai Ye before.
But after not seeing him for a day, she really missed Bai Ye. If she couldn't see him, she could only call to ask about his situation.
Although Bai Ye supported her joining the Women's Fighting Team, if Bai Ye hadn't found teammates, it was also partly her fault.
If Bai Ye truly couldn't find anyone, she could also ask Bai Ye. Joan should have other friends, right?
"Don't worry, I'll find them soon!"
"Really?"
"Of course!"
"Then I'm relieved. My dear, you're the best, mua!!"
Mai Shiranui's guilt also dissipated considerably. She was just afraid that Bai Ye wouldn't find teammates. The two then chatted on the phone for a while before reluctantly hanging up.
After hanging up, Bai Ye roared at the sky: "Who am I going to team up with?!"
He just didn't want Mai Shiranui to think he couldn't even find people.
But that was the truth; he really couldn't find anyone to team up with!
Bai Ye was numb.
He had left the Shiranui Dojo full of confidence, thinking he could just find two people and randomly form a team.
But he hadn't met anyone he could team up with. He couldn't just randomly pull two passersby off the street, could he?
It would be a miracle if they teamed up with him.
After all, they would be gambling with their lives!
That fighting tournament could really kill people.
Probably no one would be willing to team up with him. Apart from the Iori team, the other teams were either friends or had other bonds. It was really rare to team up with strangers.
In Bai Ye's opinion, Kagura Chizuru was someone he could team up with now. In King of Fighters '96, although Kagura Chizuru went to the KOF venue, she didn't participate in this fighting tournament. She didn't team up with anyone.
If he invited her, she might agree, but the problem was he had no idea where she was.
So, excluding Kagura Chizuru, there were also people from Street Fighter.
But these people also needed to be found.
"I told you, I'm haunted by ghosts! Hurry up and put me in jail!"
Just as Bai Ye was thinking about who to invite to team up with him.
A voice in his ear pulled his thoughts back. And seeing the person in front of him, he looked as if he had seen a ghost.
No!?
Although having this person was already ridiculous enough, was this timeline a bit too ridiculous?!
But with his appearance, Bai Ye suddenly realized that he seemed to have found his first teammate.
A ready-made teammate right in front of him, and a good one at that!!
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