CH33: ROUND 3 (FINAL ROUND)

This is a passion work. So, I would really appreciate it if you leave behind a review when you're done reading.

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CH33: ROUND 3 (FINAL ROUND)

With different thoughts going through their mind, both men took longer to calm down. They looked at their opponent with different emotions in their eyes.

In Hattori Hanzo's mind, he had already acknowledged the youth in front of him and was willing to take him as a student.

As for Korede, he had respect and… appreciation. For a long time, he had to suppress himself. Not only to protect his body but also because most of the people he had fought wouldn't be able to face him with his limiters off. Of course, it didn't mean he was the strongest in the Balogun Family. The truly strong people wouldn't fight him. So, Hattori Hanzo was the first person he had fought with all of his strength. It felt like a boulder that had been crushing his chest, preventing him from breathing had been removed and he could breathe again. The feeling of freedom was exhilarating

When both men were done calming down, Hattori said, "Kid, are you ready for another round?"

Korede was a little caught off guard. This wasn't what he expected an octogenarian to say. He shrugged then smiles, "Of course but this will be our final round. I don't think my body can take your hits anymore."

"I should be the one saying that." The old man bantered back. "Kid. Enough nonsense. Come!"

Both men take their stances and were about to attack. Miyako Hanzo had the mind to stop the two but Kola Balogun held her arm and shook his head. Eventually, she begrudgingly sat down.

"This was just supposed to be a spar. Even if the youth's excitement can barely be understood, why are you an aged man also getting excited? Pair of Martial obsessed idiots. They're a perfect match. I'm starting to regret introducing them to each other." Miyako muttered in a low voice that only Kola could hear.

He didn't say anything and just smiled. He knew Miyako also understood what was going on in the two men's minds. This would probably be the only time they could fight like this. If they don't finish this fight clearly, it would be one of the regrets of their life.

The two combatants for the Nth time once again charged at each other. They rapidly exchanged strikes. Korede threw out a punch which the old man dodged and allowing him to get behind Korede. He was slashing down on the youth only to see a thumb stabbing towards his eye. He quickly evaded thereby causing his strike to miss Korede's head narrowly. He was about to retreat when he discovered Korede stepping on his foot. This held him in place for a split second which the youth used to deliver a strong punch with a swing of his body to add more force. Hattori was forced to block with his Shinai. The impact of the punch caused Hattori to slide back on his feet almost three meters. Even then, Hattori still had to take more steps backward before he was able to disperse the latent force.

Korede didn't attack because he was in shock. Though he didn't expect the punch to touch his opponent, he couldn't believe the Shinai didn't break from his full power punch. The same punch that made a dent in super-hardened reinforced concrete, a bamboo sword was able to withstand it without breaking. Well, even without the shock, he wouldn't have attacked because his intuition was telling him the old man was prepared to counter him if he did. Any rash moves and it was game over.

Hattori looked at his Shinai and noticed a crack on it. Though the crack was small, the fact that it existed was a testament to just how powerful the youth's punch was. After all, he knew what he just did to block the punch should ideally be an unbreakable shield. Now there was a crack on the said shield, how could he not be surprised.

'Grandfather just cheated.' The thought flashed through Miyako's mind

Hattori quickly refocused, only for Korede to do something that confused him. Korede took a southpaw boxing stance. Hattori couldn't help but wonder, 'Is there something wrong with his right hand? Why did he switch to a left-handed stance? Did the punch just now injure his arm? Or is it the injury that caused him to bandage his hand?' With no one to answer his questions, he also took his stance knowing the answers would be revealed soon.

As expected, Korede wasted no time closing in. Hattori didn't want Korede to get close anymore so he responded with the same overhead downward slash. Korede threw out a right-handed jab at almost the same moment. For some reason, Hattori noticed his strike vie off target. This caused Korede's quick jab to hit him. The youth added two more jabs, one hits one missed, before quickly backing off a little to kick the old man on his forward right leg. The old man grimaced as he withstood the pain whilst he responded with a strike to Korede's shoulder at almost the same time. Korede quickly backs off. This repeats itself for two more cycles when Hattori finally realised why his Shinai was going off target. It also explained why Korede switched to a 'southpaw' stance.

In the next moment, however, Korede charged in again. This time, though, he feints with his right hand as if to jab, only for him to throw a left-handed hook. The old man suddenly notices something.

'This punch won't reach me'

He thought as his eyes naturally followed the movement of the punch, only for alarm bells to go off in his head. He quickly dropped down just in time for a roundhouse kick to pass over his head and even graze his hair. The old man realised what happened.

Feint + Misdirection combo(1)!

He couldn't believe Korede pulled off such a difficult technique and that he, Hattori, fell for it.

In truth, while Korede knew about the technique for some time now, this was the first time he pulled it off. Not to mention it was only with the help of his 'zone'.

Seeing his kick miss, Korede once again wisely backs out of the old man's attack range. Hattori looked at his young opponent and came to a decision.

'This kid has too many tricks. I'd better finish this fight now before one of them gets me.'

Hattori took the same stance as usual but with a minor difference, his guard is now raised completely taking no chances against Korede's attack. Korede, who was still in the 'zone' noticed this seemingly small change and understood the opponent's mindset. He also came to a decision.

'The old man has raised his guard. Seems he's no longer playing around and wants to finish this fight. Well, my preparations are also complete. Let's end this.'

As both men came to the same conclusion, they moved.

Korede still took his southpaw stance as he closed in. Hattori responded with the usual downward slash. Due to being in the 'zone', Korede noticed that this time, the technique was smoother and more refined. Without the zone, Korede wouldn't have been able to block it, talkless of responding. However, he did have the zone and respond he did. Rather than going for a strike, Korede jumped forward. He caught his opponent's right arm and wrapped his leg around the old man's neck, completing a grapple.

'Success'

Korede said happily in his mind. This was the first time he had successfully locked in a grapple since the start of the fight… Or so he thought.

When Korede applied more pressure to his legs to choke out the old man, he noticed a few things he missed.

First, even though his body was applying pressure on the old man's arm, he refused to drop his Shinai. That was crazy because Korede was applying pressure on his arm in such a way that would cause tremendous pain, possibly break the arm at the elbow joint.

Second, Korede's leg couldn't apply much pressure on the old man's neck because Hattori somehow managed, in a split second, to get his free left hand between his neck and Korede's leg preventing the perfect choke lock. That's even crazier because, at the beginning of the move, Hattori held his Shinai with two hands. Meaning that in the split-second Korede caught his right hand, Hattori was able to move his free left hand to his neck before Korede's leg wrapped around it. The only explanation was insane reflexes.

Finally, perhaps the craziest and most insane thing, the old man was still able to carry Korede's 95kg weight while doing all that, preventing the two from going to the ground which would have helped Korede's grapple, even though Korede caught him while he was unbalanced. Korede was beyond disbelief.

However, the old man in front of him had given him multiple surprises during this match that Korede was able to quickly recompose himself.

Since the grapple couldn't be locked in as well as he thought, Korede quickly moved on to another attack. He dropped off his opponent. As he hits the ground, he quickly used his arm for balance. He brought his right leg to the old man's shin(leg) and his left leg behind the old man's knees and twisted his body bringing Hattori to his knees with a scissors leg lock. Almost immediately, Korede got up and wrapped around the old man like a snake. With his leg wrapping around Hattori's arm to his side, Korede wraps his arms around the old man's neck.

Python hold locked in!

Before Korede could celebrate though, he discovered that even though he was tilting his weight backward to bring both of them to the ground, Hattori resolutely stayed on his knees. Korede gave up and applied more pressure on the opponent's neck and lungs to force the air out and choke him.

Hattori, however, had other plans. He suddenly took a deep breath and stood up. Still, with Korede on his back, he started moving backward, picking up speed.

Then, suddenly… BAM!!

They slammed into the wall. Korede felt like he was hit by a speeding truck. All the air escaped his lungs and he eased his hold. Hattori took the opportunity to escape. Korede slid down the wall and landed on his ass. Hattori was coughing and trying to recover his breath. By the time he did, he looked over to see Korede already struggling to get up using the wall.

'This Kid!!' Hattori was amazed and aghast. 'Let's end this quick.'.

As Korede struggled to get back to his feet, his body was feeling very heavy. All his muscles ached. His bones felt crushed. The fight, releasing his limiter, high concentration Zone. All these had taken a toll on his body, mind, and energy. After this last attack, he was running on fumes.

Managing to get to his feet, he looked over and saw his opponent adopting a different stance than usual. It was like he had 'sheathed' his sword. In the next moment, Korede saw the old man in front of him with the bottom of the sword handle plunging into his stomach. He could not move a finger to dodge. All the remaining air in his body was forced out along with some gastric fluid. He became dizzy and bent forward as if to bow, falling. At the corner of his eye, Korede saw his opponent sidestep to the side at inconceivable speed. With one swift movement, the old man 'unsheathe' his sword and struck down at the back of Korede's neck in an arc trajectory. His neck was hit and Korede 'saw' everything go black. Before he lost consciousness completely, he heard the old man's voice say,

"Quick Draw Technique: Swift Beheading."

There was only one thought in Korede's mind as he fell unconscious,

'That was freaking awesome.'

[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion really matters to me.]

AUTHOR'S NOTE/RAMBLING

1 Misdirection is a technique of shifting an opponent's tunnel vision to a different point allowing one a split second chance to pull off a hidden attack.

[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion really matters to me.]