VERSUS Chimon: Begin!

"...You've got this, Daigo!" Ishikawa told him, giving him a playful slap on the back.

"If you should win, I feel this will be an invaluable experience before the qualifiers–so, try to win, Touma," Tadashi said with a smile.

He glanced back, nodding as he raised his guard just as the chosen referee for the bout issued the start of the match.

"Begin!" The gym member shouted.

Just as the bout began, Chimon immediately rushed over to him with his arms held close to his chest, locking his icy-blue eyes onto him.

He didn't back down–spinning around and going for a roundhouse kick that punched through the air, but didn't properly connect as his foot slammed against the scarred arms of the heavyweight boxer.

BOOM.

It was a surprising amount of force for the spectators that came from the silver-haired young man's kick.

"My ears are ringing from that…" Ishikawa noted in surprise.

Tadashi was silent, but just as awe-struck at the power from that blocked kick, pushing his glasses up.

…Just one week of training brought him to this level of power? Tadashi thought.

Still, though the kick was devastating in its own right, the stalwart boxer was phased only for a moment, thanks to his sturdy arms that held the blow back.

"--"

He looked on, watching the man with his golden eyes as Chimon moved in again.

I have to keep him back, he thought.

It was a disadvantageous matchup; against a swarmer-type boxer as aggressive as Chimon, he didn't have the advantage in reach to keep him back.

Still, he used his swift footwork to create some space before spinning around into a combo-attack of a few kicks, launched in succession as he spun around, landing on his hands and spinning himself into another few kicks.

Tiger Capoeira: Sweeping Fury, he thought.

It was a quick succession of kicks that started from an upright position on his feet, then falling onto his hands into something that resembled a contemporary dance move, giving him the opportunity to launch many kicks.

"--"

Chimon remained silent and focused, tanking the kicks with his raised guard as each one generated small bursts of wind in their presence, but hardly moved the heavyweight legend.

"Capoeira…" Ishikawa noted.

Tadashi nodded, "Touma uses a lot of different martial arts styles; he's learned most of them simply from watching others in practice."

"Really?! That's insane!" Ishikawa said in surprise.

But, Tadashi knew better than to be enamored with the impressive showcase.

Even if he is able to tap into a spectrum of martial arts, Touma is not a master at those by any means. I've known partly about it for a while now, but Touma…you have something much more powerful up your sleeve, don't you? Tadashi thought.

Amidst the kicks, Chimon immediately went in for a quick jab to counter, forcing him to step back just in time to minimize the impact of the jab. Though it was just a swift jab, Chimon's power was no joke–he wanted to avoid being hit at all, if possible.

This time, he waited for Chimon to make his move–which wasn't a long wait as the heavyweight sprung towards him, keeping himself compact.

Now! He thought.

Just as a heavy fist came towards his abdomen, he pivoted out of the way and latched onto the outstretched right arm of the boxer with a claw-like formation of his hand.

Eagle's Prey, he thought.

It was a Karate-based move that took inspiration from the talons of avians so that he could properly latch onto his opponents.

"Stop messing around."

–These stern words from the icy-eyed boxer came out almost like a threat, rather than proper advice.

"Take this seriously–stop using your parlor tricks."

As he attempted to grapple the boxer's arm, he received a hefty blow straight to the gut, launching a shock wave that rippled across his torso in a brutal impact.

"--!"

He spit out saliva, being knocked back against the ropes.

"Daigo!" Ishikawa yelled out.

"Touma!" Tadashi called out as well.

The silver-haired young man picked himself back up, but was immediately met with the merciless assault of the world-class boxer as a flurry of blows came his way.

"You're not a capoeira master. You're not a karateka. If you want to fight in the Celestial Fist, you can't play around, Touma," Chimon instructed him while launching swift blows against him.

"--"

Each of these blows felt as if a train was being slammed into his body, anchoring such force that it felt as if Chimon's fists were forged of steel and molten.

After being knocked around for a good few seconds, being subject to the mighty punches of the heavyweight, he finally found his opportunity to escape as his golden eyes shined for just a brief flash.

"--!"

Chimon was left surprised as against his next punch, the young man moved with the direction of the blow, using the flow of power to gain a burst of momentum, spinning himself around into a whirlwind-kick:

Heavenly Daigo Style: Overflowing River, he thought.

Using the force of Chimon's own punch that he redirected and allowed to flow through himself, the torque of his kick crashed against the raised guard of the boxer, though an explosive impact was birthed.

The wind snapped and howled as the force had caused Chimon to slide across the ring while still on his feet with steam emitting from his scarred arms.

"What was that…?" Ishikawa questioned.

It was the same question held by all who witnessed the sublime counter to the boxer's mighty hook.

Chimon smiled while sweating, "--That's more like! Don't take it easy on this old man!"

He landed back on his feet, hardly smiling as he breathed heavily, wiping the blood from his cheek that came from one of Chimon's blows.

"...I didn't want to use it before the tournament," he said.

"Why's that?" Chimon waved his steaming arms.

Damn…my arms are on fire. I can still feel that blow in the marrow of my fuckin' bones…This kid…Chimon thought.

He breathed out, "I wanted to hide my hand, I guess. I wanted to save it for…him."

"You dumbass," Chimon said to him.

"Huh?"

"How far up your ass is your head, anyway?! Did you really expect to get far in the Celestial Fist without using your own style?!" Chimon asked him.

"--"

"Seriously! Using second-rate martial arts might work against small fry, but you're going to be up against true masters of their craft! Legends of their styles, monsters of martial arts–they'll chew you up if you try to play this game with them," Chimon told him, "So, embrace it! That style of yours!"

He stayed silent for a moment before nodding, raising his fists as he sharpened his breathing between his lips, exhaling calmly.

Looking at the veteran boxer, he knew all he was truly doing was disrespecting the man who had done him nothing but good by restricting himself.

The "Heavenly Daigo" style is an amalgamation of many different styles. At the same time, it's its own thing. I know it's far more useful than using other styles for myself, but…whenever I use it, I can see that old fart grinning–telling me "I knew you'd rely on my power"...I'll make it my own, then, he thought.

"Touma's style…" Ishikawa mumbled.

"I've never seen it…I want to," Tadashi adjusted his glasses.

The next time the boxer rushed towards the golden-eyed young man–that very silver-haired fighter disappeared before his eyes.

Chimon's eyes widened, looking around as he now saw afterimages of the young man encircling him.

What's this? Superspeed? No…this is a technique? What kind of footwork can achieve this, though? Chimon thought.

"Heavenly Daigo Style: Pace of The Void."

The heavyweight boxer went for a wild blow, taking his chances with punches towards one of the flickering afterimages–though his gloved fist felt only air and emptiness through its lofty impact.

"--!" Chimon's instincts flared up.

From the side, like a thunderbolt, a harsh knee nearly crashed against his skull, though by some miracle, the icy-eyed boxer blocked it with his gloves.

"Heavenly Daigo Style: Ivory Fang."

In combination with the swift footwork of "Pace of The Void", "Ivory Fang" caused the flying knee that the silver-haired young man launched to bolster an incredible force behind it, causing even the burly boxer to struggle in holding it back.

Chimon clenched his teeth, finding the leather of his own gloves pressing against his nose before the young man finally flipped back, freeing him from the contest of strength.

"...I remember you using this style, back when you were barely in the double digits," Chimon breathed heavily, "...the "Heavenly Daigo Style"--for a combat lover like myself, it's like an artist looking upon the creations of Da Vinci…It's beautiful; truly something from Heaven."

Such words of praise were not far from the truth to the onlookers, as the moves launched flawlessly by the young man hardly seemed humanly achievable.

"Have you ever seen him use that?" Ishikawa asked the blue-haired adolescent.

Tadashi watched the two in the ring, "...Only brief glimpses of it, but he made sure never to reveal it, I assume."

"But why?" Ishikawa asked confusedly, "If it's something as amazing as this, why wouldn't he use it all the time?"

"That…I do not know, I can only make assumptions…" Tadashi answered, "Such as him having his own personal quarrels with that martial art."

"Person quarrel?" Ishikawa repeated.

"All we can do now is watch–it seems Chimon has spurred our friend on," Tadashi smiled.