50: End of the preliminaries.
"Boy, are you one of those demons? You're not as weak as the ones I've met," Yujiro Hanma said, slowly approaching Yusuke Urameshi.
"The demons on earth are just weak remnants that hardly have any power, the really powerful ones are in the demon world, the ones here... are just worthless exiles," Yusuke replied, not uncomfortable with the powerful aura that Yujiro Hanma was building up.
Yes, it could be said that with every step Yujiro Hanma took, an atmosphere full of power, arrogance, and sovereignty emanated from him, as if he was telling the story of a mighty monarch with every step he took.
"Well said, boy, no wonder they are so pathetic, but what makes you different from them?" Yujiro Hanma stopped in front of Yusuke and looked down, not out of disdain, but because of his great height.
Yujiro Hanma was much taller than Yusuke Urameshi, so the height difference was as if he was standing in front of his son. Yusuke Urameshi simply looked up at the man before the corner of his lip turned up in a small smile.
"Let me show you what makes me different," Yusuke Urameshi clenched his hands into a pair of fists, and without looking back, he punched right into Yujiro Hanma's face.
But his face showed a strange expression when his punch was easily parried by Yujiro Hanma's hand. The force of the punch was dispersed by Yujiro Hanma onto the arena floor, shattering him.
"You need a little more if you want to hit me, kid," Yujiro Hanma said with a neutral and bored tone, although he was quite impressed by the power of the punch inside.
'This kid is something else,' Yujiro Hanma thought before he responded with an attack of his own.
Yujiro Hanma's punch was powerful, even causing a large gust of wind. Yusuke was able to dodge the attack, but the sharp air caused by the blow cut his cheek a bit.
"Good reflexes" Without stopping, Yujiro Hanma attacked again, throwing a knee to Yusuke Urameshi's chest, but Yusuke Urameshi could dodge in time and avoid the damage.
Yusuke Urameshi touched the wound on his face, feeling with his fingers the small amount of blood that had spilled from his face. Then, without hesitation, he ran towards Yujiro Hanma, taking it much more seriously this time.
As a person who had awakened his true demonic nature, Yusuke Urameshi had lived his entire life to be superior to everyone else, using the martial arts inherited from his blood to defeat the few martial artists he had encountered along the way.
He had never faced an equal, he had never seen himself in a situation where he was bleeding, because the last time he shed blood was when he 'died' before his bloodline was awakened.
The confrontation between the two men was different from the others, it was like watching an adult playing with a child because although Yusuke Urameshi was quite powerful, he could not overcome Yujiro Hanma, who was not only a master of martial arts, he could also use Ki.
It all ended when Yujiro Hanma seemed to have noticed something special about Yusuke Urameshi, and after picking it up, the Ki in his body manifested in his hand, forming a red energy claw.
"Ogre Claw!" Yujiro Hanma struck Yusuke Urameshi's body, leaving three ugly wounds on his chest and sending him flying out of the arena.
"Fighter Yusuke Urameshi has been disqualified! The winner is Yujiro Hanma!" the announcer shouted, causing the crowd to roar with excitement.
"It was quite a good fight, it seems that both fighters understood each other quite well, even... I thought I saw how Yujiro Hanma educated Yusuke Urameshi during his attacks," Muten Roshi pointed out those subtle details of the fight that had just happened.
Yujiro Hanma noticed Yusuke Urameshi's stiffness and lack of experience when it came to fighting, so he decided to see if the young man could learn during the fight.
He did, Yusuke adapted quickly, digesting the martial arts into his blood heritage, and not only that, but he also absorbed Yujiro Hanma's teachings, making the man excited.
So much so that the man walked over to Yusuke Urameshi and looked at the young man who was trying to get up while covering his chest wounds.
Yusuke Urameshi looked up, slightly angry that he had lost, but this emotion was quickly replaced by another feeling.
Admiration.
"Master!" Yusuke Urameshi took advantage of the fact that he was still on the ground to bow to Yujiro Hanma, who continued to stare at the young man.
"Boy, even though you are a demon, it seems you still have a long way to go before you become one. Come, I will turn you into a real demon," a wide smile appeared on Yujiro Hanma's face, one that seemed truly inhuman.
As if on cue, the blood-red ki that belonged to Yujiro Hanma grew and rose into the sky, turning the sky crimson. Although he looked evil at first glance, anyone sensitive to ki could tell that he was just staying on a different martial arts path, not an evil person.
Many people could sense Yujiro Hanma's indifference to any lineup or rule that contained him, he was simply a person who lived and acted as he wished.
Yujiro then helped Yusuke Urameshi to his feet, looking directly at one of the places where the fighters were lined up, specifically the one where Bulma belonged.
Yujiro's gaze focused on the blue-haired girl who gave him a strange feeling, a mixture of healing warmth as well as a sense of danger and contempt that even he couldn't provoke in others.
"Girl, can you heal him?" although Yujiro's voice was normal, Bulma was able to hear him clearly despite the distance and the noise outside.
"Bring it on," Bulma simply shook her shoulders and gestured, causing Yujiro Hanma to nod.
"I'll teach you one of my techniques as payment," the man said, carrying Yusuke Urameshi on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, not caring about the boy's blood dripping onto his body or the medical staff who refused to go near him.
Because he was still emitting that cloud of dark red Ki.
...
"A dangerous guy," Chi-Chi muttered as she watched Yujiro Hanma go to the place where he had been assigned.
Chi-Chi felt that on the back of the big man was a wild creature that seemed to notice her gaze, and her eyes, covered with magic, could see a big face mocking her comically.
"This world holds many surprises," Bulma said in response, watching the fight Yamcha was having against a fighter called Kazuma Kuwabara, a man who used a sword created with Ki.
"Yamcha's technique moves with his fingers!" exclaimed Goku as he watched the ball of ki Yamcha created called Sokidan.
In this world, not only had he developed this technique much earlier, but his control of it was not so strange, without so many unnecessary gestures, and even, it was even much more powerful than the 'canonical' version.
With this attack, he managed to hit Kazuma Kuwabara in the abdomen, causing the ki ball to explode and seriously injuring the young man. Despite his injuries, the boy tried to stand up and looked at Yamcha with a defiant look in his eyes.
"You are strong! But I... I'm a real man and I won't lose on the ground," Kazuma Kuwabara said, making Yamcha refrain from attacking him and watching as the young man struggled to his feet.
"For the love of Kami-Sama! The fighter Kazuma Kuwabara was able to stand up despite that full ki attack!" the moderator exclaimed, quite excited by the words the young fighter had said.
"Kazuma Kuwabara may have become weaker, but his willpower is quite high, I do not doubt that we will find him in the next edition of this tournament, much stronger, because this experience will only make him grow," Muten Roshi said, also excited by the attitude of the young man.
Kazuma Kuwabara stood up, staggering, his blurred eyes still focused on Yamcha, his Ki was very exhausted, but in his hand, an orange energy sword still bloomed, flickering and even showing parts that became small sparks of energy that dissipated in the air.
"Come!" Kazuma Kuwabara shouted with all his energy, causing Yamcha to run towards him to hit him hard, but his fist stopped only centimeters from his chin.
Yamcha stopped and looked at Kazuma Kuwabara, who was standing with his energy sword in his hand, but unconscious. Yamcha then turned away from the boy and gave him a salute of respect according to the ancient culture of martial artists before looking at the referee.
"He's unconscious, I doubt he can keep fighting like this," Yamcha pointed out to Kuwabara, attracting everyone's attention.
After the referee checked that Kazuma Kuwabara was indeed unconscious, he announced the result to the moderator, who stood silently admiring the young fighter who fulfilled his words.
"Contender Kazuma Kuwabara has been disqualified! The winner is Fighter Yamcha!" the announcer announced loudly, he enjoyed this match and the spirit Kazuma showed.
...
The last fights went by rather quickly, Bulma paid special attention to Lapis and Lazuli's fights, but perhaps because their opponents were particularly weak, they managed to overcome them quite easily.
Chi-Chi's fight was also quite entertaining, as the girl was able to show a bit of what she was capable of, using not only Ki but also magic, a somewhat rare ability in these confrontations.
Unbeknownst to Chi-Chi, many youngsters picked her to win, simply because she was a witch, and what kid could resist a fighter who could use magic? None!
"Now we have tonight's showdown! Fighter Son Goku vs. Fighter Red Boy!" with the words of the announcer, two young men entered the arena.
Goku did some jumping jacks in preparation, while his opponent, a pale-skinned, red-eyed, black-haired young man, simply took a deep breath.
"Fight!" At the start of the confrontation, Goku and the young man lunged at each other, their fists colliding in the air.
"How strong!" the two young men shouted, and when they realized that they were speaking at the same time, they burst out laughing.
The two exchanged blows rather quickly. No matter how much Goku raised the level, the Red Boy could keep up with him, but during the fight, the temperature of the arena seemed to rise.
Literally. With the increase in temperature, Red Boy's skin became slightly reddish, and gradually it became completely red. As if this injected new strength into the young man, Red Boy screamed in excitement, and fire came out of his mouth.
But at the sight of those flames, Goku quickly turned away from Red Boy, his entire body filled with fear as he sensed the exaggerated danger of that fire. They weren't just flames created with Ki, they were strange, so Goku was cautious.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to burn you, I just came here to have fun," Red Boy said, containing the flames in his body, and although his temperature was inhumanly high, neither the ground nor his clothes seemed to suffer.
After that, the two young men fought quite hard, using only their bodies and letting their emotions take over. But Goku never forgot Bulma's threats .... teachings, so he soon increased his power completely and knocked Red Boy out of the arena.
"The fighter Red Boy is disqualified! Fighter Son Goku wins!" the announcer said, ending his work for the night.
"All the bouts have been completed, and only 32 fighters remain to face each other two days later, so our contestants can rest. In the meantime, you can enjoy the many activities on this island.
On the other hand, I thank Muten Roshi for joining me today, without his knowledge many of us would be lost," the host thanked Muten Roshi, who simply waved his hands.
And so the night of preliminaries was over.
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AN: I took the weekend to rest, especially since I have the flu, and I'm still sick xD at least I haven't gotten a fever, or I'd be dying. Anyway, I'll upload tomorrow, because technically it's chapter time tomorrow.