The stadium was as loud as ever as the round of 64 was about to start!
Schools from all around the New Rakuya stepped out of their locker rooms and headed to their rings. The fans cheered in excitement.
After arriving at the fifth ring, Karuza High took their places on their benches and watched as their opponent, Konoha High, took their spots in their bench.
Their bench looked quite empty as two of their fighters weren't here. They were in the medical room getting treated for their serious injuries.
In the spectator stands, a few eyes came to check on Karuza High, as they had already started to make a name for themselves after defeating Raimei High.
"Are you ready?" Jin asked.
"Yes." Kiernan wrapped his hands with the white tape and nodded. "What should I expect from my opponent?"
"Your opponent is a young man named Aurel," Jin said. "I don't know why, but he has the title of hero of Konoha."
"Hero of Konoha?" Nathaniel laughed. "What kind of cheesy nickname is that?"
"Well, we know that Konoha is quite similar to Karuza." Jin said. "They've been weak school for a long time, but Aurel changed that."
Ryan and Nathaniel turned to Kiernan. It sounded a lot like their current situation.
At that moment, the referee took her spot in the ring. She was one of the few female referees in the tournament, and while she was pretty new to the job, she had already proven herself to be fair and impartial.
"Fighters, come to the ring." She said.
Kiernan and Aurel stood up, stepped into the ring, and took their places.
"This is a special match!" She shouted.
"One-versus-one. Whoever comes victorious out of this fight will have a place in the second day of the nationals!"
"Good luck to both teams!
"May the best fighter win!"
The spectators in Konoha and Irio were on the edge of their seats. Every household, every television, and every radio tuned in to witness the battle.
"Aurel, are you ready?" She pointed at the short, young man.
"I am." Aurel gave a confident nod.
"Kiernan, are you ready?" She pointed at the black-haired young man.
"Yes." Kiernan moved into his Iron Style stance.
"Let the fight begin!" She swung her arm down. "FIGHT!"
Without further ado, she hopped off the ring, leaving the two fighters to face off against each other.
Kiernan slammed his foot on the ground, cracking the floor, and immediately crossed the distance between them.
"Iron Style, Reigning Fallow!"
Without a second of hesitation, the storm of punches came raining down on Aurel.
"This move is what defeated Arthan!" Nathaniel shouted.
Aurel's expression turned ugly as he kept backing off to the edge of the ring. However, Kiernan followed after and kept punching mercilessly.
The coach of Konoha High and the reserve fighters looked extremely serious.
With his extended arm, Kiernan punched straight, but then Aurel jumped straight ahead. It looked like he was going to jump into the punch!
However, at that moment, Aurel ducked under the fist, slid between Kiernan's legs, and appeared right behind him.
Now, it was Kiernan standing right on the edge of the ring!
The advantage had changed!
"This is bad!" Jin cried out. "Aurel is going to push him off!"
Aurel, as soon as he slid between Kiernan's legs, jumped back to his feet and kicked Kiernan in the back with all his might.
"Yes!" The coach of Konoha High grinned.
However, all the smiles vanished as they noticed that Kiernan didn't flinch at all.
"Iron Style, Iron Human…"
Kiernan looked slightly in pain, but he then turned around and looked straight at Aurel.
'I kicked him. How did he not move?' Aurel was amazed by Kiernan's strength and fortitude.
"Whoo…" Kiernan moved to his Rendering Edge style.
Aurel stepped back and didn't approach him.
They were just standing there, looking at each other, neither making a move. It made a few spectators frustrated and screamed to their television for them to make a move.
"Aurel is not moving." Jin said.
"During the downtime between matches, he must've watched Kiernan's match with Arthan." Ryan said. "He doesn't want to attack against Kiernan's rock-solid defense!"
"Yeah…" Nathaniel nodded. "Aurel wants for Kiernan to attack. He knows that if he attacks, it will be worthless against his defense, and will just give Kiernan options to defeat him!"
"He doesn't want to give Kiernan any control over the match." Jin clicked his tongue.
'Good.' The coach of Konoha High nodded. 'Kiernan's defense is extremely scary. I don't think even I could break it!'
At that moment, everyone looked at Kiernan as he moved. He didn't take any steps. Instead, he lowered his arms and looked more relaxed.
He stopped using the Rendering Edge stance!
"Kiernan is not planning to stay on defense!" Jin cried out.
"So, he is not the type of fighter that likes to wait." Ryan rubbed his chin.
"Kiernan, be careful!" Nathaniel cried out.
Aurel narrowed his eyes, but in his mind, hundreds of scenarios layed out of how the fight could go.
That's how he became the hero of Konoha!
While in terms of martial arts and strength, he was pretty average.
He had reached Low Stage Martial Fighter, but if he fought someone in Martial Soldier rank with only martial arts, he might lose!
However, he had an amazing mind that allowed him to "play a video" in his mind that allowed him to predict how the fight would play out.
While he didn't have a lot of time to scan Kiernan's martial arts during the downtime, it was enough!
It was enough to "guess" what Kiernan would do.
However, that ability of his idea had one big flaw. If he didn't know the full capabilities of his opponents, it could lead to a devastating miscalculation.
Kiernan cracked his neck, and then, shocking everyone, he stabbed his fingers through the ground. It was like his fingers were spears, plunging deep into the cement.
"W-what is he doing?" Jin asked in shock.
"Iron Style, Gaia's Embrace." Kiernan coldly said, and then every eye in the stadium turned to that ring.
Hundreds of thousands of people watched in awe as the ground began to crack and split open beneath Kiernan's feet.