章 12: Legendary and Swift Fight
It was an exchange of strikes. The Fang of Metsudo had the range advantage granted by a taller body and taller limbs, which he used to take full advantage of the shorter man. However, the other man seemed to specialize in taking blows, so even the powerful strikes from the burly Kanoh failed to leave a lasting affect in the initial attacks.
Nitoku threw a wild haymaker at Kanoh's temple. The air seemed to tear at the sheer force he put into it, proving that the man was a cut above the rest of the fighters Vincent experienced in the Kengan Matches. The fact that Kanoh blocked it like it was nothing proves that he too is a cut above the rest.
Their guards were rock solid.
The first person to land a definitive blow was Kanoh Agito. His savage strike was an elbow that crashed straight into Nitoku's jaw with the force of a cannonball. The strike could've paralyzed even the hardiest of fighters.
This was but one of the reasons why the Fang was so unstoppably powerful. His skill was unmatched, his striking power could break boulders, his speed could transcend the eyes of a pro boxer, and his adaptability left him unshakable. He was a menace.
So, when his opponent reeled from his attack, the man thought it as natural and followed up with an attack. Nobody has ever taken a strike head on from him without being put on the defensive immediately.
"Nng...!" Nitoku grunted.
A fist sent Kanoh Agito's head to the side. It was a crushing blow in the form of a hook that he didn't see coming from his opponent because the kimono-clad man was still reeling from the Fang's own attack. How could he strike while being left open by a devastating attack one might ask?
The truth is simple: Nitoku is just that durable. An elbow strike straight to the jaw from one of the most powerful strikers in the Kengan Matches served as nothing more than an inconvenience. The man planned and prepared to take powerful strikes, so he weathered it.
However, he was bleeding from the attack. The strike to his jaw made his teeth rip on the inside of his mouth.
"Cosmetic damage," Vincent remarked. On Nitoku and Kanoh as well were nothing more than scrapes at best. The two haven't begun in earnest yet and it was only a matter of time before they tired of strikes.
"Wait, is the Fang copying his style?" Vincent wasn't wearing his glasses so he could clearly see the flow of the fight and the rhythm of the two fighters.
Their beats matched, though the copycat's beat seemed to a weak facsimile being supplemented by the physical advantage of the larger man. He was rapidly catching up in skill, however, something that interested the American onlooker.
His hands twitched. "I want to be a part of that..." His whisper made those around him nearly snap their necks at the prodigious speed in which they turned toward Vincent. His words garnered unspoken mockery only kept silent from the sheer intimidation that the current fight was outputting.
Ohta was stunned, but he wasn't really surprised. It hasn't been long since he met his fighter, but he likes to think he knows him relatively well. That's why he could only sigh in exasperation.
Blazing back to the fight, the competitive flames between the two fighters were heating up, the equilibrium between the two surprising all who watched. The man who employed Kanoh Agito, Katahara Metsudo, admired the martial prowess of Nitoku to keep up with the man for over three minutes.
Eventually though, the balance began to shift to the Fang's favor. As he copied Nitoku's striking style while rapidly improving his own understanding of the skill, he surpassed even the person he was mimicking. The speeds at which it happened was unreal.
Vincent was completely taken aback and his eyes opened wide at something so improbable. He couldn't call it impossible because of the zany things he's already seen, but this is definitely something he couldn't have predicted.
Nitoku's face was being protected by his guarding fists, yet his abdomen was suffering strikes that broke through the placement of his forearms.
'Okay, let's try this.' Since he was being surpassed in punches, he resorted to kicks. He threw a savage low kick, its weight heavy enough to give even Kanoh grief. The battle-ax shin struck the side of Kanoh's thigh and made him wince.
He retaliated instinctively by throwing a kick of his own.
'As expected.'
Nitoku caught it. He realized partway through that his opponent was mimicking his style and took countermeasures appropriately by making him copy his own kick. The Fang might've known that Nitoku performed Sambo by looking up his records or not, but he would only copy what he's seen.
This was nothing more than simple Pre-Initiative.
The flow of the fight took a drastic turn when Nitoku caught the kick due to him forcing Kanoh onto the ground. The kimono-clad fighter succeeded in a takedown and successfully captured the Fang in an ankle lock.
"You're in my territory now. Here, I can't lose." A gasp was heard from one of the members of the crowd. The person who choked on air was surprised by the fact that the Fang was put into a situation like this. They can't even remember the last time the emperor of the Kengan Matches was put on the ground in such a forceful manner.
Vincent looked at the ankle lock and mentally repeated the motion of Nitoku's submission. "Is that Sambo?" He wasn't too sure of it, but he had a feeling that it was close to that.
It couldn't be judo because that's a little softer than what Nitoku just did, but Vincent did do an odd style of aikido, so the sky's the limit. For now though, he's going to safely assume the man is a Samboist.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Nitoku roared as he tried twisting the ankle until it broke or dislocated. Kanoh resisted with all of his might, all the muscles in his leg supporting his ankle and keeping itself in place to resist suffering damage. However, he couldn't resist the strength of Nitoku's twist for long.
With his free leg, he began kicking at the man's head with speeds fast enough to kick up dust. Nitoku had to let him go before he was knocked out by those heavy kicks.
Kanoh was breathing heavily. That should've been something to celebrate. To push a legendary fighter to making him break a sweat and pant like a dog is an achievement, yet Nitoku couldn't revel in it.
Not when the Fang was wearing such a devilish expression with a monstrous grin splitting his face, making him look like the devil himself. "'We didn't expect a master of Sambo to face us in this match today. Allow me to show my respect by using this me."
The words were ominous. Nitoku widened his guard. Kanoh did the exact same.
The two charged at each other once more.
Kanoh's ankle might've avoided a sprain or a break, but there was still damage done. His hampered mobility means he was forced to trade strikes with his opponent, something he did get an advantage out of, however.
All of a sudden though, it seemed like Kanoh's strikes were starting to deal less damage. Nitoku was letting out loud gasps, but his strikes were getting heavier. He was putting all of his weight behind his strikes, turning his whole body along with the hooks to crash them into the Fang's body. A stray strike caught him straight on the forehead and forced bleeding from him.
Kanoh Agito then threw a wild haymaker straight into Nitoku's face. The man's feet slid across the ground and made a nasty groove. It was like a far fell onto the earth. Nitoku suffered an orbital fracture and swelling blocked out the vision of his left eye before the two exchanged strikes once again.
Stomach, chest, liver, temple, jaw, ribs, legs: these parts were struck by Kanoh Agito. Nitoku could only strike half of these spots when contesting his opponent in a battle fo strikes. He realized if he was going to win, he'd have to do a submission again.
'I can't lose. This is what I'm good for. This body of mine that was naturally bestowed upon me...I won't lose...!' Not only for the sake of money to further his writing career, the dream he's held for almost his entire life. It was for the sake of proving himself and his own Sambo to the emperor of the Kengan Matches.
However, that resolve of his couldn't match Kanoh Agito. The Fang surpassed Nitoku's Sambo and performed an ankle lock of his own. It was even more excellent than the man who did it first, leaving no leverage to unleash a kick powerful enough to get out of the hold.
So instead, Nitoku dropped an elbow onto Kanoh's open leg, which shook him enough to escape out of it. Once more the two began a striking competition; Nitoku held the disadvantage here.
The fight was brutal and beautiful. Vincent was taken in by the brutality. To him, there was no brutality. It was all just a beautiful dance with rhythms trying to overwhelm the other. He was truly glad he didn't have glasses to bring here because he would've missed the beginning before he ripped them off.
It all added up until Kanoh gripped Nitoku's kimono and threw him onto the ground with great force. The ground broke and made the man's body bounce into a sitting position, the air knocked out of him and his body bloodied from the blow. When he tried standing up, a kick struck him in the back of the head and he passed out standing up.
Ribs broken and skull cracked. Orbital bone fracture and a sprained ankle from even the short time that it was twisted. It'll take a while for Nitoku to heal from this fight.
The Fang's rampant battle aura was barely restrained after that and he took settled breaths, showing that the fight was over to the referee. Nitoku stopped moving.
In his semi-conscious state, he was taken over by loss and confusion. It was a strange type of despair where the talent he was gifted amounted to nothing and what he truly wanted to do couldn't be done either.
'...What...do I do?'
"The fight is over! The winner is Kanoh Agito!!"
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット