NOVEL NEXT Chapter 22: Notoriety
Giran has a brutish approach to battle, charging right at his fellow disciple, while Bora, being a more refined fighter, skillfully avoids every attack thrown at him.
This continues for a few more minutes, until—abruptly—a tail swipe from Giran hits Bora. He is smacked heavily to the ground. breaking the ceaseless flow of battle.
"Heh! Did you forget I have a tail?" Being a dragon-like species called Giras, our dragon-boy naturally has a tail.
Bora pays no mind to his little brother's amused voice. He gets up, ready to turn the tide.
Like the invisible wind, he disappears from his spot, with speed surpassing Giran's ability to follow his moves.
Bora's figure repeatedly flickers around the ring. He launches surprise attacks; one after another, forcing his opponent to constantly be on guard.
Unlike Bora, rather than avoiding the attacks, Giran blocks them, with his arms and palms.. redirecting those that manage to get past his defenses... However, it's not enough to save him from all of Bora's strikes.
The crowd also starts to complain, "Where has the other fighter gone?" They're confused as to what's going on... Seeing this, the announcer attempts to explain the situation...
On the ring, Giran, overwhelmed by the unpredictable attacks, can't take it anymore "I had hoped not to reveal my cards this early in the fight... Guess I have no choice..."
"Merry-Merry Go-Round Gum!!" He spits out a massive surge of magically glowing substance, spreading it wide in all directions.
Caught off-guard in this glue-like substance, Bora's movements are immediately stopped as the glue instantly hardens upon contact with him.
"Ackh!!! What is this? Don't tell me this is your spit?!"
"No, it's not," Giran immediately retorts. "This is our clan's special magic. It just happens to be released from our mouth."
"Phew!! Thank God... But did you really think you could bind me with this?"
"No, I didn't, but that's not all it can do... This stuff is highly flammable."
"You mean—" A horrific image comes to Bora's mind, but before he can complete his sentence, Giran jumps high and spits out something again... This time, it's not glue but fire. He spits out a fire tornado at the ring below.
The tornado hits precisely where Bora was. The fire becomes even more intense upon contact with the glue, spreading all over. Intense white flames envelop the whole ring.
Up in the sky, Dragon-boy proudly admires his handiwork. "Now, not only do I resemble a dragon, I've nearly become one myself... There's nothing you can do, big bro. At least rest-assured, with your level of power, you won't die from this."
Shen looking, at the fight sighs!; irritably "Is this brat crazy? Even if Bora won't die because of this, it'll still leave burn marks all over his body. If I didn't have senzu beans, he wouldn't be able to get a wife in the future."
The crowd, that was silently watching the events unfold, can no longer hold back. A restless volcano erupts.
The present Giran looks impressive, completely opposite to his obese counterpart from the Dragon Ball series. He has a highly robust build... Right now, his body is bulging with muscles, not fat.
"If I had more time, I wouldn't have had to release the attacks one at a time... I could have released them both simultaneously... Well, whatever, I'm already the victor... Oi, referee, announce the result!!"
Outside the ring, the referee, who is also the announcer, is brought out of his stupor by Giran's words. He is about to announce the result when...
A voice comes from above.
"Giran, honestly, you would be right to say that if everything I've revealed is all I can do." Just when he was about to be hit by the fire, Bora had taken to the sky. Only now is this fact apparent to everyone.
"W-What?? Do you mean you have some kind of hidden special move?"
"Special?? This is very special... Behold the result of my one-year-long training... taught to me by my master... our school's... Kikohooooooo!!"
"Waaaaat?!" Before Giran can fully express his surprise, he is hit by the blast. The scorched ring turns into a deep pit in a matter of milliseconds.
Giran is a goner, or so everyone thinks. However, contrary to this thought, Shen has narrowly saved the boy.
Now, hovering midair, the two disciples and one teacher are in full view of everyone.
The announcer is the first to speak.
[Ohhhhh! Everyone, is what we are seeing real?! Someone has saved Giran-san from imminent danger. Who could this man be? Is this Master Shen or one of his other disciples??
Look, they've bowed down to this man. Oh! Did I hear right? Both of them called him master. It really is the Crane Hermit! Who would have guessed he was this young after living for nearly 300 years... Truly a great sage, able to rejuvenate himself.]
Everyone is astonished. "Did he regain his youth?" Some older folks who have seen Shen's previous appearance inwardly become jealous of him... This unimaginable phenomenon is sure to spark curiosity throughout the world...
The winner of this match is clear for all to see...
As Bora and Namu weren't injured during their respective fights, the match between the two immediately follows.
"Namu, don't hold back. We are not just fellow disciples here. We are also opponents. Fight me with full strength, as I will do the same."
"I understand, brother Bora!!" Saying so, Namu joins his hands. "Please observe, this is my all..." A dense swarm of ki oozes out of his body, mysteriously taking the shape of a humanoid figure.
Molded by ki, a faceless Buddha Avatar has descended upon the ring.
Astonished by the magnificent display, everyone—including Shen—is at a loss for words.
"I'm starting." Namu's words pull Bora out of his daze. He manages to react to the figure's palm attack in time.
Bora tries to get close to Namu, but every time, he is stopped by the multiple arms of the ki Avatar.
'Fighting at close and mid-range is impossible, but this ring is too small to launch ki blasts from a safe distanc—Wa-Wait a minute, can I not just fly?... I won't be disqualified as long as I don't step outside the ring, so...'
Bora decides to try out his hypothesis, and sure enough, Namu becomes a sitting duck to his attacks.
Being his first time using the Ki projection technique in actual battle, Namu was already having a somewhat hard time maintaining and controlling the ki Projection. But the long-range attacks from Bora take the difficulty up a notch. The Buddha Avatar crumbles.
All was for naught. Despite showcasing his spectacular new technique, Namu couldn't pose a big enough threat to his brother.
Decisively winning the match against Namu, Bora becomes the undisputed champion of the 18th Tenkaichi Budokai.
Tales of the Crane School become widespread following the tournament, especially among women; who are the most self-conscious about their appearance. Everyone wants to know the secret of Shen.