For the first time since the battle began, Derek Uzushi took a true fighting stance.
Until now he had fought with casual confidence, hands loose at his sides, posture relaxed as though the entire match were nothing more than an entertaining exercise.
That changed.
His feet shifted across the broken arena floor. His shoulders squared toward Yuki.
Golden light shimmered faintly around his arms.
"Well," Derek said, rolling his neck slowly, "I suppose it's time I started fighting ser—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
His eyes narrowed.
Across the shattered battlefield, Yuki Kinatarou wasn't standing still.
He was moving.
Small, quick hops carried him from side to side.
Left.
Right.
Back.
Forward.
It almost looked like he was warming up before a match rather than standing at the end of a brutal battle.
Derek stared at him for a moment.
The boy's body was a mess.
Burns covered his torso. Blood stained his face and shoulders. His breathing was uneven, each inhale dragging through bruised ribs.
And yet he moved with restless energy.
Like a fighter preparing to pounce.
Derek exhaled softly.
"So you still have something left."
Without another word he lifted his hand.
Golden arrows of condensed light instantly formed around him.
They hovered in the air like a swarm of deadly stars.
Then Derek flicked his fingers.
The arrows launched forward.
They sliced through the air with terrifying speed, streaks of radiant gold racing toward Yuki.
Gasps rippled through the audience.
The projectiles closed the distance in an instant—
And Yuki vanished.
The arrows tore through empty space before detonating against the arena floor in explosive bursts of light.
"What?!" someone in the crowd shouted.
"He disappeared!"
But Yuki hadn't vanished.
He had simply moved too fast to follow.
He appeared behind Derek.
His fist shot forward toward Derek's spine.
Derek's instincts screamed.
He twisted instantly.
His elbow drove backward, wrapped in blazing light.
CRACK.
The strike smashed directly into Yuki's face.
The sound echoed across the arena.
A normal fighter would have been sent flying.
Yuki didn't move.
His head snapped sideways from the impact, blood spraying from his mouth.
But instead of recoiling—
He stepped forward.
Derek blinked.
Yuki's fist came swinging toward his face.
Derek reacted quickly, weaving past the strike.
His own fist snapped forward.
CRACK.
His punch landed cleanly against Yuki's jaw.
Again Yuki's head jerked violently.
Still—
He stepped forward.
Derek struck him again.
CRACK.
Another punch landed.
And yet Yuki continued advancing like a relentless machine that refused to stop.
Derek's expression hardened.
"What are you—"
Yuki's leg suddenly snapped upward.
WHAM.
The kick slammed into Derek's stomach.
The impact sounded like a cannon blast.
The force launched Derek backward across the arena floor.
His boots carved deep trenches into the broken stone before he finally stabilized himself several meters away.
The arena fell silent.
Derek straightened slowly.
He wiped a thin line of blood from the corner of his mouth.
Across the battlefield, Yuki stood hunched over, breathing heavily.
Derek replayed the exchange in his mind.
Three punches.
Just to land one kick.
But the force of that kick…
Was easily worth ten punches.
His gaze lingered on Yuki.
The boy's body trembled from exhaustion.
Yet his eyes still burned with stubborn determination.
Derek's thoughts drifted to something he had once read about the Kinatarou bloodline.
An old legend.
It claimed that the Kinatarous were descended from ancient beasts that once ruled the wild lands.
At the time Derek had dismissed it as folklore.
But looking at Yuki now…
Covered in blood.
Refusing to stop.
Moving forward through pain that would cripple anyone else—
Derek felt a strange thought rise in his mind.
Maybe the story wasn't entirely a myth.
Yuki looked less like a human…
And more like a wounded beast that refused to fall.
Derek's eyes narrowed slightly.
Something else caught his attention.
The lightning that had surrounded Yuki earlier…
Was gone.
Then suddenly Yuki bent forward.
He vomited a mouthful of blood onto the rubble.
A wave of shocked murmurs swept through the arena.
Derek understood instantly.
Backlash.
Using lightning through an ice-based Kizo was pushing Yuki's body far beyond its natural limits.
The power was destroying him from the inside.
Derek relaxed slightly.
So that trick finally burned him out—
But then Yuki straightened again.
Slowly.
Painfully.
His eyes locked onto Derek.
"Don't look so relieved," Yuki said hoarsely.
Then he raised his hand.
His index finger pointed toward Derek like the barrel of a gun.
Yuki's lips formed a single word.
"Bang."
For a split second nothing happened.
Then Derek's body convulsed.
Blood burst from his mouth as he dropped to one knee.
Crimson liquid poured from his lips.
Then from his nose.
From his ears.
Even from the corners of his eyes.
Shock exploded across the arena.
Ren's eyes widened.
"That technique—"
He knew it immediately.
It was the internal shockwave attack he had used against Yuki earlier in the tournament.
And Yuki had just copied it.
Perfectly.
On his first attempt.
Across the battlefield, Yuki didn't hesitate.
The moment Derek dropped to his knees, Yuki lunged forward.
He crossed the distance in a blur.
Pain screamed through Derek's entire nervous system.
The attack wasn't as powerful as Ren's version.
But it was still devastating.
His vision blurred.
His body trembled.
Through the haze he saw Yuki closing in.
Instinct took over.
Golden light exploded from Derek's body in a violent surge.
Beams of radiant energy erupted outward in every direction.
One of them struck Yuki directly.
BOOM.
The blast hurled him backward across the battlefield.
Derek staggered as he forced himself to stand.
Blood still trickled down his face.
"Who the hell do you think you are?!" he roared.
Golden energy surged violently around him.
His eyes began to glow.
Slowly he drew back his fist.
All of his Ki gathered into that single strike.
The golden light condensed until his arm looked like a miniature sun.
Across from him, Yuki saw it instantly.
Danger.
Real danger.
Derek was preparing his full power.
Yuki's body trembled.
Inside he could feel the truth.
He had already pushed past his limits countless times during this tournament.
There was nothing left.
His muscles screamed.
His vision blurred.
He knew with absolute certainty—
If he took even one more step forward…
He would collapse.
But Yuki clenched his teeth.
"So what?" he muttered.
Slowly he raised his fist.
The last fragments of his life force surged into his arm.
Blue lightning crackled faintly around his hand.
Then brighter.
Then stronger.
Electric arcs crawled across his body.
Yuki drew his arm back.
Derek stood blazing like the sun.
Yuki crackled with the fury of a storm.
The entire Crucible Field fell silent.
Yuki's voice cut through the still air, in a whisper only Derek could hear.
"You asked who I am."
Lightning erupted around him.
"My name…"
The storm intensified.
"…is Sengoku Kinatarou."
Golden light and blue lightning illuminated the entire arena.
Two warriors stood like rival gods of sun and storm.
The brilliance forced spectators to shield their eyes.
Even the massive cube surrounding the arena trembled under the pressure of their power.
Inside the viewing sphere, Haruki leaned forward.
"…Boom," he muttered.
In the next instant—
Yuki and Derek lunged forward.
Their fists collided.
And the world exploded.
The shockwave shattered the massive cubic barrier surrounding the arena.
Fragments of the force field burst outward like broken glass.
Heat rolled across the audience.
Dust and smoke swallowed the battlefield.
When the debris finally settled—
The stage was nothing but rubble.
But two figures still stood.
Derek Uzushi.
And Yuki Kinatarou.
Derek was injured but standing firm.
Across from him—
Yuki looked like he had walked through a war.
Blood covered his body.
His upper clothing had been completely destroyed, leaving only the burnt remains of his joggers.
And his right arm…
Was ruined.
Burned.
Broken.
Barely hanging at his side.
The entire arena watched in silence.
Yuki took one step forward.
"I… will win…" he whispered.
"…and become stronger…"
He tried to take another step.
But his body finally gave out.
Yuki collapsed face-first onto the rubble.
Unconscious.
Derek stared down at him in stunned silence.
What kind of person…
keeps fighting like that?
Trumpets suddenly echoed across the stadium.
The massive display screen lit up with Derek's face.
The commentator's voice thundered through the arena.
"THE WINNER OF THE STRONGEST STUDENT TOURNAMENT…!"
"…DEREK UZUSHI!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd.
But many of those cheers weren't for Derek.
They were for the unconscious boy lying on the battlefield.
In the viewing sphere, Yukari and Luna watched with worried eyes.
Seri wiped tears from her face.
Ren, Sophia, and Derek himself stared at Yuki in shock.
Haruki simply smiled.
Lord Genji watched with quiet satisfaction.