Yamcha looked at Ethan speechlessly, feeling that his luck was truly terrible.
Last time in the tournament, he ran into Jackie Chun, the eventual champion. This time, he ran into Ethan, the strongest participant. Was his luck in the draw really that bad?
Looking at his other companions, only Yoruichi, who always ran into strong opponents in the preliminaries, was more unlucky than him.
"The matches will begin immediately. All participants, please be ready. It is best not to stay too far from the arena, as you may be called up at any moment."
At this time, the tournament did not have such strict time limits for matches. Basically, as soon as one match ended, the next one would begin. Only in the final rounds would they ask the winner of the previous match whether they needed a break, but even then, it would only be about ten minutes.
It could be said that the World Martial Arts Tournament was not just a simple single-elimination event, it was also a marathon that tested physical endurance and willpower.
The first match of this World Martial Arts Tournament was between the previous champion, Jackie Chun, who was actually Master Roshi, and Tien Shinhan of the Crane School.
At this time, Tien Shinhan dreamed of becoming a powerful assassin like Mercenary Tao. He believed that the martial arts he had trained so hard to learn should be put to proper use.
However, this was due to the influence of his teacher, Master Shen. Deep down, Tien was still more inclined to be a traditional martial artist. That was why, in this tournament, he was "reformed" by Master Roshi, chose to leave Master Shen, and focused on his own martial arts training instead of using his power to do whatever he pleased.
Of course, that happened after Tien's match with Jackie Chun, after Master Roshi continuously used his "talk-no-jutsu." Right now, Tien's goal was to use the tournament stage to gain fame and, along the way, trample the Turtle School underfoot.
So when the match against Jackie Chun began, Tien had no intention of holding back. He only wanted to defeat his opponent as quickly as possible and advance.
Unfortunately, his opponent was very difficult to deal with. Tien found that he could not defeat him quickly at all.
"That guy named Tien Shinhan is really strong!"
"Yeah!"
"Goku, who do you think is stronger, him or Ethan?"
Krillin and Goku, watching the match from the top of the wall, discussed Tien's strength while observing the two fighters in the ring.
"I don't know. From the way it looks now, probably Ethan?"
"But we're pretty lucky. No matter who is stronger, we'll only have to face one of them if we make it to the finals."
If divided into the upper and lower brackets, Tien, Jackie Chun, Yamcha, and Ethan were in the upper bracket, while Goku and Krillin were in the lower bracket.
Unless he reached the finals, Krillin would not face either Tien or Ethan.
Compared to the upper bracket, which was full of experts, Krillin's first opponent was Chiaotzu, and Goku's first opponent did not seem all that impressive either.
As they continued watching the match between Tien and Jackie Chun, Jackie Chun kept chattering and rambling during the fight, finally managing to confuse Tien. Although Tien still said that his goal was to become an excellent assassin, his resolve was clearly no longer as firm as it had been at the start.
After shaking Tien's will, Master Roshi took the opportunity to forfeit. He had already determined that Tien was not purely evil, and with a little more effort, he could guide him onto the right path.
As for the championship of the World Martial Arts Tournament, Master Roshi did not care about winning or losing the match.
"Old man, why did you give up!"
Seeing Jackie Chun step down from the ring, Goku felt it was a pity. He had hoped to fight Jackie Chun again, since he had lost to him in the previous tournament.
"His skills are very strong. It would be difficult for me to win if we kept fighting."
After saying that, he glanced at Ethan nearby.
"Besides, even if I won against him, the next matches would not be easy either."
Ethan knew that Master Roshi was being modest. If they were really fighting seriously, the current Tien was no match for Master Roshi. As for himself, well, as long as he was not slacking off, Master Roshi really could not win. Master Roshi's eyesight was indeed sharp enough.
Tien also stepped down from the ring. What Jackie Chun had said to him during the match had greatly affected his thoughts. His mind was a little distracted now. He walked past in silence, and even when he reached Chiaotzu, he did not speak, only lowered his head and kept thinking.
Master Roshi kept an eye on his condition, planning to find time later to give this Crane School disciple a little more "chicken soup," or rather, a few more words of encouragement.
"Next is the second match, between Yamcha and Ethan!"
The announcer continued doing his job.
"Yamcha participated in the previous World Martial Arts Tournament, but unfortunately, he met the previous champion, Jackie Chun, in the first round and was regretfully defeated. Yamcha is here again this time. What kind of exciting performance will he bring us?"
"And Ethan is participating in the World Martial Arts Tournament for the first time. It is said that he has a very good relationship with Yamcha, and the two are good friends. He must also be a powerful martial artist..."
While the announcer briefly introduced the participants, Yamcha and Ethan were already standing in the ring.
"Oh dear, they met in the first round. This is really a headache. Who am I supposed to cheer for?"
Bulma had a headache when the match schedule came out. Both Ethan and Yamcha had good relationships with her and both lived at her house. From a personal standpoint, she felt that both of them were quite good and matched her definition of Prince Charming.
However, Yamcha was too popular with girls at school, and Ethan seemed to have an unusual relationship with Yoruichi, which left her unsure who to choose.
"Never mind, they're both on our side anyway. It doesn't matter who wins!"
"You mean, since they're both handsome, either one is fine, right?"
Oolong saw through Bulma's true thoughts at a glance, and as a result, he was hit by Bulma's "Hammer of Justice."
"Who do you think will win, Yoruichi?"
Yoruichi, who had been eliminated in the preliminaries, had returned to the spectator stands to watch the matches with Bulma and the others. Bulma thought that since Yoruichi was a girl, it was normal for her to be a bit weaker, but since she trained with Ethan and the others, she should know who was stronger between Yamcha and Ethan, right?
"Not sure. If Ethan doesn't take off that gear, either of them has a chance to win."
If Ethan removed the weights, then Yamcha would have no chance of winning. Yoruichi was certain of that. But she was also sure that Ethan would not remove the weights. He was only participating in this tournament for fun.
"World Martial Arts Tournament, First Round, Second Match, Begin!"
The match officially began. Yamcha looked at Ethan, who was still wearing the weighted gear, and confidence immediately filled his heart.
"Looks like I'm going to win this match!"
What he had worried about most before was Ethan taking off the weights. In that case, his chances of winning would be very low. But the match had already started, and Ethan was still dressed the same. Ethan had shown no intention of removing the weights, and Yamcha saw his chance to win.
Confidence surged, and his old habits returned. Yamcha wanted to make use of his advantage in speed and agility and take the initiative, starting with a powerful flying kick.
"Sigh..."
Seeing Yamcha fall back into his old habits again, Ethan did not know whether to complain or not.
"I told you, don't keep jumping around carelessly..."
Wearing the weights only prevented him from fully using his body's agility and speed. It did not mean his eyesight had worsened, and his attack power was still there. As long as he seized the right timing to strike, he could effectively make up for the disadvantage in speed.
Besides, the speed gap between him and Yamcha was not so great that it was impossible to deal with. Yamcha's biggest weakness was that the moment he saw even a slight advantage, he would get carried away, then underestimate his opponent and ruin a good situation.
By simply lowering his body slightly to avoid Yamcha's flying kick, Ethan suddenly straightened up as Yamcha flew past him, then swept out with a horizontal kick that struck Yamcha hard in the back, sending him flying even faster and completely out of control.
"Oh no!"
If this had been the old Yamcha, or rather the Yamcha from the original story at this point, that one hit would have sent him flying out of the ring and ended the match. However, the current Yamcha had learned the Flying Technique, so he managed to stop himself in midair in time, then turned to look at Ethan.
"He's gone?"
The next second, he sensed danger coming from above and immediately looked up, just in time to see Ethan, who had already reached a position above him, bringing both clasped fists crashing down.
With no time to dodge, Yamcha could only cross his arms in front of himself, taking Ethan's heavy blow head-on while doing his best to maintain his balance.
Seeing Yamcha's reaction, Ethan had no intention of changing his move. He put a bit more strength into his arms and slammed down hard onto Yamcha.
Boom!
After smashing Yamcha down onto the ring with that heavy blow, Ethan still had no intention of stopping. He followed by dropping down as well, ready to continue his fierce attack.
This time, Yamcha finally made use of his advantage in speed and agility. As he was smashed down onto the ring, he rolled away and avoided Ethan's follow-up killing move.
If he had been hit again, a storm of attacks would have followed. Yamcha had known for a long time that Ethan's fighting style was nowhere near as gentle as he usually looked.
"That was close. If I had been hit, I might really have been defeated and eliminated."
"I was originally planning to end the match while you were being overly careless and underestimating me." Ethan finally could not help but complain about Yamcha's bad habit. "You clearly know my strength, yet you still make the mistake of underestimating your opponent. You should be glad this is only a match."
A lot of Yamcha's later battles were lost this way. The most typical example was the famous "Yamcha Pose." That humiliating scene became Yamcha's most iconic moment, and the reason it happened was his excessive confidence and habit of underestimating his opponents.
While the two of them talked in the ring, the people watching nearby still had not fully recovered from the series of exciting exchanges just now.
The most shocked were Tien, Chiaotzu, and Master Shen in the spectator stands.
"That person named Yamcha... was that the Flying Technique he just used?"
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)