Yasoke remained hanging, struggling to free himself from the rope. He swayed his body, but found no response; from a distance, he spotted Yuji sitting calmly, sipping tea. He pouted, wondering why on earth he had ended up in such a situation. Then, he remembered his "brilliant" idea to follow the advice of a stranger on a living and supposedly infinite train; he recalled seeing that same stranger jumping out of a window while the train was still in motion. Truly, it had been a "great" idea on Yasoke's part. After finding him, they began to train; the training was horrific and painful, and as a reward, there he was—bound from his feet to his chest, unable to move. Yasoke's only thought at that moment was that boarding that train had not been worth it.
While Yasoke suffered, Jhony and Neshin were meditating. Jhony meditated atop a rock with very limited space, balancing on a single foot, while Neshin stood upon a crag, balancing solely on the big toe of his left foot. Neshin called Jhony to eat, placing his right foot over his left thigh while still maintaining his balance on his toe. Ready and prepared for the tournament, Jhony had tea and biscuits with Neshin, until the old man leapt from the crag where he stood, performing a somersault, and said to Jhony:
— Red-haired youth, you may stop meditating; I have a surprise for you!
Jhony interrupted his meditation, jumped down from the rock, and headed toward his master. Neshin fired a bolt of lightning at the ground, kicking up a curtain of dust, and with a few electrical crackles, he appeared behind him:
— Here is the surprise, red-haired youth, lahalahalaha!
Neshin smiled and handed him a green jacket, green pants, and green sneakers. Jhony accepted the gift and bowed his head to thank Neshin.
Meanwhile, Yasoke was still suffering and swaying, deeply irritated. It began to rain, worsening his situation, but he saw the rainfall as a stimulus to try and free himself and began to concentrate. However, instead of focusing on his entire body like last time, he would attempt to untie his hands first, concentrating pure Macogo into them, and then into his arms. Yasoke already had his plan and began to execute it, but instead of recalling his training, he used a different strategy.
In his mind, he imagined himself climbing a very steep mountain with jagged rocks, as a way to escape the enormous void of the ground that plagued him below. With each new climb, his hands bled because of the sharp crags, and as he ascended the mountain, his palms were wounded even further. Blood began to run down his arms, but Yasoke did not care and continued the climb. His hands were already punctured, and he no longer possessed the physical strength to go on; however, he concentrated all his power into his palms, and a white aura began to emerge. With this, he managed to climb even further up the mountain.
Once Yasoke managed to activate pure Macogo in his imagination, he tried it in reality and succeeded in freeing his hand. He did the same with his arms and managed to let go. Now, only his legs remained. Yasoke began to visualize: this time, he was on an infinite staircase, covered in thorns and glowing, incandescent materials. He began to climb, but knew from the very first step that it would be agonizing; so, as a way to speed up the process, he began to run. With every step, the thorns pierced his skin, but the embers cauterized the wounds immediately; this did not prevent the pain—on the contrary, it only accentuated it. He kept running until he reached a section where the thorns were massive; with every stride, they nearly pierced through Yasoke's foot. Blood ran down the stairs, and at that point, it became extremely difficult to continue, but he managed to press on. The next stage was made of scalding material; upon stepping, his foot was scorched, and the pain was so great he felt the urge to vomit, yet he kept going. With no other options to continue without fainting from the pain, he concentrated all his strength into his feet; a white aura emerged, and he followed his path a bit better than before.
At that moment, Yasoke concentrated his strength into his foot and managed to detach himself, yet he continued concentrating the energy in his leg. Once he achieved the necessary pure Macogo, the rope snapped, and he fell from the tree face-first onto the clothes. Still furious, he put on the white tank top, the red jacket, the jeans, and the ballet slippers. He felt something different: the clothes were strangely heavy. Then, he remembered that Yuji was very shrewd and had provided clothes that depended on the use of pure Macogo for him to move normally. Yasoke did exactly that: he concentrated the energy throughout his entire body, an aura enveloped him, and he began to move normally, heading toward Yuji.
— Look! It seems he managed to free himself.
Yasoke approached Yuji, serious, and asked:
— What time is it?
Yuji, with a smile on his face, replied that it was eleven-thirty. The master handed him the registration form and pointed out the location of the event. Yasoke took the form, tucked it into his jacket, thanked him while still somewhat irritated, and ran off toward the tournament.
Meanwhile, Jhony was already at the gate where the tournament would begin. There were many people, but he did not let himself be overcome by anxiety and remained calm. He looked at the clock and did not see his friend's presence; only ten minutes remained.
Yasoke was jumping from street to street trying to find the tournament location, running without stopping. He passed by Lutherking's main park, the general library, and saw a statue of a thinker with an inscription: "J. Morn Limazzi, the greatest genius to ever walk these lands," but he ignored it despite his curiosity. He passed through the street of the numb, but realized his mistake and turned back until he reached a place with a crowd gathered near a giant iron gate. Yasoke deduced it must be there, and as he approached, he saw Jhony waving from a distance and went to join his friend.
— So, Jhony, did you train? — was the first thing Yasoke asked upon reuniting with him. The smile on Yasoke's face did not deny the fact that he already knew Jhony was doing well.
— Yes, I trained. And you too, by the looks of it! — Jhony replied.
Yasoke rolled up his sleeve and showed his developed muscles with a smile.
One minute remained before the great gate that held back the start of the tournament would open. The two looked at each other and smiled; all the fighters began to shout. The gate opened, revealing an arena with a gargantuan crowd behind it. Yasoke said to Jhony:
— Get ready, because I'm going to win this damn thing!
Jhony laughed and replied:
— Keep dreaming, I'm the one who's going to win!