Aoi Don Maquia
Barren steppe was the term Aoi was now repeating in her head to never have to embarrass herself in front of her fans ever again, but she didn't seem bothered by it as no one seemed to patronize her for it, except maybe for Yamato but he barely counted. After a good time of running about, instead of soliciting some vehicle or a flying summon, they finally arrived at the dry land of Wind, a place all too familiar for Aoi during her times in the troupe. They often visited during colder times though as the heat was breath taking as of now. Rubbing off the sweat from her forehead that formed seconds after stepping on the area, she discovered that she didn't like this place too much.
Now the two feral teammates were sniffing out the targets despite the strong winds and sand buffeting them endlessly as they remained like immobilized planks in the middle of the steppe. Luckily for Aoi, she always applied a coating of mucus around her body for aesthetic reasons, and in this case it captured the sand and prevented it from irritating her skin and entering her clothes for extra itching effects. While Tsukiko expressed her worry about the targets being close than expected, the clown was suddenly fixating a lone cactus nearby. It looked so appealing to her for some reason, maybe because it was one of the first they came across but would be one in masses as they'd go deeper in the field. It didn't prevent her from listening however, as a great performer always knew how to multitask even in dire situations, added to that the shinobi bonus.
Trapping was her mission, something she'd be pretty good at in fights, but preparing it for a large scale assault? Never done before, so it'd be a great add-on to Aoi's extensive CV postulated in every bar and restaurant in town. Ideas suddenly flooded in her mind as she gathered information from everything she had seen the past ten minutes and formulated something out of wack to catch the enemy by surprise and make them drop their jaws in disbelief.
"Uh-huh! I'll get to showcase my new technique!"
She'd shout out loud, uncaring whether it would attract attention in this empty, overheated desert. She was suddenly very excited to get things done, even to the point of forgetting that strong shinobi were to be expected in their ranks, or strong Samurai, both would be pretty dangerous. All she wanted was for her plan to flourish and get recognition for her bosses once more so she could rub it in her colleague's faces. Skipping around, when her sensei finished, she'd skip to the direction she was pointing at.
"Let's not way more than we should, let's go~"
Fujitora Choko ; The Overseer
The battle before Shin's intrigued Fujitora, which halted any form of dialogue from the sensei as he dedicated his focus on it. That bandaged man, he gave off this vibe that pushed him out of the lot and made him noticeable to people of Fujitora's level. The fight was quick enough though, as a simple large scale fire technique annihilated the man. It appears this individual didn't get the memo about conserving his energy, now anyone facing him will procure themselves water scrolls and related weapons to fight him and easily counter his approaches. But then again, was this feeling an indicator that this guy was simply of another league? The commander didn't feel safe at all knowing all of this, but he kept his emotions in check, arms crossed and sunglasses concealing his eyes' focus. Once things were being clear, Fujitora looked around, noticing elite groups barely manifesting their presence, as if they already had everything they needed and simply awaited the tourney to end. He'd have to investigate, likely during the next match his subordinate, Jaakuna, would do.
Then came Shin's match, and oddly it didn't catch his attention too much. His opponent was as he expected, a newcomer with no notion of what was truly at stake here, possibly some random killer wanting to release his thirst for blood. The announcer who spoke over the constant uproar of the audience asked the two to present their coins while the creepy looking individual from before checked if they were presenting the right amounts as they previously had. Shin had one coin, the tall chainsaw user had two. And thus, the fight started. Fujitora was barely interested in following it though, and before he could comment on anything, he'd pull out a bill with 100 Ryo written on it. He'd toss it in the air before shouting out:
"On the new kid!"
As he called it out, a mysterious thread of chakra latched itself on the bill and pulled it directly to one of many suited individuals surrounding the announcer. These men were constantly gathering money flying all over the giant tower as if they were machines. They were specifically trained bodyguards to use a technique dedicated solely to this kind of massive task, and they were capable of maintaining bets on at least twelve different combatants at once and distribute the right amount of money in return.
The Jonin commander was fully aware that Shin would win this round and didn't bother actually checking him out. If he didn't manage, it would at least prove he wasn't fit to be an average shinobi considering the first rounds were simply easy mode compared to what they would get shortly after. Instead Fujitora peered down at the previous fighter, trying to assess what was his deal and what they would do if they had to fight him, after all using ninjutsu wasn't wise yet this guy went large scale. He considered the option of "cheating" and doing what the others did, buy specific tools to simply counter the guy here and now.
"You better not lose those coins, kids. They're currency for survival here."
He'd tell his two new colleagues, preparing a little story time in order to educate them on what this place was and what they actually had to do in order to reach the mission's objective.
"When someone loses, they forfeit all their coins and are disqualified. If you don't die in the ring, your teammates usually kill you or people betting on you get revenge. Luckily you have a higher chance of survival here. Anyway, the strong usually go after those who already have a large amount of coins. That way, they'll have twenty coins faster without wasting energy. Normally, you shouldn't worry about them for now, but beware."
He flipped his coin off his thumb and toyed with it a bit. This was going to be a difficult challenge, that's for sure, especially for the kids as they'd rank up. Hopefully, they'd reach sixty coins before the matches would end and move on to the next stage, allowing them to confirm the presence of the scroll. As expected, Shin finished his job and returned safely without any real problem. Plus, he had won the two coins from his opponent, giving him a total of three at this very moment.
As for his opponent, he was out cold, nearly dead. But not dead enough for his colleagues. As he was dragged out, a molotov cocktail fell on his abdomen as he was lied down. The suddenly heat and pain made the fat man spring up and scream in agony, dashing in random directions before stumbling down to the very pit of the tower. It wasn't deep do he wasn't actually hurt while falling. However, something emerged from the darkness which swiftly pulled him in. The cage was blocking the view for most and didn't allow others to see what was happening, but the two seconds he had to scream before being completely shredded by the menace. Everyone was unfazed by this as they all knew the rules.
"Good work, Maru. I think you understand the principle of the coins now. Sawada kid, you'll skip the next fight."
He'd say as two low lives entered the ring quickly after Shin had left. They both had one coin and were simply a waste of effort to fight. The fight lasted about five minutes before one of them started stabbing his opponent repeatedly to keep him down for good. The next combatant manifesting himself, however, caught Fujitora's eye and made the man smirk.
"This one should be a little more challenging. He's got five or six coins. Get him."
He'd tell Jaakuna, his opponent would indeed have five coins. A good amount, but not enough to attract unwanted attention. This one was going to be more challenging, but at least he'd be prepared for the future fights. All the while, Fujitora's money was returned to him along with an extra 50 ryo via chakra molded into a delivery pigeon. He'd grab his money and wait for Jaakuna's fight to commence before betting some more. Some may judge him for doing this, but it at least made them look normal in this crowd of drug addicts and gamblers always screaming for more.
