Chapter 32 - Tournament Continues

With the first round finished, 32 of the 64 participates continues to the next round. All of the seven of the Elite Camp has passed as well. Now there is a short recess to prepare for the next round.

After Terumi returned to the dugout, he was greeted by his classmates.

"Well done Terumi-chan. I heard Vyron was due to join the Elite Camp last year, but he refused in order to remain with his classmates. There are not many Zoan users who can use their hybrid form."

Gion then looked over to Drake with a mischievous smile.

"Much like our fellow classmate."

Drake had a frown on his face upon hearing the declaration.

"How did you find out?"

Gion chuckled.

"How would I not know? Tsuru told me that Sengoku-chan boasted to her about it last week."

Drake grimaced and covered his face.

Terumi wasn't surprised to hear about it, he knew that their lite rivalry of late has pushed Drake to grow.

"Gion, are you planning on doing your field training with Tsuru?"

Gion sighed slightly and shrugged.

"Well, it's not like I have any choice in the matter. She's already decided for me. Though I didn't know about today's competition, I knew my deployment was already set at the G-6 base. Do you have a base you're looking to be assigned to, Terumi?"

Terumi pondered for a moment while glancing towards where the Admirals sat.

"Hmm, it would have been great if Garp-san had a base I could be assigned to, but since he didn't, at first I was thinking maybe the G-2 base with Vice-Admiral Comil. I heard he was quite a righteous marine and pleasant to work under. But, now I'm a little interested in Admiral Shubashikou. I read that he commands the G-7 base in the New World."

Gion smiled happily.

"Yes, come to the New World! I was worried I might be the only one who would have to go there among our classmates."

Terumi then looked at Hina.

"Hina, what are your thoughts?"

Hina lit a cigarette and shrugged.

"Hina will leave it to Terumi."

Gion whistled in amusement.

"Aw, my brother and sister are going to be assigned together? How cute."

Hina huffed and didn't say anything. While Terumi scratched his cheek shyly.

"Ahaha, well, moving on. What about you guys?"

Terumi then turned to the rest of his classmates. Ain looked at Binz and they nodded at each other.

"We're planning on G-4. We want to stay close to headquarters."

Drake thought for a moment and then answered.

"Sabaody Archipelago Marine base at GR-66."

Terumi nodded in understanding.

'Sengoku probably wanted him to stay close.'

Finally, it was Smoker's turn. He had his eyes closed and head leaned back while smoking a Cigar.

"Doesn't matter where."

Terumi chuckled, expecting the answer.

"Well, if you have no preference, I recommend the G-2 base. I think you will get along with Vice-Admiral Comil."

'Comil is a man of character, Smoker should be able to do well there.'

Smoker didn't answer but he seemed to be contemplating it.

"Attention! We will now be conducting the second round of the tournament!"

Terumi turned to the source of the voice to see Craven back on the Arena platform.

"Razor from Delta Camp vs Mura from Charlie Camp."

Razor jumped to the platform. His wounds were healed up by a retired Marine who serves as a doctor at Marineford. All of the combatants from the first round who had injuries were healed by the doctor's fruit.

Mura then joined him on the platform. Mura wielded an unorthodox long Odachi as his weapon, the handle was no longer than a long Tachi, making the ratio of the blade to handle extremely off. He had a balance build fit for a swordsman and long green hair.

Craven raised his hand once he saw both participants ready.

"Begin!"

Just like before, Razor did not make the first move, as he tightly gripped his battle axe with both hands.

Mura draws his long Odachi. The length of the blade was almost longer than his body. He swung the sword overhead and held it easily with both of his hands.

Terumi examined Mura and his weapon.

'An Odachi. Good range and slashing power, a good matchup versus Razor who lacks speed and wants to get in close. He wields the unorthodox blade quite well. He didn't show much in the previous round, he beat his opponent pretty easily and it wasn't a very memorable fight. It was ended in one slash after feeling out his opponent. A trained swordsman for sure, and I don't know if he has a Devil Fruit or not. Given by his weapon of choice though, I assume he's most effective at medium range.'

The battle starts with both Razor and Mura feeling each other out. Mura sent swift stabs with the Odachi's extended range, but with Razor's large battle axe covering his front, all of the stabs so far have been deflected.

Mura seeing that his stabs had no effect, decided to swift from long range to medium range. Mura gripped his Odachi with both hands and swung heavily toward Razor's legs.

Razor defended by matching Mura's swing, hoping to parry the blow and break his balance at the same time.

Just as Razor expected, the upswing of his axe slammed right into Mura's Odachi and knocked it away, completely opening him up. Taking the opportunity, Razor then took a heavy step and slammed his shoulder directly into Mura's chest, sending him sliding back.

Mura slid back from the heavy blow to his chest but stopped himself by lodging his Odachi into the ground, causing a huge crack to appear and immediately stopping his backward momentum.

Razor slightly grinned seeing the outcome, however, it was quickly replaced by a frown. Mura showed no visible sign of injury, only some slight shortness of breath which quickly faded.

Terumi and the trainees noticed this as well.

"That was a pretty heavy shoulder tackle, considering the difference in their builds, how is he that unscathed?"

Gion muttered. Terumi and Hina pondered as well.

"Does anyone know who Mura is? Does he have a Devil Fruit?"

Terumi questioned his classmates. Everyone shook their heads.

"Zephyr-sensei, do you know about him?"

Zephyr stayed still with his arms folded and focused on the fight, but he nodded his head.

"Indeed. Mura enlisted this year and is being taught at Charlie Camp by retired Vice-Admiral Soujiro."

"I see, Vice-Admiral Soujiro is a swordsman right?"

"Correct, all of the trainees of Charlie Camp are swordsmen or swordsmen in training. You would have started there if you hadn't been admitted into my camp. Mura was a young talent he started learning the sword this year from Soujiro."

Terumi nodded his head in understanding.

"I see, I was wondering why he seemed a little stiff. Does he have a Devil Fruit?"

Zephyr grinned slightly.

"Figure it out for yourself."

Terumi didn't question further, that statement was enough for him to understand the hint.

'So he does have one. But what is it?'

Terumi turned his attention back to the fight.

After taking a tackle straight to the chest, Mura dusted himself off and composed himself.

Mura then reversed the sword grip with his left hand and brought it to his left side and gripped the end of the handle tightly with his right hand, entering an iai stance with the Odachi.

Terumi raised an eyebrow at the unorthodox stance.

'Iai-jutsu with an Odachi? I don't think I've ever seen anything like that. That would explain the unorthodox handle, it was shortened for iai-jutsu. However, with the balance of the Odachi so heavily weighted towards the blade with that build, would it really be effective? If I had to perform iai-jutsu with that blade, I think my speed would be reduced by a third if not more. Theoretically, an iai attack from medium range would be a powerful offensive option. If he missed, he could still recover in time to dodge a counter. Let's see how this plays out.'

Focusing fully on the fight, Terumi made sure to pay attention to Mura's next move.

After preparing his stance, Mura charged directly towards Razor.

Razor put on a serious face and then gripped his axe tightly with one hand.

"Your right side is wide-open!"

Razor took a heavy step and leaped directly at Mura, closing the gap and swinging his axe toward Mura's open right side. If Mura faltered or retreated from the attack, he would surely face a powerful follow-up attack.

However, Mura did not falter nor retreat as Razor predicted, he simply smirked upon the incoming attack. Razor committed to the swing, aiming to slice Mura's side and end the fight.

Time moved slowly for the combatant as the crucial engagement occurred.

Razor had a smile on his face seeing his axe approach Mura's side before Mura could draw. But soon, something unexpected happened.

Just as Razor's axe slammed into Mura's side, Mura unleashed a blindingly swift and powerful upward draw, slicing Razor across the chest and sending him flying.

Razor's body fell to the ground outside the ring unconscious as medical staff rushed to help him.

"That's it, the winner is Mura from Charlie Camp!"

Mura stood on the stage victorious, breathing heavily, but completely unharmed otherwise.

Terumi's eyes widened in astonishment.

'I know I saw the axe connect, the cut on his clothing proves as much, but he is unharmed again. How? Also, that drawing speed nearly matched my own. His Devil Fruit must have something to do with it, but what? Why a medium-range Odachi if his specialty is iai-jutsu? Could it be?'

Then Terumi's eyes lit up.

'A fruit that transfers kinetic energy...? Does something that strong exist? But that's the only thing that makes sense, and if it's that's the case, it would explain his weapon choice. The Odachi is strong at medium to long range. His goal is to provoke his opponent into getting close so he can trade blows and counter.'

Terumi stared at Mura's figure as he returned to his dugout.

'Interesting. I want to fight him.'

***

After Mura's fight, the rest of the round of 32 matches weren't as interesting. Terumi and his classmates continue to win with relative ease and next were the round of 16 matches.

Craven got back up on stage after another short recess and then commenced the first match of the third round.

"The third and final round of today will be commencing now! First up, Terumi from the Elite Camp versus Mura from Charlie Camp!"