The Black Dragon

Tricks

As Zato down at Russo he sighs. "How long are you gonna pretend to be unconscious?" Zato asks as suddenly Russo sits and rubs his head. "No lasting damage should have expected that. The impact didn't feel right," Zato tells himself as Russo gets to his feet.

"He actually stood back up after that?" Rias asks completely shocked at what she's seeing.

"Clever bastard, not only did he go limp in order to disperse the damage, but he also made sure to bring his head back just enough at the last minute to make it look like Zato's attack hit and lessen the impact even more," Hinata explains

"He was able to do all that in a moment?" Xenovia asks as she looks at him in shock as Russo stands up.

"Just because he's physically weak doesn't mean he's not skilled," Hinata says with crossed arms. "If circumstances were different Russo would be ranked way higher than what he is now," Hinata explains

Russo closes the distance quickly and begins his assault. Rapid strikes at an impressive speed but still Zato's able to dodge these attacks. Russo throws a left hook and as Zato blocks it, he notices that the strike is soft. Ignoring this Zato moves forward but as he reels back the arm he used to block he suddenly losses all feeling in it.

"T-the hell?" Zato mumbles as his eyes glance toward his arm which feels like it isn't even there. However, he's suddenly hit by an uppercut. "Shit, "Zato grunts as he takes a step back only to regain his composure and suddenly the feeling in his arm comes back. Throwing another punch Zato sees Russo duck under his strike before feeling something poke his left leg. Just like with his arm, the feeling in his leg vanishes as Zato begins to fall forward. Launching up Russo turns before wrapping his arms around Zato's neck throwing him over his shoulder and slamming him to the ground.

As Zato hits the ground his vision blurs. Despite his blurred vision, Zato notices something coming toward his face. Rolling out the way Russo's fist hits the ground. A jolt of pain runs through Russo's body as he shakes his hand. 

As feeling comes back to his leg Zato quickly gets back to his feet and charges toward Russo. Bringing back his fist Zato throws a punch with all the force he can muster. As his attack rickets toward Russo, the purple hair boy dodges the attacks just barely. As the punch grazes Russo's skin, his own fist moves toward Zato's chest.

His eyes widen as Russo's fist makes contact. "Fa Jin," Russo says with a smirk as Zato goes flying back as if he was just hit by a truck.

"He's getting destroyed down there!" Kiba shouts in complete shock.

"Hey, guys what I miss?" Zen asks as she finally finds them before her eyes move toward the arena and see Zato on the ground, struggling to get to his feet. "Oh, that's not good," Zen says

"His techniques are a hard counter to Zato right now. Brute force isn't gonna win the day here. Wake up already and start using your own techniques." Hinata says with a grunt as she tightens her fist.

Russo watches Zato stand and as he does his eyes narrow. "The poison should have definitely kicked in by now. Does he have some kind of resistance?" Russo asks himself. "No that's not possible, the poison my hand was coated in was personally made by myself, no way he could have any distance to it. Whatever it doesn't look like he figured out my strategy yet, so I'll just stick to it for now." Russo smirks as Zato finally stands wiping some blood from the side of his mouth. "I admire your ability to stand up after that," Russo says as Zato stand and smirks

"I gotta thank you." Zato states as his smirk turn to a full-blown smile. "It's been so long since I could go all out on my own terms. So let's dance!" Zato shouts as he charges toward Russo.

"Another frontal assault? Looks like he's lost it." Russo smiles as he gets ready to parry Zato's strike. However what looks to be a right straight that Russo moves to block suddenly vanishes and Russo is hit by a powerful uppercut.

"Hell yeah, misdirection!" Hinata shouts excitedly.

"He hit him!"Zen shouts through the cheers from the crowd

Russo attempts to strike Zato who dodges back. As he dodges back he ends up in a position that looks like he's about to crab walk but as Russo looks down at him his eyes widen as Zato lifts his lower half up and lands a powerful kick that Russo barely blocks.

As Russo skids back due to the force of the blow he can feel his entire arm muscles, bones, and everything in between shaking in pain. Gritting his teeth in pain Russo lowers his arm and holds it tightly with his other hand. "Shit, I bearly had enough time to go limp. He knows how I'm mitigating his damage, I gotta switch things up." Russo says as Zato stands and cracks his knuckles.

"Raynare, Riser, Kokabiel, all strong opponents in their own right. " Zato shrugs. "But each of them didn't allow me to show what I'm truly capable of. I couldn't fight their magic with my techniques but now I can!" Zato shouts in excitement as he charges forward ready to continue the fight.

When Zato gets a few inches away from Russo he notices his arm moves and his long sleeves also move in a weird way. Zato jumps back and as he does his shirt rips and blood begins leaking from a cut that had appeared on his chest. Looking up at Russo he sees a long thin blade coming out of his left sleeve and as he swings his arm down the blade vanishes back into said sleeve. "The real you?" Russo asks "Well I guess it's only fair that you fight the real me as well." Russo states as he takes a step forward.