Chapter 375 EXPLOSION!!!

"H-hai~!" Shoyo called out, shaking off the attack as he prepared to counter.

Spitting the dust that somehow got in his mouth, Shoyo stole a glance at Satoshi. He intended to attack him without him noticing. Even if it was almost impossible to do that, Shoyo took it upon himself to risk it all. He couldn't afford to play it easy. After all, there was no way he'd have a clear shot at winning if he doesn't take any chances.

Planting his hand on the ground, he twisted his forearm and unleashed a powerful low kick, aiming at Satoshi's ankle. Physically, it would've been an impossible feat for Shoyo who was never the fit type, but thanks to his beast integration with his chick tamed beast, he managed to pull the attack off, and he was even faster than he'd expected.

The sudden attack certainly caught Satoshi off-guard, but he was still faster than Shoyo. Before the kick could connect, Satoshi jumped in mid-air, while aiming both his hands toward Shoyo's face. Not only did he dodge what Shoyo unleashed, but he also managed to transition to his counterattack as he did so.

"Flamethrower," Satoshi muttered to himself as his palms lit up a bright red-orange color. And then an explosion of intense raging blaze shot out from Satoshi's arms and aimed right at Shoyo. It seemed like he wasn't going to let Shoyo take a break from his continuous onslaught.

'Fire Cannon!' Shoyo uttered in his mind before he opened his mouth. A ball of flame shot out from his lips, and it caused an explosion that sent the two of them skittering backward.

BAM!

At that moment, Satoshi managed to react just in time, blocking the explosion with his hands. Apparently, his entire body was fireproof thanks to being integrated with the Alpha Red Salamander, but that doesn't mean he was immune to an explosion. When the explosion connected, he was also sent flying, just like what happened to Shoyo who was behind the suicidal attack.

"Are you crazy?" Satoshi let out a chuckle as he stood up, pointing his hand downward before shooting another round of flamethrower from his hand. Before he knew it, he was spinning in mid-air as his flamethrower propelled him forward.

In an instant, he covered the distance between him and Shoyo, grabbing him by the head. "Blast Burn," Satoshi muttered, his pupils dilating as he locked eyes with Shoyo.

"Blast Burn!" Out of desperation, Shoyo didn't defend against the attack altogether, but instead, he put his arm on Satoshi's chest and unleashed the same move as well.

When Satoshi and Shoyo's gaze connected, Satoshi assumed that he would see pure fear in Shoyo's eyes. But what he saw instead surprised him. There was a fire lit in his iris, and he was smiling.

Both attacks connected, but this time, Satoshi and Shoyo were rational enough to not get blown away. Causing another explosion in the opposite direction, the two of them barely budged when they were hit with each other's attacks. Shoyo received more damage, however, since Satoshi blasted his face.

"Good. If you can't dodge it, take it like a champ. But make sure you counterattack." Satoshi called out. He had no idea why he was suddenly lecturing Shoyo, but it made the fight more interesting. Furthermore, he was having a lot of fun, and he didn't want anyone to ruin it by telling him what to do.

"Yes!" Shoyo responded as he ducked. In one swift motion, he extended his hands towards Satoshi, causing another fiery blast with his special move fire cannon. The explosion gave him enough distance from Satoshi so he could buy some time.

That didn't work though, since Satoshi easily clawed through the explosion aiming another blast at Shoyo's face.

"Fiery Kick," Shoyo mumbled. Just like what Satoshi had taught him, he didn't bother dodging the attack since it was already too close for comfort anyways. Instead, he leaned back and whipped his right leg at Satoshi. A short burst of fire came out of Shoyo's right leg, causing his kick to accelerate.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion as another explosion blasted Shoyo in the face (headshot!) and in return, Shoyo managed to land a kick toward Satoshi's side. As usual, both of them were sent flying, but they recovered in no time at all and they were at it again with their continuous attacks.

It was a beautiful presentation of fire versus fire. On one hand, Satoshi relentlessly attacked Shoyo, giving him tips and pointers whenever he could. And on the other hand, Shoyo was barely defending and attacking, but the fire in his eyes was still there. Neither side held back during the match. It's as if the audience wasn't even there. They just exchange blows one following the other, as if they have their own little world.

Even the commentator was mesmerized by their masterful display of fire versus fire, so much so that he was speechless all throughout their exchange. The cheers of the audience had died down as well, and they strained their eyes as they tried to watch every single action Satoshi and Shoyo took.

Satoshi ducked as a spire of flame shot right above his head. He dodged it by a hair's breadth, and he felt the intensity of the flames the more he approached Shoyo. Extending his hands to the side, Satoshi also shot a beam of fire toward Shoyo, but Shoyo dodged it by jumping upward.

Since being in mid-air exposed him a lot, Shoyo clenched his hand, creating a fire whip in his hands before whipping it in all directions. Satoshi didn't bother shooting at him. Instead, he summoned his Cloak of Invisibility and dwelled in the background.

A couple of 'oohs' were heard from the audience as Satoshi disappeared in an instant.

BAM!

With a grunt, Shoyo fell down on the ground as an explosion hit him from behind. He quickly scampered to his feet, finally realizing that Satoshi had turned invisible. 'This wasn't part of the plan.' Shoyo said in his mind as he gritted his teeth. He was already at a disadvantage as it is, but now the gap between him and Satoshi had drastically widened.

"You have to improvise. Your opponent won't adjust for you. You have to adjust for them." Shoyo heard Satoshi's voice somewhere, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly where. For a moment, he panicked, shooting a fire cannon in a random direction and hitting only empty air.

BAM!

Another explosion hit him, this time, right in his face. Shoyo felt stuck, but he still hasn't given up. In his mind, he kept telling himself to focus, but that didn't help at all, so he stopped doing it.

'What can I do? I can't see him. There must be another way.' Shoyo muttered to himself as he tried to come up with a solution. Of course, the first thing that he could've done was use some sort of thermal vision to locate Satoshi. But since the grand stage was so hot, it wouldn't have worked anyways. Besides, the Cloak of Invisibility completely erases Satoshi's presence, so there was no way the thermal vision would've worked even under normal conditions.

BAM!

When Shoyo was hit for the third time, he finally came up with a solution. Well, it was more of a defensive option than a solution. What he did was surround himself with wisps of flames all over his body, and if one of them were on the verge of going out, he would attack in that direction.

There was also a hidden function to the wisps of flames that he manifested, but there was no way he would tell Satoshi what it was. He finally reached enlightenment when it comes to using his tamed beast's abilities.

'Come on... Satoshi-sensei... where are you?' Shoyo thought in his mind as a smile appeared on his face.

As for Satoshi, he could more or less guess what Shoyo was up to. The small wisps of flames pretty much gave out what he was trying to do, and Satoshi already knew how he'd be able to combat it. 'So you're going to pinpoint my location by using your wisps as your sense of touch? That's a pretty good strategy, but not good enough.' Satoshi said to himself.

After he sneaked towards Shoyo, Satoshi reached out his hand towards the opposite side, touching one of the wisps of flames. Shoyo's eyes suddenly shot wide open and he fired a fire cannon in that direction.

However, that wasn't the only thing that happened.

The moment Satoshi touched one of the wisps of flames, the other wisps were affected by it, sort of like a chain reaction. As it turned out, every individual wisp was actually a part of a greater whole— a huge explosion.

BABAM!

Before Satoshi could react, an explosion was unleashed all throughout the grand stage. The explosion could even rival the one that White Mist had caused during the third round.