The beast tamers present in the room were more invested in the current fight than the previous one. While they were impressed that Satoshi was able to defeat White Mist, they were even more amazed that Satoshi could hold out his Beast Integration for another round. While they assumed that Satoshi would be able to hold out until the end, they have no idea how strong Ash actually is. That''s why they looked forward to the match.


    "So... Ash is Jean Grey''s son, right? That means he trained under a proficient beast tamer. There''s no way he''s subpar."


    "Let''s not forget, Satoshi challenged Ash as soon as his fight against White Mist ended. That means... he''s confident that he''ll win."


    "Satoshi''s already at a great disadvantage, but I still think he''d be able to win."


    As soon as the signal was given out, Ash immediately integrated with his tamed beast, Sarugaso. One moment, he was only extending his hand, the next moment, he was already wearing dark green armor and a viridescent scarf wrapped around his neck. In his hands, he held two daggers, and water appeared behind him.


    "I''ll attack first!" Ash screamed, charging at Satoshi without hesitation. In a blink of an eye, Ash cleared the entire field and appeared in front of Satoshi, shing him with a dagger.


    Fwip!


    In that split second, Satoshi was able to duck, dodging the attack with an inch to spare. He then transformed his dark orb into daggers and shed at Ash in response. With one swift motion, Ash did a backward somersault to dodge the attack,nding on all fours when he finally widened the space between him and Satoshi.


    Before he could rx, however, he felt the hair on his back rise up, which prompted him to crouch and roll forward. It was a good call since Satoshi was right there, swinging his dagger at his neck.


    "Gah~ that was close," Satoshi called out. He had expected that one strike to knock Ash unconscious, but he was more than elusive enough to dodge the blow.


    "That was close, all right. Why aren''t you using your clones though? Do you think that''d be more than enough to defeat me?" Ash asked out of nowhere. He was a bit disappointed that Satoshi wasn''t fighting him with everything he got... but then again, he just had to force all of his cards out by attacking him nonstop.


    "I didn''t want the fight to end. That''s why I''m fighting you on even ground." Satoshi simply answered as he pointed at the two daggers he wielded in his hand.


    "I''m quite well-versed when ites to using daggers in closebat, don''t be surprised if you lose," Ash said.


    Straining his ankle, Ash disappeared from where he stood and reappeared right in front of Satoshi. He had gotten even faster, and he didn''t waste any time shing at Satoshi''s stomach. It just so happened that Satoshi misread Satoshi''s attack. Instead of guarding his stomach, he guarded his face. To his surprise, Ash wasn''t aiming at his head at all.


    In that hundredth of a second, Satoshi activated his portal and got out of there, but the dagger still connected and he was wounded. Ash didn''t even hesitate to enter the portal where Satoshi disappeared into. Even though there was a chance that Satoshi would close the portal while he was halfway through, he didn''t hesitate. He figured that Satoshi won''t close the portal if he were to take the risk to go inside.


    Of course, Satoshi wouldn''t do that even if he was going to lose the match. If he were to close the portal, Ash''s body would be cut in half. While he''ll be able to easily heal him with Sera''s help, he didn''t want Ash to go through something so horrific.


    Seizing his chance, Ash relentlessly and repeatedly shed at Satoshi, swinging his dagger as if his life depended on it. He was faster than Satoshi had expected. He could keep up with Satoshi even after he slipped through a portal. And of course, Satoshi didn''t bother closing the portal for fear that Ash''s body will be cut in half.


    "I knew it, there was no way you''d recklessly close your portals if I was near you." Ash confidentlymented as he sidestepped and spun around, throwing his daggers at Satoshi.


    With a second to spare, Satoshi tucked his stomach in to avoid the two daggers that whizzed past. It was super effective, and the daggers barely grazed him. There was no time to rx however since the daggers that Ash just threw started following him as if they were homing missiles.


    Ash may be as fast as Satoshi, but his daggers were exponentially faster than his. This gave Satoshi a harder time keeping track of the daggers which were flying all over the ce. It took every ounce of his concentration to monitor them, and then there was Ash who was also right by his tail, trying to sneak in an attack once he exposed an opening.


    For once, Satoshi regretted not using his full power against Ash. He was more powerful than he thought. Clicking his tongue, Satoshi changed his weapons. Instead of creating daggers out of the Dark Orb, Satoshi created a shield to deflect the daggers. He then shifted to the spear, spinning it around to block the daggers who just turned around. After that, he did a screwdriver vault in midair before throwing thence at Ash.


    The attack came so unexpectedly that Ash wasn''t able to dodge it. Before he realized what was going on, the spear got him on the thigh and it stuck on the ground with a thud. He was trapped, leaving him defenseless against Satoshi''s attacks.


    Now that Ash''s movements were finally cut off, Satoshi created a portal and appeared behind him, catching Ash''s dagger and pointing it at his neck.


    The fight was over... and Satoshi had won.


    "Match Over! And the winner is... Midoriyama Satoshi and his tamed beast Ghast." Jean Grey announced as Satoshi retrieved hisnce and immediately healed Ash''s thigh wound using Sera''s innate ability. Before Jean Grey could rush to his son''s aid, Satoshi was already extending his hand toward him, prompting him to stand up.


    p. p. p.


    Everyone''s attention was redirected toward the man who approached the entire group. He was wearing a ck robe, his face hidden underneath the ck hood he wore. Behind him were other people who were wearing a ck hood as well. Judging from their unwee presence alone, Satoshi concluded that they were intruding.


    "Quite a lively crowd you got here, White Mist." The man in ckmented, approaching White Mist as if he was the boss around the ce. He extended his hand for a handshake, but White Mist just turned away, not daring to shake his hand.


    "How mean. And here I was,ing all the way from Thand to see you."


    "I have no business with you, ck Fog. It''d be best if you leave this ce. You''re not wee here." White Mist disrespectfully said as he pped ck Fog''s hand away.


    "Is that how you treat your beloved guests? I guess the White Mist faction only amounts to this much." The ck Fog muttered to himself as he released two tamed beasts. The tamed beasts that he showed everyone weren''t anything noteworthy. After all, the first one was a fire-typemon tamed beast, Red Smander, and the second one was a water-typemon tamed beast which is the Blue Smander.


    "What are you doing?" White Mist gritted his teeth as he held a Gren in his hand. If ck Fog wanted a fight, then he''d challenge him right then and there. Even though he hasn''t fully recovered from his fight against Satoshi, he knew that he had to stand up to ck Fog... otherwise what would his disciples think of him?


    "You don''t have to put your guard up. I just want to show you something... something really interesting I managed to cook up while I was out training with the elephants." ck Fog made funny faces as he spoke, totally mocking White Mist as if he didn''t know a thing or two about Thand.


    White Mist didn''t waste any time integrating with his tamed beast, the White Wolf. But before he couldnd a blow at ck Fog, ck Fog integrated with, not one, but two of his tamed beasts. Before White Mist could hit him, ck Fog appeared as a force of nature. Half of his body was covered in water while the other half was covered by fire.


    "Beast Integration with two tamed beasts?" Even Jean Grey was shocked since he hasn''t seen anyone achieve such a ridiculous feat.


    "Wha— but how?!" White Mist eximed, his mouth wide open in utter shock.


    "I''m not the only one who can integrate with two tamed beasts at once in my faction, White Mist. I guess I look forward to the uing Official Beast Tournament." ck Fog said before turning around, leading all his men out of the training center without saying another word.