Call Me Mr. Knight

Chapter 24

I let out a shaky sigh when the first two teams' faceoff came to an end. I didn't even realize I had been holding my breath this entire time. Not to mention the fact that I was still holding Sasuke's hand quite tightly.

Everyone was left either gaping or frozen in their seats.

I knew that many Fighters in Konoha Gakuen could be a little too overboard since I was like that too. However, this was different. This... was an all-out annihilation of both sides. The other team's It looked like he would need to spend the entire year in the hospital while the other one already looked half-dead. And yet, both teams were still going at it without a care in the world. It's as if they were possessed by some kind of vengeful spirit...

"That was... quite intense." I heard Sai's voice from my other side. Intense wasn't quite the right word there, Sai.

In the end, both teams were out since both of their It couldn't play anymore. The stage actually looked like somebody had butchered an animal and left all its blood and entrails there.

The next few teams who fought afterwards were no different. The scene turned more gruesome even for me as time went by. I was at least thankful that bringing a weapon on stage for this particular round was forbidden or there would actually be dead bodies after every fight.

Akatsuki... to think they could influence the students this much with just a few words... They really were a group to be feared.

Every minute that passed by felt like hours to me as I was frozen in my seat while watching what's happening on stage. And before I knew it, Sasuke was already mildly shaking my shoulder.

"Naruto, it's our turn." He voiced quietly beside me. "Are you alright?" He added when I looked at him as if I just realized he was there.

I closed my eyes and heaved a deep sigh before I nodded at him. I needed to be strong in both my heart and mind. I could not afford to be weak now of all times. No matter how scary and powerful the Akatsuki was, I just needed to think that they were still human beings just like me. There's no way they were invincible. The only thing I needed to do now was to win all my fights in order to see their weakness from up close.

And with that thought in mind, I stood up from my seat and followed Sasuke's group towards the stage.

The students immediately started murmuring amongst themselves when they saw our group. It's the first tag game with a Knight involved. I could also almost hear my friends' voices from the audience but I didn't dare look at them. I didn't think I would want to look at the stage again if I were to remove my eyes from it.

As usual, the light of the stage was so bright I could not see anything except the ones in front of me. The remaining part of the stadium was dark so I could not see what the audience's expressions were like.

"Have you decided who your It is?" Tobi asked both teams with his usual bright voice.

"My team's It is me." Sasuke voiced quite coldly, not even bothering to look at Tobi. Instead, his eyes were focused on our opposing team. They were composed of third-year students who were mostly A and B Class. That's not so good for a C Class like me.

I could feel the other Akatsuki members' gaze on our team and I felt very unnerved.

"Please watch this fight very carefully, everyone~!!" Tobi announced rather happily. "For this is the very first fight with a Knight involved! Not to mention... he's actually their team's It!!"

For the first few seconds, nobody reacted to those statements and the audience remained very quiet. However, after a while, a few clapped their hands and shouted, allowing the rest of the audience to cheer as well. It was very surprising. I actually looked at the dark audience seats with wide eyes as I felt everyone's warmth while they cheered for both of the teams.