The stadium was vibrating, the spectators were stomping on the floor chanting your names before you even broke through the door. A Sand shinobi versus a Stone shinobi. The world has not heard much about iwagakure since they assisted in Leaf's liberation but if the presence of a fighter from their ranks is any indication of their endurance, Stone is indeed still alive and well. The stadium was packed, even the aisles were now occupied with curious onlookers. It was standing room only. You had seen the victor of the first match, perhaps even the full fight if you hurried on in. You would have certain seen the last two unless you were the type to show at the very last moment but whatever it was that you might have been doing outside of the Arena it was not nearly as important as watching the other contestants. The first match was always the wildcard match -- you might think you know what your opponent is going to do. What sort of fighter they really are but it is hard to judge a book by its cover. Did you judge prematurely? Your match was likely to have a combatant just as skilled as those you saw, but their fighting style is anyone's guess. They did a better job than one would have expected cleaning up the arena, you saw what they did out there but there was not a drop of blood on the ground. The stadium itself seemed to be in perfect condition. The spectators utterly safe from harm. Wow. You would never have known that there was a fight here an hour earlier. The crowd was riled, they were still cheering and recounting the previous match when you emerged through the pair of steel doors and now their roar was deafening. Sex and violence were mankind's most primal and basic instincts and it would appear that the people were in a frenzy. It should not surprise anyone that a competition that pitted the world's strongest against each other would attract so much attention or that they would get so excited.
The people of Kurosawa seemed accommodating enough, you were given comfortable living arrangements for the weeks you would spend in Tea Country and meals were delivered to your door promptly at 0600, 1200 and 1800 each day if you ate them or not. They were pretty good even if the fare was primarily fish and vegetables. The people of Kurosawa even seemed excited, even if it was a bit over the top at times. Both of you would have been approached for an autograph several times, hopefully you obliged at least a few. They would scream and carry on that you touched their pen and that they would treasure it forever. Awk-ward... Your face was even printed on a few T-shirts being worn by middle aged men, these people seemed to be very much into fighting.
Perhaps this was what it was like to be a celebrity. The flash of cameras wherever you went and the sudden need for complete strangers to share your personal space. Rest might not have been particularly 'restful' for some, last night a girl knocked on both of your doors. No, the one that came for the old man did not come in a nurse's uniform. She would have if she had thought about it but neither of these girls were too bright. They were both surprised by what they encountered but they were professionals gosh darn it! They expected Kyūji to be a man, he definitely was not. Thankfully she knew transformation. Old man Miki might need to have his pacemaker checked (if he has one) because the other girl was going to test his endurance. Well, that is if either opened the door and let them in. If either Miki or Kyūji let them in, they would have a good time ...for the rest of the night. They might have an extra spring in your step, but they would be a bit tired and their joints a bit overstretched. How could non-shinobis be so darn flexible? *Cough*
Regardless of how you spent the evening before -- be it sleeping or the night of your life, the big day has finally come. It was the day of the tournament and the air was abuzz! Someone was waiting for you when you opened the hotel room door. "By golly you're up," a relieved, dark-skinned slender man would announce as he stepped towards you. "And look at you darling!" He would approach you and you might notice that he was wearing platform inserts in his shoes making him even taller than he naturally was. He would attempt to cup your face in his hands and give you a kiss on both cheeks. "So scrumptious, I could just... Eat. You. Up!" He would let out a squeal of delight before he explained himself. "Well, aren't you just a doll..." He would smile in a manner that might make you feel uneasy. "I am here to escort you to the Hisashī Zenshōsen Arena. And on the way we should totally drop by this little cafe I know and pick you... and me up a muffin and a smoothie. I do not know about you but I get sooooo han-gry!" He sang as he would attempt to interlock his elbow with yours.
"Let's be on our way sweetie, we don't want to miss anything!" He would not take no for an answer, he was rather fast and even more persistent. Eventually you would be going in the same direction as he, eventually you would either resign yourself to your fate or hide away in your hotel room. The former was more reasonable than the later. After all he just wanted to talk your ear off. If you were to ask why he was doing what he was doing he would answer simply, 'because he was told to.' When asked to elaborate further, he would smile broadly and state that you were 'too cute to see get hurt before the big fight.' Was there any dangers he would willingly divulge? No, not really. More often than not, he would go on a tangent about make-up or shoes.
He would lead you through the city. On multiple occasions someone would start to approach you, with paper, drink or trinket in hand but before they could reach you unless you accepted their 'boon' your escort would shoo them off, potentially chucking their 'gift' at them. If you had time, he would stop by a small cafe and buy himself and you a hazelnut-vanilla muffin and a chocolate-coffee-mashed banana drink. The drink tasted better than one would expect if you willingly partook. If you just stared at it like an uncultured ape, he would just sigh and complain -- "I had such high hopes for you darling." He would then continue on.
You would be led around the Arena. From the outside the Arena was rather imposing, there were four statues with their backs towards you that appeared to be looking down into the arena. The walls were rather high, three hundred feet, perhaps more by your best estimation. The grey stone had something etched into it, into every single brick. If your escort was asked about the bricks, he would explain. "Seals from the old country to protect the good folks watching,", he answered with a laugh. He would lead you to an unmarked door that was flanked by a pair of guards, each wore the regalia of a samurai. They would see you coming with your escort and they would make way for you before you even reached the door. Apparently this private hall was well-guarded, another pair of samurais would eye you cautiously as you entered the hall. The hall would be otherwise undecorated and plain.
You would be led to a private locker room, your name on the door. You might recognize a few of the other names as well, fellow compatriots from your village or some famed shinobi from abroad. You would be summoned a few hours later, in the mean time you would be left to your devices -- eat, sleep, watch TV, call your wife on a headset, pray... [Yes, pick whatever amenities you want in the room] The same man would knock on your door, "It is time for your match, darling," He would lead the way. He would lead you to a steel door painted white, it would be sealed shut. "The door will open at 6:00. Have fun and make a spectacular show!" He would point at a clock, you had a few more minutes left. The sound of the ticking clock was deafening and the time would seem to pass slowly despite it being only a few minutes but the doors would eventually unlock and with a trumpet fanfare as well as confetti you would be queued to make an entrance. Half the show was about the spectacle. The other half... let's call it 'fighting.'
Notes:
- Sand shinobis would recognize the language being used is a form of Runic Terran, however they would not be able to make out what was said.
- There is a Stone shinobi NPC (Miki). Miki is being played by Umashi.
- Please IC make your entrance post. Remember that you have 2 free travel event threads for this event. This will occupy one of your two. you do not need to lave your village to participate in this event, however if two is too few for you, then some actual travel is required.
- This time marks the receipt of your profile. It will be copied and given to your moderator as well as logged. Your moderator will be Takeshi . Your previously anticipated moderator is unable to access Discord and notified us that he is not capable of participating as a moderator since his altered access.
- Please send your actions to Takeshi . Remember to link everything. You have until January 10th to do so.
Name: Morimoto Miki
Alias: The Student
Rank: Jounin
Age: 80s
Height: 5’11’’
Height: 170lb
Gender: Male
Bloodtype: O+
Hand Preference: Ambidextrous
Hair Color: Grey
Eye Color: Brown
Skin Tone: Earthy Brown
Notable(s): Although long lived, Miki's shinobi career started later in life than most. It was only after the death of the Tsuchikage Inu Endo that Miki actually took up the shinobi arts after living years as a wandering scholar. Although he is perhaps the oldest participant in the tournament, Miki is as spry and as witty as a man a quarter of his age.
Quick Historical Facts: Hailing from the Earth Country, Miki was born among traveling nomads who lived primarily off of the land. It was upon growing up and wishing to see more of the world than just the nature itself that Miki moved to Iwagakure and started a life in his twenties. Growing to have a family and a successful craftsmen career, it was after great tragedy that Miki suffered a mental breakdown and moved back to the only life that had never forsaken him, the life of a nomad.
Though he wasn’t in Iwagakure when Inu Endo died, he partially blamed himself for the loss of such a young leader. Venturing back to the world of man after a near fifty year self-imposed exile, Miki joined the shinobi ranks and quickly made a name for himself as a wise journeyman. Although he had no plans to slow down in his career as a teacher of the next generation of shinobi, Miki was entered in the tournament with the goal of allowing the great teacher to teach one last lesson before retirement.
In all honesty, I was quite nervous standing in the locker room that they graciously gave to us to change and prepare as needed. It was an odd feeling since I had been in front of many people in my lifetime so far especially when I was working at the Hospital or teaching at Sunan's Academy. Yet, my stomach was uneasy and I was a little bit jittery possibly from the hazelnut-vanilla muffin and a chocolate-coffee-mashed banana drink that I had earlier which were delicious. It was more likely that I felt this way because I was representing my adopted home country in this tournament and the first opponent that I was facing in this tournament was a shinobi from my original home of Iwagakure or a village that I believed didn't even exist anymore after it had been attacked while I fled from it. However, it must've managed to handle itself during the attack enough to continue to exist which made me feel like I needed to visit and take care of some unfinished business personally when I was finished here. After all, it was good for a child to visit their parents' burial grounds to pay their respects to them and I was simply curious to know how their hospital was doing and if they still believed in that strange shaman magic over the traditional chakra theory. Neither were incorrect per se, but chakra was the more natural methodology that people learned. Then again, the Hidden Stone also believed in the Old Gods which I never quite understood but that was a story for another day. I also would reflect back to the previous night as a young maiden would come to my room and I would kindly turn down her advances as I needed to get my sleep and be mentally and physically prepared for my fight today; I admit that she was a cute one, but I was a married individual and I was being accompanied by Hinoka which would've obviously made things quite uncomfortable for her. But, that was not the reason I turned her down, but instead because I wanted to enjoy my time while I was in Tea Country and make memories that would last a lifetime along with getting some much needed work done between the medical branches of each village. But, that was for a future date as my attention, much like everyone else's, was on the tournament and seeing how everyone performed. If I didn't focus on my opponent that I would soon see, my fun from fighting would subside quickly and I would have to watch from the stands and cheer on my fellow Sunans which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but I wanted to strut my stuff and show the world what I could do. Yes, it was a selfish goal, but I was a prideful individual filled with lots of selfishness! 
After I spoke, I would raise my head and put my hand on my sword that was holstered at my side. It was finally time for Lord Byakko and I to finally work together again and show the world this time what we were capable of doing. We had proven that we were worthy enough of participating in this tournament together and it was time to show everyone what the descendant of the celestial beast and a member of the Byakko Clan was capable of doing as I smirked at my opponent. This was truly going to be fun even if my nerves were completely shot already and I felt like I was going to be absolutely sick. Closing my eyes, I would give off a deep breath as the judge that would monitor this fight had not said anything yet to begin the fight which allowed me to calm myself down and say a quick pray to Lord Byakko who was with me physically and spiritually. My god was actually inside of my sword and also inside of me due to giving some of his life essence to me to utilize in combat as needed be. Yes, I could also summon him if I absolutely needed to, but that was a last resort measure and we had already mentioned it before that he was to not be summoned at the tournament if at all possible as we didn't need to make a scene. 
In any case, I would do a technique against my opponent that would make it more difficult for him to hit me as if he needed more struggles for that. However, I knew that I would have to be quick before the effects of this great technique wore off and left me vulnerable to a counterattack that would likely put me in a tough situation. But before worries could fill my mind about that, I would see that my opponent would enter his own version of being a Sage as I did the same in return; two sages dueling it out in the World Martial Arts Tournament, nobody could have it any other way than this as it would be glorious! However, I did not exactly appreciate him harming me with a Rasengan that stung slightly thanks to my barrier protecting me from the full effect of it.
However, I easily managed to land some clean blows on my opponent from Iwagakure as I could imagine the man was wincing in pain, but shaking it off like it was nothing. He had likely lived a hardened life in the Hidden Stone and a few clean blows from my Blade of Celestial Judgement was not going to faze him at all. His skin however somewhat irritated me that it did not bleed when I clearly hit my marks on him and it made me simple question how exactly was this old man so durable and not in a wheelchair or using a walker to continue to get around in his life since he had to be in his eighties if I was being generous. Nevertheless, the old man managed to try to fight back along with his summon, but they both failed their marks and quite honestly made me laugh as a more egotistical side of me had surfaced due in part to having part of Lord Byakko sealed inside of me. As I stood there with my sword at my side, I couldn't help but look at the summon in front of me and my opponent through the mist and comment on our fight so far: 
