"Your first challenge is to find a team of six."
"Huh?" Ryju blinked. He had just arrived at the challenge grounds, still catching his breath when the announcement boomed over the arena.
Wait a minute... that girl from earlier!He looked around frantically. "Do you wanna be on my team?"
Silence. The girl was gone.
"Wait—she's not here?! Then who's gonna be on my team...?"
"Why do we need teams of six?" he muttered aloud.
The booming voice of the Spiritual King answered from above, as if reading his thoughts.
"You're probably asking yourself why you need a team of six. Just know—in the later challenges, you will need a team."
The voice paused.
"You have two hours to find a team of six."
Ryju's stomach dropped. "TWO HOURS?! I'm done for... there's no way I can find a team in time…"
But then he clenched his fists.
"No. Grandpa wouldn't give up… So why would I? I'm not giving up. No matter what!"
30 Minutes Later…
"…I'm doomed," Ryju muttered, dragging his feet. "Still no team… This is hopeless."
Then he spotted someone—alone.
His eyes lit up. "Wait… he's by himself!"
He rushed over. "Hey! Would you wanna join my team?"
The boy looked up, a little surprised. "Huh? Me?"
"Yeah, you! So, what do you say?"
"…Sure. Why not."
Ryju grinned. "Nice! What's your name?"
"Kuroyami."
"Cool. I'm Ryju."
"Nice to meet you," Kuroyami replied with a nod. "We still need more people."
"I know. We've got about an hour and thirty minutes left."
"Right."
Elsewhere…
A girl with long blue hair paced anxiously.
"Where did that red-haired boy go? I wanted to be friends with him…"
Back to Ryju and Kuroyami—
"Hey, look! There's a girl over there," Ryju said. "Let's ask her!"
"Yeah, let's go."
"This is going to be fun…" the Spiritual King murmured in amusement from above.
"Hey!" Ryju called out. "Do you wanna join our group, lady?"
The girl turned, frowning. "I'm not a lady. I'm only fourteen!"
Ryju grinned. "Yup, that's old."
"Pretty old," Kuroyami added.
"That's NOT old!" she huffed, then sighed. "But yeah, I'll join. My name's Rei."
"No need to argue," she added. "I just need to pass this round."
"Nice. That makes three," Ryju said. "We need three more."
Rei checked the time. "We've only got thirty minutes left, so we better hurry."
"Most people are already in groups," she added. "It's gonna be tough."
Elsewhere, again…
I need to find people ASAP, the Blue-haired girl thought.
Then she spotted a few figures heading into a shadowy part of the field.
"Oh! I see people! Maybe they'll let me join..."
From the shadows, a mysterious boy whispered:
"Hmph… who is that? I can sense their spiritual force… it's weak."
Back to Ryju—
"Hey! Hey! Can I please join your group? Please?" a breathless boy called out.
Ryju turned. "Yes! This has to be a miracle—we need more people!"
"Oh thank goodness…" The boy smiled, catching his breath. "My name's Shun. And… nice red hair!"
"Thanks! Nice green hair."
"Thank you," Shun chuckled.
"You don't get it," he continued. "I've been trying to join a group for like, forever. But people kept rejecting me. And when they found someone better, they kicked me out. These two hours have been the worst."
"Dang. You've been through a lot," Ryju said. "Sucks for you. But hey—at least you're with us now!"
Shun nodded, relieved.
"We just need two more!" Ryju said.
"Are we ready?" he asked, looking at his new teammates.
"YEAH!" they all shouted together.
Elsewhere…
"Hey," said a tall, muscular boy named Goro. "It's just the two of us. We need four more people."
"I know," Kenshiro muttered, mouth full of chips.
"You had to stop for snacks…" Goro sighed.
Then he pointed. "Hey! I see a group of four! Let's ask!"
They ran over.
"Hey, can me and my friend join your group?" Goro asked. "We've been walking around forever. Couldn't find anyone. And Kenshiro was… well, hungry."
"If you two join, we'll have six. We're good to go!" Ryju smiled.
"Awesome! I'm Goro, and this is Kenshiro."
"Sup," Kenshiro said casually.
Does Kenshiro even care about this challenge…? Ryju wondered.
Still—they had their team.
They were six. They were ready.
Meanwhile, the Blue-haired girl trembled.
"U-Um… please don't hurt me," she begged. "I just want to be a ninja…"
The figure in front of her stepped closer, eyes dark with malice.
"Weaklings don't deserve to be ninjas. They deserve to die."
"P-Please…!"
Back with Ryju—
He suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"…Something's not right."
Rei looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"The air… it's heavy. Like it's full of fear."
Kuroyami narrowed his eyes. "You can feel that?"
Ryju nodded. "Yeah. I've always been able to. My grandpa taught me how to sense it. This feeling—"
He looked off into the distance, serious now.
"It's bloodlust. And I sense… a lot of it."
To be continued…