For the first time in the entire sports festival, Tetsumaru was forced to retreat.
Visible waves stirred within the body of water until they shot out in the form of gigantic explosions, splashing his Satetsu and neutralizing a considerable portion of it.
Mei clasped her hands and closed her eyes, focusing her mind to give commands to the water saturated with her chakra. To the rest of the world, it was as if she were praying, just like Shiozaki.
What Mei unleashed was not Ninjutsu. It was pure, raw control, perfected after years of large- and small-scale training.
Thick pillars emerged from the mass of water, shooting toward the sky and forcing Tetsumaru to take evasive action to avoid sacrificing more of his sand. At the same time, an endless barrage of water bullets harassed the black-haired boy, reversing the roles in this battle.
Given the limits of the combat area, Tetsumaru could only rise higher or evade as best he could. But everything Mei had done was just to distract him.
The audience and the heroes watched in astonishment as the soaking-wet figure of the kunoichi ran vertically up the water pillars she herself had constructed. Tetsumaru realized what was happening just as the girl leaped onto his own sand platform and slammed a flying kick into his chest.
A thin layer of Satetsu intervened, absorbing a considerable part of the blow, but Tetsumaru was hit by the Missile Drop-Kick anyway and was thrown into the void, where a deadly pool of water awaited him.
Mei tried to go after him, but her legs were trapped in the sand platform, which slowly began to cover her entire body.
She frowned when she felt an unnecessary lump of sand pressing between her legs, but none of the billions of people watching noticed this development.
With her mind preoccupied with freeing herself from the prison, she couldn't properly manipulate the water she had expelled, so the pillars collapsed, and the large body of water began to rush in all directions, wetting the surroundings of the arena and causing Midnight to jump onto her throne to avoid an awkward situation.
Tetsumaru created another sand platform for himself and converted the one holding Mei into a sphere. He moved the sphere to push her out of the combat area boundaries and win—or so everyone watching the match thought.
—We put on a good fight, didn't we?— Tetsumaru asked through their link, which they had been using throughout the match to pull off a few flashy tricks.
—Damn right we did! Let's just finish this already, I want to go clean up!— Mei complained in her mind.
An explosion of water turned the solid Satetsu construction into mud, neutralizing the attempt to force Mei out of bounds.
As she fell to the ground, Mei fixed her emerald eyes on Tetsumaru's figure. He had also descended, which confused the onlookers.
Many heroes thought he was either preparing something big or reaching his limits. They didn't have to wait long for the answer.
A massive amount of Satetsu flowed out of the seals, turning into spears that became wider toward the base.
They looked more like pyramids than spears. The strange construct left more than one person confused, but then their eyes widened as the pyramids began to spin on themselves, turning into gigantic drills.
Mei unleashed a massive wave toward Tetsumaru just as the spinning drills charged in her direction.
An explosion of water and muddy sand splashed the surroundings, but the shape of the constructs allowed them to pass through the small Tsunami without completely disintegrating.
Mei ran towards the drills, evading their charges while closing the distance with Tetsumaru. For his part, the black-haired boy sacrificed part of his sand by raising a V-shaped wall, which diverted the wave to both sides of him.
The kunoichi demonstrated her incredible physical abilities once again, unleashing punches that made the fragile, soaking Satetsu constructs explode, evading others, and covering the distance in a matter of seconds.
Mei destroyed Tetsumaru's wall with a kick, only to be met by another barrage of sand balls. In response, she unleashed more water, once again neutralizing her other half's attack.
Tetsumaru was forced to run to the side, drawing another considerable amount of sand from his seals to create vertical and horizontal pillars that obstructed Mei's path, weaving a solid net to buy himself more time.
But the kunoichi destroyed his bars with disdain, showcasing her immense physical strength.
She easily caught up to Tetsumaru, as the black-haired boy wasn't enhancing his body with chakra, and delivered a back kick to his ribs. A piece of sand blocked the kick, but the momentum still made Mei's foot crash into him, sending Tetsumaru flying a couple of meters.
—This is intensifying!! The younger sister absolutely counters the older brother, both in Quirk and in strength and speed!! Isn't Tetsumaru's life miserable, having a little sister who is his natural enemy in every aspect?!— Present Mic exclaimed.
The crowd could do nothing but pity an older brother with such bad luck.
—Fufufu, poor you, Onii-chan— Mei teased.
Tetsumaru rolled on the ground, stopping mere centimeters from the edge of the combat area. He summoned what was left of his sand as he jumped into the air, trying to create a platform while enveloping Mei's body again.
—Someone who has my seed dripping from her entrance can't mock me— the black-haired boy replied, making Mei blush and letting herself be caught more easily by the sand.
Tetsumaru smiled and mounted his platform, ready to take the high ground again. But Mei applied brute force, all she could muster, or so she made it seem, and freed one of her arms.
She extended her palm and opened the storage seal one last time.
Unlike the previous times, she made sure to apply pressure to the output. As a result, what came out of the seal was not a large quantity of water, but a torrent in the form of a giant pillar at great speed.
Tetsumaru was hit by a train of water, platform and all, and sent crashing against the wall.
The roar of the crowd, the crack of Midnight's whip, and Present Mic's surge of adrenaline overlapped in a cacophony of excitement at the battle they had just witnessed.
While others were displays of skill and strategies, or simply raw, brute power, this was an interesting mix of both.
—Terumi Mei advances to the finals!!— Midnight announced with a smile.