Kengan Association VS Purgatory Tournament

The **Kengan Association vs. Purgatory Tournament** is a series of matches between two major players in the Japanese underground martial arts industry: the Kengan Association and Purgatory. It's held to determine which organization will absorb the other in their upcoming merger.

The tournament was originally intended to be a series of 13 matches to be held in a year's time. Toyoda Idemitsu proposed extending it to 50 matches, to be held in a month's time, but Nogi Hideki eventually negotiated it back to 13 matches, to be held in six months. For unknown reasons, on the Kengan Association's request, the tournament was postponed a further month.

## Rules

The contest follows Purgatory's rules:

* **Knock Down:** If a gladiator fails to get back up before the count of 10 of the referee, they lose.
* **Ring Out:** If any part of a gladiator's body ends up outside the ring, the gladiator will lose the match.
* **No Kill:** If a gladiator causes his opponent to die, he will be disqualified.

Up until the ninth match, the tournament has one additional rule: there is no set order for the matches. One side sends their fighter into the ring for each match, with the other team sending their fighter in response. The team that picks first is supposed to swap every three matches. After a deal was struck between Chairman Nogi Hideki and Toyoda, this rule was eliminated.

Another rule of the tournament forbids the gladiator to hit a downed opponent while the referee is counting.

### Special Rules

Some matches have an additional rule, only valid for those matches.

* **Time:** This rule was introduced in the fourth match. A spotlight, which becomes part of the match, will shrink its boundaries as time goes on. The fighter needs to push their opponent out the bounds within five minutes from the match's start to win. If the time's up and there's no clear winner, the match will be a no contest. The Knock-Down rule is not in effect for this match, and both teams were supposed to send their fighters simultaneously.

## Incidents

* **Round Five:** Naidan Mönkhbat provoked Gaoh Ryuki into killing him. Ryuki is disqualified.
* **Round Seven:** Kure Raian brutally killed Alan Wu. With the circumstances deliberated on, Raian is disqualified.
* **Round Nine:** The match between Akoya Seishu and Nicolas Le Banner is stopped by the referee, with Rolón Donaire intervening on her behalf. Round Nine is declared a No Contest.
* **Round Twelve:** Wakatsuki Takeshi and Fei Wangfang are rendered unconscious simultaneously. Round Twelve was declared a draw.

## External Incidents

Around the tournaments, many parties had secret plans.

* Worm infiltrators like Naidan Mönkhbat and Lu Tian revealed their allegiance. Acording to Edward, this was to make the worm's existence public and move into the "phase two".
	+ After the tournament, The Worm started to enact terrorist attacks around the world, further revealing themselves.
* The Other Niko made his student Fei Wangfang to make use of his Niko Style and defeat one of the top fighters of the Kengan Association, presumably knowing that he would use Divine Devil to its limits and gather the data he needed to evolve the Niko Style.
* Kiryu Setsuna had a talk with Gaoh Ryuki and convinced him to join his cause, after the tournament, both joined Akoya Seishu in hunting Worm agents.
* Wu Xing joined the Kure Clan to take down Edward Wu, both knowing he was going to be in the tournament. Wu Xing also deployed Narushima Joji and Kureishi Mitsuyo to take down Xia Ji and Mikazuchi Rei and Hatsumi Sen to take down Xia Ji's assistance.
	+ In the aftermath, Kure Erioh sacrificed himself to help take down Edward, while Joji and Mitsuyo beaten Xia Ji to a pulp. However, the latter managed to escape.
* Hayami Katsumasa attempted another coup of the Kengan Association, but was killed by his son Hayami Masaki before anything could come of it.
* The true goal of the tournament was a secret to the public and even for many members of the respective organizations.
* After Purgatory's defeat, Nogi Hideki revealed he intended to make a new deal with Toyoda Idemitsu instead of absorbing Purgatory. No one else was aware of Nogi's true intentions.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 2 (Omega)
2. ↑ Chapter 11 (Omega)
3. ↑ Chapter 13 (Omega)
4. ↑ Chapter 47 (Omega)