JPN
The HATE faction suffered mixed results
Tora Natsuko, also from Red Stars A like Rinami, faced off against Aoki Itsuki. Ignoring Aoki who enthusiastically extended her hand saying, "Please take care of me!", Tora briefly shook Aoki's hand as she again requested a clean fight, and then immediately launched her attack
However, after being provoked with "You run too, I'll catch you," he ran towards the ropes, only to be thrown down in a crab hold and lose his pace
That's when he snapped. He punished him with angry kicks and powerful chops. After that, he continued to pounce with a counter lariat, a senton, and a diving body press from the second rope
Furthermore, while his second, Rina, distracted the referee, he struck her with a chair. He tried to finish her off with a Death Valley Bomb and a Swanton Bomb, but she dodged them and he ended up hurting himself. From there, she cleverly reversed positions and defeated him with a Jinrin II (a modified spinning prawn hold)
In her opening match on the 19th (in Toyohashi), she used a weapon against Tomoka Inaba and was disqualified, resulting in two consecutive losses to start the tournament. She did not appear backstage after the match
Following her victory against Tomoka Inaba in Ota Ward on July 18, Aoki secured her second consecutive win to start the season and boasted, "Two points, that's a double peace sign, isn't it? If this keeps increasing, my hands will become like those of a thousand-armed Kannon, and what do you call it, when it reaches its maximum, I'll sprout my hands all over this area and make a thousand-armed Kannon acrylic stand. I'll conquer 5★STAR and definitely make a thousand-armed Kannon acrylic stand."
He also sent a message to Tora saying, "Natchan, thank you so much for those two valuable points today. Just live your life honestly. Natsuko, thank you so much today!"