That was a major catharsis in this chapter. You don't need to be unfeeling and hide your emotions to be strong... you don't need to suffer to be strong... your emotions are supposed to make you strong, and you become strong with that inspiration, the true way. Great chapter
I'm really hopin' things are gonna come together soon. Once this tournament started a lot of the plot stuff gets in the way of characters. A lot of them don't feel characterized like they were before and their fights seem like just a reason to give exposition dumps that don't really change...