Starring:
Setsiro, Onimitsu
Date: November 3, 2010
Summary:
Onimitsu and Setsiro have a rematch — this time one that is an official match for advancement through the tournament. It is largely demonstrative of how the first had went.
"First World Ninja Competition - Consistency: Setsiro vs. Onimitsu"
World Ninja Tournament Arena
"Today we have…well would you lookee here…" clearing his throat he'd continue. "Reizei Setsiro of the Land of Lightning versus Onimitsu or the Land of Swamps!." Reza called as he stood out in the middle of the battlefield. "Now…will our contenders please make their way to the battle arena!" He'd slide his hands into his pockets as he awaited their arrival.
Reizei Setsiro stepped through the door to the arena as her name was called and she was summoned into the ring. A hand draped onto one of the three sheathed blades at her waist, the other swung easily in accordance with her confident stride. She stepped with an air of sensual predation, hips rolling, eyes sharp. She came to a halt a few feet away from Reza, inclining her head to him. "Proctor," she said by way of greeting, word coming from her as honey.
If Onimitsu had to be honest with himself before stepping out into the arena with his armor full repaired and suited, then it would be that he wasn't as ready as he thought he'd be for the tournament. So many techniques he ignored or abandon in favor of the straight and narrow path of the Manji Clan techniques. And for what?! Pride? Honor? Or complete arrogance in the belief that just because their techniques gave them an edge over most in the world? Whatever the case maybe he was paying for it not, but he -would not- dishonor kirigakure further by refusing to participate in the tourney.
To that end as soon as he was given the chance to Onimitsu focuses enough energy to sustain Yoshimitsu when the time was right. Until then he would have to settle with make his slow, yet determined stride to meet his opponent. One he was familiar with and to a certain extent "feared" to fight in mortal combat.
"May this match be enjoyable, and fruitful in all manners possible.", Onimitsu intones as he bowed at the waist towards Setsiro. However, unlike their last meeting he refrains from even raising a hand to grip his sword.
"I will attempt to make this swift," said Setsiro, her voice laced with a small but poignant disdain. A nod was sent towards Reza, a silent signal of her readiness, and she raised her arm, fingers pointing towards the Kirigakure ninja. Her sword appeared in hand, ornate blade gleaming in the sunlight, the sapphire on the hilt matching the sapphire of her eyes, but brighter.
Reza would nod back towards Setsiro before looking towards Onimitsu. Giving another nod he'd raise his hand. "Let the battle, COMMENCE!" With that his hand would go down quickly as he'd suddenly vanish from sight.
The ground beneath Onimitsu's feet begin to tremble as his chakra builds and give him strength. However, instead of attacking straight out he draws Yoshimitsu part-way… and vanishes without a trace EXCEPT a Mokujin look of himself in place. Where he has gone is up to his perceptive abilities of his hyper active state fueled the transformation that Yoshimitsu has undertaken along with him.
A tree near the farthest wall sufficed becomes his target, yet rather or not he will reach it before Setsiro catches on is another story.
Setsiro's eyes lost track of Onimitsu after a moment of flight, having been caught unaware by his show of speed. He was gone, and she knew not where he had fled to. "Fitting," was her murmur.
Her blade lowered, the tip of the weapon hovering just above the ground. The small woman lowered her lids, as though drowsy, her eyes holding a liquid sheen. Abruptly, she fell still — so still that the sense of motionlessness was nearly tangible.
Onimitsu bit down lightly on his bottom lip. 'Now what should I…*mental facepalm*..Right' Shaking off the last of his doubts, the armored chuunin uses his free hand to grab a few kunai by the loops. And when the time was right and he was certain his opponent really had gone still he tossed them ahead of himself before attempt to relocate himself once more.
Until he was spotted he settles for hit and run tactics to wear her down…hopefully. Throughout his his advance he makes sure to keep at least one eyed peeled on the Reizei just in case what happened last happens again.
Abruptly, Setsiro's blade was held straight out to her side, and the thrown kunai had taken to the earth. And again, her motion stopped, and the sense of it was blatant. Still, she waited, her senses expanding.
What hits Onimitsu ears was not the lovable sound of flesh meeting blood, but instead… the sound of metal versus metal before the earth has it's way with them. An unwelcome and unpleasant thing that he hoped to rectify by changing up the tempo a little. Shuriken are draw this time and aimed to push setsiro throw off Setsiro's focus as some hit the earth before getting close to attack her feet. Kunai follow rapidly after aimed for the neck before Onimitsu tries to move on once more. 'Please…please let this work…', He thought as he silently transversed the treetops.
Setsiro's languid eyes take in the shuriken 3/4s of their way towards her, and she ignores those that would not reach her, gliding across the ground, to avoid those that would truly strike. She looked towards the Kunai heading for her neck and neatly tipped them to the ground, the edges of her arm blurring. She still scans for Onimits— there. A small motion, just barely seen, in the trees.
Immediately, she takes off after him, dipping low to the ground. She moves so swiftly the eye must predict her path. Moving faster than she is, though not by much, are the shuriken she'd taken from the ground as she began to charge after the Kiri nin, the man's own weapons sent in an arcing path over the tree tops and down onto him. She, herself, will have just sprinted to the top branches of another tree when the arrived, deep eyes on her opponent.
It is only has he draws Yoshimitsu up short and ends up catching one of the kunai in the gap between his gauntlets that he realizes his mistake and climb higher. Giving one's opponent's weapons was -not- a smart bet to make. However turning a disadvantage into an advantage was another matter he could work…
Swift is he to flip back, focus his chakra to his feet then spring off towards Setsiro. He intentionally comes up short so that he could cut her branch down, and force her into the air for a skirmish that would fit more to his abilities than hers. Once he was above her a series of hammer strikes with his pommel followed by a complete vertical strike to knock her the rest of the way down is done while he (hopefully) would manage to land on a lower hanging branch.
Setsiro leapt towards the next branch, finding that branch to have been hacked away by her opponent. Her eyes flickered from the falling limb to the Kirigakure ninja, and it was soon that he was upon her. Her blade lashed out, easily batting aside his every attempt to strike her with the pommel of his weapon, at times, stopping them before they even began. The final strike — the change in tempo, nearly got past her defenses, and she only barely held the weapon at bay with her own. The force of his strike sent her flying earthward, and she turned, narrowly avoiding a branch as she rushed downwards.
A twist and she lashed out with her foot, squarely hitting a tree branch and turning her fall into a travel along the horizontal plane. She reached out, grabbing another tree limb and swinging on it, holding on until her momentum put her onto it's top in a crouch. Immediately, she launched upwards, traveling almost instantly up the same tree Onimitsu was on, cutting through every branch until she did the same with his.
Action adroit, she attempted to grab the armored man's leg, throwing him downwards towards the earth with no branches to catch his fall and leap downwards, following after him to press the attack.
Onimitsu would watch, he would marvel at her skill actions no graceful and quick mannered responses to adversity, and then… he would fall. Not by Setsiro's attempts to throw him; easily evaded yet with more effort than he would've wished to use.
If it's one thing Setsiro apparently forgot already is that this Oni had wings, quickly deployed to aid him in moving far enough back to catch her with his sword as he passed her by during the descent.
Nothing short being counter somehow and thrown to the ground would stop him from continue his ascent a short time then cutting off power to his wings let gravity add power behind the dropping flee attack! Which was basically him balancing himself on the hilt of his sword as he descended upon her. After contact with terra firma and hopefully a bit of flesh along the way, Onimitsu springs dismount and let's his form distort into an army of bunshin. Ready and willing to mask their creator's slashes aimed at forcing the Reizei either into a tree or towards the water.
Setsiro leans forward, the man's blade striking her back, rebounding and causing what she'd consider to be negligible damaging. She arched a brow, though, that he'd managed to land a strike at all as she twisted and dipped forward, so that her back was to the earth. She watched him as she let herself slide back downwards, feet managing to catch onto the tree with chakra when she was halfway back down the tree.
By then, though, he'd already stopped flying and was dropping swiftly. So, she stepped to the earth and took a few away from the spot where he'd land. When he did, she was watching, blade ready.
Rather than a chance at attack as he landed, she was met with surprise, her eyes widening just the slightest bit as the one dissolved into many, all rushing at her. She flickered through hand seals and vanished just as the first blade had met her, the small woman's cheek tingling where the steel had touched but not harmed. "You've earned a measure of redemption," said the Reizei as she ran back into the crowd, eyes locked on that first one and ignoring the others.
She bowled through them, cutting a swathe through the clones on her way to Onimitsu and whens she reached him, she attacked with simple, straightforward attacks. A slash at either side of his waist before dropping a third on his collarbone, simply testing his abilities in a purely martial capacity.
Onimitsu once again found himself caught off guard by her tactics, and thus ended up letting his side test cold steel before he could properly maneuver out of range. The second strike he takes no changes, and for the third aimed at a weak point in his armor he uses to his own advantage. A parry with the back of his gauntlet along with a slash across the section is all done in one seamlessly move before Onimitsu commands for his remaining clones to prepare after attempting a rising knee straight for the chin.
Connection while means a small bit of disorientation and an opening for his dance of onimitsu's once more while failure would mean he would just have to try harder. With each attempted slash, or right after should it be said or else the illusion would be dispelled does onimitsu reply to her statement, "But not victory against powerful swordswoman deserving of praise"
The reizei leaned backwards, eyes flickering from Onimitsu's blade to his eyes, her own gaining an abstract intentness. The rising knee was left to simply pierce the air by her face, the woman's long raven hair fluttering in the aftermath of it. As the Kirigakure chuunin exploded into a great many of himself again, her blade lashed out, nearly invisible in it's passage as she parried every strike that came at her, every clone that came meeting destruction. She raised her other hand to her chest, where Onimitsu had just damaged her. Her lips pursed…
Abruptly, the sound of steel meeting steel met her ears and she abruptly put her mind back onto the battle, now that effort would be required on her part. She vanished… and reappeared behind Onimitsu, a dagger unsheathed and now in her other hand. The dagger was lifted high and the sword outwards. She brought them both in, dagger aimed at the junction of the neck and the shoulder, while the sword plunged, to enter in the side of his waist.
She was hoping that her blows would land. If she was unable to strike through flesh and armor both, due to the seals, she hoped, at least, that the force of the strikes would be sufficient enough to travel and affect the nerves she'd aimed for, temporarily paralyzing him.
Setsiro was too fast much to his regret and was able to succeeding in crippling him before the drugs could fully take effect. Now he stands frozen in place like a statue of a demon swordsman half-turned as if sensing danger behind him. This was also one thing that Yoshimitsu could not help him fix and thus he was at the mercy of his opponent or the proctor's choices…
'…Chakra flow isn't cut..maybe if I, could I?'
The woman pulled her weapons away, the dagger vanishing into it's sheathe with an easy flick. She took in a breath, eyes leveled on Onimitsu. And she vanished. She reappeared at his side, lunging across his front, blade held out — she reappeared behind him, weapon slashing downwards — she reappeared in front of him, blade held out as she spun, twirling upwards — she reappeared once more, dashing downwards through the air, cutting across him — she reappeared a short distance away, judging her effect.
In his state, to there was no way to keep up with the woman, and so he closed his eyes. And let his body and armor bear the weight and sting of each of her slashes until she finally came to a stop. While he stumbled forward almost to a kneel. He refused however to fall to his knees or emit anything more then ragged pants before placing a glowing green hand along the wound across his chest. It was slow going but with time he would bring himself back up to a suitable and more /healthier/ state of being.
Setsiro arches a brow as the healing begins, and she shakes her head. "You are a medic. I must apologize, then. Again, I would rather this were something finished swiftly, this being the case." And so she vanished, reappearing to attack Onimitsu from different vantage points, her onslaught set at a harsh pace, azure blade dexterous.
This time… he does fall to a knee. This time… not but partially, but utterly. And this time… after stabbing his sword into the earth and bowing his head it was time to decide. Does he give in to the lunacy of Yoshimitsu's or does he surrender it all once more. Not shamefully in one way, but another defeat no matter what. "I.. I.. thank you.. For this match.. But now, I must…. concede it to you." He stated before rising to his feet, and walking his way off the field. Ignoring all else but his own thoughts at the moment.
Setsiro's assault ceased with her reappearing, sliding away from Onimitsu with her blade held in his direction, a little short of air, but her breathing well under control. But, she didn't move to press her attack. Instead, she stood taller, bringing herself to her full 5'2 height, gaze weighty as it behld Onimitsu.
She could see it in him, the loss of his fighting spirit. He'd done somewhat better than she'd thought he would have, have the result was much what she'd expected. He gave up, and she sheathed her blade.
Reza suddenly reappears. "Match over! Reizei Setsiro, of the Land of Lightning WINS!"
