Starring:
Date: November 7, 2010
Summary:
No summary given.
"First World Ninja Competition - Impromptu Duel: Namu vs. Ryoji"
Arena 2
Most shinobi are born shrouded, live in the shadows, breathe in the various flavors of darkness, and rarely if at all visit the world of light. Ryoji however is not such an individual, at least not entirely, and so it is wonder as to why he has decided to make his way to the proving grounds of the shinobi at such a late hour. Whatever the case may be once he arrives there he does not move or even so much as twitch after taking a meditative seated stance at the centermost portion of the arena. He remains like this for hours on end until finally his eyes slowly flutter open with the thick, heavy grey clouds decide to free the immaterial moonbeams to fall wherever they should…
Somewhat of a side note that one may observe is that the seals were very much active even at such a late hour. Odd, but not necessarily out of place when consider what type of people are currently hold up in Kusagakure.
Unlike Ryoji, Namu is just one such shinobi who lives in eternal darkness. His home is underground, and he only ventures to the surface as needed. Coming to Kusagakure is quite odd for that specific reason. Getting used to sleeping in above-ground dwelling took some getting used to, and he only just recently has left his hotel room. The dead of night was the closest he would get to being in his natural element, and as such this is the best time for him to explore this village.
Clad in his usually attire, although with a camouflage pattern suited to the Land of Grass and the general color palette of the arenas, he would enter quietly, pursuing the area and taking note of the Iga. It seemed, to Namu, that this teen was waiting for something and he was considering testing out the seals first-hand. Only time would tell if the Iga would oblige, and Namu saw no reason to formerly announce his presence. For now he would stand silently, and decide whether or not to simply engage. Sitting alone in a combat arena did seem like an open challenge, but this Shippodoku-nin was never very good at social relations so he could quite easily be mistaken.
There were as many ways as there are leaves on a single tree as to how Ryoji, blind as clam and lax as a sloth, managed to pick up on Namu prescence. The main and most obvious reason being the simple fact that unless a person is dead, their heart must beat, rapidly and loudly…
"….Are there any particular reasons why one such as yourself has appeared?", He asks without moving any portion of himself in the direction of Namu's position. "…Or do you wish me to guess perhaps? A test I'd say is most likely", He answers his own question nonchalantly yet certain that he is right before slowly rising to a stand and brushing off a bit of dust here and there. "If so, get on with it…if not, then well your gonna have to speak up I'm afraid."
Namu had no response to Ryoji's detection of his presence or the question posed to him. Instead he looked at his hand for a moment. Attached securely there was the pincer weapon of the Shippodoku. A slow flick of his wrist would cause the metal pincers to shoot forward from their retracted position and lock into place with a soft *click*, extending several inches past Namu's knuckles. Although usually the sound would be inaudible in most cases, the dead silence of the arena made it rather easy to pick up on, and he assumed at this point that Ryoji was not short on hearing. Should Ryoji turn around, Namu would no longer be standing behind him. The boy had sunk into the ground beneath and lay in wait. Would Ryoji understand the challenge set before him, or would Namu have to find another to test himself with. Ofcourse, this would have gone easier if the boy just spoke, but what sort of assassin knows how to be convenient?
"….So that is to be your answer.", Ryoji said calmly as the other boy seemed ot have disappeared fully from his senses. A deep, slow intake and release of air is taken before ryoji calmly peered up towards the heavens. "A test for the tester I think is most appropriate now", Is the last thing the Iga states before using a combination of speed and intuition to find a hiding spot to wait out Namu. After all, that is what a true shinobi would do if his options were limited.
How Ryoji chose to hide was not the issue, the problem was the distance. Closing the gap was possible, but using this technique made it nearly impossible for Namu to move quickly. Finding his opponent at this rate would be slow going. The only option was to lure out his prey, and bait him in close. Slowly, Namu would rise from the ground and leave it undisturbed. With no target in mind, Namu would begin to haphazardly toss shuriken, arcing them to fly behind sizable boulders and trees, and through bushes.
The smallest shift in the earth was all Ryoji needed to determine his opponet's whereabouts. But the thought(s) that kept him from immediatly leaping out an attack was dare he really risk it all based on one sense's perspective?
A brief distortion of moonlight followed by the Iga landing hard with two kitchen knives dug into the earth at the very spot he last heard the first shift in the earth. However upon feeling no torn flesh or smelling the fresh scent of spilled blood he comes to realize that he had been duped. Or had he?..
"Quite clever…but will it be enough", He whispered as he pulled away his blades, and stood in relaxed.
'Perfect', Namu would think to himself as Ryoji landed and pierced the earth. Suddenly, the ground behind Ryoji would part and the first thing to emerge would be one of Namu's pincers going for an ankle. Rapidly, Namu would rise out of the ground and attempt to pinch several nerve bundles leading up to Ryoji's neck. At about this time, Namu's clone would explode into a cloud of smoke as it's function had been served. Soon after his initial assault Namu would spin and attempt to deliver a hard roundhouse to Ryoji's neck. He would have aimed for the temple, but the height difference made the neck a more suitable target.
Instincts warned him to move, and so he attempted, but…the warning came way to slow. And thus for the briefiesst moment there was a sharp pain before everything went dark for Ryoji. When he came to, he was already spinning head over heels for the roundhouse to the temple, but due to the seals dampening the power behind the kick ryoji was able to recover and right himself in mid-air. As soft as his landing was the amount of force he put into bursting forward back Namu's original postion was not so much so on the earth. He barely gave pause to let his hearing pick up the sound of Namu's heartbeats before slashing with the knives in the space where the pulse was it it's faintest: The wrist followed by a swift yet awkward flip kick to the chin.
Namu attempts to avoid the slash to his arm after Ryoji rushes back in, but only succeeds in getting cut across forearm instead of the wrist. The seals keep him from bleeding as he normally would, but the pain is still felt for the moment. Despite the awkwardness of Ryoji's flip kick, Namu can only manage to jump with it and back flip with the force of the blow. He lands swiftly on both feet and rushes back in toward Ryoji. This is Namu's first encounter with a 'fair fight' and it is exhilarating to say the least. The promise of protection from the seals along with simple curiosity leads Namu to ignore his normal stealth tactics for this encounter and simply test the waters of Taijutsu at its core. Before entering melee range, Namu would toss a shuriken for Ryoji's ear. Quickly, he would then feint a kick for Ryoji's knee, but actually his foot would slam into the ground besides the Iga just before Namu could lunge a pincer up for his foe's neck. He'd have the intent of tearing out a chunk of flesh, although the seals would keep him from accomplishing such should he connect. Almost simultaneously, Namu's other pincer would descend for Ryoji's thigh and attempt to clamp firmly around it before being torn back and rending flesh.
Ryoji, like swatting a fly reflexivly bats away the shuriken with a casual flick of his weapon. Regretably losing the same weapon in the process due to a weaker grip on it than intened. Because ryoji could only 'feel' and not see the kick he stepped back only far enough to avoid it before the pincers open just barely breech the skin as it passed by. Thanks to the scent of his blood being thicker on the weapon as well as the slight distortion of sound it makes from slipping through the air allows for ryoji just the information he needed to retreat while springing a short makeshift spear from his sleeves with enough force and percision necessary to stab Namu's hands before the pincers were able to reach him. The force from clash and his lax footing was just the Iga needed to slide away; dropping the spear along the way. "…These tatics…the feel of that weapon…I know these…Clearer it is, but will this be enough to sate your obvious curiosity…or must more be gleened?", He asks casually still half slumped over from minor fatigue.
Slowly, Namu would straighten his stance and give his wrists a roll, bringing his pincers back into a retracted position. He felt Ryoji had no desire to continue this little bout, and so far had seen no village markings on the teen. Pressing on to assess the progress of another village's shinobi was not a viable option here. After a long moment of still silence he would simply say, "Perhaps." With that, he would turn and move toward the exit. It was a new experience for the young shippodoku, but there wasn't much reason for him to press it more. After all, he did randomly assault someone for no reason.
Ryoji lets out a sigh of relief before slowly straightening himself up with an audible pop from his joints. "Oh..oi. One quick sec before you vanish for parts unknowns. The names Ryoji Wakahisa, traveling…merchant I like to say. And I was wondering just who you be?", He asks politely. Once he recives an answer (or no answer at all for awhile) the Iga makes his way to retrieve a few his weapons and removing any traces of his blood left around. Standard procedure for one who is paranoid of clones of himself popping out of the woodwork.
Namu glances over his shoulder, stopping for only a moment. "I shall let your curiosity and fate decide whether or not that information shall come your way. Perhaps we will encounter each other again before this tournament comes to an end." He didn't have any reason not to tell Ryoji in particular his name, but he didn't want word getting around that he was in Kusagakure, not anytime soon at least.
