Starring:
Fuyu, Sora, Kara, Hoiishime, Yuuka
Date: November 30, 2010
Summary:
Two Sunagakure ninja. One is a vaunted Clan Head to Sunagakure's falcon-using Clan, the other is one of the most potent Puppeteers that Sunagakure has available and the daughter of a famous archaeologist.
"First World Ninja Competition - Sand vs. Sand: Sora vs. Kara"
Peach Pit Stadium Arena 1 Ring - Kusagakure
Ring 1 of Peach Pit Stadium. Trees, boulders, grass, large pond. Yadda, yadda, yadda. You know the routine. Fuyu is standing in the middle of the Ring, looking prepared but somewhat bored. After a fight like the ones with Jon and Tessen… Well, this is a bit subdued for her. She has no personal stake in either Sora or Kara winning, so she is just doing her job. "An official match is about to begin! Hayato Sora vs. Kara! Both from the Land of Wind! Please make your way to the Ring," she calls out.
Sora often trained to the last second for an important match, but today she merely ate and rested. No last minute training would suffice against her next opponents, and puppeteers were even harder to prepare for. A puppet that looked the same as another might have a dozen differences and hundreds of unique traps. She'd just have to go with the flow. Despite her worries though, the most Sora feels is excitement. She's finally facing an opponent from a truly worthy village…hers. It's strange that the only two Suna nin in the competition have advanced this far, and more ironically that they must face one another. Excited yet focused, as she walks into the arena and inclines her head to Fuyu.
Megami is wheeling around the raised stands, gliding in wide circles. She's a blue, white, black feathered hawk but against the sun she's a black shadow. For once Sora is wearing her forehead protector not on her arm, but on her forehead. It may be to signify the nature of this match, as they're both from the same village, or perhaps to keep the sun from her eyes. Blue bangs almost fall into her eyes, which are narrowed slightly as she gazes up at Megami. They stand a good chance. Living, breathing, close companions are better than wooden puppets. Sora raises her hand as if waving to her falcon, but it must be a signal as Megami rises higher on the drafts of warm air. With that, Sora turns her attention to the ground and awaits the beginning of the match.
Kara is as ready as she can be. She hasn't done much studying of her opponents so far. Actually… She hasn't done >any< studying. She just figures she'll find out who she's facing when she faces them, and then roll with it. It has worked for her so far, so what's the problem? She is wearing her usual Ancient Egyptian-style garments, and has her scroll harness on her back, and all the rest. This time she already has a Puppet out. The same one she has started every match with so far. Pharaoh.
But… He is not equipped with that huge, metallic, wing-like contraption that he had when Kara faced Tosai. She meant what she promised herself. She can't use that weapon again. Not in a simple tournament. It hurts people too much. She seems a bit more morose than the past couple times. Almost… Subdued!? Yes, no big smiles, no cute expressions, no silly interactions with her Puppet… She just walks into the Ring with Pharaoh hopping along beside her, since his lower half is all wrapped in bandages. When she gets to the middle, she bows to Sora and then Fuyu, and then says to Sora, "Hey, I'm going to try to win, but I'm just not feeling very enthusiastic today. So… Sorry if it seems like I'm not 'pumped' for the match. I just have a lot on my mind right now." Yeah, this is not like Kara at all.
So serious! So distracted! So--"But I'll bet you 5 ryo that one of us wins this match!"--Oh, wait. That's her alright.
Fuyu sighs in a bit of a pained manner at Kara's 'bet', and then says, "You may begin when the barriers are active." Then she turns and dashes to the edge of the Ring, and leaps up onto the Proctor's Platform. She makes a gesture with one hand and the shimmering barriers activate. The match has begun!
Sora looks quizzically at Pharaoh hopping around. Puppets look a bit silly. You can't really take them seriously until they start poking you full of holes and pinching poison. Sora sighs and rubs the back of her neck. "I suppose it's nice to have a partner who won't peck you to death if you lose lazily. Unless you want it to." She looks Kara up and down, and then grins. "I'm gonna try to win this too. I won't have any hard feelings as to the outcome…as long as you don't." She balances on her feet then, waiting in a casual but ready stance. And Megami drops from the sky, circling ominously above Kara. She's either in imminent danger of being slashed with talons or pooped on. It seems Sora and her falcon are waiting for Kara to move first.
Since Kara needs Chakra to operate her Puppets, she chooses to forego the opportunity to attack, and instead begins to funnel Chakra into the dessicated corpse that is her first Puppet. Well… Second Puppet, but the first one was Pharaoh also. It just got… Sort of destroyed. Which is why she had to rebuild him! …From a corpse! …Yeah.
"Ready, Pharaoh-kun?" she asks of her Puppet quietly as she moves behind him, feet slightly apart, body turned to the side, head facing her opponent. Her hands are raised as though to control a marionette. Pharaoh chatters his teeth a bit in answer. Kara shakes her head. "No, I'll be fine. Let's just do our best." Why is she talking to her Puppet? Isn't it just an inanimate object? Well, she's been doing it throughout the tournament, so maybe…
Sora seems to be wondering what Kara is doing…she's talking to a fake doll, not a real creature. That's a little silly, but stranger still she's replying to the puppet as if it speaks. "Umm…" Sora shakes her head. Then she draws out a fistful of senbon, carefully avoiding poking herself with any of them. The girl flings them not at Kara's head or stomach, but right at her arms in a needle tipped spray. Senbon do less damage than a proper kunai, but enough of them will sting and cause blood loss. It's a testing move, no more, as Sora watches Kara closely.
To arrive late… Yeah.. This wasn't really a good thing for Hoiishime. However.. It wasn't so much a bad thing either. He was getting to see a match first hand, and of higher level than merely the Genin bracket matches. They had now been over sadly, before he can even watch. This brought him to today, a chance to finally see matches where mature ninja used more thought and strategy to face opponents. He would smile at the notion.
He would see, from afar, that three had been the ring instead of two. Had this been a two on one match? Apparently no. Hoiishime would move to the seats at the edge of the ring, only to see what had been an exotic woman, and… a corpse??!! "Oh me…", would be muttered to himself at the grotesque sight of a perfectly mummifed, yet intact remains, being used as a weapon. The spouting of a cloud, would seem to make the boy hold in a gag. "My.. desecration of de' dead.. Really.. don' notting be sacred no more?"
Such cruels means to fighting, would seem to cause his eyes to drift away from the corpse user, only to then look at the opposite end of the ring. Apparently, the spouting of such a cloud, had been in defense of an attack from her, according to the wild spectator next to the monk. To bad Hoii hadn't seem to catch that attack.
Kara lets out a cry of, "Ow!" when a needle stabs her in the arm. Pharaoh seems to react without being told, because while Kara is turning to look at the needle and see what happened, even taking her hands out of their manipulating position in the process, the Puppet releases a cloud of black flies that fills the air with a loud buzzing as they spill forth from the corpse's mouth!
The flies block out all sight, swarming around the area, and then taking off in different directions when they get themselves sorted out. Eventually, the area is free of flies. And Kara is free of needles. The one that was in her arm has been removed and tossed aside already, and the other two missed completely. And she is now standing like fifty feet away, off to Sora's left. How did she get over there so quickly!?
"Poking me with needles!? What are you, a doctor!? …That would really suck if you are. Fighting doctors is terrible, because they just keep using bandages in the middle of the fight. Who cares if there's a debuff called 'Recently Bandaged'? If they can put you in a Hold or Freeze you then they can just stand there and get back to full health nearly before the effect wears off. And if you don't have any ranged attacks, that is >game over<, man! >Game over<!"
While she rants about doctors and debuffs and… What? What is she even >talking about<!? Well, anyway, Pharaoh is not wasting time waiting for orders. His withered maw opens and a continuous stream of senbon needles comes pouring out, trying to turn Sora into a human pin-cushion. And right at the end, two kunai are also fired from his mouth. Each one has an explosive tag attached to the handle. And each tag explodes when it gets anywhere near Sora.
Kara finishes up her rant with, "…And that is why the lines on the road are yellow!--Oh. Hey… I guess we started fighting. Pharaoh-kun! You should wait for me!"
Sora frowns when Kara seems to abruptly go from one place to the other. Her eyes flick up at Megami, and the hawk in reply lets out a terse cry. "Okay, okay, I get it," she says, turning her attention back to Kara whose going on quite the rant. Sora is almost about to launch another attack before the puppet sends senbon sailing at her. Fast! Sora skips aside, but still she's grazed. "Yow!" she says, taking a moment to assess the blood before she ducks low to the ground to avoid the two kunai. She stands there for a moment before she hears the fizzle, and glances towards the tags. She moves back just in time as they explode. At that moment without warning Megami swoops down from behind to slash at Kara with talons. She wheels around for another strike, but Kara might not have time to pay particularly close attention to the falcon as Sora dives in, aiming a long slash with her kunai in time with Megami's second attack.
Just as the monk would try an observe the other girl, who apparently had been from Sunagakure as well, Hoiishime would notice something peculiar happening. The puppeteer got hit hard with that first senbon, and with that she seemed to drop one her hands and completely look away. Sure, alot of what else she did had been hidden away from the bugs that had filled the air, but still, it seemed that even when she looked away, the puppet, had begun acting.. on his own. Hoiishime would blink, not really hearing any of the rant from where he was, but seeing everything of the puppet's actions in littering the field with senbon, and… explosive tags! Thats going to leave a mark!!
"My.. dangerous indeed.", would be said, just mere moments before they would go off.. But apparently, they weren't as fast as the other girl was.. She seemed to dodge them quite easily!! "A Taijutsuist? Hmmph.. peculiar." Hoiishime would look to the woman, seeing if she would merely follow with a punch or kick. A bird instead, would come screaming down at high speeds, just to attack the puppeteer from behind. This was different. "Hmmm?? A.. nin-bird? Dat be a new one on me!!", would be said with a light chuckle, as then Hoiishime would recognize this as seemingly a two on two match. "Now.. speed versus inventory.. Lets see how ya work dis one, puppeteer.."
As Sora comes diving in at Kara, she seems not to even notice until the last second, when Pharaoh begins to spin in place, and the bandages about his legs shred as something sharp and metallic grinds to life. Some kind of… Drill? Either way, the drill digs a hole in the ground incredibly fast, and then Kara leaps down into the hole, and out of the path of the diving falcon. But she is now a sitting… Uhhh… Not really a duck so much as a Puppeteer. So… A sitting Puppeteer for Sora's and Megami's next attacks! Which is when another cloud of flies comes from below Kara, obstructing vision.
When the flies clear the area again, Kara is >gone<! Or seemingly so. The hole she was standing in is empty, but it goes a lot deeper than it did before. Does that mean that Kara is underground somewhere!? If either Sora or Megumi come near the hole -- even within a few feet -- a sudden >blast< of flames comes pouring out of the hole like a volcanic eruption! Which… Leaves Kara… Where exactly?
Sora stares as Kara simply goes underground to avoid Megami's attack. It causes Megami to pull up, unwilling and unable to go underground to try and attack further. Sora however gets there just in time to find herself faced with a gout of flame. She throws up her arms to shield her face, so she suddenly has a rather singed arm and burning armguard. Quickly but calmly she tears it off and flings it aside, so she simply has linen swaths wrapped around her arm underneath. "Geez," she mutters, as she looks around for…nobody. So she moves quickly to stand atop…a low, flat rock the size of a pillow. If it's anything like some of the earth movement techniques she's seen before, an attack can't blast through solid stone. Hopefully.
Sora's plan would have worked if Kara was using an Earth Jutsu to do this. But she isn't. Just good old all-Sunagakure industrial-strength drilling power! So instead of trying to attack Sora from below, Kara enacts one of her most genius strategies to date!
The ground near Sora's rock is gradually disturbed until a small hole opens up. Then something comes >tearing out< at high speeds, leaving behind a smoke trail! It goes straight up, though, and misses Sora. A missed missile!? No! Instead, some sort of silver canister reaches the very top of the barrier that surrounds the Ring, and then bursts open, spilling out some kind of chemical along with liquid nitrogen -- causing the droplets to turn into ice shards as they fall. And wherever they fall… They >melt through whatever they touch<! Yes, that is no simple icy chemical! That is >acid<!
When the barrage ends, Kara climbs out of the original hole she disappeared down, and hefts herself onto the ground -- though apparently not quickly enough for Pharaoh, who uses both hands to shove her rear upwards, forcing her face into the dirt. "Pffpffffffth! Hey, stop that! I can climb on my own!" she protests against Pharaoh as she finishes getting above ground. Or what's left of what's above ground. Branches on trees would have been burnt off, boulders cracked, the pond steaming slightly with icy mist, and everything else scarred by the icy acid.
Eventually, however, holding a hand to her chest and catching her breath, Kara points at Sora with her other hand, while Pharaoh struggles to climb out of the hole by himself behind her. "See my genius strategy now? I attacked you from the sky… While underground! Bet you didn't expect that, did you!? I stayed up all--Pharaoh-kun, I'm over here." Pharaoh has gotten out of the hole by this point, but he was facing the wrong direction. He turns at Kara's call and hops over to stand next to her though. "--Anyway, I stayed up all night thinking of it!"
It seems battle has already started and well underway when from the back of the first arena's stands, a robed and slender figure slips inside quietly, a hood draped over a young woman's snow white head as bright aquamarine eyes glance over the crowd. Not that she really expected to see anyone she knows anyways. The Kaguya woman paces behind the last set of seats as she chooses an empty one, lowering herself into it and habitually brushing her slender fingers over her long, pale kimono. Yuuka breathes out slowly as she glances up to the battle arena for the first time, finding it comfortable enough to remain on her own as she begins to watch the contrast in battle tactics.
Sora glances down when she notices the disturbance in the ground, and she sidesteps to make sure the canister doesn't get anywhere near her. But it's actually Megami who is the first to react, letting out a keening cry that makes Sora glance up. As it begins raining down, melting the leaves of a few nearby trees, Sora makes a desperate dash for it before getting outside of its radius, sheltering under a nearby tree. "Gosh..darnit…" she gasps, gripping the branch. Poison, needles, fire, acid, what more is there? No doubt some earth ninjutsu. She needs to catch her breath. Despite her hard breathing she turns and flings a kunai in a flat, straight line at Kara. But moments later it seems as if she, too, had disappeared for where she was are now only a few trees. Megami has risen even higher, far out of reach.
As Sora throws a kunai at Kara without even commenting on her genius strategy, she pouts and crosses her arms over her abundant chest. "Well, I--" *POOF* a paper boat made of papyrus comes out of Pharaoh's boat and erupts into a full-size boat in a cloud of smoke. It comes tearing out of the smoke, with Kara and Pharaoh both on board. "--thought it was clever," she finishes without missing a beat. The speed of the boat allows her to evade the thrown weapon. She goes skimming along the floor of the Ring, and then realizes that her opponent has vanished.
Lowering her arms, she looks around the Ring. "Huh?" Looking speculatively towards the trees, she then turns her attention elsewhere. "…Crap. This is the >third opponent in a row< I have faced that knows 'Invisibo no Jutsu'! Where are they all >getting this technique<!?" Then the paper boat floats straight up and flies over towards where the crowd is. Kara starts waving her arms and calling out to the audience in the stands. "Hey, did you see where she went? Anyone!? She has just completely disappeared!" Bouncebouncebounce goes certain parts of her while she's waving her hands. Some lamer pervert right in front of her starts drooling.
Meanwhile, Pharaoh has a pole protruding from his headdress. A short one, but it has a glass window on all four sides. Pharaoh seems to realize where Sora is -- perhaps having spotted her hiding spot, or just seeing her perform the act of hiding to begin with! He chatters his teeth to alert Kara, but she seems not to notice, being in some kind of argument with a man in the front row, because he apparently tried to touch something he shouldn't have. Kara is yelling at him and threatening to break his fingers next time he tries that. So Pharaoh turns his head on Sora and deals with her himself. First he sends out several locust-like creatures to try to hunt down and start biting at Sora's flesh. They won't live long, but they'll keep on trying to feed on her until they die. Then a nozzle squirms up from his throat and protrudes from between his blackened teeth. It sends out a spray of red, oily, bloody-looking liquid that is simultaneously slippery and sticky. That should hold her until Kara can pay attention again!
This fight was entertaining. However, Hoiishime was becoming more and more curious about what was going on with these competitors on the inside. Particularly, he had wanted to know exactly how the chakra of each of them had been working.. But wait.. Hoiishime can't see the chakra.. Can he? Well.. No.. he wasn't a Hyuga, or an Uchiha.. and no, he didn't have one of those implanted Dojutsu things either. But he wondered what it would be like, to be able to get information just from feeling peoples chakra. Just then, he'd have a plan.. "Hmmm.. but I wonder if I be able to make it stronga.. maybe, if I can push meself hard enough.. My feelin of da chakra, can be made just a tad stronga!"
The monk, would be soon saw, sitting in the stands, his eyes closed, and his body set in a lotus position. He seemed in meditation. Meanwhile, Hoiishime's senses had been slowly being tapped into. He could feel the chakra, but only faintly coming from all four of the beings on the field.. Wait.. All four?? His brow would quirk, as he wondered about one particular chakra source.. It had been probably the largest moving thing on the field.. Hoiishime would attempt to home in on the chakra he was most skeptical about, opening his eyes, to the directions where he felt the chakra, to identify who's chakra had been whom.
The smallest source, was above him. The bird.. The other sources, more larger, had been both Sora, and Kara.. But who was this.. the puppet? But how? It wasn't living… was it???
Yuuka frowns gently in thought as she leans forward slightly in her seat, her slender fingers quietly curling in her laps as from under her hood, her bright aquamarine eyes dart from one side of the arena to the other. The Kaguya kunoichi remains silent as she watches the combatents, her frown deepening subtly with concentration. Every once in a while she lifts her bright, innocent gaze to others in the stands, though seeing no one at the moment that she recognizes. Shinobi from other villages and lands.
Sora watches as her kunai attack is blocked in extravagant fashion with a boat. Well, from her hiding place amongst the trees. She's standing carefully at an angle to make herself as unseen as possible, but it doesn't seem to work as Kara uses yet another trick to find her, and before she can react the locusts are on her. She resists the urge to swat the lot of them and instead opts in scrambling away before they can poison her. But when the red goop comes flying at her, she merely raises her arms to swat it aside…and finds that it's not being swatted. It's sticky. She's sticky! And she can't move. "I'd like to last longer just to see how many more tricks you have," Sora says dryly. She's tugging against the goop, trying to tear it off, but it's like trying to tear apart a rubberband.
Kara continues to yell at the pervert. If not for the barriers keeping him from contacting her, she would have blasted >him< instead of her opponent. Finally, she wraps up with, "…And I'll have my team stomp on it too! With boots! Boots with >spikes<! Spikes that are on fire--What >is it< Pharaoh-kun!?" She turns to face her Puppet as he keeps shaking her shoulder with his bony fingers. She then realizes her opponent is right there out in the open. "…Oh, there she is! I found her, Pharaoh-kun!" Pharaoh chatters his teeth rapidly and almost… Angrily? Kara just says, "Shhshhshh! It's okay, you can find her next time!" The Puppet just goes quiet, and would have rolled his eyes if he had any eyes to roll. Empty sockets and all.
"Okay, she's just standing around, and I don't see her pidgeon anywhere! Maybe he flew away!" 'Pidgeon'? 'He'!? "So let's make this a good one! She might be planning something! Pharaoh-20:" Pharaoh turns his head instantly towards Sora and cranks his jaw open. The nozzle in his throat comes out again, and now Sora gets a >second< dose of that bloody oil all over her! But this time, it seems to be a bit different… It almost smells like… Propane? "Pharaoh's Judgement!" Then the nozzle retreats and a flamethrower comes out of his throat next. It extends its tube out past his teeth, and a powerful stream of fire roars outwards. When it hits Sora… There will be a very large explosion of flame! Like… All the trees on her side of the arena are on fire in scope. Poor trees!
Sora has a little time to turn away from the blast, but it still hits her in the back and she's on fire. Rather than use some fancy ninjutsu she takes the basic procedure…stop drop and roll! When she smothers the lot of the flame she clambers to her feet, severely singed but alive. She glances at the seal barrier. That much fire should have had her blazing like a torch. But the stupid barrier didn't even give her a chance to be knocked properly unconscious. Now she has to /say/ she gives up, rather than just faint. Which is entirely uncool, but a person must know their limits. So she turns to Kara just in time to see Megami swooping low to fly dangerously over Kara as if about to strike her. It seems Megami didn't take the pidgeon or the male comment very nicely.
Sora scowls up at her pidgeon. It's easy for her to go on, it's not like she's had so much of a singed feather. But she supposes Megami might be right, it's not right to give up /yet/. All these thoughts are flashing through her mind before she makes her decision. "Okay," she says grimly. She signals and Megami swoops towards her. Sora draws and flings a few shuriken that zip through the air, followed closely by Megami raking her talons forward.
Kara tries to evade the thrown shuriken with her fast-moving, airborne, paper boat. But one of the shuriken manages to hit her in the arm just before she sails away from the incoming falcon. "Man! What is it with doctors and putting sharp things in my arms! And that wasn't even a 'healing shuriken'! That was jut the normal 'cutty' shuriken! You are the worst doctor ever!" she yells out at Sora as she circles the entire Ring, trying to avoid Sora. "Well, I guess there's no help for it! I'll just have to do… >This<!" She whips out a ball from behind a back. The ball is red on the top half, white on the bottom half, and has a Seal of some kind on the front, right on the line between the two. "This Uchihamon Ball is my secret weapon! I searched for hit for ages through ancient ruins and the great deserts of the Land of Wind!" A man in the crowd shouts out from a distance, "You bought those Scroll Balls from >me<!" Kara talks over him, "Pharaoh-kun… Return!" Pharaoh glows briefly and then vanishes back into his 'Uchihamon Ball' in a puff of smoke. Kara puts that ball away and then withdraws another.
This she throws down at the field, as she calls out, "Sekhmet! I choose youuuu!" A new Puppet emerges from the thrown ball. The new Puppet appears to be a statue made of solid gold or perhaps bronze, with the body of a woman and the head of a lioness. She stands ready. Kara, however, has just run out of Chakra to power her Papyrus Reed Boat. Because… You know. Pharaoh was supplying it previously. So her boat wobbles and goes to and fro and then crashes into the arena floor. "Wha--Whoa--Hey--Aaaaahhh!" Then she is sent hurling over the edge and lands on her face. "Ow." She takes this moment while lying in the grass to catch her breath, becaus she is seriously starting to get tired.
Sora stares in bafflement as Kara calls her a doctor…and not a very good one. She's been called many things, but doctor was never one of them, particularly when the "patient" was under attack from her. She shakes her head. "You're crazy, Kara-san," she says ruefully. But it's kind of funny, compared to all those grim faced opponents she had before. She'd make a jibe, but Sora isn't half so humorous. <Insert doctor joke here.> Instead as Kara catches her breath, so does Sora, loosening the singed bandages around her wris. But Megami doesn't. The falcon falls down at a sharp angle to rake with both talons right at Kara's face. Whatever boundaries of decency are in this match, Megami doesn't seem to adhere to. But Sora isn't half so well off as her hawk. She's bleeding freely and her back is a map of pain. Despite her wounds though she's not out of steam. She'd been playing it careful up till now. It's then that Sora dashes forward but rather than strike with a kick she raises her arm and the bandages around her lower arm rapidly unravel to tangle Kara up and tighten around her.
Kara still isn't really looking when Megami dives at her. Her face is still planted in the grass. But she seems to realize something is wrong, because she rolls over onto her back and sees the falcon diving at her. Sekhmet comes rushing in and physically strikes the bird away with her metal hand! Sekhmet may >look< like she's made of solid metal, but she is clearly flexible enough to run around and move with phenomenal speed. But she's still lying right there and an easy target for Sora! Except that Sora's bandages are also swatted away by Sekhmet. The lioness-headed Puppet lets out an echoing, metallic-sounding snarl.
Kara finally gets up and onto her feet, breathing out slowly, since her heart is racing and she's sweating. Then she turns to face Sora. "Hey, this has been neat getting to show off our abilities and all, but I'm getting tired. Don't know about you, but I think it's time to call it quits."
"…." goes the audience.
"…." goes Sekhmet.
…Kara is >quitting<? But she's >winning<!!!
"So… You know…" she says awkwardly and then gestures vaguely. "…You should probably quit after this next attack."
Sekhmet falls over and faceplants in the ground.
The audience does likewise -- except, perhaps for Hoiishime, Fuyu, and Yuuka, who may be more serious than everyone else, or maybe just didn't hear Kara's original statement.
She points at Sora then and calls out, "Sekhmet-30: Lady of Slaughter." Sekhmet turns to face Sora, and then two blades suddenly slide out of her palms. She vanishes. When she reappears, Sora may well have several slashes all over her body. Further, they'd be burning with even more pain than simple cuts. Poison!? Or will Sora miraculously defend herself somehow!?!
Fuyu may be serious, but even she is a bit startled by Kara's mention of quitting. She hmmms? in confusion, and looks at the Puppeteer closely. She doesn't look THAT tired… Though lugging around a chest like that might be the cause of this sudden urge to surrender. Lower back pain and all. Then the Uchiha woman hears that Kara was actually suggesting her opponent surrender. She manages to not fall over, but she does lose her balance for a moment. "Wha--What an annoying girl!" she mutters.
Then she straightens up and pays attention as Sekhmet vanishes. Even if she had Sharingan active, she doubts she would have seen movements that swift. It is similar to the 'perfect speed' she has achieved… But faster? It allowed more than one blow to be landed in a single burst of speed. She is only capable of making a single slice per opponent. Hmm… Once again, Fuyu finds herself regretting not being able to copy Puppeteering.
Sora looks in surprise at Kara when she's about to admit defeat. Kara may have used more energy, but she's in far better shape. However when Kara tells her to quit, Sora looks angry. She draws a kunai. "Don't underestimate me!" she says. The puppet is drawing blades. She raises her kunai just in time to see Sekhmet vanish. Huh? She glances around swiftly; is this some ninjutsu. A moment later she's being slashed deeply. "Gah!" She falls over, clutching her side which has the largest cut. She's already becoming dizzy from blood loss, and now her wounds are beginning to burn from poison. Sora tries to lever herself up then falls to the ground unconscious. Moments later Megami would spiral down and land on a nearby tree overlooking Sora.
Fuyu observes closely the effect the attack had on Sora. She thought the girl might try to keep going. The Ring reduces damage taken severely. She should only be about half-way towards a critical health state, rather than ready to pass out… But there she is. Fallen over. A trick? She should wait and see. "As the proctor for this match, I need confirmation that Hayato Sora is still functional before I can make a decision! If no such confirmation is provided within 10 seconds, I will have to declare this match over."
She then begins to count.
"10… 9… 8… 7…"
Kara blinks as Sora falls over. That didn't look like the same kind of falling over that people do when she is talking and says something strange, surprising, or dumb. She frowns a bit, and then sees Megami land on one of the few remaining branches that is not on fire or melted by acid ice. "Sekhmet… Return!" She holds out her Scroll Ball, and the Puppet turns into smoke and is swallowed up into the sphere. Kara is now unarmed for a moment. A perfect time for Sora to counter-attack.
Fuyu announces a count-down, and Kara starts to get nervous. She could lose the match for doing this… But… She approaches fer fellow Sunagakure ninja, and calls out to her. "Hey, the proctor is counting down. If you can still fight, you should say something or get up. If you need help getting up then I'll give it to you. But…" She hears 7 counted off. "Come, on! Get up! You're just getting started, right? You're still able to punch me in the face, right? Hahaha. Nice joke! Come on!" She laughs and smiles. But the countdown isn't stopping. She looks worried. "Hey… Hey, you're not like that old man. I care whether you lose by being beat up or not. My first opponent was a chump. But you and Tosai-san… C'mon! You've got like two seconds left! >Get up!<"
After a few moments Sora does stir. Jeez, poison hurts, but funnily enough the stinging is quickly bringing her back to clarity. Then all at once she levers up, then sits up, then with a great effort stands up. Her head is strangely clearly now despite everything. "Jeez," she says. Megami gives a reproachful cry. She's not giving up. And just to show it, as soon as Sora is on her feet, Megami launches off the branch towards Kara. It's as if a signal has been given. Steadying herself all at once Sora says with an actual grin. "I guess I can't give up after all." She dashes forward a moment later to slash Kara with a kunai from shoulder across to her waist, and then simply stab it with a hard lunge right in her stomach as Megami wheels around to attack again.
Fuyu watches and listens to Kara's pleas for Sora to get up and fight. It's almost touching. Almost enough to make Fuyu's heart soften slightly. Almost, but not quite. She does not slow down her counting and has literally just said '1' when Sora manages to get halfway to her feet. Well, she never said that the Hayato had to be standing to continue. She just said she needed an indication that she was capable of fighting still.
She decides that even though she has reached 0 mentally, she'll continue to watch without interference unless a similar situation comes up. "Proceed!" she calls out, even though Sora and Megami are already attacking and have already struck.
Kara smiles and lets out a sigh of relief with Sora gets back up. "Yay! That's the spirit! I didn't think you'd let yourself be beaten like that! After how you said you wouldn't give up I--" then there is a ROC coming at her (that's the birds that are like 90 bajillion miles long and twice that in width) and Sora is trying to stab her! The first attack from Megami and Sora are evaded by virtue of a quickly made Clone. Kara can't remember the last time she has had to use basic Ninjutsu. And her inexperience with it shows. Maybe she is better than even most Chuunin with the technique, but she's still out of practice. So though she made >two< Clones, while leaping backwards, only the first one is disperse. The second one is plowed right through and Kara is stabbed in the belly. She hisses in pain as a much more severe blow than the previous two strikes at a very sensitve part of the body.
"Did you know…" she lets out as she tries to turn away from the kunai as Megami comes wheeling in to strike a second time. "…That being stabbed in the stomach takes the longest to kill you…" She turns just in time to avoid having her skull clawed, and then tries to put some distance between her and her opponent(s). "…and is the most painful place to be stabbed?"
Breathing hard, she holds a hand to the stab injury. If that had gone into her stomach instead of her abdomen… Well, she only barely succeeded in making the blow go lower with her Clone. "So it seems to me that you were either trying to make sure I didn't die from the stab wound, or to make sure I suffered for a long time. Since we're from the same Village, I'm going to assume the former. But just letting you know for the future… Really sucky place to be stabbed."
Her 'Scroll Ball' was put away. She wants this fight to end on an interesting note. So she decides to reveal some of what she can do… People at the match with Tosai saw about half of her arsenal of weapons when she pulled out all three of her Puppets. But she never actually used the third Puppet for anything. So it's time to fix that. She yanks on a pull-string on her scroll harness and a cloud of smoke erupts from it. When the smoke clears a new Puppet is standing there.
This one seems to be a statue of a fit human being, though constructed from onyx based on the black coloration. Oh, and his head is that of a jackal. Wearing a headdress. In one hand is a sickle and tucked into his Ancient Egyptian-style skirt is a flail. "Hayato Sora… Meet Anubis; God of Embalming." Anubis just stands there, cold and emotionless. His obsidian eyes open, revealing a glow to them that seems to not belong on this side of the barrier between living and dead. "…Anubis says hi."
Then Anubis lunges at Sora and slashes with the wickedly curved scythe in his right hand. Then he slashes again in the opposite direction.
Sora frowns as Kara implies she wants to make her suffer. "Actually I thought you would evade them both, and I'd have a better chance if I didn't aim at your sides." That and she doesn't have much longer before this poison does its work. "I need to finish this soon, Kara-san." When Anubis comes out, Sora has to bite back a long sigh. How many puppets does she have? She'll have to ask later. Megami, never far away, spins and comes from behind to rake Kara in the back. Sora would advance swiftly, and with a flick of her wrist aims an unravelling trail of bandages at Kara to bind her before vaulting forward in a twisting kick aimed right at her side.
Kara was bluffing a bit. Sure, Anubis is powerful. But she hasn't unlocked more than a fraction of his capabilities. Same with Sekhmet, really, though she has made more progress there. She was hoping that Sora was too tired or too hurting to throw more than one attack in response. Or that she might just give up after the dramatic introduction. But she didn't. So her all-or-nothing gamble didn't pay off.
Anubis easily smacked away Megami with several lengths of bandages that just shot out of his shoulders somehow. The falcon is likely not going to be happy about that, but it didn't really do any harm. However, that was the last of Kara's Chakra. She was too tired and too unfocused to use any more Chakra. So she is bound in bandages, and then gets a Whirlwind Kick to the ribs! She is hurled to the ground and winces at the pain flaring through her body.
She struggles free of the bandages. Anubis stays right where he is and does not move to help at all. She has to concentrate hard and actually make physical gestures to make him leap back and land heavily near her. "I didn't think you were trying to make me suffer. I was just letting you know that I would have if it had landed. Okay?" She stands up slowly, gasping for breath. "…Okay, this is probably the stupidest thing I have ever done, but here goes nothing." Kara slaps a hand onto Anubis's side and a sacrificial knife springs out of his left arm. She takes the knife by the handle and charges at Sora. "Just want you to know, however this ends, this has been the best match I've fought so far!"
Rule #1 of Puppeteering: Puppeteers are not Taijutsuists.
Kara slashes three times with her new knife.
Rule #2 of Puppeteering: Puppeteers are NOT Taijutsuists!
It'd actually be Megami who intervened this time. Rather than attack as usual from behind, she glides in from in front, buffeting her wings at Kara not to harm, but to repel her. Having a hawk with a near six foot wing span hurtling at your face tends to stop someone in their tracks. Either way, Megami takes a few nicks in the process, but doesn't seem seriously harmed as she circles around. Sora raises her arm and Megami would land on there, to clamber over to her shoulder. The effect really emphasizes that Megami is the size of an eagle, not a normal falcon. Sora bonks her head against Megami almost affectionately and says to the puppeteer, "It was a good match, but I can hardly move with this poison. So this victory is yours, Kara-san." Then she'd give Kara and Fuyu a nod before making her way out of the arena.
Fuyu nods and raises a hand. "Winner: Hayato Sora! Medic-Nin to the field!" That was an interesting end to the match. She was ready to call it over either way. Poison… Almost as insidious as diseases, and much faster-working. Maybe she should work poison into her arsenal…
A flash of a smiling, brown-haired boys face flickers through her mind. She frowns as the image vanishes. 'Or maybe I'll just leave the poisons to the Puppeteers.' She sighs and moves to descend from the Proctor's Platform as the Barriers go down.
Kara is breathing hard, but she didn't really keep going after the large falcon got in her face. She wasn't trying to stab the falcon. When Sora gives up just like that, she nods and smiles. Even though she hurts a lot. She isn't used to hurting. She rarely gets injured, even by accident. But this time, she almost doesn't mind the pain as much.
As Kara looks after Sora, behind her the stationary Anubis… The Puppet that Kara has not the Chakra to control… Turns his head and focuses his glowing eyes on her. When Kara looks next, the eyes are already shut and his head is already back in a forward-facing position.
"Well, Anubis, better get you stored away. I'm going to need a long rest after this one."
