Starring:
Date: November 19, 2010
Summary:
Uchiha vs. Uchiha. They both have different goals and different reasons for being in the tournament… Or do they?
"First World Ninja Competition - Vision of Strongest: Tessen vs. Fuyu"
Peach Pit Stadium Arena 3 - Kusagakure
Hmmm, this should be a rather interesting match…not so much for technique, although that could be good too, but for personal reasons. Two Uchiha, both probably smarting from early defeat in the tournament, pitted against each other for the opportunity to continue on and redeem themselves and their clan in the eyes of the watching world. Will they both give their all? Will their familial bonds interfere? Or do they even /have/ such bonds anymore, considering that one of them is not registered as a Konoha representative? So many interesting angles.
Sousa stands beside the ring, contemplating these things. He's looking forward more to watching the dynamics of this match than learning its conclusion. Guess that helps make him an impartial referee, in a way. Just hope it doesn't cause him to forget he's here not only to observe, but to arbitrate. Sousa takes a step forward. "Honored guests, the wait is over. Fate has decreed that we shall bear witness to a battle involving not one, but two of the famous Uchiha clan. Will the strokes of their steel be visible amidst the sparks? Will the arena be scorched bare with their fire?" Will they just have a red-eyed genjutsu staring contest? e.e "We shall soon learn all. Uchiha Fuyu-san and Uchiha Tessen-san, to your places, please."
Tessen walked out calmly and proudly. His body healed from the match with Amaya that pushed him to the edge. A fight where he should have lost more than just pride and face. Sporting a repaired suit of clothing, he made pace to reach the ring. His confidence back and his distate for his opponent strong.
As he reached the cener of the ring he spoke calmly and flatly, but loud enough to be heard. "I make no claim to the clan known as Uchiha. When they became servents they decended into darkness, and with it the fame and honor of the name was lost. I am but Tessen, and I share no blood with those within Konohagakure's borders."
With that small bit said, he readied himself for the battle. Silence overcame the man. Not another sound left him as his hands found the worn cords on his katana's. The tenkou on the backs of his hands dented and scratched from years of use. This wardrobe was no decoration to the man, it was his uniform from a time long past in most eyes. He would not change it for the world. Now he awaited his opponent and the start of this match.
Fuyu has no intention of giving up her family name, her heritage, or those relying on her to throw off the shackles of tyranny being placed upon all Uchiha by the Senju. She strides into the ring without fanfare, without special emotion or emphasis. She is not cold, but she is calm. She is not prideful, but she is confident she is in no danger — at least for now. She just walks in like most people would walk down the street without any particular place to be. After casually making her way up to the center of the ring while Tessen gives his speech, the raven-haired woman stops and waits. Again she wears the same outfit she wore during the Clan Wars. She is an Uchiha kunoichi, not a Konohagakure Jounin, at this moment.
Outward appearances aside, she seethes over Tessen's words. It is easy for him to claim the Uchiha have given up. It is easy for him to claim they have no honor. He is a coward that fled rather than take the hard road. When the moment was upon them to provide a break from the violence, to recover their strength, and to make sure the Senju could not recover theirs, Tessen walked away. He lacks the intestinal fortitude to do what must be done for the sake of the Clan. He lacks the Will.
Or that's how Fuyu sees it. She probably doesn't know enough about Tessen as an individual to make any accurate analysis of his motivations or his past actions. She just knows his little announcement pisses her off. So she decides to make a little speech of her own. Turning to the audience, she shows she has mastered the orator's trick of appearing to look directly at an individual, even while her eyes are instead looking at groups of people that the individual is one amongst.
"Uchiha… It is a name that is well-known in the shinobi world… And even beyond! But what ARE the Uchiha exactly? A Clan? Yes. Ninja? Certainly. But if one looks more deeply than that, one will discover something that is unique to the Uchiha — and I do NOT mean the Sharingan. The Uchiha are said to be descended from the mythical Sage of the Six Paths, who founded ALL ninja arts. We inherited much from him, if he ever truly existed. But though the cause of the conflict between Senju and Uchiha that has torn apart many families and destroyed many lives during the Clan Wars may be differing views on what is needed to achieve true peace… That is not the TRUE inheritance of the Uchiha."
Fuyu turns to a different part of the crowd, sweeping her gaze over everyone, and seeming to make eye-contact with every individual at once. "Our true inheritance is one shared with the Senju! Our true inheritance is a hope for a brighter future! A future in which we need to live by the rule of 'kill or be killed', but by the rule of 'live and let live'! We can BUILD this future! We can build it together! Uchiha and Senju both can co-exist peacefully and work together meaningfully! But only if we acknowledge each other as equals. To maintain ideals of superiority and seperateness from our long-lost brothers and sisters is to cast away our hope for a better tommorow. A tommorow where we do not have to send our children to die against our enemy's children!"
Fuyu raises a fist in the air, and calls out, "WE CAN DO IT TOGETHER! NOT JUST UCHIHA AND SENJU, BUT ALL PEOPLES OF ALL NATIONS! WE CAN BECOME SOMETHING BETTER THAN WE ARE NOW! LOVE AND POWER ARE NOT TWO SEPERATE IDEALS… THEY ARE JUST TWO PARTS OF THE SAME WHOLE! AND IF WE COMBINE THEM OUR WHOLE WILL BE MORE THAN THE SUM OF OUR PARTS!"
Regardless of the reaction or lack thereof from the audience, Fuyu keeps her fist raised for several seconds, and then lowers it as she turns to Tessen. "I am ready."
My my, such lofty words. ;) Of course, that's what this tournament is all about, isn't it? At least on the outside. Well, we'll see how much love and power are involved in the ring today, eh? "You may begin," Sousa intones. Up go the barriers, and the match is officially started!
Tessen listened to her speach half heartedly as he waited for the proctor to call for the match to begin. When it finally came he wasted no time in preparing himself for this fight. His chakra began to flare up as he let her continuet o ramble on and on about a brighter future. When he had gathered enough chakra to satisfy himself he let his eyes fall closed as if in boredom.
They did not re-open immediately. Instead he stood there with his eyes closed as his own voice began to pick up. Still flat and devoid of emotion.
"Very well said. Seems the Senju did well to train their puppet for subjugating the masses. A world of peace where those with power sit on their hands and lt the weak grow to meet them…how foolish. In this world and the life those of us who lived through the wars remember, it is impossible. Brother turned against brother in those days, or have you forgotten well the past?"
As he spoke those last few sentences his hand touched the scar and necklace that were in plain view. It was as if they were tied into it all.
"Senju killing Uchiha and Uchiha killing Senju. The two strongest fighting for supremacy. How many lives did your hands take Fuyu Uchiha? How many of your brothers and sisters did you watch die at the hands of others without a chance to save or even avenge them? Do you remember the wars at all? Peace with those fools is something that cannot be attained by subjugation. That is what you have now. The Uchiha held under the thumb of another clan. Taking orders from men who once slayed us as if we were vermin. You are no TRUE Uchiha. Let us end this quickly, and with the power that our blood gives us. My words are done and my blades will tell the rest."
Fuyu listens to Tessen. She knows what she said just now. And she knows what her opponent must think of her for saying it. But she does not contradict him. That would negate the whole point of what she just said. She was trying to make people think she is a willing ally of the Senju. But still… Her inner rage is already swollen at having to shame herself and her Clan by espousing 'dreams of peace' are her 'reason for being'. To have Tessen talk about her like he knows her true self… That is a bit much for her to swallow.
"I do what I must for the sake of the Uchiha," Fuyu responds with a tone of cold rage. "And since you have rejected your place in the new future to come… I will feel no qualms about removing your piece from the game." Her eyes glare at Tessen — they are bright red with three tomoe in each. Her Chakra level rises considerably over the next few seconds, to the point where the air feels slightly colder than it should, and an invisible pressure wave spreads outwards from her, rippling the grass and sending small stones skittering.
Tessen let out a smirk as he slowly opened his eyes to reveal two tomoe set in a deep vermillion. Dark eyes looked to the woman as he let his hand fly out towards her. When it was poised to point an accusing finger a single kunai flew from his hand and trailing behind it was a small piece of paper. The kunai aimed for her calf. Even if it hit he knew it wouldn't hurt her much, but it was still enough to do the job even if it missed. The real attack was the seal that once it got near her would activate to send up a beam of crimson energy laced with golden rings. Should she be trapped she would be held by the rings and her stamina drained in a painful manner leaving her open for him to finish.
Fuyu watches Tessen closely, though her expression appears to be relaxed. Subtle signs of tension, of preparedness to act, show in her face and limbs however. When he starts to raise his arm, she sees something similar to an after-image. Except this is a 'pre-image'. It presages actions before they occur. So by the time that Tessen has thrown his kunai, Fuyu has already seen what he is about to do, and lifted her foot out of the way of the incoming weapon. Then she pushes off the ground and Body Flickers into position alongside Tessen, evading the area-of-effect Seal in the process. This is no longer the place for words, but psychological warfare can be a useful tool.
So she just stands there only about half a foot away from Tessen's left side, and takes no action to attack. Her eyes continue to watch him, but she does not seem inclined to act yet.
Tessen smirked at her. She was gauging him now. Testing him to see what would happen. It was a foolish tactic against him. With a low sigh he let his hand fall to his sword as if contemplating using it as she landed by him. This is what she wanted. She wanted him to second guess himself. To become and easy mark and it would work on most, but not on him. He continued on with his plans for victory.
He didn't move so fast as most would expect and Uchiha to in the moment she landed and afterwards. Instead, he moved slowly, obvious enough for even a student to see his motions. His hand held up what appeared to be a single seal. In an instant, however, he would move to vanish to most eyes in the stands and grab several more as he made a move to pass Fuyu and let the bundle touch her to begin their own work. When his movement stopped, he would be off only a few feet from her and waiting for the results to become clearly known.
The Seal is held up, and Fuyu watches. Tessen's speed is exceptional of course… But not as exceptional as hers. Seeing his shadowy image a moment before it acts at even greater speed than before, Fuyu attempts to Flicker again. This time, however, Tessen's own speed was so great and the margin between attack and evasion so small that the tags actually seem to be plastered all over a human form for a moment.
Before they collapse to the ground a second later, since there was never actually anything that came in contact with them. Fuyu is standing behind Tessen when he comes to a stop. She attempts to drive a fist into the back of his head at high speed. "Let me know when we've started," she says, regardless of the results.
Tessen seemed to glow red for a moment as he landed. Her own strike coming at him just at the discharge of lightning from his body sent him past her. It was almost a close call as far as the spectators would be concerned, but for them…it was a different story. She knew the distance she missed by. As he would land a good distance away he would smile slightly. She was a fast one, but so was he. His hand moved and let loose two waves of shuriken as they flew towards her a few seals were made and small orbs of lightning shot from Tessen's outstretched hand to fly between them. A basic tactic to cover a wide area.
This time, it would be different. This time, he would not appear amongst the wealthy, or amongst the spectators. This time… Rain would instead be at the highest point of the arena, staring down with the reputedly demonic eyes of his bithright to the two who faced off at this time. His arms were crossed lightly though with a strange presence of strength as he would witness the battle. "Philosophy." he would mutter in to the air as his gazed missed absolutely nothing. "That has always been the nature of this battle. The idea that there is a right and wrong, the idea that there is a path to merging the opposing sides together. What if neither is true? Can you live in a world where the answer is not something you can ever truly define?" Peering a bit more harshly at the battle as it continued to go on, Rain would slightly shake his head. "I am not sure if anyone will ever understand that future… and how inevitable it is. Utopia will fall. Chaos will be brought to order. Nothing ever stays the same… not as long as we are human." Clenching his fist and holding it out towards the competetors, he would state firmly, "Push forward. Endure pain. Savor joy. Suffer… so that you may understand the suffering of others yourself. Hopefully, neither of you will forget what it means to be human and why that strength… that lack of certainty… the crushing realities that test your Will to its very brink, is the power that unites us all. The invisible thread… the purpose… MY vision."
Fuyu knows how much she missed by alright. But it is her own fault, really. She tried to engage him in close combat when she knows that's her weak point. She'll have to make up for that failing in the future. For now, she falls back on what she knows she is strongest in. She turns her gaze Tessen, and copies the technique he uses the moment he uses it. She turns aside and leaps into the air, right over the first wave of incoming shuriken. She lands on her feet right in front of the lightning orbs. She then leaps up and over the sparking spheres, and lands in a handstand, right in front of the second wave of shuriken. Pushing down on the ground, she launches herself into a forward flip, back arched, legs held together, and bends like a bow right as she lands on the other side of those deadly-sharp throwing stars. Then she lets her specialty shine. Holding up a single hand in a Tiger Seal, she thinks silently, 'Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! <Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!>' Then she lets out a wave of flames from her mouth, attempting to engulf Tessen in fire. And she doesn't let it stop. She just sustains the flames somehow, doing what is ordinarily not possible with this technique. Her brow is furrowed in concentration, but still she is doing it. And if Tessen evades the first blast of flames, she tries to FOLLOW him with her attack, trailing his movements with the fire stream!
Tessen looked to the flames and began to sway then vanish. Where his feet touched the ground on his path to her an after image appeared. Several phantasms of his form appeared around the ring. The heat of the first ball igniting his jacket and scorching his hand as he reached for his blade. The second stream from her was nothing to him. He would appear to her just under the stream only a foot from her to vanish again. Those in the stands would see him land behind her and hear the clink of his guard hit the scabbard when it sheathed. Only those with the sharingan would have seen teh slash aimed for her stomach. As he turned his seals would be nearly finished and th very wind around him would howl as scythe blades formed and fanned out in every direction to slice the arena down to size.
Fuyu sees alright, as the continuous stream of flames pours forth from between her lips, scorching the ground. She can see Tessen's Chakra even through the fire, and thus when he appears behind her, she has already cut off her attack and leaps straight up into the air. The nearly-invisible slice passes through air… But it nearly cut through her ankles. Just a milisecond slower and she'd be missing her feet.
But now, she finishes her flip in mid-air and attempts to land on Tessen's shoulders, planting her boots on each one, so that all those air blades go flying around her, barely missing her even from her perch atop her opponent.
As soon as it is relatively safe, she leaps off and forms handseals swiftly, in a blur. Tiger, Ox, Dragon. 'Katon: Kashou! <Fire Release: Sear!>' she then releases an intense wave of heat on Tessen from above and behind… And nothing further. Did her Jutsu fail? Is she taunting him? It certainly FELT like a fireball was imminent… What was the purpose behind that attack?
Tessen felt her feet touch and push off as his blades missed her. In the instant her feet left him his body vanished off to the far side of the arena. His eyes glared into her own as she tried to penetrate his mind. The chakra link shot down by his own chakra flaring up to action. It kicked back some of the smaller rubble around him as he stood their quietly waiting. He could feel the exhaustion setting into his body. Continuous high speed movement coupled with using higher ranking techniques in rapid succession was taking its toll on him, and if it went on too much longer he would need to forfeit. Something he would rather not do. He was already mad at Rain for allowing events to break their promise once, but not again. If he knealt before yet another Rain would be brought to explain himself, and do what was necessary to make the promise hold true…even if it was at the end of a blade.
Dropping his hands to his sides loosely, Rain would nod slightly. 'There are not many opponents that can out manuver you so easily, Tessen. It is unfortunate that your abilities are not situated towards a prolonged duel. Beyond that however, it has been quite entertaining to see, though she has proven her ability as the representative of the clan from Konoha. She's faster than before, well.. her reactions are. She may even be as fast as I am now.' Rain would think for a moment before exhaling slowly. "Know when to push your limits, or you will find them pushed for you by another." He would say in to the air. Would Tessen return himself to a situation that allowed for his fate to be determined by someone aside from himself? It was to be witnessed one way or another.
Fuyu is nowhere near her limits, though she IS running a bit low on the amount of Chakra she has active. She can see how tired Tessen is. This fight is definitely getting to him. She has only scored one hit so far, but even that is more than he has landed on her. He is emotionally distraught. At least annoyed, if not angered. He's still in full control of himself, of course, but the flesh is weak where the mind is willing, and all that.
Time to see how far she can push him. She forms a Tiger hand seal with both hands this time, holding them tightly together, as she gathers her Chakra deep in her belly, forming the Fire Chakra into a specific shape and then expelling it from her mouth. 'Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu! <Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!>' An enormous fireball in the shape of a dragon comes almost literally ROARing forth, towards Tessen's end of the Ring… Followed by two more! Whether they hit or not, they're going to make that entire side of the Arena unbearably hot, to the point where even touching the ground or a wall could potentially leave behind burns on one's flesh.
Again Tessen began to glow red. Whether it was from the fire or the electricity coursing through his body was anyone's guess. With a loud crash his body vanished between the blasts coming straight for Fuyu. His hands making seals every inch of the way. A bright flash could be seen amongst the chaos as lighting was pulled from the heated and charged air. This helped to speed up the creation of the ball between his hands. As he landed clear of the fire he let it loose. An orb of arcing lightning begging to be set free. Whether it hit or not, the first thing it touched would cause it to rupture and arcs of this tormented storm would streak across the field of battle threatening Fuyu and taunting her to fail this one time.
Fuyu can see Tessen's movements, of course. But this time… This time she knows she's not fast enough to simply side-step the attack. Not when she has already comitted herself to those three Fire Release attacks. Tessen's rapid drawing of lightning from the heated air makes her frown for some reason, but in the end, as the orb of power comes racing towards her, ready to electrocute her and tear her apart, she Flickers off to the side the moment her third Great Dragon Fire has completed its journey. Then she immediately leaps backwards again. Was she expecting a follow-up attack? Or is she just trying to put some distance between herself and Tessen for some reason?
The answer will become obvious a moment later. "Let's see how you like THIS…" she hisses out, then she forms hand seals… Ones undoubtedly familiar to Tessen, as he only performed them a short time ago. "Kazekiri no Jutsu! <Wind Cutter Technique!>" Then she unleashes a storm of wind blades towards Tessen! And… Unless he intentionally or accidentally dodges into the path of the blades… They all miss by a wide margin. What's going on here? Is she more tired than she looks? Is she losing her eyesight?
No. She wasn't trying to hit Tessen. She was aiming at all those flames that have engulfed the far end of the Ring, and the same heat that Tessen used to form his Lightning. Heat… Air… And now condensed wind to fuel the flames. "Thermal Release: BACKDRAFT!" she calls out as an enormous wall of flames comes tearing towards Tessen from behind.
Tessen stood still as he suffered the recoil of the Lightning Orb. His body was spent as was his chakra. When she avoided his attack and he saw the wind flying at him out of instinct more than planned thought he raised up a gale of wind around his body to protect him from what she had planned. His legs were too tired to push past anything for atleast another moment.
As they flew past him by a wide margin, he knew it wasn't his defense that did it. His head turned and he saw the explosion coming his way. There wasn't much of a chance to cancel his wall now, so he fed it more chakra to make it howl feircely againt the explosion. The debris was held at bay as he felt the eat spiral up with the barrier. In only a moment's time what was once an explosion trapped Tessen in a towering twister of fire. His defense was his own undoing.
As his chakra failed and the strength that fed the fire skywards fell. The air and flame were sucked back down into a final explosion. As the smouldering flames licked the ground and sky in twain Tessen knealt his own clothing scorched away and his flesh tender and red. His only saving grace was the barrier of the ring that saved his life.
With charcoal eyes he turned to the proctor and let his head fall low and his arms limp. With an obvious struggle he pushed himself to his feet long enough to say, "I yield." loud enough to be heard before collapsing back to his knee, and muttering to himself, "…for now…"
"And so that is how it will be." Rain would state as he'd turn to begin to walk away from his high perch. "Brought to your knees again it seems. I will make no excuses, though it may not be obvious to you that there is a difference between being defeated outright, and being caused to submit prior to a battle." Smirking slightly and shaking his head, Rain would vanish into the air, burning away within a flame that didn't even seem to exist within this dimentional spectrum.
Sousa waves a hand, and the barrier goes down. "Uchiha Tessen-san has forfeited," he announces, stepping into the ring. "Medic-nin to the field, if you please, but do watch your step." The medics hustle over to help Tessen, using chakra on their soles to keep from getting burned tootsies. c.c Sousa, meanwhile, paces in Fuyu's direction. "It would seem that the advocate of strength and supremacy was beaten down by the advocate of peace and equality," he remarks. "Splendid how such a defeat can occur on these fields without betraying those ideals, hmm?" ;)
Fuyu watches as Tessen struggles to stand, and then falls back to one knee. She waits until the match is declared over, and then allows her Sharingan to fade away. She starts to take a step towards Tessen, even though flames still eat at the grass all around, but then Sousa approaches. She takes only a moment to stare blankly at him, and then turns back to Tessen. "He gave up because he had to, not because he wanted to. He has not submitted, nor has he truly been defeated. Acting to preserve himself out of a desire to survive does not make him weak… Just as denouncing his heritage and all that occurred to make him who he is — to bring him into being — did not make him strong. Solidarity is weakness. Unity is strength. My strength comes from knowing where my loyalties TRULY lie. I have no self-doubts in that regard. Too bad not everyone's loyalties are known, hm?"
Then she walks away from Sousa and finishes approaching Tessen. Whether he heard her words or not, she does not care. But now she speaks solely to him. "If life were a game… You would be a 'Climbing Silver', both to me and your master. A sacrificial piece. It would be your job to die to protect your King. But you don't even know who the King IS. That is why you are out of the game. A pawn without a King is useless. If you want to find REAL meaning in your existence, and become TRULY powerful… I recommend you start looking for the one you're supposed to be protecting. Because Uchiha Yau — the one called 'Rain' — is no King. He is just another lost Pawn that is pretending to be a General."
She turns away. She does not offer a hand to help him up. Instead she just says, "Think about whether you want to be a Pawn serving a Pawn, or whether you want to take your true place… Striking down the enemies of OUR people."
Tessen's weary eyes looked to Sousa and he chuckled through the pain. Sousa was an idiot. Fuyu may have talked about unity and peace, but in her warrior's soul…there harbored hatred and remembrance. She was waiting to act for a time that may never come, whereas Tessen acted here and now with the decisiveness of a soldier. One cut from war and molded in battle, who knew hesitation could be the instant of death.
Through Fuyu's speech Tessen managed to fight to his feet and discard his flaming jacket to the ground. He stood on slightly shaky feet, but was standing by the end of it all. His charcoal eyes turned back to vermillion as he gazed to Fuyu. His voice calm but no longer flat. Different emotions showed slightly changing his pitch as he spoke.
"I denounced the clan, for the clan denounced itself. Its strongest and most trusted knelt and swore fealty to now nobles that I refuse to accept. I have never denounced my past, nor the war and betrayals of it. You may have forgotten it all, but I refuse."
Shifting slightly he placed his hand onto the burnt flesh of his chest and didn't wince at the pain. "I serve a man who saw to take power and carve out his own kingdom. For in chess even a pawn can become a king. It need only survive and push worth. You are the leader of a beaten people not by your own hand or power, but by default! You were handed your seat of power as others abandoned it because they could not stand the position. They could live as a beaten dog left in the rain, but not as a beaten dog expected to yield and play dead upon a stage for all the nations and people to see! You can, and that is why you sit where you do."
"Rain-sama may be a pawn to you, but he will in turn become a king and leave you to be captured and killed should you be our enemy's queen. Your people are not my people! Just as your traitors will never be my people. Be prepared Fuyu… I will be back, and I will slaughter your people. All in due time if the clan and peace you hold so dearly step in the way of my blade or my master's desires."
