Starring:
Date: January 14, 2012
Summary:
A brief but heated battle for a jounin candidate scroll.
"First Promotion Exams - Shadow and Flame: Shemri vs. Shintaro"
West Shiren Caverns [Land of Wind]
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The western area of Shiren Caverns is typified by long vertical passages. Narrow walkways formed by accidents of geology wind over deep pits, with stalagmites and columns jutting up all around. A trained shinobi shouldn't have too much trouble climbing up or down these passages, provided they aren't hindered by rivals or the local fauna. Say, isn't that spider web abnormally large…?
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Hmmmm, caverns. Not the most familiar type of terrain to Shemri, but she has been in a few, and she's better suited to them than a lot of ninja would be. She must remember to thank her father for the keen senses he passed down to her. Thanks to those, and a little help from Shiikaa's even-keener senses, she doesn't even need to use any artificial light sources most of the time. The faint luminescence of the cave-dwelling microbes living on the walls is sufficient for her to navigate.
Good thing, too. Even with that amount of advantage, Shemri nearly stepped off into nothingness while exploring this place. c.c; She grew so accustomed to barely seeing the path in front of her that she didn't notice said path had become a catwalk until it took a sudden turn. After halting herself and letting her heartrate slow down, she decided to use a light-stick to take a good look at her surroundings. Hmmm…pretty nice place for an acrobatic fighter like herself, actually. So she sits down and hides the light-stick under her vest, waiting and listening for another jounin candidate to come her way.
So far the exam areas seem to be pretty interesting. This narrow area cavern bathed in the shadows of the sunlight that creeps its way in and reflects off the walls is a perfect place for some tactics. It won't be as easy to make an opponent tire him/herself out with so little space to run, but this also doesn't leave as much room to run from attacks.
Stepping through the cavern from the direction opposite Shemri, Shintaro spots the glow of the light stick and emits a low 'hmm'. He walks over to a large rock formation and crouches down in its shadow, bringing his hands together with his fingers steepled, prepared to form Hand Signs if necessary as he runs through strategies in his mind.
Shemri feels a shift in Shiikaa's chakra, sending a coded message to her. You can hear that one by now, right? Been getting faint echoes for the past minute. ^e.e^ Shemri nods and opens her eyes. "Greetings," she says aloud, her voice reverberating in the stillness. Shemri stands up and pulls the glow-stick out of her vest, holding it aloft and letting her eyes adjust to the change in brightness. "I am Maneshi Shemri of Sunagakure. If you are seeking a scroll to become a jounin, then I shall be your opponent." Shiikaa curls his tail about on the rocky path, gathering up his chakra. What, not gonna mention me? :P Shemri tucks the glow-stick in the front of her sash, then tugs the tails in the back loose to their full length. "We may begin when you are ready," Shemri says.
Hearing the voice ringing out through the cavern, Shintaro looks up but doesn't bother to stand up as of yet. "A pleasure, Maneshi-san," he calls out in return. "Nara Shintaro of Konohagakure." Despite the impending fight, his voice still holds a diplomatic smoothness. This is strictly business after all, even if the goal is to inflict pain until the opponent gives up. He begins focusing chakra through his body and gathering it to prepare for battle, yet he still remains crouched down. "Begin any time you're ready," he calls out calmly, remaining still in the shadow of the formation.
Shemri nods to herself. Konoha, eh…good, they're usually a reasonable bunch. Should make things easier in the end, regardless of which way this thing goes. Shemri draws several kunai. "Hiding shall not help you greatly against me, Nara-san." Shemri throws a pair of kunai in a long arc, then hurls another two after them on a much straighter and faster trajectory. They meet in midair and alter course towards Shintaro's hiding spot. Meanwhile, Shemri herself moves quickly as well. She leaps upward and reaches out with one of her long sash tails, attaching it to the ceiling of the cavern. A couple of swings brings her over to the rock formation, and she drops. The sashes shoot ahead of her and grab onto the rock, then yank her just past it to smash down foot-first where Shemri expects Shintaro to be. "SHOW ME WHAT YOU CAN DO!" >O
As the kunai races his way, Shintaro shifts his hands into the Rat Hand Seal. The technique doesn't take effect quite quickly enough, allowing his arms to be sliced by the kunai. That's going to be troublesome if he tries to hide since the cat can likely smell his blood. However, the shadows on his body form a shell over him before the woman comes crashing down on him, causing the kick to bounce off. A faint smirk touches his lips as her proximity, his shadow attempting to lock with hers and freeze her to make her mimic his movements. "Perhaps, but no need in wasting energy pointlessly running around when I can fight just fine like this."
Shemri rebounds off of Shintaro's defense and does a quick backwards somersault, landing against the rock formation. It's a good thing for her she has that glow-stick lighting up her immediate surroundings, because the next thing she knows she's got what looks like darkness itself snaking up the rock toward her! o.O Shemri dives forward to avoid the whatever-it-is, sailing over Shintaro and…falling into empty space. But wait, one of her sashes caught the catwalk off to the side! She swings underneath and lands against a nearby column. "What sort of ninjutsu is that?" Shemri mutters, not really expecting her opponent to explain in the midst of a fight. :P Rather than waiting for any answer, Shemri unleashes a barrage of straight-forward shuriken attacks. If this guy says he can fight fine where he is, maybe she should try to get him moving.
"The Hiden Jutsu kind," Shintaro says calmly, that smirk yet in place. He remains still for the strikes, letting out a playful yawn as they bounce off his shell of shadow. His shadow then crawls toward her again, forming an arm that attempts to spiral around and bind her down. Regardless of whether it stops her, he raises a hand to his mouth and breathes out a wave of flame bullets at her.
Shemri turns and climbs quickly up the column, then leaps for the catwalk. She evades Shintaro's shadow, but one of his fireballs smacks against her arm. XP Grimacing, she lands near Shintaro and sends a sideways kick toward his jaw — at the same time that Shiikaa, who has held back all this time, darts in and bites at his ankle. >E Shemri follows up the kick with a palm strike to the chest and a thrust kick from her other leg to the stomach.
Still remaining crouched down, Shintaro takes the blow straight to his jaw and feels that one, head being knocked back for a moment as his ankle is bitten into. Ow! Now she had the taste of his blood too! The next two strikes bounce off, however, and he looks back to them, raising his hands into a seal once again, beginning to link his shadow with those of all the rocks and such around, creating an enormous diameter of shadow all the way around him. "Have a sweet tooth for Nara?" he asks with a chuckle as he expands his reach even onto the walls around. "I didn't think I was that sweet."
Shemri quirks an eyebrow. So now he's getting serious? o.O This doesn't bode too well. If all of Shemri's attacks just bounce off this guy, even if she can do a pretty good job of avoiding his, she'll be tired out before she can do anything! But then, she has managed a few solid hits…mostly using sharp weaponry. Hmmm, maybe this dark stuff is more vulnerable to cuts than to blows. :o With that in mind, Shemri draws four kunai and distributes them amongst hands and sashes. "Shiikaa! Time to start hitting harder!" Shemri swings the knives in her hands in a twin diagonal slash, while the sash-held ones arc around to stab from the sides. Then Shemri hops back, giving Shiikaa room to unleash a scythe of wind chakra at Shintaro.
As blows rain down and pierce through the shadows, Shintaro receives several cuts over his limbs. Looks like things have gotten serious. The moment Shemri moves, he blinks and looks up to see the cat blasting a gust of wind his way. He brings his arms up to shield himself then disappears with a POOF! Under the shadow of a nearby rock formation behind the two, the Nara Chuunin shifts through seals. This time several tentacles of shadow dart up around Shemri and Shiikaa, intending to pierce them through and bind them down. "Not bad," he says with a chuckle.
Yay, it's working! Maybe Shemri and Shiikaa should go for all-out offense and keep him off-bal — oh. Uh-oh. c.c; Shemri looks around and spots something coming for her from behind. Something made of many somethings made of darkness and sharpness. o.O; Shemri quickly kneels down and scoops up Shiikaa, then makes a desperate leap — but not quite fast enough. x.x Those nasty things jab through their flesh in various places and hold them captive. Ow. >.<;
As the woman and her cat are caught in the tendrils, Shintaro smirks slightly and glances between them. He brings a hand up to his mouth, still crouching down as he breathes out a massive fireball toward them. He holds it for a few moments, only to inhale before breathing out yet another massive fireball. This is quite similar to how he took down a certain Kaguya in the war. It's always good to have backup abilities so you don't look like a fish out of water in one-on-one combat like most Nara do.
Shemri tries to squirm around and get loose from the tendrils, but it seems like she can't slip off one without embedding another more deeply. All she manages to do is move her head around enough to see behind herself…and of course what she sees isn't pleasant. x.x She turns her face away and does her best to tuck Shiikaa under herself as the flames roll over her. Ow…that sure stung. Well, guess the fight is over noAAAAMOREFIRE! X.X Shemri coughs and splutters in the oxygen-deprived air in the wake of the attacks. "Hoi! *COUGH!* Enough! You win, *hack*, I shall give you the scroll!" >.<; In retrospect, would've been smart to say that when he got her in that hold, but it's hard to think of such details when you're being ventilated. @.@
At the calling out from the deep fried cat owner, Shintaro chuckles a bit and walks over. "You fought well, Maneshi-san. I wish you luck in gaining scrolls from others to regain your position in the tournament," he says with a light bow of his head, his voice yet diplomatic. She finally got him to stand up too! "And my apologies for the brutality, but that is a more favored tactic of mine in combat. It works quite well." That said, he extends his hand to accept the scroll.
Shemri winces and carefully gets to her feet, letting Shiikaa drop. She reaches into her pouch and slowly pulls out the scroll. "Here. Do not lose it, or I shall feed you to the desert eagles." X) Shemri manages a slight bow. "Farewell." And with that, Shemri heads off to hopefully find some water. Shiikaa trails behind her, keeping a little more distance than usual. Is there any smell worse than burnt human hair? :P
