Starring:
Yuuma, Tsuchi, Akane, Akiko, Rise, Tsuneo
Date: December 31, 2014
Summary:
A group of shinobi investigate rumors of a tournament held by the Silence.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"The Silence - Bloodsport"
Arena in the Land of Iron
Things have been a bit less quiet than normal when it comes to the Silence, at least in one respect. They've let rumors spread of something going on, a tournament of bloodsport hosted by Yuuma himself with a rich prize to be awarded the last contestant standing. The rules of this tournament are a bit strange. They allow the contestants to challenge each other so long as the one they've challenged either hasn't been in the last few fights and has time to recover or explicitly agrees to fight anyway. This has led to quite a number of bodies being drug out of the arena, but with no one to blame but the foolhardiness of a contestant. People have come from all over to enter this bloodsport, from bandits to mercenaries to pirate to shinobi and former shinobi. Even the Brothers themselves are able to be challenged in this tournament if someone wishes to get them involved, though thus far no one has been foolish enough to do such a thing.
With the coming of evening, roars and cheers ring forth from the arena as more blood is set to be spilled this night. Sitting on what appears to be a throne atop the stands in the arena, Yuuma sips on a bottle of sake as he looks down upon the spectacle of a pirate and mercenary tearing into each other mercilessly. Blood and even bits of flesh and bone cover the arena floor from the previous battles as well as this one, each contest seeming more brutal than the last.
Having heard of this bloodsport happening, it was decided that this be investigated and more than that, Tsuchi all but volunteered for the task of finding out more of this so-called tournament if it could be so-called. She then looks back to Akiko, having taken the girl along for the purpose of her eyes and her ability to see what is going on from a higher angle, if need be. Even as Tsuchi rushes along to the tournament, having come within sight of the location, just being able to see in the distance the crowd as well as some of the ring. She glances to Akiko and then states, "Get Kotone up, I need a birds eye view of this. If it is just a form of entertainment for these psychopaths we may go but if it is more, we may need to learn more."
Akane had spent several years int he underbelly of Fuuma Alley and as such she'd made a few contacts there. A couple still gave ehr information, probably because of th money she could offer them for it. In any case a tournament held by Yuuma? She had to see this to believe it. So she had come once she arranged for the safety of Ishino and the children.
Akane glanced around, it was not hard to find Yuuma in the stands. He wasn't trying to hide. Akane's hair was up in it's elaborate coiffe, hair sticks galore and she wore her leathers as well as that impeneterable mask over her face. She slid into a more agressive movement pattern and walked her way up to Yuuma, her aura suggesting the presence of Kyoujin. "Are we having fun?" She purred, leaning against the wall. She had seen several of the fights before she approached him. But now she was curious what this prize was. "What exactly are they risking their lives for anyway?"
Akiko has come with Tsuchi, Kotone perched on the Hayato's shoulder. The girl doesn't want to let her partner out of her sight, even, considering the fact that the Silence is involved. She would rather not lose her most precious friend to something like this. At Tsuchi's order, she sighs, but nods, and Kotone takes flight. The falcon is actually happy to be able to fly, as it felt like ages since she last did. "Well, aside from the mass number of bandits, Pirates, and other bloodthirsty beings, there's not much else to see apart from the gore…" she replies, though Kotone had yet to report.
As soon as the news of the tournament reached Rise's ears, she didn't hesitate for a second to hop on whatever transportation she could find to reach the fighting grounds in time. Revenge, for Kumo's sake, simple curiosity — Her reasons were varied enough to leave her mind aching trying to sort through it. The smell of blood gave her an odd sense of clarity. She would enter the tournament, fight until her competitors learned to quit while they were ahead, and from there, well…
Rise shook her head rapidly, and muttered something underbreath. No more thinking. No more worrying. She needed only wait wherever contestants were supposed to wait until either she was called or some dumbgladiator made the mistake of getting rid of the obvious light weight.
As the first match of the night ends between the pirate and merc and the body of the pirate is swept out of the area, the second match is heralded much to the crowd's delight. A cloaked figure walks into the fighting arena, pitted against a large, overly muscular man. The large man is laughing at the size of the cloaked one, cracking his knuckles and shouting frivolities to the crowd about how he is going to enjoy feasting on his opponents bones. As with the Chuunin exams of Kumogakure, or perhaps even quicker, the ring of the bell both heralded the beginning and end of the match, as the cloaked figure stood over the man, twice his height, now sprawled on the floor and getting his chakra ripped from his very body until he falls dead.
The crowd was stunned for a moment but when the hooded cloak is removed and the glorious brother Tsuneo is revealed, the men begin cheering and chanting his name. Tsuneo had been away from the spotlight for quite some time. Where he was, what evil he was up to, was anyone's guess. He turns to the crowd and shouts over the chanting, "I bet you all missed me as much as I enjoyed being away from your ugly mugs!" to which he gets another cheer from the mercs, pirates, and other bloodthirsty lot that they had been grouping up to start this festive tournament. He turns towards his brother and says, "He must've been from the Land of Wind. I seem to always end up killing a few Wind citizens daily. And hey, what would my great return be without a bit of flare." He makes his way to his brother with a wicked grin, Akane getting but a look for now as all eyes were on him.
While he doesn't really make anything of it, Yuuma is well aware of shinobi presence in and around the arena. Really, he'd expected no less. This may just be a test to see if they decide to keep to their word or risk starting a war with the Silence early. He smirks slightly at the appearance of the hooded man taking on the large one, seeming rather amused with the bout. When Akane approaches, he would cast a brief glance over at her before looking back down. "Plenty," he answers simply as he takes another sip from the bottle. He seems to wait on answering the last question until the fight ends.
The moment Tsuneo reveals himself, the Dark One looks up to Akane again and offers the bottle to her. "Our amusement mostly," he answers simply before looking back down and waiting for the next fight. "Showoff," he scoffs jokingly a bit with a shake of his head. "Out of all the shinobi here, those who're hiding themselves and those who're smart enough to know they can't, you're the first to come up to me. Hoping for a chat? Or are you the first one crazy enough to challenge me?"
A look to Akiko and Tsuchi hmms before nodding her head and starting in a little closer, "We ought to see what we can see. Knowing the cockiness of that colosseum, he probably believes no one and nothing can ever hope to stop him." She nods her head, "We might be fine and well approaching if cautiously. He probably already knows we're here." SHe then starts forward and hmms, "And perhaps I might join his little slaughter fest." She chuckles to herself, "Draw out enough of his own men…just kill half his men in the ring in a way that doesn't break his own rules."
Behind her mask, Akane flicked her eyes down to the arena. She rolled her eyes silently as the larger man simply proved that he was a complete idiot and probably rather weak. Those who boasted like that usually had to convince themselves that they were powerful…. She shook her head as the expected outcome came to pass, though she paused as the crowd chanted "Tsuneo! Tsuneo!" So.. that was his name. Good to know. As he approached, Kyoujin-Akane nodded her head in such a way that it could be taken as a bow of respect or a simple greeting. Her face was still covered so it was anyone's guess which it really was. She did not seem to get much attention from the brother, however. She did not try to get it either. She remained leaning against the wall to one side of Yuuma.
His answers made her tilt her head curiously. It was interesting how they thought. She did not really hesitate when he offered her the bottle, it just took her a second to move her mask to tilt off the side of her head, revealling emerald green eyes set in her scarred face, as she accepted the bottle. She sniffed at it then took a swig and handed it back, looking to Tsuneo…. Then Yuuma spoke to her again.
She leaned back against the wall and folded her arms as if she were contemplating soemthing. She was not fully Kyoujin and not fully Akane, so she seemed more reserved than she usually was. Given a fight that would not remain the case. But she had to chuckle lightly. "We know better than to try and hide from you, Yuuma-dono. Besides, We have fought for you before, We doubt those shinobi down there would consider Us an ally." She shrugged and looked between the two brothers. "Besides, We are not mindless barbarians. We do not merely fight for the sake of it."
Akiko frowns a bit. "If you do, then… Would it be possible to do a sort of tag-team thing, Sensei?" she wonders. "… Apparently both brothers are here…" she says, frowning even more at Kotone's report. "And as hungry as ever, from the sounds of it," she says, making a face. She doesn't like the idea of all this bloodshed going on for /fun/. The girl grips her bow a bit tighter as she follows the Sasaki forward.
Instead of quaking in fear or cheering along with other muscle heads and/or depraved, Rise stayed silent. Her expression was flat, but her eyes were alive with excitement, anticipation, grudging admiration over his ruthlessness, and something… else. Something akin to hunger or lust, but not quite close enough to be truly considered either. A shiver creeping up her spine through Rise off. For some odd reason, Rise had the sneaking suspicion someone was talking about her just a moment ago. Indirectly given the intensity of the shiver, and nevertheless, it was agitating enough to prompt her to actually look around for the first time.
Hawk… interesting. Tornado girl… target number three. Akane… 'Wait, what?!' In her haste to get a better angle on the rogue Kiri-nin, Rise doesn't hesitate to 'gently' remove a few of the burly contestants, earning her more than perhaps just a mildly annoyed glare in return. In the process she may have even found her way to the forefront if not stopped at some point.
Tsuneo bows as his brother calls him a show off. "I figured a flashy entrance while getting in my daily snack killed two birds with one stone." he says as he turns to looks over the crowd, watching them from his position, his eyes glancing in certain locations as his brother mentions hidden shinobi, locking eyes with a handful of them for but a moment, but enough to potentially send a chill up a few spines. "So why aren't any of them fighting, yet?" he asks.
"Apparently some of you are," Yuuma says with a smirk up to Akane. "Do you see what a simple bit of incentive can do to this world? They all rip each other to shreds without a second thought over a bit of money. This is the true state of this world." He peers down at Rise as she tears through some of the contestants, chuckling a bit before looking over to Tsuneo. "At least one of them is. Perhaps the others are too afraid of what I might've done to power up the men. I haven't done anything yet, but maybe I will if things get a little too boring." After a brief pause, he'd look back up to Kyoujin, smirking and saying, "Or perhaps you would do nicely. Few are strong enough to withstand having the power darkness poured into them. I wonder if you could live through it." With that he'd lift a hand to wave for the next round of bouts to start, cheers roaring out as bloodthirsty warriors charge out to challenge their own kind and shinobi alike.
As she comes in closer, Tsuchi sizes up some of the people here, peering this way and that at the various thugs and idiots around. Even as she approaches, she turns her gaze toward the ring and then finally over to the spot where Yuuma and Tsuneo are. She hmms at the presence of another. A familiar sort before she looks back to Akiko, "I don't want you involved, Akiko." She states and then shakes her head, "You shouldn't be." SHe then looks toward where Yuuma is and idly starts toward him.
"So, this is what the great and powerful leader of the Silence does? Watching people kill each other…" She then glances to Tsuneo, "Or just outright killing them for kicks?" She then shakes her head, "Is this what you were seeking? A bunch of people dancing around before death and then nothing? Interesting world state…just a few years of this and there'll only be one person left on earth with no one else to pat him on the back."
Akane looked down as Rise made quite a fuss to get to the front of the crowd. The medic winced internally, Kyoujin stared at the kunoichi, expression unreadable. Then she looked away, turning her attention back to the brothers. It would do no one good to read her expressions and unfortunately (again) she had other business that out ranked convincing Rise that she was not a traitor to their earlier friendship.
Tsuneo's comment about a snack was absorbed silently by the woman, as if she had no reaction to it but curiosity. She glanced down over the crowd again then up to the air before she spoke non chalantly. "They are probably watching to see where the best angle is here or trying to figure out what you're plotting…."
~Or watching Us, bakane. That girl will get herself killed.~
/Shut up… I have to concentrate…./
Emerald eyes flickered back to Yuuma then as he spoke to her. It was clear to her that he wasn't kidding when he'd so casually commented that he might power up his men in the fight if things got too boring. Then he suggested he might power /her/ up with the darkness and for a single tic she stared at him coldly. Then she smirked. Her whole attitude shifted, her bodyu language became more agressive, her aura was darker. Kyoujin in charge once again. "This One would hate to see you get bored, Yuuma-sama~." She practicly purred his name.
Then Tsuchi approached and she stood up, her face shifting to stone as the other shinobii approached. She looked ready to step in, pausing as Yuuma lifted his hand for the next match to begin. Her eyes landed on that hand, the seal there and then gave him more of an answer. "This One is hard to kill."
"And yet you brought me all the way out to this tournament here. Do you want me to just watch as you end up getting killed by some random thug?" Akiko retorts, perhaps in a bad mood because she knows she can't do anything. The girl whistles for Kotone to come down, as she was done with the sightseeing. Her bow is ready in her hand, though no arrows are nocked. "I know you're strong, Sensei, but don't do anything stupid, okay?" she says behind the Sasaki, gripping her bow so tight that her knuckles are pale.
Rise made it! Sort of. One or two of the thugs may or may not have helped her into the arena in retaliation for all the shoving she was doing. Rise falls, but she is also quick to get up glaring at the gathered contestants. If they weren't glaring at her — which most weren't — they were either laughing or mocking the pipsqueak.
"That salutin' does it! If yaw so big 'n bad, why don't yaw bring all yer lions down here!" She yells over the crowd. The corner of an eye twitches at some nagging thought, but Rise balatantly ignores it by turning about to Tsuneo. She hadn't seen him before, nor in the heat of the moment did she care if his abilities were as bad as Yuuma's. All that mattered to her was the fact he was close enough to jerk to warrant a beat down too. "I'm extended that same invitation to you too pointy. That is, if those sacrifices behind me don't man up 'nd get down here. Or…" She turns just enough to give Yuuma a sidelong glance. "Does that goes against yer precious rules?"
Tsuneo was too busy being amused by Tsuchi starting towards them with her righteous banter. "Another Suna nin." he says to himself, a sinister smile growing upon his lips. "The last one left a bad taste in my mouth, perhaps this one will add a bit of kick."
Once Tsuchi got close enough, Tsuneo addressed her. It was obvious that the bloodthirsty men with gold coins in their eyes outnumbered the righteous shinobi that decided to appear, and he intended to use that against her to make her very uncomfortable. "Look around you, girl. These men came here to win some coin in a tournament, not to get their jollies off or goof around. You must be pretty confident to insult that. They might just take offense to you trying to dishonor their choice to put their life on the line for power." he calls out, some of the men beginning to yell at Tsuchi, calling her names, brandishing weapons. "Perhaps we should take this show of self-righteous banter as her acceptance into our tournament, men!?" he calls out to the men, getting cheers all around, "Who should we set her up with…" he muses out loud to his brother. He looks over to Rise with an annoyed look, "Perhaps the drunken annoying pest?" he suggests to Yuuma about Rise.
As Kyoujin takes over, Yuuma grins slightly up at her, saying, "Ah, finally the interesting one shows her face." When Rise starts her drunken banter, he'd glance to her a moment in thought before looking back to Tsuneo. "Ah, yes. What was her name again? Kuroki something? Didn't you send a her coffin back to them all painted up and pretty for them?" He peers between Tsuchi and Rise for a moment, pondering before saying, "That might be an interesting pairing. So tell me, do you wish to challenge each other?" He then looks around, gesturing a hand at them all and saying, "Everyone here is able to be challenged. Choose wisely… and keep us entertained." His eyes would flash black for a moment before he blinks, and they return back to normal.
A look to Rise as she goes all loud and Tsuchi only glances back to Akiko momentarily. She licks her lips softly before shaking her head as she looks to Tsuneo, "Too afraid to face her yourself?" She hmms and chuckles before shaking her head, "Chariot, all the two of you do is steal people's jutsu. Who would want to bother with you?" She shakes her head and looks to Rise, "As for fighting her? I really didn't come here for that." She looks to Tsuneo and Yuuma, "Though wouldn't that be an interesting contest? Her and I versus one or both of you…that is if you can spend enough time acutally fighting rahter than taking the jutsu of others?" She hmms and tilts her head, "Or is that too much for you? You just one trick pony, Yuuma?"
Kyoujin watched Tsuchi and Rise both come to the attention of everyone in the arena. The danger they had thrust themselve into was apparent all around them. Bandits, brigands and pirates had a natural dislike for shiobi who were often hired to take them down or out or disable them completely. It showed in the way they leered at the two kunoichi.
Her attention went to Yuuma, then as he recognised Kyoujin's emergence and called ehr the interesting one. Kyou smirked faintly and folded her arms. Then Tsuchi began her challenge of the brothers, apparently with a death wish. She tilted her head to the side faintly, emerald eyes glitering like gemstones. She waited to find out how this would go… She was a little suprised she was being completely ignored by a Suna nin but then again she wasn't wearing her hitai-ate either. She waited, eyes flickering between Rise Tsuchi Tsuneo and Yuuma…. A patient spider, waiting for the prey to move within range….
Akiko continues to trail after Tsuchi, staying back while Tsuneo garners all the attention onto her Sensei. Ugh… "We are /not/ fighting her!" she exclaims, recognizing Rise from one encounter or another. She remembers that, while grumpy, Rise wasn't that bad. Pretty nice, sometimes, too. Her words almost cut over Tsuchi's when the Sasaki talks about how fighting isn't their reason for being her. At least, fighting rise isn't. "…" at the next words she hears while Kotone's eyes look up to eye Kyoujin speaking with Yuuma. Okay, not completely ignored, Akane. Just perhaps drawing attention from a different crowd.
Absolutely livid did not even begin to cover just how ceasared off Tsuneo's description of her. She was /not/ drunk! Ceasared off beyond reasoning, yes, but most definitely not intoxicated! If she was in her Cho disguise it would not have been as big an issue. And she honestly did not give a care about the brigands, cuthroats, and generally ill-tempered lot that sought to profit in the tournament so long as they wasted time cheering, booing, or just plainly made no attempt at trying to shut her up. It was a good thing too for them, seeing as how she was a might peckish at the moment…
In any case, ironically Rise's boiling rage kept her from acting or speaking. For now.
Tsuneo tilts his head to the side, a soft 'popping' sound heard as he cracks his neck. Seems like Tsuchi was getting on his nerves. "Talk, talk, talk. That's all the last Suna nin I killed was good for as well. Perhaps this time I won't bundle your corpse up in a coffin and ship it to Suna. Your head could be a good ornament for the rest of the tournament. Withou a drop of chakra, body parts last longer before they start smelling." he says as he takes a step forward, intending to make quick work of Tsuchi if his brother doesn't stop him, his seal hidden on the palm of his hand already urging for more, so hungry, what would this one taste like?
"Quite right, brother. Talk, talk talk," Yuuma says, chuckling a bit as he stands up. "This tournament is for those with the nerve to make their strike. Stop talking trash and lay down your challenge properly." With that he'd step off the loft to land gracefully on the arena floor. He then extends his hand forward, the seal glowing and trying to rip chakra out of both Tsuchi and Rise and into him. "Tell me, have you two ever stared into your own eyes in the mirror? Have you ever tried to step through the door to that darkness that you try not to believe is there? Most people don't make it out alive or insane once they've done so. Let's see what happens when I rip it off the hinges for you and let it come out."
Then suddenly all else doesn't matter. Even as she is listening to what is happening, she is drowning out what is going on, she suddenly has Yuuma's hand outstretched and her veyr life force is being sucked away. SHe shakes her head and growls as she is hit and already she bites her thumb and slams it down. A moment later, Sora arrives, to see Tsuchi already looking tired and looks up to see Yuuma and Tsuneo. The ferret bristles up and then Tsuchi nods to him before standing up straight. Both make handseals back and forth before she clears her throat, "Should have known your only way is that of a coward." And she brings her hands up with Sora bringing his down. As they both reverse the direction, Yuuma and Tsuneo will feel the wind around them picking up even as clouds seem to start to gather out of no where as a full blown F2 Tornado appears.
Kyoujin watched Tsuneo advance, watched Yuuma finally stand. Emerald eyes flickered toward Rise and sent her a hard look before the former kiri-nin pulled her mask back down over her face. Yuuma's speech made Kyoujin curious and Akane, deep inside her chest, worry. He would not hesitate to kill them. She watched the procedings and as Yuuma stepped into the arena, Kyoujin stuck to the wall like a spider, her feet and hands on the wall as she watched the opening blows… Well watched Yuuma drain their life and then watched a ..weasel? create a tornado that blew her off the wall….then back into it with a cracking thud before she was thrown down into the arena to land at Yuuma's feet with a growl. ones… broken.. muscles…pulled. She stayed down as she gathered the information about her condition and watched the fight continue around her.
Akiko glares at Yuuma when he attacks, but she can't do much in her position. Kotone makes a few displeased sounds, The Hayato nodding in agreement. "Yeah, I know…" She takes a few arrows from her quiver and nocks them, but doesn't do anything, still hesitant to attack. She's nowhere near these levels of strength…
Rise knew what she had to do, but held back. No, that is not quite right. Something /else/ held her back. Without time to sort it out, every bit of energy she didn't waste trying to evade the beam of destruction is either absorbed by it, or stolen from her by the tornado Tsuchi whipped up to try and kill(?) three, er, five(?) birds with one stone. No matter where she ends up after the tornado calms down, Rise is left too dazed to fight anytime soon.
Tsuneo grins as his brother enters the fight himself, the little Suna girl asking for it by challenging both like that amidst an army of their men. "Just leave the corpse visible enough to ship back to whomever keeps receiving these corpses." he calls to his brother as he watches him begin to drain Tsuchi. That looked like fun to him, though unfortunately the girl brings in a furry friend afterwards and tries to use a massive wind attack on everyone in the immediate vicinity.
Tsuneo raises a hand and activates a seal that produces a barrier of chakra that successfully absorbs the wind before it even reaches him, though it did ruffle his hair a bit, turning it into a more unkempt look. Tsuneo seems a little ticked at that, raising his own hand, slowly removing his glove, and opening his palm to Tsuchi, displaying the same double diamond seal as his brother did, one of almost certain death to those who see it. It was then that Tsuchi would begin to feel that awful pull again, as if her energy was being ripped, forcefully, from her body. "You say all we do is steal jutsu, but this, my dear, is not theft. I will not give you the honor of using your jutsu, I will just rip you to shreds from the inside, out."
"Now, now, brother, don't destroy her too quickly," Yuuma says with a smirk as he produces the same sort of barrier as Tsuneo to keep the wind from behind able to harm them. He peers down at Akane as she lands at his feet, smirking slightly and saying, "I'll be with you in a moment." Looking back up at Tsuchi and Rise then, he brings his hands together and begins spiraling them around each other, creating a budding spore of dark chakra that starts off tiny then grows and grows until reaches about the size of a soccer ball then a beach ball before split it apart by moving a hand to each side of his body. "I wouldn't call this cowardly. I prefer to call it… creative."
With that he flings each orb to the ground in a criss-cross, causing each to land about twenty feet in front of each Rise and Tsuchi. It bursts out into what looks like a portal of dark chakra. From these portals rise dark figures that take shape and turn into literal copies of Rise and Tsuchi, fully colored black with glowing white eyes. It seems he's gained another use for his powers given to him from the Crawler. "Have fun."
Blinking as her attack seems to have little to no effect, Tsuchi ends up caught in yet another siphoning of her chakra and health. Sora is caught in that same wave, both wavering and teetering. She then squints at Yuuma as he walks off. A copy of herself appearing before her and then she blinks a few times at the situation before looking over to Sora and staring for a moment. Her features look gaunt, haggard. She shudders before looking to Tsuneo and spitting at the ground toward him and then looks at her double as she focuses her chakra and prepares to fight…whatever this is.
Kyoujin coughed and forced herself to move, managing to get to her knees. Her hands moved across her side to find a lump which she promptly slammed a fist into. A bone snapped and the lump went away, though it had to be painful, Kyoujin made no sign of it. She was breathing better now at least. Yuuma's expression when he looked down at her said that he would be entertained when he returned. Which, really, did not make either personality feel any better about it. She could only watch as Yuuma summoned the black copies of Rise and Tsuchi, her eyes, hidden behind her mask, spoke to her about the chakra involved.. But that was about all she could do as she gathered herself…. Wanting to be on her feet before Yuuma returned.
Akiko stares at the different people when Kotone points out the downed Kyoujin up where Akane once was. She hmms and nods a bit, readying her bow with a particularly sharp-looking arrow, spring loaded so it does even more damage than usual. The girl takes aim, and fired at Akane. It's far away, so a bit difficult to hit the woman, but maybe since she isn't moving so much it'll be effective?
Tsuneo licks his lips after he stops his attack at his brother's behest, tasting wind, but not really wind, sweeter. He wasn't too sure, he would have to try something out, but for now, his brother wanted to toy with the ninja. "You know, we give them a time limit and they just can't stay away." he says as he walks over towards his brother, letting the figures now have some fun while he rests and relaxes. The men, for the most part, have either left or stuck around to jeer and watch the shinobi in trouble.
Sensation return, but Rise was far from focused. Even if she /could/ manage as much, there was still the whole matter of being half-buried under rubble to deal with too…
"My… head.." Rise mutters. The world spun around, leaving echoes of everything she saw. Desperate for stability, the raven-haired girl tries to lock her gaze on the ink copy of herself… but to no avail. The more she tried to focus on it, the more she subconsciously wanted to do the exact opposite of that. Something about it filled her with such dread she squirmed weakly, heart hammering in her chest all the while as her panic grew.
"Quite right," Yuuma says, looking over at Tsuneo as he walks toward Akane. "Perhaps it's time to end the waiting game. I'm getting quite bored of it." He looks down at Kyoujin as he steps over, canting his head slightly. "This one's hurt herself. Maybe we should collect her for a different experiment, hmm?" With that he looks back at the copies of Tsuchi and Rise, giving a wave that sends them after those from whom they were copied. The copy of Tsuchi moves through a set of handseals then sends her own tornado back at her and Sora as the copy of Rise charges her with a swift sweepkick followed by another straight to her face.
A look to the copy of herself and Tsuchi frowns deeply as she prepares. Even she can't face the weather though. At least not at her level and not at her current strength. She peers at herself and watches as the handseals are made and she shakes her head, knowing what that is. Even as she goes through a hand seal with one hand, she is busy going through a second hand seal with her right hand. Even as she finishes up, Sora finishes his and the wall of pure brutal gale force wind starts coming up. Even as the Tornado rips straight through that wall, Sora feels a tug from that second hand seal Tsuchi is finishing.
"Tsuchi…NO!" And that's the last thing Sora says here even as she finishes the seal to send him back to his land. He disappears in a puff of smoke as he turns to run toward her and simply goes home.
Even as the ferret vanishes, the wind wall simply collapses and the tornado catches Tsuchi within it. She stands there for a second and then is sucked up and away into the tornado. Even as she flies up and away, the area around where she was standing is ripped to shreds and rain begins to fall down around the area. Even as the tornado rips along, chugging and empowered to last longer than just a few seconds, rain falls down around the area. Whatever happened to Tsuchi or her body is unclear…but a tornado isn't known for being gentle or for letting anyone or anything down easy.
Kyoujin lifted her head, her mask completely obscuring her eyes and expression from Yuuma, but she wasn't down for the count. "Is it my fault you guys can't prolong a fight?" She stood under her own power and withdrew a syringe from one of her pouches. In an instant she had it embedded in her thigh, emptying the contents into her system. It was in that moment when she was looking down at her leg when Akiko got a lucky shot in… She was pushed back a step and it took her a moment to realize there was an arrow in her side. She seemed dazed then her aura increased in it's anger and she thrust the arrow the rest of the way through so it came otu her back. A snap and the head was removed while she pulled the shaft out then she put on a few handseals, fire chakra surrounding her hands. With no hesitation or reaction to the pain, Akane placed a hand on both wounds and the scent of burning flesh could be scented as she literally cauterized the wounds.
Akiko ends up going pale when Tsuchi goes flying in basically what is her own tornado. The girl blinks a bit, tears falling to the ground as she tries to digest the fact that her Sensei is dead. … Crap, what the heck is she supposed to do /now/? "Kotone, make sure you get to my parents and report what happened so the council and Kage knows…" Just in case, right? Kotone takes off quickly as Akiko sends two arrows at the Silence brothers, more to distract them and slow them down than anything. It would encircle a net about them, if successful. The Hayato then turns to retreat, sprinting out of the arena so she can make her report to Suna. Hopefully she isn't stopped.
Tsuneo looks up from his position as an arrow flies through 'him', causing him to pop and reveal himself to be on the other side of his brother. "Pot shots, probably vengeance for killing her little friend. I am upset that the body went flying off into the air tho." he says as he looks up where Tsuchi flew. He turns to a group of men, "1000 ryo to the one who finds that boy. Spread out." he says before turning back to watch the battle between the ninja and 'shadows'. "I think that one needs an evil shadow to occupy her bow hand if she isn't running away." he says to his brother, pointing at Akiko.
Everything was going wrong. Even without being able to see everything that happened, she 'felt' it instinctively. For a few moments, Rise stopped struggling altogether, strength sapped by the knowldege of what was to come. Then she saw her 'copy' rush forth, and… buried her fears as deeply as she could. WIth a final push, Rise is granted freedom from the rubble in exchange for getting knocked off her feet.
Instinctively, Rise moves her head just in time to dodge the punch, then rolls to the side until she gained enough room to get back onto her feet. Despite the urge to look around, the girl shunts the desire aside and released gate after gate, stressing and rebuilding her body with each one after the second one's release. In just about every sense of the word, her visage, stance, and the feral growl that came out unbidden after the sixth gate gave her the appearance of an enraged red Oni.
"That's little brother," Yuuma says with a shrug of his shoulders at Akane as he raises a hand to block the incoming attacks toward him. "He's an impatient one." He then looks back at Tsuchi and her copy as the woman is destroyed with a single strike of her own jutsu. "Huh. I told you that was too much. Still, the experiment isn't over yet." He brings his hands into a seal, and the copy of Tsuchi would fly toward where the tornado flew the original, diving directly into her tattered and broken body to possess it and fuel it with the power lent from Yuuma's dark chakra to reanimate her body. Meanwhile the copy of Rise only grins back at her and charges again to aim a kick directly at her face.
Kyoujin turned as she saw Rise come to her feet, the motion bringing Kyoujin's masked face to look in that direction. Her old friend had broken free of whatever had bound her and she was … what the arena /was/ that technique?! It was the first time she'd seen the gates used and of course the first time she had looked through the eyes of sharingan to do it. Moving a touch stiffly due to the physical issue with broken ribs, Kyoujin shook her head, a hand going to her temple as if in pain. Yuuma and Tsuneo might notice a fluctuation in her chakra's stability but it was short. Then she growled. "Rise, just get the hoplite otu of here! The Medic does not need to see you die today." She knew it was revealing of a weakness, one that Yuuma probably would frown upon, but it was worth the risk if Akane woudl stop pounding on her skull….
Akiko takes a moment to look behind her, which probably wasn't smart of her to do. Because as she did, she saw Tsuchi's body getting possessed by that double of hers. Rage filled Akiko like nothing before. How dare they take her Sensei's body like that?!?!?! It doesn't even come to her mind that she should run, drawing arrows to send at the doppelganger version of Tsuchi. Another net, apparently. Then more arrows fly, these ones curving to hit various targets. Fake-Tsuchi, Akane/Kyoujin, Tsuneo, and Yuuma. Kotone screeches as she tries to get her partner to flee, but Akiko doesn't listen. The falcon wavers a bit in her flight before continuing on without Akiko, intent on delivering a message to someone.
Tsuneo looks up from his position as an arrow flies through 'him', causing him to pop and reveal himself to be on the other side of his brother. "Poor little girl is upset at her friend's death and again tries her luck with an arrow. I take no pleasure in killing little girls, but if you fire one more arrow, I will end your life." he says as he looks at Akiko, that sinister look on his face, like when he was ripping the chakra out of Tsuchi, showing his wasn't playing around. "Run away back to mother, we will be visiting soon I'm sure." he says as he picks up a rock and throws it at Akiko as if she were some pest or wild animal.
Rise gaze flickers to Akane — to Kyoujin, but there's no hope to find in Rise's eyes during that instance. She could not — would not — stand for her copy's continued existence. Her hate drove her to stand there and wait for the strike to come, only to sidestep at the last moment with her mouth open wide. Without warning or further forethought, she bites down on the clones forearm, pull, spin about, and throw it away. In a split second, Rise leaps after it, hammering it with a combination of punches and kicks, driving it closer to the ground. A moment to breath is all she gives before finishing it off with a rising kick to the chin.
"Oh, actually rooting for them now?" Yuuma asks of Kyoujin as he looks down at her, chuckling a bit before looking back to the copies as they do battle with Akiko and Rise. The copy of Rise, unlike the one of Tsuchi, is getting rather mangled. Those fancy Chakra Gates aren't quite an ability the Hitokage copy can pull off without a traditional body. Meanwhile Tsuchi's copy now inside the body is caught by the net, though she doesn't squirm too much against it just yet…
Kyoujin glanced at Yuuma and shrugged. "This One merely did not wish to see her die." That did not mean she was rooting for them… Though if they had seen her expressiopn behind that mask, they would see that she was impressed by Rise's abilities. In any case, Kyoujin backed up, stepping away from the fight and — incidently — Yuuma. She wasn't sure if she should be running herself just now or not…
Slowly the dark copy of Tsuchi, now in Tsuchi's corpse, raises up and looks around. Watching Rise fight herself, the thing now in control of Tsuchi's body turns its gaze toward Akiko as arrows slam into it but don't stop it. It chuckles softly as it is caught in the net and then looks down at itself and starts to get free slowly, pulling the net away, "Akiko…" it states softly even as it looks at her, "Akiko…" She grins as she looks at the girl, "Are you going to destroy me? Shoot me up? You will fail…you were always the worst. Never doing anything special. Never creative. Arrow after arrow…a complete failure." She shakes her head with Tsuchi's face, "A disappointment."
Akiko clenches her jaws, the stone hitting her in the arm and hurting, but not enough to turn her away. It actually increases her anger. The girl grits her teeth, nocking more arrows. "Don't use Sensei's body!!!!!" she shouts, hurting her throat from the force of the yell. She sends another wave of arrows at the people, basically repeating what she did last time but with a different first arrow.
Destroy it. Wreck it. Ravage it. Grind it! The over and over again the closest things to "rational" thought played in Rise's head. Even with her copy being left in a mangled state by the end, the raven-haired woman as far from satisfied. Eiko could go fu — Blinding pain crashed through her mind, shattering what remained of her focus. Rise haunches over a little with her hands gripping the sides of her head, and fingers bury deeply into her hair. Seconds, minutes, days — Rise knew not personally how long she stood there before genuine composure returned. Seeing the copy — broken though it may be — still filled her chest with anger; but for the moment, she could look past it long enough to take in her surroundings for more than a brief second.
Her head snaps around at the sound of Akiko's shout, and with hardly more than a second to read the girl's intentions, Rise races to intercept the arrows aimed at Akane. She deflects them with her wrist guard with one arm, and without warning or forethought, tried to yank Akane up and over her shoulder immediatly after. Between her speed and the arrows she hoped the brothers would be distracted long enough to get them both to Akiko's side.
"Oh?" Yuuma asks of Kyoujin, peering between the battle and her nonchalantly as he keeps the barrier up. As Rise races toward them, he cants his head slightly, smirking slightly as his eyes turn the pure black of the Crawler's, as if those who stare into them were staring into an endless void. "You should just run while you have the chance," he says as he brings each hand to his side, creating orb of dark chakra that he brings together to fire out what appears to be the shape of a dragon of his dark chakra to attempts to consume Rise and send her flying the other direction while the copy of her comes around from behind to aim a kick at the side of her head.
Even as the arrows bury into the evil Tsuchi shadow, the corpse looks more messed up and yet no less animated, "That it? That all you learned? Useless…little…girl." She then performs jutsu that Akiko is very familiar with, creating a veritable storm of lightning based throwing stars before she races forward in a burst of wind and attempts to plant a vicious punch right into Akiko's gut and whispers out, "I always thought you pathetic…" The evil Tsuchi's blackened orbs looking to Akiko with a snarling grin.
Kyoujin stumbled, suprised when Rise was suddenly between her and thde arrow aimed for her. Akane got most of the control for a short moment as she realized what Rise was trying to do. "You shouldn't do this. Please save yourself…" She saw the hitokage comming and moved, trying to defend Rise enough to get the girl to run. She took a hit so strong it tore her away from Rise and threw her backwards. She rolled several times, comming to stop a few feet from Yuuma. She coughed and the wet sound to it suggested there was blood comming up her throat. She growled again "Damnit Bakane!" She put her hands over her chest and a faint green glow emitted from them as she started to heal herself, if only to stop the bleeding in her lungs.
Akiko tries to avoid the attacks, but there's something stopping her. Perhaps it's the fact that her Sensei is dead yet attacking her. Or maybe it's because she can't believe Tsuchi would attack with her that sort of viciousness. Either way, the girl doesn't move to avoid the Lightning stars, but that jolt of lightning seems to kick her brain into action. She avoids the punch with a backflip, sending more arrows at the not-Tsuchi.
Rise wanted to yell at the Kyoujin, but she did not have the luxury of time thanks to Yuuma. At best she manages is a growl before being thrown off balance by Akane and the clone. She meant to pursue and tear her clone back to pieces once more, but instincts take over. She leaps and dodges the worst the burning dragon has to offer, but not all of it. Flames still lick at her clothes and skin, forcing her to land hard but rolling to put out most of it. What's left is forgotten as soon as her eyes fell upon Akane once more. She starts toward the medic and nearly stumbles over. Her muscles were starting to give out.
"Your not.. doing.. this… Not now!" She growls through gritted teeth. Whether or not because of desperation or simply fury, Rise chakra builds up again until the seventh gate is broken free. The onrush of power is immediatly put to use in healing her wounds. Beyond that however, Rise lowered her stance in preparation for a mad dash.
"Your time and energy are both running out,” Yuuma says as he looks around at the shionbi in the area. "What a pity. You lose one of your better leaders and break the rules of the tournament and thus our treaty in the same night." He closes his eyes for a moment before they open again, the pure black of the Crawler showing through once again. "Oh well. I was getting bored of waiting anyway. Your time is up, shinobi. We are coming, and this time we won't be holding back. Silence is coming. The dark shinobi your world has kept silent, the darkness you try to hide in your hearts made manifest in the Hitokage, everything your world has trying to keep quiet… It's all coming for you. So run while you still can. Run back to your villages and tell them what's come of your actions this night. Maybe they'll forgive you for the atrocities to come if you stand by their sides when the darkness comes for them."
Even as the attacks aimed for her miss, Hito-Tsuchi shakes her head and looks at Akiko before she spins down low, launching a powerful blast of wind toward AKiko's legs before she keeps spinning, sending a wave of lightning tools at her. Kunai, stars, senbon, etc. all flying at Akiko at high speed before Hito-Tsuchi stops and chuckles, "Just die, you stupid, useless girl."
Akiko jumps out of the way of the gust of wind, though the Lightning strikes her once again. Owwww…. Akiko stares at the dead Tsuchi, filled with a combination of anger, hatred, sadness, and despair. She doesn't even know how she's going to report this! But she does have enough sense to remember that Kotone would expect her to come home. And so she backs away, eying the Tsuchi, and eventually runs off. Back towards Suna.
Rise is all but ready to make the charge when Yuuma makes his speech. Against her not-so-better judgement, she listens to Yuuma to the end, leering at him all the while. By the end, the Shirokiri is left torn. She came here meaning to — Rise shook her head curtly, dismissing the thought before gearing up to charge again. However, Her body refuses to follow through. If not to strike down Yuuma now especially after catching all the evidence before her screamed of the crawlers return, then at least she should run in and try again to rescue Akane.
But then, what of her duty to Kumogakure?
Realizing the weight of duty kept her bound, Rise stood at the ready for a lengthier moment, grinding her teeth until grudgingly… she took off for the exit. She didn't spare Akane not one look back during the retreat, believing a look of betrayal would await her. Another black mark on her conscious.
