Uchiha, Yusuke vs. Valrouge, Kurogane

Age : 93 Posts : 369

The Jounin Proctor stands at the center between Yusuke and Kurogane. The proctor waits for a few seconds once both combatants appear ready to start. He raises a white flag high into the air for a second to acknowledge the beginning of the match. After three seconds he brings the flag down in a blur and yells start. The Jounin moves out of the way instantly to watch the match.

Let the match begin!

Posts : 358

” I just want you to know, before we get started, that is the most ridiculous headband I have ever seen in my life. ”

That was a lie. Yusuke thought that Kuro’s headband was remarkably cool, but he wasn’t about to complement his opponent, especially when that opponent hailed from a rival village. The fact Kuro wore a shirt certainly made him an atypical Cloud ninja. Of course, he dressed like a punk that was afraid of color and he still wore a silly sword on his back like every other ninja from Kumogakure. Unlike his previous opponent, however, Kurogane was much bigger than Yusuke was; over half a foot taller and he had, just based on appearance, at least twenty on our Uchiha protagonist. That wasn’t good.

Other than his opponent’s size, Yusuke was enjoying the beginning of his second match a lot more than he had enjoyed the beginning of his first. They were outside and in the middle of a crowded arena. Yusuke loved the idea of battling in front of a crowd; it set his teeth on edge. Glory-seeking aside, Yusuke also appreciated the feeling of fresh air and sunshine. He noticed the cluster of trees along the arena’s outer edge and the dirt underfoot. There were a lot more options this time around.

Based on his adversary’s size and ostentatious headband Yusuke was guessing he’d enjoy an up close encounter. Yusuke had checked as soon as Kurogane came walking up: no mouths on his hands. At least he didn’t have to worry about any more exploding clay birds. Who know what kind of skills this kid possessed instead.

Yusuke was wearing a dark gray, one-pieced version of his regular outfit with navy blue trim. High collar with short sleeves, the Uchiha crest was smaller than usual but nevertheless present in the center of his back. His shorts stopped just above his knee. Yusuke had on his regular arm protectors but he hadn’t seen fit to wear any sleeves underneath; instead, the protectors’ thin leather strips were fastened right up against Yusuke’s skin. He had bands wrapped about both legs that stopped just below his knee and regular sandals on. His forehead protector, framed on either side by his dark bangs, shined brightly in the noonday’s sun.

Let the match begin!

Yusuke acted first. Yusuke reached down and pulled two shuriken from the holster attached to his right thigh. Flipping his wrist forward, Yusuke let the two shuriken fly toward Kurogane. Assuming he did nothing, the spinning metal blades would cut into his right pec and stab into his abdomen on his left side simultaneously. Of course, Kurogane would almost certainly do something. What exactly he did didn’t matter: Yusuke wanted to gauge his reaction, see how his opponent moved, but if Kurogane was looking to initiate a counter attack, he’d be disappointed. Yusuke wasn’t sticking around for that.

Shortly after Kurogane’s response to Yusuke’s opening salvo, Yusuke seemed to fade from existence¹. Dashing around Kurogane’s position in a wide circle, the ensuing dust storm kicked up from Yusuke’s feet pounding into the dirt repeatedly resulted in the appearance of a dusty blur dashing around Kuro’s figure. Approximately 1.5 meters away from Kurogane’s position, Yusuke continued to run laps around his adversary’s form. How would he react to an opponent as fast as Yusuke was? How would he react to Yusuke’s shuriken, his display of speed, or his maneuvering?

The fight was on!

Special Characteristic :

Age : 93 Posts : 369

Uchiha, Yusuke vs. Valrouge, Kurogane Kuro1_zps09b4c215

Valrouge, Kurogane vs. Uchiha, Yusuke

Kuro could feel his headband dangle on his back. The light blue cloth was tied securely on the sheath of his blade, dancing the Genin’s every movement. The Cloud Ninja was unfazed by his opponent’s remark, only looking at him with slight curiosity as he observed his headband. As little as Kuro knew about the Hidden Leaf, he could at least recognize the country's headband. This was the first time the Kuro ever had any interaction with a member of a different country.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

A soft smile marked his face. If a person hadn’t known better, they wouldn’t have thought that they were fighting. One doesn’t just show such kindness to their opponent, not in a situation like this at least. This was a high stakes tournament that was being tracked by many of the world’s top ninja. It didn’t help that the battle was now being spectated by hundreds of people who were now watching them live. Kuro could hear the roar of the crowd from the stands behind him.

Studying the kid’s physical appearance, he was quite short compared to Kuro, having at least a foot on him. It was his first instinct to think that he was at least older than him by a few years. His unkept hair was down to about his neck. His dark grey one-piece suit looked oddly funny to the Genin. He found it to be quite an interesting piece of attire. From Kuro’s estimate, he presumed the leaf ninja to be a couple of years younger than the he was.

The ice user began to really feel the heat of the noon sun due to his all black attire. Luckily, it was something he he was quite used to thanks to the constant heat waves that befell Kumogakure. He could feel his body begin to stick to his shirt, but it wasn’t a thing that he should necessarily be worrying himself with, the match was about to start.

Let the match begin!

Kuro reached for the handle of his blade the moment the flag was dropped, fully pulling out his katana with his left hand as the shuriken left his opponent’s. This gave him enough time to place his katana at an angle to block the incoming projectiles thrown at him, and easily forming the Ko Gasumi stance. Kuro had seen his enemy fade as he was dodging the incoming projectile, loosing sight of him for a split second before he reappeared in a blur of movement. Damn he was fast! The hard impact of his opponent’s feet hitting the ground caused a wall of dust to form around him. Kuro squinted his eyes to try and prevent any incoming dirt to get into them. His opponent had closed in, reducing the five meter distance to only one and a half meters as he was spinning circles around him.

The ice ninja was unsure on whether or not he should reveal his Kekkei Genkai this early into the match, but as of right now, it seemed like it would knock his opponent of his speedy feet. a short moment after his opponent began circling him like a ground vulture, his left hand left the grip of his blade as he formed three quick hand signs, meanwhile keeping a close eye on his opponent just in case if he changed his current trail. Under both of the ninja’s feet, a layer of black tinted ice about half a meter thick formed fossilizing the previously thrown shuriken, and covering about six meters with Kuro at the center. The slippery surface would normally cause his opponents to lose their balance and send them crashing into the ground bum first. With the speed his current opponent was going, he was almost certain that he was bound to loose his balance on the icy flooring. Even if he had tried to escape it once he saw that the Genin was up to something, it would be quite difficult to avoid the diameter of the iced ground, considering that The leaf ninja was 1.5 meters away while the ice covered six.

Kuro kept his knees slightly bent to maintain his balance and had a firm grip on his katana, which he still had placed in front of him. He continuously followed his opponent with his head since the match began, waiting for him to slip up before he made a move. Breaking his stance momentarily, he took two careful steps towards the opposite side that Yusuke was on, using the momentum to slide his way towards the edge of the circle while still facing his opponent. He felt the sturdy surface of the dirt beneath his feet before he retook his stance. His right hand maintained a firm grip while his left reached for his ninja pouch. The crowd was going wild, as the battle had now commenced!

Jutsu Used:

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Other Notes:

4/70

Posts : 358

So that’s what he can do . . .

The ice didn’t catch Yusuke off guard like Kuro had hoped, but it did succeed in negatively impacting his footing. As the ice began to form underfoot – presumably, Kuro’s technique did not cause the advanced element to miraculous appear, but instead rapidly accumulated on the ground – Yusuke adjusted his step and shoved his foot down. Taking advantage of the ice’s slippery nature, Yusuke power slid across the surface, gliding away from Kurogane and back onto the relative safety of the dirt. Kuro’s jutsu didn’t cause an embarrassing wipeout like he had hoped, but he succeeded in thwarting any of Yusuke’s attempts at a follow up attack.

Grinding to a halt in the dirt, Yusuke ended up sliding an additional meter away from the little ice skating rink Kurogane had concocted. Crouched low to the ground, Yusuke’s right leg was bent with his left splayed out to his side. His right hand was in the middle of his legs, forward and acting as a tripod to balance his weight. His left arm was thrown out, defiantly posturing in the air. Yusuke studied his opponent carefully.

Kuro had showed his hand. While he was unfamiliar with the specifics, Yusuke understood that Ice was an advanced element that the majority of the ninja community couldn’t tap into. Using an advanced element at Kuro’s age hinted toward a kekkei genkai. Yusuke was fighting someone like himself.

” Neat trick. I have to say, I’m a little disappointed. Is that sword of yours just for show? ”

Yusuke adjusted his stance. Standing up straight, he quarter-pivoted left and faced Kurogane with his right side showing. Extending his right arm, Yusuke showed Kuro the back of his right hand while he hid his left arm behind his back. It was the standard stance for Yusuke’s Strong Fist style of fighting.

It was time to find out what else the Cloud punk could do.

Yusuke dashed forward. At seven meters away, it was wholly possible Kuro would react by utilizing another one of his ice techniques; Yusuke kept out a watchful eye just for that. Nearing Kurogane’s ice rink, energy rushed to Yusuke’s soles². Imbued with chakra, Yusuke’s feet gripped the ground with every single step affording him sure footing and balance upon the ice’s surface. Moving with the same speed he had displayed before³, Yusuke was mindful to execute a speedy but controlled advance as he charged Kuro in a straight line.

Yusuke was anticipating either another display of Ninjutsu or for Kurogane to use his sword in order to keep him at bay. He was prepared for both. Presuming Kurogane was simply overwhelmed by Yusuke’s cocksure swagger and dazzling display of acceleration, however, the Uchiha hero would move in close. Swords had their uses. However, swords also had an effective range. At hand-to-hand range a sword’s length becomes a disadvantage: it becomes hard to maneuver in such close quarters and it’s impossible to build any sort of momentum for a proper cut. At close proximity, the proximity Yusuke was attempting to bring this fight to, knives worked better than swords. So did fists.

Yusuke would try to bypass Kuro’s blade completely. While he kept an arm in reserve – close to his torso and held in a defensive posture across his body – in order to intercept any misguided attempt at a counterattack, Yusuke sent a straight left jab right for Kuro’s gut. With his sword held overhead in that ridiculous position, Kuro had inadvertently left his body open to attack, and Yusuke was attempting to take advantage of that with a vicious³ gut punch. If the punch hit its mark, Kuro would be robbed of air and likely stunned. Shortly after, he’d find himself airborne.

The punch was a set up. Assuming its success, Yusuke’s attack continued. A direct hit to the gut like that would, in all likelihood, force Kuro to double over. With his opponent temporarily stunned and hunched, Yusuke spun around Kuro’s right side and attempted to ensnare his right arm; the dominant arm in control of Kuro’s sword. Grabbing onto Kuro’s wrist and elbow, Yusuke would spin rapidly in order to build momentum and then take advantage of his notable strength by throwing Kuro across the arena. Kurogane would be sent flying four meters into the air. He’d fly on a wide arc through and would, if unimpeded, end up crashing some eight meters away in the dirt.

Yusuke was attempting to bypass Kuro’s Kekkei Genkai with a combination of speed and simplistic attacks. Presently, the ice posed no real danger, but there was little doubt in the Uchiha’s mind that it was a set up for something else. At its worst, Yusuke’s attack would get interrupted somewhere along the way and he would learn more about this Kumogakure shinobi’s mysterious powers. At its best, he’d soften Kuro up for a follow-up attack.

Ninjutsu ⋅ 69/70:

Special Characteristics:

Age : 93 Posts : 369

Valrouge, Kurogane vs. Uchiha Yusuke

Kuro went for his new position the moment he saw his opponent’s speed falter, watching as his opponent slid across the thickening ice. They reached their opposing ends at about the same time. While his technique didn’t throw his opponent into sliding across the ground on his ass, it did cause him to momentarily loose his balance, sliding across the ice on his feet to re-plan his next step. Ultimately, his attack succeeded, and caused his opponent to slow down, even for just a moment for him to skid off the current ice and re-plan his attack. Kuro faced his opponent who had landed to his left carefully repositioned himself into the Seigan No Kamae stance about a meter from the iced ground as his opponent went into his first one.

The sound of the audience seemed mute as they waited for the next phase of the battle to start. The two ninja now stood with a small rink of ice in-between them. The crowd watching with intense silence as they waited for the eight-meter gap to be closed between them.

“ What can I say, I like long things.”

Did he just say that? Yes, he did. A look of regret spread across his face momentarily before he tried to undo his mistake.

“Sharp things… I like Sharp things.”

Nope it was too late. The damage had been done and he’d might as well forfeit the match so he could jump off a bridge and end his streak of bad comments. It’s a good thing the audience was too far to hear him. If they had, we would have moved to an isolated mountain in the lightning country and would have disappeared from the rest of humanity.

Back to the battle, the speedy ninja changed his current battle position to standing at an angle towards him with his right arm extended; his other arm hidden behind his body. Kurogane gripped tightly on the handle of his blade as he tried to figure out what his opponent would do next. There was something that he must have been hiding. Up until now, the black eyed boy had just been toying with him, testing what Kuro would do. The Cloud Genin did exactly that and gave him just a taste of his abilities. Sure, he had come to show him his Kekkei Genkai, but there was much that his opponent didn’t know in terms to the extent of his techniques.

Observing the leaf ninja up until now, Kuro was still in the dark as to many of the boy’s own abilities but he was beginning to get a sense of what he could do. For starters, he was quick. Quicker than most ninja at their level. Kuro would have to be careful and keep an eye on his opponent at all times. Now having a feel as to how fast his opponent could go, it would help him to calculate his counters and attacks later on. Taking account his current stance, it seemed like the boy may specialize in taijutsu as well. Considering his speed, it’d only make sense. Kuro was no hand to hand fighter, but he did specialize in close quarter weaponry. His bade would give him leverage if things got up close and personal.

Here he comes.

The leaf ninja dashed towards Kuro at an enhanced speed compared to that of a regular Genin, running through the iced path with ease. It seemed his current opponent was also a lot smarter than most of their rank as most didn’t use the Kinobori no Waza to walk on the slippery surface. Now familiar with his speed, Kuro was ready as his opponent came at him. The boy didn’t attempt to use any hand seals as he approached closer and closer, but the Cloud ninja was ready for anything. The most obvious bet was probably Taijutsu.

His opponent was closing the distance quickly. Kuro had taken a deep breath at the start of the boy's dash and was exhaling slowly as his opponent quickly approached. His opponent had been toying with him as of now, but he could show his hand at any time. The Cloud Genin had to be ready for anything that the black eyed boy threw at him.

As the boy now crossed into a relatively close distance to Kuro, approximately two meters away and approaching, the Cloud ninja took a right step with his right foot to his two o’ clock. Simultaneously with his step, he bent his knees and twisted his wrist to the left letting the rest of his arm follow suit to bring his Katana to a horizontal position as the boy’s jab was being thrown (also keeping in mind that the blade would have been to the left of the boy’s fist if it had remained vertically). The fist connected with nothing but air, as he would now have to face a sharp blade if he continued to hastily move forward, ultimately cutting deeply into his abdomen. If the ninja did manage to stop in his tracks, Kuro would be following through with his sword anyways, bringing the blade into the boy’s abdomen and slicing forward towards Kuro’s right. Due to the blade’s current height, it would also be quite difficult to duck under or jump over without a part of the boy’s body getting cut up. His current positioning of his right hand would probably also be too awkwardly placed to be of any efficient use in terms to blocking the incoming blade. By the Cloud ninja moving to his right, it meant his arm would also be out of reach in terms to striking Kuro, and there couldn’t be enough force put into knocking the current blade away without being cut.

The attack would be quite gruesome, and possibly render the boy from continuing the battle. If his attack went through, Kuro would take a few steps back from his current position bringing them 5 meters apart with the ice rink about half a meter away to his right. He repositioned his blade in front of him and waited for the boy to move if he was still capable of doing so. His left hand would keep a tight grip on his blade while the other one was loose, ready to form hand signs if need be.

Posts : 358

Our Uchiha leading man had, as was previously stated, moved in a ‘speedy but controlled’ manner precisely because he was anticipating Kurogane to ‘use his sword in order to keep him at bay’. Furthermore, Yusuke wasn’t a moron and had no intention of punching air. Kuro initiated his step from two meters away with the intention of using that katana of his. Based on that fact, he didn’t allow Yusuke to ‘move in close’, which was the predicating factor in Yusuke throwing his jab. Yusuke saw his opponent move, and since Kuro had begun repositioning his sword at the same time as his step, had his aforementioned anticipation (alliterations are awesome) of swordplay confirmed. Therefore, there was no punch.

Instead, there was a draw. Yusuke had predicted Kuro would use his sword, and since he had begun repositioning the blade from over six feet away, Yusuke reacted by drawing a kunai. Yusuke held the blade reverse-style in his right hand, raising the knife in a defensive posture. Kuro’s sword and Yusuke’s kunai collided against each other in an epic clash. Any momentum Yusuke had been carrying was thrown into Kuro’s blade and the force from Kuro’s follow-through reverberated throughout Yusuke’s knife. End result? Both fighters were sent skidding across the dirt in opposite directions.

A small bit of dust was kicked up for dramatic flair, but other than that, Yusuke and Kuro ended up 5 meters away from each other with little undo fuss. Yusuke ended up sliding back onto the ice, for some reason, and was apparently okay with this situation³. Yusuke was in a quarter-squat position with his kunai still held out in front of him, reverse style, at a 45-degree angle. He held the position for a moment before relaxing into a more natural stance, weight on the balls of his feet, knees slightly bent. He was ready to move at a moment’s notice.

That sword is going to be trouble . . .

Getting in close posed a difficulty as long as Kuro was using that sword of his to keep Yusuke at bay. While his kunai afforded him defense against the blade, Kuro’s superior range dictated that Yusuke would have to overwhelm him in order to bypass it. Yusuke’s mind raced, simultaneously conducting analysis and planning. Given the current circumstances he felt confident in assuming he was the faster fighter. He could use that to his advantage. Furthermore, he still had his Sharingan, which he had yet to activate; Yusuke was loath to waste his bloodline in circumstances that didn’t absolutely require its supernatural abilities. He had been tempted to utilize his Doujutsu to examine Kurogane’s ice technique like he had against Inzei’s clay, but it had all happened so fast that by the time Yusuke had the state of mind to do it there was little point.

Finally, Yusuke’s prodigious mind settled on a course of action.

” So are you just going to stand there this whole time or would you actually like to try attacking at some point? ”

Yusuke’s macho display would offend anyone with a reasonable sense of masculine pride. Considering Kuro was about his age, if he was anything like Yusuke, the comment would agitate him, hopefully enough for him to attack. Yusuke was still feeling Kuro out and trying to get a gauge for his opponent’s abilities, he was still trying to discover the opening that he would be able to capitalize on. Standing roughly four meters away, Yusuke kept his kunai held reverse in his right hand and adopted a basic boxing stance; he was even lightly skipping from one foot to the other, antsy, like a fighter in a ring.

” Come on! Go ahead and prove to the audience that Cloud ninjas carry those swords around for more than just overcompensation! ”

How would Kuro react to being taunted publicly about his (probable) small penis? Time would tell.

Ninjutsu ⋅ 68/70:

Age : 93 Posts : 369

Valrouge, Kurogane Vs. Uchiha, Yusuke

Just when Kuro thought he had him, the boy pulled out a kunai and deflected the incoming blade that would have pierced his abdomen. The sound of the two metals clashing could be heard throughout the stadium. The Genin stared into the boy’s black eyes before their clash sent the two backwards. The boy, as well as Kuro, got sent back two and a half meters bringing a total distance of five meters between them.

While Kuro skidded back, he let his left hand leave the grip of his katana and reach for his ninja pouch that was out of sight to Yusuke. This boy was quick on his feet, and by the way he continued to move, it continuously proved that he was probably a Taijutsu user, so it was time to switch up his game. Kuro formed a single hand seal behind his back as he was coming to a complete stop and proceeded to reach into his ninja pouch to prepare his next attack. His fingers worked as his index one twirled around some ninja wire, his hand grabbing a hold of a kunai after swiftly attaching a soft sheet around the handle of the blade. This all occurred in the matter of a few seconds as Kuro was quite familiar with the weapons under his possession. The Cloud Genin continued to observe his opponent, gripping firmly on his katana with his right hand and working with his left while his opponent threw his witty remarks at him. His remarks meant very little to Kuro, who remained unfazed and didn’t even bother to respond. Meanwhile, the heavy snowfall had already commenced. It would’t be long until the next phase of the battle commenced.

While Kuro was prepping his next attack, the snow has started to fall, already starting off heavy, and was only getting worse. It was erupting into a blizzard sending a wintry air throughout the stadium. Due to being a prodigy amongst his clan, it wouldn’t be long until the cold air began to take effect on the boy’s movements, even numbing parts of his body that will continue to be exposed as the battle progresses. His opponent’s vision would also fall short due to the technique. It resembled that of the Hidden Mist jutsu, but with his own personal spin. It was time for Kuro to try and go on the offensive, but he wouldn’t let his guard down around his speedy opponent. Kuro may have given himself a slight advantage through sight and possibly balanced movement speed as the battle progressed, but he didn’t know what his opponent had up his sleeve. Whatever it was, the Genin would continue to fight this battle cautiously.

Getting back to the Genin, Once Kuro had finished his preparation and if his opponent still hadn’t made a move, he would remove his hand from his pouch and throw the kunai at his opponent, aiming low for his left thigh. This attack would have taken place seconds after his opponent made his slick comments. It would be hard at this moment in time for his enemy to see now that the blizzard had picked up fairly well, so blocking the incoming attack would be tougher than usual. Right after throwing the weapon, Kuro twirled his index finger over the tip of his hilt, and making a quick knot to tie it into place before he placed his hand in front of him defensively, ready to act depending on how his attack went. He kept his eye on his opponent as the kunai was approaching quickly. He thought that if he could make contact with this attack, it would slow down his speedy opponent with a leg injury. It was a simple attack, but with a few layers of spice.

Special Characteristics:

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8/70

Posts : 358

Have you ever seen a new color?³ Wouldn’t you want to? As soon as Yusuke noticed the incoming snow his Sharingan flickered into existence. Analyzing the snow, Yusuke immediately noted that Kurogane’s chakra was kneaded into it. Advanced elements didn’t glow before the Sharingan like regular elements did. They shimmered. They danced, off and on, like shooting stars. For a moment, for the briefest fraction of a nanosecond, Yusuke was mesmerized.

Funny how the icy cold hands of death will snap you back into attention.

Yusuke’s cocky boxing stance slowed a bit as he replayed Kurogane’s actions in his head. How had he done that? He had reached behind him, and suddenly—

Yusuke was on the move⁴. Kurogane had somehow summoned a storm without so much as a hand seal (that he could see), and it frightened him. Pushing off of the ice, in an instant Yusuke was dashing away from Kuro’s figure in an impressive display of sprints, hops, handsprings, and skips. Yusuke moved in an unpredictable zigzag pattern – clearly, he was hoping that Kurogane operated on tyrannosaurus logic – during his retreat, alternating between facing Kurogane’s direction and the direction he was headed, until he finally made it to his salvation, the trees.

The noble, powerful, and manly intelligence (read: fear) that had prompted Yusuke’s withdrawal hadn’t been sparked by fear over losing sight of Kurogane. In fact, had he known what this jutsu was, he would have charged Kuro instead. Having never fought a shinobi from the Hidden Mist, Yusuke wasn’t familiar with the jutsu this one had so shamelessly ripped off. Instead, Yusuke’s flight was prompted by another, equally terrifying notion; He’s covering the battlefield in snow. Literally coating the arena to give himself an elemental advantage, Yusuke didn’t want to stick around to see the rest of the Cloud ninja’s plan. Unfortunately, Yusuke became intimately familiar with the jutsu’s true purpose as soon as he took his first step.

He’d taken it stride (literally), but after catching a fleeting glimpse of Kurogane busy vigorously fingering his ninja pouch, Yusuke suddenly realized that his vision was going to be compromised. Trapped within the sudden white out, Yusuke’s sight got progressively worse during his withdrawal until, finally, all of Yusuke’s visual prowess could only summon him 3 – 4 meters of sight. Beyond that, he struggled to make out shapes or objects. Shortly thereafter, he couldn’t see anything at all. Only white.

Fortunately, after what seemed like an adrenaline fueled eternity – but was, in actuality, quite speedy; this was perhaps the fastest he’d moved all fight. Wonderful what a survival instinct and pants-shitting terror can turn into, – Yusuke finally made it back to the cluster of trees on the edge of the battlefield. He had navigated to them by memory. Yusuke’s frenzied dash had put over 100 meters between himself and where Kurogane had been standing; during his movement, he had monitored his surroundings as best he could. Sight, smell, and sound were all compromised, but he was going to do the best that he could with what he had. Upon finally reaching the trees, however, Yusuke dove straight in.

Craftier ninjas than Yusuke had used trees on this very same battlefield to shield themselves from attacks much worse than this one. Yusuke, for his part, had selected a particularly dense cluster; between the vegetation and proximity of the trunks, bushes and thickets and branches and tree trunks shielded him now that he had made it to the other side. As long as he stayed here, he had cover and concealment.

Yusuke stayed on the ground, crouched low, as Kurogane’s blizzard ravaged the battlefield. On the other side of the trees and vegetation, our Uchiha hero had dashed a five meters to his left under cover so he was no longer lined up with the same way he had come in; perks of living in Konoha, running near tree bases and bushes were second nature. When he settled, Yusuke stayed crouched with his back toward the direction he had traveled. If Kurogane tried to get at him from that direction he’d have to move through the trees, and Yusuke would certainly hear him coming. Toward Yusuke’s front, a mere 5 meters away but still just barely visible, was the wall. Then there were his flanks. Yusuke’s head was on a swivel and he monitored those three directions closely. His prodigious eyes darted in every direction and he did what he could to try and pick up on smells and sounds. For now, at least, he was secure in knowing that his magnificent display of godlike speed – when you’re running for your life it helps to constantly reassure yourself in your own abilities; confidence was, perhaps, the only ally Yusuke had with him in this arctic tundra – had undoubtedly secured a lot of distance. Combined with his hiding place, as long as he kept tabs on the directions Kuro could approach him from, he was safe.

Which meant that it was time to do some thinking. Yusuke had sought cover instinctively, but the longer he sat here the more ridiculous it seemed. If the Sharingan couldn’t see through this snow, there was no possible way that brat could. Last he checked, magical snow eyes weren’t a highly sought after doujutsu. Kurogane’s vision was likely almost as compromised as his own, but even if it wasn’t, Yusuke was hiding in the foliage. There was over a foot of vegetation to his back and his immediate sides; there wasn’t a clear line of sight from where Kurogane had been standing when this storm had started (who knew where he had moved since Yusuke’s dash) to where Yusuke was now. He was hidden. Which meant if this Cloud kid wanted to find Yusuke he’d need to use other means. Yusuke racked his brain.

Smell was damn near worthless. The wind this blizzard had kicked up meant that tracking a scent was a fool’s errand. Regardless, Yusuke did periodically take a few generous sniffs. The far likelier approach, however, was that Kuro would try and track him through some kind of sound. That was a terrifying prospect, though it would require quite a bit of skill to do correctly.

Unlike smell, Yusuke noticed that sound was still a very viable tool, though it was marginally compromised. The wind made a hiss and every now and then it caught the branches and shook all the trees around the arena. Yusuke’s proximity to the audience meant that he could hear the occasional groaning, shout, and complaining that everyone in the audience was engaged in – Kurogane certainly wasn’t going to win any fans by freezing everyone. Between all of that, Yusuke had stopped moving. He was confident that Kurogane hadn’t followed him: Yusuke was pretty sure that, by this point, he was faster than his opponent and even if he wasn’t Yusuke had kept an eye out. Finding him by sound alone would take more skill than Yusuke was betting Kurogane possessed. Unfortunately, in this particular instance, he was betting his life on it.

For now, Yusuke stayed hidden and stayed alert. His near-constant movement thus far and natural rugged manliness – again, confidence – meant that he had yet to have been affected by the cold. Yusuke knew that wouldn’t last. Hiding was a useful strategy for now while Kurogane played out whatever game he had in mind, but ultimately he’d have to come up with something, and the sooner he did the better; the kunai in his hand was getting cold.

Bloodline ⋅ 65/70:

Special Characteristic:

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Age : 93 Posts : 369

Valrouge Kurogane vs. Uchiha Yusuke

His opponent’s eyes lid up to a red much like his own, yet they were much different. It was sort of hard to make out completely from the distance between them. Before the Genin could toss his kunai, the boy took off towards the other side of the field in a zig-zag pattern, making his way towards the edge of the arena in what seemed like, an attempt to keep his eyes on Kuro while also making his escape. With the Kumo Genin now having an advantage over the terrain, it seemed like the boy would gain some distance while he reevaluated the current situation. Kuro would be stupid to chase after him. The leaf ninja obviously loved to get up close and personal, and Kuro would try to keep his distance if he could.

Considering The Genin’s technique was inspired from the Hidden Mist Jutsu used in Kirigakure, he was still very much aware of the fleeting boy and maintained his eyes on him. As he made his ‘astonishing’ retreat towards the wall, Kuro left the kunai in his kit and removed his hand. He continued to form a short series of hand seals before a water clone formed two feet from his left, his blade already out. Reaching back into his pouch, he pulled out a tag and attached it at the center of the clone’s back. Without wasting any time, Kuro slid to around the middle of the iced dome and placed another tag down, letting the snow cover it up in the process. The clone remained four meters in front of the original, just in case his opponent had tried to attack and remained as his eyes and ears. If the boy had decided to strike, Kuro would see him before the leaf ninja did.

The Cloud Genin proceeded to make his way towards the direction of his opponent, stepping off the edge of the ice rink. Reaching back into his kit, he pulled out a senbon and put it in-between his lips holding it in place using his teeth. The clone followed suit with his actions and did the same.

Taking a precise few steps, Kuro now found himself 10 meters from where the edge of the ice rink was and bringing himself closer to his opponent. The water clone remained in front of the original by a distance of four meters. Taking a short moment, Kuro twirled his index finger over the tip of his hilt, and making a quick knot to tie it into place; An action he was once previously going to do before his opponent unexpectedly took off. He tugged on the 3-meter wire to make sure that it was tightly placed, and knotted the other edge to his wrist.

The Cloud Ninja was now ready for his opponent who had dashed off into the vegetation that covered the wall. He would have to come out from behind the trees eventually. For now, Kuro would enjoy the wintry breeze against his skin. His opponent should start to feel the bitter touch of it soon enough. It was hard to admit, but he did feel slightly bad for all the viewers in the stands behind him. The Ice user hoped they brought an extra layer of clothing.

Jutsu:

17/70

SCs:

Posts : 358

Apparently, Kurogane enjoyed fighting at the pace of an iceberg. Yusuke smiled at the thought. In the off-handed chance he happened to survive this encounter, he’d be sure to use that one when describing this. For now, however, he had to fix the fact that he couldn’t see.

Yusuke’s Sharingan was of limited usefulness. Secure in the knowledge he could reactivate it next time he made contact with his adversary, Yusuke deactivated his powerful doujutsu and racked his brain. He needed to see his opponent and try to shift the tide of battle in his favor. Also, he needed a coat. Or some gloves; it was getting cold out. Yusuke rubbed his hands together for a moment and contemplated his next course of action while Kuro was off rubbing down perfect replicas of himself hidden behind a veil of snow. Finally, an idea came.

Drawing an explosive seal out of his ninja pouch, Yusuke affixed the seal to the base of the tree he was hiding behind. Leaning forward, Yusuke performed four handseals in rapid succession⁵. Behind the cover of vegetation, a black aura emanated from the boy’s body before evaporating. Yusuke’s aura collected just over his head, still below the treetops and away from Kuro’s prying eyes. The aura had accumulated into a long black cloud, approximately six meters in length. Forming a final seal, Yusuke willed the cloud into the vegetation.

The cloud, security conscious like its creator, floated halfway into the small tree cluster in order to remained concealed before bursting. Popping like a water balloon, the cloud rained down black oil onto the trees, bushes, and ground. Oil had many useful qualities in this particular environment: it didn’t mix with water and therefore couldn’t be diluted by the Cloud saboteur’s snow. It had a much higher freezing point than water and was wholly unaffected by the temperature. Most importantly, it was flammable.

Yusuke jumped toward the wall and made a final seal, activating the tag he had placed on the tree’s base. The trees erupted before the tag could even explode, set on fire by the explosive seal’s very first spark. The section of trees Yusuke had been hiding behind was engulfed in flames. The oil was a strong enough catalyst that the fire could overcome the weather conditions and Yusuke had used enough of it to keep the trees alight for several minutes. When the fire finally did consume the oil it would be hot enough that it would have dried out the trees and could use the wood as a fuel source instead; a whole tree could burn for hours.

Yusuke landed atop the wall, just in front of the audience, facing the arena, down on a knee. The fire’s size accomplished all of Yusuke’s goals. The fire was large enough that it gave off a substantial amount of heat to shield him from the cold and it was hot enough that it was melting all of Kuro’s nearby snow. The heat, coupled with the fire’s intense light, afforded Yusuke a substantial field of vision. Yusuke had accurately identified that, while his opponent’s technique was derivative of an advanced element, the shape manipulation he had employed made it susceptible to a hot enough flame. The fire rapidly grew, reaching a height of fifteen meters and covering the entirety of the tree cluster.

Yusuke’s technique had another added benefit that he hadn’t anticipated. Upon seeing Yusuke land right in front of them and warmed by the fire’s soothing heat, the entire section behind Yusuke immediately started cheering. He didn’t even try to hide his grin. They were shouting and clapping their hands, some people were thanking him. Standing, Yusuke looked out into battlefield. From his vantage point, with the nearby snowstorm buffeted by the fire’s heat, he could barely make out Kuro’s figure. Absorbed with his own theatrics, Yusuke dramatically raised his kunai and aimed the tip at his opponent sending a very clear message: “Come and get me,”

The audience ate it up. Clapping and screaming, they eventually started chanting their savior’s name. ‘YUSUKE, YUSUKE, YUSUKE,’ began echoing throughout the entire stadium. He was a hero, he was warm, and (in his area) he could see again. Yusuke was back in the fight.

Ninjutsu ⋅ 60/70:

Age : 93 Posts : 369

Valrouge, Kurogane Vs. Uchiha, Yusuke

The amount of snow that had gathered on the ground was enough to cover the whole field in a soft layer of white that covered a little over the ankles. The Genin and his partner waited patiently for a sign of of the boy who hid behind the trees like some sort of animal that hibernated during the winter months. It became apparent that he must have not had a lot of experience with snow if this was the way it caused him to react. He had been so sure of himself during the early stages of the battle, initiating an attack on two occasions, yet now he hid half across the stadium.

Though, what seemed like a long time of bathing in the snow was actually a brief period as the rabbit finally came out of his hole. From the distance, Kuro could barely see a familiar technique that he possessed as well. The jutsu had been fairly hidden within the trees, but made its appearance quite clear right before it coated the bark in a layer of oil. Connecting two and two, he knew what came next. A flame took over one of the trees before an explosion echoed throughout the stadium. It wasn’t long before the trees that the leaf ninja hid in all busted into flames.

The leaf ninja did a jump that even Jesus would be surprised by, seemingly being able to jump over five stories into the air and landing on the top of the wall. It was truly a Christmas miracle. One could almost see the slow montage playing as he so gracefully moved through the air and in front of the crowd, who were now choking on the smoke that began to invade their breathing space. Eventually between coughs, they would be able to somehow chant his name.

Over coughing of the crowd behind the boy, Kuro could see him take out a kunai and point it towards his general direction. By the looks of things, it would seem the leaf ninja expected Kuro to come after him in some miraculous feat similar to his own such as levitating through the air. While there was a chance of it being quite possible, it would surely be accomplished by some sort of jutsu that The Genin didn’t quite possess. Instead, Kuro took four hops back, each covering about 3 meters. His clone followed suit, so that he remained 4 meters in front of him.

Considering the reach of the flames wouldn’t go any further than 5 meters, Most of the snow would be safe from hell’s touch. Not wanting to waste his chakra, The Cloud Ninja cancelled his technique as the snow began to fall at a slower pace before stopping completely, clearing up the view for the audience as well as his opponent. The clouded sky brought by the snowstorm as well as the moderately chilly temperature would keep his already formed snow present for quite some bit, letting him maintain his elemental advantage.

The over the top ninja who took pride in his recent accomplishment must have felt quite tall for once in his life, standing on the top of the wall of the stadium. Kuro had no intention of going up there, so he decided to wait instead to see if the cat would make his way down from the tree. He kept his eyes close on what his opponent would do next.

Posts : 358

In the post fight interview Yusuke would be sure to comment on his foe’s crippling inferiority complex.

For starters, he had either been incapable or unwilling to follow Yusuke up the wall. That either meant he was a coward – obviously – or that he couldn’t do something as simple as jump. Genin other than Yusuke had made it very near the top of these particular walls before with a backflip. It was absurd to believe that Yusuke or anyone other shinobi couldn’t surpass that with a fully fledged jump. The fact that Kuro displayed such hesitation to even attempt it proved, at least to Yusuke, that he was woefully inept and not at all in touch with his own abilities.

Actually, that explains a lot . . .

Yusuke did, in fact, hear the cough. Of course, from his closer (and more accurate) perspective, he only heard one person cough. No doubt that person was as much of a miserable twat as Kurogane was. Maybe they were just as stupid as he was, too. Considering the flames only reached a height of fifteen meters as was previously stated, and the wall was significantly higher, it was utterly ridiculous to suggest that a patch of forest would somehow choke off an open-air stadium. Maybe someone in the crowd had a particular allergy or something. That must have been it. Otherwise, anyone with half a brain would be able to tell that no one would be coughing as a result of Yusuke’s actions. It just didn’t make sense.

Truth-be-told, however, Yusuke was getting frustrated too. The pace of this battle felt like it was taking hours – roughly 69.5 hours between actions, or so it felt like – and Kuro still couldn’t summon the testicular fortitude to attack. He had taken so long to do ANYTHING, and THIS was what he did? No matter, Yusuke was overflowing with the raw masculinity to make things happen. Unfortunately, he’d have to wait. Truly, Kuro’s jutsu was impressive: in the span of a few seconds he could cause a whiteout that covered the stadium, in a few minutes he could douse it with snow, and even AFTER he quit focusing on the jutsu the environmental effects were still in play. Yusuke took solace in the fact his world would never fall victim to global warming with such an obnoxiously powerful ice-based adversary lingering around. Still, Yusuke had no intention of foraging his way down into the ice pits. Since Kurogane obviously was too much of a bitch to do anything, Yusuke felt rather safe on his concrete perch and went so far as to haphazardly scratch his nuts in a brazen display of the boredom, disappointment, disrespect, and contempt he held for this so called ‘ninja’.

As luck would have it, it turned out he wouldn’t be waiting too long. It turns out that ‘quite some bit’ isn’t a definitive measurement of time and (as Yusuke might have guessed) the fact Kurogane was no longer exuding chakra meant that his jutsu could no longer overwhelm the entire ecosystem. Within a few minutes the sun punched through Kurogane’s lingering clouds and assaulted the battlefield with its oppressive rays. By Yusuke’s estimate, it only took four and a half minutes for the battlefield to be returned to its previous, temperate state – albeit a fair bit soggier, with a delightfully raging fire.

Time to start the party.

Yusuke descended⁶ from the wall with a triumphant fury. The sprint down the wall served as an effort to build speed; if Kuro thought that Yusuke was fast before, he was only now finally seeing him at top form⁷. Yusuke hit the ground and the force of his impact sent up a tremendous cloud of dust and muck. Dashing counterclockwise around the course, staying near the wall, Yusuke ran along the opposite side of the trees, which broke up his silhouette. If Kurogane was truly as slow and pathetic as Yusuke was pegging him for, there was little chance he would be able to accurately witness the Uchiha’s calamitous actions. By contrast, Yusuke witnessed everything⁸.

Our Uchiha protagonist ended up flanking Kuro along his right side. A part from the general direction he was coming from, Yusuke purposefully designed his technique so that Kuro would only be privy to one additional piece of information: Yusuke missed a beat. That was it. One beat. Assuming Kuro had been following Yusuke best he could, he would undoubtedly notice that Yusuke’s form suddenly halted somewhere behind another patch of vegetation. Not for very long, of course. Yusuke wasn’t the slow and steady type. No, while he had forfeited the tremendous speed burst/camouflaged combo that (in all likelihood) confused and disoriented Kurogane, Yusuke came bursting out of the trees with a surprise: himself⁹.

Double the Yusukes, double the awesome fighting powah! While Kurogane had elected to double the suck by making a Mizu Bunshin, Yusuke recognized his technique from afar, had offered a derisive snort – sadly, given their range/Yusuke’s speed, his snort had been inaudible. But it had happened nonetheless, and it had been quite derisive in nature, and therefore deserved mention. – and decided to respond in the most Uchiha way possible: by copying him. The twin Yusukes burst forth in a deadly duo so handsome it would floor a nun. Amidst a flurry of leaves, the Leaf Nin had entered their battlefield anew and, thanks to the fact Kurogane moved like old people fucked, had plenty of distance with which to build up speed. Within twenty meters they had built up enough speed to make themselves dangerously unpredictable.

The Yusukes were identical in every way possible. Running four meters a part – Yusuke had run around Kurogane’s right which meant that, barring any further movement on the Cloud ninja’s part, Kurogane’s clone was now four meters to his left – they were seeking to engage their respective Cloud foe’s head on. Unbeknownst to Kuro, however, Yusuke had an ace up his sleeve: he knew which Cloud punk was which. While Kurogane had no possible way of telling the Uchiha duo a part, Yusuke’s visual prowess afforded him intimate knowledge of Ninjutsu. He knew exactly where the real Kurogane was while Kurogane knew neither the location of the real Yusuke or that his opponent had identified him. Score one for the Sharingan.

Truth be told, Yusuke had Kurogane to thank for making this entire attack possible. Pulling water clones out of thin air was very hard work for a Genin, most couldn’t do it at all. But Kurogane had been kind enough to make the entire arena moist. While the ground below hadn’t been trampled enough to be muddy or affect one’s footing, the grass and dirt had enough water saturation that it could be used for low-level, basic Suiton techniques like water clones. That was exactly what Yusuke had done. Otherwise, it would have taken more time to concoct his little doppelganger and his attack would have lost more than just one beat.

As it was, however, the Yusukes were closing in on Kurogane at an alarming rate. Preparing for close quarters combat, the Yusukes kept their wits about them and scanned the Kuroganes closely. Yusuke remembered how his opponent had seemingly summoned the snowstorm without a single handseal, and he was therefore paying particular attention to his opponent’s chakra signature – he remembered the color that Hyoton made. If Kuro tried a similar trick, he’d be ready.

Assuming Kuro did nothing, however, the Yusukes stalked the Cloud ninjas like prey. Moving in tandem, they would both engage their respective opponents the same way, at the same time: keeping an eye on the sword, the pair kept their kunai at the ready in order to intercept/counter Kuro’s defenses. Once countered, they would move inside, close to Kurogane, at which point they would deliver a boneshattering¹⁰ gut shot. Frankly, it didn’t matter which Kurogane was which and the identical way in which both the Yusukes were operating made a very convincing show that Yusuke couldn’t tell Kurogane a part.

If Kurogane did nothing, he would be engaged and have the wind knocked out of him – a prelude for a more orchestrated, more punishing Taijutsu assault – while his clone would be destroyed. If he took action while Yusuke was en route, the Sharingan would afford him the perceptive clarity to adjust his actions ably. Yusuke, unlike his opponent, had come here to fight, not to stand in the middle of the arena and barely move. He had no doubt the differences in their two ideologies would be a deciding factor in this bout’s ultimate outcome.

Bloodline ⋅ 50/70:

Ninjutsu:

Special Characteristics:

Out Of Character Information:

Age : 93 Posts : 369

Valrouge, Kurogane vs. Yusuke, Uchiha

The stand off had lasted quite long between Kuro and his opponent. Almost long enough for their to be an episodic flashback from start to finish on the childhood of the two ninja. In that time, the clouds began to part, exposing the sun on the delicate snow. The snow would have melted fairly quickly, but with the form of a single hand sign, the frozen particles fell once again, but in a calmer manner compared to the last time. With this jutsu, The Genin would prevent the sun from stripping him from his elemental advantage.

Keeping one hand free, Yusuke dashed down. Expecting him to run towards him, the Genin took a big step back, covering a meter but was surprised when his opponent sprinted to his right. Kuro turned his body, following the speedy ninja who ran behind the trees while keeping his katana ready, just in case the boy charged at him as did his clone. He was fast, but not fast enough to lose track of. It wasn’t until he traveled 3 quarters of the field that he dashed towards Kurogane, and now there were two of them. It seemed like Yusuke wanted to even out the playing field, 2v2.

Close to the initial start of the duo Yusukes charge towards Kuro, The Cloud Genin along with his clone took a leap back covering four meters. The two ninja prepared for the attack as the two Yusukes were now closing in the incredibly large distance. The Genin waited until the Yusuke that was approaching him was over the explosive note he set earlier, before he formed a single hand sign, setting it off. Luckily, The note had been hidden under a layer of snow, making its existence unknown to the leaf ninja. The blast would send shards of ice from the rink to launch into the air, the explosion itself would do quite some damage and cripple the boy’s speed.

If successful in breaking the boy’s attack, Kuro would continue his streak of hand signs as the ice shards that were in the air sharpened to half the size of shuriken and launched at the other Yusuke who was approaching his clone. The second Kuro would be preparing himself to intercept the incoming punch. Using the katana’s reach, the clone swung the blade horizontally while reaching for his sheathe with his other hand. While this happened, the shards would puncture the leaf ninja, reverting him back to his liquid state. If the Yusuke had managed to somehow block the attack, the clone would have grabbed the sheath and use it to either finish off the present ninja. Throughout this, the real Kuro would keep his eye on the recovering Yusuke in case he tried to counter somehow.

Jutsu Used:

23/70

SCs used:

Posts : 358

Yusuke had noticed it thanks to his Sharingan, but Kuro had been too preoccupied with Yusuke’s actions: he was standing atop his own ice rink.

Taking a precise few steps, Kuro now found himself 10 meters from where the edge of the ice rink was and bringing himself closer to his opponent.

Instead, Kuro took four hops back, each covering about 3 meters.

He had moved 10 meters away from the ice rink, then back peddled 12 meters. He was 2 meters into his own ice.

As soon as Kuro went to jump away from Yusuke, he would undoubtedly find himself victim to his own jutsu. The snow had been able to introduce enough friction to keep Kuro from falling thus far, but attempting to make a comparatively large leap right on top of his ice rink would certainly create problems. The boy’s elemental affinity may have helped him against his jutsus cold, but there was no way it could save him from slipperiness. No, barring a suspension in the laws of physics, as soon as Kuro went to jump he would fall flat on his back. And to think, none of this would have happened if Kurogane hadn’t been so keen on keeping his ice around, or on retreating.

Yusuke’s Sharingan would likely observe his opponent’s body lose footing, and since Kurogane had been relatively confident in his jump/plan, there was simply no way his form was prepared for the sudden fall. To Yusuke’s eyes, it would appear that both of Kuro’s feet shot out from under him due to the ice’s slickness. Yusuke’s Sharingan predicted Kurogane’s figure would fall flat on its back; since Kuro was so woefully unprepared for that fact this fall was probably going to hurt. Yusuke guessed Kuro’s head would crack against the ice, which would undoubtedly daze him for a moment. Even if it didn’t, there was still a chance the fall would knock the air out of him. Kurogane had stunned himself.

The only factor working toward the Cloud ninja’s advantage was the fact he had attempted his jump when Yusuke was still approximately 100 meters away. Unfortunately, the distance wouldn’t be enough to save him. Kuro and his clone had sought to leap back at the same time, and since Kuro’s clone had been 4 meters to his right and therefore not on top of the ice, the clone successfully completed its leap while its creator fell. The clone was now a total of 8 meters away from its master and, having been preoccupied with its own movements, likely just as its surprised as the original Kuro at his fall. While Yusuke watched everything unfold, Kuro’s clone was playing catch up; it was going to be a second or two behind Yusuke’s malicious actions. If Kuro thought that the fall – the fall that would almost definitely surprise him, injure him in some fashion, and stun him – hurt, he had another thing coming.

Yusuke’s Sharingan afforded him the clarity to envision Kurogane’s fall as soon as it started to happen. Witnessing his opponent’s buffoonery, Yusuke correctly identified this as his moment – he had to win right now, right here. Stepping it up as best he could¹¹, Yusuke quickly hurled his kunai with all of his might¹², sending the knife flying at a greater velocity than normal. It was a long throw, but with Yusuke’s bloodline-enhanced accuracy and superior strength he could pull it off; after all, ninja tools could be employed at very great ranges. Given Kurogane’s state of shock, Yusuke was confident that the kunai was going to find its mark. The Cloud ninja would be unable to see the throw and likely be unaware of the incoming blade until it was too late, no doubt preoccupied in his brief conflict with gravity. By the time Kurogane was recovering from his fall and aware, the kunai would be upon him. With his feet toward Yusuke, his sword unprepared to block, and his hands preoccupied holding onto the strange wire/sword monstrosity Kuro had constructed, Yusuke could not envision a scenario in which his blade did not hit its mark: Kurogane’s groin. Barring any alteration in its trajectory, the throwing knife would bury itself three inches into the apex of Kuro’s left thigh, just a few centimeters below where the inside of his leg met his pelvis.

Kuro’s clone could, perhaps, attempt a last-minute saving effort, but it wouldn’t matter if it did. Yusuke’s water clone still had its kunai and was locked onto Kurogane’s doppelganger. From 8 meters away, if the clone tried to jump toward its masters defense Yusuke’s clone would throw its own blade to intercept it. Whether it hit the clone or not, it would certainly interrupt its advance long enough to let Yusuke’s kunai hit its mark. If Kurogane’s clone tried to draw and throw a kunai to intercept Yusuke’s, blade, the rapidly advancing Water Clone-Yusuke would throw its own kunai to intercept Water Clone-Kuro’s. Kurogane was helpless.

Ultimately, though, it wouldn’t matter if a miracle saved Kurogane or not. Yusuke was gaining on him.

Having began his doomed leap “close to the initial start of the duo Yusukes charge” it was fair to assume Yusuke had gotten some ground covered before Kuro’s calamitous fall. Supposing approximately 10 meters, with Kuro’s fall prompting him to kick it into overdrive, Yusuke only had about 90 meters to cover to be right on top of Kurogane. Fortunately, for Yusuke’s sake, he only had to go 85. A regular human could cover 85 meters in a straight-line dash in a matter of seconds. A particularly quick shinobi, unimpeded, sprinting in a straight line? Kurogane was going to wish he had done more to halt Yusuke’s advance.

After letting the kunai fly and with his own clone focused on that hot clone-on-clone action (read: on intercepting Kuro’s clone), Yusuke’s hands came together and formed a quick series of handseals while his feet closed the distance toward the fallen Yuki as best they could. Three handseals was all it took. Bringing his left hand up to his lips, Yusuke drew a powerful breath. Once he was five meters away from his fallen (and likely stabbed) foe’s position, Yusuke released an awe-inspiring fireball.

” Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!¹³ ”

If there was one technique Yusuke could be said to have truly mastered, it was this: Goukakyu no Jutsu, the Uchiha Clan’s signature attack. Blasting a colossal fireball, Yusuke was confident in his attack’s success. The fireball, a gigantic sphere with a three-meter diameter, flew toward Kurogane at a terrifying speed. Fire’s advantage as an element was its raw power; this attack simply destroyed everything in its path. Yusuke launched the fireball from a crouched position, aiming it low to the ground. The blast’s bottom edge skimmed the ground’s surface, not deep enough to affect its speed in any meaningful way, but the perfect trajectory for a fallen opponent. A physically able adversary would find this attack difficult to evade given its close-proximity and ballistic speed, Kurogane – who was, in all likelihood, still ice-bound and quite possibly impaled – had virtually no chance of completely escaping its wrath.

Should the attack hit as Yusuke expected it to, the fire would consume Kuro’s entire form. The boy would be left with second and third degree burns across his body and the fireball’s concussive force would crack his comparatively fragile bones. The pain would be unimaginable. Surely, there was a good chance this attack would kill him.

Yusuke devoted his attention to the attack while his clone remained in line with him on security detail. Witnessing its master’s death, there was a strong chance that Kurogane’s clone was going to take some sort of preventative measure. Yusuke’s clone was there to stop that. Fully prepared to intervene on Yusuke’s behalf, the clone’s principle concern was its creator’s security, but a very close second was to ensure Yusuke’s success. If that meant it had to forfeit its own existence just to slow down the opposing clone long enough to guarantee Yusuke’s hit, it definitely would.

Kurogane had lost track of the battlefield. Unaware that he had been on his own ice, his fall was practically guaranteed. The shock of suddenly losing his footing, coupled with the pain of crashing down onto the ice’s unforgiving surface, would undoubtedly break his concentration. It was unlikely that Yusuke’s kunai would find any resistance that his clone could not intercept with its own, and even less likely that Kurogane would be able to scramble himself to a maneuverable position before Yusuke’s speed had closed the distance. Kurogane had surprise, pain, and knives to deal with. Whatever plan he had formulated to counteract Yusuke had almost certainly failed. Yusuke, by contrast, had not adjusted his movement at all and had been able to think cooly, calmly, and adjust his plan of attack accordingly.

This was Yusuke’s moment.

Bloodline ⋅ 43/70:

Special Characteristics:

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Posts : 257

Valrogue, Kurogane has withdrawn due to extenuating circumstances which makes Uchiha, Yusuke the victor.