Gaishū Isshoku [Daedalus]

Age : 32 Posts : 1178

He had gotten what he wanted, or at least, he had gotten some of what he wanted. Hiruzen had been aiming to fight both of the Konoha Shinobi, though he only really got to fight one of them right now. He had not expected Mana to actually fight him, he knew that she was not the type to enjoy fighting, not even when it was for the sake of self improvement and freshen up one's fighting style. For the Uchiha, that did not really apply. He did too much fighting to ever get rusty, proving that it was all about fun and games for him. Hiruzen truly enjoyed a good fight, to get his blood pumping a little bit faster while he had to use every single one of his senses and skills to keep himself from getting harmed, all the while trying to inflict harm unto his target. Fighting was a way to assert dominance, to learn more about oneself and to educate yourself further by studying and learning from the opponent. As an Uchiha, and a prodigy even by their standards, he learned things at an alarming rate, which was why most people would not fight against him.

The smarter ones chose not to fight him because of the fact that he might beat them, but because they would end up making him even stronger. That was after all the problem one faced when dealing with the fully evolved Sharingan and a person with a very high IQ. Years had been spent mastering the Sharingan as well as other perceptive skills to make sure that there would not be a single thing would pass him by unseen. Since it had been Meiko that taught him some of the basics of weaponry based combat before he took over on training himself, he had a thing or two he wanted to show her. His training had taken him to some of the far corners of the world, working with different kinds of people and learning how to keep his motives hidden for the sake of getting what he needed. Learning how to manipulate people had always been a thing he hated, though he had come to understand that things like that were required for the sake of personal progress. Luckily, he did not have to manipulate people often, and he did not need to manipulate people like Meiko to get what he wanted.

As they wandered into the area Hiruzen had chosen, the three shinobi were surrounded by tall cliffs that would block out all sight from those outside of their direct environment. The good thing about all of this was the fact that the cliffs would act as a shield that would contain most of the sound. This way, only those that were truly close to the cliffs would hear what might go down in the crater-like landscape. The area within the cliffs was roughly three hundred meters wide, littered with rocks and small crevices one might step into when not paying enough attention to their surroundings. The cliffs were all roughly the same height, reaching up roughly sixty meters. Whether an actual meteor had crashed into the ground to turn the area into what it looked now was something he did not know for sure, though it would explain a lot. Truth be told, a lot of the damage to the land had been caused when he was training with his Soukou Seifuku technique. But even before he had come here, the terrain had been beaten and battered as if it had been a battleground in the past. Stopping in his tracks, he turned his attention to the two Kunoichi.

"I think this would be the best place to give it a go. The high cliffs will dampen or contain most of the sound and keep outsiders from getting drawn here. I've used this place before when training some of my more powerful jutsu, so I know for a fact that we will be left alone. I'd say the obvious rules of a spar would count. No killing, severing limbs or intentionally inflicting lasting trauma. You okay with that?".

Once Hiruzen was done talking, Mana put some distance between her and Meiko so that she would not get in the way or get drawn into the fight against her will. She had made her choice and stated that she would not get involved unless she really had to for Meiko's sake, probably believing that Hiruzen might have troubles containing his power once he got too excited. In a way, it was not a bad thing to think, and while he knew that she most likely meant that she would help her in case Hiruzen proved to be too much to deal with, he knew that it was an unspoken thing in the back of her mind. He could not blame people for thinking what they did, after all, he had changed quite a bit since he had last seen the both of them. So much even that Mana particularly looked at him like he had become an entirely different person. In doing so, she was right. Hiruzen had become a different person bearing the same name and the same face, yet with an entirely new set of skills and a very different mindset. The mindset he possessed was that of a person that understood the way the world worked but chose to make the best out of it for himself.

It was something a lot of people had no appreciation for, though that was because they had yet to figure out exactly how the world around them worked and how that same world was using them. The villages, their leaders, their councils and their nobles, they were all leeches that took everything from the people that bled for them, all the while taking everything for granted. If Hiruzen was going to bleed, he would do it on his own terms, doing something he wanted to do. Whether people like Meiko and Mana would ever understand this or not, or if they already knew but chose to keep doing what they did was not something he could plan for. All he knew was that he was not going to try to change their minds as they could think for themselves and make their own decisions. After all, they were all pretty much grown-ups now. Unbuttoning his cloak and tossing it in Mana's direction where he knew it would go mostly unharmed, he cracked his neck and knuckles before activating and aiming his Sharingan in Meiko's direction. Forming the seal of confrontation as was tradition for a spar, he let Meiko know that he was ready to fight honorably.

"Whenever you are ready, feel free to get this show on the road. Since you are the lady, i'll let you have the first move, so try not to disappoint.".

Speaking in a joking and somewhat mocking tone of voice, he knew better than to think that such petty provocations would get to her. Still, it was something he had gotten rather accustomed to over the past couple of years, and habits had a tendency of showing up as often as they could. Letting his chakra leak out, the vibrant violet hue rose around his body in an almost haunting manner. Many had turned around and ran for their lives just by witnessing it while most of the people with a fighters background knew enough never to engage the owner of the dense and sinister chakra signature. It had made things far too boring for him, so he really needed this spar to be fun.

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The trip to the battlefield was a long and silent one, the tension between Mana and Hiruzen made sure of that. Honestly, Meiko was rather thankful for it too, it allowed her to devote her full attention to the battle ahead. Due to Mana's distaste for fighting, Meiko would be going at it alone. At the very least, her friend would interfere should things get out of hand, although if it came to that, it would just prove that Meiko was still just as weak as ever. No, she could not think that way, not now. The Parahambla were just over the horizon, threatening their very way of life. If Meiko started doubting herself now, she might as well pack up her things and return to Konoha in shame. She had to think of this as not a test, nor display of skill. This was just a warm up for the real battles ahead. Hiruzen was a fine example of the pinnacle of a Shinobi and the Parahambla were supposed to be as scary, if not more so than him. This fight would give her a good idea as to what she could expect.

In her mind, Meiko was taking inventory of all her equipment. Right now, she would have appeared to be practically unarmed to Hiruzen. Outside of her two kits on her back, she was wearing simple civilian clothes. While it was impossible for someone like Hiruzen to underestimate someone, it would at least grant her an element of surprise. Unfortunately, one trick in the deck was not going to give her too much of an advantage. Hiruzen had skill, experience and talent, the latter of which Meiko severely lacked.

The battlefield Hiruzen had chosen certainly appeared as though it had taken its fair share of beatings over the years. The area itself was massive, at least three hundred meters wide, it was clearly an old crater. The interior was littered with smaller craters and debris from battles long gone. A few patches of grass and some plants struggled to grow here, but for the most part nature had abandoned this place. Dirt and stone ruled here, an earth user's paradise. Sadly, that was an element Hiruzen was quite fluent in. Their last spar had him using only a clone to fight off both herself and Kiyomi, what an embarrassment that was.

Once he had deemed they had moved far enough into the crater, Hiruzen turned to the two girls and gave a brief explanation as to why he chose this place before laying the ground rules. "Those are the rules I always go by, so of course." That said, it did make Meiko's job that much harder. Her strength relied on overwhelming force, something she would have to cut back severely in order to not harm Hiruzen. Of course, against an opponent like him, holding back was not much of an option.

At this point, Mana made her way off to the sidelines to observe and intervene if necessary. Hiruzen then removed his cloak before activating his Sharingan and taunting Meiko. "What a gentleman, care to take the first hit too?" Meiko returned the seal and just like that, the spar began.

Her opening move was a rather simple one, practically all shinobi she had seen would open spars with a move like this. Releasing the seal, Meiko's arms became a blur as she reached into the kits on her back, drawing and throwing several kunai in a single, fluid motion. She had trained long and hard to achieve this speed but knew it was pointless. Any ninja worth their salt would never be hit by a kunai. Someone like Hiruzen could likely dodge ten times this amount without issue. Of course, the kunai were merely a distraction. A total of ten were thrown, of which, half were aimed directly at Hiruzen while two split to strike left and right should he simply sidestep the bulk of them. The final kunai had been thrown skyward. Thanks to Meiko's strength, it would be some time before it came back down again. As for the rest of them, their speed would be so great that they would be practically invisible to the naked eye.

The real threat in this opening was the three senbon thrown immediately behind the kunai. Using the Shadow Shuriken technique they were both hidden by the kunai's shadow and size. Said senbon were each equipped with an explosive tag. A single senbon had been thrown in each direction, one aimed at Hiruzen himself and two that would move to his sides. She did not expect these to hit him either, instead, the moment Hiruzen reacted to the Kunai, Meiko would detonate them. At the very least, the blast waves would distract Hiruzen for a fraction of a second. With luck, the blast would also blind his vision for a short period too.

During this brief window, Meiko would focus a minuscule amount of chakra to her chest, activating the seal. A small cloud then burst from her right wrist as a new weapon materialized itself. At the same time, a second, smaller cloud appeared on her back. Just above her kits materialized a small dagger still in its sheath. The moment her Serpent's Tongue had manifested, it was launched into action. Thrusting her fist forward, she fired the weapon just like a snake's bite. The bladed tip was initially aimed directly at Hiruzen, yet through some simple chakra manipulation, she would be able to guide it with such accuracy it would appear as though it had a mind of its own. So long as Hiruzen remained within the 15 meter range of the chain, it could continue to strike at him with near impunity.

The main attacks were simply, high speed lunges but Meiko was aiming more to limit Hiruzen's movements. One wrong step and the chain could catch him allowing her to restrain him. Likewise, too shallow of a dodge would result in her pulling the chain back, using the back hooks on the blade to catch him that way. During this assault, Meiko would not simply remain immobile. Two meters to her left was a decent size rock. Running to it, the red head lightly hopped on top before rocketing herself skyward. Normally, most shinobi would be quire vulnerable being airborne like this but Meiko had many more tricks up her sleeve. Right now, she wanted to see how Hiruzen would react.

During their first spar, Meiko had held too much back and allowed Hiruzen to dictate the fight. By the time she was ready to go, he had already ended it. Not this time.

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Age : 32 Posts : 1178

Once the seal of confrontation had been returned, it was time for the spar to begin. As he said he would, he let Meiko have the first move. All of his senses were fixated on the Kunoichi and the moves she made. Following every move she made, his eyes would not be fooled by simple tricks. Reaching down in an instant, Hiruzen tossed two Kunai with both hands in a direction that might not have made sense to his opponent straight away. The Uchiha however, knew exactly why he did what he did. After reading her moves and knowing the trajectory of every Kunai thrown, he knew roughly how long it would take for each one of them to get to a specific spot. Probably unknown to her, it was these spots that Hiruzen aimed for. Moments after he tossed his Kunai, they made contact with Meiko's Kunai. Having taken her physical strength into consideration, he aimed at a point just below the tip of the Kunai to send them outward.

Had he aimed directly for the Kunai, Meiko's would have just knocked his out of the sky while only being slightly phased as a result of the clear difference in physical power between the two. Sending the four Kunai that were aimed directly for him out of the way, his own got redirected inward. Aiming to take out the Senbon Meiko tried to hide in the shadow of the Kunai. Had she been fighting anyone else, it would have been a very solid attack, but for someone with a Sharingan as developed as his own, things in his direct line of sight would never be hidden. Realizing that Meiko had anticipated that he would see through it, explosive notes attached to the Senbon exploded, sending the remaining projectiles all over the place as mere shrapnel. Creating a cloud of smoke and dust, the things he could see with his Sharingan were reduced to the lowest possible point when it came down to seeing what was happening right in front of him.

Focusing on his other senses instead, he used his sixth sense along with his hearing to keep track of footsteps and any other sound he might pick up. While his ears were attempting to pick up whatever might happen, his sensory ability managed to pin Meiko down in the same spot she had been before. Taking note of a drop in her chakra through his sensory, he lowered his right hand to the height of his waist. Once vision returned to normal with the settling of the dust a few moments after it had formed, he could see a new weapon that had appeared into Meiko's possession. Knowing now that the earlier use of chakra had been to undoubtedly summon the weapon she was wielding now, it at least went to explain what he had not been able to see before. Thanks to his ocular prowess, Hiruzen could clearly see the chakra running through the weapon before it was being used against him. When it came at him, it seemed like a bladed tip attached to a long chain.

Capable of guessing the trajectory a bit, he used his evasive maneuvering skills to dodge the first attack, only to find out that the weapon itself seemed to defy what Hiruzen believed it to be capable of. Moving through the air unlike any weapon he had seen at this point, Hiruzen reached for his sword when it came at him yet again. Following the teachings of Iaido, he rapidly unsheathed his blade and redirected the tip of the chain into the ground. Wasting no time, he cut it yet again to sever the "head of the snake" and render the weapon unable to attack, or "pointless". As soon as he was done cutting it, his ears alerted him to the fact that Meiko was on the move. Placing the blade back in its scabbard, he looked to the location where he heard the footsteps. Noticing her move up one of the larger rocks and setting off, the Uchiha wasted no time. Taking one of his explosive Kunai, he calculated her trajectory and tossed it at the point she would reach within moments. Tossing it with a slight curve, it would come down on her from above so it would not fall short.

Preparing himself to let it blow as soon as it got close enough to deal some damage, he was ready for most of the things she might throw at him in return. So far, he was enjoying where this fight was headed. Last time they went at it, she had not been able to do much due to Kiyomi taking up a lot of the attention and being inside of a broken and burning building. Having already used his sword once, he was planning on using it a lot more often.

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As expected, Hiruzen was unfazed by Meiko's opening volley. Although his method of counterattack was insanely on point. He was able to intercept all the kunai that were aimed at him with kunai of his own. What was more impressive was his ability to divert their trajectory despite the fact that Meiko's kunai had much more force behind them. He had even seen through the hidden senbon. Had Meiko not detonated them when she did, he would have negated her entire attack in an instant. To have that level of accuracy, even with Meiko's training it would be a difficult feat to perform. Yet he still did it with minimal effort. Must be nice to have that amount of talent.

Still, she had planned for that outcome and immediately followed up with her Serpent's Tongue. The first attack was dodged with a simple sidestep, but when the blade immediately curved in the air, Hiruzen's attention was diverted from herself. That was when she started running. Her hope with her current attack was to restrict and bind Hiruzen's movements, but he obviously had no intention of simply evading the entire time. Keeping her focus on Hiruzen as she approached the rock, she was just able to see the flash of his katana as he drew it from the scabbard.

The clang of metal on metal echoed throughout the crater as Hiruzen's strike diverted Meiko's blade and forced it into the ground. As he raised his arms for the second strike, Meiko could tell what Hiruzen was about to do. There was no way to salvage her Serpent's Tongue, but at the very least she could get one possible hit on her opponent. Since it had been driven into the stone, all momentum the weapon had was lost so she simply cancelled her jutsu rather than waste more chakra. Instead, she sent a violent whip through the chain. By the time Hiruzen would cut through it, the chain would lash up into his face. Any damage would be superficial, at best she might scratch an eye, but it was something.

As she vaulted off the rock and into the air, Hiruzen's attention turned back to her. Even if he was hit by the chain, it would not likely disable his attack. Hiruzen however, was not the only one who could accurately predict the flight path of projectiles and while her eyes were no Sharingan, she had trained herself, along with Mana, to spot small details. Details like the explosive tag tied to it. As the kunai was looping around to drop down on Meiko, her hands came together creating a single seal just as she came within range of the explosion. The moment the tag was detonated, she would have vanished, leaving only a kunai in her place. Said kunai was the tenth she had thrown in her opening attack. Having thrown it practically straight up, it was just beginning to descend when she subbed with it. Placing her nearly twenty meters above her original position when the battle started.

Now that she was above Hiruzen, Meiko charged her seal with another burst of chakra, releasing from it a bow in her left hand and a quiver on her back. This bow was not any ordinary one, Indra's Gift, as she had named it, was quite large. Being a longbow, it was practically as tall as she was when stringed. Notching an arrow with the same intense speed she had drawn and thrown the kunai earlier, Meiko fired a single arrow directly at Hiruzen's position. Now, compared to her throws, which already had a lot of speed going for them, this arrow would surpass them by at least three times that. Hiruzen would only have a single moment to react at this range. On top of that was the bow itself, Indra's Gift could apply certain abilities on the arrows she fired. This one in particular would explode in a brilliant flash of light, blinding anyone within its radius. From Meiko's current height, she would just be out of range of the flash, but would blink just before the moment of impact to ensure she was not blinded.

Whether Hiruzen sidestepped the shot or tried to intercept it, he would be subjected to the flash. After the arrow had detonated, using her free hand Meiko would reach into her Chunnin kit and remove three slips of paper. These sheets had a seal written on them and were cut into the shape of stick people. Throwing them to her left, right and directly ahead of her, they would burst into smoke after a second and in their place, three clones of Meiko would have appeared. Each one was armed with a copy of her bow and a quiver of their own. While the clones each shared Meiko's physical prowess, as well as her trained senses and accuracy, they were not fully realized clones. They were solid, but had no mind of their own. They simply operated on a programmed plan given when the seals were first charged with chakra. In this case, shoot Hiruzen with arrows. Adding in their short lifespan of only six seconds, their capabilities were limited. During that six seconds however, they could easily fire an arrow every half second, totaling twelve arrows per clone.

Yet they were more than enough in this instance. They would create a brutal crossfire for Hiruzen to dodge while blinded. Meanwhile, as she was descending, Meiko loaded a second arrow into her bow and fired. Having charged this one with more chakra, it would burst after five meters, creating a volley of thirty-five arrows that would rain down on Hiruzen's position. By the time those arrows hit the ground, she too would be within meters of touching down. He clones were dropping too, but they had been thrown higher up and would land a couple seconds afterwards. Once she landed on the ground, Meiko could assess how things were going and choose her next plan of action.

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Age : 32 Posts : 1178

With the chain broken, it lashed out at him in a final attempt to inflict whatever damage it possibly could. After tossing his Kunai, he made sure his body moved with the momentum of the throw so as to gracefully twirl around the chain and avoid taking any actual damage to his face or eyes. It was a good attempt at going for his Sharingan and reducing his ocular prowess, though there was more to him than just his eyes. After all, he was capable of outmaneuvering most opponents of his rank even without the use of his Sharingan due to all of the training he had done over the years. As the chain hit the ground, he kept his eyes on his Shuriken as well as Meiko, the intended target. When the Kunai got close enough and exploded, his sixth sense instantly alerted him to Meiko moving to an entirely different location within a tenth of a second. Hiruzen knew that the only way that such a thing was possible was through Jikukan Ninjutsu, otherwise known as Space/Time Ninjutsu or teleportation techniques.

Turning his eyes to face the new location of Meiko's chakra, he pinned her down again while she was flying right above him. Being roughly twenty meters above him and coming down, he again felt the use of chakra and saw that he was right about his earlier assumption about her summoning weapons out of a seal, a smart way to carry around a large quantity of weapons without having to bear the weight of it. Clearly seeing the bow being equipped with an arrow in very little time, Hiruzen flashed through a string of seals before bringing his hand to his mouth and forcing out a sphere of flame. While similar in appearance to the Great Fireball jutsu, this was a personalized version of Hiruzen's own creation. When one looked at it closely, they would see that the sphere itself was a lot brighter and more menacing. Taking into account the fact that Meiko would rapidly come towards the earth as a result of gravity's pull, he knew that the first fireball would easily take down the arrow and keep moving straight for her before it would explode and deal a good amount of damage.

Even during the execution of his fireball, he could feel that Meiko was not just sitting still after firing her bow. Capable of feeling several chakra signatures below and around Meiko, the first would undoubtedly take the full brunt of his fireball while the others would feel the heat and the force of the resulting blast, which would be enough to inflict a fair amount of bruises to her and knock her out of the air. Using the basic laws of physics compared with how heavy he deemed Meiko to be, he figured that she would reach ground level within the next two to three seconds, meaning she would collide with the fireball without it even reaching it's maximum range. Knowing the ball would collide with her after moving roughly nine or ten meters, it went off earlier due to hitting the other chakra signature in front of her. Going off a bit closer than he would have liked, he felt the heat of the explosion above him on his face, leaving a rather unpleasant sensation. With the attack from above averted, he would use his sensory abilities to keep track of where Meiko would land upon the ground again. From that point on, it would be time for the fight to continue, most likely again by Meiko taking the liberty of going on the offense again. At times like these, having the highest IQ among his peers was not a bad thing.

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Firing off the first arrow, Meiko's hand immediately moved to grab the shikigami notes stored in her kit. As she charged them with chakra however, Hiruzen was already making his counterattack. "He found me already!?" The thought shot through her head in an instant as the fireball emerged and shot straight towards her, incinerating her arrow. There was no time to adjust the shikigami's commands, but she could alter their flight course. Rather than spreading them out, she threw them in a cluster, forming into clones just as the fireball reached them. The clones would take the blunt of the blast, but due to Meiko's descending speed, she would still be hit by the blast wave. Covering her face with her arms, Meiko sent one quick shot of chakra to her seal, releasing her armour. Being made of hardened leather it would only do so much to reduce the damage, but it was better than nothing. The dispersing flames engulfed the girl, licking and burning every inch of her body. At the very least, the burns were mild, little more than first degree, but would still leave painful stings for the next few days.

The moment the heat of the flames began to lessen, Meiko began to move. She still had about a second before hitting the ground. Her left arm shot forward while her right grabbed a new arrow. The whole thing was over in a single swift motion. Pulling out the arrow as fast as she could, she notched it and fired. There was no augmentation to this shot, it was simply a normal arrow fired at high speeds. Judging from Hiruzen's previous actions, he would deflect or dodge this with little effort. The moment the arrow left her hand, Meiko threw away her bow. Her right hand once again reached into her kit while in her left, a fuuma shuriken materialized. Landing on the ground, she wasted no time throwing the shuriken and three more shikigami notes. The notes flew forward in a cluster of three, two beside one another and one lagging behind. The two in the lead would be created first, both would be wielding a long sword and an escutcheon. The clones commands were thus: Charge Hiruzen and attack with the swords, should he attempt an attack, move together and raise the shields to block it.

Simple commands that just about anyone could see through, the trap came with the third note. It had been given a delay for spawning its clone. Just enough time for the clones to close in on Hiruzen. When it spawned, it would have a single weapon, the Titan Shuriken. A monstrous beast, the shuriken was practically as tall as Meiko was. Its design replicating that of a Fuuma Shuriken, but on a massive scale, the clone would throw this with all its strength, cutting through the other two clones. Afterwards, it would simply charge at Hiruzen and attempt to engage in melee combat.

Meiko herself wasn't going to simply stand still during this. The moment she had thrown everything, she was on the move again. Running to her right, she would circle around Hiruzen, slowly moving in closer over the course of a large arc. To increase her movespeed, Meiko kicked off the many rocks rather than just simply running. The terrain was too jagged to maintain a high speed and she was never the fastest sprinter in the first place. By kicking off the rocks in small jumps, her strength could replace that speed and by keeping them relatively small, she could still react to Hiruzen's attacks rather than being caught mid flight.

Her attack wasn't over yet, once she had moved about five meters from her original position, she removed three more shikigami notes. throwing the first three from her left hand towards Hiruzen, they would all spawn at once with two meters distance between them. From Meiko's movements, they would only need to cover about five meters to reach melee range. That said, this group was not equipped for that. These three were armed with a ton of projectiles. Four giant and four fuuma shuriken a piece as well as all ten regular kunai in her kit. Adding onto this was the two explosive kunai and six explosive senbon in her second kit. Granted, the seals would not work, but that was not part of the issue. Their goal was to utterly suppress Hiruzen with a barrage of steel. Being on the ground, they could also maneuver around Hiruzen's counterattacks. Immediately upon spawning, the three split up and began their barrage. Their general orders were to circle and suppress Hiruzen while dodging his attacks. As for the order in which the projectiles were thrown, that was utterly randomized, just to make it that much harder for Hiruzen.

Once the barrage had begun, Meiko would continue circling, looking for a moment's opening in Hiruzen's defenses. Unless he had some big jutsu that could strike in all directions, even he would have some issues with this many attacks. The moment he made his move to defend or counterattack against the clones, Meiko would move in. When she summoned her armour, an extra piece of equipment had come with it. Her jetpack had been designed to be a part of her armour so when the armour was summoned, the pack came with it. All it would take was a simple shot of chakra to her feet to launch her directly at Hiruzen with rather impressive speed. Midflight, she would raise her arms and summon Armads, her titanium axe and charge it with a massive amount of chakra. Her aim would be at the ground near his feet rather than Hiruzen himself. The reason for this was, she expected him to be able to react to this, even under all the pressure her clones would be placing on him. Even if she had three times this amount of clones, he could probably worm his way out with little issue. What she wanted was to hit him with the aftershock of the technique. A point blank blast would be practically fatal, but over a few meters, the blast's power would weaken enough not to kill, but severely injure. Hopefully this, at least, would get a real rise out of him.

Of course, if he had an easy way to deal with the clones, Meiko would not move in at all, instead she would continue circling and form a new plan.

That said, "YUUEN! METSUBO!"

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Age : 32 Posts : 1178

Still in the air, Meiko made us of her bow again, probably hoping to send his attention elsewhere for a moment. He knew that Meiko was not stupid enough to fire a shot at him in hopes of just shooting him down without any actual setup to mask the actual attack, so it had to be diversion. While he could tell with his Sharingan that the attack was most certainly meant to shoot him down if he did not evade it, he could clearly see the pattern of the arrow and knew he only had to slightly angle his body to make the arrow pass him by. Even while he evaded the arrow with minimal effort, he kept his eyes locked on Meiko. Once the arrow passed him by, Meiko had already made use of the same technique she had used before. Summoning three clones that were created through some sort of tags, he now knew how she had made the previous clones that had been used to take the full brunt of his fire jutsu so quickly. Finding it really interesting to see how different kinds of people utilized techniques of their own for the sake of his own research, he was slightly impressed with her ingenuity.

That said, she had made a mistake when she summoned a large Shuriken before making her clones. Judging by their weapons, the clones she had summoned were meant to deal as much damage to him as they possibly could, though the simple fact that the real Meiko held the Shuriken in her hand before the mob charged him made him believe that this too was nothing more than a distraction, if not a potentially dangerous one if ignored. Now that Hiruzen knew that there was going to be a frontal assault coming for him to take his attention away from the real Meiko, the Uchiha decided to play along. Placing one hand on his sword, he bent through his knees as if to await their approach before falling back on the same technique he had used when he cut through Meiko's chain weapon. Being a rather skilled tactician, he knew that most people, no matter how well versed in battle they were, would most likely fall for his feigned counterattack. While he awaited the counterattack, he saw that the clone that had been summoned last had a weapon in it's hands that was even bigger than the clone itself.

Continuing to feign the impending counterattack, his eyes kept moving between the three clones that were obscuring the vision he had of the real Meiko, though his sensory abilities and his senses would most likely alarm him when she made another move. As soon as the clones got within a two meter radius, the massive Shuriken was thrown right at him. Maintaining his farce until the very last possible moment, his Sharingan told him exactly how the thing would move, also letting him know that the Shuriken itself would take care of the first two clones in order to get to him. Partially drawing his blade from his sheath, he stopped drawing at the last possible moment and jumped up while flipping in mid air so his legs would not get hit by the flying Shuriken. As it cut it's way through the two clones, the last remaining clone moved at him as well. The moment he set his feet back on the ground, the clone went at him in close range, attacking him with quick jabs and kicks in close quarters. Making use of his evasive skills, he did his best to avoid as many of the attacks as possible, at times applying some pressure with his hands in order to guide the attacks away from him as well as he could.

Due to the fact of her being stronger than Hiruzen, he had to use the Sharingan to the fullest so he knew when to push and when to move away so he would not get hit while also applying pressure to the right place at the right time, thus guiding the attacks he could not evade away from him. This way, he did not need great physical strength, he just needed to rely on what physical strength he did have along with his unrivaled ocular prowess. For a couple of moments, the attacks kept coming at him, though it would not be long before he figured out the pattern to the clones attacks. This was a good thing because he could feel the vibrations within the ground along with her chakra signature no longer being in the same place, telling him that Meiko was on the move again. When Hiruzen was about to guide another attack away, he quickly reached down into his pocket and got an exploding tag. When he guided the punch away from him, he would silently attach the tag to the clone before dashing back as fast as he could before making the tag explode. If the explosion managed to envelop the clone, it would undoubtedly destroy it while creating a good bit of smoke and dust.

This would not be a problem for either of them now that Meiko was moving to his left. Making use of the same technique again, Hiruzen started getting more excited about the spar, though he was a bit bored with fighting clones. Standing roughly five or six meters away from him, he could tell instantly that these clones were not going to engage in close combat from the looks of their weaponry. The sheer amount of projectile weaponry meant that they would make it very hard on him to fully avoid taking a hit. Having only taken up a couple of bruises due to the strength of the clone he had been brawling with, that was about all of the damage he was willing to take today. Once the clones started moving around him, he was glad that Meiko was not any faster than he was. Had she been, Hiruzen would have had too much trouble keeping up with all of the attacks to defend himself against so many projectiles at the same time. Once the clones started circling him, the only thing Hiruzen could do was to use what he had learned and defend himself with his sword until they ran out of tools. Noticing that there was no clear pattern to the thrown weapons, he had to keep adjusting his footing so he could quickly shift his eyes between the moving clones and make sure he would not have his back taken.

His Sharingan-empowered vision, his increased sense of hearing, the ability to accurately sense chakra around him and the ability to feel vibrations within the soil, he needed them all in order to keep up with this many attacks. When the first few Kunai came at him, he had no trouble in evading them, though after the first three Kunai from the right were evaded, a Fuuma shuriken moved in from the left. Not being able to keep evading things so easily any longer, he drew Saiketsu again and sliced right through the large shuriken before shifting his weight and footing to evade two more senbon while placing his sword back in the scabbard. He had trained for this with the Samurai in the Iron Temple, he could not rely on his Ninjutsu all the time, as that was the sign of a weak man. Feeling that a Kunai he had barely been able to avoid cut through the lower part of his pants, a little bit of blood flowed down his leg due to the small and shallow cut it left behind. Not being bothered by it, he cut down two more large Shuriken in a single strike while evading even more senbon. Though the cut felt irritating to say the least, he could not afford to look at it as that would mean taking his gaze off of the clones.

Continuing to mix his evasive skills, his increased senses and his Iaido to defend himself from the incoming projectiles, he felt a burst of chakra from his back. Placing his sword into his scabbard while bending through his knees to dive under yet another large Shuriken, he could feel that even more chakra was being used as Meiko's chakra signature rapidly closed in on him without leaving any vibrations in the soil for him to pick up. Making it a lot harder for him to figure out how fast she was moving when all he had to work with was his chakra sensory, he moved to face the real Meiko as fast as he possibly could, speeding up the process by looking over his shoulder with one eye. When he did, he saw Meiko move at him with such a high speed that even if he managed to turn his body in time, he would not be able to respond with an offensive counter as the large axe came down quickly. Sensing the raw amount of chakra that was going into this attack, Hiruzen brought his hands together while Meiko's axe collided with the ground beneath Hiruzen's feet. As a large resulting explosion followed up on the strike, rubble shot forth in a straight line with enough force to kill an elephant upon making contact.

Had Hiruzen been hit by the attack, chances were that he would no longer be able to continue the fight. After all, he did not have the means to defend himself against such an onslaught on account of him not wearing any armor, not having an impressive endurance and lacking an iron skin. What he did have however were quick hands, quicker eyes and an even quicker mind that allowed all of his finest assets to work in unison in devising a plan and carrying it out in an instant. When Hiruzen put his hands together earlier, he formed the seals required to switch himself around with his coat, appearing right next to Mana while Meiko's chakra tore up the ground and made a big mess. Watching the devastation from a good ten meters behind Meiko, there was no way that she would know about not hitting Hiruzen in the aftershock of the attack due to the deceptive qualities of the Substitution technique and the fact that his hand seals were formed when his back was turned towards her. Releasing a deep breath, he took a moment to watch the destruction caused by her technique while at the same time having a look at the boots that made her move as fast as she did.

"You realize such an attack might not have killed me, though it would have me hospitalized for a good amount of time, thus keeping me from fighting the Parabrahma, right?".

Speaking up once he figured that Meiko knew her attack had not taken Hiruzen down, he had chosen to state the obvious. While he was all for the fun and games of a good spar, he had held himself back from using destructive forces such as the one Meiko fired at him for a reason. If innocent people were truly in danger, chances were that they needed people like himself and Meiko to stop the Parabrahma. As such, he could not afford to hospitalize Meiko or allow himself to get sent to a house of healing. Believing that the attack he had witnessed was most likely Meiko's most powerful technique so far, he was glad that he had seen how it was made up and would be able to better figure out how to counter it in case she used it again. After all, this fight was not over yet, not unless Meiko no longer felt like testing the Uchiha's skill. For him, the fact that the Kunoichi could have killed him was no reason to stop having fun, though he would understand if she wanted to quit after this setback.

Techniques used:

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Posts : 811

Prying her axe from the ground, Meiko took a moment to inspect the blade. While they were still technically in a spar, Hiruzen's words were spoken such that she knew he would not be attacking anytime soon. As for her axe, it had managed to hold together, if barely. Even being made of titanium, Meiko had to coat it with some of her chakra to prevent it from simply shattering. Even so, if she were to try that again, even this mighty axe would be reduced to scrap. Before her the dust was settling, revealing a new crater and pure destruction. Taking a deep breath, Meiko slung the axe over her shoulder before turning towards Hiruzen. "Assuming it hit you, that is. I mean come on, I had to use something that big to move you off your damn dance floor." This could barely have been called a spar honestly. The entire time Hiruzen made no attempt to go on the offensive, instead he was content to just sit back and completely counter anything and everything Meiko had thrown at him with such minimal effort. Nearly half her chakra had been expended and he was not even winded, hell he it was likely he had barely broken a sweat.

The only wound she had managed to inflict was a small cut to his one leg. Just enough to cause it to bleed, but not enough to even gather any real attention. That sword of his alone was more than enough to cut through nearly every weapon she had in her arsenal as though it were butter. Weapons were supposed to be her territory and yet here he was showing her up with just a katana. "And here I thought I was getting stronger. I'm still nothing it seems."

Taking in another deep breath to hide her emotions, Meiko sealed away her weapons in a single puff of smoke, returning to her civilian attire. While she did still have chakra to spare and one weapon that would assure her victory given the proper circumstances, it was best she keep some of her trump cards hidden for now. That weapon's greatest strength was surprise, lose that and it was just another blade. "I think we'll call it a day here. If I keep going, you're just gonna break more of my stuff. Besides, I can't imagine this is much fun for you." Flashing him a smile and laughing, Meiko stretched out and sighed before moving off to the side to retrieve the chain. "Man, cut right through it. Now I need to make a new head and everything." Sealing the chain, she turned back to the two.

"Well, at the very least, that was a good exercise for me. I should get back on patrol though. Good seeing you again Hiruzen, those Parahambla buggers won't know what hit them now. Anyway, see ya." With that, Meiko made her way back towards the town, leaving Hiruzen alone with Mana. There was no way the magician would be accepting his offer to fight, it just was not her thing. Although if they ever did go at it, that was a fight Meiko would pay to see.

"Next time, I'll have something real special for you. The Phoenix Pinion is nearly complete." Meiko chuckled to herself as she disappeared into the trees.

[Exit]

Age : 32 Posts : 1178

It was as he had imagined things would go after he had decimated the full assault performed against him. Had all of his attacks been dismissed in a manner such as this, chances were that he would have stopped trying too. Still, when he had fought the Raikage in the past, he had kept going until he had been as good as out of chakra to use in his offensive. In fact, the wound he had sustained was right above the scar he had gotten in that battle. Back then, he had also been cut in the leg by a bladed weapon, though it had been a bit more serious than the cut he had now. Ignoring the bleeding, he knew that it would not take very long before the wound would clot and stop bleeding. After all, it was not even that deep to begin with. Looking at Meiko, he could tell that she was rather disappointed, even though there was not much of a reason for it. Sure, she had not won the spar, but she had forced him to go on the defensive, which was something very few people had ever managed to do during his career as a shinobi. So far, only Meiko and the Raikage had managed to do so, so she had no reason to feel disappointed in his opinion.

After hearing out, she picked up her belongings and sealed them back where they came from. When she brought up the Parabrahma and how they were going to be in trouble now that Hiruzen was brought on board, it was both a bit unsettling and nice to hear at the same time. While it proved that she would be glad to have him fighting alongside them, he hoped that the Parabrahma were stronger than Meiko was. Hell, he hoped that they were stronger than the Raikage was back in the day. After all, he wanted to have fun fighting strong people that were considered threats to the rest of the world because of their strength. While Meiko did not believe a fight like this could have been fun for him, he had picked up a couple of good ideas for now techniques and strategies. So even if the spar had been one sided, he had still managed to learn a couple of things from it, and that in itself had been worth the time he put into the spar. That, and he had seen a very powerful weapon based technique being set up and executed which would be helpful when making techniques in the future.

When she took her leave, Hiruzen nodded at her while looking over at the scattered remnants of his cloak. Had her opponent been someone that did not have Hiruzen's combat prowess, chances were that such a technique would have blown them apart completely. What was more important right now was the fact that Hiruzen's cloak had been destroyed, meaning he would need to go into town and get a new one made. Finding a good tailor was rather hard these days, especially since he did not particularly enjoyed heading into Kumogakure. With that thought in mind, he figured he could always go to one of the other villages further down south. Shimogakure and Yugakure were both viable candidates, but if he could not find anything that suited him there, he could always go even further down and eventually get to Konohagakure or Sunagakure. It all really came down to just how much he was willing to do to get himself a comfortable and useful new cloak. Turning his attention to Mana once Meiko had taken her leave, he too would take his leave.

"I hope you like what you've seen. Those Parabrahma had better be as strong as you've promised, or you and I are going to need to have a good conversation about the meaning of strength and power. Now then, I need to go fetch me a new cloak. I'll see you around.".

With that, the Uchiha wandered towards the southern borders of the lightning country. When he thought about it, it might have been a good idea to get several cloaks instead of just one and take up some sewing classes. Strange as it might sound, he had taken decorating and cooking classes too, or rather, sat around and observed while other people were taking the classes, writing down and copying the things he saw. With a small grin on his face, he figured that he would need to get a move on if he did not want to miss out on the Parabrahma.

[End of Thread]