Round One | Match Four - [Measure vs Zoid]

Age : 31 Posts : 1118

.Match Four.
Marina Yuki vs Mitsu Uzumaki

It was simply excellent to have such glorious weather on the first day of the Moon Country's Tournament. A stunning sun that perched itself high above the sky and released pleasant light through the clouds that drifted leisurely with the summer wind. The sheer energy of the people chanting outside the stadium gave birth to the sound of trumpets that echoed across the entire stadium, signaling the great doors to open and release of flood of viewers into the stands. People from various countries, villages, and of course Moon Country flowed from the entrance in a near endless quantity, all sharing the same desire to witness the spectacular event that was about to take place. Within minutes the stadium was fully occupied with cheering spectators and with another segment of a trumpet resonance the entrance doors closed in a final slam. Members of the tournament's faculty began materializing inside the arena grounds, the proctor himself wearing a black suited attire and a full medical unit wearing their white coated uniform. On the highest tier of the stadium a great bang was heard, and instantly silence was summoned inside the stadium. Lord Yoshiyuki, Moon Countries divine authority and political leader had made entrance into the stadium. His long flowing blue and golden robe and pure diamond accessories stood testament to his high status within the nation he held within his entire hands. His skin was glowing with the steady excitement brewing within his flesh, and his long red hair flowing like the fiery satin that it could easily replicate. Beside him were two robust and stern bodyguards that not only emitted an energy of authority but also had a posture of humbleness and care for their leader. Upon him seeing the faces of his beloved citizens and visitors, Lord Yoshiyuki was glad that he adopted the festivities of the Summer Festival within his own home and welcomed the ninja of Konohgakure and even other nations to participate in his tournament that would rattle the ninja world and will strengthen the alliance between Konoha and Moon Country.

He looked down at the giant arena located within the heart of the stadium and viewed it's contents in pure vanity of his landscaping talent. It was fifty meters in diameter with ten meter stone walls around it's perimeter. The terrain was mostly composed of low cut grass although there were other instruments placed to enhance the setting. Eight large 15ft pillars were located in a octagonal formation around the arena's edges in the grass terrain, each holding a large bowl of burning wood at it's top providing a source of fire. Around the perimeter of the arena was a ring of fresh water that divided the grassy landmass and the walls by a few meters except for the small area where the contestants walk though. Being at a near endless depth, it can provide the competitors with a source of water if they're near the edges of the ring. Overall the stadium was neat, simple, and decorative and would surely be enough to supply the fighters with the tools necessary to display their talents.

Lord Yoshiyuki made his way toward the edge of his balcony, letting his natural luminescence filter through the stadium. His bodyguards mimicked his actions like a pair of drones, standing a few feet at each side of him. By pumping chakra into this throat it allowed him to project his voice loud enough to be heard throughout the entire stadium with clarity. "The second match of the first round begins now!" He announced which exhilarated the crowd. While the crowd stridently applauded to his words he waited for them to calm down before continuing. "This match's competitors will be Marina of the Yuki Clan and Mitsu of the Usumaki Clan!" The crowd applauded at in a light frequency which will last until both competitors meet within the field. Lord Yoshiyuki sat down on his giant golden chair and peered at the field with crossed legs. The medical unit disbanded into the stands and the proctor flickered himself in the center of the field where the two competitors will meet. The bell rang and the doors opened on each side of the field. Marina entered from the south, and Mitsu from the north, and they approached each other until they were five meters apart in the center. With a quick "Begin!" from the proctor, he instantly flickered out of the arena, and the match had begun.

Quote :: -The first poster will be Measure, then Zoid.
-This exam is on a three day post requirement, if you fail to post in three days after your opponent you are automatically disqualified.
-You are the only two who are permitted to post here.
-This exam does not have a competition date, as I said, it's a three day post requirement so we expect it done quickly, if it continues due to continuous dodging, I'll proctor it like I'm supposed to and come to a conclusion.
-If you exit the ground floor you will be disqualified, by no means should you harm the audience, you can however use the wall as a weapon or a surface to run on.
-Be elaborate with your jutsu, explain it. Don't confuse your opponent, all jutsu are required to be attached at the bottom of a thread via a quote or a spoiler, it is not to be messy.
-All standard roleplaying rules apply.
-This is the first time you have heard of your opponent, unless you have met them in character before.
-If you are in a death situation and you obviously don't wish to be killed, you can RP a medic coming to your rescue although that will automatically get you disqualified.

Age : 29 Posts : 269

Marina sat behind the door, legs crossed, eyes closed. She was at peace, meditating, blocking out everything. The sound of the cheering from the crowd outside fell on deaf ears as she sat, in her own little world. She needed this though, to be within peace. If not, her mind would overtake her and she would become incapable. Everything about what she was about to do was against her morals, and the worst part was that she had decided to do this of her own free will. She was not being forced, paid, or anything. She hated fighting without good cause, and this was not good cause. She wanted to tell herself she wouldn't shoot to kill in the fight that was almost moments away from beginning, but the truth was, once she got out there, she became a different person. There was a reason her mother and father always thought she was be an amazing ANBU, because she never revealed any emotion, and nothing but the fight was important when a fight began. The opponent was just that, her opponent. Really, most of her attacks were mostly lethal, so it would be hard to not be deadly. She breathed in and out, slowl and steady, steeling her mind for the upcoming fight. She had to clear her mind so it would not be plagued by thoughts of regret or self disgust.

Finally a sound was made, and the door in front of her opened. She stood up before opening her eyes, and when she did, she still heard nothing. The crowd was silent, the world was silent. Across from her on the other side of the flat arena was another person, her age most likely. She had never seen the girl before, not even in Konoha, and it was doubted she had seen her. She slowly took steps forward, like a marionette jerkily making movements forward. She stood at the designated area pointed out by the proctor who stood between them. Before he began the match, she simply looked at her, analyzed her like data. She got into a fighting stance, ready to move, ready to retaliate. She stood, tense, ready, when the man announced the fight to begin. She decided to test the girl first, and quickly withdrew six senbon, three in each hand. She threw one pair of three up high, aimed at the girl's chest, and three down, aimed at her leg. The senbon were spread out so that one went directly for her, and two were to go to her sides and pass harmlessly past her, if she didn't move. As for the ones on the lower end, if she didn't move at all, one senbon would go in each leg, while the third would go between her legs. She made this motion by wrapping one arm around her shoulders, and one her waist. She threw her arms to the side quickly, letting the senbon fly. The senbon were expected to hit her, if she didn't move, about two seconds after "begin" was shouted. She was ready through the whole motion to dodge if necessary, and was ready after the attack to dodge, if necessary.

Posts : 118

"Okay, relax. Focus. Focus. Focus. Oh my, I'd better get my act together before these doors open." Mitsu inhaled and exhaled deeply, in rhythm, trying to get her body to stop quivering, the yelling of the crowd doing very little to help. Quivering she was, but not necessarily because of fear. This would be the first time Mitsu would be engaging in all out combat against an opponent. She was well aware that training and practice were a totally different ball game from actual combat. True, she was nervous, but just as excited. She closed and opened her fists, getting her body to obey her and stay calm. "That's better. Now I have to start thinking up a plan... though its sketches will be hazy until I see what the battlefield looks like..."

A sliver of light cut through her thoughts, running a thin line from the crown of her head to the ground between her feet. She looked up, startled. "Okay, thank you. I guess I know what the battle field looks like, now." All signs of fear disappeared instantly, replaced by a calm, almost indifferent gaze, as she stepped out from the corridor and into the warmth of the sun. Ah, refreshing. Her eyes were fixed on the dark haired girl that approached her, as she also drew closer, trying to perhaps get a telltale sign of the girl's ability. That would be almost impossible, as a shinobi's anatomy did not often reveal their capability. True, there were some clans or bloodlines that had distinct characteristics, but whatever this girl's ability, Mitsu couldn't tell.

Mitsu exhaled gently, as the two came to stand about five meters away from each other. The proctor stood between them, and she could see the Med-nin unit that stood by, in case anything went wrong. "Hope it doesn't get to that."

As was characteristic of her, Mitsu bowed slightly, regardless of whether the other girl, Marina, as she had heard, would react or not. Then the proctor said: "Begin", flickered out of the way. Mitsu said, in the two seconds that followed before Marina attacked, "Good luck, Marina-chan. And to me too..."

Marina skillfully threw six senbon at her. Mitsu frowned slightly, taking a defensive stance. Senbon. Marina was probably doing this to test her opponent, to see from a first glance what they were capable of. Smart. It would be very unwise to reveal all the cards in your hand at once. Mitsu decided to take the battle up close. Marina's reaction would tell her a lot about what would happen subsequently in this battle.

She jumped to the side, steering clear of all the needles. The ones in the middle were thrown to hit, the ones at the sides were meant to flank them and prevent possible escape, when they were close. Sliding to a halt, Mitsu ran towards Marina, not going as fast as she really could. If she kept her speed a secret at the moment, it might prove instrumental in securing victory. For now, she too, would engage Marina with a 'test' attack, though it would be a little more elaborate.

Slipping her hand into her utility holster behind her, using Chozou no jutsu to quickly seal a kunai inside her left palm. With her right, she aimed a power punch at Marina's face. It wouldn't really look like a special punch, but only when it would connect would it be seen for what it truly was. And in case Marina evaded the punch, which was probable, Mitsu would feint a tumble, using the opportunity to throw the kunai in a backhand motion, aimed to catch Marina off guard, if she tried to attack, which again, was probable.

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Spoiler:

Age : 29 Posts : 269

Marina was actually surprised and a little caught off guard to hear the curtousy of this other girl, wishing her luck just before the match. She found it necessary for her to nod, returning the gesture to her. It allowed her to return to a human sense of feeling in that moment, which otherwise, she would have fought as a cold killing machine. Now at least, she wouldn't be aiming to kill with everything she did, which made her feel a little better. She took a deep breath when she threw the senbon at her opponent, named Mitsu. She was honestly more focused now, and her eyes followed the girl as she jumped to the side to completely dodge the senbon. Impressive, her evasion, or at least speed, wasn't bad at all. She had stopped, so she took the moment of inaction to brace herself into a defensive stance just before she started running at her again. Interesting, she wanted to bring the fight up close, to go into taijutsu. She noticed the way she withdrew a kunai with more interest, and took that into consideration. Judging by the way she was moving now, she assumed she was going to go into some form of attack, possibly a single one, possibly a test of her own. In a way, this would be a test for Marina as well in her own right. She looked at Mitsu as she charged, and saw the movement of her chest. She anticipated the straightforward punch just before it happened, and already had a plan to get around it.

The punch was simple, but the kunai was in hand, so she probably had something planned for it other than using it like a blade for her punch. Either way, she was going to put her own personal evasion to the test. When the punch came forward, she began working her momentum quickly. She thrust her hand closest to the punch under the kunai and onto the arm of the punch, grabbing hold of it. At the same time, her other hand flew forward to grab Mitsu's shoulder. Already her forward momentum was going, and she jumped into the air to do a cartwheel over the girl, over her head, and onto the ground behind her. By doing this, she not only dodged the punch, but got away from the kunai, and got behind her to a potentially open spot. While she was upside down, she pushed off of Mitsu with her hands to get some more altitude, but when she did so, she brought her hand that was gripping her shoulder quickly up her leg. Without stopping, she grabbed hold of another senbon and managed to wet it with some poison she also had on her leg. By the time she had turned and was now facing right side up rather than being upside down, the senbon was in her hand and wet with poison.

From here, she intended to throw the poisoned senbon into Mitsu's back, if she hadn't moved, or her chest, if she had turned around by now, which was possible but maybe not likely considering how fast she had done this. If she had moved somehow, she would throw the senbon at her wherever she was at the time, though if it came to that, she honestly wouldn't have expected to hit her. At the same time, if she had somehow gotten another form of attack ready and aimed at her in the short time that had passed, she was aware of this possibility and therefor prepared to find some way to get around it if need be. If the poison hit, since it was in the upper body, they would feel the effects of the poison shortly.

Poison Used

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Posts : 118

"Huh?

Mitsu was quite surprised at the girl's agility. As she expected, Marina evaded the punch, but Marina's next actions were totally unexpected. Marina grabbed Mitsu's arm and shoulder and vaulted over her. Mitsu's eyes, already wide with surprise, only went wider, when Marina pushed off her and went airborne. This was getting rather embarrassing. Firstly, a 'well planned' attack had ended up in Mitsu being outwitted and outmaneuvered. That would make her look rather less skillful than Marina, who would have the crowds likely cheering her name by now. She frowned.

"Damn it, Mitsu, this is no time to nurse bruised pride. She pushed off you for a reason. She's attacking. Act!" In that split second the thought crossed her mind, Mitsu let Marina's push aid her into falling to the ground. She would have done so, anyway. As she fell, she turned, reaching into her pouch for another kunai, as she fell onto her back. And she saw it coming. Or rather, just saw a glint of metal. She reacted instinctively, kicking up her feet, not really aware of what kind of attack was coming her way. She heard a dull thud, and felt a little pressure on the sole of her ninja sandals. Sliding to a halt, she quickly glanced at her sole. Another senbon. Sheesh, this girl really had it in mind to make her a pin cushion. While Marina would land, Mitsu sacrificed the opportunity to attack to yank the senbon out of her shoe. Fortunately for her, the senbon did not pierce through the thick sole, so she sustained no injury. But there was something else that warned her of what her opponent could do. The senbon felt wet between her fingers.

She threw the needle to the ground as she scrambled to her feet, watching Marina warily. That liquid could only mean poison. She now had to be extra careful, because poisons were one hell of a way to turn the tide of a battle. She had been very lucky not to have been hit. But she couldn't rely on that kind of luck. Like lightning, luck didn't strike twice.

There was some good news, however... though the good news didn't seem to bode too well for the young Uzumaki. Judging from the moves her opponent had made, she was very likely a long range fighter. And with the prowess she had shown in dodging, Mitsu knew that simple attacks would prove useless against Marina. Alright, it was time to show the first card in her hand.

"I'm getting serious, Marina-chan, and I suggest you do the same," Mitsu thought as she charged Marina again. As if she had not learned her lesson, she made a straight punch at the girl's face again. However, that was where everything became drastically different. Mitsu waited for the girl to make her move, before three chains, made from chakra, burst out of her left palm. With a nifty flick of the wrist, she attempted to ensnare Marina, when the girl was performing her evasion. If she was able to hold her down, this battle would clearly be in her favor.

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Spoiler:

Age : 29 Posts : 269

Marina exhaled a quick burst of breath from her nose in discontent as she watched her opponent fall on her face, and luckily move around to the point the senbon went into her foot, or rather, the sole of her shoe. This was extremely lucky for Mitsu, but extremely unlucky for Marina. The entire point of that attack was to surprise the enemy with her agility and use of her poison. She could tell by the way she extracted the senbon and felt it while she landed that she had figured out her poison. By dodging the attack and blocking the senbon she had negated the shock value of her attacks. Now she knew she was evasive and that she used poison, all while observing them after dodging rather than realizing when they struck. She was disappointed that her attack had failed so completely, but not completely upset. She still had a few more tricks up her sleeve she could use.

She landed on the ground as the girl scrambled to her feet. She acknowledged the many chances she had of striking the girl while she was somewhat vulnerable, but decided to let them all slide. Instead, she was going to allow her to attack her again, for she did her best fighting while dodging and countering, rather than attacking outright. She wondered if Mitsu would try to attack the same way, though if she did, there would be no way it would be as superficial as her last attack. If she made an open strike like that again, it would have a hidden surprise for sure, unless she was just plain stupid, and she didn't take her for the stupid type. When she landed she got into another defensive position, already thinking up strategies of what she could do depending on the attack that might follow.

She wasn't expecting any form of attack, but she felt as though she had a decent plan for any kind of normal attack. If Mitsu had some sort of hidden kekkei genkai or secret attack of sorts, she had something of an advantage because it was not something Marina was anticipating. Or rather, she was aware that something unusual could happen, but was also aware that if it did, she wouldn't be able to come up with some kind of defense against it until it was happening right before her. But this was not the case, she charged in for another frontal attack. Similar to before, she watched the muscles in her chest and saw the punch coming just before it did. There was no way it was this simple, so she took no chances. Mitsu was probably anticipating another evasive maneuver, or maybe a block, she didn't know. At any rate, she would give her something she probably wasn't expecting at all.

A second before the punch connected with her face, she took a jump back, and replacing her was a clone made entirely of ice, just standing there. Now, the intention of this was for Mitsu to, considering the time frame, punch the clone instead of her. Since this was a jutsu, the clone would explode and quickly cover her entire body in a layer of ice. Since she was the same rank as Marina, she would be completely and entirely frozen and unable to move for five seconds. This was enough time for Marina to make an attack. It was at this time though that she noticed some kind of...chain coming from her other hand. She didn't know what it was, but it didn't look good. Without even waiting to see if the ice clone had done its job, she quickly jumped far enough to the side that she believed the chains wouldn't be able to reach her. After all, if Mitsu was frozen, she didn't know if that meant the chains would be too. At any rate, while she jumped to the side and out of the way, she performed two more jutsu. In her right hand, she created three senbon of pure poison. In her left hand, she created five hollow senbon, and filled them each with poison.

In total she created eight senbon. Seven of these senbon, including the three of pure poison, contained a type of poison that would inflame the chakra points and thus make it more difficult for the enemy to use chakra. The eighth and final senbon, which was a hollow ice senbon with the poison inside, contained the instant poison used earlier. She equipped all of these senbon by the time she had made her dodge and was on the ground again. Before the ice Mitsu was hopefully entrapped in broke, she flicked all of these senbon at her. They were all aimed at her in a vertical line. She was standing to the side of her, farthest from the hand that had created the chakra chains, so they would all go into her side. The one containing the instant poison was aimed at her head, and the others down the length of her body into her waist. If she was frozen, her arm would still be extended forward, so only one senbon would hit her shoulder, while the rest would hit her actual torso and on down. This was not enough to disable the enemy, but it would most certainly hurt them and cripple their ability to use jutsu, if it worked all the way. If all the poison hit, Mitsu would instantly feel excruciating body wide pain, and soon after, her chakra points would be 100% inflamed, meaning a few moments later, jutsu would be impossible to use. This was all assuming that she had been frozen by her first jutsu. If she had somehow managed to not punch the clone and get frozen, then she would have instead thrown 5 normal senbon at her in whatever direction she had fled to tipped with the Debilitating poison. If all of these hit in this scenario, her chakra points would be 50% inflamed.

Jutsu Used

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Poison Used

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Chakra Points Left:

If Ice Clone Succeeded- 58

If Ice Clone Did Not Succeed- 65

Posts : 118

Once again, the dark haired girl evaded, leaving a clone in the path of Mitsu's punch. Mitsu frowned as she tried slowing down her hand, noticing with a lot of angst that Marina had escaped the chains. She failed to stop, and her hand grazed across the clone's chest. Already, Mitsu noticed Marina preparing to throw more senbon. Just as she was about to withdraw her hand and prepare to dodge, the clone virtually exploded into some kind of ice trap. And, that actually managed to freeze Mitsu all over. Judging from the strength of the ice, it would take about five seconds to break.

"Shimata!"

Five seconds was enough for her to be dead. A second was all a Shinobi needed to kill. How could she have been so careless? And the needles were coming again. Only, this time, they were made of ice. Mitsu scowled in frustration. Being trapped and waiting for the inevitable to strike. She closed her eyes, calmed herself, as she strained at the ice. A sudden pain... no, eight points of pain pricked her skin, just before the ice cracked. Damn it. Just when she thought she might have a lucky break. Well, there was no need to dwell in the past. She had to look forward... plan ahead.

With a yell, Mitsu broke through the ice, ignoring the pain of the needle pricks. She wondered what exactly the poisons would manifest themselves as. She didn't have to pull anything out of her body, as the senbons, if they hadn't melted in, broke off with the ice...

The excruciating pain that shot through her entire body was horrible. She reeled, forcing back the cry that almost escaped her lips, and fell to one knee. Crap, of all the things to get poisoned by. She gasped for air, then looked up at Marina with a pained smile.

"Heh... me and my suicidal tendencies. Well, then, Marina-chan, what are you waiting for? You should end this now, while you have the chance..."

That was just a ploy to get Marina into attacking. Most likely, all that was left was for Marina to use a powerful technique to finish her off. But it wasn't over yet. Mitsu still had something working for her. As she waited for the other girl's move, she analyzed what she'd just learned about Marina.

"Okay, she's dodgy, and uses ice. Water techniques are very likely, too. That puts her as a long-range user... right."

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Good for you, Measure. Your attacks hit home.
Please do let me know how much inflammation Mitsu is suffering from per post (too many words are confusing...)

Age : 29 Posts : 269

She landed on the ground and quickly flicked all eight senbon at the girl. She was pleased to see all of them penetrate the ice and connect. Perfect. She may have escaped the poison the first time, but now she had it working on full force for her. With all of the poison used, she was extremely vulnerable because she could not use a single jutsu for the next few moments. Not only that, but the instant poison was going to do something even worse. She watched from her standing position as she broke free of the ice with impressive vigor, but she knew the show would not last for long. She stood and faced her, completely unaware of what was about to happen. Marina stood across from her, anticipating what was bound to happen. Any second now she would...

And there it was! She saw the pain just before she reeled. The instant poison had done its job, sending excruciating pain all through her body in an instant. She knew it was painful enough to halt all but the most willed individuals, for she had used it on herself at one point. It really was a painful thing, and she almost hated to see the girl acting so in pain, but she could not worry about that. The second the pain was evident and she was open, she began with her next attack, taking advantage of that opening. She was about to end this rather quickly by freezing the enemy indefinitely. She performed the handsigns, and without another warning, a large volume of water spawned from the sky over the head of the girl. The second she would have gotten her wits about her and the pain subsided, the waterfall would have crashed on top of her with immense force. Whether it was enough to throw her to the ground was unknown, but this wasn't the point. Quickly, she deactivated the jutsu so that the water stopped coming, but then she used another ice jutsu to instantly freeze all the water that was left.

If Mitsu had been hit by this water, then right now she would have been frozen within it. A specimen frozen in a cylinder of ice, a beautiful sight. Once the ice froze and the contents could be seen, if Mitsu was not caught inside, meaning she had not been frozen, then Marina would quickly look around to try and spot her and go back to a defensive position. If she had been caught however, this fight was most likely finished.

Jutsu Used

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CP Remaining: 42

Posts : 118

The most logical thing was for Marina to perform one big, nasty jutsu that would put Mitsu out of the show for good. "Have to wait for the hammerstroke of doom... and if possible..." Mitsu's hand slowly reached into her utility pouch. The little knowledge that she had gleaned from this fight so far was instrumental in keeping Mitsu out of harm's way, if that was possible. "Powerful technique to finish her off." It would most likely be large and made out of ice. Her fingers tinkered gently with something in her pouch. Marina moved.

"Handseals. Here it comes!"

Mitsu had prayed that the attack would not come from behind, because that would make escape a lot more difficult. Fortunately for her, it didn't. Rather, it came from another less expected angle: above. As Mitsu looked up, her hand was moving, pooling all her willpower together to make this one motion that would decide her fate. Attack Marina while she was being attacked? She had thought of that, and it was too risky. Too blind a move. She had already seen what jumping blindly to attack could accomplish, and she wasn't ready to make that mistake twice.

Her hand flicked out of the utility pouch, carrying a kunai with it. This kunai, however, had something special attached to it. An exploding note. She threw the kunai upwards, directly into the cascading water, and made her next move instantly, while trying to detonate the tag. Nothing happened, much to her chagrin and shock. Her body was still struggling to overcome the shock of this numbing pain; simply throwing that kunai had been a feat in itself. Even though that was the case, as an Uzumaki, it was a little easier for her to bear the pain, ignore it, and act rationally. Her next move was jumping backwards.

In a crouch, when only one knee is on the ground, this posture is perfect for bursting into action: springing, sprinting, etc. Through all that pain, Mitsu made sure that only one knee, not both knees, were on the ground, in case she needed to attempt escape. The water, as it struck the ground, would spread, no doubt. If Mitsu had been in top form, leaping out of the way wouldn't have been a problem. Thus, the problem presented itself. Something snagged her leg, causing her to fall backwards and land abruptly on her behind.

"What's this?

Her right lower leg was encased in ice. As if things couldn't get worse. Mitsu glared at the ice, and then saw a ray of hope. The kunai she threw into the water was a little close to her leg, meaning that if it went off, it could free her limb much more quickly, without risking having her leg blown off. But sitting on the ground with a stuck limb still left her open to attack. So, allowing the trapped limb to stay stretched, she gathered the rest of her body into another crouch.

"My, my! This is going to be troublesome."

She had to think fast. There was a little good news: the pain in her body was starting to fade. She felt her muscles beginning to relax, her nerves stopping their cries. Marina had already taken another defensive position, watching her. Mitsu smiled again.

"So now this is a handicapped battle, huh?"

Mitsu made absolutely no movements; Marina would have to be the one to attack, again. What Mitsu needed was time... the more time she spent out of battle, the clearer her brain could become, and perhaps the poison that disturbed her chakra would let off. Once she could move without restraint, she would resume her attacks, only with a different style to them. For now, she would wait and watch Marina, all the while testing to see just when her tenketsu would give up their 'industrial action' and detonate that tag. In the next spate of events, she would have to trust the speed that she had been holding back all this while.

Age : 29 Posts : 269

She closed her eyes and sighed in discontent. Her attack had failed and, once again, Mitsu would know what she was capable of, what to look out for. At this point there was only one thing she figured she didn't know about her, and that was her wind jutsu. That was probably the only card she had left in her hand to exploit. She really had played around with this girl, giving up every chance to actually kill her, or even just cripple her really, to keep the fight going. It made sense to her at first, because she was trying to learn her strengths and stuff here, but she hadn't thought about the repercussions of her enemy figuring her out. She figured they probably knew she was a ranged fighter by now, and understood that taijutsu attacks were a very bad move. Now, she would have to be clever. She watched her opponent and how she just stayed there, crouched. She was waiting for an attack, trying to take on her idea of countering. She would have to do something unexpected, and she would need to do it fast. Mitsu was obviously taking this chance to recuperate from her last attack, but mostly the poison. She had to act while she was at least still partially dazed. So, it was very close after she had landed on the ground that she began her attack.

She began running at Mitsu at a medium pace, and quickly whipped out four senbon, wrapping explosive notes around three them. She threw all four of these at the same time, but in a certain way. Two of them went to either side of her, and one above, for these had the explosive notes on them. The last, bare senbon went straight down the middle directly towards. She threw the three with the explosive notes slightly harder though, meaning they would arrive just before the one in the center. When the two at the side and one above got directly beside Mitsu, she would detonate them all at the same time. The explosions wouldn't come too close to her though, she would mostly just feel the heat, but that was fine, because they were mostly for distraction. What happened next, however, depended on how Mitus reacted to the last senbon, the one coming directly for her without an explosive note.

If she stayed close to the middle senbon, as in, tried to dodge or deflect it without really moving around at all, then her plan would go into affect. It was hoped that she would do this because the explosions would persuade her to stay in the same place, for if she tried to go in any direction she would be jumping right into fire. Logically speaking, she had no choice to try and deflect or dodge the senbon coming straight at her, and there was little reason to suspect Marina was going to do anything because she stayed where she was. At any rate, she would observe what Mitsu was doing where she stood. If it was obvious that she wasn't going to really go anywhere, just before the senbon got in her face, she would use substitution on it. She would instantly replace the senbon and be suddenly in her face. Without missing a beat, she would perform the water prison jutsu by throwing her arm out into Mitsu's chest. If all went according to plan, she would be imprisoned and the fight would be over for she would be detained. She figured this would happen because for the time being she would be unable to use jutsu, so there would be nothing to intercept the senbon flying in her face, and if she was smart, she wouldn't jump through the explosions.

However, if she did move, Marina would not use substitution and obviously would not use water prison. If this happened, Marina would pay very close attention to which direction she tried to run away in. Wherever she went, she would summon another waterfall of water in her face, which she would most likely collide with, and she would freeze it again. She wasn't going to play around anymore though. If she got around the waterfall somehow, like throwing another explosive note in it, she wouldn't let her get away so easily. If this happened, she would use another jutsu to control the water and manually make it wrap around her, then freeze it. She figured the plan was fool proof, and that whatever Mitsu tried to do, she was screwed. However, she knew anything could happen, and was prepared to do something about any kind of counter attack that might happen.

Jutsu Used if Mitsu Doesn't Move

Spoiler:

Jutsu Used if Mitsu Does Move

Spoiler:

Chakra Points if Mitsu Doesn't Move: 31
Chakra Points if Mitsu Does Move: 25 (Possibly 23)

Posts : 118

Mitsu had actually assumed that she would be able to squeeze out a little amount of chakra to detonate the tag and free herself, but still yet, nothing happened. And Marina was moving into action again, running towards her this time. "I'm starting to give this girl too much of an upper hand," Mitsu thought sourly, anger getting the better of her as she punched the ice that trapped her leg. From her peripheral vision, she noticed Marina attaching explosive tags to some needles. Mitsu clenched her fist once more, and with all her might, rammed it into the ice, while moving the trapped limb simultaneously. With a loud cracking sound, the ice yielded, and Mitsu pulled her leg free, dislodging a few large flat chunks of ice just as Marina threw the senbon.

She frowned. It was useless throwing senbon that missed, unless they were meant for another purpose. Since they already had explosive notes attached to them, Mitsu could well assume what they were meant to do. At their distance apart, they were likely meant to reduce her mobility, putting her in the way of an otherwise normal senbon that followed. Mitsu couldn't think of any other reason for the booby-trapped senbon. She quickly rose to her feet, picking one of the ice slabs with her.

Whatever the reason for these senbon, Mitsu wasn't going to wait and watch, as she had done before. Stamping her leg to ease out the numbness in it, while ignoring the pins-and-needles effect that shot through it, she hurled the slab of ice at the senbon on her right, suddenly banking in the same direction. The ice met the senbon midway before it reached her, while she was already running to the side of Marina, still at an average speed.

Obviously, Marina had a plan B, in case the needle plan failed. As Mitsu flanked her, she noticed another bunch of handseals. She immediately prepared herself to execute a maneuver, since handseals were the harbingers of ninjutsu. As she expected, another attack came; she found another large volume of water coming against her. "This move again? Can't risk being trapped anymore..." Making the assumption that Marina had not seen her full speed, and so couldn't know if Mitsu could move faster, she put her above average speed suddenly into use mixed with her penchant for evasion, making a dash and actually performing a roll beneath the waterfall before it could crash down on top of her, instead of trying to stop or turn, which would have slowed her down. The roll would ensure that she didn't remain on the ground for a second extra, as the pace of this battle had seriously risen in tempo.

"I have to start making my own attacks in earnest, gotta get some sweat on her brow. Damn chakra, work!" she thought sourly, as with a fluid motion, she drew a Windmill shuriken from her holster, opened it and threw it at Marina. It was a little low to the ground, so that simply ducking beneath it would not work. With her other hand, she drew out three kunai and threw them also, so that they flanked the shuriken on either side and above. Her main objective was to get Marina to move, to break her concentration just for a bit, so that she would have to focus more on moving, rather than attacking with water. Until her tenketsu opened, she would focus only on speed, evasion and a few ranged attacks here and there to keep Marina from comfortably attacking over and over again.

Once she felt the slightest ounce of chakra seeping out of her blocked tenketsu, she would resume an all-out attack. Although she reduced her speed, she never stopped, keeping a wary eye on Marina, as she ran in as unpredictable a pattern as her skills could afford.

Age : 29 Posts : 269

Her attack, once again, did not work, and she was running low on chakra. This was not going to work, so she had to get serious. From now on, she would have to be careful with her chakra, and attack smartly and conservatively. She watched her opponent dart around the ring expertly, showing off speed she had not yet. There was no way she would be able to catch her with any of her jutsu while she was moving like that. She would have to wait for an opening and attack when possible, to conserve as much as possible. In a few moments, her opponents chakra points would start healing, but still be partially inflamed, meaning chakra use would be possible, but it would cost 90% more. This was the glory of the poison, it would take so much time for the poison to wear off, and using jutsu would cost much more chakra. Judging by the way she was moving around, she was waiting for availability and then whip out some giant jutsu or something. What she probably didn't know is that it would come at an increased chakra cost, meaning she would exhaust herself quickly, which would be good.

So for now, she would wait for that to happen, and become more evasive until she exhausted herself, then strike maliciously. Or maybe she would find an opening altogether in her attack, and would exploit that. She looked at the incoming projectiles, and quickly cart wheeled to the left out of range long before they even reached her. She had to break concentration for a moment, so her previous water jutsu deactivated, but that was okay. The water fell to the ground, so it could be used later if necessary. For the time being, she simply stood where she was, waiting for the opponent to dish out some jutsu, and she would go from there. She was currently moving too fast to try to do anything, so she would wait, watch, and observe.

((Sorry for shortness))

Posts : 118

Mitsu allowed herself a smile and slowed down further, keeping as far away from the water as possible. She had managed to cause Marina to cease from utilizing continuous water barrages against her. That would give her more chances to go on the offensive. Marina had been doing most of the attacks as of late. It was her turn now.

She kept circling Marina, heading towards a particular vantage position. Her tenketsu still felt like crap, but they were beginning to open up; at least, she could feel that, and it was a good sign. However, it was likely that performing a jutsu that required lots of chakra might fizzle out on her, judging from the way the poison made her feel. She certainly hoped that was not the case; she couldn't take any more chances...

Her hands went into her weapons holster once more. "Don't think I've used up any shuriken... and I've still got kunai. Good." As she reached the position, she whipped out six shurikens and threw them at Marina, all at once. They kind of fanned out in a horizontal position, so that they were well spaced out, but at least two were bound to hit her, if she didn't move. Using the momentum of throwing the shurikens to her advantage, she let loose three chakra chains from her left hand towards Marina. They came directly behind the shurikens, hoping to ensnare her. Mitsu was quite certain that such a move would be easy enough yet fro Marina to evade, and so that was where the vantage point came in.

Mitsu had made sure that she was standing at a point where Marina was directly between her and the Windmill shuriken she had earlier thrown. If, or perhaps when Marina dodged the shurikens and the chains, Mitsu would manipulate the chains to quickly go ahead and wrap around the ring of the Windmill shuriken, while she would charge at Marina, using all her speed this time. With a very subtle flick of her wrist, she would yank the Windmill shuriken, and two of the other normal shuriken up from the ground and straight at Marina's back, while she performed the Kage Buyou technique. The shurikens were actually meant to hit before she would appear quickly in front of Marina to deliver the kick to her jaw, and the chains still held the shurikens to manipulate them further, if need be.

The shurikens were actually a decoy, or she herself was the decoy; whichever one applied. Marina did not have eyes in the back of her head, and so she would have to focus on either Mitsu, or the shurikens. If she focused on Mitsu, she would get hit by the Windmill shuriken and its lesser brothers. If she focused on the Windmill shuriken and its brothers, she would get kicked in the jaw. And if that kick connected, Mitsu would quickly follow it up with a Shishi Rendan (Lion Combo), that would smash Marina right back into the ground.

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Spoiler:

Age : 29 Posts : 269

She had successfully dodged the barrage of projectiles thrown at her before, so that was good. As she stood to the side of them, they continued to move behind her, meaning they could still be used for something. Mitsu was using her speed to her advantage, and it was honestly somewhat impressive. She was starting to make circular motions around her, meaning something was coming that she wouldn't be able to accurately dodge completely, without assistance. Before Mitsu initiated her attack, she whipped out another senbon and applied her last explosive note to it. She threw the senbon to her side and upwards slightly so that it would go over Mitsu's head, where it went until it stuck into the wall of the tournament ring. This would be her scapegoat if whatever Mitsu was planning was something she could not easily escape from unscathed.

She tensed herself, now that her escape route was in place. She waited to see what Mitsu would do, trying to watch her as best as possible. Before long, she saw an attack incoming. She saw six kunai coming in her direction. They were spread out horizontally, and she could see two of them hitting her if she did nothing. She knew this could not be the only attack that was coming her way, and she felt she couldn't risk trying to dodge around these kunai. So, she reached over her shoulder and withdrew the ninjato that had been sheathed there the entire time. she held the blade in front of her so that she could see the flat end, and let the kunai collide with them. She quickly sheathed the ninjato again just as she saw more chakra chains coming in her direction. It was obvious they intended to wrap around her, but looking at the way they moved, she saw that they wouldn't be too hard to dodge. She stood fast and made evasive maneuvers with her body, dancing from side to side, dodging the chains as they went past her.

It was clear that this was the intention though, for her to dodge the chains. She noticed too late that by standing still the chains would still be able to wrap around her, so she began to move to jump out of the way. She suddenly noticed, however, that the chains weren't going to attack her again, so she looked behind her to see them wrap around the projectiles she had dodged, and send them back at her, including the windmill shuriken. This wasn't good, she unsheathed her ninjato again and blocked the windmill shuriken with it by parrying it, but that didn't block the regular shuriken that spiked into her arms. She flinched and turned around to see Mitsu delivering a kick to her jaw. She was catapulted into the air, disorientated. She was in the air and vulnerable, something she couldn't allow herself to be. She looked down to see what Mitsu was doing and saw her underneath her, ready to perform some kind of aerial combo. She quickly used the substitution jutsu to replace herself with the notted senbon she threw earlier, and activated the explosive note. Just as Mitsu was going to deliver the first kick, her foot would connect with an explosion right in her face. The senbon was high up in the air when she substituted though, so she fell to the ground with a thud, and her jaw was throbbing. She tried to collect herself before the next attack came.

Jutsu Used

Spoiler:

Chakra Points Remaining: 26

Posts : 118

Finally, her very first attacks to connect. Mitsu was actually pleased that it was the Kage Buyou that had hit, and not the Windmill shuriken. If the shuriken was the one to hit, Marina might have been in critical condition. Mitsu, after all, wasn't trying to kill her. But at this point, she had to complete the Shishi Rendan combo so as to end this battle quickly. If she lost this chance, she might not get another.

She was instantly in Marina's shadow, throwing a right handed jab at Marina's side to knock more air out of her. If Marina blocked that, well, it could easily serve as a feint and allow for another attack. But Marina didn't block and Mitsu punched her in the side...

Or actually punched through smoke to hit something else. It was thin, hard and starting to glow already. Her eyes widened in horror. An explosive tag? Mitsu reacted quickly, but alas, it was too late. With a deafening roar, Uzumaki Tachimitsu was engulfed in a small but powerful explosion. Out of the flames, something that resembled a charred body dropped limply to the ground. It would probably send a ripple of emotion through the crowd. Mitsu had been kille... wait, what was that?

The charred body dissolved swiftly in a puff of smoke, revealing the object that had borne the brunt of the attack. A shuriken lay embedded in the ground, where the body should have been, still fadely glowing. So, where was Tachimitsu? She had replaced herself, and was now close to a pillar, where the unfortunate shuriken had once lay. She slipped behind it quickly.

"Ittai! This hurts like hell..." Mitsu gasped for air as she looked down at her right arm. It was badly burned, but at least, it hadn't been blown right off. It would take time to heal, unless there was medic intervention, and then it would be back to normal. The rest of her body had not escaped without damage; she was singed, but only lightly.

"I probably look like crap..." she muttered, then scoffed. Her looks were the least of her problems. This battle had to end very soon, and Mitsu was not entertaining any ideas of giving up. "Isn't this supposed to be a novelty match, and not a death match?" she thought, as she stepped out from behind the pillar she had been hiding behind. By this time, she had adapted to the pain, and was certain she could move about normally, or almost normally. She was grateful her legs had not been affected. She glanced about for Marina.

If Marina was still down, she would attempt to snugly wrap her up with her chakra chains. If however, Marina was on her feet, Mitsu would wait and watch her. Time was on Mitsu's side, because the more she waited, the more her tenketsu opened.

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Spoiler:

Age : 29 Posts : 269

Marina closed her eyes in pain of her throbbing jaw, but quickly opened them in time to see the charred body hit the ground. For a moment she thought she was victorious, but then she saw that it was actually a shuriken. So, she had managed to use a substitution as well, which meant she was somewhere else. She stood up fast and almost cried keeping her eyes open from the pain in her jaw. It wasn't broken...that much was for sure, but it was in pain. It was alot, but it wasn't too much. She briefly considered healing it with her medical ninjutsu, but she figured that would be a waste of chakra right now. If she did that, it would be if she suffered another kind of attack. She saw quick movement behind a pillar off in the distance and figured that had to be Mitsu. So she was hiding, recuperating, meaning some of her attack must have hit. If she was lucky, maybe she got an arm or something, but for now, she didn't know. She had to act quickly if she wanted to maintain the upper hand. She moved her jaw around to get used to the pain a bit, and set off.

She took off at a quiet but decently quick run in Mitsu's direction, or the pillar. She wasn't very far from it, so was able to get pretty close to it by the time Mitsu poked around. There were more pillars on either side of the one she was hiding behind, so about a second before Mitsu poked her head around, Marina launched off the ground towards one of the adjacent pillars. She touched the pillar about 1/3 up the length of it, and wall jumped off to be directly over where Mitsu was standing. With a single jutsu, she created a multitude of ice needles which were launched down at Mitsu just as she got over her.

She was high up enough that, if Mitsu moved, the needles would be able to turn and follow her without colliding into the ground. If she stayed still though they would plow into her and tear her to shreds. Marina herself was moving in an arch, so after using the jutsu, she would go through the air and land behind and to the side of the pillar that Mitsu was hiding behind. This was all assuming that Mitsu stayed still and did nothing, however. It was assumed that Mitsu would really seen Marina by the time she had touched the adjacent pillar, and would be reacting at that point. Marina would look at her while she was moving to jump off the wall. If she wasn't doing anything that would completely block her attack or moving too far away for the jutsu to work, when she jumped off, she wouldn't use the jutsu, and probably not leap off the wall as hard depending.

Jutsu (Possibly) Used

Spoiler:

Chakra Points Remaining: 21 (28)

Posts : 118

Marina had recovered quicker than Mitsu had envisaged, but at least she hadn't attacked when Mitsu was nursing her injured arm. As Mitsu slipped around the pillar, she noticed that Marina was already airborne, and was performing handseals, again. Mitsu decided to watch closely, and then attempt to evade the attacks that would come, as her hand dug into her holster. Perhaps it would be a jutsu she had seen before. That would make it easier to dodge. However, the technique that Marina performed was one she hadn't come across before. That wasn't too strange, since she was a Genin and hadn't seen a lot.

"Ice senbon again? No... ice pigeons?! Heck!"

She wondered why senbon, or senbon shaped projectiles would have wings. The way they came at her, she almost wanted to assume that they had a life of their own, but she wasn't sure. Marina was a girl of many surprises, and whatever Mitsu did now, she had to make sure that the killer pigeons didn't hit her. She didn't wait for them to come close, she took off towards where she expected Marina to land, hoping to use Marina's airborne state to her advantage. She was rather alarmed to discover that the 'pigeons' veered before they hit the ground and went after her. She continued running at top speed, zigzagging this way and that among the pillars, in the hopes that the maneuverability of the pigeon senbon would not be perfect enough to tail her movements accurately. Scooping out of her holster seven makibishi, she rushed in close enough, before throwing them directly at the spot where Marina was supposed to land.

Mitsu didn't want Marina to use any ice techniques to knock the makibishi aside, so she threw them just a few seconds before Marina would touch down. That time was just a little too short to perform whatever handseals would be needed to use any ice moves.

Taking off before the 'pigeons' came close was a good idea, because that way, she had a little distance ahead of them, to her advantage. Even after throwing the makibishi, she kept running hard, and jumping, and performing whatever maneuvers she could think of, if need be. She had to keep this up until all the pigeons fell short of hitting her.

With hope, Marina would drop on the makibishi. If that happened, Marina would be unable to evade as easily as before, and would be a sitting duck.

Age : 29 Posts : 269

Mitsu dodged the jutsu by running to the side, probably thinking the needles would smack into the ground, but instead, they veered towards her and began to follow her. She noticed two things in that moment. The first was that Mitsu noticed the needles following her, and the second was that she was moving towards where she would land. She had no idea what she was planning or what kind of trap she was going to lay, so for good measure, she withdrew her ninjato from her back while still moving through the air. She watched Mitsu move around the pillars trying to make the needles stop following her, but only a few hit the pillars she dodged around while most still continued to chase her despite the corner turning. She wasn't sure what she was planning, but she didn't think now was a good time to use chakra, which was why she was going to rely on her ninjato here.

Around when she was about to land, Mitsu suddenly came decently close to where she would land and let loose a bunch of makishibi. She was moving so fast though that they were rather spread out across the area she would land, and not clustered very well. She saw many "holes" in which she could land safely if she tried, even in the small amount of time that she had. She wanted to play it safe though, and quickly turned into the air so that her ninjato hit the ground first, stabbing into it. She held the hilt with both hands and used it as a kind of stick in the ground to land on gracefully, bending her arms to absorb the impact into them a little harmlessly. Her form wasn't perfect though, and her body was quickly falling over, still going in the direction she was moving. She used this to her advantage though, and pushed with her arms to catapult herself in the direction, taking the ninjato with her, and landing on clean dirt away from everything.

At this point, Mitsu was still dodging the ice needles, which meant she was occupied in way. She wasn't using any particular pattern in dodging around them, but she was basically zig zagging around the pillars, the needles that were left not too far behind her. She wasn't really sure what all she could do right now without using chakra, because she was waiting for the right moment to do so so that she wouldn't waste any more. So instead, she calculated Mitsu's movement, and whipped out three senbon, two wet with the Debilitation poison, one wet with Instant poison, and flung them at the side of a pillar just as she predicted Mitsu would be coming around them at top speed. If these senbon hit, as soon as the instant poison took effect, there was no doubt that she would be stunned and the remaining needles would plow right into her.

Posts : 118

Mitsu risked a glance at Marina, just in time to see her opponent use some ingenious handstand on the hilt of her ninjato to escape the makibishi. Mitsu groaned audibly. She still had the homing senbon to worry about. The pigeon-kunoichi cat-and-mouse game was starting to get her fed up. There was only one solution to the flying ice senbon. There was something else she could do, but it would involve chakra, and that, right now, was a very valuable commodity. She decided to act on the former idea, and hope for the best.

Feeling absolutely certain that Marina would not just let her dodge about without pulling off another attack, she looked at Marina again, immediately after evading the ice senbon, which unsurprisingly, came round again. She noticed three senbon in Marina's hand.

"Poisoned, I suppose."

She didn't need a soothsayer to tell her that, after the earlier events in this battle had taught her a bitter lesson. She took one last glance at the projectiles to ensure that all the pigeon senbon were behind her; they were, but they were closing in fast. Just as she approached a pillar, she stopped, so that the pillar totally obstructed Marina's view of her. True, she could not see what Marina would be doing, but it was likely, most likely, that Marina was simply looking for an opening in which to skewer her. Stopping however, meant the pigeons would chop her up...

She suddenly performed a swift leap vertically, turning 180 degrees, just as the pigeons were quite close to her. At that range, they would be unable to maneuver before striking the pillar directly beneath her. That would take care of them once and for all. Just in case, though, she whipped out three senbon in case anyone was left, but that was most unlikely. If any had the time to evade the pillar, then that meant they had fallen behind, and that distance would give Mitsu the time she needed to flick the senbon into them. They would be easier to hit, given their shapes.

Obviously, Marina would want to know what had become of Mitsu, and she would get her answer fast enough. Keeping a wary eye on her opponent, Mitsu revealed herself, walking this time, not running, away from Marina and towards where the Windmill shuriken lay. Marina had a melee weapon, so perhaps she ought to get herself one, too. Whatever simple attacks Marina made, like throwing those senbon in her hand, could more easily be dodged, now that Mitsu was in a less disturbed position.

Age : 31 Posts : 1118

Zoid, you have fought valiantly, but I will declare Measure as the winner of this challenge based on both her skill in RP and IC.

Congratulations Measure, you will move do the second round.