Description: Seishirou and Rock, in the rematch of the indefinite six-month-period! (Winner: Rock)
8:10 PM. December 5th.
That was the time they'd agreed upon, primarily because it was precisely six months to the minute since their last fight ended. And this is the place, chosen more or less arbitrarily.
And Rock's here. It's fortunate, that they have an "official" reason to fight, because otherwise they'd do battle in secret again. Not a chance. Rock's here, his jacket already unzipped in spite of the chilly weather. Screw that, holmes. He's come ready to exert himself.
Actually, come to think of it, their last fight ended more in the area of 8:10:52 PM. It's now 8:10:49 PM. Not long until showtime. Rock's ready to go.
COMBATSYS: Rock has started a fight here.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|
"Long time," the ninja greets evenly.
It'll be the first words he's spoken for most of the day. When the League opened, and Seishirou saw the open card... it doesn't need to be said whose name he saw first. A significant date in an arbitrary place--that's the location of their fighting ground. It's almost come to be a ritual. Ever since that first time--his first defeat. They'll measure themselves again. Who's been working harder since they last met. That's the understanding.
The ninja is currently securing his footwear, a very large log slung to his back. He brought it in with him, looks like it was cut a week or so ago and, if one paid close enough attention, is just about exactly the same log Ryouhara brought with him to his match with Hotaru, to redirect traffic. If nothing else, it looks very, very heavy. Seishirou unshoulders the weight in its sling and sets it to the ground, looking across the way evenly at Howard.
"....So," he begins, unzipping his satchel an inch or two.
"How's life been treating you?" he asks, conversationally.
Seishirou kicks the log to the side, carving out a deep gouge in the dirt and kicking up a small plume of dust as it travels over near to the shrine, skipping slightly, but staying upright due to a practiced eye. The effect is not dissimilar to that of a starter's pistol.
The ninja bolts straight in this time, unveiling a few of the trademark kunai he uses and sending them flying, directly towards Rock's body, aiming primarily at the upper torso and tendons there with the flight of four.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou has joined the fight here.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Seishirou
COMBATSYS: Rock overcomes Kunai Flight from Seishirou with Double Reppuken.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Seishirou
Rock turns to face Seishirou, relaxed whereas his opponent is preparing. With both thumbs dangling from the belt loops of his leather pants. Not a single muscle in the blond's body is tensed that doesn't /need/ to be tensed in order to keep him standing upright. The only part of him that's moving are his eyes, red irises following Seishirou's log as it pushes its way across the ground. "Me? I've been doing alright. I went on a long vacation not too long ago. I think you'll be interesting in seeing--"
Rock's eyes dance back to Seishirou before the log ever comes to a halt, leaving him aware of the kunai as they come his way, opening up the fight proper. Ripping both hands away from his pants, each one already seared with a lick of purple chi in each, Rock does something a little unconventional, at least for his tactics. Instead of driving his Double Reppuken right into the oncoming kunai, Rock instead waits, timing it as precisely as he can. Whipping his left hand straight up, Rock effectively "uppercuts" the oncoming projectiles with a burst of chi, sending all of them sailing straight /up/ into the air. Right above Rock, in other words, a few meters into the air before they start coming down again. "--All of the things I've learned!"
Then, with his still-charged hand, Rock sends his bolt of chi screaming Seishirou's way, apparently uncaring towards the knives that are falling towards him from above, almost certainly facing point-down. "REPPUKEN!"
COMBATSYS: Seishirou dodges Rock's Double Reppuken.
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Rock 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Seishirou
He figured that would happen.
Sending the kunai ahead of him, it was almost like a greeting. Something the ninja could do to .. well.. 'welcome' his old 'partner.' After all this time, he finds it.. somewhat comforting to fight someone familiar. It reminds him of his original goal. Not to mention.. he's interested in seeing those things Rock's learned.
For the blonde's benefit, the ninja just grins as Rock blows the kunai up into the air and lets loose his own blast across the ground. Something Ryouhara is intimiately familiar with. You'll excuse if he'd rather not get reacquianted this early, which is why he puts a glove to the ground and flicks himself up into the air. This would normally ruffle up his jacket and headband, but with his new outfit, it merely gives him the rolling momentum to jump up into a low flying jump kick into the air. He notes the kunai as they fall, even, and sets loose his own strategy. It'd be too easy to let them fall on Rock's head.
He would not believe Rock is that stupid.
Therefore, the ninja sends two spinning blurs of steel--shuriken, it may be later noted at specific angles to the kunai with his free hand in the midst of sketching out his own jumping dagger kick right to Rock's face. If the shuriken hit the kunai, their angular spinning will essentially redirect them like the wheels of a conveyor belt, sending them not /directly/ down at Rock or in Seishirou's path, but down to either side of Howard. This will essentially restrict Rock's side to side movement and open up Seishirou's direct angle of attack. It's not a perfect solution, but it is the one Seishirou will come up with in the split second between his jumping the Double Reppuken and his attempting to land roughly in Rock's body.
COMBATSYS: Rock counters Strong Kick from Seishirou with Joudan Crack Counter.
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Rock 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Seishirou
Everything according to plan. So far. Rock's been playing this fight out in his head, over and over and over again, taking into account what he's learned. But not what Seishirou's learned. For how long the real fight will adhere to his battle plan, Rock doesn't know. But--so far, so good. Red eyes follow the comet that is Seishirou as he careens down to the Earth. Now's the part where timing is important. He doesn't get two chances, and if botched? This'll hurt. Bad.
Rock essentially falls backwards, dropping down onto one knee as both hands extend out to either kunai. Rather than restricting Rock's movement, Seishirou's provided him with weapons. Rock catches each one, intercepting it in mid-air with an object in each hand. Iron. Sharp.
Kunai? Seishirou's own. Rock said he was keeping them, and, just as with the kunai, he's kept that promise. Rock drives the blade of each of /his/ kunai, one in each hand, through the loop at the end of each of Seishirou's, resulting in two spinning, sparking iron blades.
A flick of both of Rock's wrists sends those two blades sailing right back into Seishirou just as he reaches point blank, aimed at the crook of both elbow, if only because that's the best place to kill Seishirou's ability to use... toys. Meanwhile, Rock's blades vanish back into his sleeves. They've served their purpose for now -- a two-fold purpose. On one hand, saving Rock from stabbing himself in the palm if he screwed up. On the other hand, showing Seishirou that Rock had a few more options available than usual.
That's new.
He knew he should have made the reentry angle wider, but he didn't compensate for Rock's increased range with the kunai. So that's what his new tricks were... he has to say. He's somewhat impressed. When Rock's counterattack flies up to hit him, Seishirou could identify the debilitating angle of attack. He can only do so much in the instant before they hit him however--and preventing them from slicing connective tissues is about the long and short of it, shifting his arms /just so/ and causing his kick to redirect and fall past Rock, grunting quietly as blood drips from the sides of his sleeves. It hurts and is something he'll have to deal with eventually, but he'll handle it for now. He watches Rock out of the side of his vision carefully, noting the kunai. Yeah, those were his.. but they weren't from this fight. He twists his farther wrist just slightly, causing his glove's razor to slice a set of invisible wires he set down before he jumped to start with. This frees him.
For his next move? Ryouhara will waste absolutely no time. He'll roll on the ball of one foot back past Rock, taking a step into his frame of reference. What he's going to attempt to do is /unzip/ Rock's sleeve and--in that instant, steal his kunai back by hooking the eyelet with a thumb. If he can? He'll spin it back past his satchel at his hip, popping the rayskin wrapping and, somewhere between that instant and the next, /tie/ the wrapping to the kunai's eyelet.
In that next instant, Seishirou will try and set what was once his kunai spinning up Rock's face, using the tail as one giant distraction device.
"Thought you were against weapons!" Seishirou barks.
COMBATSYS: Rock overcomes Thrown Object from Seishirou with Thrown Object.
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Rock 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Seishirou
"Hrn--" That's a quick response. A little quicker than Rock had anticipated. It's not good news, but it's not the worst things that's ever happened to him. Pulling his head back with a movement of pure reflex, Rock reaches out to grab the tail with one hand. It's too tough to cut, but that can be used as a positive and a negative. Wrapping his hand around and around the tail, Rock gives himself an anchor; he's connected to Ryouhara, now, and in close combat, he's got the advantage. Or, at least, he's confident that he does. "I've been learning a few new tricks. Can't fight change, but you can fight /with/ change!"
Seizing at the tail, Rock snaps the kunai at the end back at Seishirou's face like a whip, showing no mercy with his aim. Seishirou can avoid major injury, right? If he held back, Seishirou would instead take no injury instead of just the right amount. He's not out to /hurt/ his opponent, anyways, just to trip up his rhythm every way he can, once again aiming to give Seishirou no choice but to let the kunai stab him in the collar or risk being blinded. It's the former, moreso than the latter, that Rock's after. And then? He's still got his grip on the tail, giving Seishirou nowhere to escape to.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou parries Rock's Thrown Object!
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Rock 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Seishirou
"Glad to hear you say that."
Ryouhara knows a lot about fighting with change. This is a situation in which Rock has the advantage, yes. Close quarters is always something he simply isn't dominating at. But.. over time, even in his initial training before this mission, Ryouhara's learned.. often, it's not about how much strength you have.. but in what ways you elect to use that strength.
He pulls back as Rock whips the kunai at him, but given their connection, Seishirou seems to have a problem, improvising a distraction on a weapon that--apparently, Rock's trained with for a significant while. Damn. There's only one option, here, as Rock gives him little other choice to get speared or blinded. He's fighting seriously. So Ryouhara's option.. is to fight seriously /back/.
First, he moves his throwing hand back to his side to his satchel. He's right in that the rayskin formerly wrapping the kunai's handle is too tough to cut, but there's nothing to say that Seishirou can't /dislodge/ the object that keeps it connected to his satchel. Most specifically.. it's another kunai, tucked into a loop inside the satchel. This is what he'll pull from the bag, causing the tension between Rock and Seishirou to suddenly release at about the time he tries to snap the weapon back into his face. His other glove? He'll raise it so that the metal handguard deflects the kunai. Only this time.. Seishirou deflects it to the side. Using the kunai he just released, he'll flick that to the other side. And the result is one huge bola attack, trying to wrap Rock's wrists.
However, it's ultimately just a cover for Seishirou's close quarter techniques. One of which is the deadly "light shove" Ryouhara insists upon Rock at about waist level. Of course, that's meant to put some distance between the two, because regardless of whether or not Rock has a counter for the bola.. if Seishirou's hand touches Rock's skin.. he'll leave a mark there. His family seal. That mark, at one bidden hand seal, will start to heat up.
It'd be a familiar sensation, just before the seal explodes with chi power.
COMBATSYS: Rock interrupts Ryuuouin EX from Seishirou with Gedan Crack Counter.
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Rock 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
Damn! It wasn't attached to the satchel, but something /inside/ the satchel. He should have seen that coming. But here, at least, Rock is going to attempt to roll with the punches. He's gone through all the trouble of learning how to use a kunai, he's going to make some use of that time. As Ryouhara attempts to trap his wrists -- a movement that would cripple most of his offensive options -- Rock tugs his arms apart at the last second. He still gets wrapped up, but he manages to force a few feet of slack between his wrists, resulting in a lengthy rayskin loop with two kunais, each one in Rock's hand.
This next thing... he hasn't seen it before. But he's going to roll with this punch, too. With one swift whipping motion, Rock attempts to wrap the loop around his opponent's neck, once again binding them together... and giving Rock a handy moment with which to drive his forehead right into Seishirou's nose by pulling /and/ pulling at the same time. And then the Ryuuouin is going to explode right between the two of them. And that, one assumes, will make this interesting.
NGH!
Seishirou eats a good deal of that damage as Rock manages to get him by the neck and headbutt him in the face, dazing him and leaving the ninja to realize that he's.. still around to see Ryuuouin go off. That's something he's been in the practice of avoiding since he invented the technique.
One large explosion later..
It's all Seishirou can do but to use the force of the blast to throw him underneath Rock's looped handcuff garrotte and send him rolling away from Howard. He gets to one foot, frowning. "You've definitely learned a few things," Seishirou is forced to conclude, setting up a single handseal quickly and piercing right through his opponent with his eyes. It only takes him an instant to figure most of the major possibilities. ".. looks like I'll have to use some of my new techniques, too."
He breathes slowly, rhythmically, letting Uzaruto's technique do the work for him.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou focuses on his next action.
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Rock 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
"There's new--" Rock says, his hands still wrapped as he finds himself devoid of Seishirou in his death's grip. Whatever happens up next, it'll probably be bad. But... okay. He'll figure something out. Whipping his hands out, Rock shoves the rayskin and kunai collection into his hand. Or, at least, onto one wrist, where he begins to whirl it around and around above his head, as though he's about to launch it, like a chakrum or a bolas, towards Seishirou as he prepares for things. Only--
As he spins and spins the device, his free hand has already thrown, with a great deal of strength, one of his own kunai, directed at Seishirou as he practices. "And then there's old!" And right after that, the whirling leather bolas is hurled right after it, weighted down by knives and made perilous by the leather straps. It's a Double Reppuken. Only not quite.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou dodges Rock's Large Thrown Object.
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Rock 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
Double Reppuken REMIX.
Not bad.
Ryouhara grins, very faintly, as Howard looses the pair of weapons at him. The significance, however abstract, is interestingly not lost on him. He'd taken a moment to get to his feet proper, but when Rock makes his move, Ryouhara is more than ready to stop him. The ninja takes a step back from the incoming weapon, narrowing his eyes and 'spacing out' the kunai very carefully with the bolas attack. Now. If someone was watching, very carefully (and Seishirou was) they'd be able to identify the kunai that was in his bag with the kunai that at one point belonged to Rock because one is wrapped and the other is not.
This gives him a very healthy reference to use a jutsu.
The mechanist ninja leans to one side swiftly, letting the first kunai pass him by the shoulder and then allows the bola following it to turn once or twice, staying carefully leaned as he makes a handseal. His 'remote ignition' technique creates a spot of heat chi in a predetermined position, which allows him to burn a very small holding guide inside the 'anchor' kunai. This triggers a firing mechanism. Which triggers a trio of other firing mechanisms. The Three-Point Kunai was designed to be triggered in a straight throw, but if Seishirou has his math down right...
The anchor kunai /splits/ at the blade into three distinct subblades, loading and orienting briefly before firing at a triangle formation, spinning force causing three shards of steel to be fired from the bolas like a sling. But with the sudden change of weight and gunpowder loadouts inside that kunai pulling the bola, it causes the kunai Rock held--the tailed one--to go spinning past Seishirou--as calculated-- and land in the dirt point-first, with the now-impotent three-point kunai thumping into the ground behind it.
This leaves the business of the sub-blades, which are all streaking at Rock. They'll fly for about.. say, .07 seconds each, give or take .02. Just long enough for their fuses lit by the initial launch to burn out. Which causes a staggered series of gunpowder explosions to fire all around Rock. This is a weapon Sakura saw aboard the S.S. SNF, not too long ago, and it is one of Seishirou's newer technological advances.
COMBATSYS: Rock blocks Seishirou's Large Thrown Object.
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Rock 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Seishirou
For a few seconds, Rock goes through a few ways, in his brain, that he might be able to get through this situation. The only one that he can think of, however, is to wrap his arms around his head and do what he can to avoid the explosions that come blazing his way. Damn. This didn't work as well as he'd hoped for it to work. Seishirou's new technology has thrown Rock's mental battle plan -- and now one course diverges from another, and Rock findself on the road less traveled. But that's okay. He's got plans.
As the dust scatters from the network of explosions, all is quiet for a few moments. Quiet... until Rock explodes through the smoke, one elbow leading the charge as he blows straight ahead and towards Seishirou. It's a straight-on attack in a fight of careful manuvering, a gambit Rock hopes to get some mileage out of, following up with a hard palm strike the moment he connects, if he does.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou counters Hard Edge from Rock with Improvised Tactics.
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Rock 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Seishirou
It's interesting to see how Rock fights now. Ryouhara only has to remember how they were fighting previously. Seishirou using his older technology against Rock's brute force. Now, one could suppose things have changed a great deal, with each's comparitive outlooks on life and the fight bleeding into the other. It's almost amusing to consider that Rock might have made a decent ninja, at this point.
The ninja peers off into the dust veil, stepping forward quietly. He knows Rock is in there somewhere. And that the attack would be coming shortly. He's not diappointed either. When Rock bursts through the veil at him elbow-frist, Seishirou regards the move with some degree of memory--that was the one that dropped him in their first fight, wasn't it? IT's hard to tell. Over time, Seishirou's perception has changed significantly of the move. And now.. he can almost buy that it moves much faster than it did before.
Familiarity, in this case, and countless days spent obsessively analyzing that fight back in the old days can give way to a sudden flash of insight. Confidently, the ninja meets Rock's attack head-on, with his own move, kicking off the ground and attempting to simply jump over Rock's elbow attack in a shallow arc. From satchel, he pulls a small shelled explosive. In this case, it's just a simple improvisation, of his more antiquated technology. HE thrusts it forward, one handseal coming in front of his mouth, triggering an explosion as a flurry of smaller bolas blasting out towards Rock, spinning and threatening to envelop him in wirework. Seishirou knows, like with any of these implements, it wouldn't hope to hold Rock for very long (he had other implements if he wanted to acheive that) but it /would/ slow him down.
Just long enough for Ryouhara to get a pair of shoes on both of Rock's shoulders and kick off hard, to try and introduce Rockt o the ground.
Ironically enough, he'll be laying right next to his old kunai, stuck in the dirt. THat is, unless Rock doesn't have the wherewithal to shift his weight so he doesn't land on /top/ of it, like Seishirou's planned.
He's not holding back, either.
At long last, Seishirou scores a heavy hit on Rock -- even though he probably could have spent the fight chipping away at him, tit for tat, until the end of the fight, and still come out on top. Rock can't let that happen, but he's pushing himself too hard, too fast. Rock does manage to pull himself away from the kunai in the ground, landing just to the /side/ of it. No time to think, just enough time to act. Rolling over -- over the kunai -- Rock winds up on his back, at Seishirou's feet. A second tumble leaves the kunai laying on its side, now, with Rock at Seishirou's feet.
Gritting his teeth from a moment of tension, Rock's hand snatches the tail of the kunai, whipping it right back at Seishirou. If he times it just right? He'll snare Seishirou the second he hits the ground, and then use his leverage on the kunai (which will hopefully wrap around Seishirou's legs, even if it needs to anchor itself by stabbing him in the ankle) and /pull/, hard enough to topple Seishirou into a prone position and give Seishirou the opportunity to enact Plan B.
Yes, he prepared a Plan B.
COMBATSYS: Rock successfully hits Seishirou with Quick Throw.
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Rock 0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Seishirou
We're sure that if Seishirou could hear Rock's thoughts, he might regard the idea of Rock's Plan B with some small amount of dread. But, thus caught even for an instant, Seishirou slams into the ground with some fair velocity, and a small 'nnf!' at the point of impact. And by a tumbling Rock, no less. But, it's most of what he can do to roll away from Rock with the throw, pulling the kunai from his leg painfully and leaving a trail of blood as he does so, the ninja puts some space between the two, to ready himself. He'll allow Rock that moment for his own plan B. He'll allow him that moment to untangle himself.
But in that moment, Seishirou will open up a small scroll from his satchel..
And with a small brush and a handseal, begin to quickly and hurriedly write.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou focuses on his next action.
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Rock 0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Seishirou
Rock's grip on the rayskin strap is like iron. He's not letting go, not this time, and he probably has a few seconds before Seishirou is once again able to untangle himself. So, like a cowboy lasso'ing a bronco, Rock grasps the "rope" with one hand and unsheathes his remaining kunai from his free sleeve. There's one right way to play this. While Seishirou is still incapacitated by the tangle around his legs, Rock takes careful aim and hurls a single kunai directly towards Seishirou's scroll, aiming to poke a hole right through the middle of it. And then poke a hole in Seishirou, too. It's a package deal.
That done, Rock waits, and waits, until Seishirou untangles himself, snatching the rayskin kunai back into his hand, wielding it like a whip. He's studied, at the very least, the way a kunai moves; he's no whipmaster, but it works.
COMBATSYS: Rock successfully hits Seishirou with Thrown Object.
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Rock 0/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 Seishirou
Too slow..
That's about what Seishirou figures as Rock throws his remaining kunai at him. He can see it--he isn't so intense into his writing that Rock's throw goes unnoticed, but Rock did manage to throw it an instant or two earlier than he'd expected. This slows him down, especially with the moment more he needs to spend untangling himself from the rayskin. It's almost enough for Seishirou to regret giving Rock that weapon. Just.. almost.
The ninja can only grip both ends of the scroll and jump back in a full backflip as the parchment is torn right through by Rock's attack, still catching the kunai right in the chest and sending both segments of the scroll floating to the ground, only half of the arcane writing signed with the Ryouhara family sigil complete therein. He curses silently as he recovers. He does the only thing he can do.
Activate that sigil.
Knowing he wasn't going to manage to finish in time or evade the attack, Seishirou did the only thing he could. Plant a mark there and get /some/ use out of that scroll. He can only pray his calculations to throw the scroll were accurate enough. It's a long shot, bbut a calculated risk nonetheless.
He rolls back from his backflip, now fully unencumbered and makes the triggering handseal.
COMBATSYS: Rock blocks Seishirou's Ryuuouin.
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Rock 1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Seishirou
Rock keeps spinning and spinning his makeshift weapon around and around. For someone who isn't much for the use of weapons, Rock's adapting well. But maybe not well enough. Red eyes watch the flying scroll with a combination of concern and eagerness. That's something that needs to be dealt with, but how? Whipping his string-dagger around in one full circle, Rock times his attempt as perfectly as he can, snaring it out of the air and hurling as much of his eight as he can straight forward towards Seishirou. As he does so, his whip hand snaps down, launching the scroll into the ground.
The thing detonates behind him, sending him forward. More forward than he had hoped, but, it's different means to the same end. Rock is actually flung /past/ Seishirou. Or that's what it looks like, anyways, as Rock makes a crack with his dagger-whip, to wrap it around Seishirou's ankles /again/. It'll drop Seishirou to the ground if all goes well, but there's probably something more to this than just an attempt to hurt his opponent. Rock's trying to manuveur this fight into endgame, because if things remain on the dagger's edge as they are now, it's only a matter of time until he gets cut.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou fails to counter Quick Throw from Rock with Calculated Tactics.
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Rock 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0 Seishirou
Hrn. He had a Plan C somewhere in here. Doesn't look like he'll have the chance to get to it, though. Right now, the ninja stands up straight, settling into a ready position as Rock deals with his technique and then comes at him. Right now, Seishirou's starting to feel the burn. He's been using a lot of his chi, and he's lost a good deal of blood from those arm injuries, so he shares Rock's sentiment--if this goes on much longer, he won't have a lot left. So .. he sketches out a handseal.
Unfortunately for Seishirou, a dagger-whip throws off his chi triggering technique at the last instant. And using the trigger didn't allow him to move out of the way. Therefore, it's not much of a surprise when the ninja is flipped pretty hard into the ground an instant later, landing on his face.
Good. Everything's falling into place. ... Again.
Rock reaches out from his crouched position, taking hold of each of Seishirou's ankles. "The problem--" he declares, as he rises to stand, pulling Seishirou as he does. "--with playing 'who can copy the better technique' with me--" Rock's generating a whole lot of force, considering his size. His pull drags Seishirou's face through the dirt, until he's able to somehow lift his opponent off the ground and FLING him like a catapault. It's a masterpiece of harmony, a triumph of balance and weight distribution; his feet are anchored perfectly, his arms move perfectly, all to capture the absolutely maximum of his muscular power. IF he can succeed on the grab, that is -- and it'll send Seishirou sailing through the air, perhaps into a tree far away.
"--Is that you'll never win against the people I learned my tricks from. Shinkuu Nage."
COMBATSYS: Seishirou dodges Rock's Shinkuu Nage.
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Rock 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 Seishirou
That's a pretty cool speech.
But Seishirou is probably going to worry about that after he lands.
With his plan C firmly thwarted by Rock, Seishirou doesn't seem too concerned about it immediately. At least, not until he hits the ground. You see, Seishirou can't do an awful lot about Rock dragging him up and throwing him--perfectly--into the air. This sends him sailing way up there, thanks largely to Rock's decent modicum of power and if you've ever seen a cat get thrown, perhaps on TV, you can probably visualize Seishirou's pose as he goes and perhaps even sympathize with his concern about the approaching tree. So, Plan C didn't quite work out.
Moving on is necessary, now.
In an interesting feat of improvisation, the ninja pulls another of his more antiquated pieces of technology from his satchel. The Half-Hand Bomb, once used against Tony, amongst other folk. Essentially, a durable half a shell nestling an explosive, initially made to give a significant magnification to Seishirou's palmthrust attacks. It's MEANT to be used with a hard brace stance, so most of the momentum is discharged into the enemy. At this moment, Seishirou starts to twirl in the air as he curls up, sitting both shoes against the protective shell, holding it there between them. Hard. He makes a handseal.
From Rock's perspective, it'll be like Seishirou installed rockets in his feet. The analogy is not all that inaccurate either, as the ninja simply stops moving in that direction, shoots a long stream of fire from his feet and promptly flies right back at Rock. He doesn't give much of a verbal response to Rock's assertion. Mostly because he's trying to manage the aerodynamics and speed involved in shooting oneself out of a very small cannon back at your opponent, while at the same time trying to put a kick right back across their face in swift time.
Simple, but hopefully effective.
COMBATSYS: Rock interrupts Medium Kick from Seishirou with Raging Storm'.
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Rock 0/-------/------=|=======\====---\1 Seishirou
Plan B has a second name. Plan B is really just the codename to throw off any enterprising mind-readers. Its real name is Plan R. He knows Seishirou well enough -- and he knows that when the height is on, he's going to come towards him. Mercilessly, and effectively, unless he has something buried in the dirt or up in a tree or in his backpack. Rock is going to take advantage of the attack. Throwing him away was step one; it would have been nice to have taken Seishirou down right then and there, but giving Rock a second to gather himself -- and his chi -- is more than enough.
By the time Seishirou is propelled away from the tree, it's too late. Rock's red eyes are transfixed on the coming target, his arms spread as a gale wind begins to blow through the trees, shaving a layer of dirt from the top of the ground. The chi begins to flow an instant later, brilliant purple and blue waves of energy wrapping around and around Rock's person. A tornado of pain rises from the ground the moment Seishirou enters range, with Rock comfortable at the eye of the hurricane, comfortable but for the fact that he's letting loose as much chi as he is.
"Raging..."
The chi reaches its climax, waves entirely cast from blue sending Seishirou higher and higher into the air, scorching him with energy.
"... STOOOOOOORM!"
Kyo leaves the temple grounds and heads deeper into the forest.
Ah, hell.
He was afraid of that.
Managing your momentum is all well and good, but when you can see your opponent marshalling up chi for an attack you know is going to put you out.. well. There isn't an awful lot you can do about it. At this point? Flying towards the hurricane of chi? Ryouhara can only smirk knowingly. He isn't upset. Not in the slightest. Not in this circumstance. Not with his unique outlook, now.
"...Well played."
What follows is potentially the worst beating Seishirou's taken since.. what? Orochinagi? Flying into a chi hurricane will have that effect as Seishirou's body is battered, bruised and simply annihilated by the attack, only leaving him to resach into his satchel dimly somewhere in the storm.
The ninja hits the ground, smouldering. He's out.
.. And an instant later, kunai hit the ground, expertly slicing open dropped bags of.. large marbles. 24th Emergency Technique. The insulated bags, charged with a sudden burst of heat chi on a small attuned rock inside them, have already activated most of the internal fuses inside the little steel spheres. Those spheres, tumbling out at an angle, roll towards Rock slowly. Amiably. Almost as if Seishirou didn't intend for those to fall out of his satchel.
Of course, that's a lie.
They'll begin to explode, in-series, right about the time they're rolling past Rock.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou can no longer fight.
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Rock 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Rock counters Calculated Tactics EX from Seishirou with Joudan Crack Counter.
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Rock 0/-------/-----==|
Those are going to explode, aren't they? Great. Just great. But it's cool. Rock didn't have anything planned to deal with Insane Army Of Seishirou Grenades... But he's got something in mind.
Hitting the ground on one knee, Rock whips his jacket off with one lightning fast manuever, nearly ripping the sleeve as he pulls one arm out and then grabs the garment in both hands, tightly, by either sleeve.
And then, with almost comical care and gentleness, sweeps it across a large unmber of the marbles and gives them a little push in the opposite direction. With the length of his jacket, aim, and timing, he's able to alter the course of the majority of the marbles. The rest roll past him.
This means that a couple dozen little grenades are now rolling towards Seishirou's unconscious person, primed to explode.
Well, he's not currently very upset. Well, he wasn't even before he hit the ground. It's necessary to mention this, because Seishirou is not conscious. However. Were he conscious... he'd be unhappy. And cussing hard. Right now.
As the marbles roll ominously towards him, his subconscious mind makes a face at them. This is gonna hurt. The following set of explosions are enough to make Seishirou's body completely disappear. Probably, he got blown up and stuck in a tree somewhere.
Rock knows Seishirou isn't dead, of course. Not with an explosion like that. Still, this was perhaps a bad precedent to set.
After all, next time they do something like this, Seishirou won't show any mercy, either. On second thought? It's better that way.
Dusting his hands, Rock pulls his jacket back around his shoulders, and walks off. "'Till June 5th, 8:10 PM," he says.
Log created by Seishirou, and last modified on 05:54:58 12/07/2005.