Description: [Seishirou vs. Hakuya] ...in Thailand. Not a good place to be. Not with Shadaloo, not with war raging for the country. But that's where Hakuya finds himself, as he slowly regains consciousness. Last he remembered, he was on SNF. Now he's on a little boat. And everything's on fire.
It is as if Hakuya has been transported to Hell itself.
He'll awake to the sound of distant explosions, and the thin, acrid scent of charred earth and smoke. The faint sensation of a floor of cold steel swaying beneath the body can be detected. As well as what is possibly quite a large headache. It's hard to tell exactly how much time has passed--there is no frame of reference, but a glance at a simple pocketwatch might give the necessary clue--a few days, perhaps less.
Hakuya is on a small steel prowed ship, aground on a pier somewhere in what could be presumed to be Mueyang Rayong in Thailand. The reasoning is simple. The sky itself burns.
The small, lonely schooner floats in a sea of black muck some miles east of where a massive oil tanker still burns with a light that literally bleeds the night red. Even in these far eastern miles, the sea is still sticky and black with thick oil, and some curtains of flame wall off the surrounding seas and further areas. It begs the question--just how has one arrived here without being baked alive?
The rocks on the shore are charred black. Though the fires here are less prevalent than those closer to ground zero, even here sand no longer exists--it has been fused almost entirely to glass.
Atop the tallest rocky perch available here, the ninja sits, one hand braced over his knee. While his other holds a simple pocketwatch in his hand. He is waiting. It shouldn't be long now.
Groggily, his eyes open. Reds and blacks are all he can see at first, until slowly his eyes focus, giving definition to the blurs. Patterns become lines, lines become shapes, and then the whole of the picture can be seen, even if he doesn't fully understand what he's seeing. Blinking a few times manages to wash out his vision some... and he still doesn't understand it. Groaning a bit, the Suigetsu heir manages to slide his hands upwards, palms pressing flat to the steel deck of the boat, and then he slowly pushes upwards. He gets his feet under himself, and then he stands... slowly, anyway. Scrunching his eyes closed a moment, he then opens them again, and looks out to the tanker on fire some distance across from him.
It's a new sight, seeing hell. He's not sure why he's seeing it, but seeing it he is. And he doesn't think he's dreaming, either, because his dreams tend to have less fire and burning skies than this. Rolling his head and shoulders, he works out the kinks of being laid uncomfortably on this boat for who knows how long, stretching himself out. As he does, he turns about, looking at the area around himself... and can't even fathom where he might be. Thus, though he sees no one, he asks the obvious question: "...Where am I?"
22:19 exactly.
The pocketwatch snaps shut.
His fire veil tugs at his waist in an eye-stinging red belch of the strangely colored smoke. However, it seems to be a condition Ryouhara is well inured against and prepared to suffer. He dusts himself off.
Slightly further within the boat and beyond an ajar cabin door, there's a host of various items pursuant to the cause of operating a small fishing boat. Hints, of course. The wheel, however, is chocked and /chained/ in place. A thick banded dead iron padlock the size of a baby keeps it in place. There is a paper seal across the fore of the padlock. Across it is a sketched circle overriding one large kanji: FORBIDDEN.
No leaving today.
"Mueyang Rayong," Seishirou answers, landing neatly on the edge of the boat. As the dark clouds billow by just overhead, the ninja stands straight, hands sliding into his pockets. "I've brought you here. You and your classmates have created quite a stir in the professional circuit. That interests me enough that I'm going to see how long you can last today."
Only then, after he answers the questions that will undoubtedly be asked thereafter will it become a possibility that Seishirou /did not hear/ what Hakuya had said. He was quite far and out of earshot at the moment Hakuya asked, presumably.
But it doesn't take a genius of the clans to make an educated guess or two.
No answer at first. Well, that's to be expected, certainly. He doesn't see anyone nearby, and unless someone is damn good at hiding, there's little to obscure whoever might be watching him. Turning around to face the wheelhouse, Hakuya steps inside in order to check it out... and the baby-sized padlock is noticed with some concern. He wasn't really familiar with boats, but if for some odd reason he was marooned on an island, the boat would be necessary. But he's fairly sure he isn't on an island, if only because an oil tanker probably wouldn't be burning like being on fire was going out of style only a few miles off. It'd be... elsewhere. Sure, that makes sense.
As he steps out of the wheelhouse, he turns sharply as he hears the voice, eyes locking on the form that was not there, last he checked. Blinking in surprise, he then adopts a more serious expression as the explanation to the unspoken questions is given. Well, this wasn't boding well. To his credit he doesn't panic or anything. He seems quite composed, in fact, considering he's in a place he's never heard of - wait, wasn't that place mentioned on TV recently...? - and that he was facing down someone who intended to 'test' him, it seems. Turning more fully to the ninja, he adopts a semi-fighting stance. Rather than saying anything, he just looks at his opponent(?) and waits.
"Excellent," Seishirou decides.
His gaze is dead forward, open. Driven. Cold. It is soemthing that borders on having a presence all its own. "You understand the situation then. There is no reason to delay things further." Unlike his apprentice, Seishirou rarely prefers to resort to using facades to manipulate the opponent.
Well, not quite as often as his apprentice does, anyway.
One hand opens at Seishirou's hip. But.. he does not unzip the satchel at his backside.
"We'll begin. Do your best, or I won't be able to gather the necessary information."
He doesn't specify what happens after that.
His shoes squealing across the deck, the ninja leaps back, his hands smacking together in a single handseal. "RELEASE!"
A noticeable popping down at his wrists can be heard, squealing. Then a set of glints agaisnt the red sky can be seen, thin lines of light coiling loosely around Hakuya. Thin. Very thin wire. In the air, Seishirou grips the one end of the wire in one hand, wraps it about a wrist, and then flips in the air, catching a notch in his shoe against the cable. He will use his momentum and his sudden change in direction to slingshot Hakuya off the boat's deck and into the gleaming oily grounds below.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou has started a fight here.
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Seishirou 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Hakuya has joined the fight here.
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Hakuya 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Seishirou
COMBATSYS: Hakuya blocks Seishirou's Leafwalking.
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Hakuya 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Seishirou
Actually, he doesn't understand the situation at all.
He does, however, realize that the guy in front of him means business, and considering his situation there was little choice but to fight. Really, where was he going to go? Or more importantly, where was he going to go that this guy -couldn't follow-? He wasn't really sure what, exactly, the ninja's capabilities were, but he was dead certain the man was good. After all, it was likely he who did the surprise attack on him in the religious mueseum, and that was no small feat.
But it looks like Seishirou has no problems with demonstrating said capability. The attack comes shiftly and unexpectedly - thin wires. What? He's surpried enough that the wires have no trouble getting around him, and he's yanked forward and off his feet most expertly. It looks like Hakuya's on a trip to Oilywatersville, Population: him, except he's got a surprise of his own. Throwing his weight downwards as he's launched, he hits the deck of the boat, skids, and then sloppily rolls off the side of the boat, rather than being just tossed over. It's this that allows him to grab a hold of a mooring anchor, painfully twisting his shoulder as his weight jerks hard on his arm, but nonetheless ending up hanging on.
With a loud cry, the Suigetsu heir writhes a little, hanging from his grip on the mooring anchor. It takes him a moment to recover, but in this time, he ascertains one thing: Seishirou is still above him. Giving another loud cry, he swings his feet back, wrenching on his shoulder more, and plants his feet on the side of the boat. From there, he pushes hard away from the boat, swinging his body up and over, but as he becomes inverted, his head towards the deck, he slaps his other hand down on the boat deck and pushes off. Feet kicking out, he spins as he launches himself from the boat straight at Seishirou, forming a somewhat haphazard aerial cyclone kick, both feet aiming at the ninja's torso.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou fails to interrupt Rising Dusk from Hakuya with Strong Throw.
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Hakuya 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Seishirou
The ninja glances over his shoulder as he inverts, feeling resistance against his wire, enough to stress it to the breaking point. When that point is reached however, the ninja twists again, disengaging his heel from the wire swiftly to prevent the breakage. Then the pursuit attack. One dark eye kept on Hakuya, Seishirou works swiftly, hand and elbow drawing in slack about as quickly as Hakuya can advance on him.
But it seems the wire was.. broken anyway.
Ryouhara smirks.
Catching the kick full in the chest, the ninja snaps a breath outward, spinning and toppling out of the air.
When he lands in the oil coated waters, it's not with a splash. He barely disrupts the surface tension of the water as he touches it with a splayed hand, snapping out a foot above him. Seishirou cants himself into a full on backflip and tosses himself off of the waterline, to land skidding, the wet and oily soles of his shoes squealing across the fused sands.
One breath inward.
One out.
His hand levels at his hip again.
The kick connects, likely due to some fluke that Hakuya can't even guess at. It might be because the angle of his attack was from literally -beneath- Seishirou, or because the attack was dealt in mid-air... but somehow he doubted either of those would've hindered his opponent. Regardless, after the kick connects, there's a downside to it. Which is that Hakuya is no longer over the boat. Falling, his descent into the water isn't nearly as graceful or showy as Seishirou's is, he just plunks right on down into the black waters, making a huge splash. Grandpa was -so- going to kick his ass for ruining his ceremonial robes.
Failing a bit, the Suigetsu heir manages to stand up out of the waters, but the thick outfit now weighs a bunch more than it used to. Shedding the stylized dogi top, Hakuya is left in merely the considerably thinner hakama on his legs, and the sandals he wears. Wading to the shore, he pants a little bit, his breath stolen by the waters, and the blaze going on eating the oxygen doesn't help matters. Shaking his head, letting oily water fly out of it, he bats at his eyes to get the hair out of the way, then looks at Seishirou. "I don't know why you took me, but I have no desire to fight you," he says. Odd, considering before he seemd to have no complaint about the fighting. Is he sensing this battle will be hard fought...? Or is he just buying time?
COMBATSYS: Hakuya focuses on his next action.
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Hakuya 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Seishirou
Recovery is a quick, brutal and industrial process. If Seishirou is feeling any pain at all fro mthe blow rendered to him, it's mitigated with a twist of his back, until a pop is heard. This is time he takes as Hakuya collects himself out of the newly murky waters of the sea, and he doesn't waste a moment more.
That smirk.. never quite went away.
"You should know by now," Seishirou states, relaxed but otherwise completely without emotion, "desire isn't something to be considered."
His shoes drag trails of thick oil as he slides back and away from Hakuya. A zipping sound. Then a blade is revealed in his right hand. "You should thank me," the youth insists, "today, I'm giving you a gift."
One glance.
"You can call it opportunity."
One glance is all he needs. Then, a streak of light is seen in the air as Ryouhara seeks to pin Hakuya right in the collarbone with a kunai thrown with measures just shy of deadly force and intent.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya reflects Large Thrown Object from Seishirou with Full Moon Sunder.
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Hakuya 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Seishirou
A gift? Opportunity? Hakuya has no real idea what the ninja is talking about. But, what else is new? The only straight answer he's gotten out of the man is his location... and even that didn't help so much, since he wasn't sure where the location was, exactly. Oh well... guess he'll just have to fight his way out of this!
He sees the kunai coming, even if it moves quickly. Were he not trained religiously as a youngster to have this particular move completely down to muscle-memory, he likely wouldn't have been able to bring his hands up. But bring his hands up he does, pressed together side-by-side, the thumbs hooking together, and his fingers sliding one over the other, to form a triangle, with his palms out. Held at the kunai's trajectory, when the bladed weapon reaches him, something... weird happens. There's nothing flashy about it. No bright lights or anything. The kunai simply -stops-, point hovering just before his hands. In fact, from Seishirou's point of view, it might even look like Hakuya deliberately let the kunai hit his hands, rather than his collarbone.
That misconcept is dispelled as the Suigetsu heir steps forward, and then pushes his hands forward. Though the kunai was only stopped for a mere fraction of a second, in that time it is clear that its forward momentum was stopped. And yet, as the teen pushes his hands forward, the kunai begins to fly again, right back in the same trajectory as Ryouhara threw it. That's right. Somehow, Hakuya had just reversed the kunai's kinetic energy to send it right back at its thrower.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou dodges Hakuya's Reflected Large Thrown Object.
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Hakuya 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Seishirou
Huh.
To that, at the least, Ryouhara looks mildly perplexed, gaping. Oh, it's hardly any huge expression--Seishirou is familiar with the strategy. But the ability on someone of Hakuya's level? To say it interests him would be an understatement.
However.. it's still his weapon.
A weapon-user without a plan to deal with his own weapons would be foolish.
Seishirou frowns faintly.
He steps forward.
And makes, with one hand, the release seal.
The kunai bursts into flame in the air, meters before it hits Seishirou, shattering into flaming pieces that then slap on the surface of the thick oil. These pieces, due to the partial charge Seishirou rendered in the kunai, are still mostly intact and burning.
They then begin to ignite the oil atop the water.
There was a /reason/ Seishirou didn't try to detonate the kunai atop Hakuya.
Seishirou kicks back, sliding across the glass easily.
"I'd get out of there if I were you," he warns simply.
About ten seconds before the fires catch and flare across the shore.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya endures Seishirou's Calculated Tactics.
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Hakuya 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Seishirou
While Hakuya made an impressive, unexpected show, Seishirou obviously is someone to go tit for tat. Reversing the kinetic flow on a thrown object is one thing, but -exploding- said thrown object in mid-air is quite another. Eyes widening, the teen already can see what it is that Seishirou plans... and he's ready for it. Beginning to charge forward just as the pieces hit the oily water, Hakuya still isn't fast enough to escape the flare that races towards him, and he's engulfed by the flames.
But that's okay. Because he keeps running. The flames coat his body, and he just keeps running, -exploding- out of the flames and racing straight for Seishirou, fueled by pain and the flames. Literally on the last part, as he has oil -on him- and thus is on fire himself, bits of flame clinging to his exposed upper torso and hakama. Still he comes, racing towards the ninja. And since the sands are fused, what better way to put yourself out than on someone else's clothes? Launching himself towards his opponent, Hakuya gives out a cry of: 'Hyaaaaah!' and, rather than going for anything fancy, just goes for the pure and simple efficacy of... full-frontal bodyslamming the ninja.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya successfully hits Seishirou with Strong Punch.
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Hakuya 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Seishirou
"..Not bad,"
Ryouhara is forced to admit this, as he scarcely manages to roll away with his bones intact. Only moments earlier, he had been forced to raise an eyebrow as Hakuya simply charged through the explosion and on into him with a cataclysmic 'whump,' rocking the ninja off his feet to drag his hands on the oil trails, just barely keeping his balance.
Though the Gedo High student was literally on fire at the time he hit Seishirou, the ninja's clothes do little more than smoulder in the wake of it, allowing Seishirou the time to get up. When he does, he whirls about, moving to Hakuya's side, his feet squealing as he tries to evict the constant trail of oil he's leaving from his soles onto the mirrored grounds.
His hands come forward.
One moves back. Both open.
"But you'd better show me more than guts."
COMBATSYS: Seishirou focuses on his next action.
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Hakuya 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Seishirou
Hadn't he already done plenty of that? He reversed the kinetic flow on a kunai! Clearly, this wasn't enough for the ninja. And more clearly, since he was fighting to provide Seishirou with information... for some reason... he had to fight well enough to the point where Sei was satisfied, otherwise he might never be able to leave. The guy had kidnapped him, after all, what was preventing him from more?
Picking himself up off the ground, he's more or less put out due to his impact against the ninja... but he's still covered in oil, and his skin was pretty badly burnt in places. Brushing himself off, he grimaces a little... and then warily eyes his opponent. Shifting into his fighting stance, he shrugs off the pain of his wounds, and tries to focus solely on what lie before him. He knows that kind of stance... it meant that Ryouhara was getting ready for a full assault. Or so he thought, anyway. Regardless, Hakuya was intent on fighting as best he could to satisfy Sei... so there was no need to hold back! With that in mind, he begins to charge forward, running -past- Seishirou... except, he extends his arm out in a clothesline, attempting to catch the ninja. Should he be successful, he'll swing the other man up and around a full 180, throwing him to the floor roughly, transfering all his kinetic motion to the ninja.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou parries Hakuya's Strong Throw!
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Hakuya 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
Seishirou can read Hakuya's body language. He's thinking. The situation is slowly beginning to dawn on him. The inevitability --or simplicity. That simply enough--Hakuya will have to swim home if he wants to get out of here without first satisfying the Ryouhara-nin's curiosity.
He has a very upfront fighting style. Normally, tactics like these would simply disarm weaker ninjutsu in straight competition, which relied on speed and stealth. However, Seishirou, for all of his trickery, for all of the word's criticisms that his methods are 'immoral' and that his techniques are merely 'gimmickry..'
Oh, Seishirou possesses formidable hand-to-hand skills as well.
The ninja twists his left foot backwards until it meets the prior oil trail, then the right foot makes a similar tracing motion, following that identical pattern. This straightens his stance enough that.. simply, when Hakuya slips out his arm for the heavy clothesline, the ninja absorbs most of the force by catching Hakuya's wrist in his right hand.
His body twists. His left foot turns a circuit back ahead of him. That leg lifts--
If Hakuya doesn't have his wits about him, Seishirou will simply knee him in the solar plexus.
The force will be such that any stray fire that may smoulder on Hakuya that was not 'more or less' put out by the prior impact... will be snuffed in an instant in the shockwave that ensues.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya blocks Seishirou's Strong Kick EX.
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Hakuya 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
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Hakuya 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
Any doubt that Hakuya had about Seishirou's upfront, hand-to-hand combat skills is immediately put to rest when his left wrist is caught. His forward momentum is simply -stopped- and it leaves him, for just a brief moment, puzzled. No doubt if he were a more experienced fighter - more on the ninja's level, say - he might not be surprised at that, but he's completely blown away by the fact he was just -stopped-. No one's done that to him yet.
Fortunately the hoodied teen has enough sense to know that when your forward momentum is stopped and you're in close proximity to an opponent, it usually means the pain train's a-comin', and Seishirou's got the conductor's cap on. His right hand darts in, and all he really has time for is to hold it out, palm flat, to 'catch' the knee... and while that might've been enough to stop the attack on any other occassion, the simple force his opponent puts into it forces Hakuya's hand back, continuing to drive into his gut. It hurts less than it could've been... but oh, does it hurt. Grunting, his sneakers making shrieking noises on the melted sand as his body simply skids backwards a small distance, the Suigetsu heir isn't about to let this go unpunished!
Grimancing, Hakuya twists his left arm, hoping to, while not wrenching his arm free of Sei's grasp, perhaps be able to get a hold on the ninja, then with his right hand, he pushes the knee backwards, then strikes again with the hand on the very same spot, trying to hit the ninja's kneecap hard with a palm strike. From there it would be followed swiftly by an uppercutting palm strike to his opponent's jaw, then finally a particularly deft manuever, by lifting his left leg up and over Sei's right arm, then twisting his body around and bringing the right leg up to knee the other man in the jaw, hard, hopefully detaching himself from the man's grasp thereby.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou dodges Hakuya's Howling Harvest.
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Hakuya 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
Hm.
All circumstances duly considered, the kid was good enough to catch him, Ryouhara would admit that much. But he wasn't quite fast enough to hit him with such a complex move. His arm held in Hakuya's grip, Seishirou's options are still fairly limited as to how to stop Hakuya's plan. He could try and break free, but Seishirou's not foolish enough to believe he's strong enough to do so without being struck.
What follows is a complex series of countermotions.
His leg is pushed back, but he turns his body to Hakuya's left, drawing his forward attacking leg straight up as Hakuya executes the second palm-strike, skewing the disabling attack just right of his leg, and inside his guard. Despite the close quarters, the ninja seemingly has little difficulty raising his knee above Hakuya's head, by kneeing with such force that his own body is lifted up into the air. Attempting to balance on a smouldering oil patch on Hakuya's thigh, this will give him a height advantage, while his horizontal orientation guards his groin.
The uppercut palmstrike's force is nullified with an identical palmstrike downwards, crushcut meeting upercut.
Then, from his advantageous position of height, Seishirou will outstretch his raised knee, til his own shoe cuts past his eye, and puts all hope of kneeing him anywhere consequential to bed.
"Can you handle this much?" Ryouara wonders, more to himself.
He breaks the hold on Hakuya's sleeve now, from his position of safety, continuing to rise..
Until his lower leg tries to hook into Hakuya's left armpit, for leverage.
To support his outstretched leg, coming down in a smooth guillotine motion axe kick at Hakuya's collar.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya fails to interrupt Medium Kick from Seishirou with Blind Crescent.
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Hakuya 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
Well, damn. Again Hakuya is a little befuddled. Maybe it's just that he's been fighting people who rely on upfront tactics rather than well thought out motions and attacks, but he's flailing pretty hard against the ninja, here. While he tries to continue to strike at the rising opponent, he soon finds himself in a very bad position - at more or less the mercy of Seishirou. Letting out a small growling grunt, Hakuya grits his teeth, his head following the ninja's movements... to see the kick coming down. There's really little he can do, his left leg and arm trapped by the other man's movements. All he can try to do is lift his right arm, hand seeming to grab for Sei's leg rather than moving in to block... but the angle is too awkward, the speed too fast.
The kick impacts, and the Suigetsu heir cries out in pain, being driven to one knee by both the force directed downwards to his collar and the simple sheer pain of it. It really fuggin' hurt to be kicked there, and likely the bone would be snapped or at least really bruised... he wasn't going to be using that arm too much, after this fight. Struggling to get Sei off of him, he tries at the least to simply shove the other man off himself, and then tuck into a backwards roll, trying to get some distance from his opponent.
Seishirou doesn't linger long. When shoved, the ninja flies back, perhaps a little farther than expected, even, his knees drawn full up to his chin for most of the trip before he smacks into the fused glass ground, one shoe held up elegantly while the other squealed as it brought him swiftly to a stop.
Right now, that ground itself bore the symbolism of their brutal dance--trails of oil trace out the graceful circles of Seishirou's footwork in sweeping chaotic patterns of velocity.
But when Seishirou looks over the battlefield, he is too busy to appreciate it.
He slides a kunai out of his satchel absently. The necessary jutsu wouldn't be possible now, and at the current level of engagement, he might not get a chance to see it. Normally, he wouldn't do it like this, but...
He tears a small length of his fire veil's lining out. The fabric was fireproof, and by route of that, didn't soak water well either. Stepping to one side, quietly watching Hakuya's movements, the ninja moves quickly, skidding a circuit from that area to one roughly a quarter circle from that position, his gait almost seeming to let him glide more than anything.
He wraps a length of the lining around his wrist, rolling up the sleeve while pulling back the brace. A significant amount of slack still hangs from that wrist, touching the ground beneath his feet. With the blade clenched in his teeth, the ninja performs a set of handseals. To heal, and to turn the nature of his own blazing chi inward.
He slides the kunai from his teeth on a pinky, his hands locked in the last seal-- bird. Incorporating the blade into the seal by holding the eyelet between his ring fingers and bracing the edge across his thumbs, the point gleams as it focuses inward. One last point.
Inward chi to focus, to heal.
To endure.
Ryouhara plunges the kunai blade deep into his own chest.
Standing up and crossing his arms, as though he were expecting an attack, Hakuya seems quite sure that the ninja won't let up. The man's going to do something, probably offensive... simply because, while he's not a strategist or anything, he feels that Seishirou is more of an offensive fighter. After all, he's done nothing but offensive motions since they started. But what the man actually DOES do is... unexpected, to say the very least. It catches Hakuya entirely off guard, and the Suigetsu heir is left to simply blink at the man across from him, plunging his own dagger into his chest. So stunned by this, Hakuya doesn't really move, left to simply look dumbfounded. Were he more experienced, he might have an idea of what this was that was happening... but as it is, he's got no idea.
At least he gets a small breather.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya gains composure.
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Hakuya 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
COMBATSYS: Seishirou successfully hits Seishirou with Fierce Punch.
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Hakuya 0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1 Seishirou
The blood is incredible.
He grits his teeth, but he doesn't make a sound.
Weeping around the edge of the blade, it soaks Seishirou's clothes red--but only in a particular pattern. The blood creeps along carefully channeled bloodletting lines in his coat, making the fabric a veritable spiderweb of red. But that's not all. It sluices down the blade as it plunges, weeping between his fingers, carefully splayed, and .. down the strip of fabric he just tore out of his veil.
Then Seishirou twists the blade.
The blood pools at his feet, so neatly channeled.
"As I said, not bad.." Ryouhara evaluates aloud, roughly yanking the blade from the wound. Surprisingly, there is little blood when he frees the weapon, tracing out a pattern on his exposed wrist with the remainder of the blood tainiting his blade. "You have performed as expected.. though at this point, there is little more time to waste. Your perception skills are in line for your type, but.. unfortunately, that isn't high enough to stop what is to occur."
He twirls the blade, clearing the blood from it in an instant before sheathing. He steps into the gathered pool of blood with his opposite foot while wrapping the bloodied lining about his wrist.
"It's already begun."
The fire on the water is--has been--creeping up onto the shore at a fairly constant rate. It's only to be expected. Both fighters have been trailing oil ever since they came up out of the water. However... only Seishirou has allowed for that. As the ninja flickers out of view, Hakuya will see him flit here and there. Three seconds. Three different trips. And, with his own blood, the seal is completed.
The trails of his footwork is not chaotic. It is planned. An arcane array spanning most of the clustered battlefield, drawn in thick oil in deliberate trails, some of Hakuya's /own sliding footwork/ serving to connect the lines Seishirou himself drew.
The truth becomes rapidly clear.
He caused the explosion in the water to create the fire on purpose. Seishirou assisted Hakuya in putting the scattered fires out on his body to prevent him from prematurely triggering the seal. He moved deliberately, struck Hakuya deliberately, to draw the crude markings, their entire fight merely an elaborate ruse to draw a giant seal in the ground. A seal that Seishirou completes in only three more steps.
The Ryouhara clan seal, which Hakuya is standing almost dead center in.
The test was only marginally to test Hakuya's physical potential. The true test.. is in seeing if Hakuya can understand. Understand, even only for an instant.
Seishirou reappears, far and clear from the student. His hands are held together in one last handseal. The fire trails across the lines, last lines very quickly as they begin to hit the accelerants in Seishirou's own heat chi. They carve out lines. Walls. A maze.
If Hakuya can understand, even if only for an instant, he might be able to escape.
But Seishirou isn't going to wait that long. "Release."
The resultant explosion parts the thick rolling oil clouds in the sky for at least 100 meters.
COMBATSYS: Hakuya endures Seishirou's Prime Tactics.
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Hakuya 1/----===/=======|=------\-------\0 Seishirou
Understand? The sight of what Seishirou is doing is little more than lunacy to him. He's vaguely aware that the ninja is preparing for some kind of attack. But the -execution- is the part that throws him off. The man's blood and the oil streak across the ground in a maze of lines, leaving the Suigetsu heir more or less trapped. Wildly looking around, and even showing some signs of uncertainty - perhaps even fear, or at least a heightened level of alarm - Hakuya tries to follow what's going on, but it's to no avail. So what's a guy like he supposed to do?
The explosion goes off, the flames fueled by oil and chi impacting, burning, searing. There's a scream of pain, and but only briefly. It cuts off into a more low growl, but the roaring flames cover it up. Eventually, the rolling clouds of smoke would fade, even if the flames along the oil lines don't disappear.
Hakuya, however, is not there.
A maze has an exit at some point. You might come to some dead-ends along the way. You might take a wrong turn. Eventually, however, you will come to the point that leads outside. Such a thing can be time consuming, however... so the only way to make a speedy exit is to either know how to go to the exit right away... or make your own exit.
The kinetic energy of the blast was magnificent. And it was also Hakuya's savor. Literally just throwing himself to the winds, he more or less -let- himself be thrown by the explosion, making no effort to stand his ground. Lifted up and thrown, the young boy's position becomes clear enough as his yell comes into hearing.
He's -above- Sei. Having been thrown in an arc, he was now in the falling phase of his little flight, and somehow, someway, he'd guided himself to being right in range of the ninja. Badly burnt, and looking not at ALL in a good way, the Suigetsu heir moves, foot first, speeding right at the ninja's chest. Should it land, it'd likely have enough kinetic force behind it to drive the ninja to the ground. Even if that's so, however, Hakuya has other plans.
The foot impacts, oh yes, but Hakuya's already moving with determined speed to twist his body, moving -over- Seishirou in another arc, grabbing his shoulders as he flips past, and then jerking the man up and over his own self, intent on slamming him into the ground.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou fails to counter Twin Moons from Hakuya with Calculated Tactics EX.
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Hakuya 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Seishirou
Seishirou stands in the midst of the billowing clouds of smoke.
He is standing at the edge of a crater.
He takes a small pocketwatch from his coat, opening it in a bloodstained hand and taking note of the time before snapping it shut and folding it away again. Not bad. The explosive yield of that jutsu would be sufficient for his goal, but he'll have to rely on his own chi to charge it more in the future. As is, it wouldn't nearly be enough to realize his goal. However, as for the second element of this test..
Well, it all depends on if Hakuya survived or not.
The yell from above his head tells the tale.
Glancing up with a frown, Seishirou slaps a hand across his bound arm, pulling thge fabric tight and...
Too late.
The ninja is hit fully in the chest--a spray of blood showing the landing IN his self-inflicted wound and knocking the ninja off his feet just long enough for Hakuya to flip head over heels and throw him to the ground. Seishirou hits the ground, hard, and can only twist his body in a way that dissipates some of the forces involved.
So he did survive. And kept enough wherewithal about him to land a blow.
Damn good one, too.
He'll definitely have to charge it with more chi next time.
After the throw, Hakuya is on his feet, crouched slightly... and panting. His clothes, the ceremonial dress he was wearing in honor of his SNF match at the religious muesuem, are completely toast, now. The dogi top was just gone, as was the undershirt. The hakama were in tatters, one pant leg more of a shorts leg now, and his shoes were just no where to be found. His bare torso was covered in burn marks and scars... but oddly, now that his arms' bandages were burnt off, his torso actually looked -better- in comparison to the very old burns, scars and various wounds on his arms. He was sweating, he was panting. He was nearly completely spent.
"Is... is that enough?" He asks, his voice haggard, his vocal chords likely torn at from the scream of pain plus the yelling. Stepping forward, he actually seems... a little angry? Yeah, just a little. Just a little. Licking his lips, he takes another step forward, and then rears his hand back. "Are you satisfied yet with this pointlessness?!" And then he quite simply moves to deck Sei.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou parries Hakuya's Strong Punch!
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Hakuya 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Seishirou
Seishirou in contrast also backflips neatly as soon as he can find the space, getting to his feet surprisingly quickly for the pain and the shock of being bodyaslammed. One would imagine him to be somewhat preturbed about this beating he's taken as any might--Hakuya's strength is not insignificant, even to him.
However, when Seishirou looks at Hakuya, he meets his vengeful eyes with all the pure clinical observation and precision of someone who .. simply can't care about a meaningless thing like the victor of the fight. The fight, as he said, is nothing.
The data is everything.
Seishirou raises one hand, smacking Hakuya's forceful blow to one side, allowing him the opening to try and grab the youth by his wrist as an extension of that motion. His hand will lower to hold that limb immobile, if he can.
Regardless of an opening presented, Seishirou's other arm doesn't move.
"... I am," comes the all too simple reply.
Seishirou will release Hakuya's wrist as easily as that.
He'll turn, and begin to walk away.
"
COMBATSYS: Seishirou focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Hakuya 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Seishirou
Hakuya tenses as his hand is caught. He's pretty sure there's going to be another attack. ...But it doesn't come. This makes the Suigetsu heir pause, still tensed, guard still up, but not actively seeking to do anything else, like make a follow-up punch or something like that. His eyes meet Seishirou's, and he doesn't back down his own gaze... though it does soften from being a 'little angry' to just being plain serious. The answer comes... and then Hakuya drops his arms, if not his guard. He watches as Sei turns and walks off... and somehow, though he's beaten to hell and back, he's pretty sure that a ninja leaving on foot, rather than doing something like a smokebomb or... whatever ninjas do is a sign of respect. Frowning a bit, Hakuya only turns when Sei is out of sight... and from there, realizes a simple fact.
He's in the middle of nowhere.
Log created on 19:27:22 06/24/2007 by Hakuya, and last modified on 17:36:25 08/01/2007.