Description: At the SnowCastle of Kemi, the ancient feud between rapidly disrobing samurai schoolgirls and crazy obsessive ninja continues! Seishirou tests his new ninkou project on Sakura, resulting in two new screams for the Sakura fight fans, and Seishirou almost being blown through a wall. NOW WITH SNIDE COMMENTARY BY KUROW KIRISHIMA. (Winner: DKO)
Here we are at snowy Castle SnowCastle, a castle made of snow! ... Seriously, that's the selling point here. The place gets rebuilt every winter here in Finland, just to keep milking the fans for everything they're worth! ... Despite the shamelessly biased editorial tangents, the place is pretty interesting. The tall walls surround the place just like a real castle, complete with guest-quarter-styled hotel rooms, a small chapel, and a restaurant! But the most interesting parts of the castle aren't the ones generally associated with castles -- the ice sculptures!
Quite a crowd has gathered, positioned strategically around the outer parapets for the best view of the courtyard. In lieu of either of the two live attractions arriving, flickering firelight brings the meticulously-arranged ice sculptures to life. This season's sculptures depict scenes from the life and legend of Beowulf. And, just for tonight, three largish sculptures have been added to the mix -- an Eastern-styled dragon, a figure dressed in samurai armor, and a ninja, sword drawn for the kill. This scene seems to be a three-way battle, with all three forces locked in standstill.
It's a good few minutes before one of the two stars for the evening makes her appearance, though -- and for anyone knowing the young Ansatsuken fighter's record, a late arrival is par for the course. If an observer had failed to nab a copy of the program guide, he or she might not realize that the samurai walking around -- garbed similarly to the much-larger-than-life ice sculpture -- is actually Southtown's own Sakura Kasugano. Maybe that's because there's so darn much armor on. ... And not just armor, but lots of insulating fabric; it gets cold up here, and Sakura was just in the Bahamas not too long ago!
Kasugano hopes the face mask she has keeps the audience from seeing her chattering teeth, as she begins her symbolic patrol of the courtyard. Overlapping armor plates clank as she marches across the hard-packed snow of the courtyard floor, her sword hanging at the ready by her side. But for those aware of such things, there's a rather =intense= aura around her. The aura is only as bright as a candle or so, but in the dusk of night that's enough to get people applauding for the arrival.
Sakura really hopes she has something more to do than just -pace- though. That'll get boring, quick!
COMBATSYS: Sakura has started a fight here.
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Sakura 0/-------/-------|
Oh, Ryouhara is quite early.
Really, it is a rarity Seishirou is ever late to a match. Regardless of whether or not he actually appears late is a different story entirely. There are certain preparations to be made. Always certain preparations to be made. So.. he stayed the night here.
It was, after all, a very novel fighting locale.
His arrival is heralded by the huge, ancient tolling drum of wood on ice, an endless, soundless grind. Appearing first from the chapel, the ninja labors with little complaint, dragging the massive thing behind him on a thick hemp rope, with a massive bell hanging from the end, chiming softly with every step he takes.
"I wonder who's come to face me..." comes the voice as chill as the bitter winds stirring the coat at his feet.
Seishirou doesn't need to dress the part. Though he hardly arrives in the expected fashion, he /is/ a ninja. He drops the oblong pine box at his back, the weight of the thing smashing and settling deep into the snow behind him. The box is elaborate for its cheapened construction, fixed with many wrought iron bands, sealed shut with paper seals, the entire thing a mass of cords, bells, and rings. He shakes out his sleeves to straighten them, making no concession for the weather at all, save the veil of a straw hat settled over his eyes. This Snowcastle struck a certain chord with him.. like none other.
He glances up. His eyes veiled by the hat, it is difficult to tell that his attention focuses on the patrolling samurai.
"... As expected, someone familiar ...?" the ninja wonders.
As a thick red line of hissing chi encircles a 'field of conflict' around him, Ryouhara smirks.
As the samurai walks, it becomes a bit more obvious that, yes, Sakura's armor =was= specially created for her and her alone. The shoulder plates are, as one may expect of stylistic re-imaginings, ridiculously oversized, and the guards along her extremities are massive and sturdy. However the armor is minimal about the upper arms and upper legs, to allow full freedom of movement, without fear of the overlapping segments colliding and locking with one another. But really, if you squint hard enough, the breastplate and the arrayed plating, flaring out like a skirt about her hips, would bear more than a passing resemblance to the sailor-style uniform she's known for, owing to the arrangement of the plating.
Kasugano exhales slowly, ice crystals hanging in the air as she levels her gaze at the drum tolling in the courtyard opposite her. She stops in her tracks, steadies her stance, and in one smooth, swift motion, draws her sword. Raising her sword in the practiced kenjutsu form, Kasugano awaits. "Finally, the enemy presents himself!" booms her tomboy voice, loud and clear across the chill Finnish night.
And as Sakura's voice booms across the Finnish night, another voice is busy getting set up to be heard /later/. The announcer's table is not a particularly hard thing to set up per se, though in an environment like the ice castle, it's a bit /heavier/ -- there's nowhere to plug it in, so it has to provide its own power. By the time Sakura finishes with her posturing, though, the basics are set up... and most importantly, the special guest commentator himself sits down in front of one of the table's attached monitors.
Kurow Kirishima has two purposes in coming to commentate this particular fight. One is, of course, to remind the world that in just a short while, he has the match of his life coming -- and the other is to continue being kind of a dick on the microphone. People love that stuff.
For those watching on TV at home, there is a very, very brief skip in the audio, probably not noticeable, as Kurow taps the microphone and makes sure that everything's working. Evidently, whatever signal he gets from the tech crew over the monitors is good enough, as it doesn't happen again.
The voice is unmistakable.
Despite the getup, Seishirou's smirk fades in the night, relaxing into an even, curious expression. He doesn't cut Sakura down with his glare--any more than should be expected of someone like him. No, his eyes are a little more open today. Subtle. Capricious.
It takes quite a bit to get Ryouhara to stop glaring at people. For someone of Sakura's history with him.. well, let's just say it would simply be rude to regard as anymore less than an interest. But the way he stands today... the way he steps away from that coffin he lets sit in the ground.. that seems to account for very little on the battlefield. Still.. his cold glare is softened. By care?
No. As she raises her sword.. he is.. /curious./ "..Interesting."
His left hand.. twitches. And a two foot sectional blade, run through with inscription, snaps out of his sleeve. It settles with an ominous hiss and a click.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou has joined the fight here.
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Sakura 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Seishirou
Sakura gapes. It's tough to notice, thanks to the helmet blocking the view from either side, but she's suddenly feeling like a bit inadequate. See, her blade's easily three and a half feet long... which would actually put her at a marked -disadvantage- against someone with a smaller blade. Especially one that hisses and clicks.
Gulp.
Interesting? "It only gets better from here, villain!" And with that, Kasugano raises the sword over her head with both hands, charging dramatically at him! It's quite clear she aims to chop down and split Sei's head like a watermelon!
... Well, except for the fact that her sword would fall waaaaaaaay short. She never planned to actually try hitting him with the sword -- instead, the real intent of the motion is much more deceptive, as that energy she'd been collecting off-stage comes to a head, coalescing into a rather vicious, four-foot-wide wave, originating in her forearms and rushing past her hands, past the sword, and out towards Seishirou! "HADOOOOOOUKEN!" ... Though the downward sweep starts to resemble a Kasane Ate more than the namesake, but who's counting?!
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Seishirou with Medium Hadouken.
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Sakura 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Seishirou
And once the fists (and Hadoukens) start flying, Kurow is more than happy to start calling the match. "I'm Kurow Kirishima, and this is one of Saturday Night Fight's most hotly-anticipated matchups, Seishirou Ryouhara and Sakura Kasugano!" In the interests of giving himself the sort of 'public eye protection' that men like Geese and Rolento has enjoyed, Kurow has taken to the microphone -- and his natural manipulative talents seem to make him pretty good at it.
"These two seem to have a little history, but it's good to see that when they've got a match, they can go at it with the best of them in any environment. Excellent mid-level Hadouken from the former #1 contender there -- a nice, conservative opening move with a solid mixture of strategy and presence." Cracking a smile, he continues, "I think Seishirou might be a little outmatched out there, frankly. I've had some solid brawls with Kasugano, and I just don't think Ryouhara can compete on that level." Certainly sounds like he's picked a favorite.
"Villain?" Seishirou raises an eyebrow.
It seems to be enough. The ninja takes the hadou wave full in the chest an instant later, blowing him back and sending the ninja skidding back on the snow with the telltale crunch of pure /damage/ being inflicted. He just barely manages to stay standing. Coat settling at his sides, Ryouhara glances upwards, lowering his arms, his right hand coming to run a thumb down the busted clips across his front midsection.
".. A little stronger?" Ryouhara asks, his eyes turning up to the overhead mics as Kirishima renders his opinion not unlike a judgmental, very ugly god.
".. Hm."
In the next instant, Seishirou is behind Sakura, his blade stretched out ahead of him.
"If you're the hero..." the young man states, continuing to walk, ".. You should try your best to win."
Seishirou's ability of near-instantaneous movement was used, only a moment ago. With him moving past Sakura at this speed, if her eyes weren't quick enough, she might not even be aware of the long gouging cut the shinobi made. Lancing past the plates. Moving across her side. He'll cut her armor open without delay, if she's even the slightest bit slow.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou successfully hits Sakura with Calculated Tactics.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Sakura 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Seishirou
So... there's announcers here. And she recognizes the voice. It's enough to make her blood run cold -- even colder than here in this frigid winter wonderland. She still has thoughts of Kurow now and then, an inescapable byproduct of the psychological engineering she'd had to endure under his guiding machinations. Most of those thoughts are of the angry sort, so it's pretty plain to see the irritability creeping into her features, enough to even diminish the impact of her Hadouken's, uh, -impact-.
But that moment of introspection seems to have cost her, as the ninja takes full advantage. She has the thought of swinging her sword sharply to the side, but she's too wrapped up in her secondary thought process to commit fully to the movement, and tables the gesture entirely. If only she'd continued with her intent of slashing to the side, she might still have armor to speak of about her ribcage.
Kasugano doesn't even know what hit her until the detached armor plating embeds itself, corner-down, in the packed snow beneath her left foot. Most of the suit of armor remains, but it does little to soothe the small region of skin just above her hip, now lain bared to the harsh, biting wind.
"YEEEEEEEEARGH!" howls Sakura, dropping the katana with a clang, and clamping her hand to her rapidly-cooling side, two tears forming at the corners of her eyes. That =stung!=
And yet, Kasugano draws in her breath, silently cursing Kurow under said breath. She normally ignores announcers, but that voice...
The Ansatsuken Angel forces such thoughts out of her head for a moment, launching into a fierce backhand, aiming to smack the blade right out of Sei's hand. "Hyyyyyyyah!" So much for witty repartee... that'll have to wait.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou dodges Sakura's Fierce Punch.
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Sakura 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Seishirou
Kurow, as always, gets to eat crow as his less-preferred fighter once again hits a deceptively high-impact maneuver, watching Kasugano yell out in agony from what looked to him like a far less painful hit than it actually was. Fortunately, he's starting to get used to this kind of happenstnace; his commentary doesn't suffer too much. "And a very /hungry/ blow from Seishirou, trying desperately to prove he can compete on the level he's been placed in! What a /nasty/ shot -- but will it be enough? Kasugano certainly seems to have plenty more at the ready... an excellent backhand from the youthful veteran --"
Kurow Kirishima is a friggin' jinx.
She seems to have a psychological issue with Kirishima.
"Problems?"
Surprised? Oh, you don't get to run your mouth half as much as the claw fighter does without earning a file in Seishirou's guidebooks. Not to mention...
Mn.
Seishirou twitches, releasing the blade from his hand just long enough for it to slide back into his sleeve. It always remained attached, you see. This, and the quick stepping Seishirou displays, almost /ephemeral/ around the Ansatsuken Angel, slips him neatly around the vicious backhand. After all. That sort of thing could do him harm quickly. Ryouhara isn't dumb.
There is a /reason/ he hired her as a security chief for the Suiryuu.
The ninja takes a brief flip into the air as he steps around Sakura, pinwheeling in a whirl of weights, packs, and fabrics, until a leg snaps out. He's aiming to catch Sakura in the throat with the instep of his boot in a variant on a leg takedown.
COMBATSYS: Sakura interrupts Strong Kick from Seishirou with Shou'ou Ken.
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Sakura 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Seishirou
It could do some harm, yes! And Sakura's just ticked off enough now to really put a hurt on! But once that initial burst of aggression is burnt off, she seems to recover most of her sanity. That was just a bit more reckless than she wanted to be!
"Nah. -You're- the problem!" Her comment is less of a playground tete-e-tete and more of a simple statement that she'd like to keep from thinking about the commentator up above. Thus... in just a few short seconds, she's gone from a really bad caricature of a period drama actress, to a seething ball of rage, back to a subdued version of the smirking, sarcastic schoolgirl fight enthusiasts know and love. Capricious much?
But that's not to say she's lost her edge. Even if she did, indeed, drop her sword. See, when Sei pinwheels around to step on her =throat=... well, she simply steps backwards, accordingly. One armored forearm clanks from the sudden application of Seishirou's weight and weights, compressing her spine and stance just so. But, like any piston spring, what's coiled must become uncoiled, and thus Sakura unleashes her full force in one swift, rising uppercut punch right into =Seishirou's= ribcage, her cry of "SHOOOOOOU'OOOU KEN!" loud enough to even drown out Kurow's misleading commentary. Seems she's taking well to the ninja-slaying job!
Frowning, Kurow doesn't say a word as Sakura cries out about that powerful Shou'ou Ken. He at least has the class to wait until /after/ the full-speed uppercut finishes to continue his commentary. "And Sakura proves that, even when it starts to look like she's the underdog, she can take a solid lead back -- that full speed uppercut seems to have done quite a chunk of damage to the veteran tournament organizer! It's enough to make one wonder if sitting behind a desk making matches hasn't gotten him a little... out of practice."
"KUH!"
Seishirou feels that in his soul. Struck hard in mid-air, the ninja goes sailing up into the air, way, way past the high end of the SNF loudspeakers that Kurow has so kindly commandeered, spraying a trail of blood as he does so, only /barely/ aware of what's going on.
Damn.. it's starting to hurt.
He rights himself in the air, and sails all the way back down to the snow castle field, sending plumes of the powdery stuff up for 5 yards all around with the force of his impact, one arm touching to the stirred stuff. He pants, slowly, evening his consciousness.
And then, the earlier border he sketched glows again. He is almost dead in the middle of it, thanks to his ability to save a fall. He stands, without gaining any height for the effort... er? As if mired in quicksand, the ninja sinks underground, his boots stirring the slush first. He holds his side, as the snow covers his hips, then his chest... is there actually that much snow beneath our feet?
Still. Soon there is nothing left of Seishirou but that red border.
And the hundreds of pointed steel poles that burst from every corner of the hard packed snow field.
Without delay, in an instant he turns the area into a dense field of spears, every square foot of the battlefield filled with razor sharp collapsing steel. It blossoms from the icy rooftops to the edges of the parapets. Everything is impaled. Except the area holding the pine box. Except the area Seishirou carefully outlined. It is there that Ryouhara rests.
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Seishirou's Ninkoujutsu.
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Sakura 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Seishirou
Kasugano didn't think she'd hit him -that- hard. Maybe she didn't, and he's playing it up for dramatics! Because it's somehow doubtful she blasted him so high that he'd burrow into the ground afterwards, like Bugs Bunny about to make a wrong turn at Albuquerque. Once she sees that, the Ansatsuken prodigy has a not-so-fond recollection of her first battle with the ninja -- an all-out embarassment she's never fully lived down, at least in her own mind. So far, she's already doing better than that dismal effort, which brings a faint smile to her face.
With that in mind, the worst thing she can do is remain standing in one place long enough for Sei to target his contraptions. And she knows he won't ever set something down without an aim to use it again later -- hence the Seijyun University student's already dashing towards the pine box he'd left behind.
It would just figure that spears spring up to block her path! At the first sign of movement, her initial reflex was to leap into the air. Good thing, too, as that means they hurt a bit less than they could have, impact deadened by reinforced armor along her shins, knees, and elbows instead of the depleted armor of her side. But, having been nearly skewered in mid-flight, she's left to tumble gracelessly along the tops of the spears, narrowly able to avoid the points as she lands back in the snowy ground.
... And then she's left without any target at all. Except that ominous spot in the middle. Her grimace of pain turns into a smirk, as she suddenly rushes forward with a primal cry, "HRRRRAAA!" Driving her shoulder into the nearest spear, she breaks it off... and lurches into the sky for one sharp somersault!
When she comes down... it will be driving that spear straight down to the exact center of Sei's impact. She knows he's nothing if not -unwaveringly- perfect in his setups, after all. "Hyyyyaaaa!"
COMBATSYS: Seishirou fails to counter Sakura Otoshi EX from Sakura with Ryuuouin EX.
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Sakura 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Seishirou
"A very clever tactic by Seishirou, shut down almost entirely by a quick, measured reaction from a woman that Seijyun and Taiyo /both/ love to claim for their own," Kurow notes, watching Sakura suddenly bust out with that intense spear-jab toward Seishirou. "Sakura's definitely one of the most experienced /risk-takers/ here on Saturday Night Fight, and it definitely shows here! That's a good, solid improvisation, and one I have a feeling Seishirou isn't going to like the results of!"
Everything going according to plan.
Except for the fact that his chi fields weren't operating at maximum efficiency. That jutsu isn't working today, possibly as a side effect of his ongoing research and development--damn. He can't afford too many more blows from Kasugano--a body that was simply too strong for him, unless he used all of the jutsu available to him. Unfortunately, that simply wasn't a possibility.
Or so he mentions as the snow--and /earth/--fall away around him in a perfect heated swirl as Sakura falls through his trigger field with no real effect (!)--and slams directly into him, spear-first. Unfortunately, costs kept him from outfitting over 600 hollowpoint spears with bursting jutsu. Unfortunately.
As everything within that carefully marked boundary falls to water and scorched earth in the surprisingly warm and comfy little /crater/ that Seishirou's forged for himself, he stands in the middle. Pinned straight through with the weapon as it gouges right into the ground underneath him. He grits his teeth.
"... suppose you've learned a thing or two after all," the ninja compliments faintly.
From the bitter chill in his voice, it's hardly meant in good faith.
Well... her goal was to slay the ninja. She's certainly =very very close= to that, considering the spear she'd jammed into him -- and subsequently let go of as soon as she could. It's a sickening feeling, spear plunging into flesh... and Kasugano doesn't even =want= to know what part of Seishirou she struck. Er, stuck. Whatever. She lowers her helmet so she doesn't -have- to see, hopping back to a safer distance, and mumbling a lame apology in response to Seishirou's frosty comment: "... sorry, one too many gladiator movies..."
But really... both fighters have endured worse than that, wot? Just a flesh wound and all that, right? And it'd be a mistake to give a ninja a break. It's bitten her more times than she can count, after all. "It's not over yet, fiend!" she exclaims, hoping to maintain -some- of her samurai character as she rushes forward sharply. She'll try to slam her armored elbow into the Ryouhara ninja, before following up with a rather vicious palm strike, her pale blue aura flaring out into what can best be described as... feathers?! "Hyaaaaa!"
COMBATSYS: Seishirou dodges Sakura's Medium Punch.
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Sakura 1/----===/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Seishirou
"And a textbook Rage Run Dunk from Kasugano, though it doesn't seem to work at all for her!" Kurow shouts out. Unfortunately for Sakura, this means she's given Kurow the worst thing in the world: extended microphone time. "And really, does it ever work for /anyone/? I mean, I have yet to see Rock put in much of a performance, and that's a very distinctly Rock technique. If there's a reason to bother with something Rock Howard innovated, I haven't heard it."
You don't want to know. You really don't.
With the vague indication of being passed by something thrown very, very fast, Seishirou is pummeled horribly beneath the iron fist and elbow of Sakura, he is shattered in half, and his skull pops off in a fully gory fashion in the field of angel feathers. The ninja is simply broken, a pile of loosely connected tin and snapped spear at Sakura's feet--wait, what?
The ninja steps up out of the crater, leaving S3ISHIR0U, a Seishirou-mimic unfolding tin skeleton, to be beaten to nothing by Sakura's merciless fists, one hand searing the gaping wound at his midsection shut with a grimace. It'll have to do for now.
Making his way through the forest of steel, he picks up the katana, testing it carefully for weight, before rotating the thing to point blade downwards in his hands, gripped tensely between the fourth and fifth fingers of each hand. He begins to murmur quickly under his breath, and perform handseals.
"82% (180 degrees) - 0:02m - (124 minus the snow chi, 60% margin) 55 mps, (force calc 9th grade) ++ 20%...pos 6:00, stun 4, conceal var all..deploy type E mechanism.."
Tatsu. Ushi. Tora. Ushi. Tatsu. Ne. Uma. Hitsuji. Ne. Hitsuji. Tori. Inu...
Keeping the kashira of the katana gripped inbetween his palms in an astounding feat of manual dexterity, Seishirou rattles off handseals and calculation in deep intensity. As he does, the katana begins to glow bright red, ancient kanji crawling down across its edge. Around him, another field of crisis begins to grow. Only this time it's more like a planning sheet than a boundary. Geometric diagrams and coded calculations seep in all around his feet, the solving plans for.. .. well .. well.. it's rather hard to see... the heat from it is melting the ice and snow and .. generating a large degree of fog in the arena, rather quickly.
The image of Seishirou's starting to become a little hazy..
COMBATSYS: Seishirou focuses on his next action.
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Sakura 1/----===/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Seishirou
... wow, Kurow's taking -another- opportunity to talk smack about Rock Howard? Better than talking smack about -her-, at least. By this point, though, Sakura's been mostly effective at blocking the Neo League's dubious points-leader out of her mind. There's more important things to worry about, like what the heck Seishirou's up to, and if he'd be willing to help her pass her advanced math midterms. Judging from his calculations, and her own estimates, maybe she'll be able to coerce him into at divulging information on one or the other shortly.
... but if she doesn't stop Sei soon, she might need even more help at math homework, due to massive cranial injury. Grimacing, Kasugano mentally sums up the situation: Seishirou's charging up his lazors, and she is.... unwilling to charge into that! And she's still hideously imbalanced from her earlier brush with Sei's blade. Hmm.
May as well kill two birds with one stone, she figures. She fumbles about with the armor on her right side for a moment, taking two erratic, and seemingly haphazard steps to the side. But no -- she was finding good places to stand that hadn't been marked earlier by the spurts of blood. "Ee... tou..." She never did find out what the sigils meant in the Suiryuu holds, after all. More importantly, though, she was buying a moment of time so that she could unbuckle the segments of armor covering her right lats -- with this step, she's more or less brought herself back into balance! Now her right side can freeze just like the left.
And with just a bit more of a twist, Kasugano's hurling the armor plating at Seishirou like an off-kilter frisbee disc, hoping to unsettle him with minimal risk to herself! "Yushaaaa!!"
COMBATSYS: Seishirou dodges Sakura's Thrown Object.
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Sakura 1/----===/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Seishirou
"... and it looks like Seishirou is taking us back to calculus class," Kirishima says, though he seems a little out of it. He's a math guy -- he's actually more interested in reading all the equations and diagrams than he is in doing color. Besides, the sass-mouth on Rock ought to tide the fans over for a while.
"Mod.. 160o - 10o.. lock 36mps. account 84%(180o). Failsafe disable."
Ryouhara will deal with Kirishima later. The ninja is remarkably one-minded, even when he's working on about a few million different goals. Like now. According to his calculations, which Kurow might be able to read if he's good at flipping numbers around arbitrarily in his head, he only has about two minutes left to battle before Sakura's average hitrate will hurt him, with Sakura's health at about 48% of nominal compared to his own 28% of nominal. He was ballpark estimating exactly (in orders of damage magnitude) how strong his jutsu would need to be to end her in that exact point in time, with exactly how much accuracy and speed he'd need (measured in mps, meters per second) to end her. The katana itself was some sort of amplifier, it seemed--20% modifier to what is already a grade 9 jutsu.. the Type E is something internal to the Ryouhara clan. Hard to tell what exactly that means.
Most of the other numbers and diagrams rattled off seemed to be calibrating the pine box just behind Sakura. 6:00 is a common relative position modifier, using Sakura as the focus. His current mutterings seem to be accounting for her stumbling to a side, and--
CLANG!
Using the collapsing blade in his sleeve, Seishirou twists slightly and smashes the armor piece out of the air with little more than a faint frown the instant it enters his field of calculations. He holds the katana between his palms still--pausing in his jutsu on one of the few handseals in which he can deploy a wristblade without cutting off a hand or seperating his hands. He is /holding/ an Ushi seal.
... Tora, Saru. Hitsuji. "Katsu."
With a series of pops and hisses, the pine box behind Sakura in the crater violently unseals, clamps snapping open and the door bursting open. Though it bears much ceremonial resemblance to a coffin, coffins don't tend to fire scores of thirty chains out at the living. Those chains tend not to encircle a target. To try and wrap them up.. and drag them inside.
If Seishirou's calculations are just right.. that's exactly what this coffin will do to Sakura.
In the eerie haze, whatever it captures, the lid will slam shut and reseal only an instant thereafter.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou successfully hits Sakura with Level 5.
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Sakura 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|======-\-------\0 Seishirou
When the ninkou device encircles Sakura, it yanks her inside and shuts, with the gentle toll of bells. The funeral procession jutsu. Something he devised after speaking with Marise. The device is at its heart a capture weapon, meant to seal something inside and hold it for some time. However, the device is two staged. Once it carries someone inside, as we can see now, it begins to boil the ground underneath it, sinking underneath the slush and earth as Seishirou had only moments ago.
The ninkou coffin buries itself, all to the pleasant distant toll of bells.
Once it is no less than eight feet under, Seishirou nods once, flicking the runed katana into the air. The samurai weapon gleams as it turns end over end. It sticks in the exact spot in the earth where the coffin buried itself. The Ryouhara shinobi hmphs. "Calculations.. complete."
Shattering the imbued katana's blade into /shards/, the earthshaking explosion underground buckles snow and ice for at least 300 feet all around, causing cracks and an uneven tilt in the earth like so much shattered glass. The ends of Seishirou's coat blow outwards from the escaping air that hisses in great blasts from the earth and snow, scattering the haze.
..But Seishirou frowns. "... 7% off."
Looks like he won't need his shovel.
Kurow's eyes widen as the full explosion hits, and immediately takes up the microphone. That is some quality ninjutsu, and even he can respect that. "This is unheard of!" he exclaims into the microphone. "Seishirou Ryouhara has just caused an explosion that's /cracked/ the castle from one end to the other -- I don't even have monitors anymore! This is unheard of!"
As much as Sakura had =thought= she was watching her opponent, she had still managed to overlook two of his biggest clues -- both S3ISHIR0U and the pine box she'd used to find him, against all odds, mere moments ago. And she's paid for it, quite dearly, as she experiences not one, but =two= of the creepiest things she's ever encountered.
There's barely enough time to scream for the first -- getting snared by two and a half dozen chains. It's the stuff movies are made of, and Seishirou's probably the =only= person she knows who would even bother with such a completely ludicrous -- and such an overwhelmingly =brilliant= idea. Where better to hide such preposterous things than right out in the open, right? She doesn't even have time to scream. She'd probably appreciate it more if she weren't jerked bodily and shoved into the second mortal terror -- a dark, pitch-black tomb, trapped with aforementioned chains. CREEPY. And she definitely screams now, a bloodcurdling howl the likes have =never= come from Sakura, and likely will never be repeated again. Sakura -absolutely hates- being alone in the dark, quadruply so in a confined space such as this one. ... And then buried.
There's just something about this place. Maybe it's the fact that the entire =site= is, by definition, transient -- it ceases to exist for half the year. Though, for the 2007-2008 season, it may just exist for a fourth of the year, if Seishirou's plans come to full fruition. The tranquil snow of the courtyard is destroyed. The ice sculptures that haven't been shattered into a fine mist are at the very least sagging from the blistering heat. Who =knows= what happened to the remains of the poor automaton Sakura collided with?
But through it all... a samurai remains. To collapse, after such an ignoble sneak attack, is completely unacceptable. And so... the young woman's form can be seen as the snowcloud clears. And it's a lot more recognizable as Sakura... because the "skirt" of armor, her pauldrons, and her helmet have been blown away, leaving only the relatively thin bodysuit beneath, a few assorted scraps of armor about her limbs.
And, of course, the now-tattered white headband, partially obscured by an even worse strain of hat-head than what she normally calls a hairstyle.
... and a brilliant blue aura surrounding the girl as she's practically =resonating= with a mixture of fear, rage, and passion to =kick Seishirou's ass=.
"It's =thirty percent= and you =know= it!" she cries, steadfast in her resolve to at least put a positive spin on all this! The air around her distorts from a sudden variance in pressure, before all the energy around her is siphoned into the space between her palms. She may not have packed a pine box... but that's because Sakura Kasugano doesn't =have to=.
"SHINKUUUU.... " With her two palms thrusting forward, the energy rushes out like a cannon blast, threatening to swallow Sei whole -- and quite possibly tear out the side wall of the Snow Castle! "HADOOOOOOOOOOUKEN!"
COMBATSYS: Seishirou slows Shinkuu Hadouken from Sakura with Kunai Critical.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Sakura 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Seishirou
He doesn't even have the time to smirk at Kirishima's commentary. Shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
"Maybe the old will cherish us," Seishirou mutters, a real bead of sweat--the first, mind, since Rugal--trailing down his brow as a heated Sakura erupts from the depths of the earth. "The times of old still live on in the hearts of the young.."
He leaps /far and away/ from Sakura, wanting /no part/ in that hellish storm she sets loose on him. It would seem that he has little choice however, as the small /meteor/ comes bellowing out at him like the breath of a great dragon. He frowns, troubled deeply by the imminent spectre of fiery DEATH hanging in front of him. There is .. little choice.
He whips his armblade up in midair, the momentum causing the ninja to flip around in the air in a fast whip of pure momentum and force, turning him around once... twice.. and then a third time, he detaches the blade, and throws it, with cannon force at the massive belching inferno. Much as he might have once before, with a similar move. The spherical properties, the chi matrix is all the same. Just.. the yield... so much larger.
It's his only chance.
"KATSU!"
The large blade pierces the hadouken at the very center of its matrix dome, the blade searing away almost to nothing as it falls into the mass of asskick. At least, until Seishirou detonates it with his own chi. This burst .. peels layers off the crowded force of the Hadouken, the dai hadou hemohrraging chi until it collides with Seishirou.
It does not break through the side wall of the castle. But it damn well comes close.
Bleeding profusely, and in no small amount of pain, the ninja sits up, buried in a half melted, half /shattered/ crater in the snowcastle wall. Every breath is agony, even his fingernails hurt as he numbly gets to a kneel.
.. But Seishirou is still very much so conscious.
Hhh.. "... 30 seconds left," he observes, absently.
"... and of course, fighting fans, the Shinkuu Hadouken seems to trump the legendary bladed chi technique of the Ryouhara -- just as I was saying all along, it seems like Seishirou just can't /quite/ compete on the level they're placing him," Kurow says, once again shifting back to his classic tactics as a commentator -- pick a favorite and stick with it. "And he seems to be saying something about... thirty seconds left? I hope he's got more than that left in him, or we're going to have some disappointed fans." Lying about the fans' emotional states: yet /another/ sign that Kurow knows what he's doing as a commentator.
Kurow's commentary is, sadly, inaudible to Sakura at this point in the fight. She's prone to fits of unreasonable reaction from time to time... but, tonight, that was contained to the start of the fight. Right now, the only way Kurow's going to get a look is if he happens to jump between Sakura and Sei. Considering his fight booking, that's probably not the best plan.
But really... Sakura's still pretty exhausted. She may have claimed she was at 30%. And she very well may be. But, after hurling that Shinkuu Hadouken... she certainly isn't standing straight upright, and she can't blame it on the weight of her thinned-out armor. Her shoulders heavy from fatigue, she nonetheless manages to keep her eyes on Seishirou, watching to see how he handles her Shinkuu Hadouken.
A few months ago, she might've been... upset to see her Hadouken dismantled as well as it is... but now? Now she grins. Lacing her fingers together, she stretches her arms high overhead for a moment, then rocks her head from one side to the other. "It won't take you that long to keel over!" she announces cheerily. What happened to her weariness? Was it just a ruse? Her aura isn't quite as bright, but aside from that... she leaps into action just as excitably as her first, vaulting towards Sei with a balled-up right fist.
That's when Kasugano slams her left palm forward, energy welling up in a sudden flare of chi, designed to close the gap about 0.78 seconds faster than her feigned punch =would= have hit. "Betcha can't do that again, Sei!"
COMBATSYS: Seishirou dodges Sakura's Medium Hadouken EX.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Sakura 0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0 Seishirou
Breathing faintly, Seishirou leans over, now crouching perfectly horizontal on the crater. He looks up at the oncoming schoolgirl with tilted dark brown eyes. Cold, but.. careful. He is watching you, Kasugano.
He sees what you did there.
He vaults off the wall.. directly into Kasugano's fist. Her /hadouken/, perfectly timed. If her fist would have reached him in one second, and her hadou would have reached him in .22 seconds, Seishirou acts in .. no less and no more than .20 seconds.
He twists slightly.. then is gone.
"You're right. I can't," Seishirou admits, en passant to Sakura.
That is why he tries to grip her by the feint arm--the one currently closest to him, and the one currently in any position for a fast response. The ninja rolls up, redirecting his momentum, and he'll move to pull Sakura's own momentum into a vicious whirling spin with his own. He'll let her fly, after a few revolutions. Right at the ground. Right at the bed of nails forged by his own ninkoujutsu, and then ruptured by his own ninkoujutsu.
Despite her insistence... he knows better.
With as little necessary effort as possible, Seishirou is aiming to close some mathematical margin that exists under his eye and within his mind.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou successfully hits Sakura with Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\ < > ///// ]
Sakura 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Seishirou
Kasugano's brow furrows at that. She's used to thinking a few moves ahead with Sei... which is why she had consistently refused to attack him in any of the ways he'd =expect= her to. ... Well, except for that backhand. That was all Kurow's fault. Jerk.
And really... she -is- tired, so she hadn't thought ahead to the possibility of Seishirou avoiding -both- moves -- just the first one. So when he grabs her arm, the one she hadn't cared to tuck in... well, it's a surprise.
Not as much as the sudden whirling that follows. She's been buried already, and had gotten a bit nauseous =then= but refused to admit it... but now, well, it's a bit harder to ignore.
The bed of nails does something to shock her back into ignoring it though. That kinda stings -- as any fool can see once Sakura's form flattens, flexes, and then =springs up= in an instant as hundreds of tiny points needle across her significantly-less-armored form. Yowch!
A high-pitched shriek follows, that doesn't really follow any previously recorded patterns of Sakura's voice. An extra treat to you, the viewers! But with her body finally, yes, =finally= giving out... and her landing unsteadily on one foot with both arms to the side... the least she can do is try to distract Seishirou with an axe kick from overhead. He could, quite possibly, be immune to the same angle countless others have fallen prey to, as death descends from above in the form of a wobbly, armored boot. "Hriii-haaaa!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Seishirou with Flower Kick.
[ \\ <
Seishirou 1/-------/=======|
Seishirou lands, hard, on the very tip of a spear, causing the steel to almost buckle underneath his near perfect balance, tilting the thing only slightly as his arms hang loose at his sides, swaying back to offset what little momentum remained. He breathes, looking back. She was getting a lot better. If his calculations had been off even slightly, it would have been the end for him, surely. Even that last started to show the intensity of her strategem, however weak it might of been in the face of his own. Most people didn't even get that far against him. Still, that last blow should have been enough--
A shadow grows over him. ("Hriii-haaaa!")
Seishirou's eyes turn upwards briefly.
He.. pauses. "....?" o.o;
Then he is smashed off his perch mercilessly, slamming into some of the other spears and breaking them beneath his weight. The ninja rolls, bounces, and comes to a standstill. He grips the melting slush in his hands.
He must be getting tired.. yeah, that's it.. "Didn't see that.. one... hhh."
The Ryouhara-nin is still.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou can no longer fight.
Sakura's resilience can surprise even herself, at times... but this is not one of those times. The temporary burial affected her more than she'd wanted to let on, and having been speared as many times... well, really? If the spears were a bit more regular in their pointing -- that is, if they =hadn't been blown up= by the previous strike... that could've possibly been a comfortable acupuncture table. Maybe. But it wasn't. And Sakura's got plenty more injuries that she's been hiding too.
As such... that kick's her last, as she starts to topple over slightly. Wobbling for balance, she seems to recover for all of a moment... before hitting the melted snow at the same instant Seishirou rolls to a stop.
"... See?" she asks, barely able to catch her breath as she lies between columns of upturned spears. "... That was like... twenty..." she muses aloud, closing her eyes, a relaxed smile playing across her lips. It was a good fight, by any measure!
It's cold out, sure, and the ground is even colder. But at least she's not =surrounded= by it.
"I don't believe it. I just... I've just witnessed a complete, total knockout on both parties," Kurow says, shaking his head. "It would certainly appear that neither competitor is still able to fight -- if neither of them can pull themselves back up, it looks like this is about to end in the least satisfying manner imaginable." The youth shakes his head at the entire spectacle, perhaps a little more amazed than he'd let on.
Log created on 18:40:16 12/21/2007 by Seishirou, and last modified on 18:03:11 12/25/2007.