The Silver Hearts Role Playing Board

[Digithe]

OOC: much

Nenshoukaze glanced about him worriedly. He had to do something to avoid this attack... but what? He didn't have much time, and had very few options. His Kageken, while it had proved useful in the past, could hardly shield his entire body -- a crucial thing in this case. Besides, it wouldn't be able to get to him fast enough through the sand. He had little choice -- he would have to open a gate. Though he didn't want to, in fact it was to be one of his last options, he had to.

"Open Gate," he muttered softly, releasing the mental holds upon his inner strength. He gained a quick burst of speed and strength, which he used to leap out of the way of the sand.

OOC: gah, that's enough i guess... maybe i'll add details later... maybe

[Asai]

Masatake saw that his opponent had increased in speed. Such an increase could be bad for him, and he would have to counter accordingly. But he would not, unless he truly knew he had to. The sand crashed into the ground and Masatake appeared and leapt at Kaze.

[Digithe]

Nenshoukaze, seeing his opponent through his Zenchigan, turned in mid-flight by emitting chakra from his tenketsu, then used this same technique to send him back towards Masatake. As he flew, he gathered what remained the Kageken back towards him into a small sword.

[Asai]

Not wanting to give his opponent much time, he put the pole of his scythe in the path of the kageken and spun around it, slamming his feet at the ANBU's skull.

OOC: i hope you get what i'm doing....

[Digithe]

Clearly seeing his opponent's intention through his Zenchigan, Nenshoukaze tilted his kageken to the side, flying past the rogue ninja. Though this attack would have been powerful had it connected, it left Masatake violently open to attack. Seizing upon this oppourtunity, Nenshoukaze struck at his opponent's chest with his Zenchigan style Jyuuken, intending to knock the wind out of Masatake and perhaps even immobilize him for a few moments.

[Asai]

Masatake grabbed his opponent's wrist in a way so that Kaze's palm could not reach his arm. Unsure as to whether or not his opponent's eye visibility had improved since their last fight, he wanted to do a quick test. He drew back his hand to strike his opponent in the face.

OOC: besides the obvious, there's a sand clone right behind you, trying to keep up with the movements of your head to stay in your blind spot.

[Digithe]

OOC: there's no real way to grab my wrist such that i can't reach your arm

Nenshoukaze's wrist was trapped, but his hand was not yet rendered useless. He thought quickly; there was a fist flying to his face, and he sensed motion behind him -- perhaps a clone of sorts, perhaps a kunai or other such weapon trap. Either way, it was a tight spot and his choices were risky and limited. His decision made, he ducked down and stepped back, causing the arm of his opponent which held his wrist to straighten, allowing him to turn his hand to grasp onto his opponent's own wrist. He extended his left leg and stamped upon Masatake's leading foot with his own, keeping the enemy in place, while he shifted himself under his opponent's body and away from the punch. He gathered chakra into his free left hand, then slammed it into Masatake's elbow joint from behind, causing it to bend in a way it wasn't meant to bend. Just after doing this, he moved his foot, and allowed his opponent's momentum to carry him into what he now saw to be a sand clone.

So, is Masatake testing him? It seemed to be so; unfortunate, for it would drag out the battle needlessly. He relaxed himself and allowed his senses to tune in further to his surroundings. To show weakness now would be fatal -- he could not make mistakes, nor could he reveal his faults in any way. His opponent's infernal vision-obscuring jutsu, combined with the constant use of sand-clones forced Nenshoukaze into defense. Not his forte, to be certain, but Masatake's chakra could only last for so long -- and that would be Nenshoukaze's chance to strike, if it didn't come sooner.

OOC: um... no secrets here. he's prepared to kawarimi if you have any more clones pop up, but other than that I think he's just in observation mode, looking for glowing chakra which would give you away.

[Asai]

Masatake poofed into smoke as the sand clone caught the log flying into it. It had been broken quite a lot in one area, where Kaze had just attacked. The jounin who now worked for sand sighed. This battle was going on far to long for his liking. But Shinomori Nenshoukaze had always been his most powerful opponent. There was little he could do to force his opponents hand, and had no way to a quick defeat. He decided to bring in a little backup. Biting his thumb, he quickly formed a set of seals ending on ram. He slapped his palm into the sandy ground.

"Kuchiyose! Souryuusen* no jutsu!" Sand erupted near Kaze as a large dragon pushed out, sinously winding around the ANBU elite. A second, much smaller dragon whirled out at Kaze's foot, biting down on his ankle to hold him in place for this attack. Though a small dragon, even the weakest of dragons was stronger than some of the most powerful humans, and that added to the danger of summoning them. They would only obey him for so long, so he had to make it fast. The large dragon had wound a circle around the jounin. Masatake appeared on his head. The dragon inhaled and Masatake performed some seals.

"Suiton, Suika no jutsu!" he said, firing the blue flame again as the dragon exhaled a burst of dark red fire.

OOC: *Souryuusen - double dragon strike, stolen from rurouni kenshin, book two, though the move itself is quite different.

[Digithe]

OOC: start out with him thinking through how the battle may/will unfold (also my own thoughts). This could end up as one of the longest posts in RB history

Unknowingly, Nenshoukaze's thoughts followed along Masatake's same track -- this battle was going on for far too long. As much as he would prefer to stall until Mastake's thusfar seemingly limitless supply of chakra ran out, or at least got low enough so that creating bunshin was out of the question, Nenshoukaze knew that he was running out of playing area himself. If he was to use his ougi* after waiting too much longer and missed only slightly, he risked losing more than this battle -- his life. He did not want to use it, but no matter what he did, it looked like he may end up that way in the end.

The way he figured it, if he used it now there was a slight chance that Masatake could doge it or avoid it. He'd seen parts of it already -- he had even seen a greatly weakened and less accurate and drastically slower version. While a success would certainly end the battle, Nenshoukaze would certainly have barely enough energy to get back to the village if he made even the slightest mistake -- and the nature of the technique left it vulnerable to a plethora of mistakes possible. The only way to make it certain was to also make certain a vast lack of energy afterwards, and he didn't have any soldier pills with him, much to his chagrin -- a sad lack of insight on his part. So, his best option would probably be to use his advantage in speed. He could open one or two gates with relative comfort, and was certain he could open four -- perhaps even a fifth if absolutely necessary. Even this method was not without any risk, but it would be the fastest, most efficient solution he had so far. While he was determined not to underestimate his opponent, he was confident that Masatake had little more skill with gates than he, and perhaps even less; also, he felt that he was naturally faster, thus giving himself an advantage either way. Combining this speed with his Kageken technique could possibly bring victory.

However, Kaze forsaw that this too might fail, leaving him weak, vulnerable -- but worst of all, easy prey to the daemonic power which lay dormant within him. If he did fail, this power would consume him until either he or Mastake fell, and either result would likely also include his own end. While a bitter, morbid conclusion, this was what Kaze reached. He hoped for it to not come to pass, but at the same time could not scratch the feeling within his gut. He was comforted little by the thought of eternal comemoration as a hero of the village; death was not an easy thing to accept for a young man of his age -- even a ninja.

Regaurdless, he would wait first before risking either plan. He would start slow, see what happens. Then, as the situation developed, he would have to spring one or the other.

Nenshoukaze's body burst into flames as he was attacked on several sides -- only to be replaced by a wooden log. Behind Masatake, his Zenchigan-style jyuuken still activated, Kaze zoomed forward, thrusting an open fist into the small of Masatake's back, attempting to knock him off balance, or even injure his spinal cord, thus slowing this opponent's reaction time.

OOC: this would be a kage bunshin; was gonna say it was a sand bunshin, but changed my mind

*ougi = ultimate technique

[Asai]

Masatake, hardly fooled by the kawarimi technique, whirled on Kaze, grabbing his wrist and yanking forward in an effort to throw him off the dragon's head. He knew that he was in trouble if Kaze could pick up his speed, so he did his best to keep the momentum of this match his way, if not dead even, leaving no chance for him to gain full speed, especially with the gate of lotus. Masatake, if he chose, could easily keep up using other gates. But, apart from his own person dislike of those gates, it would leave him extremely vulnerable if he failed. He smacked his hand into Kaze's shoulder as he pulled him by, and the kunai hidden in his sleeve shot out.

OOC: this really needs to go somewhere...if i can't touch you and you keep getting small hits on me, it's just a prolonged version of pwnzage, and that's not cool

[Digithe]

OOC: hmm... hope i'm understanding how you're doing that right...

As Nenshoukaze moved forward, he reversed his opponent's grip on his wrist, allowing him to free it and reverse directions, dodging Masatake's blow and standing up on his other side, his right hand still grabbing Masatake's wrist. Now finding himself in another opportune position, Nenshoukaze used his soft fist at a closer target, Masatake's right elbow. He hoped to use his chakra to sever or weaken the nerves in that arm, possibly disabling his ability to perform jutsu.

OOC: He's anticipating the use of a clone or kawarimi and also a trap. Sorry about this, but once again he's prepared to kawarimi

[Asai]

Masatake knew he had to act fast, and time was not with him on this one. He swiftly twisted his own arm slightly, to shift the position of his elbow. He then bent it, lifting it up and causing the thrusting palm to fly underneath. He then spun in the opposite direction and moved his free arm's elbow into Kaze's face.

OOC: i hope you get what i'm trying to do...

[Asai]

OOC: you can delete this post when you post here. I want to use masatake considering i've finally remembered his true strengths