Kuro Vs Munashii

[Kaji-Kanto]

(speeding it up)

[Kaxi]

The winds blew softly, giving the day a pleasant thought. But, the preliminaries were up, and it was Kuro's turn to fight. She never really wanted to fight. But, it was her turn, so she took to the area. She set down her sachel, filled with small summoning scrolls. She popped it open and grabbed one of them. She slid it underneath her skirt and into the stretchy band of her sweatpants. Her black clothing gave her a weird form. She seemed there and not there at once due to the loose nature of her clothing. She also took out a staff from her sachel and entended it. Leaning against her staff, she looked at her opponent. She sighed. She knew that she had the intellectual advantage. The only question was if the skill was too far apart to counter it.

"Oi! You ready?"

Kuro waited for a response... either words or actions.

[[Sorry, short...]]

[Munashii Hissori]

Munashii walked slowly down to the arena when his name was finally called. It was about time he faced someone in his own rank. The only people he fought were those that far outmatched him. It would be nice to face off against someone that couldn't kill him with a single move if they wished.

By the time he had reached the ground, his opponent had already gotten ready and had impatiently asked if he was prepared. When the words escaped her lips, he shot her a look that plainly said that he would be ready when he was ready, and not a moment before then. He drew his sword and raised it to his face in a salute to his opponent, attaching the Sword Retriever to the handguard. He brought the sword back down, and closed his eyes.

For a moment he just stood there, breathing in and out slowly and calmly. Then his eyes snapped open.

And he attacked.

Drawing a kunai from his nin-pouch, he threw it at the kunoichi. While the weapon was still flying toward her, he jumped into the air and into the path of the sun. If his opponent tried to look up not only would she not see him, but she would hurt her eyes in the light of the sun. Landing behind her with no noise whatsoever, he attacked her at the same time as his kunai would reach her. This would hopefully prove to be a distraction while he attacked her blind side.

Like one of his sensei's shadows, his sword desended on the kunoichi's exposed back, silent and deadly.

OOC: That's okay! There wasn't much to write.

[Kenshi]

For Munashii's sake I hereby declare him Chuunin.

You can go back to Kumo if you want to. Kaxi isn't going to post, and she didn't tell us that she was leaving.

Sorry to have you waiting so long.

[Munashii Hissori]

I feel like Shino when Kankuro withdrew. Oh well. She PM'ed me saying that she'd post, is she definatly gone?

[Kenshi]

LOL.

But I don't know...she just

left.

[Munashii Hissori]

Shame. I was looking forward to a good scrap! She looked like a promising opponent.

[Kaxi]

For Munashii's sake I hereby declare him Chuunin.

You can go back to Kumo if you want to. Kaxi isn't going to post, and she didn't tell us that she was leaving.

Sorry to have you waiting so long.

...

I left him plenty of PMs saying that I would be unable to post.

He knew about my absense. I've had a really shitty week, too....

I'm sorry if I caused any discomfort due to my absense.

I'm just going to assume that I'm DQ'd and toss away this half-written post I have had saved for over a week now.... >>

I was looking forward to this, too. I just never could find any free time to write until now.... Ah, it feels almost poetic that it gets closed just as I come back....

[Kenshi]

You don't tell Munashii...You need to tell me that. Because if you don't tell an admin, he'll just think you have up on the site and that you don't care anymore...Make sure you tell me that. I could have made it so both of you were chuunin and you can still fight if you want to...

[Kaxi]

You don't tell Munashii...You need to tell me that. Because if you don't tell an admin, he'll just think you have up on the site and that you don't care anymore...Make sure you tell me that. I could have made it so both of you were chuunin and you can still fight if you want to...

I guess it can't be helped, now can it? I screwed up, and I'm going to pay for it.

You've already ruled that he's a Chuunin and that my character is not. But, I would still like to fight. I feel... deprived.... This is not the way I wanted it to go... never.

I won't push for an overturn in your decision because then that would be unfair to Munashii. I told him because there was no note about when the preliminaries would close. So, I just decided to contact him and tell him about my absense.

But, it's a good thing to learn for the future....

Also, where's the Preliminary for my other character? I looked around, and I don't see one.

[Kenshi]

I was going to make you a chuunin!!!

[Aki]

Sorry to butt in here... but Kaxi, please post in our Prelim. Its Aki vs Hoshi.

[Kaxi]

I was going to make you a chuunin!!!

...

I guess I misread your post somehow.

...

Sadly, I've run out of time for tonight.... I might post in a few minutes, but my time is a little short to wrap up a post....

[[And, what about my other character? XD]]

EDIT:

Where did that preliminary come from? It wasn't originally Aki vs. Hoshi.

[Aki]

Kaji messed up... he forgot about your character. Just post soon.

[Kaxi]

IC:

Her opponent lazily made his way to the area. He wasn’t in a big hurry; that told Kuro that he wasn’t just some reckless idiot that charges into battle. She watched him closely, trying to pick up on minor actions that could tell her more about her opponent. He shot her a terrible look that made her shudder, telling her that he wasn’t one to be talked down upon. She could only grin at his face. She liked bite in an opponent. She liked to live when she fought, not just lazily throwing a kunai at her opponent and winning. That was no fun. Fighting was supposed to be fun, to express oneself in actions rather than words. She watched him with intrigue. She wondered how the guard on his hand worked. There was a sort of attachment to his sword, but she didn’t know…. And, suddenly, he attacked. He threw a kunai knife at her. Kuro noticed that behind the attack was another planned strike, an attack from above. Her opponent had leapt into the air just as he threw the kunai knife. Was he serious? Did he actually expect to hit her? She saw him leap upwards, but she did not follow his movements. She simply sidestepped out of the way and ran in one direction to the side. The sun was behind just where he had started. After she had escaped from his path of attack, she quickly glanced around, taking in the surroundings in mere fractions of a second. She noticed that where she was was directly the path of the sun’s rays in relationship to his movements. If she‘d looked up at him, she would’ve been blinded by nature itself/. She kept it in mind that he was aware of his surroundings. Well, so was she. She also knew what was going on around her. And, she would use her analytic skills and her strategic mind to plan a counter assault, but she opted not to perform an attack, yet. She opted to learn more about his attack patterns, keeping notes in her head about his movements. As he landed, she noticed that he had landed directly behind where she had been. She was only a few feet away, facing where she had been, now looking at him. She just realized something.

His own kunai knife was about to hit him.

She expected movement, probably an attack toward her while he evaded the kunai knife. She leapt further backward, putting more distance between them as the kunai knife edged ever closer to his position. One of her own kunai knives made its way into her hand as she grasped it from her black pouch behind her. She was wondering why he would make such a move when it would only backfire on him.... In any case, she was ready for his attack as she travelled backward, perpendicular to the path of the kunai, keeping her eyes on her opponent.

[Munashii Hissori]

So she was quick on her toes. One more thing to know about his opponent.

He had never expected his attacks to land. If they had, he would of been extremely disappointed. He wanted to test the girl's reflexes so he could judge her close combat skills. From what he had seen so far, she was competent but nothing special. The kunai had been evaded with a simple move, as was to be expected. He decided to show her something of his own abilities. Not too much though.

He wanted this match to continue a little while longer. It wouldn't do to have Kuro see all that he was capable of right off the bat.

Pulling the move that he had first used on his sensei, Munashii deflected the kunai towards the kunoichi, using his sword with a deft flick of his wrist. While the knife was flying, he changed his stance and watched for when and if she evaded.

If she moved out of the kunai's way, he'd swiftly calculate her trajectory and send several small wind blasts at her using Koku Fuuton Bakuha, which would strike her with enough power to deliver a good hard push, in addition to several cuts. While knocked off her course, he would jump up and attack with his sword.

Should she just deflect the weapon, he would send some wind blasts at her anyway, deflecting any incoming thrown weapons and sending them back to attack her. Should she dodge the technique, he would again estimate her path and attack in the Hayai Dageki stance, a swift series of attacks used to wear down an opponents energy.

And if she did something else... Well, he would deal with that when and if it came.

All this went through his head as the kunai came closer to its target. Munashii watched for what she would do, his sharp eyes observing her every movement. And to think. I haven't even activated my Keiji yet, he though to himself. Let's see if she's good enough to make me use it.

OOC: I'm glad we get to fight!

[Kaxi]

Kuro wondered what the hell he was doing. Was he truly thinking that his attack would land? There had to be some sort of hidden motive. A couple of thoughts came to her mind. They were either that he was planning another swift attack to catch her off-guard or that he was just checking her skill and adaptation to different skills. If anything, he would try a similar approach from a different angle of attack. ... There was no doubt. He was testing her. He didn't seem like the type who would recklessly charge. She needed to play off her abilities, conceal what little she had. She had some movement Jutsu and some Bukijutsu, but she would need to hold off on those. She needed to conserve her Chakra to balance out for the obvious skill deficit.

This guy was truly skilled in Kenjutsu. He deflected the kunai with his blade toward her. She had been backpedalling since he had first striked, so there was a good distance in between them. This guy was one to conceal attacks with other, more obvious ones. This was confirmed with his second attack. She wondered if she should battle the same way... or if she should just unload on him from the get-go. But, if she did that, then she would be exposed... her element of surprise taken away. She was wondering what he would do it she charged.... Was he the conservative type, powerful and confident type, or the powerful and arrogant type? She would soon find out. Unfortunately, she had no basis actually to do so. She didn't even know what element he was. Recklessly charging into battle was foolish. She watched his movements past the kunai knife. After all, it was a catalyst for her actions. She moved very slightly, her foot sliding on the grass. She hoped that it would work. She wanted him to strike. The kunai knife grazed her left shoulder, slicing her clothing but not her skin. She gasped a little. She kept her eyes on him at all times, and she made a fake wince when her clothing was hit, hoping that he thought that she actually was hit. Her clothing was so loose that it immediately fell over top of it and covered her skin. Her placed her right hand over her left arm, keeping her kunai knife in her right hand, pressing against her arm. She saw him draw back. Was he charging? Was he throwing his sword? He must have thought that she could be easily taken out through a simple ranged attack. Her eyes twitched as she continued to hold her "hit" arm. She wanted to give him the impression that she was weak. Hopefully, the act would prevail. She was ready. She was in an awkward stance foot-wise, but it was an excellent stance for rolling to one side and dodging. She had picked up that stance in Sunagakure no Sato on her travels.

With a pained but observant look, Kuro's purple eyes gazed at her opponent.

OOC: I'm happy, too....

[Munashii Hissori]

Munashii rasied an eyebrow in suprise. The kunai hit her? The way she held her shoulder and winced suggested so, but it had been such an easy attack to avoid. He came to three conclusions. One, she was an incompitent ninja. Two, she was trying to lull him into a false sense of security. Three, she was reluctent to show her abilities and had taken the kunai on purpose to aviod being exposed. Using his Keiji to enhance his sense of smell, he could detect no blood from her 'wound'. So, it must be one of the last two. Or possibly both.

In any case, Munashii decided to play along. Looking like he was jumping on an oppertunity, he said "Koku Fuuton Bakuha" and made several cuts in the air with his sword. From the blade, three spheres of wind blasted toward Kuro, each sphere spread out to increase the chances of hitting her.

As soon as the spheres had left his blade, he brought his sword back and threw it at the kunoichi. A seemingly reckless tactic, as no doubt Kuro would see it as. But as most things in the ninja world, appearences were not everything. He had attached the sword retriever to the handguard of his sword at the beginning of the match. What his opponent didn't know was that the sword was connected to him via nin-wire, which was tough and near invisible to the naked eye. With the wind spheres closing in on her, Kuro would be far too busy evading one attack to see the hidden intention behind a second.

With the two attacks closing in on her, Munashii waited for the oppertunity to show the hidden intention behind his attack.

[Kaxi]

Her purple eyes picked up on a hint of surprise in her opponent. Kuro knew that it would take a little more convincing to make him believe it. Her skills truly were not that great, but she was intelligent enough to plot a plan with what she had. She had at least figured out that he utilized the Fuuton element. That was very helpful. The led her to believe that he used it as a cover in the sense that the Fuuton Jutsus act as his long-range missiles while he excelled at Kenjutsu. This was only speculation, but it was a very reasonable tactic. He had been smart thus far, picking up on little things here and there. While she held her right hand to her left arm, she pressed her kunai knife against it. A small bit of skin crumpled up, and a small drip of blood appeared. She winced, trying to keep it up. She lowered her right arm, and another small drip of blood formed at the cut in her left arm's sleeve, both hoodie and shirt. There were always two extremes that battle for logic. There was always the reckless type who charged into battle without a care, and there was always the intelligent type who just pretended to be incompetent. She was the latter, and she had hoped that she was doing enough.

That was when her opponent jumped into the air. Kuro watched as the guy began launching Wind Blades at her. A massive amount of slashes covered the area, spreading out. Of course, this was the perfect time to act once more. jumped back a couple of times and watched as the slashes came crashing down onto the earth. She slid herself to the side and deliberately got knicked in the right arm very slightly, almost negatable. By this route, she was accomplishing both a sense of lacking of skill... but a sense of trying. This would've instilled either a certain arrogance or a certain weariness in the opponent. On the one hand, she would appear weak, able to be taken out easily; on the other hand, she would appear a fighter, and the intelligent would pick up on this and be careful not to get too close in case of an outburst. The slashes picked up a lot of dust... but she was able to see the sword being lauched just as the dust began whelling up. She dove for the ground, grabbing a tag from her pouch while the dust gave her cover. She layed right next to the sword, keeping an eye on it. Something was up with it. No one would do such a reckless thing unless it had meaning. The opponent was smart, so it was probably some sort of trick. As the dust began to clear, she got the opportunity to scan it for a quick second. There was a slight glimmer at the base of the hilt, but it could've been anything. Putting that glimmer in combination with the sort of guard he had attached to his arm earlier, there was probably a relationship there. The question was if it was merely a retractor or some sort of Chakra disperser, able to launch attacks from there.

Whatever the case, Kuro quickly placed the tag in her left hand on the edge the blade and the hilt, barely touching the top end of the hilt, facing away from him; she focused Chakra onto it, and it became "invisible" like one side of the sword, but she would need to keep her focus on it. She also used her right hand with her kunai knife and angled her wirst, able to quickly tork her hand and slice the wire... all of it happening in a mere few seconds. Just as that happened, she slid back a few feet and began groaning, looking at where he should've landed. The stage was almost set; only another piece would be needed, but she was out of time. The dust was clearing. She kept her focus as she sprawled out, groaning from the real but slight pain of her right arm.

[[*Note: the tag is at the base of the blade, barely touching the hilt, right at where the two meet but on the blade. It's on a side of the blade, a flat part. Not only will it blend in with a small ounce of Genjutsu, but also keep in mind that no normal swordsman focuses on that part of the sword to begin with.]]

[Munashii Hissori]

Through the dust raised by his attack, Munashii continued to watch Kuro with his Keiji enhanced sight. He saw her cut the wire that attached him to his sword. Good. She picked up on things fast. He also saw her put something on his sword. His angle limited his vision, but he could probably be sure it was some variety of trap. Clever he thought. If I was anyone else, I would have never been able to notice that. Sadly, Munashii not anyone else. His Keiji allowed him to see and sense more than just his surroundings. It could see right through Genjutsu. It was a immunity that the Hissori clan had, thanks to their Bloodline.

He knew that his attack did not hit, despite the fact that it scraped her. She had allowed it to happen in an attempt to lure him into thinking she was an incapable ninja. This time though, she had actually cut herself to make the illusion more convincing. Having already seen that tactic, Munashii did not fall for it. This girl was a smart one, always thinking ahead. She was in no way incompetent.

However, he had yet to see her use any jutsu, meaning that she had limited techniques that were useful and wanted to conserve her chakra until she had no other choice but to use it, or that she was more powerful than him and could destroy him in a single move, thus taking the fun out of it for her. He was leaning towards the former at the moment. He had seen (and unfortunatly fought against) Jounin, S-Class criminals and even spared with Yoshimo Izoto-sensei, the current Raikage. She did not have the feel of someone with that much power.

Regardless, he would not underestimate her. She was clever and would not go without a fight. Letting her believe he had thought he had struck her, he put an arrogent tone in his voice to feed more to the deception. "Close call. But this will soon be over. You can't duck and dodge forever".

He didn't talk during fights usually, but there was a chance it would throw her off. Cutting his thumb on his teeth, he made several handseals and placed his hand on the ground. A great explosion of mist expanded as Munashii finished his summon. Out of the fog, all at once, came a large murder of crows, a hundred in number. Flying straight toward Kuro, they flew very fast around her, occasionaly bumping into her. Doubtless the kunoichi would find this very disorientating. During the summoning, Munashii had also made some more handseals, hidden by the smoke and the crows. A clone appeared beside him, with enough chakra to fool any onlooker. Munashii transformed this clone into a crow so he could hide in the murder. Meanwhile, the real Munashii transformed himself into a crow and hid in the trees positioned behind Kuro. Hidden, he waited for his chance to make his moves, withdrawing all ten of his kunai and fitting them around his fingers and thumbs.

There! 'Munashii' came out his transformation next to his sword and went to grab it. At the same time, Munashii in the trees threw the ten kunai at the kunoichi from behind her. Slipping through the mass of crows, the weapons should only be detected when it was too late. With the addition of the fast circling crows obscuring her vision, putting her off, and 'Munashii' going for his sword with the trap on it right in front of her, Munashii doubted that she would see the kunai coming and set off the trap at the same time.

But she had proven interesting so far. Munashii watched for her reaction.

[Note: For information on the Keiji, click on Munashii's Kekkei Genkai in my sig.]

[Kaxi]

[[Keep in mind that I am posting based on the information that my character knows. She doesn't know of any special abilities that Munashii has, so I post accordingly.]]


Kuro was truly unsure if she was making a mark with her fallacy play. Hopefully, it would work. But, if the opponent was as smart as she made him out to be, then the odds were that he could see right through her. This was not a game of skill; it was a game of mental prowess. Yes, she was getting a little banged up in the process physically, but the majority of the play was based on strategy and testing. She was unsure if she could really test her opponent in the given scenario besides what she had already done, but she hoped that it would work.

Hope was a foolish way to play, though. She knew that he could tell. It was a gut feeling combined with his actions. They were just more advanced tests. She only hoped that the next test was a little more difficult. The thought came back into her mind. She was still in the dark about if he had a Kekkei Genkai or not. Most shinobi and kunoichi did not have a Kekkei Genkai, but it was never safe to rely on the odds. Odds, after all, have the chance of failure. She kept running over her Jutsu list in her mind, scanning for plenty of of skills that could have helped her in that scenario. She also went over the items that she had. In her ninja pouch, she had a few more explosive tags, a few small summoning tags that shot out an array of weapons even though they looked like explosive tags, a couple more kunai knives, and a limitted amount of shuriken stars.

Her opponent spoke. Kuro almost automatically knew that he was playing into the fallacy, furthering his illusion of falling into her trap. He was acting, and she could have guessed that he would before he even spoke. Speaking was a way to throw off an opponent for the intelligent, and it was a way to intimidate and provoke the opponent for the arrogant. His first words were "Close call." He knew that she had played about it. You can move the pieces on the board around all you want, but it is the back line that it the striking force, hidden behind the deceptive front lines. Bluffs were an unusual tactic. They were almost too risky to use. She knew it, and she was playing conservatively. She saw him move.

Her opponent had made several handsigns before summoning mist, the area covered momentarily in the cloud. The most common usage of cover was as a shroud. He was using it to conceal his attack and strike her blind spot and her front at the same time. It was a basic tactic. The skill was mostly used with clones. She expected either just two or many to attack her at once. Her true opponent would probably be the one not in the front, wanting to be the hidden force behind the strike, the one that would land. So, her opponent would most likely be right behind her or from her backing sides, just out of her range of vision. This was all thought out before the murder came. Crows - it was an unusual but effective summon. She kept her kunai knife close to her upper chest, pressing slightly against her breasts for a more protective stance. The crows were most likely part of the trap, the shroud. The murder then surrounded her, random crows occassionally taking swipes at her. She began to flail at them, crying out in a mock fear. But she kept her eyes locked in front of her, not losing trap of where he started. Her purple eyes were locked on him, seeing through the gaps created occassionally by the crows. She slid up her hood, an act of protection. But, her intent was to lure her opponent into a false sense of security with striking from behind. It helped her focus, too, and the circling crows had less of an effect since she eliminated the ever-alluring peripheral vision. The majority of disorientations were caused by constant movements in the peripheral vision moving into and out of the normal field of vision. She had eliminated most of the feeling very easliy, and she was able to focus almost in one hundred percent visually. She watched as a crow lagged slightly behind the rest. She knew that it was probably him. She continued to lock onto him, keeping him in her sights, and she grabbed a shuriken star with her left hand out of her pouch. She swung at a few random birds with both weapons, turning in the process. She was still able to focus on that one bird before it disappeared. She spun back to her original facing forward position. He would strike not long from that moment.

Suddenly, Munashii appeared in front of her, running to his sword. That would certainly draw her attention, and she knew it. She immediately turned to her right [that Munashii's left as he turned around witht he sword in hand] and put her arms over the opening in her hood. She burst through the ring of crows, getting her clothing ripped up in the process. There were long slashes along the back of her hoodie, her sweatpants also torn up as well in the back. A small cut had appeared behind her upper right thigh, but it was minor. She was able to turn quickly enough to see the tail end of a line of kunai knives entering the barrier of the murder. She immediately threw the shuriken with insane accuracy toward where he was, somewhere in the trees. She did this all mid-step, spinning back around to continue her surge in the direction she was headed. Her target was not far from the murder of crows, and it was also not far from where Munashii was grabbing his sword. It was her sachel, and her staff was lying on top of it. She quickly grabbed her staff with her left hand and turned to face where Munashii was grabbing his swords. The odds were that he was already rushing at her, but she would have enough time to react. But, she knew that it was not the real one. The real one was hidden somewhere. Luckily for her, he had already wasted a lot of his chakra with launching Fuuton blasts, summoning the murder, and the clone. She wondered if there were other clones, and she kept her ears peeled, her hood flipping back as she turned to face the Munashii with the sword.

[Munashii Hissori]

So she didn't panic under pressure. Good to know.

The crows followed Kuro, never letting up their constant circling. They would stay with her now until dismissed by Munashii or killed. He had used quite a bit of chakra to summon that many, but it was necessary. Besides, he still had at least fifty five per cent of his chakra left. He still had a lot of fight in him yet. He noticed that the crows had done a bit of damage to her cloths, and had even cut into her skin. Good. First blood to Munashii.

Munashii saw the missiles approach his position. Dodging out of the way of the incoming shuriken, he knew that she had seen through his deception. She was perceptive too, appearantly.

She was heading towards his clone. Why she would even bother with it was a mystery to Munashii. She had already figured out that it was a clone, an image without substance that could do her no harm. But she could be trying to make him think that he had been successful in his deception. He thought about how he could take advantage of this.

Putting thought into action, he ordered his crows to attack. His clone made a handseal to increase the illusion that Munashii thought she was still decieved. For a split second, all the crows stopped and stared down at Kuro omniously, before swooping down upon her, screaching loudly. Making another clone, Munashii activated his Keiji speed. Everything seemed to slow down to him. His speed had increased drastically, for now. Moving faster than the eye could follow at the same time the crows attacked, he sped toward his sword. Reaching it, he ripped off the tag and set off again, attaching it to a tree. Going back to his clone he stood in it's place, dismissing it and deactivating his Keiji speed. Gripping his sword in his hands once more, he attacked from the position his clone had once been in. The crows ceased their attack and pulled back to their circling so that Munashii could see where his opponent was. At the same time, the other 'Munashii' sneaked around to her blindside and attacked. It would not cause any harm to her, but it would be coming from the direction that Kuro was expecting him to come from. To her perception, the real Munashii was the clone that was attacking her from the rear, so she would concentrate on him. Little did she know the real Munashii was the one in front of her. He prepared to strike, a non-lethal blow anyway. He didn't want to kill her yet. She was a worthy opponent, and did not deserve to die like a dog.

It would hurt like hell if he hit her though.

Munashii noticed she had a staff in her hands. They were about to enter close combat, Munashii's speciality.

And about time too.

[Kaxi]

What a pain... the crows kept up.

Kuro had to keep in mind that the murder was still after her. She grimaced and thought about her scenario within fractions of a second. She already knew that Munashii had already used Chakra. He used it for the various Fuuton attacks, the summoning, and the clone. All of the attacks done thus far to her had only been very minor scratches to the surface of her skin. She felt very little pain, a result of having at least a few seconds pass since the previous strikes. The few sratches from the crows caused little pain, too, and she was able simply to push them away. But, that was the first real hit he got on her - the crows. She knew that he would not be so stupid as to getting hit by the shuriken. It served him no purpose at all. She was already in the role of the incompetent one, and even that was becoming obsolete. He had wasted Chakra trying to figure out her, and that would cost him a little later... maybe even decide the match. She was fresh; she had used next to no Chakra, yet. She faced his clone as she began her revival of running. There was definitely an interesting motive behind doing such a thing. She knew that he knew that she was very competent. She also knew that he would turn this attempt of deception around on her. He tended to do that a lot.

As if to impress her or persuade her, the clone in front of her began making handsigns. After the handsigns, the crows seemed to take on a great anger. They rushed her more furiously than before. But, she kept her eyes on the clone. The clone was going to attack. But, she noticed a slight disruption in it. There was an awkward split second of it not matching up, as though a decisecond of lag had thrown off its sense of flow. All sorts of things processed in her mind as she attempted to grasp some sort of meaning to it. In order to test several different theories, she would need to attack the clone in front of her. Many things from a new trap to a new technique made their way into her mind. But, she would still need to test it. But, something strange happened then again. The crows stopped their sudden surge and began circling her again. It was becoming an old trick, though it was only the second time. The guy was not stupid. He would probably not try the same track of attack again, but other thoughts of him knowing that and trying the same attack again anyway also flowed into her mind. She was surrounded once again by the murder, but she had her staff this time. She had the upped hand. Despite the questioning about the slight lagging of the being in front of her, she still had the upper hand. With the crows circling around her, she made a few quick handsigns. She expected attacks from both directions; this attack would not only hit Munashii, but it would also solve the part about the lagging being.... She grabbed the staff, chanelling Fuuton Chakra into her attack. The fan part of the staff unfirled, and a black diamond appeared on the off-white surface. She showed no emotions in her face except a slight hint of fiery passion. She wanted this Jutsu finally to set it straight. Not only would it disperse the murder, but it would also push back both the clone and Munashii. She swung the fan and spun in a complete circle, covering all angles of attack. Blades of shimmering wind came slicing from the fan in all directions. They shined with a brilliant light, cutting at the murder and even charging at Munashii and the clone. She mumbled under her breath: "...And now, you know that I am a Fuuton-user like yourself...." She didn't intend for him to hear it; she merely said it for her own personal satsifaction. With the murder being dispersed and almost surely dispelled, Kuro could more easily see Munashii being pushed back.... But, it was the clone that was pushed back, and the being she thought that was Munashii dispelled. Well, another mystery was solved. She had to attack; it got rid of those annoying crows and even solved what was up with that weird clone, actually being Munashii. She wondered if Munashii wanted close combat; after all, no one ever threw his or her specialty first unless that person intended on ending it there and then. She had plenty of cards up her sleeve that he did not know about. But, as soon as she saw the clone dispell, she turned her eyes on Munashii. She could more easily see him with those damned crows gone.

[Munashii Hissori]

Munashii was hit by the great push of wind. So, she was a Fuuton user as well. Interesting.

But he was done with his tests. Now was the time to fight, toe to toe, sword to... fan-staff? Hitting the ground on his feet, he looked up, wiping blood off a small cut on his cheek. The crows had been killed off, each dissapearing in a small puff of smoke. Bringing up his sword, he charged through the quickly dissapating mist, bursting through and attacking with his weapon. The technique she had used must have been very powerful. It had killed every last one of his crows! Her chakra supply had finally been tapped into. He smiled as he charged, glad he had won that part. He knew she was a Fuuton user, and he knew what a Fuuton user was capable of, as he was one himself.

But now it was his turn to stop the use of jutsu. It was Kenjutsu from now on, until an opening revealed itself. In the stance of the Hayai Dageki, he sped up to his opponent, his speed far surpassing that of a genin. He would strike at her relentlessly, with great speed, until he wore her down and she slipped up. Precision and speed in close combat, something which Munashii excelled at.

No more tricks.

I'll show you my true potential, he thought as he brought his sword up to strike her side, planning were to land the next blow. All the while, the small smile never left his face.

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