Oi Oi! [Private, No Kill]

Alas, the elbow of Xyxer burst straight through a barrel, many gasps erupting from the crowd. This was actually quite interesting. Already Xyxer could tell that the man would use his own momentum against him as was shown during his previous attack. He'd have to step carefully and set up his finisher methodically. However, it was now time for weapons to be drawn, and as such Xyxer drew out his ANBU sword with a swift flick of his wrist. He spun it around in his hand for a few times, gripping it in the reversed position sometimes and in the normal way, wondering about which way would be best for his attack. Looking around, Xyxer assessed the situation currently at hand; Citizens, many of them, it would be an onslaught if Xyxer was to use his particular jutsus so that was out of the question.. a smashed barrel still coming downwards.. and the man had drawn his own weapon. Things were definitely about to get interesting. Acting quickly, Xyxer would kick a stray plank of wood coming down, one which had originated from the destruction of the previous barrel. Kicking the edge of the broken plank, it'd change course and head straight towards the head of the Tenkage, moving at such an angle that it was traveling upwards and would impale just in between his collar bones if left unhindered. Xyxer would also act immediately after doing that by dashing after it, using his full speed in order to be able to attack as soon as the wood would be near to the man. His own attack would consist of him ducking to the ground and spinning around, planting his hands onto the ground first as his leg was stuck out, and if all was to go according to plan, he would swipe kick the man down to the ground, if anything, that was his move to try and save Shinji if he was unable to actually defend the plank that he had used.

Shinji did not sit idle as the plank flew towards him, however he did not move to dodge it-he took in the two threats: Xyxer and the plank; each would be dealt with in roughly the same amount of time. Instead of moving to dodge Shinji merely flowed a bit of wind chakra into Makaze and waited for his chance. Once the plank reached a meter away he released that wind chakra in a concentrated blast: Makaze's evil wind. The blast would obliterate the plank of wood leaving it to fall in an awesome and harmless array of splinters and avoiding any civilian causalities as the blast would be angled upwards and only extended four meters. Though Shinji was not done just yet as it became clear that Xyxer had attempted to use the plank as cover for an attack when it came near to Shinji, but Shinji was a wee bit quicker than him (155 speed vs 135 speed) and Shinji had not allowed himself to be taken in completely by the plank diversion, which would in turn afford him the upper hand, as he could coordinate his motions to defend against the plank and defend against and counter Xyxer's attack despite them happening in such close proximity time wise.

As Xyxer came in for a leg sweep, as he probably would seeing as the destruction of the plank had happened so close to Shinji that Xyxer would probably already be executing the sweep unless he had some sort of god like foresight and reaction time, Shinji would safely lift the leg that would be hit first by Xyxer's sweep and step over the sweeping leg and promptly place it back down once the leg passed. Then he would do the same with the next leg, but with a slight twist. Instead of merely placing this foot down he would attempt to quickly slam it down onto Xyxer's passing leg with all his speed and strength, thus avoiding Xyxer's attack and launching one of his own. If all went as planned Shinji would end up slamming his foot down into Xyxer's leg mid-shin. This blow would also no doubt shatter the bone due to Shinji's strength and Xyxer's lackluster durability. That right there would send pain spasming through Xyxer were it to connect and probably end the spar as the pain would be rather hard to bare and fighting on a broken leg would only make it worse. All in all the net effect would be that it would look something much like a grotesque child's game where one kid jumped over the rope, but slammed down into the rope breaking it with one fell swoop. Shinji's speed would grant him the latitude to make such a move and speed would also play a role in the attack connecting. Furthermore one of Shinji's feet would always be in contact with the ground, thus allowing him a semi-stable platform from, which to move from if need be-a position of strength. Xyxer on the other hand would be in a rather vulnerable position as he would, in all likelihood, be unable to stop his leg sweep unless he could somehow defeat the laws of momentum. It would take a great feat indeed to dodge Shinji's skillful attack. In case of that small scale miracle Shinji would still be gripping Makaze and have his left hand ready for combat if need be.

[Are you wearing your power bracers? Because if so it'd be 155 vs 105 since I'm not using the Abysswalker armour yet]

Granted, this man was fairly speedy as he had now showered Xyxer in a harmless array of splinters which left him unharmed completely, but not only that, he had managed to avoid the initial attack of Xyxer with the sweep. This was fun. However, with his first leg dodging the initial hit Xyxer would act immediately to try and make sure his attack was not futile, after all, if the man's inner leg got hit he most likely would be unphased and able to land a brutal strike on Xyxer. So this is how he went about it; his foot straightened out as his hands twisted a little, sending his body closer to the man as he was on the ground, but he continued with his sweep. The man had lifted his other leg, as Xyxer had anticipated since well, what's the point of getting hit? That's why Xyxer had slowed his attack down as to land it straight after the foot had touched the ground again, the one that was previously intended to land a shattering blow to his bones, as soon as the foot would touch the ground he'd go as fast as he could again. If this attack was allowed to go uninterrupted, he would curve his foot around the back of the opponent's ankle, most likely knocking him over. However, if the attack was to land but the man did not fall over, Xyxer would throw himself up using his hands to do a double kick to the man's torso, sending him onto the ground definitely if that attack was to land. This was a rather exciting fight, one of the first where no jutsu had been used, well, except for that blast thingy on the plank. He enjoyed the melee. The smell of anticipation.. the burning sensation at the back of his throat. Perhaps this man actually was worthy of being his opponent.

There was a reason however why Xyxer was leaving himself in such a vulnerable position, he wanted to show the man in front of him what he was capable of even when the cards were drawn not in his favour. After all, you must not complain about the cards you are dealt, but you have to find a way to make them work, a phrase that Xyxer lived by.

[Yeah, I'm wearing them. I guess I forgot that detail about you not wearing armor XD. Thats what I get for posting at like 1 in the morning lol-shows how awake I was.]

At first Shinji believed that he had pulled off the attack, but it became obvious that he had not when he did not hear the sickening crack of bones. Instead he found that there was a small crater in the ground where Xyxer's leg should have been. In the next instant Shinji found himself being tripped over backwards as Xyxer's foot curved around the back of his foot-this was a sticky situation indeed. There was no possible way for Shinji to avoid falling, so the best thing to do would be to move with the attack. Instead of falling squarely on his back, like most people would, he moved with the flow of the fall. He allowed his back to arch back in such a way that his hands would be the first part of his body to hit the ground, thus acting as a spring of sorts. His left hand would hit the ground with its palm open while the right would hit it much like a fist due to holding Makaze in that hand, which would hurt like hell, but it was better than falling straight on his ass. In effect Shinji would execute a backwards hand spring-a sloppy one, but one none the less-and thus turn a potential fall into a rise. In turn he would end up standing roughly 3 and a half meters away from his original position and still be facing Xyxer. However Shinji would not stop there as he could now take the initiative-assuming all went as planned up to this point, which was rather likely as it would take a brief moment or two for Xyxer to get up after the sweep, thus granting Shinji time to do the back spring. Gripping Makaze tightly and biting through the pain in his knuckles he barred the blade with set determination. He would yet again allow Xyxer the courtesy to attack as per Shinji's plan-the crowd was exactly three meters behind him. Hopefully, Xyxer would be able to step up his attack a bit with some swordplay, but who knew what was to come. Shinji merely waited with slightly bent legs and Makaze pointed out about a foot from his chest while his left hand remained halfway between a resting position at his side and a boxing position. On his face Shinji wore a rather grave look. Soon he would enact his final plan. The moves up to this point had been merely set up for this test of sorts. All that remained to be seen was what Xyxer would do.

Boom. That's the sound that was made just before his foot had done it's intended purpose; he had landed a hit on Shinji and that was good enough for him. He could have followed up if he had wished, but he believed in giving fair chances. As his foot had successfully sweeped, Xyxer would press that foot back down onto the ground instantly before using his coiled legs to spring upwards and land back on the ground, aided by his hands. He smiled as he looked around at the crowd again, he could hear some applause but mostly just gasps. This was entertaining. He turned around with a wide grin on his face as he looked Shinji in the eyes, "That's one-zero now, right? Looks like I'm winning." He chuckled a little as he said that but he kept his eyes focused firmly on his opponent; the man was close to the civilians and that was an extremely tacky situation for him. He could put him in a rather bad position if he threw a shuriken at one of his citizens, he'd have to defend them by stopping it, which could then lay him open for a direct attack.. but he was sure that such an attack would just lead the Kage to question this boy's sanity, which he should be doing already, but none the less, Xyxer did not want to jeopardize himself. A smirk still on his face as his hand disappeared into his ninja pouch before coming back out, a small shuriken clutched in his free hand.To be honest, it was frightening. This reminded Xyxer completely of his days in Kirigakure when he would join fights like this.. but he was more brutal in them, he punished every mistake without relent and with devastating force. Perhaps it was just because he was now careful, one wrong move and this man could end it all, that was evident by the move that Xyxer had narrowly managed to avoid earlier.

However, now, Xyxer's amber eye scanned over the man's figure and took in his posture, slightly bent legs.. was he preparing to charge, counter charge? Attack from the air? There were many possibilities, but the same thing seemed to be happening; Shinji was calling the shots. He was fighting on his own terms and not allowing Xyxer to do the same.. Xyxer had to keep attacking. Was this perhaps to make Xyxer run out of breath? He was unsure. It was great though, he truly loved the feel that was going on. The atmosphere felt static.. perhaps that was his adrenaline now coursing through his body, making him more aware of his surroundings, who knows? But he knew, this man was plotting something. He had to be prepared, and that's why he did what he did next; channeling chakra into his ring, his armour would suddenly encase him within an instant, his face and eyes now completely hidden from view from what would appear to be a veil of shadows. Cute, huh? However, it was now that Xyxer dashed forwards; he felt like he was ready for anything that the man could throw at him so he attacked with a simple slow slash at the man's torso, doing that so that he could move his arm if a move was to be used where it would use his own momentum against him.

Shinji conceded Xyxer's assessment of the "score" with a good natured nod. Shinji was down in terms of "points", but he was by no means out. In fact he found it rather odd to keep track of a battle by points, because it only took one solid hit to end it all. Further Shinji did not miss a beat as he watched Xyxer's hand slip into his ninja pouch. Following suite Shinji's left hand slipped into his ninja pouch and pulled out three shuriken that came out nestled in between his knuckles. The pieces of the plan were falling into place. It was only a matter of time. Shinji always loved plans as they were like a living creature. One had to improvise and bend the plan to fit the situation. And, so Shinji would bend his plan to his will.

However, Xyxer still had some surprises in store as became obvious when the armor Shinji had seen before sprung up around him. This must have been the armor that Xyxer was talking about earlier. The armor did indeed have a certain allure that seemed to exude an evil and yet something else that Shinji could not quite place his finger on. Alas, he did not have much time to ponder the nature of the armor as the shadowy figure of Xyxer pressed the attack. Shinji noted that Xyxer was moving a bit faster than before, but it was still not on par with Shinji who was a bit faster. It became clear that Xyxer's slash was not moving as fast as he himself was moving-there was something going on here, so Shinji knew he had to be wary. He still remembered how Xyxer had slipped his hand into the ninja pouch-there was something going on here and Shinji would have to let it play out as he could not see into the future. So, he decided to play Xyxer's game for the time being until he could make it his own again. To play the game, as Shinji would call it for now, he would block Xyxer's slow slash. He would meet Xyxer's blade with Makaze. However, it would not be a simple block: Shinji would aim to block Xyxer's blade three quarters of the way down Xyer's blade with the flat of Makaze's blade, thus avoiding the slash of the blade. This would allow for him to fight once again on his terms. Shinji's strength would not nearly be enough to hold Xyxer for long, but it would probably be enough to hold the two blades at a standstill for a short bit of time as the placement of the block would not allow Xyxer the incredible mechanical advantage that he would have had if Shinji blocked the blade at the tip-Xyxer would probably be able to break the lock, assuming it happened, if he applied his full strength he would easily push Shinji back. While blocking the blade Shinji would keep his left hand primed for what may come, because no doubt something would happen with Xyxer's tricky sleight of hand he had tried before with his ninja pouch. Also, on top of that, Shinji would shift some of his weight to the right side of his body. Xyxer would indeed be a good anbu-he could hold his own pretty well in a fight, but being an anbu was more than fighting skill.

{Sorry, lazy post...}

And it was now where everything began to click into place. He had finally managed to get into a gridlock with the man, a fatal decision for one of them and most likely the deciding factor of the fight. Pressing his thumb against the handle of his ANBU sword, he'd begin to press back ever so slightly, but not with an incredible amount of force; he did this so that Shinji would be forced to either lock himself into place to avoid being overwhelmed or fall backwards and most likely be impaled. Of course, if he was to fall backwards, Xyxer would plunge in with all of his strength as his true goal would have been avoided, a hefty lunge in the unprotected weapon arm of the man if he should escape the grid lock. However, as mentioned prior, that was not the goal of Xyxer. He had witnessed his opponent draw out three shuriken, a rather tricky manouver now that Xyxer thought about it. He'd have to draw the man's attention away from what was actually happening, which he would do by applying his flying thunder god seal onto the inside of the shuriken's hole, which would be impossible to see as Xyxer's fingers were hiding that particular spot, and with a single flick of his arm, the shuriken would catapult straight up into the air, traveling at a speed equal to his strength stat, having been thrown at such an angle that upon it's descent it would land straight on the man's head with devastating force. As he did that, He would have used the motion of his arm to use his extreme control of the suiton element, using it to draw water out of thin air directly behind the man's feet, so that if he should try and move backwards he would trip over the water wire that was now place there, leaving him vulnerable to a quick attack, but again that was not the end of it, he would press his thumb forwards once more as his hand slowly began to come back down, further using his suiton mastery to construct boots made out of water around the man's feet, something that would be unfelt until the very last second where it was already too late. If all of this should go as planned, Xyxer would grin and speak, "Do you surrender, Tenkage-Sama?"

And, thus the battle would reach its endgame, but Xyxer had made a rather unfortunate mistake at an important juncture by locking blades with Shinji. The moment he applied pressure to the sword Shinji took that as his cue to take action (before the shuriken had been thrown). From before (see end of last post) Shinji had already shifted his weight in preparation for this moment and in turn movement. This preparation would allow for a new avenue of action that Shinji had used before in a prior spar that would prove useful now. This would involve using Xyxer's sword as a pivot point and ultimately leave Xyxer in a bad situation to say the least. Shinji, upon feeling the increase of pressure from Xyxer on his blade, swiftly pivoted on his right foot, where Shinji had placed a large portion of his mass already, thus making the pivot into a fairly natural movement, and swung his body mass to the right such that he now stood to the side of Xyxer's sword arm side. Of course in this turning the blade of Makaze would no doubt become unlocked from Xyxer's blade in the simple nature of the turn, as Shinji locked his wrist so as to have the flat of Makaze's blade spin around Xyxer's sword in step with Shinji's pivot, thus, in all likelihood, sending Xyxer's blade forward due to the fact that there was now no force opposing his blade as there once was only mere moments ago. Furthermore this movement would probably, at the very least, interrupt or hinder a counter attack as Xyxer was bound to jolt forward to some extent due to the force he was applying to the blade to keep Shinji from overpowering him as Shinji had been using all his strength to hold Xyxer back. Shinji, following this tricky maneuver and assuming all went as planned, would move with his full speed and attempt to bring Makaze up to the back of Xyxer's neck. He would not press it in. Instead he would merely hold it there, so that Xyxer could feel the cool black tip on the back of his neck. As a further insurance Shinji would hold the three shuriken in his left hand ready to be thrown at the slightest movement. Furthermore this movement of Shinjis would, in all probability, screw up any chain of attacks Xyxer had planned, because their centerpiece, Shinji, had moved in a no doubt unexpected way. Hopefully this was the end of the spar, because Shinji was getting uneasy with all these people around-the crowd seemed to have doubled, if not tripled, in size since the beginning of the spar. If anything Shinji would put off the spar for a more private time and place where they could both use their full array of jutsu and thus have a true match of skill. Either way as it stood, assuming all went perfectly, Xyxer and Shinji would be tied: one to one. If all went well then Shinji would speak for the first time the whole spar in a rather jovial tone: "So, shall we call it a draw? One to one?"

The first thing that ran through Xyxer's mind when the whole event started was 'Dratz'. It had happened in swift motion, and one of his strongest abilities had been the undoing of him. It was quite an interesting series of manouvers really, but it seemed like if this had not happened Xyxer would have won the spar. So he remembered, he'd have to keep his eyes wide open to this maneuvers, his opponent proved to be a very tricky fellow, that was evident by how he could now feel the pressure from the tip of his blade against the back of his neck. What an interesting spar. Hearing the man speak, Xyxer would grin once more and hold his hands up, "Sure, sure. It's a draw for now, but I want to continue it at a later date." With that, Xyxer would take a step forward before turning around, holding his hand out as common gesture to a worthy opponent.

Shinji would instantly lower the blade and allow his whole body to relax once he heard what Xyxer had to say. Another person might keep it there, but Shinji trusted the man he had previously held a blade to. Taking Xyxer's hand he would shake it heartily and respond to the mans talk of a spar at a later date: "Naturally we will continue it at a later date." Shinji paused for a second and cracked a wide smile and took on a jocular tone: "And next time I won't go easy on you." Honestly Xyxer had pushed Shinji to the limit, which should be clear to Xyxer, and with those words he would direct his attention to the crowd that had thickened to an almost unbearable throng of people. Calling out loud enough to be heard by all the people he retained his joking manner: "Don't you all have somewhere to be?" They probably all did seeing as it was the middle of the work day. With those words the crowds dispersed. At that point he would turn back to Xyxer: "Your not too bad in a fight. It will be an honor to have you by my side in a fight. Now, if you do not mind I need to freshen up as I have a meeting with the elders...And if you ever need to find me you know where I will be." Xyxer would probably be able to notice the amount of sweat that had accumulated on Shinji. Assuming Xyxer had nothing else to say Shinji would make the ram hand seal and disappear in a blur of speed to get ready for another pesky meeting. Shinji felt he could trust Xyxer to lead the anbu and not only that, but hopefully count him as a friend. However, all that Shinji could really think about was their next spar, because that would truly be a spectacle.

{Exit unless Xyxer has anything else to say, TWC 6,282, +62JP, & converting stats to ryo: 31stats x 50 ryo= +1550 ryo. Also Xyxer is given rank of anbu captain of tengakure.}