Asami vs Hayate

At the end of his exhale, Hayate focused his internal chakra around each muscle. It was immensely draining to so precisely assist each movement, so he couldn't keep it up for long, but he'd need the speed to approach Asami. His improved reaction time (237) watched the progress of his chakra wave carefully, hoping to spot any brief opening he may be able to exploit with his sudden burst of speed and strength.

Instead, he watched the kunai poof into 5, 10, 30, 50, an uncountable number of other kunai, moments before the chakra wave would connect to sweep it (and now many others) away, carving a meager thing line out of the wall of steel before him. His improved perception, working at such a higher speed, allowed him to also note the tags on the back of each.

"Oh shi..."

All thought of counter attack was forgotten. Hayate, moving parallel to the oncoming storm, would attempt to now run straight away. His leading foot slammed down hard, sliding and kicking up dust as he braced for a push off directly away from Asami. The kunai managed to close 3 of the meters as he shifted direction, coming within a meter of him, as he took off with a sun darkening wall of death behind him.

It was only dark for a moment, though. As hayate (speed 152) and the kunai both began racing toward the wall, barely one meter into that race the wall of steel became a wall of fire, a miniature sun. The explosions were deafining, and his shadow was now a strong outline in front of him, edges dancing slightly with each new blast. He dared not slow down to look, but the heat surged over his back as he began to edge farther and farther away from the oncoming wall of shrapnel and fire.

Meanwhile, the wave of chakra with the little pellet closely in tow had passed threw the wall of knives, and as the kunai didn't explode till 4m after they passed and didn't send any shrapnel backward, they continued toward asami. She had dodged the wave, but the pellet landed as intended, cracking open on the ground about 5m in front of Asami and rapidly throwing a dark smoke, quickly obscuring the fireworks from her view.

The wave was fast enough that even though he was quicker, he wasn't able to pull out of the way of the oncoming buckshot until he was about 30 meters from the explosion point, now 45 from asami. He couldn't let her have this distance. He had to apply pressure again, and fast. She couldn't quite see him at the moment, but he couldn't see her either, and he doubted she stayed still enough for a projectile to hit her at this range. He'd have to take his changes charging once more.

This charging in the open thing was getting old, though. Quickly reversing direction once more, he made his way back in, closing ground as fast as he could. As he did so, he removed a water scroll from his pouch. Not daring to sheath his sword, he instead kept the scroll in his right hand and flicked it open. As the scroll began to unfurl, he slammed it against his chest so his flat palm could find steady purchase, channeling into it to one handedly, releasing the water down his front as he ran.

Start 191
-40 Body is a weapon
-12 water sealing
Finish 139 ap

1 water scroll turned into 1 generic scroll. everything max speed and power.

She hadn't noticed it in the mess of steel and behind the blade of chakra, but it was hard to miss when Hayate's smoke bomb expanded rapidly into a black plume. Unfortunately for her opponent, the smoke would be of little consequence and never expand to its full size as Asami had already prepared the second part of her combination attack, the horse hand seal.

Having formed the hand seal when sidestepping the rupture blast, she now stood ready; while Hayate ran back she inhaled deeply. Then, somewhere between inhalation and exhalation, a wreath of blazing red sprung up around the young girl. With a heady power now coursing through her veins, Asami exhaled allowing flames to bloom from her lips and out onto the battlefield in the same direction she had thrown her kunai. She couldn't be sure of Hayate's exact location, but at the moment what mattered was keeping him from advancing closer and she had not seen him slip off to either side of the blast, so she reasoned that he had somehow managed to evade the attack.

The thought of her friend peppered with hundred of kunai never once crossed her mind, Hayate was better than that.

Blasting away the plume of smoke—which had only advanced a few meters towards her—the cone of fire expanded hungrily outwards in search of its master's foe and looking to expand to its maximum range (105 speed). Unbeknownst to the girl her jutsu and her friend were on a collision course. If Hayate continued on his path he would probably have to change his name to Hot-yate.

---
AP: 298 - 40 Soul Expulsion - 40 Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation = 218 AP


New Stats:
Health: 10
Chakra: 65 + 50 = 115
Stamina: 34
Speed: 125 + 50 = 175
Strength: 21

Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation Stats:
Power: 50 + 30 from chakra scaling + 25 from Quicksilver Augment = 105
Speed: 50 + 30 from chakra scaling + 25 from Quicksilver Augment = 105

The black billowing smoke, barely reaching a few meters in diameter, suddenly puffed up, and surged back towards him, its inky blackness lightning quickly to grey as it seemed to strangely balloon in just the one direction (when he was starting the water scroll). Then incandescent red flame burst through the grey/black smoke, burning it up. The inner fire she had, both in chakra and in personality, was shown in full glory as the stream raced across the arena towards him.

The long wave of sustained fire had to trace back to the kunoichi, though he couldn't quite see through all the flames, so at least he had that advantage of knowledge in the second or two it would take to burn away the rest of the smoke. Hayate dropped the scroll, now pretty much spent, and reached toward his back as he spun in a circle. In one fluid motion he released the fuuma shuriken, infused it with chakra, and finished his twirl to hurl it straight down the path of the fire, hoping to hide it in the flames. The fuuma shuriken was as sturdily built as his sword, and had survived explosions before, so he hoped it could survive this fire of Asami's, which seemed stronger and faster than he'd ever seen it before. She was definitely putting her all in. Maybe he shouldn't have goaded her on.

Now that his attack was away, he'd have to find a way to not get scorched by the rapidly approaching fire. He had made it about 10-15 meters closer again, but was still 30meters away from his opponent His mist jutsu to approach stealthily would be burned away, and if he dashed to the side the hidden fuuma shuriken would be revealed all the quicker if she turned the wave of fire away to follow. He'd want it to get as close as possible before she saw it if he had any hope of forcing her to drop the jutsu to dodge, as he couldn't approach this flame while she was actively controlling it.

So he turned once more, headed away from asami, gaining some distance and time. She couldn't keep throwing these jutsu forever, though his chakra itself was rapidly dwindling from its meager starting point as well. Just one opening, though, would be all his attacks would need.

When he got back out to forty meters, and the shuriken would be 20 from asami, he'd run sideways until he was out of the fire's current path, then start a run heading at point around 15 meters to the side of asami (so getting closer to her, but not directly at her and therefore not any closer to the fire)

start 139 ap
-20 Body is a weapon upkeep (post2)
finish 119 ap.
Fuuma shuriken: 110 health (100+10 infusion). 156 speed. 118 impact force. 159 sharpness

She didn’t see it coming until it was nearly too late. Flames, by their very nature, jump and dance this way and that, so at first, the girl chalked up the deformation in the stream of fire to be something natural. However, it soon became clear as the deformation grew and grew that it was something else, something unnatural.

For the first time since truly committing to the fight, Asami faltered. The stream of fire ceased to flow and the wall of fire died down to nothingness leaving only residual heat and scorched earth up to about three-fourths of its maximum range. Wisps of steam rose from the ground where, unbeknownst to Asami, Hayate had released his water scroll. The arena looked like a war zone.

With her vision no longer obscured by her own jutsu, the diminutive genin found herself face to face with a spinning disk of death. Her rational mind had no time to react, but her animal one did and she jerked her head to the left in a frenzied attempt to avoid losing the top half of her head.

For a brief second, she was certain she had avoided death by mere centimeters as the disk whizzed by the right side of her head with a distinct whirr. However, then a pain unlike any other erupted across her face. In reality, it was not centimeters that allowed Asami to escape death, but rather millimeters. A deep crimson gash ran horizontally across her cheek; she’d lost the bottom half of her right earlobe and one could just barely make out an exposed sliver of cheekbone near the leading edge of the wound.

The crowd, broken from their stunned silence, roared with approval as Hayate drew first blood.

Stunned, the young girl gazed across the arena at the fast approaching Hayate to her right. Her pale complexion looked all the paler in the afternoon sun and when contrasted with the curtain of blood slowly descending down her right cheek it looked downright deathly. She tried her best to snap out of it, but the best she could do was turn ever so slightly to her right so as to square off against her opponent who had, once again, just reached a point fifteen meters from her.

The high of battle had long left Asami only to be replaced by the cold grip of terror. And yet, still, her hands were clasped together as if waiting for a command from their shell-shocked owner. She held no particular seal, but rather appeared as if she were wringing her hands.

The metallic tang of blood made her head swim and her stomach churn. The battle was nearing its conclusion; she could only maintain her shaky composure for so much longer. Soon, one way or another, the fight had to end.

It has to…

In place of her normally carefree grin she now wore a grimance of poorly suppressed pain.

---
AP: 218 - 20 Soul Expulsion Upkeep = 188 AP

TWC: 2163

Narrowly passing by the side of the jutsu, a great hiss went up as the fire seared the thin layer of water he had left behind, steam rising into the air. A few moments into his run and the fire died out. Hayate spared a glance to see the Fuuma shuriken continuing on its path behind Asami, her body still righting itself from the dodge. Good, it had done its job.

He reached the point he was aiming for and turned to full face Asami...and stopped dead in his tracks. Blood trickled from her face, her ear. It was impossible to tell the exact extent of the damage, but clearly it hadn't been fully dodged as he thought. The picture in his mind from before the battle of Asami cut and battered flashed before his mind again. It truely was different when it was a real person you knew. The cold neutral expression dropped, his eyes softening. He began to automatically reach out in concern, calling out "Asami, I...." but he stopped himself, and no words of apology or concern came. He looked down at his sword, an equal instrument of death. Would this fight turn out the same as last? Would he also stain THIS with his friends blood, for glory and rank?

His expression darkened. He no longer looked directly at Asami's face, but kept his gaze lowered at her hands and feet. He slowly sheathed the blade. He called out again, but this time without the urgent concern. Just a bitter resignation, with perhaps a hint of anger and frustration. "Asami. I ... I can't give in now."

Then again, as before, he took a fighting stance, holding up the tiger seal. In a resigned voice, a bit quieter: "Prepare."

The area between Asami and Hayate darkened into a thick foggy mist, spreading from the steam, ground water, and water soaked into Hayates clothes (actually 30 meter diameter around hayate, who is 15m from asami). It would be hard to see more than about 10 feet (3m) through it, but bright light sources would give away a general direction.

If Asami doesn't make a move before vision is obscured, Hayate would move forward and to the right at half speed, trying to be as quiet as possible, silently removing two kunai tied together with 4m wire from his pouch. When about 7m from asami (and from her point of view, about 45 degrees to the left of where he last appeared), he'd use ventriloquism to call out "Defend!" which would seem to come from a point that was exactly on the opposite side of asami from where he was now, and then throw the kunai at max speed, each kunai waist high and aimed to past 2m to the left and to the right of where he last saw her. He hoped she didn't remember the one or two practical jokes he had played on her doing a similar thing in the past, but merely to surprise her. Not to .... he didn't finish the thought.

The wire shouldn't hurt her too much if at all, but the kunai would act as bola weights, swinging around her and wrapping, while the sound of the hit and the dangling kunai should give away her position - if they hit.

start 119ap
-20 body is a weapon
-10 Hidden mist
-5 ventriloquism
end 84AP

sheathed sword
-2 kunai, with wire between the 2 kunai.

The fire behind Asami’s eyes dulled as she gazed across at a person she now struggled to label as a friend. Was this what it meant to be friends as a shinobi? To be thrown in an arena for the entertainment of others? To draw blood and be made to bleed for something as petty as rank? These questions and more all darkened the chuunin-hopeful’s mind blinding her to the hesitation that flashed across Hayate’s face.  

Prepare? How could she prepare? Why should she prepare?

The young girl remained rooted to the spot as the air around her condensed and cooled into a familiar mist. Perhaps it was this reminder of home or maybe the last remaining bit of fighting spirit in her small body, but as the curtain of white mist obscured her vision of the arena around her she acted. Well, acted is probably a bit of an overstatement; in actuality, she began to sink into the ground (65 speed).

Inch by inch she slipped deeper and deeper into the ground. As she sunk—and before her upper body began to disappear into the earth—her hands formed a single hand seal, the clone seal. A shadow clone formed a quarter of a meter behind her initial position and would act as her stand in and decoy as looked to be the spitting image of its master.

The little Mist ninja had one last card to play.

The last thing the real Asami heard before her head slipped under the earth was Hayate’s distinctive voice commanding her to defend.  Her clone turned in the direction of the voice only to be clotheslined from behind by Hayate’s latest deception and the oldest trick in her friend’s book. With arms pinned to its side by the improvised bola, the clone fell to the ground with a muted and distinctly metallic thud. Landing hard on its left side, it then proceeded to struggle in vain against its bonds. Try as the clone might it could not even bring itself up into a sitting position and instead squirmed on the ground unable to bring its face up from the dirt.

"Hayate...Please..." the clone cried out. If Hayate approached he would find the frail body of his friend no longer wreathed in red. "Please..."  

The real Asami, on the other hand, lurked a few inches below her clone’s position, waiting. It was only a matter of time and as she waited she fished out two kunai from her weapons pouch, one for each hand. Despite the darkness, she had a great picture of the both her clone’s and Hayate’s orientation on the battlefield above—no movement went un-accounted for.

Here goes nothing...

---
AP: 188 - 20 Soul Expulsion Upkeep - 20 Hiding like a mole - 30 Shadow clone = 118

Shadow Clone AP Split:
Real Asami: 59 AP
Clone Asami: 59 AP

Hiding like a mole speed/power calc: 20 + 20 from chakra scaling + 25 from Quicksilver Augment = 65

TWC: 2593

Some clinks and a thud signified the improvised weapon found its mark. The moment Hayate heard this he dashed over, and when he heard the cries he lifted the mist, revealing an Asami lying on the ground. The begging was out of tune with her earlier apologizing and then determination, but she had seemed off in her vacant stare at the end. Her red glow was gone, apparently running out of chakra or giving up. He was close to his limit as well.

At his 152 speed he finished sprinting the distance, sliding the last meter to straddle the face down asami over her diminutive waist while he was on his knees. He cocked his left arm back with a closed fist, ready to punch, while the other hand pressed flat on her back. His raised fist shook ever so slightly, as some blood pooled from the face down cheek onto the ground. He thanked the stars he didn't have to stare at the wounds he inflicted right now.

"Give up!" He commanded. Then, in much quieter, urgent, pleading tone. "Please. Please dont make me...."

Start 84ap
-20 Body weapon (post4)
-5 hidden mist (ended)
59AP

“Fine…” the clone whimpered as Hayate stood over her. “…right after you do.”

In the slight pause between agreeing to Hayate’s demands and taking said declaration back, the real Asami began to rise from the earth behind him. She did so with the sharp points of the kunai in either of her hands leading the way. However, her ascent from the depths halted as she attempted to rest the cold steel of both kunai against the back of Hayate’s feet [the kunai in her left hand to the back Hayate’s left foot and the kunai in her right to the back of his right foot] just as her clone invited Hayate to surrender. Ultimately, this would result in only Asami’s arms emerging from the ground while the rest of her remained below. The hope was, of course, that her friend would be too distracted by his apparent victory to realize Asami stealing said victory right out from under him.

“Please?”

The clone tagged on this final plea before erupting in a plume of smoke. A pair of slashed Achilles tendons or kunai aerated soles would effectively end the fight if Hayate did not comply with this last request. The kunoichi had no want to hurt her friend, but would if it came to it—she was more than fast enough and she now owed the boy a wound or two as her bloodied face constantly reminded her.

---
Real Asami AP: 59 - 20 Soul Expulsion Upkeep - 10 Hiding like a mole upkeep = 29 AP + 59 from the dispered clone = 88 AP

TWC: 2826

Secure in his victory, Hayate had stopped focusing on his muscles, letting the internal chakra fade away. But then Asami responded

What? Why would he surrender? What was with the sudden confidence.

His inner turmoil mixed with confusion, and Hayate didn't notice the arms appear behind him, nor the tips of the kunai gently, slowly, stealthy touch the thick soles he wore. He did notice, however, a sudden drop to the ground when the clone vanished.

Oh no.

The pit of the genin's stomach sank as he realized what he had fallen for. She could be anywhere, setting up any attack this very moment. He had to get this back on track. Completely unaware of danger he was in, he scrambled to get back to his feet, to a ready stance, and if not stabbed by then would look around for the kunoichi. If he didn't see her, he'd dash for the wall, desperate to get off the ground, as by that point he'd know she couldn't go invisible, but remember she did have the earth element, and could hide underground.

start 59AP
+10 doing no taxing stuff
end 69 AP

Hayate would never make it to his feet. Asami’s blades bit through both sandals with ease cleaving flesh and leather (?) alike. With a kunai an inch and a half deep in the heel of both feet walking anywhere would be impossible for the boy from the Mist. Indeed, even staying conscious through the pain might become a challenge.

Asami, for her part, loosened her grip on the kunai and slowly rose from the ground. Matted with dirt and blood, her normally immaculate hair spiked out this way and that giving her a crazed look. Her eyes betrayed no emotion and the gash on her cheek continued to flow liberally. Surely it was over, surely she could go home, surely she could rest…

Right?

Hauling herself back onto solid ground she collapsed backwards. The red aura that had surrounded her since near the beginning of the battle faded to nothingness and she let out a breath. Yes, this had to be it; she couldn’t bring herself to look over at Hayate or down at her blood soaked hands.

“So…?” She sputtered out to no one in particular, though Hayate was the only one in earshot.

The crowd had gone silent.  

---
AP: 88 - 20 Soul Expulsion Upkeep - 10 Hiding like a mole upkeep = 58, both techs canceled this round.

TWC: 3011