A Song [Open]

Kato moves quickly. It's bold of him to think that he'll be able to move his leg fast enough to interrupt Murata's step forward, with her foot moving a far shorter distance than his sweeping leg must clear. A half-step for Murata is maybe 13 centimeters of forward motion.

Murata can tell he's a bit faster than her - her movements are about 72% as fast as his.

The moment she sees the beginnings of movement in Kato's legs - and not an overall shift in his posture that would portend a high kick - she reacts, scooting her left foot maybe 5cm behind its starting position. With Kato appearing to aim for her ankle with his own foot, that should be more than enough to clear his incoming strike. Say that her foot made it that 13cm before she reacted - and then moved it back 18cm - that's about 31 centimeter's worth of footsies on her part, enough to accomplish in full by the time Kato has moved an equivalent 44cm, surely not enough to reach her with their starting distance of a meter.

Murata simultaneously aborts her jab and draws back her hand to guard her face, far before her arm would be outstretched enough for Kato to strike at her wrist. She judges that Kato may well react to her movements and pull his own kick, but it's likely to leave him in a supremely awkward and unbalanced position.

Immediately flowing from her backward scoot of her foot, and still keeping a close eye on Kato in order to change course if his actions necessitate it, Murata pivots her left foot to the side in the sand - corkscrewing her body into a right leg low kick aimed towards his left thigh, ducking her head towards the left with her hands back in position to guard it. If it lands, it'll hurt - if his leg is still extended so perilously forward, it may well knock him further off balance.

[327]
[TWC: 1774]

Kato knew he had the speed on her but he was impressed with how Murata moved, she was clearly paying close attention to his movements. He knew he would have to pay close attention because a blow from this opponent looked like it would hurt, even if she was pulling the strike a bit. 

Kato's reactions are pretty quick and his bloodline allows him great control over his limbs. As Murata shifts her lead leg back, aborting her jab and leaning back to her left side guarding her face Kato realised a new assault was inbound. From the looks of her body language it appeared she was shaping for a heavy kick, most likely aimed at Kato's lead leg. He'd broken away from his initial posture with his attempted sweep and that could make for an awkward stance to defend from. Luckily for Kato, Hyuugas are especially flexible and so he felt confident he could manoeuvre to a favourable position.

Kato places his left foot on the ground, ending the sweep before his leg became too abducted from his centre. Watching Murata closely and predicting her next assault Kato quickly expels chakra from the base of his left foot and he pushes off from that leg. Kato rotates his hips as he pushes off the ground, moving his left leg backwards out of the way incoming kick whilst simultaneously throwing a strike with an open palm perpendicularly at Murata's striking leg. Like the previous palm strike Kato in tends to use a burst of chakra in a way that enhances the push of his strike rather than causing internal damage.

[270]
[TWC = 1658]

Murata's shin impacts Kato's hand with a muffled smack, the counterbalanced cushion of chakra and Murata's restraint keeping her more powerful kick from barreling through his counterattack and injuring his hand and arm.

For the briefest of moments, Kato feels like he's been pulled away from reality - inhabiting some sort of distant memory. He finds himself in a dim temple, his body small and frail and cold, but he feels safe among friends on either side. It's crowded with people and candles, and a choir of monks sings in the center, the weary and worried common folk crowded within haltingly singing along to the best of their ability as rain pours and thunder crashes outside. Then he's back to the present, and no time has passed at all.

Ninshu wrote:Effect: When this skill is active, whenever the user and another person make physical contact (including through clothing or physical armor), each of them gains a glimpse into the other's heart through the exchange of spiritual energy. Please note that the term 'clash' and 'strike' are used to denote this contact for the remainder of the app, and simply mean direct contact - it does not necessarily mean a violent meeting, and this skill can be applied to benign touch (or benign techniques, such as medical ones, if one has the appropriate specialty).

Each player may offer a small glimpse of their character's history or life as a brief sensory experience in the opposite character's mind. It does not have to be significant, revealing, or useful, but it should be sincere.

If one player does not offer a description, the other can select one singular sentence from their character's history or their previous threads as their 'glimpse'. They do not have context for this information - that sentence is taken purely on its own. Any inane Holmesian deductions made from this information are subject to voiding if they are judged unreasonable.

The interaction ends up being a wash, Murata rolling with the push of his chakra to draw back her leg and step back, returning to her starting stance. She takes a deep breath, grinning. "You're tricky!" she says. The memory that had been given to him seems appropriate, given their surroundings. She can never quite predict what will emerge - she is glad that their first blows came with a peaceful tone, if a worried one. "How did you push me like that?"

[210]
[TWC: 1984]
[Skill activated: Ninshu]

The manoeuvre went as planned, in came her kick and Kato's palm strike met it. The instant he made contact it was almost like he'd blinked and suddenly appeared inside someone else's body. Genjutsu? No, even without his Byakugan activated he would of noticed signs of her forming handseals. He looked to his body then around. He was small and frail but all around him were happy faces and the soothing sounds of choir singing. Was this one of Murata's memories? 

As the contact was made Murata finds herself in an unfamiliar room. In front of her are several men with white eyes similar to Kato's but with a look of disappointment and contempt. They appear to be trying to teach her an important lesson but their tone and manner is patronising and it falls on deaf ears. She finds herself upturning the table she is sitting at and storming out of the room before returning to her own senses. 

Just as quickly as the scene had came it went and Kato found himself back on the beach. His chakra infused blow had knocked Murata back like he had intended but he felt the dull pain that had accompanied the blow in his arm, perhaps he should off used more chakra. Did he pull his strike too much or was she just a lot stronger than he had expected? Getting a fresh look at the woman stood before him he was assuming the latter. Kato briefly thinks about the memory that was shared with Murata. She'd now seen how unpleasant his treatment had been by the elders of the clan that had birthed him, something that had ultimately started him on his journey that currently resides on this beach.

"You're one to talk! I've never encountered someone with an ability like yours Murata, I'm impressed. How did you acquire such a skill?" A smile shot across his face as Kato continued "That was a little taste of a special style of Taijutsu that is held within my clan, The Gentle Fist style. Us in the Hyuuga clan have really fine control of our chakra systems so he can infuse out blows with chakra at ease. This can make a simple movement that ordinarily wouldn't be powerful a deadly weapon." 

 [379]
[TWC = 2037]

Murata shifts her weight back and forth, a dull ache running up her shin from the contact. She allows the younger Kato's feelings of frustration and rage to pass through her without resistance, taking the memory at simple face value and resisting any urge to speculate. One cannot construct an entire narrative from one glimpse, and she knows people who have made fools of themselves trying. For now, she will be sure to remain in the present.

"From my perspective, I wonder how all of you shinobi lost it," she says. "How to listen and how to speak is the very first thing I was taught." Murata keeps loose and a little bouncy in her stance as he speaks in a little sort of march, keeping nice and warmed up, obviously preparing to continue as soon as he is finished speaking. "Ah, sensible. Always wanting to end a fight quickly."

Gentle Fist, is it? So he does not necessarily require a lot of exertion or windup in order to land fight-winning blows. That may mean that most of Murata's blocks are dangerous options for her, much like if she were facing a monstrously strong opponent. She has learned that shinobi very much enjoy extended hand to hand bouts, but in serious life and death situations it seems like the one who hits first and hits hardest would be the one who goes home.

She brings her right foot behind her left in a T-shape, a similar position to the one Kato had started the fight with, immediately following by bringing her left knee up to chest level and extending her leg in a snapping front kick, leg extending so that just as it fully straightens it will impact his ribcage. She has not noticed the young Hoshigaki observing them from further down the surf.

[304]
[TWC: 2288]

"Perhaps you could give me a lesson sometime, it appears I have forgotten" Kato observes Murata remaining loose and preparing for a second strike and mirrors her body language. She begins to shift to the stance that he initially adopted and he responds with his own stance, left foot and palm forward and right foot forming an L stance. "In matters of life and death ending things quickly is vital if you are to keep your longevity"

Kato watches as the kick comes in, he rapidly channels chakra to his lead arm. In a swift burst of motion he sweeps his left palm under the incoming kick. In this motion he crouches slightly to properly get beneath the strike and then aims an uppercut with his open palm, releasing a strong amount of chakra in a pushing force upwards beneath Murata's striking leg. He knows if this comes off Murata will be knocked off balance and vulnerable so he watches and readies himself to deliver a second open palm, this time with his right aimed at Murata's chest with the same forceful pushing intent.

With all his attention on his sparring partner he had not noticed that they had been joined by another in the distance.

[206]
[TWC = 2243]

Kato fighting with his Chakra puts him on a much more equal playing field with Murata's strength (35 to 39), but she still holds the edge, and he won't be able to throw her blows off course to such a wild degree that he no longer has to worry about this kick - especially as he is aiming to deflect it directly upwards. In addition, he waits until she is already extending her kick in order to land his counterattack - smartly forcing her to commit, but giving himself less wiggle room.

Murata accepts the trade - it's too late for her to draw back her kick, but she twists her hips left just slightly as she recognizes that he's trying to get underneath her, adjusting course towards his stomach. She winces as his uppercut strikes her calf (that's gonna bruise badly)... just as her heel smashes into Kato's sternum, his palm strike guiding the trajectory of her kick successfully upwards and directly into the center of his chest. Even if his gentle fist blow underneath her leg throws her off more than anticipated, that will result in a possibly much more bloody strike to the throat, mouth, or nose - he'd crouched a little, after all, positioning those parts of his body forwards and directly in the line of fire. He's likely to collapse backwards, heavily winded. Compared to such a blow, Murata will likely be able to stumble back slightly awkwardly, needing to keep weight off of that leg for the moment - but retaining her footing.

[Claiming hit! I dunno if it'd hold up in ninja court, but I feel as though Murata's momentum, strength edge, and the small gap would mean that a strike underneath would not like... cause her to dramatically flip upwards, as I feel like would be necessary for Kato to completely be clear of her foot here.]

[254]
[TWC: 2542]

Murata had committed to the attack, just as Kato planned. Only she had altered her target slightly, she'd twisted her hips slightly and arced her strike slightly downwards from her initial approach. Kato knew that due to the small distance between them and the lack of time to move that her strike was going to make contact but he wasn't resigned to letting her get in a good one. 

As Kato brings his palm upwards to strike Murata's calf he ensures his lead leg is solid by pulsing chakra through it. Simultaneously with the upward motion of his palm he rotates his hips, subsequently shifting his rear leg behind him and around in an arcing motion. He performs a kind of pirouette motion to the left knowing this is one of the few options he has to lessen the blow. The upward force of Kato's strike changes the direction in which Murata's strike is travelling on more of a diagonal vector upwards, he knows this is dangerous but is confident that his rotation will ensure vital areas are not hit. Murata's foot makes contact with Kato on the outer chest/shoulder area, the impact of the blow adding further force to his rotation.

Ensuring his planted leg is still sturdy with chakra Kato uses the impact of the strike to produce more momentum in his rotation. He builds chakra up in the back of his right hand as he winds up a spinning backfist strike aimed at Murata's temple. He uses the initial 'dodging' rotation to conceal his strike, knowing that Murata will only have a short time to react.

"Her strength impresses me more and more, that last scuffle could off ended a lot more nastily if I'd of been less agile." Kato thought to himself as he felt the ache of the landed blow in his shoulder area. With all his attention still on Murata he still hasn't noticed the spectator who edges ever closer.

[327]
[TWC = 2570]

[I'm happy conceding the hit based on the difference in strength and the lack of wiggle room due to the distance, its just the severity/impact that I have issue with. A front snap kick carries a lot less momentum that a rear front kick as your weight is held on your rear leg rather than your front. This along with the twist of hips leads me to believe that Kato's upwards strike would disrupt Murata's balance, forcing her centre off gravity back and downwards as her leg is pushed upwards. It's not intended to make her fly upwards, just disrupt balance and change the direction of her strike. I'm trying not to be pedantic so let me know if you have an issue with this move and we can talk it out ]