Iron of Blood Iron Of Steel [Hunter]

Mission:

Stats:

Under the ethereal glow of the full moon, Seiruna, clad in a sleek combat dress, black boots, and a skin-tight body suit, exuded a menacing aura. Her crystal singing katana shimmered on her right hip, while the chakra-bonded katana glimmered on her left. With a wicked smile, she surveyed the surroundings, her eyes filled with a hunger for battle.The bridge loomed before her, its sturdy structure stretching across a span of sixty meters and rising twenty meters above the churning waters below. The ancient wood, weathered by time and elements, whispered secrets of countless journeys taken upon its timeworn planks.

Surrounding the bridge, a dense forest loomed ominously, its towering trees reaching toward the heavens, casting long, twisted shadows.Seiruna's gaze moved with calculated precision, studying every inch of the scene. Her eyes, sharp as a predator's, scanned the dark woods, searching for any signs of movement. The cool night breeze rustled the leaves, creating an eerie symphony of whispers that sent shivers down her spine. She felt the weight of the night's mission resting upon her shoulders, a burden she willingly carried.

With her senses heightened, Seiruna immersed herself in the atmosphere, her mind sharp and focused. She was ready to confront the thief wearing the troll demon mask, to unravel the mystery of their nefarious deeds. The moon's radiant glow bathed the scene in an otherworldly light, enhancing the tension that hung in the air.In this dangerous dance between darkness and light, Seiruna stepped forward, her steps filled with purpose. The stage was set, and she was the protagonist in this twisted tale of revenge and justice. With her weapons at the ready and her heart pounding with anticipation, she took her first steps onto the bridge, prepared to face the shadows that awaited her.

As Seiruna ventured onto the bridge, her bloodlust surged within her, an evil and demonic aura emanating from her very being. It wrapped around her like a suffocating shroud, filling the air with a palpable sense of dread. Her eyes, now gleaming with a savage hunger, narrowed on the surroundings with an unnerving intensity.The moonlight cast an eerie glow upon her face, accentuating the twisted smile that danced upon her lips. In that moment, she embodied the darkness itself, a predator stalking its prey. Every fiber of her being throbbed with anticipation, her veins pulsating with an insatiable thirst for combat.

WC: 397

[Hello! I will be your NPCer for this hunter mission. I wish you luck and a wonderful experience!]

Shikaka Nara:

The older shinobi had hid behind a tree, southwest, 10 meters away from the opposite end of the bridge that Seiruna had stepped upon, easternly, casting her shadow towards the opposing side adding to the grim reality that she wished to impose upon Shikaka. The railings of the bridge scattered shadows across the width of the bridge about 5 meters in length covering a fourth of the distance between the railings. To the man who wore the troll demon mask, this was not a normal traveler that was his prey tonight but a seasoned fighter. Knowing his ruse would be up soon enough decided to act  quickly before anything else would occur that would put him at a disadvantage. Focusing hard, his shadow that laid hidden behind the tree's 20m long shadow darkened creating tendrils that etched upward looking like strings upon a marionette (+60/+60 Vigor/Speed) all out of sight.

Swiftly forming a few handseals, Tiger → Hare → Boar, a wall would form to partially block the 20 meter wide bridge at its base, where it connects to the road. The wall (68 Health) would rise (10m width x 4m height x 2m depth) out of the ground (68 Speed) casting a 10meter long shadow along the straight road (70m) behind it and allowing a 5 meter berth on either side of it compared to the bridge's width (20 meters). Quickly dashing (160 speed) to behind the wall once formed, 7 meters behind it, Shikaka would bellow out, "A traveler such as you seeks blood for the road! You shall have such a toll paid then!" Whilst speaking, handseals would quickly be formed by the man, Rat → Monkey → Dragon → Boar → Dog, as his shadow sprawled into three lines. The first of which lingered behind the wall he stationed himself behind remaining dormant behind the rock wall. The other two would stretch past the wall on the ground (both at 104 speed), one reaching past the wall visible to the oncoming combatant, the other slithering to the other side, hiding in the railing's shadow. Should any connect to the shadow of the woman or connect to her shadow due to other circumstances she would find her movements locked into place, the trap to be set present and now tossed the bait at the combatant.

Battle Stats:

Seiruna's head snapped to the creation of the earth wall as her Cat Eyes jutsu activated with ease. Night turned to day as she could see clearly now.Her  hands simultaneously made the ram seal as she attempted to body flickered  backwards as the wall appeared to rise. A puff of smoke would appear hiding her movements she would jump back towards a total of 20m at  (Vigor +Speed= 220 Speed). The total distance from the wall would be 50m If able to make it to her destination. Coming out of the technique She would appear further back. Her right hand on the hilt of her Chakra Binding Katana. She would watch as strange movements hurdled towards her from the wall and onto the bridge."Sensational!" She cooed with utter madness oozing from her velvety voice.

She did not know how her opponent's technique worked. Honestly, even with the ability to see in darkness, it made it a little confusing on what this moving essence really was moving towards her. It would seem she would need to stay on her toes. Not to mention the bridge and the water below she did not know whatever else this bandit could do. The ever-so-wild Seiruna made the decision to properly stay on her toes and conserve her energy. If she was being sensed it would be apparent since the wall blocked both of their vision in seeing one another. Now was not the time to strike as she breathed maintaining her current jutsu.

Battle Stats:

WC:249

The wall (68 Health) would remain in front of Shikaka as the woman retreated from his attack. The shadows would reach the original spot before retreating. One would stay dormant within the railing's shadow (27 meters from him, 30 meters from Seiruna) while the other slithered back behind the wall. "I guess blood isn't being paid." He would murmur to himself, weaving handsigns as the shadows returned and lurked nearby. Dog → Tiger → Ox -> Hare → Boar → Snake into Monkey → Hare → Snake → Rat → Dog as the process to be prepared would require some work. The wall would be the biggest obstacle to work around in his eyes. Jumping on top, the bandit position himself to move either forward onto the bridge or backwards behind the wall given the need to (50 meters from Seiruna)

Battle Stats:

Seiruna damn near teleported that 20 m as she immediately made seals.  Dragon-Boar-Monkey-Horse for her Atman Spirit as she would grow(80 forming speed) an extra pair of arms( 80 Health) above her shoulders granting her four. She drew her Chakra Bonding sword before slowly handing it to her left upper chakra arm keeping an eye on the an who would jump up onto the wall. He seemed kind of tall maybe from this distance. "What a warm welcome.!" She cooed to the bandit her cat eyes still active. It seemed those weird things on the bridge had reached their limit. Meaning they were most likely at a stalemate. For now Seiruna took the time to recover for a moment as she planned out her next moves.

As always she was confident in her speed. Regardless it was game of chicken who would bite it first? Seiruna was feeling confident on the battlefield today. So much so she might fuck around and find out. Underneath her loud and demonic-crazed look and energy Seiruna steadily breathed and focused on recovering what she could. She had a feeling this would take everything she got. Her amidst the chaos the order of respect always would take precedence.

Battle Stats:

Seeing no movement or motions from the shinobi, Shikaka grinned from under the mask he wore, he began to whistle low and soft, three specific notes rang true as chakra began to channel through his lips. The wind began to pick up a bit as the river below began to rage, threatening to eat anyone who fell now that this stalemate had started. Small orbs (10) of air (10 cm diameters) began to form nearby him, within 3 meters of himself. Aiming towards different parts of the bridge, they launched outward 15 meters away from him. Connecting (105 Power)  they would break and destroy the planks (100 HP), exposing the struts that supported the old bridge. Four 1-meter wide holes would form the concussive and aimed force of the blasts forcing planks to break and give exposing the support pillars underneath with one located directly between the woman and himself. The goal was to start breaking the bridge and give an impression of sabotaging her path. Wooden planks would splinter and give under the forth causing the damage to not just punch through the wood but weaken the integrity of the bridge as well. Knowing the gig was up, his hand moved to remove the mask to reveal his face. This was two fold in his strategy.

Knowing his time was limited, he needed to ensure his own retreat from the woman or force confrontation. He grinned as he whistled louder and louder before pursing his lips to begin the next step of his goal. The task at hand would be to eliminate the problem but sometimes forcing hands was better. 10 rocks (10 cm diameters, 90 HP) would be shot out (105 Speed) of his mouth aimed towards not the woman, but the sections of missing bridge 15 meters in front of him (105 Power) aiming for the worn and water eroded struts. Should all the rocks connect, it was likely that this half of the bridge would collapse. From there the Should Seiruna approach, the shadow lurking (20 meters from him) would shoot out towards her (120 Speed) own approaching shadow. With the moon opposite to him and behind Seiruna, her shadow would reach towards him faster than she would.

Battle Stats:

Seiruna, pulsating with unyielding energy, adopted a crouched stance as the bridge underneath bore the brunt of her sheer power. She felt herself invigorated by an unprecedented surge of vitality, every cell in her body thrumming with anticipation. (+50 speed, strength)

And then, in a sudden eruption of explosive force, she jumped towards the velvet canvas of the midnight sky.(170 speed)  Even as her feet lost contact with the bridge, a tempest began to form around her. Her chakra, fierce and raw, whipped up into a swirling vortex that shadowed her ascent.(110 forming speed) The trajectory of the jump was precise, maintaining the momentum at a constant height of thirty meters, her passage across the battlefield seeming to bend time itself within the span of a heartbeat. All of the attacks on the bridge were beneath her literally.

As she closed the distance to her target coming within the 30m meter mark distance-wise, she was ready to unleash her attack. Within the safety of her wind barrier, the fury of the tempest took shape at her command. Each slash, harmoniously timed with her spins, birthed draconic forms of cutting wind. three fearsome wind dragons surged forth from her stormy fortification, roaring through the night with deadly precision.

These dragons were monstrous in size, each one 15 meters in radius, their mighty forms stretching out to an awe-inspiring length of 30 meters. As they emerged, they were bound to the wind current, their bases tethered to the spot of their creation. The dragons would fire off (110 Speed & Power) in straight paths and bombard the spot where the bandit stood.

Battle Stats:

[Claiming retroactive hit from Shadow Imitation connecting while Seiruna is midair moving towards Shikaka from Dormant Shadow Imitation placed in previous post. Acting from that point onward as Shadow Imitation goes immediately on cooldown post it's connection. Sky Shredding Dragon secondary activation (the dragons) does not occur due to not reaching the point of that activation in the thread, AP refunded for that action.]

Shikaka's actions to destroy the portion of the bridge in front (starting from 15 meters away from him to the center of the bridge is destroyed currently [1/4 the bridge]) of him was successful as he witnessed his shadow, that laid dormant 20 meters from him, using the last of its ability to reach out towards the moving shadow (120 Speed towards 170 Speed of Seiruna's shadow) of the airborne Seiruna connecting (Stat Check of 120 [50 Power + 50 From Scaling + 20 from Mastery] VS Seiruna Strength 100 [50+50 Enhancer]) at the last moment before its strength faded and retracted to the shadows from whence it came. This resulted in a small disconnect of motion causing Seiruna to begin to fall (150 speed per rules, Bridge health of 100 = 125 [150/2 speed + 100/2 Health of bridge] to hit with Seiruna if unable to break fall) towards the ground (37.5 meters away from Shikaka). A small window where he knew he must act swiftly before this opportunity escaped him.

Strings would reach out from his silhouette like puppet strings as he began a forward push (+60/60 Vigor/Speed). Jumping forward to land 7.5m from the wall behind him (160 Speed, 30m from Seiruna), Shikaka would form handseals, Rat → Monkey → Dragon → Boar → Dog, as his shadow would thicken to a 1 meter wide moving force (150 speed) aiming to connect with the falling girl. The shadow itself would also follow should she adjust in air or move around (50m range), indicating should she see the danger it possessed. Should the shadow connect, arms would begin to wrap up her legs and when they reached their femurs, they would clenched down breaking her upper legs by their sheer force (150 power VS Strength of stat check. If connects, does damage.) With the rest of the stones, 10 (each 10 cm in diamter), he could create from his mouth he would shoot (105 Speed/Power) out towards the falling girl hoping to connect any as he fired 4 of them ahead of where she would impact the bridge to connect on the way down. The other 6 in the general area, within 1, 2 and 3 meters out from the impact, left and right of her, in hopes if she was able to stabilize within that cone that he could land a hit that way. "Run if you can! Your death is sealed!"

Battle Stats:

The moment Shikaka's Shadow Imitation ensnared Seiruna mid-air, her left Atman-arm remained in motion as she moved it with her mind. Clutching her katana tightly, the chakra limb swung forcefully, releasing the first wind dragon toward Shikaka standing on the wall using his jutsu. Its imposing, 15-meter form was outlined against the moonlight, roaring forth with intimidating power.As Seiruna's body started to fall 30m due to being immobilized by Shikaka's jutsu, her Atman arm, however, retained its momentum. A second swing launched a second dragon, and halfway through her fall (150 Fall Speed), a third slash sent a final wind dragon tearing through the air, each of the three following one another in quick succession. Simultaneously, Seiruna activated her lightness skill, cushioning her descent and allowing her to avoid any fall damage. These actions were performed within the field of her 5m wind barrier, already active around her, forming a dome of raging winds . Subcionously an invisible 5m dome matching the one of her wind would be active in her mind allowing her to react to any attack within a split second.

Together, these dragons side by side and one on top imposing, spiraling cyclones of condensed wind - spanned an impressive 45 meters, creating a large, obscure screen on the battlefield that effectively blocked both her and Shikaka's vision.(110 Power/Speed Scaled) Seiruna's shadow, now cast atop these wind dragons rather than directly on the bridge, was hidden within the whirlwind chaos. Darkness and doom descended on the suspecting bandit. "LET'S PLAY CHICKEN THEN FALLING SKY  !!" Seiruna's battle cry rang out, her voice teetering on the brink of maniacal laughter. Obscured by her own fierce jutsu which was tethered to her, she eagerly anticipated Shikaka's response while keeping her guard high.

Battle Stats:

[Debuffing dragon with Shadow Degradation Field losses clash with Earth Stone Pistol through timing of post/duration. Since Wind-Dragons are tied to the barrier, and each other, around Seiruna, all of its effects will also go on CD and leave only Split Second up/around Seiruna.]

Shikaka adjusted as the kunoichi continued to fight and struggle against the inevitable fate that she was to face. He smirked as the dragons formed as he spat out the first of the few rocks. His hands swiftly adjusting to form more seals as the second dragon was formed and started reaching out towards the shinobi. "Flailing won't help!" Boar - Tiger - Snake - Rat - Bird, as the shadow around him expanded, losing its form, at a rapid rate [135 Speed] as tendrils and almost like a fire it flared around up to 15m. His own shadow still racing out (150 speed) towards the at this time the still falling woman following her descent. With the rocks firing now looking to clash with the dragons instead of hitting Seiruna, found the shadows that reach out beyond his normal reach. Spitting out chains from the darkness grabbing and chaining the dragon weakening it's power (-50 Power), the rocks (power 105) clashed and destroyed the dragons as the winds dispersed from even around the now on the ground Seiruna, unharmed but in danger as the shadow was revealed beyond the scope of the expanding shadow now only 5m from her, alongside one last rock trailing behind it, roughly 8m away.

The shadow itself racing and following the combatant should she simply jump back or run or move within its range (50m, Seiruna currently 30m from Shikaka). Still aiming to connect and break the legs of the shinobi, the power would still strain and hurt if she resisted the bones being broken (150 power VS Strength of stat check. If connects, does damage.) Assessing the situation, the battle was stalemated multiple times now, and he knew that the problem of drawn out fights was simply attrition. Knowing his options, the wall behind him proved to be useful should escape was needed. The huge condition for him to aim to leave would be if more space was made by the woman. Should she retreat again before engaging, Shikaka would then adjust his plan accordingly. To prepare for this, he smirked towards the woman wondering what her choice was going to be. Tiger → Hare → Boar were signs formed as the wall behind him had more earth beginning to form outwards blocking one of the sides of the once open ended bridge. The wall (68 Health) would form from the side of the original wall (10m width x 4m height x 2m depth, 68 Speed) leaving only 5m of the bridges' original birth available to walk through. The river below beginning to rage harder due to the wind pressure caused by Seiruna.

Battle Stats:

TWC: 1,553