Clash in the Sky (Ryuko vs Raijin Tow)

continued from here

If Rajin had meant to stop Ryuko from throwing her spear he had waited too long.   She had timed her arrival to be just a step behind Nozomi and by the time the Renegade moved to intercept her she was already in her desired range of 30 meters and had let the projectile fly.

Without an experienced Shinobi at the helm the Colossus air ship wasn’t able to lock  before the legendary weapon would hit it’s target. The supporting fire it unleashed was simply too slow to catch up.  The shuttle she had thrown the Shikenri at didn’t stand a chance as it was torn in half from the tremendous force of the blow.

The Kraken would fare better as the tsunami of water Konami had unleashed struck Gamera straight on his shell with equal force to what the Turtle was exerting from falling and spinning.   It didn’t do any real damage but it was enough to slow the Turtle’s fall down some allowing the Kraken to slip away.

Holding out her free hand that she had used to hurl her spear Ryuko called it back to her hands using the enchantment placed upon it to send it flying back to her as quickly as it had left.  The priestess for her part would have to be blind to not see Rajin coming as he lept into the air propelled by some mysterious and invisible force.  

First he transformed into his sage form members of the nature clan were want to do.  But then unexpectedly at 20 meters away he transformed again taking on the likeness of the legendary Zero tails.   The sight was enough for her to reflexively wrinkle her nose in disgust.   He’d never been exactly what she’d call a looker but now he was downright repulsive.

From the moment she had seen Rajin defect Ryuko had felt that his head was too big for his shoulder width.  If he wasn’t a traitor she would have pretended not to notice that small defect , but that head of his was a real eye-sore.  If nothing should remain between his shoulders there was no doubt she’d feel better.

She’d heard that in her absence he had been moving up in the world, even going so far as to become the Kazekage but until now she’d mostly seen him as the butt of some joke.  After all   She’d seen in person how he’d gotten savaged during the Shinobi world tournament.     According to the latest information from Kumo intelligence he was supposed to be one of the weaker members of the society.

One look was enough to dispel all notions of weakness from this man.  She had no choice but to take him utterly seriously and she activated her own sage mode and kata in response, switching to her trademark ballad of the dragoon fighting style so that she would be able to make the most optimal response to his actions.

She couldn’t rely on old intelligence and would have to figure out his strengths and weaknesses as they were now virtually from scratch.    She  was watching his every move, analzing them with her sharp mind hoping to discern even the smallest chink in his armor she that she might be able to exploit.

The fact that he was wielding some legendary weapons of his own was deeply troubling.    She had thought of the Tengādian that Damian had built for her as the ultimate shield but the Yata mirror that Rajin was using was legendary for granting its wielder nearly perfect invulnerability.   That artifact alone was enough to make him formidable but he was also using the Sword of Totsuka fabled for its unparalleled ability to seal just about anything it could pierce.

Deploying her own wings she ordered her followers to flee the area as she jumped off the shuttle flying towards him as fast as she could while the shuttle flew in the opposite direction towards home.  Taking the tower shield on her left arm she raised  it up and aimed to use it to intercept his oversized sword as close to the hilt as she could manage even as she thrust with her spear towards his center of mass hoping to get at least one lick in on him while she fended off his assault.

A terrific screech rang through the air as the ethereal liquid of the blade clashed against the hard metal of her Heavenly Protector one of the few items in the world capable of repelling the sword thank’s to Ryuko’s chakra enhanced strength allowing her to stand up to the blow.
But it did far more than just push the slash back.  The crystal on the shield sucked up the chakra being used to extend the sword's length returning the blade to its original size.    Immediately Ryuko took the nature energy the shield had sucked up and pumped it into herself to help fuel her sage mode.

“Overcompensating much Defect?” quipped Ryuko referring to Rajin with an insulting slur that had a double meaning.   He was a defector from her village but she was also in a way calling him defective in the head for the actions he had taken.   Willingly challenging the Raikage when you were a missing ninja from her village was sheer folly.   It was nothing personal but she had to make an example out of him.

In his transformed state the man loomed large over her but she was now so close that she could reach out practically and touch him if she wished.  With a feral grin she advanced her shield, sliding it down the sword aiming to come into contact with the chakra itself at which point if she succeeded it would automatically drain the energy from the arm disrupting it and causing the sword it was clutching to drop from the sky at high speed.

Meanwhile as the two ninja moved towards each other to engage, Gamera stopped spinning and floated in the air having taken up position in the airspace that the Kraken had just vacated roughly 20 meters of so behind Rajin.    Popping his head and limbs out of his seal the giant kijuu began weaving a series of quick seals before opening his mouth and unleashing a giant torrent of white hot flames aiming to nail Rajin right in the back while he was busy dealing with Ryuko.


[2]

Battle stuff:

After flying off to meet the enemy in the sky, Raijin still paid mine to the giant turtle left behind. He could hear the destruction of the shuttle, it seemed it was a fight on two fronts. He would have to deal with both. As Ryuko drew trying to block his Extension, using the Fission technique, a second Zero Tails split from behind the original. Facing the giant turtle summon it noticed the slow movements of a jutsu it was preparing. With blinding speed the second Zero Tails only needed to make a single seal. Gamera fired a large fire attack, hoping to blast the beast out of the sky. Zero 2 (Name for keeping up sakes) opened its large jaws and a suction of great power began to suck the entire technique into its mouth. With the quickness of the suction. The Second Zero tails used this chakra to store into the Judgement technique. Using its magnificent speed, the black beast fired the Judgement through its mouth through the air at faster speeds than the Giant turtle could barely see. Blue flames would spread out fast for about 100 meters and it would incinerate the front of Gamera, potentially sending it back to its home world.

And the first Zero Tails continued to press the Raikage interrupting her before she could call her spear back to her hand. And if it did by not also being in its path. Straying to the side in the air while he zoned in on her. The Totsuka Blades powerful extension coupled with the Senjutsu chakra caused more than enough power to bump into the Raikage's shield. Though it seemed to have absorbed some of the chakra from its extension. It didn't stop the initial blow to her very tall shield (which was at S-rank power), which would be enough to send her some pause from the force alone.

The blade began to shrink but with the chakra arms bizarre movement, he struck again at Ryuko's abdomen. The Yata Mirror still raised in front of him, he used the air space to keep in front of Ryuko while flying to get a better view of the battle beside them as well.  Though this was not a one pronged attack, though two hands were occupied with the Yata Mirror and the Totsuka Blade. Two dark black chakra hands immediately sprouted from out of the side of its swordhand and the shield arm.

While two more sprouted from its sides. Now that Ryuko drew near, the arms would catch her off guard. One hand quickly raced out grab and rip the shield out from the Raikage's grasp. The second arm snapped forwards to grab her spears arm. The third moved erratically to grab her wings, the fourth would stretch downwards. The fourths arm, used its flexibility to swerve under Ryuko so that it would strike at her back. All while Yamazu was still racing towards Ryuko. Keeping an even distance immense pressure on her with devastating attacks. He could hear her insults, though he was too consumed by the Zero tails he was for such banter.

-------------------

Raijin 2 Costs: Second State -10 NCP = 37 - 5 = 32/90 NCP
Kata -5
Senjutsu enhancement -5 (Judgement to Power S, A-rank speed)
Passive Intake +15

Fission -30
100/260


Yamazu 2 Costs: Tailed Beast Mode -25
Shadow Arms Upkeep= -5
Inhaling Maw -5
177 - 35 = 142/200


Raijin 1 Costs: Second State -10 NCP = 37 - 5 = 32/90 NCP
Kata -5
Senjutsu enhancement -5 (Shadow Arms to Power S, A-rank speed)
Passive Intake +15

120/260

Yamazu 1 Costs: Tailed Beast Mode -25
Shadow Arms = -5 = 177 - 30 = 147/200


Yamazu's Stats:

Strength: A
Constitution: S (Secondary)
Stamina: S+ (Primary)
Speed: A (Teritary)
Coordination: A
Intelligence: B
Perception: A

OOC ruling regarding the passive intake of Nature Chakra;

-By implanting the Nature Clan Bloodline, Sages are able to passively absorb Nature Chakra, though this is less efficient than the traditional method. It adds 5 points of Senjutsu Chakra per post, regardless of what the Sage is doing.

After careful consideration I believe this rule was written with the intention of representing half of the passive bonus that Nature Clan members receive, and was never intended to be an additional bonus to current Nature Clan members.

With that said, Raijin may only passively intake 10 chakra points per round from Senjutsu Gathering through Sage Mode/Transformation. Reducing his remaining Nature Chakra Pool by 10 points (for the two posts he gained an extra five chakra in). This does not necessarily remove the ability to gain Nature Chakra in other ways not directly related to this ruling.

In regards to the use of Kata in Second State;

Katas are advanced forms of Sage Mode that are only accessible to Perfect Sages.

Since Raijin has the Dragon Kata registered and approved as a Perfect Custom Sage Mode, the implication I believe is that the Kata may be used in the Second State.

Once you have at least one tier's worth of boosts, the Cursed One can access any of the following transformations:

Raijin did unlock one tier’s worth of boosts and therefore does have access to any of the transformations. Since Nature Clan members are unable to reduce the cost of Sage Mode via Exp I believe the intention is to ensure that there isn’t a double cost reduction for using Sage Mode (Since in Nature Clan members Sage Transformation is used in place of Sage Mode, and the different states have different costs.)

However, there was no description of changing states that I could find. In the first post Raijin uses the Full Transformation and in the second post is ooc downgraded to the Second State, with no IC actions to back that up. Meaning that it should still be listed as Full Transformation and the cost should be 20 senjutsu points.

**Edit;

As a further explanation to my first ruling, I wanted to add this information.

the Sage Transformation is used in place of Sage Mode, meaning that the only other changes to the ability is the ability to intake Nature Chakra via remaining still (which combines with the passive intake)

This indicates that a Nature Clan member who utilizes both passive intake (granted from the Nature Clan, giving +10 CP per post) and ‘active’ intake (granted from the rules of Sage Mode) can potentially gain +20 Nature Chakra per post, depending on their IC actions.

Ryuko hadn’t known exactly what to expect when she’d engaged Rajin in his monster form.  She’d just assumed whatever happened next it wasn’t going to be easy.   That maybe it’d make for a good warm up for her upcoming clash with Hakkin.      In any case his extended sword had packed a bit more punch then she had expected pushing her back by a good couple of meters and making it so that her spear thrust narrowly missed as Rajin moved to the side successfully evading being skewered alive.

The queen remained undeterred by the slight push back.  She knew that at least part of the extra force he had mustard against her had come from the sword’s enhanced size.  Now that she’d sucked the chakra out of it the blade was nothing that she couldn’t handle.   Anyone could swing a blade but that didn’t necessarily make them a swordsman.  She could tell by the crude way Rajin had swung his that he was an amature.    

So far he was getting by on pure brute force and the strength of his equipment. It remained to be seen how far that would get him against someone that was equally as strong and equally equipped but could also wield her tools with significantly more skill.  

She hadn’t failed to catch him splitting into two.  She easily deduced by the lack of hand signs coupled with the lack of telltale smoke that what he had produced was no ordinary clone but rather the Fission technique.   How he’d gotten his hands on such a thing was beyond her but she cared more about the effects of the technique itself rather than his history with it.

While she didn’t know the exact ins and outs of the nature clan she had a more than passing familiarity with it  due to her acquaintance with Akame.  She knew that when they transformed like Rajin had they were terribly powerful but like most high performance things it also tended to eat up a lot of energy.    Now that he’d split his reserves in half the question was how much did he have left in the tank?

“Catch me if you can!” She said with a playful laugh as she began flying backwards at full speed while still facing Rajin. Since he was chasing after her she was doing her best to lead him away from his counterpart and her summon.  At the speeds they were both going at they would be hundreds of meters away in seconds.

She easily titled her tower shield to block the blow he had made to her abdomen and instead of fighting the force she used it to help put further distance between the two even if it wasn’t much.  
Simultaneously as she stabbed at his face using the tip of her spear aiming for his now oversized right eye which would be easier to penetrate then his chakra coated skin.    

She was seriously aiming to kill him though brain damage or at least to poke an eye out.  Still even if she couldn’t manage either it would serve as a distraction preventing him from turning to watch the other battle. “Don’t look away.” She cautioned, warning him that she was not an opponent he could afford to let his concentration lapse against if he wanted to remain living.

When he produced more Chakra arms she wasn’t terribly surprised. He’d already made several upon transformation so the fact he could generate more was simply par for the course.  Trying to grab her shield with one of them had been a mistake.    

Strapped to her arm as it was it would have been difficult for him to wrench it away from her considering she currently possessed equal strength to his own at the moment.   Regardless the point was moot since her Shield was built to absorb chakra based attack causing the arm to dissipate on contact as the energy that formed it was instantly drained away.  If only it was so easy to deal with the arms holding his sword and shield she’d have disarmed him in a heartbeat.

The second, third and fourth chakra arms faced no better luck. When they came into contact with the invisible aura Ryuko was projecting around her entire body for one feet, they too dissolved as their chakra was sucked away.  Her Hydra Kata was a powerful tool indeed.

Most would run away upon seeing his full nature clan transformation.  Some might even call her insane for facing him down when he’d transformed into a monstrous kaiju on top of that but Ryuko had a good reason to be confident in her abilities here.  She might not be the literally strongest ninja in Kumogakure but she hadn’t been selected to be Raikage for nothing either.

While he had been trying to attack her with Chakra arms she had not been idol. If he was going to bring reinforcements in the form of splitting himself up two could play at that game.  Channeling chakra into the crystal charm on her that hung off her neck she summoned her familiar Irah onto her back just below her left shoulder blade so that her wings helped to conceal him from view.

Forming seals of his own the Hydra stuck his heads out. One Over Ryuko’s shoulder, one over her arm and one under as they collectively unleashed a torrent of purple gas towards Rajin who was flying straight towards it.  One breath of the stuff was all it would take for the former Kazekage to find himself poisoned.  In the meanwhile Irah was also drawing in Nature energy using the Sage Art: Reptile Technique to feed it to Ryuko to help her maintain her sage mode that much longer.

---

Meanwhile on the other side of the battle field Gamera saw his his own fire breath attack as it began to be sucked in and had a single thought. “Shit”.    The turtle wasn’t as smart as his mistress but he was no fool either.  The village he was in service too had the Mikiri clan so he knew the effects of the Dark release when he saw it.

Reacting as fast as he could, Gamera withdrew all of his limbs into his shell using his trademark Turtle defence style to reinforce it as much as possible, all well trying to fly as far away as he could manage before the blast struck even if it wouldn’t be much.  

As boss summons went he might not be the fastest or the strongest but he might be one of the toughest which served him well in his role as he tanked the return blast of fire with ease, emerging from the raging flames unscathed.

If a direct breath attack wouldn’t work then he’d simply have to try a different approach.  Just because Raijin could absorb ninjutsu didn’t mean he necessarily could do the same with Fuuninjutsu so it was worth a shot.  

Popping his head back out, Gamera performed a single seal causing a 100 meter wide spherical solid barrier of light green flames to instantly form around Zero Two’s position.  The Turtle Kijuu one one side and the Bijuu on the other.

Battle stuff:

Before the giant turtle could recover from the initial blast. Zero Tails two was starting to release that they were in a fruitless endeavor. He was very aware of who his opponent. He couldn't help but feel somewhat overly matched. Though he doubted their chances the moment he saw Nozomi. He smiled as he dropped the Tailed Beast mode, and transformed into the Version 2 mode. As the turtle popped back out of its shell to try and make a handsign. A huge explosion would echo from the Fission clone, the shockwave of power would rocket towards the turtle. Interrupting any such techniques with its impressive speed. The Fission clone would also change into its Second state within the change. Sprouting wings from his back, covered with dark bijuu chakra.

Boosters would form on each of his elbows and ankles as he used his heightened agility to fly forward. The turtle was to slow to avoid him, and he would take advantage. Covering the distance as if he was blur. He would stop 15 meters away from the top of the Gamera. So that the Fission clone would have a downwards position to the boss summon. Raijin would quickly jab his hand out, sending countless of chidori senbon straight down Gameras head. He had seen it defense once and would be fooled by it again. This attack would follow the turtle into his shell even if he managed to see erratic movements of Raijin.

While on the other side Zero 1 was fairing no better. Ryuko seemed to have an answer for all his attacks. There was only one thing to do now. He had to get creative against the Raikage. Hailed as X-rank ninja feared throughout the lands. He knew he had his work cut out for him. With her constant teasing, it was no doubt he had a tsunami at his backside. He had to rely on his ultimate technique. He began to change back into his Second state, the dark skin of the giant Zero tails changed to gray. Akin the dragon scales he had seen on Balerion.

The Yata Mirror was a giant shield of epic proportions, easily able to cover the entire front of the Zero tails if needed. Pausing momentarily the giant bijuu reacted to the attack from Ryuko. Bringing the shield up to meet a physical attack by Ryu and the poison smoke. Using the Yata Mirror he repelled both, the smoke would scatter. But after the repel, he would quickly attack her spear hand with his giant Totsuka blade. Keeping distance between them now that he was aware of the smoke.

-------------------------

Raijin 2 Costs: Second State -10 NCP =  = 17/90 NCP
Senjutsu enhancement -5 (Chidori Senbon to Power S, A-rank speed)
Passive Intake +10

Chidori Senbon - 5
V2 explosion (A-rank power, S-rank Speed)
Raijin Stats:


V2 Form 9/10
Strength: C > B (V2)
Constitution: B > A (V2)
Stamina: A
Speed: B > A (V2)
Coordination: B > A (V2)
Intelligence: C
Perception: A


95/180


Yamazu 2 Costs: Tailed Beast Mode -25
177 - 35 = 142/200


Raijin 1 Costs: Second State -10 NCP  = 17/90 NCP
Kata -5
Passive Intake +10

120/260

Yamazu 1 Costs: Tailed Beast Mode -25
Yata Mirror -25
Shadow Arms -10
87/200


Yamazu's Stats:

Strength: A
Constitution: S (Secondary)
Stamina: S+ (Primary)
Speed: A (Teritary)
Coordination: A
Intelligence: B
Perception: A

The thing about shifting forms from a full tailed beast transformation into version two mode was that it would take at least a couple of seconds to do so at the absolute minimum.  Then he would require another couple seconds to condense his cloak sufficiently in order to form his explosion.

Gamera had started about 20 meters away from the Rajin he was fighting and had been in the process of trying to get further away while being fired on earlier.  The massive Kijuu might not have been the fastest creature in the world but with his vernier jets going at full blast he wasn’t exactly the slowest either.  

One second was all he needed to clear 45 meters.  When you combined that with the initial difference and the fact that Rajin himself had massively shrunk in size only served to make an ever bigger gap between them he was simply outside the range that the shockwave could affect and thus his hand signs would go uninterrupted. His barrier would successfully go up, trapping that Raijin inside of it putting the two at a sort of stalemate since Gamera couldn’t move while the barrier was up.

As would be expected of a jutsu meant to quarantine threats it had high durability, especially since it would immediately incinerate anything that came into physical contact with it such as the many senbon that Rajin had fruitlessly fired into it.


All he had to do now was keep the man trapped inside the barrier until his mistress dealt with Raijin’s other half and could then turn her attention to this one. Since he couldn’t from the spot while it was up he supposed it wouldn’t hurt to try talking.    

“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to Negotiate?” asked Gamera with a weary sigh.  He knew his mistress was looking to make a deal of some kind with the society, the same organization that Rajin was a member of.   As much as Ryuko wanted to kill him for deserting the village it would be harder to conduct talks with their leader Nozomi if she put one of Nozomi’s subordinates to the sword.

Meanwhile The other Rajin had blocked the cloud of poison her summon had spewed.   That said The queen had her doubts about how effective such a thing would be to renegade in his transformed state to begin with, but she still had to commend Irah for trying.

Even as she attacked with her spear and was blocked she decided to keep upping the pressure.  She hadn’t failed to notice that it turned from being almost immaterial to more solid while doing so.  Even if it could block just about any attack  there had to be some kind of limit involved.  A limit she was keen to find.

The mirror returned to its usual semi-transparent state as Rajin moved to take another swipe at her with his oversized blade.  Ryuko who was holding her shield in front of her in a stance reminiscent of a Roman legionary was well positioned to counter and she did just that skilfully executing a shield bash to knock the sword trajectory away before it could come anywhere near her spear arm.

Even while she deflected his sword she was preparing said spear arm for a follow up attempt. Using chakra to coil the muscles in that arm like a spring she thrust again aiming for his center of mass once more.  This was the echo flash technique which would allow her arms to act like a repeating crossbow and unleash a series of four extra follow up trusts in an instant.   The Yata Mirror could block one strike but could it block five in a row?

Battle stuff:

In his Zero Tail form, the main Raijin body had repelled the attacks from the Raikage with his Yata Mirror. Its powerful repel blew Ryuko backwards. Caught off guard by the blow, he seized opportunity and stabbed the Totusuka Blade straight in her chest. The Totsuka Blade was no ordinary blade, able to cut through anything. The tip of the blade exiting her back but he quickly pulled it out. Choosing not to seal her indefinitely into his gourd. But instead choosing to remove the dangerous powers within her. This near lethal blow would knock the Raikage out cold, clinging to her life. She would plummet from the sky, her connection with her summon breaking and it disappearing along with the barrier.

Without a word the barrier broke apart surrounding the Fission clone, looking back it smiled. They had defeated a living legend. Perhaps this would prompt more respect from his future enemies then Ryuko had shown. Though it didn't matter in the long run. Bayushi ended his Tailed Beast Mode, reverting to his Second state form with his wings formed and keeping him in the air. The Fission clone flew back to and merged back with the original. Both becoming one and the Second state still on, with black wings formed on his back. He would have to chalk this up to a win. Having survived he was lucky enough. Raijin would fly off to escape, heading back to the Land of Fang to report his success. Toonami had done enough damage but they had fallen along with Ken. This was a sign.

-------------------------------

[Claiming Win in this ToW by ruling. Exit]