The Valley of Jehoshaphat [Plot Thread]

Honiko had arrived. The Valley of Jehoshaphat was an anomaly in the Lightning Country and the ninja world as a whole. The name was borrowed from a far away land and was closely associated with supernatural events. The thunderstorms that constantly plagued the Takoyaiba Mountain Range were far more intense in the Valley, it was almost as if they were protecting someone or something. In this case it was both. Honiko's purpose in the Valley was three fold: Retrieve a person of value, Retrieve a thing of value, and test the mettle of the world's best and brightest.

The Valley of Jehoshaphat was a major depression in the earth with a village centered towards the bottom. The people who lived there were smallfolk. They toiled in some of the mines underneath the mountain and engaged in sheep farming and a bit of textiles. There was a large stone staircase that led up to the mountains. The monks who dwelt at the monastery that was at the top of the staircase were a secretive people. They were quite powerful but Honiko was confident that Balerion could destroy them on his lonesome. They had never faced the might of a Dragon imbued with the power of Natural Energy and so their Temple and its loot would fall to him. The presence of other shinobi however might complicate things. Luckily, the only way to access the Temple was to go through the village and up the staircase unless one had a particularly formidable and hardy means of flying. The thunderous clouds that raged above were abnormally powerful and if one were keen and knowledgeable regarding the ways of chakra they'd realize the clouds were a divine manifestation. Honiko rode Balerion into town. The dragon unleashed a stream of flame on the innocent bystanders below burning several unlucky civilians into oblivion. The flames caught on and soon the entire town was ablaze. It was a nice signal to draw the incoming forces near. Balerion landed with a crash and spread its wings as wide as possible. Honiko stepped down from its scaly back and touched to the ground but not before whispering something in the creature's ear to which it grunted in response. The town was filled with those who could not defend themselves and thus their natural reaction was to flee from the woman even though she appeared unarmed. The dragon remained still as a swirl of green energy surrounded it. The energy seemed to be building around it as though it were charging up. The dragon excelled a roar of flames that started out a fiery red but transitioned to an ethereal white. The blast reached into the heavens and penetrated the storm cloud dissipating a large portion of it for a moment and revealing the shining sun above. The glow of the sun's rays bathed the town square in a holy light. Then the dragon was gone. Taking off at high speeds and escaping through the hole in the storm it had created as it made its way towards its target: The Temple of the Raiun.

Honiko walked to the town center with a bored and non-chalant swagger. She happened upon the town square's center piece. A large fountain with a statute of Raiun the Lightning Disciple placed in the center. The Nuke-Nin faced the statute and genuflected. She then turned around and looked towards the burnt and destroyed gates of the village giving her an unobstructed view of all who would attempt to enter into the blazing town. Honiko sat on the ledge of the fountain cross-legged and began to meditate. She activated Mind's Eye of the Kagura and began to draw Natural Energy towards her as she prayed and patiently waited for her playthings to arrive. All she needed to do was stall long enough for Balerion to uncover the prize.

Honiko was wearing her typical battle gear. Red and burgundy light leather armour with a pair of crimson thigh and shin guards. The woman's hair was snow white and extremely long, she wrapped and had tied it up in a manner consistent with her avatar. Most notably she wore a ninja headband with prominent horns protruding from it. In the center was the Kanji for Renewal. Honiko was a pale and fearsome looking woman, the burn scars around her eyes and their crimson color of her pupils made her seem like a demon from the pits of hell. Yet there was a calm and focused ethos to the way she conducted herself. Despite the savagery of her actions this was a woman who considered every possible move before making one.

Cursed be the ground, for our sake. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth, for us, for out of the ground we were taken for the dust that we are... and to the dust we shall return.

Honiko was confident they'd know where to find her. She had left quite a path of death and destruction leading up to the Valley. She had left many innocent victims burned and many crops destroyed on her way to her destination. If the coalition wanted to find her all they'd need to do is follow the trail of bodies.


Used:
Mind's Eye of the Kagura
Balerion

Exit Balerion to the Temple of Raiun

As a Chuunin of his village Gin prefers to wear the standard load-out many Shinobi are seen wearing, which is provided by the village's armory. A pair of black combat sandals cover both feet leaving the toes and heel open securing up to his ankles. He wears a pair of common synthetic black pants personally having the bottoms wrapped in white bandage wrap to prevent it dragging or getting snagged. On right his thigh is a blue rectangular holster secured and backed by white tape. Gin wears a black single utility belt tightly secured to his waist. It holds one blue holster on his right side as well as a beige carry pouch around the back side of the belt. His torso is covered by a long sleeve black shirt, the upper sleeves donning the Konoha emblem stitched in red material. Over his shirt is a slate gray colored flak jacket which is zipped up and secure on his body, provided with six scroll holsters across the torso. Choosing to wear a baldric he secures a sheathed Naginata diagonally across his back. On his belt towards the left side he also wore a small tin canteen.

His forehead protector is secured across his forehead, the cloth colored blue and with the steel plating facing forwards showing the Konoha emblem in plain view. Gin is a tall, lean male standing at 6'2 and weighing 175 lbs. He has a broad, moderately toned figure. He has a tan skin tone accompanied with rich hazel eyes and medium length brown hair stopping briefly past midway down his neck and shortly past his forehead. Because of this his forehead protector is partially covered by his hair though not greatly inhibiting identification.

Their long descent into the Lightning Country gave Gin a new view on the landscape. Such high mountains made for an odd location, though the nature of the land will soon be twisted into a bent hellscape. Whatever the treat was, there was plenty of damage done. The sky was red due to the amount of smoke in the air. Can't imagine one person did this...or creature... Out of his own concern for safety his Naginata was already drawn. With the protective sleeve off the blade he held the polearm in place at an angle with his right hand as the length of the shaft naturally rested against his upper shoulder. He just had a feeling they were not going to encounter an intact civilization in the immediate future. He kept his wits about him, though he was certain the others were at least moderately disturbed at what they walked through.

A mere hour of traveling led them to an outskirts of a town which laid in ruin. There was a single, lone woman. Her alabaster skin and white hair was paired with what could only be assumed as battle regiment or a uniform. The tight, flexible clothing paired with light armor. She was at rest before a fountain, legs crossed and at peace with herself as first glance. Despite the town and people in ruin, her presence was unmoved. The Chuunin were in formation, Gin towards the front and to the right almost serving as Kanna's right-hand man as the others were in two rows three. A single gesture was raised as the posse all came to a halt. The warmth of the flames and ambient sound of fire eventually presented itself as soothing to the Chuunin.

Gin would lower his Naginata cautiously until the butt end of the polearm rested on the ground, a subtle sound of damp earth caressing the worn oak base. His bare hand moved up the neck of the Naginata as he held it rather firmly in place, the man having an upright posture. He let off a rather amused impression as he passed a smirk and raised eyebrow finding the scene in odd, wry humor. Certainly this woman was powerful and inside was just as morbid as he to meditate in this atmosphere. It was mocking at its core value. Whoever she was, Gin found her in good tastes. But he did not let that distract him from his work. His expression relaxing he kept both Kanna and the woman in his sights. The Chuunin was ready to spring into combat at any moment. Though as his body prepared for battle, a single clear thought ran through his mind. Isn't there supposed to be support from the other villages?

Honiko could feel the Konoha contingent before they even came into view. Their stamina was puny compared to her's and there was an unmistakable weakness in everything about them. Even their numbers were wrong. She had been told to expect more than one village and yet this was all the world could muster in opposition to her mission. If she wasn't busy meditating she would have laughed in derision. When the group finally came into view and halted, she opened her eyes. The woman stared at Kanna who was the clear leader of the group. She rose from her sitting position and walked away from the fountain. The woman did not seem remarkable in terms of power and Honiko was curious as to why Konoha would send such a sorry squad to address C. She came up with two possibilities.

They either are extremely weak as a result of the Hokage's disappearance or they are deliberately here to sabotage the other villages...

Honiko could think of a few reasons as to why Konoha might believe they could use C's destructive tendencies to their advantage. If Konoha were the only ones who had shown up though then the other villages were in worse shape or did not take the threat she posed seriously. Perhaps a more grand gesture was in order once she completed her task in the Valley. The intrigue amused her and she smirked as she made her way closer to the squad. She stopped ten meters away from them before speaking:

"Rejoice! Rejoice and be glad! Today you witness the first step in the glorious remaking of the world. In the name of God and his divine messengers, I order you to bear witness to the restoration of the world to its natural order"

Honiko was certain that the speech would pique their curiosity. She watched their expressions to see how they'd react before engaging them in combat. Violence was inevitable. There was no point rushing it. The only thing she wanted to know now was who was worthy of joining her cause, who was worthy of returning home battered and bruised to spread the word of her divine crusade, and who was fit for naught but slaughter.

Kotsubo had woken up to the most unusual sight... well, depending on one's perspective on unusual. He took quite the stabbing from the ANBU earlier, which in-front of them are all now lying dead, the ANBU male's head seemed to be chopped cleanly off evidenced next to the body, there wasn't any rough edges of the man's exposed, bloody neck and it looked like a very clean cut. The ANBU woman is drenched in water, which Kotsubo could only assume that in his Bloodrage Mode, used his water jutsu against the woman and then there's the most curious sight of all... the captain ANBU is hanging on a branch that's pierced through his stomach.

It didn't take long for the fishman to put together that he lost his cool for some unknown reason, went into his Bloodrage Mode and brutally killed these guys. He doesn't remember doing it oddly enough, which means these guys really must've ticked off Kotsubo somehow. He could still feel the stab wound against his back from his earlier fight with them before they captured Kotsubo, but it seems the tables turned on them, and Kotsubo doesn't even remember it. "Why can't I remember it? I guess my control isn't that refined as I thought." then again, it is basically a berserk mode that he can willingly go into, despite the benefits of it even he is hesitant to head into it with how easily he can lose his control.

Kotsubo looked to himself to see if he had any blood splattered on him, Kotsubo's skin is a light-blue color, he has small white eyes and has 3 curved markings going down underneath each eye, his dark blue hair is a mix of spiky and messy. He is a 6'2 figure with a rather muscular tone to his body, another thing to note is the gills on his shoulders.

Now onto his clothing, he wears the standard Kirigakure flak jacket which is slate grey. The Flak jacket is very basic in design and has no pockets. The most notable features of the flak jacket are the extended shoulder guards and lower extensions on either side to protect the lower abdomen. This flak jacket is fastened from the sides by straps, on the back of the flak jacket is the Hoshigaki's clan symbol which is 3 red gills pointed down in a pattern-like matter. Underneath the Flak Jacket Kotsubo wears a darker grey long-sleeved shirt. For his lower body, Kotsubo wears dark-greyed long pants which fits in color with his long-sleeved shirt, leading down to be tucked in to the top of his slate grey sandals.

There's a bit of blood on the fishman's blade however, and especially on his flak jacket, at this point however he didn't see much point in sticking around. It also just hit him that the smell of burning had touched upon his sense of smell, directing his attention towards a village he can see in the distance, which he could see clear smoke in the distance. "Oh fuck, don't tell me... did I destroy a town as well?" Kotsubo wouldn't put it past himself to do that in his Bloodrage mode, but if Nozomi and Yomi were having the time of their lives already by doing it, he might as well join in.

He started to make his way towards the village well enough, his wounds were there but his pain tolerance was high enough to deal with it for now, he would get it checked out later. Kotsubo started to jump across from tree to tree and finally land onto the top of a non-burnt building. He saw about eight ninja in the middle of the town, he slightly just peeked at their headbands to know that they're Leaf Ninja. "The leaf is here? why didn't a party go and attack them like they did to me?" then again, they have the numbers. If Kumo did send a party after them, looks like they had the numbers to win it.

Kotsubo's attention shifted to the white-skinned woman who started her speech, after hearing it he could put together well enough that she's the reason for the villages burning state. "So it wasn't me, alright... what's up with her anyway? she's either a really albino ninja... or something really new." Kotsubo is a literal hybrid between a fish and a human, so he wouldn't be surprised to hear there are other clans out there that alters their body in unique, pecuilar ways.

Yomi had been running through the forest for a while now and without having a definitive point of orientation, she had gotten lost quite a few times. Despite her own intelligence there was one thing she wasn't exactly great at: finding her way without a map and without any guide, that much was abundantly clear when she ended up at the shore of the lake again, yet this time on the other side of it, not far from the temple. "Oh for Frack's sake," The woman sighed when slapping her left hand against her face. Well, at least from where she was standing she could probably guess where that big shadow had gone to, given she just had to think in a wider scope when it came to the current directions. "And where the hell has Nozomi gone off too, I swear this place is pissing me off more and more every damn passing moment."

Gathering her bearings again, the chuunin made her way through the forest again until she managed to reach some sort of clearing, settling herself to take a breather and decide upon her next course of action. She had to admit that the girl was rather right when it came to her curiosity. That looming shadow they had both witnessed passing over them was at the very least interesting enough to investigate, certainly now that they had managed to find the directions towards and the location of the village hidden in the clouds, chasing this new thing was without a doubt the most fun thing to do.

At the clearing, Yomi started checking her gear for certainty's sake, making sure that none of the water was left, as she wasn't willing to risk getting elecftrocuted again. Her armor, cloak and pants seemed fine and save for a few scratches her gloves and boots were in good nick, she had lost none of her weapons except for that one round of six senbon she had shot off before, but all in all she still had all of her gear and her attire was still fine enough.

"Well, better check up on this shadow rushing towards Kumogakure, hope I'm not late for the party," The chuunin combed her hands through her hair and used a small elastic band to tie her black locks into a short high ponytail. When she had done that, she jumped up into the nearest trees and started to make her way again. Looking at the sun above, she realized quite some time had passed since they'd lost Kotsubo to this strange ANBU squad which had managed to split them up.

She thought she was dreaming when she noticed the familiar shape of her commander in the distance, yet rather than react or give a shout, she simply continued on her way towards the place where her gut told her the action would be. Eventually, she finally reached the place where more than just her commander seemed to be drawn to.

Right as she arrived, the chuunin instantly heard the incessant ramblings of some sort of zealous maniac, which was extremely off-putting. Who would've guessed she'd be running into some sort of religious extremist. Slapping her hand against her face again, Yomi let out a deep sigh when looking at the strange, white haired, pale woman or rather girl...wondering why someone who looked no older than perhaps Nozomi would be spouting out such religious sounding crap. "Really...It's one disaster and disappointment after another."

Pointing a finger at the white haired shinobi, Yomi glared at the stranger while her chakra formed a small globule of water at the tip of her outstretched finger. With cold eyes , she fired off the small globule, aimed at the white haired stranger's head."Oh, just shut up, will you?!"

Chakra: 115/120

technique used:

In the brief silence following the squad's arrival the meditating woman was disturbed from her tranquility, her eyes opening at the standing presence of the Konoha Shinobi. With her eyes open she decided to approach the weary squad of Chuunin. Her pace was nonchalant covering space between the Chuunin and herself. Gin was unmoved by her decision, though prepared for it in case a fight ensued. With his right hand already choked up the shaft of his Naginata he simply placed other hand loosely towards the opposite end. His stance was still casual, though he would be able to response with a full combat stance if a fight broke out. As the pale skinned woman ceased the presence of two more Shinobi would arrive, Gin darting his eyes to generalize their appearances. One was a clear Shinobi from Kirigakure, a large man with the features of a shark. He wore the standard flak jacket provided by Kirigkure's military, armed with his standard tools and sword. Here comes the power... Gin smirked at the sight of Kotsubo.

Gin's eyes shifted back to the pale woman just before Yomi appeared. His eyes glanced back at the olive skinned woman to admire her form. He could not resist the figure of the woman. Stunningly gorgeous, athletic, and armed with a unique set of gear that could not be anything less than a custom crafted set, whether it was made by someone else, passed down by friend or family, or made herself. The pale woman began her uproar which snapped Gin out of his daydreaming on the Kiri kunoichi forcing him to shift his gaze back to the primary antagonist. Remaking of the world?... Natural world order?... The Chuunin's attention was grabbed out of sheer curiosity. What exactly did she mean? Gin felt it would be best to be the first to ask a question before somebody said or did something to provoke her. Without hesitation the man would speak clearly through the crackling embers and roaring flames that engulfed the town.

"And what is this natura-" His dialogue cut short as the Kirigakure kunoichi spoke out, her voice agitated as she performed a familiar water gun technique known by himself. The Chuunin clenched his teeth blaring the side of his mouth, moderately annoying and disappointed by her actions. He made a mental note not to try and speak out of turn around that kunoichi, as it seemed to provoke her to attack. Perhaps it was the subject? Nonetheless, he rose his Naginata's base off the ground and held it into a solid stance with one leg forward, the glaive leading his body as the blade pointed towards Honiko. He poured every bit of available focus on the woman's actions unaware of what she was totally capable of.

Two more insects entered the area to play. The Konoha ninja readied their weapons as their leader made it clear they weren't here for a chat.

Sorry. We aren't here for God, his messengers, or their desire to restore a 'natural order', as you call it."

"Then you're here to die" Honiko said with a wry smile.

The fellow armed with the Naginata started to speak up when a Kiri shinobi arrived and rudely interrupted with an attack. Apparently Honiko was boring the woman with her proselytizing and she sought action without inquiring who Honiko was or why she was there. It was ironic that the people with the most stake in her current operations were not present. The presence of the fish-man and the woman's use of Suiton caused Honiko to presume that Kirigakure was now in attendance.  Konohagakure and Kirigakure had answered the call so to speak but Kumo had played hooky. [i">Incompetent cowards Honiko reasoned.

Right as the water bullet was halfway towards its destination, Honiko made a single seal and exhaled five fireballs shaped like dragon's heads. The blazing attack differed from normal casting in that as they moved towards their enemies they changed their color from a fiery red to an eerie white. Two headed towards Halycon, another came at Gin, a third at Kanna, and the last towards Kotsubo. Honiko unsealed a pair of tomahawks and gripped one in each hand. She took a few steps at first before breaking into a brisk sprint at her top speed aiming to close the gap between herself and her opponents. She'd throw the first tomahawk at Kanna aiming for wherever she chose to dodge the fireball. The second tomahawk would be twirled to increase the force and momentum of her next strike. She entered close quarters with Gin and aimed a blow at his temple. If successful the blade would blind him in his left eye by cutting out the organ altogether. These two were the leaders of the rest of the Konoha contingent. If she felled them early the rest would scatter like children yet if they held fast and managed to survive the initial encounter then she would have to be a bit more...broad in her focus.

Stats:
Speed: B
Coordination: B

Used:
Fire Release: Dragon Flame Release Song Technique - B Rank

Chakra Remaining: ???

Kotsubo was hearing the religious speakings of what the white-haired woman is saying, but he just simply dismissed it off as her being pretentious, to him she's just a psychopath latched onto a reason to justify killing. He wasn't exactly morally better in that department, but he's guessing this woman's got a few more screws loose in her head than Kotsubo does. He oddly likes her for it. "Heh, why do I always fall for the crazy ones?" she's a beast in appearance just like Kotsubo, but alas... he's getting the feeling that after today, if she survives she'll be an international criminal, no need to associate himself with a lost cause.

Soon enough, the buzzkill of Kirigakure decided to finally come along, noticing Yomi in the distance and already decided to jump the action by shooting concentrated water from her finger towards the pale woman. Kotsubo just sighed in response. "Of course she would do that, how did I half-expect that to happen?" he was exaggerating on the last part, but with the attitude he's gotten from Yomi when they arrived in the Land of Lightning, he should've expected she wouldn't just sit around like that.

It didn't take long for the pale woman to retaliate to Yomi's water jutsu however, as she launched a series of dragon fireballs towards specific shinobi of the entire group that's in attendance, he quickly saw that one of them headed Kotsubo's way, thanks to his speed being comparable to the fireball itself, he jumped out just in time before the fire dragon would hit him. "Out of all the ninja in attendance, and I'm one of the few she tried to hit? I'm flattered." he thought, quickly getting back up on his feet and jumping on one of the near rooftops to observe the action. He wanted to try and judge how powerful she really is before he would jump into the action himself, and started watching just at the moment she's about to get in close quarters with Gin.

Yomi watched calmly as her water bullet soared through the air towards the white haired woman, yet when the stranger reacted to it by letting out a large amount of chakra in the form of a technique utilizing some sort of strangely formed fireballs, the Kirigakure chuunin could only grin. Yes, this was what she had been looking for: a challenge, someone worthy of fighting and even if this one turned out to be some sort of crazed, religiously fanatic lunatic, it was still in many ways better than facing sneaky shinobi from kumogakure.

Seeing as two of the fireballs were headed into her direction, the chuunin took the smartest choice. Her speed was not her forte and she wasn't going to waste her chakra too much without knowing more about this assailant. So her option was simply to drop down in order to avoid the incoming fireballs, thus even if they'd set ablaze the branches upon which she was standing, she'd be safe and sound at the bottom of the tree. "So she utilizes the Fire nature, interesting," The chuunin would whisper to herself when remaining hidden behind the tree upon which branches she'd been standing on earlier.

From her position, she could easily take a peak at what was going on after she'd jumped down and so far, it did not disappoint. The stranger had gotten some weapons out of nowhere, so most likely fuuinjutsu was in play as well, which was a good thing to keep in mind. The chuunin did pity the konoha-nin though, fearing that if they didn't act accordingly, they'd probably be slaughtered with relative ease. Kotsubo on the other hand...she didn't really care about, despite the fact he was the only one of their team being captured in their earlier mission, she still did not doubt he'd be taken down so easily by a random fireball, the man was still a proud kirigakure jounin, so he wouldn't allow himself more than one disgrace in such a short period of time.

For now, her best bet was to observe, rather than to attack blindly and without sufficient information on this strange opponent. Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable moment for the chuunin. Now hiding her presence to the best of her ability, the woman waited for her chance to gain some more information and more importantly, to use it as she saw fit.

Chakra: 115/120

Silence is Golden active 1/3

Kanna observes as the female acts out in rebuttal to the incoming Water Release technique, courtesy of the hothead standing on a tree. As the hand seal is formed, she snaps her attention in the direction of the squad of Chuunin that came along with her. "Spread out!" She remarks, relaxing her fingers from the half-hand seal formation she'd done just in case.

One by one, the other Chuunin among the squad leap away in various directions. Kanna is no exception, either. She's quick to leap up off of the ground as soon as the hand seal is formed, prompting her to hopefully narrowly avoid the dragon-head shaped attack that's aimed at her upon its release, among the others. The woman spins the bo-staff out before her after she's ascended off of the earth, keeping her eyes on Honiko for the time being. With little mercy to spare, what follows the fireballs are...

Projectiles? Tomahawks in specific.

Upon the tomahawk's approach towards her, the ravenous-haired woman promptly swings her wielding arm in a quick, horizontal arc, knocking the tomahawk away from her. As quick as she's used the Bo-Staff, Kanna promptly shoves it into place upon her back, pressing it between her frame and the sash securing the large scroll upon her figure. As things stood, having a coordinated offense would be difficult if the squad that came with her was mostly for ranged attack.

They'd probably be more useful with the dragon... but leaving them without guidance from an actual leader would be something costly. Her attention snapped to Gin for a moment, as though she was contemplating it, but ultimately she shakes her head, forming half of the Tiger hand seal and flaring up chakra within her core. As soon as she hits the ground, she lowers her center of balance and primes her attention back on Honiko as the woman advances him.

"We'll see who dies!" The masked woman remarks in retort, before speeding toward Honiko while she's alerted to her initial position by her voice. In one fell swoop, Kanna's attempting to capitalize upon that by zooming from there to close contact with Honiko, using that linear burst of movement to position herself directly behind her--halting the full range of motion of the Body Flicker Technique.

The spring mechanism within her sleeve is put to good use, and in a spout of momentum, a kunai fires out from within the confines of her clothing, just in time for her to grab it. She swivels upon her feet and slashes in a diagonal arc, attempting to slash Honiko's back open, from her right hip to her left shoulder.

Code:

Stats:
Speed: C -> B during Body Flicker
Coordination: B

Techniques Used:
Body Flicker Technique - 77/80
Strong Fist - 74/80

Unfortunately for the party, the lack of diplomacy led to immediate confrontation. Gin bared his teeth in frustration and annoyance. The white skinned woman responded with not anger, but a sense of pleasure as a wry smile grew on her face. She was not a psychopath by any means. That much was true. She was pursuing a goal. Kanna was sharp enough to order the group to stagger their formation. From the enemy's mouth came a volley of rather large, dragon-shaped missiles of fire. They appeared to be fire before they shifted to a pale white as the colorless missiles wisp towards their intended targets. Gin pounced to his right side to avoid his attack. He felt the warmth of the flames just pass over his legs as he narrowly dodged the Ninjutsu. "Too close." He muttered to himself tumbling back onto his feet with his Naginata held in a guard position. The assailant did not hesitate to take advantage of their temporary disorder.

As Gin recovered from his tumble he caught the sight of a small tomahawk whirl its way towards the Konoha crowd through his peripheral vision. His eyes were primarily focused on the battle-ready maiden blitzing him at high speeds with another tomahawk in her off-hand. He had little time to admire the obscure weapon choice. He did not consider himself a professional with weaponry, though was aware the tomahawk was mainly a tool and served as a weapon as an auxiliary purpose. The blade head was small, though assuming one is nimble enough with weaponry it could prove to be a loyal weapon. His polearm ready for combat he would prepare for contact. As Honiko prepared her arm to strike Gin focused on footwork. The mere size of the Naginata provided a somewhat passive defense. Minimal movement was required to parry or block a strike unlike a kunai which was less forgiving for mistakes.

When the swing followed through Gin managed to take a pace back as his arms moved in conjunction to guide the Naginata into defense. He wanted to clear space to ensure he could still utilize the effective range of his polearm. If successful both weapons would mingle, the shaft of the Naginata meeting that of the tomahawk's just below the blade head. Having both arms to aide in his block and leverage granted by the polearm he was rather secure in his position. This enticed the male to enforce a counter-attack. With little effort he twisted the wooden pole of the Naginata. The smooth surface would easily roll against that of the tomahawk's. The bladed edge of the Naginata would turn a one-eighty to face Honiko, the change happening so subtle and so fast one may not even acknowledge the edge alignment in the first place.

From the block he would bring the polearm back down diagonally. The execution from his professional training as a weapon specialist would be flawless being able to deliver a dire wound on its own. If successful the blade would slice into the collar bone and down to the top of her breast. He would stop the stroke to sustain a solid guard. His polearm would naturally finish its strike with the point waiting mid abdomen. If she made any attempt to try to close the distance between them she would inevitably run herself through. Of course Gin would try to pursue that naturally after his diagonal cut, a hit or miss. Leading with his right foot he would take another step forward to drive the Naginata's blade through her torso. The path the blade would take would be in effort to puncture part of her heart. Although not a total strike having damaged the heart would cause death in the sort term due to poor regulation of the circulatory system.

Instead of wringing the blade from her body as a follow-through, Gin would keep her steady in place. He would have some form of manipulation over her as long as his blade stayed earthed deep in her body. He would try to keep her occupied as long as he could while his teammates surely tried their best to support their comrade.

The Goods:

Kanna was no slouch and had wisely instructed her group to scatter just as Honiko's assault began. Each of her targets had evaded her initial attacks although the Konohagakure shinobi were more intent on counter-attacking it seemed. Let's see how you deal with this then! Honiko maintained her Mind's Eye of the Kagura allowing her to sense the presence of every person in the area including Yomi given the vast difference between the girl's own skill and the complexity of the sensing technique. As Honiko danced with Gin, Kanna aimed to slash her from behind. Just as the woman closed in however there would be a shift in Honiko's back as though something were moving beneath the very flesh that Kanna sought to open. Right before the kunai made contact with Honiko's skin, a large white snake would burst from her lower back and through the light armour. The scaly reptile was unatural in color, this along with its golden eyes ringed with purple might intimidate a lesser mind. The snake opened its mouth and attempted to grab Kanna's arm with impressive strength. If successful it would sink its venomous fangs into her skin hoping to inject a paralysis agent into her bloodstream and prevent her from moving.  Failing that, it would still manage to block the kunai and hopefully coil the length of its body around the woman's arm. Its general presence and function was to keep the ragdoll at bay while Honiko toyed with the Naginata wielding lieutenant.

The man's skill in weaponry was immediately apparent as he used no more or less effort in deflecting the tomahawk than was necessary. Honiko's own experience and skill in bukijutsu taught her that his next followup would probably be to cleave her in two. The moment that his polearm made contact with her tomahawk four snakes would burst through the arm holding her weapon. The snakes slithered around his polearm each of them biting and holding it in place with impressive strength before he could use it to harm her. Honiko would watch Gin's reaction to the sudden mutation curious to see how easy it would be to scare the Konoha-Nin.

Now between the two Konoha shinobi Honiko believed it was time to kick it up a notch. A pair of snakes would slither from her sides and burst out of the light armour before tying themselves in a knot essentially forming an obi around her waist. The snakes glowed ominously as they gathered natural energy to themselves while Honiko remained physically active. While the snakes restrained Gin's weapon, Honiko would summon another tomahawk into her free hand and throw it directly into his chest at point blank range while the other hand yanked hoping to pull him forward and relieve him of his weapon. The goal being to disarm him and bring him closer to the tomahawk that was aimed towards his chest cavity. Honiko was acutely aware of the other Konoha shinobi standing around either  too afraid to intervene or unwilling to take offensive action without a clear word from their boss. The Kiri ninja were standing around as well. The loudmouth who had interrupted her was pathetically trying to hide behind a tree.

Tch...

The snakes on her arm would slither out of her body completely after the tomahawk was thrown at Gin. The snakes would travel down the polearm and bite his arms and hands. They needn't travel far to reach their target assuming he was still holding the weapon, if not then they'd merely leap the few feet necessary to wrap themselves around his neck for a quick series of bites. The result of a successful bite would be full body paralysis. Honiko used the sudden display of her snake abilities to her advantage by shifting the momentum of the fight back into her favor. The woman spun around and the snake that had attacked Kanna whipped around extending to its true length of 6 feet as she focused chakra into her fist and released it with the pinpoint accuracy and precision of an Ijutsu specialist. The moment that Honiko's fist struck the ground a massive earthquake would be generated. The vibrations of the attack alone would rattle bones and disorient those in the area. The actual impact was sufficient to crack, splinter, and crater the ground itself as the force exploded outwards. If successful both Gin and Kanna would find themselves blown back and off their feet 15 meters as the ground itself shook under the power of Honiko's Chakra Enhanced Strength. The impact would then rapidly spread throwing the entire Konoha army off its balance and onto the ground. The shock-wave would reach the tree that Yomi was hiding behind, likely knocking her down and sending the arborescent structure careening downwards to crush her to death. The building that Kotsubo was standing on would rock, groan, and finally crumple under its own weight. The beams supporting the structure had already been weakened by the surrounding fires and when it collapsed in on itself it'd threaten to send Kotsubo plummeting to a nasty fall capable of breaking both of his legs.

Being at the epicenter of this destruction Honiko would be relatively safe. She stood up straight and bit her thumb as she scanned the surroundings for any further signs of resistance.


Honiko's Stats
Strength: A
Coordination: B

Snake's Stats:
Strength: C
Coordination: B


Used:
Mind's Eye of the Kagura
Hidden Shadow Snake Hands
Chakra Enhanced Strength Version Two

Chakra Remaining: ???

Bayushi Sojima was actually enjoying a day off from the tasks and life of Genin. It was hard and boring. The duties of being a ninja were much more minimal than he had originally thought. His clan had a dark past and it was best to stray away from the path of a Ninja because it was sure to trigger the curse. But had not shown signs of becoming a monster or having any of the effects of Nature chakra.

Perhaps he was different. Which made him want to be a Shinobi in the first place. But now he was finding it mundane. Maybe there wasn't much excitement into being a ninja. Thats was when he heard and felt it. There was a large explosion that rocked the ground. It was unnatural and Kumogakure didn't get earth quakes this far up.

Something made that. He ran as fast as he could to find out the madness of that blast. Running to the source he could people scattering away from the area. There was smoke and a large crater that looked to be freshly created. In the middle the smoke was trying to clear and he was able to catch a glimpse...was it a woman? Very pale skin. But whomever this was. He felt the intent of death off of her. What was going? He kept his distance almost 50 meters away. He was beginning to see other Shinobi around. They were already battling her. What was she doing here?

Kotsubo just watched the entire battle that was unfolding between the Konoha ninja with the man with the naginta taking on the pale woman's tomahawks, interesting choice of weaponry... he wouldn't expect to find people so skilled in different forms of weaponry if he stayed in Kirigakure most of his life, he doesn't regret this mission at all. He's right at where the action is... that is, once he decides to actually join in on it. It seems that somehow snakes got into the mix of this battle as well, much to his surprise. "This woman's a real freak, I think I'm in love." he jestingly said, realising soon after that her concentrated strength slammed upon the ground causing a quake among her assailants.

He thought it only affected their area at first, but it didn't take long for him to realise the crumbling building he's on top of as a result of the quake, thankfully he noticed in time and quickly jumped off the top of the building and landed on the ground which resulted in him rolling, quickly getting back on his two feet just in time before the entire building collapse, though he nearly went off-balance from the remnants of the quake but he kept it together. He started to grasp how dangerous this woman really is now. "I should start taking this seriously, before our help get killed off." but he was planning to play this smart.

After initiating the right handseal, a shadow clone popped right next to Kotsubo. They waited for the quake to calm down and as soon as it did, the real Kotsubo merely sat by the ruins meanwhile the clone of Kotsubo started to rush into the thick of the battle, the clone quickly unsheathed his Shinobigatana and when the clone got in range about 20 meters from Honiko, activated the Secret Sword: Moonlight which left an afterimage of where the clone Kotsubo just was, and in a few mere seconds appeared about 5 meters behind Honiko.

Kotsubo knew about the snake that was behind Honiko and was focused on Kanna, but believed the Konoha ninja would be competent enough to take on one snake, resulting in Kotsubo continuing his assault, following a seal, two shadow clones of Kotsubo, one on each side of the first Kotsubo clone appeared with both of their swords drawn. They all started to aim straight for Honiko with sword slashes, as the clone on the right went for an attack from Honiko's back to the right, with the other side clone attacking from the left in a similar matter, but the middle shadow clone had leapt into the air and went aimed directly for Honiko's back with the sword in front, clearly aiming for a stab.

The Stuff:

It was interesting to keep watch on how the situation was unfolding, with the stranger attacking the two konoha shinobi with an insurmountable display of skill and general savagery, but the chuunin had not forgotten that she as well was part of this current mess and even though she did enjoy watching the two get overwhelmed by this immensely impressive adversary, she could not allow this stranger to outright win with ease, because after all...if the konoha shinobi were gone, she'd have to handle it with a lot less back up than she'd have at this point.

Curious as to what the 'other' Kirigakure shinobi present was up to, Yomi's attention momentarily drifted off to where she last saw Kotsubo and to her amusement, it seemed that he had decided to join in on the action. Though she had no idea that it was a clone from the distance between them, Yomi was still glad that perhaps the jounin wasn't at all as bad as she first believed him to be. Maybe he wasn't the brightest fellow on the block, but perhaps he might've been at the very least more reliable than some other kirigakure jounin. "Well, we can't be left out, now can...what?!"

The chuunin got shaken to her core when she felt the immense surge of chakra within the stranger. The snakes were interesting, but the surge of chakra was just too intense, as even someone not actually using any sensory could feel how the earth trembled in response to the woman's rise in power. Intrigued, but also for the first time actually mortified by such a display, it took Yomi at the very least an instant to regain her bearings and have her curiosity and sheer delight trump her instinctive desire for preservation of self.

In response to this rapid rise of power, the chuunin pressed her thumbs upon her shoulders, flooding her body with chakra to invigorate her own strength, followed by the inherent flow of chakra coming from her personal Jigoku no Ken taijutsu fighting style, raising her own physical strength to what she believed to be near equal to that of the stranger and as such, when the tree she was hiding behind got cracked up, rather than stay in her position, the kirigakure Chuunin finally entered the fray and jumped forward to rush towards Honiko. "Do entertain me some more, will ya?!"

When noticing that Kotsubo went for a hit onto the stranger, She launched herself at a momentary blast of incredible speed towards the seemingly unbeatable stranger with the intent to use that very moment of confusion and split attention, slamming her wrists together and cocking her arms slightly backwards, with the intent of slamming her hands forward together upon Honiko's chest, so far this was Yomi's strongest taijutsu technique and since she couldn't use it against people like Nozomi, this was a perfect moment to see what it could truly do.

Chakra+techs:

The short quarrel between Honiko and Gin was a very eye-opening experience. He had little attention to divide between the other Shinobi around him and the antagonist. To his grotesque surprise he had front row seats to the circus as snakes began sprouting out of the woman's clothing like daisies. First was from her back to intercept Kanna, which triggered a series of snakes from her sleeve to entangle the man's polearm. He was no coward to reptiles, but these are no ordinary snakes. And he could confidently assume they were poisonous, meant for combat, and controlled by the user. All reasons to avoid. He would fight back, tugging with body arms to try and free his Naginata. To his surprise it didn't even budge, as if the weapon itself was stuck in concrete. He had no choice but to disengage and leave his weapon begin, though he had no intent on leaving the weapon in good condition.

One hand would relieve itself from the Naginata as it formed four hand signs, the last one ending in Tiger. His other hand would slide down the polearm maintaining slight control as he backed up. As fast as Gin operated, it was just impossible to get the upper-hand on the girl. She was obviously highly skilled and more experienced than he was. With simple deftness another tomahawk would manifest in the girl's hand. In a short moment's notice she hurled the ax towards the Chuunin, Gin not having much time or flexibility to properly remedy this. Stepping to the side just slightly the face of the tomahawk would cleave through the leather shoulder padding on the green flak jacket he wore. Despite being the most dense portion of the jacket next to the neck guard the ax easily buried itself into the flesh of his front shoulder, the shaft of the ax being vertical with his body.

Of course he would sacrifice himself to return a counter attack of his own. With his face winced in pain, struggle, and effort he would spit a small marble-sized pebble of fire as it made contact with his end of the polearm just as the snakes began climbing their way down. The result would be a fast-moving trail of fire climbing up the shaft, which was several feet in entirety, though assuming the snakes made themselves halfway down would have them become the new cording for the fire, and this would inevitably lead back to Honiko to set her ablaze. It was in that moment of retreat that his captain, Kanna, had already called a retreat, moving back herself. It was the flawlessness of teamwork that allowed the Konoha Shinobi to share a similar mind. With Kanna and Gin already making distance the fire technique would execute.

Whether the snakes left their host in the pinch of time, or if they even somewhat managed to ditch the Naginata before the flames touched them, it would result in a large combustion as a five-meter diameter of fire would erupt from the area. This flames would linger a surprisingly short while instead of settling. Its intention was to cook whatever was caught rather than scorch them. This would result in melted stone, and a non-existent Naginata as it was consumed by the inferno. As the light show went on Gin would continue to skip back to regroup with the rest of the Chuunin in their squad and Kanna. Being a fourteen meters from Honiko he would wait stationary keeping an eye on the flames. The swelling pain of the tomahawk would start to become more apparent as his nervous system made it quite obvious there was an ax in his body. Trickles of blood running down his chest made the experience all less amusing.

There was still the ongoing threat of Honiko attempting to cause an uproar with the environment using her superhuman strength. In the events she intended to follow through with the fissure Gin would find himself leaping into the air much like Kanna to avoid the upturning earth. Despite not even touching the ground he felt the shockwave created by her punch, most certainly in the ax wound in his shoulder as the tomahawk vibrated causing the man to wince again as the unbearable swelling pain continued. He would touch base on a solid, upturned piece of earth instead of his leg sinking into one of the cracks. He would wait on one knee reaching towards the tomahawk grabbing it by its handle and removing the spade from his body tossing it aside carelessly as it tumbled across the ruined landscape. He would take a second to observe and recover as the Kirigakure Shinobi executed their action.

In the brief silence, if any, he bared witness to a series of black threads which made themselves out of Kanna's body. He was almost alarmed at the unnatural tendrils. They were certainly something he was not aware Kanna possessed. Gin thought they were some sort of parasite implanted by Honiko during their scuffle, though they seemed passive and under her control as they urged to draw in two Konoha Shinobi rather than mutilate them. With all the weird shit he had witnessed in the past minute he did not beg to question or act amused in the heat of the moment. All questions would be answered in the future. His primary goal was to live long enough to intrigue those questions.

Gin tuned into Kanna's observations. They were obvious, though it was helpful to have them repeated for the sake of hearing them. Fire, snakes, axes, and superhuman strength. Not getting close would probably be for the best. I guess that means... Reaching into his collar he retrieved a small, wood-carved amulet holding it in his grasp. With a solid tug the black lace around his neck would snap allowing the charm to be held freely in his hand without distance limitations from his neck. He would watch the conflict unfold before him before making any decisions.

The Goods:

Honiko gave a slight upturn of the corner of her mouth when the tomahawk connected with the Chuunin's shoulder. "You're out of your league" she whispered less to him specifically and more to herself. The look he had in his eyes and the sudden molding of his chakra however tipped her off that he had no intention of fleeing without attempting to cause some serious damage of his own. Undeterred by the ferocity of the encounter and the surprising snake morphology she had displayed, Gin managed to get off a series of seal before following his leader into retreat. Kanna was smart enough to throw the kunai rather than go in for the slash as she had planned earlier. The projectile was easily blocked by the prehensile reptile who hissed loudly warning Honiko of the incoming sweep. She couldn't see the girl operating behind her but the swirling breeze, Mind's Eye of the Kagura, and her immense knowledge of various fighting styles informed her of what she was dealing with. Honiko responded in kind shifting her feet and leaping into the air to avoid the sweep kick with the grace and speed reminiscent of Kanna's own style. Rather than followup however she fled biding her allies to do the same. The snake stretched out to its full length and aimed to bite her neck but she narrowly escaped its snapping jaws. By this point, a line of flame would be traveling up the Naginata. It was Gin's last ditch fire attack and it threatened to consume her. The teamwork of the Konoha shinobi was impressive albeit annoying. The sudden Leaf Gale along with Gin's Fire Style had left her with very little options in the way of maneuverability.

It's time then...  

The snakes that had tied themselves around the weapon were burnt and just as the flames threatened to incinerate her, she sent a pulse of chakra around her body to preemptively heal the damage that was certain to occur. But just moments before the explosion were to take place, the snakes that had formed Honiko's obi released a wave of Natural Energy before drawing it into their summoner's body. The act coincided with the explosion of Gin's Katon leaving a smoldering pillar of fire right where the terrorist stood. Honiko's physical endurance was heightened to superhuman levels as she tanked the agony of the full blast while she was rapidly healed by Yin Healing Wound Destruction. When Honiko landed from her vertical jump to dodge the Leaf Gale she'd execute the CES Version Two strike as planned setting the same events in motion although with a lot more smoke, fire, and general displeasure due to the fact that she had been lit ablaze.

Honiko was given less than ample time to admire the handiwork of her crater and the resulting environmental damage as the Kiri-Nin had realized their predicament and set upon her. As they advanced, both Yomi and Kotsubo would probably notice that the pale woman had grown a shade...paler. The burn scars around her eyes had grown black and stretched into streaks that covered parts of her cheeks and forehead. The woman's white hair had grown an ethereal blue glow with strands lifted in the air. Those with proper discernment would notice several ghostly blue snakes emanating from her back in addition to the very corporeal one attached to her lower back. Her crimson irises had become yellow and her previously amused demeanor had grown to something resembling pissed-offed-ness. A wise and sagely student of the archaic ninja arts would recognize this as Sage Mode. To the unlearned troglodytes bumrushing her it would likely appear as just a new powerful form. The last remnants of burn damage would heal up just in time for Round 2 to begin. In the moments of reflection left to her, Honiko found it interesting the group of Kiri and Konoha ninja were attacking in waves. Their actions didn't appear to be pre-planned but they played off of each other well. Perhaps they did have a chance of surviving what was to come. She had noticed the arrival of two relatively weak lads via her sensory capabilities and her enhanced perception. They were wise to not join the fray although inaction would not spare them from judgment once she had dealt with the more impetuous.

Her enhanced chakra sensing and perception abilities told her that the Kiri-Nin were on the move at a pace far exceeding what the Konoha shinobi were presently capable of. Kotsubo had opted to attack with a sea of clones aiming for her back where as Yomi went for a direct attack. Kotsubo arrived first by a fraction of a second, as he closed in the blue snakes that guarded Honiko went to work. The snakes would be invisible to those who could not sense or see natural energy which would make their strike almost certainly unanticipated by the shark man. Three snakes would lash out in total each aiming for the chest of their respective clone. The corporeal and visible white snake would mop up any that had miraculously dodged the attack by snapping the clone(s)' neck off. The helpers allowed Honiko to focus all of her energy on the rapidly advancing Yomi whose arrival would be near concurrent with Kotsubo's. The woman's attack was painfully straightforward and well within the tracking abilities of the Perfect Snake Sage. Honiko reached out with her own hands using equal celerity and grace to grab at the woman's wrists before they made contact with her chest.

?!

Honiko realized a moment too late that the woman was attacking with the force of a freight train. For a moment, Yomi would see something approaching fear in the Sage's eyes once they made contact.  Seeing and responding to the movement was child's play but the strength behind the attack exceeded her own and thus she was unable to fully prevent the woman's hands from penetrating her chest cavity. The full force of the blow was lessened by Honiko holding back Yomi's full might. The result was Honiko being pushed back a solid five meters despite digging her heels in and using her hopefully by now free snake tail (due to the dispersed Kotsubo clones) to act as an anchor to prevent her from skidding further back or losing her balance. Yomi's charge and contact with Honiko's body had created a small shockwave that shook the epicenter of the crater they were standing in. Honiko didn't have to look down to see that her chest was covered in blood, she could feel it soaking her armor.  She gripped Yomi's wrists and squeezed.

"役に立たない雌犬! Your life is mine now!"

Now that she was likely holding Yomi in place, Honiko's invisible snakes reached out and aimed to strike her in the stomach multiple times hoping to wind and batter the woman to her knees. Honiko's leg would raise up for a powerful front kick aimed at sending her to the other side of the crater. Simultaneously, a sea of snakes would erupt from Honiko's mouth. They were pure white just like the one that functioned as her tail. If the kick was successful they'd stretch out and aim to grab her bringing her right back to Honiko kind of like a yo-yo returning to its owner after being flung away. This would end in Honiko swallowing the snakes and then shoving her right fist into the woman's own chest hoping to break twice as many ribs as Yomi had managed to break. A powerful left would follow aiming to send Yomi into the ground with a completely shattered chest. The combo would leave Yomi at Honiko's feet in pretty bad shape. To cap it off, the coup de grace would manifest in the form of a tomahawk summoned into the Sage's left hand and then delivered to the center of the Kiri-Nin's skull.

Stats:
Strength: C -> B+ (Perfect Snake Sage Mode + Strong Fist)
Constitution: C -> B  (Perfect Snake Mode)
Stamina: S
Speed: B -> A (Perfect Snake Sage Mode)
Coordination: B -> A++ (Perfect Snake Mode + Strong Fist)
Intelligence: B
Perception: A-> S (Perfect Snake Sage Mode)


Used:
Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes
Perfect Snake Sage Mode
Snake Kata
Strong Fist
Mind's Eye of Kagura
Yin Healing Wound Destruction

There seemed to be amazing effort to finally deal a decisive blow against this foe. However she was terrorizing all their efforts to attack her. Bayushi was angered greatly that he was next to useless against a foe like this. For it seemed there was another level that she could tap into that was familiar to him. After dodging blows that most others would have connected with, she began to glow and a form began to take over her. Her skin becoming more paler, almost like...Sage Mode! This was different from the beast that lived inside himself. This was much different, a more pure form and ultimately more dangerous.

This was what it was to be outclassed. Even his own clan he had never seen anyone with that control of volatile Senjutsu chakra. What were they facing? He was almost frozen with fear and remained astute not to get in the way. This was obviously a battle for goliaths and goliaths. But Bayushi stood ready to preform if he needed to. There was no way he could hope to damage an enemy, but distractions go a long way.

"Wha-" despite the numbered Kotsubo clone assault on Honiko's back, it seemed like an invisible force had viciously attacked all the three clones and forced them to disappear in a cloud of smoke. Kotsubo had no idea what was defending Honiko but he knew that Yomi isn't going to deal well in close-quarters against an opponent that has some form of invisible force defending them in close quarters. Kotsubo who's currently hiding behind the ruins still uses a handseal to summon another shadow clone with nearly the same amount of chakra from the first clone the first time but with more juice this time.

The shadow clone moved from the opposite side of where the ruins is, and started to prepare a combo of handseals for his next technique, suddenly a monstrous amount of water had started to expelled from the clones mouth and already started to take shape of raging tides that already made it's way towards the battle, aimed straight for Honiko in the mix with Kotsubo disregarding Yomi's condition, he knew the water might hurt her but she's hopefully alive enough to capitalise on the massive, raging water that's headed straight for Honiko, Yomi is a Kiri ninja after all. Kotsubo saw that the Konoha ninja had made their distance, so he wasn't particularly worried about them.

The clone had jumped upon the waves, as if he was spearheading the water's wrath itself at the front of it. If Honiko were to be submerged into the water somehow, Kotsubo would slam his palms together before crouching down on top of the wave which would become a small lake, dipping in all five of his fingers which started to form five water sharks formed out of the water underwater, with all five water sharks launching straight for Honiko at a fast speed, in the hopes of overpowering or getting her focus, since the sharks won't be easily defeated as they can be regenerated fast by the surrounding water.

The Stuff:

Yomi's feeling of superiority was shortlived, a mere blink in the ever fleeting time, she had seen the transformation and though at first she brushed it off as but a mere tool to scare the lesser shinobi around, the fact that Kotsubo or rather to Yomi's suprise his clones got cut down nearly instantly by some unseen force made the chuunin think twice. Alas for her, she could not stop her own momentum and refrained from holding back alltogether, because if she could get a clean hit with her Crashing Chrysantemum technique, chances were high that the opponent would be at the very least feeling sore in the morning. However, this stranger yet again managed to surprise the chuunin with an impressive might and speed which the Kiri-nin could only barely match by burning through loads of her own chakra reserves.

The blow connected, She could feel it, as the energy in her hands found its way to the target. There was no doubt about it, Yomi had without a doubt hurt the target significantly, probably the first true damage delivered to this rather overwhelmingly powerful opponent. Yet, as she unleahsed her most powerful taijutsu technique currently in her arsenal, the white-haired stranger managed to grab a hold of her wrists and somehow firmly planted herself to avoid being knocked back alltogether.

Despite her greater strength, Yomi could still feel the strong grip on her wrists as the woman started to squeeze, the chuunin's gloves started to tighten slightly.

"役に立たない雌犬! Your life is mine now!"

"Urgh, seems like it..." The Chuunin grinned as she looked at her hands, the woman had her grabbed tightly around the wrists, but she was still capable of moving her hands. No matter what the woman would do, this would come in handy. So Yomi was already preparing herself for a counter, her mind rushing through a multitude of scenarios, yet Yomi had not expected what was about to happen, as she could feel some invisible force batter at her gut a few times in repitition, forcing the Kiri-nin to cough up some blood as despite her armor, it seemed she had taken some serious internal damage by this invisible assault. Slowly, she started to hunch slightly forward, but refrained from buckling through her legs through shere will and determination, wheezing as she tried to hold her head high to glare at the woman with a grin or her face, but an untamed ferocity deep within her eyes. "You should've done better...you bitch."

Showing her bloody teeth in a widefaced grin, Until she got kicked away with a pretty powerful kick by the woman, launching the chuunin to the edge of the crater, where she could feel that at least three of her ribs had cracked and that breathing alone was already an ardeous task. This was really a shitty moment in her career as a shinobi, but the woman was apparently not yet done with her, as snakes came out of her mouth and raced towards the chuunin at a rapid pace. "You got to be kidding me..."

Placing her hands together, the chuunin accepted the grab upon her by the snakes, yet with that same defiant grin still plastered on her face, her eyes cought up to what Kotsubo was doing in the background. Yes, if she couldn't take out this stranger on her own, she sure as hell would have her pay dearly for the chuunin's life. "Such power..." When she stood there practically meekly, with the stranger swallowing her snakes and cocking back her arm to deliver what was no doubt a mighty swing towards Yomi's already badly injured gut and torso, the chuunin could feel her chakra reverberate within her and let out a soft, slightly ragged chuckle. "You're still too weak."

Her feet slid across the ground ever so slightly, with her own right hand raising upwards to swat aside the incoming fist with a no doubt astonishing feet of coordination, while from a standstill position, she aimed to hit the stranger's chin with a straight upwards scissor kick, with which she hoped to not only distract, but also stun her opponent for even the shortest amount of time, so she could swiftly try to knock back the stranger and break her guard with a flurry of tigerclawed palmstrikes towards the opponent's practically equally injured torso. The aim was simple, drive off the agressor and force her into the path of Kotsubo's incomming torrent of water.

Yomi was steeling herself for the possibility that she could die in this battle, so she was increasingly becoming more focused on becoming the bait for this woman to concentrate all her wrath upon. However, there would be no easy victory, that was after all the chuunin's priority, so sell her hide at a high cost, being forced to move through sheer will and determination bred into her by simply being a Kiri-nin, the shinobi that never quit, never without marking an opponent with tooth and nail.

Chakra+techs: