Show Me What You Can Do

Among a Jounin’s usual activities, overseeing the training area was arguably one of the more boring tasks.  It pretty much involved sitting there, watching other people train and interfere if things got lethal. The point was that things barely ever got lethal.  Most Jounin were clever and matured enough to refrain from going all-out during a sparring match, and the mere presence of Jounin like Kodama overseeing the training fields kept most Genin and Chuunin from putting a toe out of line. If someone ever got genuinely injured, it was usually through a mistake. An overestimation of a techniques power or something of that nature. Just a case of some medical treatment and a wagging finger towards the foolish young shinobi that thought stabbing someone in the stomach with a katana would be a good decision during a sparring match.

Kodama was lying beneath a tree, a straw hat covering most of his upper face. He was watching with half an eye. First few times he was on this assignment, he had taken an interest in seeing the newest generation of shinobi showing what they had in store. But as the years passed, each battle became the same. Spars were supposed to be relatively harmless, which meant that most shinobi limited themselves  to Taijutsu and more basic techniques. He had quickly learned that most noteworthy fights happened outside in the field. So he didn’t bother to pay attention, instead focusing on the book he was reading about herbs found in Kusagakure no Sato. It was one of the places he wanted to visit. It would be a great for his researches…

Another day, another bother to be around such cretins. Oboro, formerly titled Uchiha, would enter the training field with a rather melodramatic expression upon his face. Today would be one dedicated to work. As an Uchiha, his blood compulsed him to master his particular field of ninjutsu, Katon. He was aware that his Bungee Gomu would not allow him to survive every fight he composed himself to enter, and thus he needed a wider toolbox for weapons at his disposal. Katon was the best start for him. In a near future, he would hope to compose a Bungee Gomu technique infused with fire, though this would have to wait.

The Jutsu he was interested in learning today was Fire Release Stream which was essentially a flams breath of great power. He would muster flames from his lungs and devastate the battlefield. Though an enclosed area such as the training field would not be an ideal place to finalize the Jutsu. Though, practicing it in early stages seemed harmless enough. He would not burn everything to the ground, purposely at least.

As soon as he'd entered, he noticed a single individual not participating in any of the fighting. While the remainders around them were indeed adolescents, he seemed to be leisurely enjoying a book as they all sparred amongst themselves. Oboro couldn't help but to feel composed to joining him. He would walk through the sparring field, naturally unscathed, no arrive under a tree with a green haired, masked man reading a book on what seemed to be herbs. "And who might you be?" He asked his fellow Otogakure Nin. A chilled smile curled his lips as he asked the question.

Kodama looked up as the sun was blocked out by an individual. His yellow eyes met a pair of equally yellow ones. A red-haired man had walked up to him, displaying a casual smile while inquiring about the Nebachi’s identity. ”Can’t he see I’m reading?”, Kodama thought, his composure giving no indication of the annoyance he felt. Annoyance was quickly replaced with curiosity, however. He was bored out of his mind. At his current pace, he would be done with his book long before his shift ended, so any opportunity to kill time was a welcome one.

”Nebachi Kodama. How about you?” To be honest, he didn’t really care what the man was called. He only cared about what had motivated him to talk to Kodama. He yawned out loud and wiped a tear from one of his eyes. ”Sorry, that was impolite. Training field duty just does this to me.” He closed the book and tucked it into his shinobi pouch for now.

OOC: Yup, short post.

The man before seemed a bit void of excitement. While seemingly offended at first, he passed on greeting layter, most likely trying to entertain himself with a conversion between the two individuals. He's crimson hair fell between the two as he gazed down, listening for the answer. The sunlight struck his back perfectly blocking the sunlight the the green haired ninja below. Rather than introducing himself, he simply continued the conversation. "I suppose. Though, they are our future you know. I can't help but to look in the crowd of them all and notice potential. Though..." The next part he said to himself in his mind. His face twisted into a frown as he thought, Many of them are noticeable scum . He curled his face back into a smile with closed eyes.

The wind blew, allowing his skin to tingle. His baggy pants ruffled a bit further before he looked back down at the ninja before him. He would perhaps attempt to relieve him of his boredom. Though, he didn't wish any death upon someone such as him: one who radiated potential. No, Oboro would not kill him yet. Fore, they would both grow and perhaps one day fight, the last fights of one of their existence. Though not today. The anticipation was almost too much to handle as Oboro's tongue slowly slid across his lips. "How would you rather spend your time Kodama?

”Keh.. Like these games can draw any of that potential out..”, Kodama thought to himself. He knew better than to voice his opinion, and simply nodded in agreement with the man. ”No one really takes these spars seriously. People use them to hone their skills and develop new jutsu. That’s all really nice, but a ninja’s true potential only shows in life-or-death situations. When a shinobi’s survival is at stake, they can tap into powers far beyond what they’ll ever display here..” The Nebachi had many visions, yet many of them were quite…. controversial in nature. He made it a point never to share them with others unless they revealed themselves to be like-minded individuals. And while it was still too early to say, the disgusted frown on the redhead’s face as he pondered on whatever the finishing statement of that last sentence was supposed to see hinted that perhaps Kodama was dealing with a kindred soul here.

This was getting interesting.

”Me?”, Kodama asked. ”Well, seeing people go at each other makes my fingers itch. I’m afraid I might get rusty so I wouldn’t mind getting in some matches myself. However, none of these kids will pose any challenge…” He was referring to the shinobi currently occupying the training fields. They were mostly Genin and Chuunin. Young ninja that Kodama could easily beat. It wouldn’t be fun, nor productive, to challenge any of them. And he’d only end up looking like a pathetic bully for beating up shinobi inferior in skill. He needed someone who posed a challenge to keep his skills sharp.

”How about you then? You seem to have come here with a purpose. Surely you haven’t traveled all the way to the training field just to make small talk, right?”

How peculiar. A ninja seemingly bored of basic training stood before him. Wasn't that what a shinobi was all about? Ninety percent of their combat is based on simple training, never going all out. Was a fight to the brink of exhaustion what this person craved? Because if it was, then it would be arriving at his doorstep within moments fore, Oboro could not turn down such a challenged. His faced curled, twisting all the previously straight lines. Though only for an instant, his cravings and urges overpowered him once more. He quickly fixed his demeanor into his regular cool self. Once again composed, he nodded his head before extending his cold, pale hand to help the man before him up.

"I accept your challenge friend. Though, you want more than a simple spar. What exactly did you have in mind?" Perhaps a torturous scrap? A fight to the death? A mere pain game? What did this adversary expect from him? What strengths could he use? He simply awaited an answer to his simple question which would etch the future relationship between the two's future endeavors.

Kodama smiled behind his mask. It seemed an interesting opportunity had arrived. But as irony would have it, now that he had found something to relieve him from his boredom, he was ill-prepared. Not having expected to need them today, both his seeds and his Amikiri blades were still at home, meaning he was limited to Ninjutsu and standard shinobi tools. Not that he wasn’t capable of causing massive damage with either of these, as Tenbou, Iwagakure’s Raging Mountain Boar, had recently found out.

”Well, since we are still in the village I doubt the Diamyou would take very kindly to either of us killing the other person..” He used a dry comment to hide a true message; no matter how powerful one was, weak-minded individuals would always be there to halt that persons growth. Especially if those individuals were in a leading position. ”However, there is a reason I’ve been placed on training field duty. While I’m a good combatant, I’m also a medical-nin. Should any of these kids take their fights too far and someone gets seriously injured, I’m able to patch them up and heal their wounds.” He took off his straw hat and left it in the sun beside him. He rose to his feet, meeting the man eye-to-eye. Now that Kodama had his own height as a comparison, he noticed that this individual was quite tall. Over six feet by the looks of it. ”For us, this means that we won’t have to limit ourselves. We can afford to shed some blood.”

He nudged his head towards the training field. ”So what do you think? Feel like showing these kids how real shinobi fight?”

Upon the announcement of their battle, Oboro couldn't help but to feel giddy. In reality, he was one of the newer Jounin in Otogakure. He was also considerably younger and less experienced than many of his peers. Normally, many would be intimidated or even frantic upon unleashing their stunted ability against those with prior training. He had no such worries. Upon the announcement that the two wouldn't limit themselves in combat, he couldn't help but feel excited. He would either lose horribly or triumph. Should he lose horribly, he will have seen the true potential of his foe and would be granted a chance to defeat him once again. Should he win, the gratification was obvious. His tasking training and countless hours leading to this moment would have the slightest bit of confirmation, allowing him to think peacefully. Upon a loss, a colossal amount of rigor would be once again embraced.

A medical ninja... Interesting. Oboro thought to himself. Surely he wasn't capable of operating on himself in the middle of combat. Though, his healing capabilities took away the repercussion of this battle; he would need to be wary of Chakra scalpels. Severing an artery wasn't on the top of his to-do lost for the day. But enough worry about something so trivial such as his health. The first step he needed to take was clearing the lower rank ninja from the field so the two could provide a show. He cleared his throat before letting his voice boom out. "All ninja other than myself and Kodama-san here should clear the field immediately!" While hire voice was loud, it was also still quite soothing in a sense. There was not much protest as he took his place in the sparring field, gazing at the curious eyes around the two. He stood in a normal stance, arms hanging, shoulders aligned with his feet as he waited for Kodama to take his side of the field. What mysteries did this man hold? Oboro's yellow contacts glinted in the sun.

As the man ordered the young shinobi off the field, Kodama quietly walked over to his position opposite from the man. He cracked his neck once and watched the eyes of the onlookers. They were all curious and exited to see what the fuss was all about. For them, this was a good chance to catch a glimpse at the level they themselves were working towards. Who knew? Perhaps this would help them in some way. He looked back at his opponent, who had taken his place as well. ”I still don’t know his name…” Come to think of it, Kodama hadn’t seen this guy around all that much. He probably hadn’t been a Jounin for very long, as he was also quite young. ”Good. His lack of experience might work in my favor, although I can’t afford to underestimate him.” Multiple shinobi were watching them. Being humiliated in front of them would not do.

”I suppose I’ll make the first move, then.”, he thought. Suddenly, his hands dug into his pockets and, in a blurry motion, threw six shuriken into the air before him. This might have surprised his opponent; the shuriken didn’t seem aimed at him… yet. As the shuriken began making their way down again, Kodama began weaving seals at a high pace. ”Let’s see how he handles this… Fuuton: Daitoppa – Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!” Immediately a powerful gale swept across the field, pulling out bits of grass and causing several of the younger, less experienced shinobi to topple over. Most of them had to shield themselves with their arms to be able to see. To the redhead, who was more skilled than most of the spectators and further away from the source of the storm, it would be like facing a heavy gust of wind. Moving towards Kodama would be difficult, weapons shot towards the Nebachi wouldn’t even make it and the redhead himself would need to put in physical effort not to be blown back.

But then the real attack came.

The shuriken had fallen down and were instantly caught in the gale. With the wind in their back, they shot towards the young Jounin, spinning and moving much faster than usual and having twice as much striking power as usual. Worse, Kodama had arranged them so that they covered the maximum possible distance. The distance in between each of them was just too short to move in between them without getting wounded, yet wide enough that dodging to either the left or the right would require a great deal of speed and dexterity.

He was well aware that his attack left him open to a counterattack of a certain element, but he had his hands prepared to weave another set of seals should doing so be necessary.

Stuff Used:

Spoiler:

235/250 chakra remaining
14/20 shuriken remaining

Upon the entrance of the battlefield, his opponent seemed rather confident. As did Oboro himself. The gazes of the children provided no confidence to him, though he knew he would not be embarrassed before the likes of them. He braced himself, ready for any advances his opponent would make, and no time was wasted at all. Almost immediately, his opponent threw out six shuriken. It was clear that these shuriken would not make contact with him at this rate. Three things crossed Oboro's mind within a hundredth of a second. The first was that they were being used to prevent his dodge. The second was that they would be redirected. The third was that the shuriken were enhanced with some type of Fuinjutsu or other Chakra source. There was only one way to find out.

Oboro Uchiha activated his sharingan from beneath his contact lenses, taking a closer look at the shuriken. Visibly, there were no seals on them. They also had no type of Chakra infused within them. It was clear that with this current path, they would not make contact with Oboro. Upon Kodama's beginning of hand signs, his second thought was confirmed. His Chakra was that of a Fuuton user: a source of prey for a Katon user such as Oboro. Upon the completion of his opponents hand seals, a large gust of wind almost caught Oboro off guard. These hand seals were considerably faster than that of a novice. Oboro grinned as the shuriken were surely enough redirected towards him. Avoiding this would be simple enough. He performed the hand seals swiftly before exerting a small fireball diagonally toward his opponents feet. "Katon: Intelligence Hard Work!" This would surely pace things. Though this gave him little time to dodge the shuriken, he sidestep. He managed to dodge five of the six, though due to wasting time performing the jutsu, he was forced to catch one in his palm, cutting a gash in the center. The blood flowed out down his arm. Immediately behind the fireball, Oboro braced himself for performing more signs.

Chakra:

Kodama closely watched his opponent perform hand seals, followed by a small fireball. The fire began consuming the wind on its way to the Nebachi, increasing in size and destructive power as it used Kodama’s jutsu to fuel itself. The roaring orb of fire was large enough that Kodama would not be able to dodge to either the right or left. As a matter of fact, the damn thing pretty much enveloped the entire training field in terms of width. As the sound of fire filled his ears he could see some of the spectators from the sidelines. This fight was likely on a completely different level than what they were used to. And it had only just started. Kodama quickly began weaving seals for his next move.

Kodama had expected this kind of reaction. Fire was the bane of many of Kodama’s jutsu seeing as his clan focused largely on plants, so he was always prepared to counter it. And right now he would counter by retreating to the only sanctum that was safe from the roaring inferno. ”Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu – Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique” As the seals were completed, Kodama began sinking into the ground. The fire just barely passed him overhead, and Kodama was pretty sure he just lost a few hairs. But he had made it in time, and the heat that dominated the training field was replaced with the coolness of earth that Kodama was familiar with by now.

Little time to catch his breath though. Being underground had its own vulnerabilities, and if his enemy also possessed Earth techniques then he was a sitting duck down here. Locating his opponents position above the ground, even if he had moved, he was determined to move before his opponent had realized where he went. As such, he performed a quick hit-and-run tactic that generally seemed to work against most opponents. Smiling, he readied a kunai as he began racing towards his opponent. His hand would quickly emerge beneath the redhead’s feet with a kunai, delivering a quick cut to the ankles before submerging again, all within the blink of an eye. The cut was delivered to the tendon, thus if successful this simple move would prevent the opponent from using that foot anymore, greatly hindering his ability to dodge. Regardless of whether or not the attack hit its mark, he wasn’t going to stick around, and would move on, bursting from the ground once again at an area about ten meters away from the redhead, regardless of where he would move to in order to dodge the attack.

Stuff Used

Spoiler:

220 chakra remaining

As expected, his opponent had a counter for his own counter. As his fireball grew in size, his opponent decreased in visibility, submerging himself into the earth, acting as a creature of the mud. As he submerged himself, the fire exploded, sending flares in every direction. It seemed as if the fire would chase down the hole, though it was smothered towards the end. Should he have been at the hole... He could have attempted to breathe fire down it, though his first few attempts would probably be unsuccessful. When under a bit more pressure he may be able to perfect it. Though, now was not the time.

As soon as his opponent submerged, Oboro immediately made his way for the tree. He focused his Chakra in his feet and ran vertically up the side of it. He rested in a low hanging branch. He flared his Chakra, making sure his opponent was able to sense it at least in the slightest. He grinned as he awaited a head to poke up from the ground. With his sharingan, he could see every slight movement in the ground, telling him where Kodama was at all times. As he approached, a hand shot from the ground, wielding a kunai. Rapidly, Oboro formed the seal of confrontation and attempted to shoot a forest of flames. Though, the result was more like small stream, seeming much more like a C Rank Technique than on of A Rank. He was a bit ashamed of his attempt.

Chakra:
Fire Stream (Fail): -35
Total left: 230

Kodama submerged again in order to dodge the flame, then calmly emerged again about five meters away from where it impacted. It sizzled the grass a little, but otherwise seemed quite ineffective. ”That’s it? C’mon, I’ve seen Genin perform more powerful fire techniques!”, he said chuckling, taunting his opponent in the tree. Was it a taunt to get the redhead to fight better? Or was it a taunt to distract the redhead? A bit of both, actually, for as he spoke his hand had shot into his pouch like the previous move with the shuriken. This time he had retrieved four kunai with paper bombs attached to them. Another hand movement and they were racing towards the tree Oboro was in. Four clunks were audible as the blades bore into the trunk surrounding the branch that the redhead had made into his outpost. One on its left, one on its right, one above it and one below it.

BOOM

The tags took a good part of the tree away, and would leave Oboro with severe burns should he stay on his branch. Nothing Kodama couldn’t heal, but enough to make him forfeit the battle. However, the true purpose of the attack was to draw the redhead into the open. His only option to dodge the explosion was to jump away from the tree and into the air, and it was this moment where he was in the air at gravity’s mercy that Kodama would execute his next attack. A fifth kunai, also with an exolosive tag  would be thrown, but instead of throwing it directly at Oboro it was aimed to pass right by the Jounin…. And explode about two feet behind him. And as cream on the cake two shuriken would come at him from the front, meaning he would have to divert his attention should he want to escape from this ordeal unscathed.

A good message for the novices that were observing the match: you don’t always need large, high-ranking ninjutsu. Sometimes just excellent use of the most basic tools available was enough to give an opponent a hard time.

Stuff Used:

Spoiler:

16/20 kunai remaining (15/20 based on opponent’s actions)
6/10 explosive tags remaining (5/10 based on opponent’s actions)
14/20 shuriken remaining (12 based on opponent’s actions)

His opponent dodged the fire, as expected from the little mole. He seemed to just hop in a hole whenever he saw the slightest flame. He was clearly a ranged fighter though, this put Oboro's mind to ease. Oboro's grin returned to his face as he saw his opponent prepare the paper bombs. Based on the tension in his shoulders, it was clear that he was going to have more projectiles thrown at him, though now was the time to strike back. As his opponent readied an attack for the tree, he launched himself in a forward front flip from the branch. In mid air, while his opponent hands were covered by his back fore he was upside down, he performed two hand seals metaphorically loading his Bungee Gomu. All he needed to do was point and it would fire off. As soon as his body was once again facing Kodama, he pointed at the mans chest. His gum would absorb any projectiles flying immediately behind it, though it left his sides a bit vulnerable.

Should his opponent get touched by the Gum, he would be hindered from moving around like the rabbit he made himself out to be. It was clear that Oboro was physically faster, leading him to think that his taijutsu was slightly more inclined than that of his opponent. He would stick the two together, turning this fight one sided in a heartbeat. If he kept his range his opponent would truly prevail. He simply kept his eyes fixed on his opponent as he attempted to cover the medium range between them.

Kodamas techniques were genuinely beautiful. He used the wind to enhance his ninja tools and immediately was able to cover his tracks. He was able to distance himself from his opponent and use sort of peek-a-boo methods. This was a style that Oboro could respect. Though he himself was more of an all out destruction type rather than sneak attacker, both styles suited each of them. Though he'd not yet revealed his ace in the hole. His ability to manipulate the opponent through Genjutsu. He chuckled to himself.

Chakra:
Bungee Gomu: -15
Sharingan Upkeep: -15
Chakra: 200

The opponent was learning! Rather than waiting for Kodama to be able to complete his attack, he jumped off the tree and took advantage of the brief margin of time in between the Nebachi’s two attacks to perform one of his own. Instead of completing the second phase of his attack, Kodama willingly went on the defensive. What his opponent had just conjured up was quite a unique type of weapon. Kodama had never seen it before. It appeared to be some sort of rubbery mass that could stretch and be used for both offensive and defensive purposes.

If Kodama wanted to win this, he would have to find out more about this weapon. What could it do and what were its limits? How durable was it? The gum seemed capable of absorbing damage, but exactly how much damage could it take before it would be destroyed? Was it capable of regenerating if cut or ripped? ”I could base one of my new plants around it..”, Kodama thought. If only he had his plants with him, this battle would have gone much differently. Then again, he couldn’t rely on his clan techniques for every single battle. Having a match like this, in which he was limited to Ninjutsu, Bukijutsu and Iryo Ninjutsu, meant honing and further developing skills that were equally important to the Nebachi’s Kekkei Genkai.

Back to the battle: Kodama didn’t go on with the second phase of the attack he had previously planned. Instead he watched the gum being shot towards his chest. He retrieved a singular paper bomb from his pouch and, just as the gum would make contact with his body, jumped out of the way while sticking the paper bomb to the gum’s surface. Landing about five meters away in the blink of an eye, he would wait for the gum to boing back to its owner, and then made the paper bomb attached to the gum explode and observed the damage, or lack thereof, that it would do to the gum and its master.
 
Stuff Used

Spoiler:

5/10 explosive tags remaining

The smallest glint in his opponents eye confirmed his suspicions. For this to be his first spar against a fellow Jounin, Oboro wasn't doing too bad. For a while he almost considered himself sub par simply due to his mastery of few Jutsu. However upon his opponents innate instinct to be forced to reconsider his tactics, well Oboro was keeping up. While relatively this was just a fight, for Oboro this was much more of a test to see if he had the talent to keep up with his peers.

His Gum propelled forward and was on the perfect track. Though, as soon as it would have connected with Kodama, he side stepped while placing an explosive tag on the rubbery surface. Naturally, it stuck indefinitely. Should Oboro choose to continue to propel himself towards it, he would suffer a nasty explosion. That was never his intention. So, his simply dropped the strand and formed the seals to make another Bungee Gomu, shooting his strand to just out of Kodama's reach. He pulled immediately allowing his feet to touch the ground and began charging to Kodama. How would his opponent reach in a close range environment now that the two were nearly four feet apart?

Chakra:
Bungee Gomu: -3.75
Chakra Left: 196.25

So it had come down to close-combat now? His opponent seemed to have a lot of creativity and skill when it came to using the gum, and the speed with which he rocketed towards Kodama would give most opponents difficulty making hand seals in time. Kodama could, as his mastery of Ninjutsu meant he could weave seals at an incredible pace, but he decided against it. If this guy was charging at Kodama, it meant that he was quite confident about his close-combat abilities. The Nebachi was curious on whether or not Oboro could live up to that confidence, or if he was just being cocky.  

Kodama smirked behind his mask. He had kept his distance up until now, trying to figure out his opponent’s fighting style while keeping out of harm’s way himself and pressuring him with ninja tools and elemental Ninjutsu. The redhead had apparently concluded from this that Kodama was weak at close-combat, but none of this was true. While he was currently weakened in this aspect as well considering he did not have his Amikiri blades, his Bukijutsu skills did not just extend to throwing kunai and shuriken at the enemy.

”So then, what shall I use? Chakra scalpel can inflict serious damage, but it won’t do me any good if he’s going to use weapons instead of Taijutsu. Plus I’m having rather a lot of fun, and I don’t want to finish it just yet. So in that case..” His hands shifted into his pouches once more, retrieving two more kunai. This time, however, they weren’t for throwing. ”Not bad. Please entertain me some more!” Dual wielding two kunai, he charged at the location that Oboro was propelled towards by his gum. He would take advantage of any opening he could find; he arrived at the place where Oboro would land right before the redhead would arrive. Instantly he would drop down to his knees and spin, delivering a slash at Oboro’s chest just as he would come to a halt, using the momentum of the gum-enhanced charge to his advantage since it meant the Jounin would need to recover first before mounting an effective counterattack.

As he soared through the air, the wind whistled through his hair, providing a comfortable environment for him to fight in. It almost reminded him of a cool autumn day, sitting in the forest with the cold nipping at his flesh. It was odd that this single fight, this course of adrenaline reminded him of such a peaceful moment. Perhaps fighting was indeed where he felt most at rest. Combat did seem to give him a certain gratification.

Oboro's Sharingan allowed him to perceive his opponents muscle tension brace before he even launched himself forward. With his Gum hugging the ground tightly, Oboro had all of the leverage in the world. His opponent, Kodama, shot forward with two Kunai in hand. He seemed to be making a single effort slash based on all of the weight he put into his lunge. How foolish of him.

Taijutsu was the art of hand to hand combat, though there was no rule against using feet. Immediately before hitting the ground, Oboro pulled the Gum vine with his full strength, pulling his arm back and launching his foot forward. The reach of his leg was obviously much further than that of his opponents arms. As his foot would connect with Kodama's skull, the impact is great, and would send him flying. Oboro then needed a moment to recuperate, but so did his opponent. Instead of falling back, Oboro would instantly make his hand signs and shoot Bungee Gomu at his opponent, attempting to pull him out of the air.

Chakra:
Sharingan Upkeep: -15
Bungee Gomu: -3.75
Total Left: 177.5

Kodama’s eyes widened as he saw his opponent react at the last possible moment. ”Shit!” He was kicked in the skull and sent airborne. That hurt! His opponent had just managed to land a blow on him. But there was no time to be distracted by the pain or dazed by the kick, nor to contemplate what had just gone wrong. He could already see his opponents beginning to make hand seals, and Kodama knew that he had to form some sort of attack himself as he was vulnerable in the air. That’s when he saw two glints of metal before him. He smiled. He let go of both the kunai and began weaving seals just as his opponent was halfway through the ones for his new strand of gum. As the gum shot towards him, Kodama performed a new technique just in time. The very one that started this fight.

”Fuuton: Daitoppa – Wind Release: Great Breakthrough”

Why was he performing the same technique he had earlier? Well, there were several differences between the version he used earlier and the version he currently used. At the start of the battle, both shinobi were at the starting positions of the training field. The distance in between them had been much larger than it was now, so he made his technique bigger and sustained it longer to make sure the shuriken reached the other side. This version, however, was all about speed. A quick gust of wind that 1: Shot the kunai hovering in front of him towards Oboro at a speed that, from this distance, would be incredibly hard to dodge, 2: Would nullify the gum attack by blowing it back towards the user, most likely falling to the ground and being unable to defend its owner from the blades and 3: would be over again in a mere split second, before Oboro could weave new seals for a fire technique to take advantage of the wind. Even if Oboro would choose to cancel his gum technique altogether and wave new seals for the fire technique, he wouldn’t make it in time. Furthermore the kunai were once again at a sizeable distance from one another and aimed to cut Oboro on both flanks. The string of gum was thin, and even if it somehow managed to resist the powerful gust of wind it could not block the kunai and grapple Kodama.

And then Kodama touched the ground again. Both shinobi would only have time for one technique before the Nebachi landed with both feet on the ground. The Oto-nin jumped back five meters and held his guard up, seeing the results his attack would have had.

Stuff Used:

Spoiler:

205 chakra remaining
14/20 kunai remaining

His opponent was obviously one that wasn't particularly keen on wasting time. From the start of their match it was clear that he wished to make a mockery of the hidden Uchiha by finishing him off quickly. That was obviously a foolish observation. He would simply throw his little blades and increase their speed. This technique was pretty overused in the world, or at least that's how Oboro felt. He would not allow it to best him. As his opponent threw the Kunai, he immediately began the seals for his simple gale Jutsu once more, Fuuton: Daitoppa – Wind Release: Great Breakthrough. Based on Oboro's knowledge, this was an extremely basic Fuuton technique used to trip up opponents.

This is where things got spicy. As his opponent threw the kunai, Oboro released his Gomu, allowing it to travel on its own. He thought to himself about how big the risk of doing this would be and simply smiled at the face of danger. Oboro was already in his opponents mind. As Kodama performed the seals for Great Breakthrough, Oboro simultaneously performed them on his own. His sharingan masked, he would simply be making it appear as if he knew the Jutsu. His opponent would likely suspect Oboro was also a Fuuton user.

They both finished seals simultaneously, sending equally powerful winds at each other, canceling out each other's force. While his Bungee Gomu was rendered motionless and would fall so would his opponents Kunai. It wasn't exactly a loss, though it was no gain. However with all this extra air in the sky, Oboro formed the signs of confrontation and gathered Chakra in his throat, soon to blow out a mass of flames as a dragon would.

Chakra:
Fuuton: Daitoppa – Wind Release: Great Breakthrough: -15
Total Left: 170