No One Is Safe [graded]

[Ace Trainer]

There had been countless hours spent in this arena up to this point, Kozan very often trained in the very arena he now stood. He was adorn in his standard attire, standing on the dirt in the arena, just 5m or so off from the easternmost point in the circular arena, weak lights illuminating the dome. The 80m arena was silent, not a single sound coming from it as the 6th Sword of the Seven Swordsmen Mist stood, waiting.

He'd been here recently, having fought the 7th sword Mondai and beaten into him. The victory had been decisive, if not brutal, unsurprising given the gap Kozan had created between himself and Mondai. This fight was no different. In truth, Kozan had wanted to challenge the 5th sword, Kaguya, Hitachi first. But the word had been that a dagger, Karagata, Nozomi had wanted to make that challenge and Kozan had been instructed to 'leave him for her' which would normally raise questions. Kozan, however, was not the question asking type and would simply do as he was told. Instead, his challenge had been issued to the next - Muramasa, Hisayo, which is why the fight would not be much different. As a jounin now, Kozan not only outranked Hisayo, but no objective observer would assess her to be stronger than him. Perhaps with the assistance of Kayako she would stand a chance, but it was unlikely.

The challenge had been issued by scroll, one of the Swordsmen’s birds delivering the challenge to Hisayo. Since then, Kozan had came directly to the arena and here he stood, waiting for the swordsman to arrive. He hadn’t alerted anyone else, though he was sure his peers and superiors would catch wind of it - or at a minimum hear their clash and would show up. But he cared not for anything except the challenge.

His bright yellow eyes stared forward unwaivering, his mind empty as he waited. Whenever Hisayo arrived, Kozan was ready. She would get to make the first move.

[Sia]

It had been a rather quiet week so far and Hisayo and Kayoko had been minding much of their own business save for helping to train a prospective new team of Genin. That had been going rather well actually and other than the small hiccup of the post getting lost in the mail somehow things had been going rather smoothly the two of them thought.

The messenger bird arrived and Kayoko read it off to Hisayo.

"Hm."

"How foolish." Said Kayoko in response.

Before setting out for the day, Hisayo and Kayoko met up with Hisayo's assistant and went over the tasks for the day. Before wrapping things up, Hisayo made a slight alteration to the evening's plans.

"Hm, okay...Cancel dinner with the Greinka's....and see if the doctor isn't available."

"The doctor?"

"Yes, I have a feeling I may be in need of his services later."

Kayoko laughed, but Hisayo wasn't joking.

Later, the two of them had finally made their way to the designated arena where Kozan waited. Hisayo saw him first but Kayoko spoke first, "You've got some guts kid, I'll give you that." Hisayo reached out and grabbed Kayoko's hand, lifting her firmly off of the ground as the chakra rifled out of Kayoko's body and she began to transform into a rather sizeable claymore, her limbs melting and sliding and folding together as her body became black with red lines running along its length as Hisayo opened her senses and stared at Kozan with a rather bored looking expression upon her face.

"Ignite, Kayoko."

Those were the only two words Hisayo had spoken since they had left the house that morning.

As her senses opened Hisayo's eyes widened very visibly and her body began to twitch rather erratically as she held Kayoko the two meter long claymore parallel to the ground for a moment about level with her shoulder. After a moment however she changed her posture entirely, relaxing, and her breathing began to slow as she took in the quiet world around her. Kayoko's bladed form began to visibly glow with chakra.



Hisayo Used

[Skitter Step • Senses Open Variance]
C-Ranked Taijutsu Stance
The main jutsu of the Skitter Step, Senses Open does exactly what the name states. The user takes a moment to focus their bodies, then releases it. While in this stance, the users sensory input is increased, allowing them to receive more information quickly. This stance will remain in effect until deactivated by [Stop]. Practitioners of this technique will find themselves fidgeting and constantly moving, which can make it difficult for them to use this style while on stealth missions.

Kayoko Used
@ 2 meters 1 control for speed of change
Doton: Claymore
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
After channeling, Kayako will change her body into that of a claymore sword over the course of a post, up to 15 meters long with a 20 centimeter guard, her core being the handle, covered in a thin layer of stone. This will last until she changes shape through another jutsu.

[Ace Trainer]

Kozan watched carefully as Hisayo arrived, his gaze locked onto her the moment she was visible, and silently and unwaiveringly following her every move. This fight would move him up a rank within the swordsmen to the 4th sword, just a single fight away from being in the upper half of the group. The fight was important, a testament to his duty to Kirigakure. However, he'd been given a new upgrade, and new instructions for this fight which would make it a much more interesting battle than the fight he had with Mondai. It was hard to argue Hisayo was a challenge for Kozan, who's growth was unprecedented and difficult to contend with given the unnatural ways in which he developed. The instructions seemed to want to put this to the test:

'Win. But do not modify any of your attributes. Do not overpower her. You may not perform beyond her ability physically.'

To an extent, Kozan had been instructed to play with his food.

As a predator, this was not a far fetched instruction, and small modifications had been made to the lower parts of Kozan's brain to empower this process, encourage a more...long-winded approach, and decrease his logical thinking in favor of even further predatoral mindset.

Kayoko would transform before Kozan and almost instantly the black covering over his chest and arms would surge to life, the weapon forming into a claymore the exact size of Kayoko. He would flourish with it as well, his eyes remained locked onto Hisayo as he settled with the now giant claymore he held opposite of her. They were positioned roughly 35m apart from each other, Kozan coming off the wall slightly to put it about 10meters behind him. The fight with Mondai had taught him he needed to provide more room to escape to himself...but this fight would be quite different anyways. For a brief moment, silence would hang between the two (or three of them) neither seemingly want to mark off when the fight would begin. Kozan's eyes would scan her up and down, and then Kozan gave a clear signal that the battle had began...his lips spread into a smile.

[Sia]

The young Muramasa held the other in her hand and she listened carefully, closing her eyes for a moment and she began to smile as well. "You haven't discarded your body." She said finally, noting his mortality. "I can still hear your heartbeat." As Hisayo spoke Kayoko's bladed form ignited, katon spewing itself very lightly along the length of the claymore's blade. Hisayo's left foot moved forwards and gently glided across the ground in an inwards and then outwards circular motion that suggested she did it very intentionally as she stepped into position.

Her shoulders relaxed but both elbows went up and the firmness of her wrists snapped into position and Kayoko was oriented very briefly in front of Hisayo but then afterwards Hisayo's left hand was in the lead with Kayoko wielded in the back hand, her right.

As Kayoko's bladed form began to extend into three meters in length Hisayo began lazily walking towards Kozan and dragging Kayoko against the floor, causing the floor to catch on fire behind her as she walked with the blade behind her and her open hand somewhat raised upwards with her palm to the sky. She neared the center of the arena, walking towards it rather slowly while keeping an eye on Kozan and keeping the blade tip of Kayoko in her peripheral vision at all times, closely monitoring Kayoko's flame output as well and adjusting it slightly within her field of view as the flames began to extend outwards from the guard of the blade, sending more and more flames around the arena as Kayoko began to glow red hot as the flames encircled her entire bladed form.

She swung Kayoko at Kozan's feet from his left at a downwards angle from her back shoulder and encouraged the flames to set the area around him on fire. "Perhaps this will be a lesson for us both then."

Kayoko Used

@ 3 meters 2 control for speed of change
Doton: Claymore
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
After channeling, Kayako will change her body into that of a claymore sword over the course of a post, up to 15 meters long with a 20 centimeter guard, her core being the handle, covered in a thin layer of stone. This will last until she changes shape through another jutsu.

@ 0.5 Meters 2 Control
Katon: Torched
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
After channeling, Kayoko will set herself on fire, causing flames to ebb off of her for up to 3 posts up to [15] meters away in a direction of her choice, striking out with up to her [control] strength and speed if she so desires.

[Ace Trainer]

Kozan allowed Hisayo to approach, his eyes locked onto her as the flames spread behind her in his perephery. She was closing off exits, this would quickly become a physical battle at this rate. Taking a slow, deep breath, he'd allow his fear sense to expand out, radiating a sudden aura of killer intent towards the girl that approached him. As quickly as he did her fear will fill his brain and like heroin for a junky it activated every nerve in his body, releasing adrenaline into his muscles and filling him brain. He would close his eyes for a moment, focusing on nothing but the fear radiating from her as it inched closer. When she was only 10 meters from him, his eyes would flash open and he would burst into movement.

Hisayo had spread flames in every direction behind her, effectively cutting the size of the arena in half, but Kozan wasn't worried about that. He was confident he could manage her in close quarters just as well. If she wanted to go to blows, he'd give her exactly that. However, Kozan's normal tactic of disarming his opponent would not work here. Even if he disarmed Kayako from Hisayo, the girl would simply return to his sister or cousin or whatever the hell they were. No. He would need to neutralize Hisayo while managing against Kayako. This would not be easy. As he lurched forward, he'd reach into hsi weaponry pouch and pull out a single kunai with his free hand.

Quickly and without hesitation, Kozan bolted forward, as he closed in he would toss the kunai towards Hisayo's right side, and would follow by swinging his own giant claymore at Hisayo. The swing of the sword came downward from the ground up across her torso and towards her right shoulder. The spacing between the kunai and claymore would give a window that if Hisayo continued moving left, she'd move between them both, but if she stopped to block the blow she'd be struck with each. A simple but sensible trap.

[Sia]

Twitching as she did whenever she used Skitter Step Hisayo adjusted Kayoko in her hand and instinctually shifted slightly backwards from him and planted hard onto her left foot as her body weight shifted so violently in a different direction for the riposte. All of her weight went to her left leg then back to both sides as she pulled Kayoko in with her right arm and she brought the tip of the blade level with where she estimated his right lung. Hisayo took her step back as the Katon that engulfed Kayoko spread outwards, the cone fanning out from its half meter into a full meter, Hisayo had to be careful not to torch her other hand now, or her knees. Her eyes locked onto the projectile and as she left foot dug into the ground she very purposefully took it to her forehead.

Hisayo tilted her body whist Kayoko lengthened hers, attempting to merely poke into Kozan's chest with the mere act of lengthening herself. Kayoko would perform the jutsu very slowly while Hisayo herself moved very quickly, the result was an illusion where it was incredibly difficult to keep track of exactly how long Kayoko was at any given time, so, when it came to stabbing specifically, it was a fool's game to try to predict. Even Hisayo with all of her intellect couldn't accurately judge exactly when Kayoko would choose to change length but the two of them had done it enough to know when it was acceptable to kill a target via doing so versus merely poking them playfully, so, in this instance, that's what they would do.

Hisayo moved quickly to position the bladed Kayoko form so that when it extended it would either pierce all the way through Kozan's body directly, or merely poke him gently and stab him like a pencil would, albeit playfully. The choice was Kayoko's after all, not Hisayo's, how she would choose to transform and how quickly, and when.

Kayoko increased the length of her blade edge by a meter in the same moment that Hisayo thrust forwards, causing the range of her riposte to extend very suddenly, erratically, and abruptly so as to attempt and skewer into Kozan's right chest area, all the wile the flames surrounding her bladed form would encircle her and push outwards violently. The blade was a bit off course from the momentum of her slash however and instead she wound up smacking the flat side of Kayoko into the side of Kozan's sword, spreading katon immediately as Hisayo began taking a step back to reposition.


@ 4 meters 3 control
Doton: Claymore
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
After channeling, Kayako will change her body into that of a claymore sword over the course of a post, up to 15 meters long with a 20 centimeter guard, her core being the handle, covered in a thin layer of stone. This will last until she changes shape through another jutsu.

[Ace Trainer]

Kozan's two-pronged attack came to a surprising response. Hisayo would dodge out of the way of the claymore, and rather than taking the window between the two strikes that Kozan tried to lead her through, she instead would instead take the kunai to her head as she allowed flames to spray forward at Kozan. It was a narrow situation which gave little time to Kozan to actually respond. But as the flames sprayed him he would find they were virtually harmless, doing little more than burning away some body hair due to the relatively weak control it was being cast with. His claymore, now in the air above them, would be quickly and swung back downwards and Hisayo took a rather unusual motion to try and deceive his senses.

The truthseeker was not unlike Kayako, given they could both change form and shape. How appropriate. Kozan would do nothing to move out the way, instead allowing his weapon to slam into Kayako with [35 Strength], stepping to the side as it did and seizing the truthseeker with his other hand to try and bury her blade tip into the ground, the floor of the arena cracking under the strength of Kozan and Hisayo exchanging blows. With his free hand he would channel chakra and whip his elbow, a tendril jumping from his forearm and quickly stretching towards Hisayo with the intention of wrapping around her body. Perhaps he would be able to end this quickly.

SpoilerShow

[Simple Tendril]
D-rank Nintaijutsu
[Close Quarters Combat]
Channeling chakra into either arm, Kozan will force the Samsara on his radius and ulna to rip through his forearm, creating a single tendril up to [Control]m in length. Kozan can control this like a prehensile tail, and has his [Speed] and [Strength].

[Sia]

As their weapons met Hisayo felt the impact Kozan had applied. Kicking things off with a bang then. The impact from the weapons rocked the room in an odd sort of way.


As chakra surged through Kayoko's bladed form Hisayo took a half step back an dug her heel into the ground. When Kozan applied pressure Kayoko's bladed form broke almost immediately and a fireball engulfed her just the same. It spread out quickly and horribly, shooting out in practically every direction in front of Hisayo, the shortened blade moved upwards as the flames spread and Hisayo attempted to burn and stab into Kozan's head all in one swift motion.


Kayoko began channeling again whilst the flames around her spread wide and far, eventually growing to a full thirty meters very quickly in practically every direction outwards from the handleguard. Hisayo wielded the sun in her hands, a great thirty meter radius of flames scorched an incredibly large chunk of the room beginning at Hisayo's hand, Kozan would surely have to back away from her now.


Kayoko used @ 32 control

Katon: Torched
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
After channeling, Kayoko will set herself on fire, causing flames to ebb off of her for up to 6 posts up to [30] meters away in a direction of her choice, striking out with up to her [control] strength and speed if she so desires.

[Ace Trainer]

It was a single instance of having to make a decision. Kozan could feel the pressure relieving from Kayako as her bladed form broke and he was left to decide. Whatever the counter attack was he could eat it to execute his next attack on Hisayo, or he could throw himself out of the way to dodge the attack. Dodging seemed like the safer option on paper, but with Kayako's flames already filling the arena Kozan would only be giving her more time to set up. He couldn't give her more time. A fight that should have been relatively easy had suddenly had high stakes when Kozan imposed limitations on himself. This was a good learning experience.

So he would eat the attack.

Hisayo would surge forward with the blade as flames erupted from it and Kozan would move with his free hand to strike at Hisayo's arm, bobbing the rest of his upper body out of the way to dodge the attack. Flames would engulf Kozan, as the tendril continued forward to wrap around Hisayo's body. Her insistence on the attack would leave her exposed, and Kozan would capitalize on this allowing the tendril to wrap her torso and then around her shoulder in an attempt to force the arm upwards. As this was happening, flames would begin to burn Kozan's body, but he would take a step forward, his body glowing from chakra being channeled, and in his already off-centered position ram his shoulders into Hisayo's stomach, attempting to lift her in combination with his physical strength and the tendril and them slam her body into the ground. By tackling her, he expected he'd protect himself from further harm from the flames unless Hisayo too wanted to be burned.

As he finished channeling Hisayo would find a fuuinjutsu forming on her stomach if uninterrupted, paralyzing her in place. Now just Kayako,

SpoilerShow

[Kettou: Disarm]
C-rank Taijutsu Maneuver
Intended to remove weapons from the opponent's arsenal, this technique requires that the opponent is attacking with a weapon in hand. As the opponent attacks, the user will move to the inside of the attack and use their outside arm to make a directed attack at the opponents hand and wrist, striking downward with their full strength. If the attack lands and the users strength is greater than the opponents, they will be disarmed. If the targets strength is higher, they will take a [-3 Speed] for attacks with that hand.

[Paralysis]
A-rank Augment Fuuinjutsu
The user will draw this fuuinjutsu on a target. Once activated, this fuuinjutsu will cause full body paralysis for the duration it remains active.

[Sia]

In a swift movement Kozan disarmed her much to her surprise and she felt her body very suddenly tense up in a way that suggested he had put a blood grip on her but she knew better since it didn't feel quite the same as when Maido did it. Still, she was lifted and slammed into the ground and that's when saw what he had done to her stomach, the tell-tale markings of fuuinjutsu on her stomach as she was slammed into the ground. Had she a regular body the wind would have been knocked from her lungs.

As it was, all Hisayo could do was laugh. "Oh you little bastard." She said to him with a grin as Kayoko continued to torch the arena off to the side. "Okay Kayoko that's enough, turn it off." She said from her prone positon. It was all she could do to get the words out truthfully.

[Ace Trainer]

The attack had worked, and as quickly as it began, it was over. The flames had washed over Kozan’s neck and back as Kayako calmed them at Hisayo’s order. Standing, Kozan would look at his arms and hands, his skin a deep hue of red, boils already forming from the exposure to Kayako’s flames. He let out a heavy sigh, staring down at Hisayo as he charged chakra to his hands, crossing his arms and letting the green chakra wash over the wounds as it slowly healed them. Taking a few steps back, he’d turn to look at Kayako and then place his hands on his face, healing the wounds on his face from the flames as well. Finally, as they healed he’d Kai, the seal on Hisayo’s chest deactivating.

He looked at her, blinking slowly before speaking, ”I have a new assignment coming up. Perhaps you’ll be able to join me.”. His words were dispassionate, as if they hadn’t just been fighting in a way that could have easily killed either of them. He would crouch down, the truth seeker he had dropped jumping to life at his touch and crawling onto his arm and onto his body as if it was alive. Turning, he’d hold up a hand as if to wave goodbye to the twins, uncharacteristically friendly of Kozan. Despite having just risen once more to a higher rank, Kozan’s mind did not sit on it at all instead moving onto the next goal in mind. This fight was over.

[Sia]

Hisayo stood to her wavering feet finally and gathered Kayoko up but shot under her breath just loudly enough that only Kozan and Kayoko could possibly heard them, for no one else surely was paying that much attention to it at the time unless they were really bored.

"It didn't kill me."

"Again."

"Same rules."

Hisayo held Kayoko and she began to change length, going finally up to five meters for the first time in the fight. "Again, again!" Kayoko said loudly with excitement as she bought into the idea herself after a moment of consideration. It was true, she supposed. The more she looked at it too, the fight was not over because they weren't dead. "Come on we didn't even get to the fun part yet." Hisayo readied Kayoko as she spun upwards, teasing Kozan. "Come on lover boy, give me your best shot, you have my undivided attention now, I assure you."



@ 5 meters 1 control
Doton: Claymore
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
After channeling, Kayako will change her body into that of a claymore sword over the course of a post, up to 15 meters long with a 20 centimeter guard, her core being the handle, covered in a thin layer of stone. This will last until she changes shape through another jutsu.

[Ace Trainer]

Hisayo spoke out loud, It didn't kill me. Again.', causing Kozan to stop in his tracks. He would turn only slightly, looking over his shoulder his yellow eyes locked onto her for a moment. The glare on his face was different from anything before. Raw primal anger. Killer intent would radiate from his entire body, crashing through the room like a hurricane and signaling to everyone watching, but most importantly to Hisayo and Kayako, that he was not interested in playing games. The moment would hang between them for an extend period before the killer intent would suddenly retract, vanishing from the room as quickly as it came. Shaking his head, he would clearly refuse to be goaded into another match.

"By rule of the Seven Swordsmen you are welcome to challenge me officially for the title at any point you'd like. If you'd like to return here tomorrow in an attempt to reclaim your rank, I will return. But I will not hold back as I did today. And it will be unlikely you'll get the opportunity to repeat what you've just said.", he took his eyes off her now, turning back and beginning to walk again. What he just said may have been said to Hisayo, but it was intended for her and every single other member of the organization. If they came for him, he would kill them. This was not a game, and he would not play it like one.

Holding his hand up again, he gave another uncharacteristic wave and made his way out the arena. The fight was over.