[center][h1]The Bandaged Man[/h1][/center]

As people came in to take away the decapitated body of the last combatant, an odd looking man entered the arena. He was tall, with a well built frame, wearing a thick, hooded cloak with flack jacket underneath, a black shirt, torn jeans, and a large amount of bandages covering his faces, leaving only to spheres of crimson visible for his enemies to see. His hair was a mix of deep maroon and black, and he reeked with the thick metallic scent of blood. 

Across from this figure was his opponent, a puppet user that wore a cocky grin as he looked over his opponent with a dismissive glance. Once the arena was clear of any workers, the two fighters watched each other as they waited for the gong to ring. The air became thick with anticipation until a large ringing sounded out, beginning the match. The man sent out his puppet, a humanoid looking contraption bearing the head of a fox and a body of what appeared to be some sort of aluminum alloy, with impressive speed, lashing out with a barrage of strikes at the opposing ninja with a pair of dual blades. 

The bandaged man avoided every strike at the last second, clearly not in danger but also unable to attack for fear of making an exploitable opening. After a few minutes of this, the puppet-nin seemed to get impatient and had his puppet go in for a big cross-slash attack, leaving it's belly wide open. The bandaged foe was quick to charge in, causing the puppet-nin to smile as he manipulated the puppet, causing several-interlocked tendrils with spear tips to burst out and stab through the opponent. However, the bandaged man seemed to have been prepared for that, having made the signs for substitution under his cloak, switching places with the decapitated head that had been tossed into the corner of the cage by the winner of the last match. 

The bandaged man, taking advantage of his opponents confusion in where his opponent could've gone, blast forward with a blast of wind from his hands, quickly appearing behind the puppet nin and slamming his elbow into his back, causing him to arch backwards from the force of the impact. The bandage nin reached up and dug two fingers into the eyes of the puppet nin, causing him to scream out with a blood curdling scream, calling his puppet back to launch another assault on his attacker before he could continue. The bandaged man chose to retreat, suffering a deep cut on his shoulder from the puppet's blade, but he didn't let that stop him from stringing a number of handsigns together as he unleashed a devastating attack before he could react.

"Katon: Great Fire Destruction!"

After taking a dedp breath, he unleashed a huge, concentrated inferno at the man, burning him to a crisp and melting down his puppet in seconds. As he landed, all that was left was a blackened corpse on the ground and a puddle of melted metal burning itself into the ground. The bandaged man gripped his wounded arm with a low sigh, already feeling a sense of numbness course through him.[i]Poison, hmph, just like a puppeteer.[/i] He walked out of the cage and back to his seat as he waited for his next match, focusing on the wound as he went onto bandage and stitch it up. As he did so, a thin, almost unnoticable stream of serpentine shadows flow from it and disperse into the air. Soon afterwards, he could move the arm almost as well as before, as the cut didn't hit anything major, though he'd have to wait till he got back to base before he woukd have full use again. Once his wound was bandaged as well as he could manage, he would sit and wait to see who his next opponent woukd be.