Raijinslayer
Shin Maru Vs. Gozoboro The Jailer
As both participants were chosen, Gozoboro was the first to stand as he knew the procedure all too well. Making his way to the square mattress in the center of the boxed room, only to realize he was stepping on concrete similar to the caged ring. It didn't seem to bother the older looking man however as he kept a calm composure. He seemed relatively chilled compared to the brutish sociopaths that littered the area not long ago. There was something special about him either, black leather jacket, a white shirt behind it, blue jeans, regular pair of boots. Only a scroll hanging from his belt stood out from the rest, which probably had its importance given its flagrant size and exposure. He waited for Shin to get ready and start the fight.
As Shin would enter the ring as well, a strange field of energy would coat tie ring and give it the same limitations as the cage from before, except there'd be a roof. The field would be completely invisible once it would finish forming, however, preventing any problems when it came to spectating the match. It would behave as a near indestructible wall to prevent random attacks from hitting anyone out of the ring and prevent escapes as well.
The teenager gave a glance toward his squadmates before approaching the ring. The setting had changed, the battle space was notably smaller and more restricted now. Obviously these people didn't want to waste their time watching people run around after each other. They wanted to see blood. Not mine, I hope. Shin took a moment to examine the containment forcefield around the arena, touching it with his hand to confirm it was still there and didn't simply flicker on and off. Then he finally looked to his opponent. This man seemed relatively... normal. But if he was fighting down here he couldn't possibly be normal. "Alright," Shin announced, plenty loud enough for the crowd to hear if they weren't being loud. He asserted his fighting stance before bringing his left hand up towards the man and gesturing for him to come. "Let's dance, shall we?"
"Kuku, aren't you an artsy you young boy. I'm quite the art amateur myself." the tanned man spoke, appearing more or less welcoming to the teen. Considering the general demographic of this tournament, it would likely be a lot more unnerving to have this type of individual as an opponent than a giant, masked serial killer. He tried his best to look unpredictable, and psychopaths like him were just that. With three kunai in his hand, he didn't hesitate to hurl all three toward his opponent, much like his previous fight. The difference would be the microscopic, invisible threads attached to each kunai with the added value of paper bombs wrapped around the handle for concealment measures, a common practice among assassins. "Indeed, and I'll have the first move!"
Kunai, again. Shin wanted to jump backwards, but he didn't want to start the match by getting backed into the wall. Instead he dodged the volley by darting to his right. He made sure to avoid them by a good measure, since he was fast enough to fully dodge them anyways. But the explosion caught him off guard, sending Shin to the ground several meters away. He rolled the moment he contacted, flipping back onto his feet in one fluid motion. Almost as if he intended for that whole encounter. Holy shit. Shin's left side was in pain, he could feel the burns from the proximity for sure, but he couldn't tell if anything was broken yet. Okay, not having this. Not gonna let that happen again.
Shin held his right hand out to his side. Water molecules in the air began to crystalize and expand, creating a dozen crystals the size of shuriken in the shape of snowflakes. They were clearly sharp, and worse than that they were all floating at the same time. Thrusting his hand forward the entire volley was flung at the man in a haphazard pattern, to make it more difficult to dodge at the cost of overall lethality. I'm gonna have to make full use of my abilities now. A smirk formed on his face as he threw the shuriken, though it could easily be mistrued as confidence in his attack.
The man smirked when he managed to land a hit. Too bad he didn't keep them from exploding just yet, but it was useful to test the waters. The kid was resilient and displayed an interesting ability: Crystals. Everyone around Konoha knew of a clan with such a... Lucrative ability. "Maru, huh? As I said, artsy person." his words didn't mean much but it didn't matter, he was a real threat this time. With shuriken coming his way, there wasn't much to do other than duck and cover his head with his own forearm. It allowed him to dodge those aimed toward his head and body while his steel arm sponged most, having a couple piercing through the shell but with no apparent damage.
In retaliation, he threw three extra kunai, exactly the same type as before with chakra threads on each. However this time he wouldn't make them detonate right away, and in exchange wait for his opponent to react accordingly to what he'd probably aniticipate another explosive approach.
The teenager was preparing to rush forward and make the fight close quarters but the man decided to throw another volley of kunai. Not wanting to catch another explosive surprise, Shin dodged again. Only this time he put a lot more muscle into the jump, putting much more distance between him and the potential bombs this time. "Artsy, huh?" he commented, skidding to a halt. "Never heard that one before." Shin brought his hands together in front of his chest. It was a single handseal. If the man could identify him through his Crystal Release, he probably would avoid this attack.
But it was worth a shot, having a chance at ending the fight now. "Jade Crystal Prison." The ground at the man's feet began to crystallize, rapidly growing upwards in an attempt to capture him completely and leave him vulnerable. This was a dangerous man, Shin could already tell. Defeating him quickly, if possible, would be optimal. If this don't work, I'm gonna have to duke it out with him proper. Let's not see what he has in store and get this over with.
"Oh?" as the man was preparing a surprise counter with his manipulated Kunai, something struck him severely. The Maru had used a jutsu which immediately manifested itself on the older man's feet. Considering its shape and its rapid progression, it was probably an attempt to encase him in the crystal. Using his fingers to tug on the Kunai heading straight for the wall, they'd simply be pulled back toward Gozoboro before the threads would be severed by the prison.
Completely encased, the man couldn't move, or just barely, let alone do a jutsu. Luckily the kunai would stab against the crystal, instantly exploding in that instant. Adding to that strong release of pressure would be the superhuman strength given to him by both his arms, applying an inner and outer force in order to at least shatter a portion of the crystal. With all those factors added, it wouldn't be unbelievable that a third of the crystal would go out flying in pieces, allowing the man the punch out with brute force fragments that blocked his lower body. "How's that for an amateur artist?"
The man somehow managed to send his kunai back towards the Jade Crystal Prison, using the explosives on them to weaken it and begin his escape. Damnit, now he'll be wary. It's now or never. Shin gritted his teeth through his grin, holding his right arm back. "Crystal Lance." A long, pointed lance covered his right forearm, sticking out almost three meters from his hand. "Wouldn't call you an amateur at all," Shin commented, before dashing forward and pointing the lance at the man's chest, which wasn't covered by crystal anymore. It took a brief moment to traverse the arena, but Shin thrust forward with enough force to impale the man and any of his own crystal that may still be behind him. "Good enough to want me to end this now."
With his opponent dashing toward him, the man was beyond staying put in stupor, with 39 years of existence behind him. A teen with exceptional tools wasn't going to intimidate him, however he needed to think fast with that lance. He could have an optimal route, but he'd evidently pick the one out of reflex. Simply nudging his index finger, the scroll on his belt would be quickly whipped out and opened like a barrier before him. Shin would have to be careful as he'd attempt to finish off his opponent as an unknown attack was suddenly revealed in reaction.
If he were to pursue the attack, the lance would stab into a cloud of smoke and appear to hit two targets at once: A short, white puppet's abdomen which appeared to be made entirely of metal, and the man's now exposed forearm. The puppet was able to take the first blow and soften the hit, allowing him to quickly sacrifice his arm over his abdomen. The puppet, lifeless and blank in expression, glared into Shin's soul with its white, soulless eyes. "Whewwww, talk about bloodlust." said Gozoboro, keeping his arm frozen in order to prevent Shin from pulling the thing out, all the while his other hand could freely use the puppet. "Last chance to surrender..." Although he preferred to butcher and torture his opponents, he'd much rather save his specialities for the finals, hence his rather generous proposal considering the monster he was.
When Shin's crystal lance stopped prematurely after stabbing through the smoke, his grin vanished completely. Instead he looked surprised, wondering briefly how he managed to stop the attack in the position he was in. He had summoned a puppet of some kind, a spooky looking one for sure, and used that to weaken the attack before letting it stab his arm. Shin only now noticed that his arm was metal, or at least just covered in metal. Damn. First time this has failed. He moved to pull the lance back and stab again, but it wouldn't budge. Rather than staying in this man's face, with a puppet that could very well be another bomb for all Shin knew, he broke his arm free of the lance and jumped back a few meters, sacrificing the crystal lance and letting it disintegrate into fine dust.
"Surrender?" Shin repeated aloud, bringing his hands up. "A tactical retreat is one thing, but I never surrender." The joke wasn't necessary, but he humored himself. On the inside he was starting to feel nervous about this guy. His overall composure, his ability demonstrated so far. And to top it off: he had hardly shown what he can do. "That's a scary looking puppet, you know. Almost gave me a heart attack." Shin held his left hand above his head. "Giant Hexagonal Shuriken." Much like his shuriken attack before, crystals began forming in the air. Only this time it was a single snowflake, and it was two meters across. It didn't float, either, and Shin had to grab it with his outstretched hand. "But I don't want to see what kind of tricks you can do with it!" He tossed the large shuriken, keeping it vertical as it flew through the air at the partially-trapped man. It lacked the penetrating power of the Lance by far, but Shin hoped it might be able to cleave his toy and disable it. Whatever it did.
As Shin retreated, the man took the occasion to pull his arm out of the lance's stab all the while stepping out of his now destroyed prison. He was free, but all he did in the meantime was test the reactivity of his arm. It still worked, somewhat. The fingers seemed limited in movement, likely due to the damage and Gozoboro knew fully well it wouldn't be good for puppetry or precise blade manipulation without repair. However, he didn't need precision for his next action.
Shin thus had all the time in the world for his corny speeches and the formation of his new technique, leaving Gozoboro on the defensive once again. Luckily for him, there was still the puppet between him and Shin, and the latter had also given him a pretty neat overview as to what he could do. Too bad the lance didn't stick around, it would have been a nice tool to counter its creator. An enlarged Shuriken was attacking and wasn't as quick as the basic types, leaving more room for error in this case, but a mistake would of course be more expensive. Simply, he'd fire his puppet's left arm right at the shuriken so both projectiles could collide, the shuriken being bladed and well, crystal, while the arm released its arsenal of multiple hidden blades and the strength of the launch mechanic. The goal was simply to deviate the shuriken and return the arm to the puppe via a thread. "You speak big, but you seem to lack something, artsy boy."
The impact from the the puppet's own projectiles altered the giant shuriken's trajectory, sending it just past the man's head and crashing into the forcefield on the other side of the arena. Shin gritted his teeth as the man mocked him. He's toying with me now, isn't he? He broke free in time, he could've dodged it. He's trying to get in my head. It's working. His frown turned into a grin now. "What am I lacking? Enthusiasm or skill?" Shin launched forward now at full speed. His palms clenched into fists as attempted to bring the fight close quarters again. Gozoboro might notice an orange glint from Shin's skin as he approached, as the Crystal Armor wasn't perfectly transparent. He brought a fist back and prepared to deliver a powerful punch to the man's face.
"You lack... Talent." He responded coldly, as if the entirety of his paradigm had changed into an emotionless machine ready to actively eliminate the threat from now on. Shin wanted to go close quarters, but the puppet remained an obstacle he couldn't avoid in this situation. The machine imposed itself as Shin prepared his punch replying with a punch of its own to clashing with the crystal user's fist. All the while, the stray arm would attach itself to the puppet's body, only to immediately try and slash Shin's chest with the already released blades. Gozoboro watched quietly as he wanted to make his opponent squeal in despair as he swallowed his ridiculous pride. But not before he belittles him a little more. "Even inherited perks aren't enough these days, artsy boy."
"Inherited perks, eh?" Shin commented with a smirk. The blades that shot at his chest bounced off with a clang, as if they had connected with something solid in the way. The man would probably be surprised that the hidden blades wouldn't draw his blood, and Shin hoped to capitalize on the moment. "I'd like to think I have more than that." He moved his hand to grip the puppet, rather than clash with it. "I've got guts, for instance." His other fist shot forward. Though not at Gozoboro but at the puppet. Shin's fist was coated with his Crystal Armor, with all the intention of ripping through the puppet. If he could get both hands on it he was going to try ripping it apart manually. If this man was a puppeteer he might have more than just one, but taking out the puppet would at least remove a means of attack temporarily.
Chuckling, he was rather impressed with Shin's performance. Gozoboro was of course stunned that the boy's abilities went beyond creating random shapes and got to the point of defending his body. They took similar initiatives to succeed in fights, it seemed. With the Puppet's failure to connect, it took a nice hit to the body, effectively piercing and damaging it. However, it seemed as though Shin had forgotten that he could easily operate the machine despite it being disassembled. Similar to the Crow puppet from Suna, the Jailer had that enjoyable perk.
The puppet laid somewhat limp for a second as it took the hit, but only to jump start itself by grabbing Shin's forearm with its metallic hand. "Courage? Your pride is flabbergasting. I'll fix that." With its contact with the opponent, the puppet released a stream of electricity through its arm and inevitably through Shin's as well, electrifying the boy. The electricty was strong enough to continuously shock the teen's body, leaving him semi-paralyzed (difficulty moving) all the while suffering the pain of having his arm burned and muscles fully tensed by the shock's course.
The teenager had a look of genuine shock and terror when the puppet sprang back to life after he seemingly destroyed it. The creepy thing jumped at him and latched onto his arm and Shin instinctively attempted to jerk back. But once the electricity began coursing through him the look of panic went away and was replaced by one of pain. Tiny crystal fragments could be seen chipping off his forearm, where the electricity was entering his body. "I don't like..." Shin began, through gritted teeth and grunts of pain. "Electro... shock... therapy..." Shin's right arm began to move, reaching past the puppet and attempting to grab onto Gozoboro's damaged metal arm. Of course he moved far slower than his usual, as his muscles were being forcefully tensed by the puppet, but his intention was clear. Shin was trying to get the man to electrocute himself or back off from the puppet.
"I hate it too. If you stay put, it'll be over faster." He'd say as if he were some kind of sadistic doctor. Of course, he'd notice the slow arm coming closer, and he'd let Shin grab it, only to have it come off like some kind of gag. He was mocking his opponent, as any arrogant psychopath like him would. "Hah, fell for the ol' fake hand joke? Ain't that a kick in the head?" the electrical shock stopped for a moment, leaving Shin's body a break, but as he'd say 'Head', the detached arm would eject itself to Shin's face. Due to it being a chakra thread doing this, the speed of the arm wouldn't be very big, but it would surely serve as a great distraction for the backhand bitchslap the puppet would deliver to Shin as its other hand kept his arm locked. "... Or should I say, PUNCH!" he'd jokingly say, bad jokes all around.
The sudden attack from the detached arm would normally do little to nothing, thanks to the Crystal Armor. But the immediately prior electrocution had weakened it, allowing it to slam into his face and knock Shin back slightly. "Now you're just being rude," Shin joked, spitting out some blood on the ground. The slap from the puppet was minor compared to the brunt of the metal arm colliding with his jaw. But what was important was the lapse in the electric current. Shin's muscles weren't fully functioning, but he got some of his strength and speed back. Enough to forcefully rip away from the puppet and take a few steps back. Hopefully it couldn't zap him from range, but Shin didn't count that out as a possibility just yet.
"That toy is kicking my ass," Shin commented with a chuckle, holding his left hand out toward the puppet. "That thing just doesn't want to shut down. But I guess that's my fault. I've been going about this the wrong way." Shin curled his hand in as if he was holding an invisible pole. "Crystal Bow." A longbow of crystal formed in his left hand, before a crystal arrow formed already notched. His right hand reached forward and grabbed the thin crystal string, which was oddly flexible, and drew the arrow. Before he could release it, he dropped to his knees. The sudden change of trajectory would hopefully get the arrow past the puppet by shooting under it, directly at Gozoboro this time. The arrow, normal in size and shape, flew faster than his shuriken had prior. Gotcha.
Pulling back his sucker punching arm to its rightful socket, Gozoboro was back in one piece (Yohoho). Shin had started to use another one of his crystal techniques, this time a bow and arrow. It seemed pretty obvious what he'd do with it, so Gozoboro simply maintained his puppet, however what he didn't anticipate was the slight change in angle. The speed of the arrow would make it too hard for the puppet to intervene in time and Gozoboro was too focussed on his puppet to react accordingly. As such, an arrow pieced his thigh, stopping mid way byt coming out clean. A moment of silent occured as the man remained on both his feet, possibly shocked or angered.
Suddenly, a laugh of mockery took over as his ripped jeans revealed his leg being just as much flesh as his arm was. "Hah. Hahahahaha! Nice try, artsy boy. But." He'd rip out the crystal projectile from his steel leg and let it decompose as he broke it with his own metal hand. He'd then hurl his Puppet to assault Shin with both arms extended and fully bladed, ready to chop him up. "It wasn't good enough!"
In retrospect, this isn't so surprising, Shin thought, letting the Crystal Bow in his hands disperse into particles. Of course his legs would also be metal. Shin had to jump back when the puppet came after him in full assault mode. Still would've loved to make him bleed out or something. Hardly done a thing to him yet I can still feel the static shock of his last attack. Shin jumped away again once the puppet caught up, once again putting even more distance between himself and Gozoboro.
Then an idea came to mind. Shin jumped back one more time, to get the maximum distance from the man. The puppet approached, prepared to slice or shock him to death. But Shin then proceeded to dive under it, taking a few glancing cuts to his back that his Crystal Armor was able to protect against. He came out of the dive with a roll, getting back on his feet with the puppet behind him and Gozoboro in front of him. Now there was nothing between him and his opponent. "I think I'd rather fight you than your puppet." A smirk formed on his face as he dashed forward at max speed, determined to reach Gozoboro before his puppet could return. As he ran, crystal blades formed from his forearms, like bladed tonfas. "Let's see exactly how much of you is robot!" At the right distance, Shin leapt forward with a spin, intending to slice through his foe's midsection a few times. Without his puppet to absorb the blow, Shin was gunning that this attack would deal serious damage. The puppet might keep going after being ripped apart, but maybe Gozoboro wouldn't share that trait.
Gozoboro's smirk disappeared when his assault missed. Of course, his puppet would now be behind Shin which opened other opportunities, but now the puppet master was exposed which didn't make him too happy. While his fully functional hand manipulated the puppet, his broken one took the opportunity to release its blades as well in preparation to the upcoming attack. His blades were evidently inferior to the Crystals, which is why he needed the Puppet's intervention right away.
He attempted to block the bladed tonfas as best as he could with his superior strength and steel arm, but it would be a very weak attempt to give himself more time. Luckily, Shin would be in a position where he'd have to either risk a decisive hit on Gozoboro or dodge the assault from the puppet which would more than likely end this fight.
The teenager known as Topaz let out a shout of effort, almost like a warcry, as his blades clashed with Gozoboro's. His Jade Crystal Blade technique was sturdy, and broke the inferior blades almost instantly when the two men pushed against each other. And with Gozoboro's blades broken, nothing stopped Shin as he made a full spin past the man. The first slice passed through his upper midsection, around the ribs and lungs area, while the second was lower, around the kidneys. As Shin had anticipated, his torso was not covered with metal.
But as Shin landed and slid to a halt, blood dripping from the blades on his arms, the puppet caught up and crashed into his back. The impact alone knocked him forward and stole his balance, but the blades mostly bounced off Shin's skin. Mostly. Shin's smug grin turned into a look of pain and shock as he began to feel slices and cuts raking into him. The armor's thin. I don't have enough chakra to make it thick again. The damn thing's chipping away at it. He tried to bounce away and get his distance from the puppet again, so that it could start attacking a less exposed portion of his armor. Shin hadn't even checked Gozoboro yet, having been distracted by the pressing matter of a homicidal puppet trying to filet him.
The double hit shocked Gozoboro pretty badly, the damage done prior to this clash had made his arm too weak to react successfully to such an assault. This forced Gozoboro to stumble backwards, but as he would seem to fall over, his eyes opened and filled with rage. He planted his right foot a meter behind him to keep his balance and manipulated his chakra threads to lock the puppet's members on Shin's body, an arm binding an arm, a leg on a leg, etc. The older man was bleeding, but he still had strength in him unlike Shin. Now, all he had to do was make his puppet explode before the intense blood loss would knock him out. It was a question of seconds, slowly forming the kai hand seal on his left hand to finally activate the explosives on every member on the puppet's body and send Shin right to hell. "Die... Artsy Boy!" he'd say with his mouth filled with blood and bubbling with it. He was fatally hit in the lungs, making it appear particularly severe.
The puppet suddenly latched onto him, binding his arms and legs. "Shit," escaped from Shin as he made a brief struggle. For a mostly destroyed puppet it was able to hold him fairly well. When he looked over to Gozoboro it was clear the man refused to die instantly, and he appeared to be making a handseal. No. Nuh-uh. I am not dying like this. I'm not dying at all! Shin's face contorted in rage before letting out a warcry. Bolstering his morale and gathering his remaining strength, he managed to overpower the puppet and break free from it's grip.
With a parting slice, as the Jade Crystal Blades were still active on his arms, Shin jumped towards his opponent for one final attack. His anger was yet to die down, a fire burning in his eyes. "You die!" His right blade came down in a vertical slash, severing the man's last functioning hand. Before his mometum could fail him, he spun counter-clockwise and passed his left blade across the man's neck. With a blade as strong as his crystals it cleaved clean through his spine, completely decapitating the man. It was only after Shin slowed down and took a few breaths did he begin to understand what he just did to save himself.
The puppet was motionless on the floor, notably not where it was when he last saw it. It probably had attempted to catch him before he could reach Gozoboro but effectively died at the same time as its owner. The bloody crystals across his arms disintegrated, sparkling dust and splattering the blood that was on them previously. The Crystal Armor that had survived so far also shattered into particles. That guy... Shin could feel the blood dripping down his back from the slices and cuts the puppet had given him. He couldn't feel the burn from the earlier explosion anymore, but that could just be his head messing with him. He had sustained injuries since, after all, and the more recent ones would stand out in his mind.
After looking over his shoulder in a futile attempt to see how damaged he truly was, he looked over to Fujitora and the rest of the team. His angry look finally disappeared and was replaced by his usual cheeky grin. "Too easy," he joked, to break the silence, before giving them a thumbs up. "Gahahaha! The winner is me!" He began walking out of the ring, assuming the forcefield had deactivated once the fight concluded, laughing the entire way. He left a small trail of blood droplets and bloody footsteps as he walked, but he seemed almost completely oblivious to his pain. "Did you see that toy hit me in the face? I don't think I could've made that up in my head if I tried!"
"The winner, contestant number 2!" Shouted the announcer as the field some how cleaned itself and appeared good as new, no blood or dust. Leaving five minutes for the people to get over what just happened, the next battle would take place, opposing a female nin and a short man in his 50's. The battle didn't last long as a cloud of smoke shrouded most of it, and a few seconds later the older man's head would fly off the cloud. The winner was contestant number 3, and Shin's next opponent after the first rounds. She'd give him a little wink before returning to her bench with the rest of her comrades. Well, what was left, Gozoboro was her teammate after all. Bloodlust would be a strong factor in Shin's battle, it would seem.
"Next battle! Contestant number 5 and 6!" The two magic orbs would locate those fighters. One would be over a bald man with his eyes constantly closed and tatoos littering half his face. The second orb would be over Jaakuna's head, he was contestant number 6.
