Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of What Defines Us

Life Is But Failed Dice Rolls

With a triumphant look Clarmac leaned in for a crushing move. Laoch aimed his heavy cannon hands at Mana as well. It only made sense that he'd target her, after all – she was the target of Clarmac's to begin with. Mana tried to force herself to move, she could. The magician stood back up on her feet and prepared to defend herself but her movements were so clumsy and slow. Her body didn't respond to impulses to augment herself willingly, still, it'd likely have augmented her unwillingly with a much higher chakra cost.

"It's too bad that no surrender rule was established. It'd have spared you of this..." Deargli lamented before Clarmac's feet kicked off of the ground and he began rotating.

"Kraken Fang!" he yelled out enthusiastically, feeling almost sure about his victory. A strong elbow strike to his cheek cancelled out the rotating watery drill technique sending the Inuzuka crashing through the trees aside and leaving a large track of devastation behind him.

"He... Is he OK!?" Kiyomi wept out loud without even bothering to contain her cries of sadness. At this point everything saddened her. Mana couldn't understand just what on Earth could the deal behind her own apathy, Meiko's fear and Kiyomi's sadness have been.

With a bloody forehead mixed into her messy front hair that fell all over her beaten and crimson face Meiko stood in front of Mana with her elbow raised and staring angrily at Deargli and Laoch who just stared at the blacksmith completely shocked. Deargli was particularly having trouble dealing with the fact that the blacksmith managed to intervene.

Just about then Mana realized that it was Deargli's technique before. The one that just dissolved right in front of their faces without inflicting damage. Somehow that ninjutsu must've affected their emotions, it wouldn't be an impossible concept for a ninjutsu technique – smells, pinches at certain brain centers as well as tastes could've achieved subtle mood manipulation. Who knew if given enough chakra same couldn't have been amplified a dozen times over. Granted, such effects would've rather be left for a genjutsu technique as it had more diverse points of entry into the opponent's chakra system for a more guaranteed effect but, if Deargli lacked the skill for it, ninjutsu would've been a fine substitute.

"Impossible... The chakra I seal is filled to the brim with my darkest feelings and emotions. It is built to instill matching dark emotions into my opponent! Pain matching my own, no one can overcome those emotions!" Deargli angrily yelled out punching air at her right side.

"I am afraid..." Meiko grumbled, "Afraid to disappoint my team, afraid that after everything they did for me I won't be able to pay them back. Afraid that Mana recommended me for no reason and that I'm unable to match her expectations. That very fear makes me fight to my limits and beyond!" a declaration cleared the air and killed all other sounds in the area.

"I see..." Deargli giggled, soon her lovely restrained chuckle exploded into a confident and somewhat alluring laughter. "So my jutsu worked, it's just that the emotions that the presence of my dark chakra in your system invited plays into the action of fighting back."

"What does that mean? Did she overcome your abilities?" Laoch wondered.

"By no means. I was scared for a moment but it appears I've only lost the dice roll." The strange headdress wearing medical kunoichi explained.

"I see..." Laoch grinned before firing his cannons without any signal or telegraphed motion to read his attack.

As the smoke cleared it appeared like the tree that the Team Hokage were positioned on had been trashed and completely incinerated all the way to the smallest dust. In its place, however, stood another pillar, one of very impressively stacked rocks. The rocky pillar looked like it was built in a rising circular pattern. After its purpose was served the first couple of stones began falling from the top and crumbling on the ground.