Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of What Defines Us

Switcheroo after Switcheroo

The muscle of Kei-J's hand twitched, it was a telegraphing signal that the exceptionally skilled weaponry and hand-to-hand user shall resume his relentless and, so far, tremendously successful assault. The Kumogakure genin shot his hand up, unleashing a handful of his custom made, larger than normal triple bladed shuriken at his opponent. Stea moved aside to avoid the attack but a sound of tearing silk suggested that she did not escape the shuriken completely unharmed. At that moment Kei-J's free hand moved into a hand seal position.

"String Reeling Jutsu"! He chanted out as strings of steel wire lit up in the air, as the light it reflected danced on its metallic texture, tied around the shuriken he had just previously tossed. As an additional method of assault, the genin threw another handful of shuriken with his hand seal weaving, free hand as well, while his other hand used the wire to reel his fired shuriken back at his opponent from behind her.

Stea's pain ridden shouts filled the hall making the audience feel uncomfortable as she managed to bend her body in a manner where the shuriken, both coming and passing from behind, managed to miss her, yet still left their marks on her body. Both the highly elastic manner of her gymnastic dodge and the injuries she had gathered from this improvised shuriken assault, in addition to the internal injuries already present in her body from the previous battle, made it difficult for Stea to keep going.

"She's seriously injured already", Kiyomi noted, "If she was holding something back, wouldn't you think she'd have shown it at this point? She'd have to be some sick bitch not to feel pressed to the wall right now".

Mana remained silent. Had she been in Kei-J's place, knowing what she knew currently, she would be more scared than she would be being in Stea's. The magician felt equally baffled by a highly self-sacrificial manner of Stea's fighting style. She just kept getting hurt more and more, it was not like her attacks were inefficient, she barely even showed any incentive to attack, to begin with.

Stea's hands weighed down from clutching at the wounds on her shoulders, biceps, her abdomen as well. She coughed up some blood from her mouth, Mana noticed the extent of injuries that were acquired. These were injuries caused due to lack of any chakra augmentations, Stea's chakra signature felt just as massive as it was when she started the match – she had not even begun spending it. Every damaging blow or cut she took with her body and physical endurance alone. It was easy to notice a fighting style which Mana herself used to incorporate into hers for so long, until so recently.

"I'd advise you to surrender", Kei-J firmly stated as he took an offensive stance, picking back up his sword-staff and preparing to attack his opponent with more of his relentless and, seemingly, flawless and immensely aggressive weaponry style. "Haven't you suffered enough already"?

"Suffering"? Stea grunted out through the pain of her inner bleeding injuries as her hands quickly flashed through a bunch of hand seals. "What would a native of a Great Ninja Country know of suffering"? She asked as her hands lit up with emerald green glow so intense that it transcended anything Mana had seen before, the intensity of the green glow went into a bland indigo colored glow at the end making the Mystical Palm Jutsu she perform appear almost a little majestic and divine visually.

"Have you seen parents cannibalizing their own children because the village hasn't got enough income to feed its villagers?" Stea's voice cleared up as she kept on healing herself, regenerating almost momentarily in her opponent's eyes. Had the speed of her regeneration not been so rapid, Kei-J may have considered trying to interrupt her but seeing what he saw just made him freeze in place.

"Have you seen your village leader address his people, in the midst of a war, and commit suicide in front of their eyes right after telling them it's not all hopeless"? Stea angrily asked her opponent as she straightened her hunched back out and moved her hands away from clutching at her injuries and back into an offensive pose.