Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of What Defines Us

Flaws of Apex-ness

Kiyomi carefully observed her opponent. Without a doubt, he'd have noticed her last name when the match was announced, even if he was numb-skulled enough not to have recorded that, Kiyomi's ridiculously flashy blond hair and her bright blue eyes were a dead giveaway of her Yamanaka bloodline. He will know what she is capable of, he will know that one missed hijutsu will lead to a loss and he will be careful.

"Or he could just go right ahead and try the Summoning Jutsu", Kiyomi ironically thought to herself as she saw her opponent reaching in for that very thing.

Kiyomi dashed in. Feeling grateful for all the close range training and overall improvement to her non-ninjutsu related fighting skills during the week of training. She could feel how lightly her each movement made her, the air picking up and rustling her hair and her clothes, pressing them tightly against her skin and the back of her head as she blitzed in, smacking her left elbow to the wrist of Zahafbit's right arm and stopping his hand seal mid-way.

A strong smack to the side of his neck, the towering summoner appeared to white out blank from that blow alone but the blonde simply couldn't risk him waking up from the dizziness and punish her bold close range advances with anything he still had to show. Another barrage of quick chops to the exposed neck and a push kick to the side of his knee before another palm strike straight to his nose, just as he recovered and tried to get back up and respond. That last strike may have been borrowed from Mana's arsenal but the magician was not anywhere near to be able to see it and call Kiyomi out on it. All the sparring they did in the Yamanaka resort seemed to be mutually beneficial.

Zahafbit shot his hands up, palms to the ground and pushed his body back into a rather impressive back vault. Kiyomi just informed the young man that she will not just let him do whatever and that he had to play it smarter if he was to pull off his Summoning Jutsu. Blood still dripped from the thumb he bit into, that may have been dangerous, as he would now take even less time to complete his string of seals...

The young brute reached in for his collar, pulling on his long cloak and removing it with a single motion. Kiyomi followed his movements carefully before realizing what he was doing, once again, the Yamanaka moved in to counter the tricky attempt to hide behind the casual act of removing one's clothes for lighter and unrestricted movement.

Kiyomi's arms grabbed the large wrists of the summoning ninja and kept him from completing their strings, for a brief moment the two toyed around with the floating cloak. Zahafbit attempted to wrap it around Kiyomi's head before delivering a barrage of cheap blows while she was blinded, Kiyomi attempted to tie her opponent's hands in it, restraining his ability to weave hand seals.

The blonde delivered a softening push kick that made Zahafbit flinch for just long enough for her to jump onto his shoulders and wrap the long torn cloth around his wrist before she dived down, wrapping another string around the man's throat and putting him into a neck and hand lock.

Kiyomi tightened the lock, again, then again. She was ready to struggle down there for the whole half an hour needed to choke out an ordinary lower ranked ninja to the verge of passing out. Zahafbit grunted in pain as Kiyomi controlled and was continuously wearing out both his wrist and his throat, which effectively provided air and therefore the source of strength for his entire body.

With a strong roar, Zahafbit used his other arm to help him tear his cloak apart before reaching in for Kiyomi's own throat. The brutish genin lifted Kiyomi up and despite the girl's rapid attempts to smack at the soft spots on his wrist, managed to slam her around a couple of times before kicking her rolling away.

"Those kicks were strong", Kiyomi coughed up, feeling the faint taste of blood in her mouth. "I shouldn't take too many of those or try matching strength with him or I'll be in trouble".