Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Games of Body and Soul

Empty Fang

Pinpointing the fact that one needed to escape was completely different from actually pulling it off. Even finding out how to do that was troublesome enough. The only thought in the process of being refined and polished like a pearl inside of a mollusk was the attempt to weaken the user.

Mana launched herself at the blonde at a speedy dash, unlike her usual approach. Continuously blows skipped the defenses of the overwhelmed specialist ninja, greatly confusing the female opponent in the process.

"Konoha's Sorceress, I did not know you were so skilled hand to hand... It is not quite my own specialty but to even go this far..." the woman commended Mana's skill while she was wiping the blood off her face. A particularly sharp frontal assault made the rogue lean back quickly enough that her hood slipped off of her head and the woman's body rolled back.

"What are you waiting for?" Chominu wheezed out while still overcome by his allergic reaction. "Help Mana!"

"You are just as numb-skulled as always," Lithia noted. "Don't you see that other guy standing perfectly still? He is waiting for us to foolishly charge ahead and open up so he can take us out from the side. The only reason he does not attack Mana himself is that he is afraid we would do the same to him."

A katana blade slipped out from the sleeve of the rogue woman. Strands of chakra reached out like roots of growing trees before completely enveloping the exposed blade in a coat of emerald green. It was a chakra coat of quite a high skill level, not only was it not base chakra cloaking but it was not even one of the basic chakra elemental natures coating the sword.

The woman leaned forward with a mad dash. Mana instinctively prepared for the upcoming attack. She was ready for her incredible speed, even if the woman was too fast for Mana to face head-on without the element of surprise, the magician could still avoid her attacks by dodging her line of charge. Each time that her opponent would correct her angle and direction, she'd lose speed until her speed was just right for Mana to deal with.

It was a noble attempt but just when Mana exposed her back, a blade pierced her from behind stopping the magician in her path of retreat. The woman had faked her speed, charging slower with the initial charge and then using the remaining reserves of force stored in her muscles on the secondary leap. Not only was she strong, she was pretty crafty too.

Mana's body twitched before dissolving into flower petals. Within mere seconds of the magician's body dispersing, the blonde rotated her blade around and began madly thrusting right behind her, forcing the apparently real Mana on the defensive. Surprisingly enough, the magician managed to weave and lean around the dancing emerald-colored blade and avoid a repeat of the fate that her illusionary body met.

"Your chakra reserves are remarkable. Already you may possess as much chakra as a jounin-level ninja." The green-dressed rogue ninja complimented Mana while the green glow around her blade faded and she made her sword disappear in a hidden sheath inside her sleeve once more.

"Are you a sensor ninja too?" Kidenshi growled.

"Oh no, I merely follow the tide of battle. Did you even see the complicated string of moves your teammate performed?" the woman wondered.

"Yeah, she's pretty fast, I guess..." Kidenshi puffed out his cheeks. He did not like admitting that someone who was trying to rank up in the same Chuunin Exams as him and his team was so far ahead of them.

"Not just fast. She began the fight by replacing herself with her rabbit, they both then, in a split moment, used Transformation Jutsu to mimic each other's appearance. That was how she fooled my taijutsu skills and had her kickass bunny land a bunch of cheap shots of me. I take it that this rabbit is a taijutsu user?" The rogue ninja assumed while giving Usubane a questioning look.