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

Her Lady, June Drench

The large rock that Team Fir chose to observe the raging battle from was collapsing from the powerful blow that the mechanical man dished out. Yushijin's feet remained firmly planted to one of the many collapsing pieces of rock. Discontent soured the chuunin's face as he was just about to deliver another decisive blow to his overextending and entirely too greedy opponent.

A man-sized mass of water arced all the way from a platform lower down. It was what the tricky assassin assumed to be a stealthy attack, truth be told, it was not half bad. Had it been anyone but Yushijin or someone with uncanny chakra sensory abilities – it would have worked. The leader of Team Fir had to hand it to the young woman – she moved with skill, silence, and swiftness.

To the perception of the enemy, Yushijin would have frozen in time again. Just like the plummeting rocks did or every single one of the tiny droplets separated from the splashing arc created by the living mass of water rushing toward the Konoha ninja. By the time the assassin would have become aware of Yushijin's feet tapping against the floor of yet another rock, reinitiating the Art of Tree Climbing technique to maintain the steady footing on top of a plummeting and not always upright chunk of rock, it would have all been too late.

In a refreshing shower, the mysterious and bloodthirsty female assassin exploded into a lifeless rain of water pouring down to the floor at the same time as the plummeting rocky platforms. Yushijin's feet once again left the surface of the falling rocks for no other reason but to allow them to crash down onto the floor of the Valley of Hell.

Liquid busted through the nooks and crannies of the debris, gathering into a single pool that erected a feminine shape that soon changed from the texture and appearance of an aquatic humanoid and into the angry and deadly, sai-wielding assassin from before. With a submissive and disgruntled face, the young woman sheathed her weapons and drew another pair in their stead – a pair of blades that were longer than the usual swords that would have been wielded in a pair yet a tiny bit short of what would have qualified as a decent sword, let alone a titan such as Yushijin's weapon.

The leader of Team Fir noted that the woman changed her weapons a bit too late. She was skilled, rather, remarkably well-trained but not very versed in battlefield experience. She clearly knew that her sai-combinations would get her nowhere due to the massive difference in the length of weaponry and the fact that Yushijin's main jutsu that comprised his fighting style completely nullified any speed advantages she may have had if any. However, she doubted her instinct up to now. It was clear to Yushijin that his opponent acted not out of instinct and experience but out of theoretical knowledge of the battle, a complex myriad of processes like experimentation and the drawing of conclusions based on their results.

"You've made a mistake picking this fight." Yushijin declared bluntly. There was no enjoyment in the inevitable outcome of his clash but neither was there any rage or brashness that could have cost him a won battle. Despite his wish to join and support his squad as soon as possible, the Konoha chuunin had enough experience on a battlefield to let the battle play out and just trust in the abilities of his teammates.

"It is not me who has made a deadly mistake!" the assassin declared while boldly charging ahead. Her blades moved in a rush of up and down motions, completely neglecting the wide swings or any attempts to move around the wide yet slower blocks of her opponent.

This strategy baffled Yushijin a bit. As would have any action performed by his opponent that he did not fully understand. At this point in his career, the young man had learned not to make the mistake of assuming foolishness and lack of skill or training from his opponent's part as usually that was not the case behind confusing attacks – it was some other deceptive plot being masked by novice mistakes or things Yushijin simply failed to understand.