Battle of the Ages: Samurai and Shinobi Clash

I stood in my robes atop a small boat, a long blade of grass hanging between my lips with one hand laying on top of my sword still waiting to be drawn at my waist. My opponent was several boats away from me, putting a good fifty feet between us since for now at least each of them were pretty close to each other. I gave a look of coldness to the younger man, though only for his love of this apparent empire he would have to feel my wrath today, in a thick asian accent I spoke. "You and my blade shall have words this day, words of pain."

Neo would stand silent aboard of the small boats that floated in the water as he eyed his opponent just a few feet away from him. The male was an enemy to his cause and as such the two have come forth today to meet in combat. The man would speak his words as the battle was about to begin. Neo himself though had nothing to say, he slowly would put his hand on his blade and prepare for the beginning of this battle.

The silence of my opponent was all I needed to know he was prepared to begin this showdown, I would start walking forward at a normal pace a few steps. Each step got faster and faster until I spit the grass from my mouth off to the side and got into a full run. One hand firmly on my blade while the other was clenched into a fist, I would fight as a samurai today which meant swordplay. This man would soon learn the speed of my blade.

As his opponent began to traverse across the gap between them so would Neo, the battle had officially begun. The both of them would now be running in a full sprint at this point and would reach each other any second now. The male may have known it but Neo was no rookie when it came to wielding a blade, if anything his skills would be tested.

He ran towards his opponent and soon was within feet of him, still keeping one hand on his blade as his he would use his fist to attempt a hard punch at the man's stomach. Though he considered what he was doing slightly a form of trickery as it appeared he left himself open his code would have to be bent as his student had taught him. While this was going on the boats were starting to knock against each other as he had kicked off them, separating them further and making the battle field expand, one could only hope that they didnt get stranded to far away from their opponent as the battle ran on longer.

They were now only a feet from each other and as the gap closed his opponent would throw the first strike- or punch rather. His fist sailed through the air as momentum would bring much force with it. Neo had to react quickly but it didn't seem right the male never removed his hand from his blade but yet here he was looking like he was trying to start a brawl with one hand. Neo would reach out and attempt to grab the male's wrist, if he had succeeded he would pull him forward and dodge the punch all together and now would be behind him. Turning around quickly he noticed the boats around him slowly starting to expand from where they were originally placed, Neo would stand on guard as he waited for his opponent's next move.

His punch was dodged and his wrist was caught, as he was redirected to the side though he would raised his leg up which would slam into his opponent's abdomen with not only the momentum of his running but the force of him being pulled. The kick still would not even bruise the younger man but it would be a fitting opening for the battle as well as a preview of the end. With Shinobu standing up and his opponent gasping for breath. As he was pulled around his opponent he would smoothly turn himself so that he could catch his breath, he would not draw his blade nor strike from this blind spot, his honor would not allow it.

Neo had successfully managed to dodge the punch but celebrations would have to wait, his opponent would retaliate by bringing his leg up and aiming it at his mid-section. Neo realized by pulling the man past him he had given him more moment and speed and at this range there would be no point in attempting to dodge, instead he would tense up and take the blow. He would heave a little bit but other wise he was fine. He would rise to a full standing position and turn around, now facing his opponent whom seemingly was waiting on him.

My leg would feel some resistance and a slight sting as his opponent tensed up his abs as my hit landed though the pain both of them felt didnt even have a chance to be shaken off before it just faded away. Waiting was over as Neo turned to face me, I would lower myself into a stance showing that it was time to stop testing each other and transition into kenjutsu and our other special talents, a slight breeze passed by to ripple the water adding the the effect of the scene which was already epic in itself.

As Shinobu had prepared himself, getting into his kenjutsu stance, as too would Neo the real battle would begin here. Before the bout began though a light breeze would blow by and Neo would smile at the scene before him, if he was to lose this bout to day let it be known he went out in an pretty epic way. Neo would clench the hilt of his blade within his hand and wait for his opponent, although he wasn't sure why he continuously let his opponent make the first move.

He clicked his sword from its place at his waist and drew the weapon to make a fast strike at his opponent's shoulder area from the bottom up. The strike was obvious due to the blade just being drawn but he was prepared to retaliate by bring the blade back quickly for a block should his opponent be fast enough with his own sword.

The sound of the blade being unsheathed was what Neo reacted to, the clicking noise he heard was just enough to set him off, upon hearing it he withdrew his blade from the sheath on his back and brought the blade down upon his opponent's and parrying his attack back. Neo would bring his sword back up from his block and swing toward his opponent's mid-section, this was destined to be a main event of the ages.

His sword was blocked, the force of the strike knocking his blade back down which was in his favor due to his opponent going for a follow up strike at his mid section. He moved his sword to be parallel to the boat under their feet with the tsubasa (guard) at chest level. The blades would once more clash but this time due to it being a sideways strike would cause the boat to shift under them causing unstable footing. Taking this opportunity I would jump backwards onto another boat that sank a few inches before popping back up. Using this momentum I jumped into the air to follow my opponent whether he stood still or moved for a downward strike, keeping in mind this was a dangerous move that would leave me exposed in mid-air I began to think on my family's ancient sword style should he find a place to strike.

His attack was blocked, the speed of the older males parry was rather incredible to say the least, the style in which Neo's attack was deflected caused the boats to shutter and cause Neo's footing to be lost. As his opponent jumped back toward another boat, Neo would jump to the boat nearest to him on his right. He now stood ready as his opponent came flying down from above. As Shinobu neared Neo would side step it would be dangerous given the little space he had. If his side step dodge succeeded Shinobu would land on the boat Neo was on and leave his back exposed to Neo but on the other hand with all the force Shinobu would bring down it would be hard to land attack. As the boat begin to shift its weight all over the place Neo would jump off of the boat but it was more of a tactical retreat if anything. After landing on the new boat he would dash forward and slash diagonally at Shinobu's (supposedly) exposed back.

Neo was quick of body and wit, side stepping just enough to dodge my slash. Knowing however that the last second dodge had left me no space to counter with a parry of my own I used the force of my strike to cut this small wooden boat cleanly in half under the extremely sharp edge of my sword. As the two halves started to collapse in the middle and rise at the ends to sink my opponent's blade would find itself in the frame of the boat. Though his weapon was also sharp enough to cut through it would give me just the extra half second of resistance I needed to lean backwards and have the weapon pass mere inches away from my face. I would raise my hand on the flat of the blade and shove up as hard as I could, both jarring the sword for my opponent and pushing the boat half I stood in down faster. As I got enough room though I backed up to the end of the broken vessel and found myself on a new one that started drifting about as I stood and waited this time for my opponent to make the first move.

As Neo had expected the force Shinobu would bring down would interrupt his flow of attack, he did not however expect the boat to be completely hacked in two. With the boat smashed and debris covering the area, Neo would hit the frame of Shi's side of the broken boat and although he cleaved through it without a problem the second gave Shinobu a chance to dodge. Not only that but with the blade flying past Shinobu he would use the given opportunity to hit the blunt side of Neo's blade with his palm furthering the distance between the 2. Neo would firstly hop onto a new boat before standing up straight once more and smiling for a second before returning to stone cold set face, looking toward Shinobu he appeared to be waiting (I suppose it's my turn to make the first move then). He would began boat hopping, jumoing from one to the next as he converged on Shi's position, upon coming in range he would jab his blade forward in an attempt to stab Shinobu in the gut although the likelihood of this attack landing were severely low.

As Neo got closer I started boat hopping as well, when we were both in striking range he made a jab at his stomach which would be met by him quickly dodging by leaning to the side to avoid the attack. He would place his blade against his opponent's and slide it along as he continued running towards Neo, eventually the two would lock together as my katana was inside the hook of his weapon. Being within arms reach I would release on hand from the blade and make for a punch towards his face, his only option being to go backwards as that would free the weapons from each other.

As the battle between the two carried on they would now be locked within a sword dual, neither side giving an inch. As they pressed back and forth to tip the scales in their own favor, Shi would take one hand off his blade and attempt to land a punch. Neo seeing this would react quickly enough to grab Shi's fist with his hand. Now not only were there weapons locked but so were their hands. Neo had guessed that Shi would have wanted him to dodge and probablly wouldn't see the catch coming but now Neo didn't know what to do as a follow up.

His hand was caught yet again though this time while he had not expected it to happen quickly put something together as a direct counter. Launching his next attack almost as soon as his hand was grabbed insured that just as his hand being caught out of lack of anticipation Neo wouldnt see this rather unconventional move coming from the honorable samurai. His head was coming down fast and aimed directly at the younger man's wrist. Unless he had some sort of chakra enhancer for his speed to get out of the way this was almost sure to land since he could go no direction but backwards for a dodge without dropping his sword and the close distance would result in his fingers being caught if nothing else.

220/250

Spoiler:

He was stuck yet again, as Neo had successfully managed to clutch his opponent's fist within his hand, Shinobu would retaliate almost immediately. The speed at which he swung his head was pretty wicked fast but if he didn't move there was no guarantee that he would have a hand afterward. Moving as fast as he could he would pull away, releasing Shinobu's fist, but even at this speed he still wouldn't make it, his fingers would be meet by Shinobu's headbutt attack and would take the full force of it. Neo would bound backwards onto another boat not to far from Shinobu but far enough so that he could recover just a bit. Shaking his hand a bit he would wait for Shinobu to make his next move and while he did he would begin to store up some chakra just in case.

As the force of my headbutt slammed into his fingers he would feel as the bones in them shattered followed by them all going limp and useless. As I was fighting against a shinobi there could be no greater victory as this would eliminate those pesky handseals later in the battle as well as decreasing his effectiveness with a blade as he would now be left with only one good hand. Being of the rank of power he was though it was understandable if the kage powered through the pain but not even he could move a broken set of fingers for ninjutsu. My face however, as well as my inner thoughts were not cocky nor did I think this battle was already won as it would not be until I sent him to a grave at the bottom of the sea, I would need to prepare something for my opponent now that would show him once and for all that he could not live any longer but first I would give him the chance for an honorable death by conceding my victory. My sword was swung down near my side as I stood floating about on the boat under me before being placed back into its sheath with my hands and arms being folded across my chest. "You are crippled ninja, fall upon your blade with honor or force my hand to do so for you. The choice is yours now decide." I would stand and wait, not even touching the end of my blade to fully signal that this was indeed an open offer for him to commit seppuku.

Neo would listen to the man's words and upon his finishing he would smile and nearly laugh aloud but restrained himself "Crippled or not this battle has not yet ended, I still breath this land's air and so I say, Come at me!". Neo was not one to give up and with his life at stake there was no way he would back down now, if the man wanted him dead then that would be Neo's only way out should defeat be his fate but until that fate is decided he would fight on. Neo would wait until Shinobu was officially ready to continue before he would attack him.

I would nod and slide my arms apart, one hanging at my side while the other loosely hung over the end of my blade. "Honorable but foolish, for a shinobi you have shown to have much samurai in your blood and for that I shall give you the death of a true warrior. Come claim it." Once more the first move would be his as I stood there, chakra building within my body to show him my full strength, I would give this opponent everything I had here at the end.

Neo would leave his smile upon his face, he had gained respect on the battle field even if rather foolishly, he would be sure to make this battle be remembered by the both of them. He would rush forward jumping from boat to boat as they slowly began floating into opposite directions as he landed upon them, but even still he came. He reached Shi in no time, with his weapon ready, he would charge directly at Shinobu, his weapon would be held diagonally in front of his body in more of a defensive position then offensive but that was the point he wanted to either have Shi dodge or block and at Neo's rate of travel it would be best to dodge unless Shinobu wanted to be forced back and nearly knocked out of the boat he stood in now. At this point, with one hand left, he would have to use more then just kenjutsu to take the upper hand.

I waited until Neo arrived within striking range before shifting my feet so that the impact of the incoming collision and shift under the two of them rather than knocking him out of it. As his opponent's sword was within an inch of him he acted, showing on small piece of what was to come. Like teleportation my sword seemed to just appear there for a block though in reality it was the ungodly speed of this trained swordsman's draw. The weapons met and sparks flew around them as the two warrior's eyes would meet, fearsome eyes that showed they had each killed many men but deep down regretted every one. Within the samurai's eyes though was another sentiment, as he had said moments ago he would honor this man with death soon enough and that time was now, as his chakras continued to circulate within him he prepared a sacred move he had not performed on another living being before meaning that he saw something in this man but could not allow him to continue existing.


210/250

Spoiler: