With a single flick of his wrist, the sea ignited.

Gougoukai (Thunderous Release)

Jutsu Requirements: Power=17, Reserves=16, Control=16, Willpower=15, Seisei-ken

Jutsu Description: This technique requires a large concentration of chakra for a long distance strike. The user charges chakra into their Konken, which causes it to glow bright orange like heated iron. The weapon is then pointed and then explodes off in the direction pointed with a noise resembling cannon fire in volume. The weapon then travels up to 90 meters with the force of a blow with strength equal to the 35 strength and penetrates stage 5 defensive ninjutsu and below. The force of the landing has been known to leave small craters for stronger ninjutsu users and the attack is said to travel at a speed rivaling even the greatest projectile specialist's throws.

The reflection of the swirl of fire and steam on Senmitsu’s dull eyes brought only a semblance of life to the man’s expression. Heat saturated every pore and sucked the oxygen right out of his lungs, as well as casting distorted ripples of air in every direction. That much raw destructive force released from the mere drawing of his blade would have vaporized the bones of most targets. Yet, it was as if Senmitsu didn’t expect his target to perish, even as the gates of hell opened and spilled their guts onto the beach. Certainly the wrath that now engulfed the lonely shoreline would have been a fitting end to such a man-

-but a vestigial memory, that forgotten yet lingering dream, kept Senmitsu’s guard up even at the overwhelming sight of his Konkaji Teitetsukon. He held his blade, still red hot and steaming, out and at the ready, pointed at the long twisted shadows cast off by his still roaring inferno. The Flame might not be able to make a real 'Bloody Mist', but certainly the searing, swirling fire was more than a suitable replacement.

As the flames reached the fronds, the vegetation curled up and crackled. Senmitsu’s scouring fire ripped everything flammable up from the beach, causing it to become floating debris for a few moments before burning away to ash. A smoldering, blackened pit of a crater, slowly refilling with boiling seawater, marked the impact point of his ninjutsu. The cliffside up off of the beach where Ren previously perched with such confidence sheered off entirely and crumbled into the ocean. Flames spiraled up into the air in little vortices, caught in the sea winds. The smell of roasted marine wildlife lingered with burnt sand and palms. In the span of a few seconds, the Flame Swordman transformed the entire battlefield.

A reeling, sputtering Ren emerged from the sand nearby like a lobster trying to scramble out ofa boiling pot. Ren’s calves cramped up from exertion as he clawed his way out of the blisteringly hot aura still lingering in the air after the explosion. He stumbled to a stop and face planted into the now dry beach. His one eye bugged out and glanced every which way, looking for a follow up. But there was too much smoke, too much steam, wherever Senmitsu stood could no longer be easily discerned. Could the man still sense Ren? Or had his little trick to pull that metal out of him stripped Ren of the remnants that let the Konkaji track him this far?

Worrying about it seemed pointless, so Ren focused on the more important task of ejecting sand from his mouth. He barely survived one blast, and this time Senmitsu moved far too quickly for Ren’s usual turn-into-lightning gimmick. In fact Ren likely would have been smeared across the ground in an ashen stain had he not come into the fight already prepared. Steam rose off his back, the last vestigial remnants of his paltry defensive ninjutsu evaporating away.

Name: Isonagi no Jutsu (Beach Crab)

Requirements: Intelligence 6, Tactics 5, Control 5

Description: This technique creates a large crab out of any wet surface in eyesight. The water crab possesses Level One in all physical stats and can range in size from normal crab size to human sized. Soil or sand is loosened around the crab, turning it swampy and quicksand-like in a ten foot radius. The crab will stay in this area and attempt to grab and pull targets into the quicksand.

Stage Four The Forbidden Crab Seal may be placed on the user or a consenting individual, letting them hide in any surface their crab normally could.

Across his forearm the ‘Crab Seal’ finally disintegrated, having exhausted the last bit of its chakra. The bastard Senmitsu had taken so long monologuing, the technique had run out of juice while Ren was still buried, resulting in his need to now remove the imbibed sand from his stomach. Even while he retched, questions trickled through Ren’s mind. How many times could the Swordsman fire that huge explosion off? Is it a stance or did he have to recharge? Does it damage his blade? Could it be dodged every time? Ren licked the salt off his and started to rise to his feet again when a more pressing concern crawled out of his head.

Senmitsu would have liked to have killed Ren right then and there, sure. But even if he hadn’t...

“He cooked all the water out of the air.” Ren’s already ragged voice whined as he felt just how dry his surroundings were. The ocean water was the only source for his suiton he could pull from now, severely limiting his options. He would need to flee away from the flames – or approach Senmitsu, who stood atop the sea.

And Senmitsu knew Ren wouldn’t run away from this fight. His own stupid honor prevented it.

“Al’ready seen this one, you know! Back on the research rig. Back in Kirigakure. You just a one trick pony?” Not even a full breath later, and his voice seemed to come from elsewhere entirely. "Sure you ain't forgettin' things too easy?"

Taunting seemed enormously stupid given the circumstances, but this too was a one-use gimmick Ren pulled out when up against the wall. He much preferred using it to finish a fight, as he had with Endo. Relying on it so soon into this duel did not bode well for his chance. His voice ricocheted around the swirling dust and smoke, concealing his position even further.

Gushiken Ren is Mist Village’s Silent Killer.

The Silent Killer is a master of stealth. Once per target, he can approach a target undetected. This stealth effect is broken upon taking any offensive action, but otherwise continues as long as the Silent Killer remains in cover.

While the whirling fire seemed to give Senmitsu’s eyes some light, it was as much of an illusion as the Jellyfish’s apparent location. Unlike his prey Senmitsu saw no need to conceal his position. Indeed, the very moment Ren made it clear his intention to taunt rather than strike, Senmitsu rolled his shoulders and exhaled. Then he held out his Konken, and dropped it into the roiling sea at his feet.

His fingers clacked together as the metal gauntlets formed into a few complex hand seals. A Konkaji speciality.

“Konyori,” he exhaled, “Blacken the sea.”

The red-orange glow of the Flame overtook his gauntlets and a moment later they exploded into a wave of sparks. The sparks themselves didn’t seem to do much, but within seconds their true purpose became clear.

Kokujin no Ame (Rain of the Blackened)

Jutsu Requirements: Willpower=14, Intelligence=13, Tactics=11, Reserves=10

Jutsu Description: Weapons on the user's person explode into shrapnel that sails into the air. Molten shrapnel rains over a 50 foot area, following the user as its center point. The shrapnel can burn through metal it lands on, and could cause severe burns if not removed where it hits. The technique causes devastation to the nearby area. The weapons cannot be used until the technique is over. When it ends, the weapons reform.

From overhead the glow of the falling stars became even more intense. Then came a sizzling, steaming splash as a streak of light plummeted downward at incredible speed. The searing splint slammed into the water and caused it to boil immediately, though it was localized entirely where it fell. Then came another streak, and another, and another. The meteor shower above grew in intensity and soon the area around Senmitsu was saturated in an entire light show’s worth of plummeting embers.

Untouched he held out both his arms. His now bare hands were spread wide, as if he was asking for a hug. The intention of course was nothing but pure arrogance- a display to encourage his target to approach the field of death he surrounded himself with. The Flame was indiscriminate. Why play hide and seek when one could simply remove any opportunity to hide at all?

It stirred a memory within Senmitsu. When he was young, working under his Master, and had taken delight in just how large a boulder he cleaved in two with his technique.

The Teitetsukon should be used to create, young apprentice. Do not dwell so much on what you can destroy. That mindset is corrosive to the soul

The barest hint of light danced at the edge of the Flame's lips, almost teasing a smile. Maybe if that old fool had practiced some more destructive techniques, he wouldn’t have melted so easily under Senmitsu’s blade.

Crawling towards the water like a scuttling crab, Ren sucked in air as he watched the burning meteors come in. Maybe he should have picked a different taunt- now really wasn’t the time he wanted to see what new tricks Senmitsu could pull out. Wild, aimless attacks like this were just something powerful ninja threw out casually all the time, and during the Seagull War Ren had seen plenty of that standing on the sidelines. His sore calves resisted any of his attempts to move faster, which meant dodging was going to be impossible if one of those falling stars pegged him. Ren glanced down at his legs with a scowl, as if he could discipline his exhausted body like a child. Already running on fumes and burning through everything just to stay alive meant every second of delay sunk him further into the mire of defeat.

Not to mention the total lack of depth perception made it difficult to even tell how far away the falling meteors were. His one functioning eye meant that was effectively out the window. How did pirates deal with this shit?!

As the first of the cavalcade of explosions collided with the beach front Ren got his own flashback. Cannon fire in Seagull often accompanied the vanguard of the most powerful of Kirigakure ninja, the jounin. While the display was impressive it was also operationally a delicate balancing act. The vast majority of Kirigakure’s forces weren’t legendary strong ninja, they were laymen just like Ren. Artillery fire tore men apart like wet paper no matter who they were aligned too. It seemed like there wasn’t any rhyme or reason to the blasts, just an endless percussion of deadly blasts to help him time his approach. To a disoriented, panicking soldier, every direction looked like a potentially deadly one.

Ren burst out of the smoke of the fire with his arms and legs underneath him, pouncing using all four limbs to make up for the deficiency in his legs. Smoke curled around his body as his one eye was locked onto Senmitsu. He arced through the air on a dead path towards the swordsman.

There was one place explosions couldn’t land, and that was on the cannon itself. Ren pointed accusingly at the man as he sailed through the air.

“Gonna blow us both to hell?!”

”Your terms are acceptable.”

Again Senmitsu’s tattoo began to glow, and far below his feet something stirred. His sword, the Void, finished its descent and now lay buried in the seafloor. With a sudden jolt it freed itself, and in the process its razor edge scraped against the coral rock underfoot. Even in the darkness of the ocean it blazed into life and red hot splints and sparks erupted from its surface.

Stage Six Blade of the Life Spark

Spark Strength- As the blade drags along the ground now, the bright sparks created are enough to burn through materials like a welding torch.

Senmitsu made a vague hand gesture without even looking in the same direction. It was as if he knew, anticipating exactly the trajectory Ren was taking. Like rats fleeing a sinking ship, panicking animals always took the path that looked safest. The Jellyfish lived up to his name and like an animal ran for the cover he thought Senmitsu would provide.

Jellyfish, though, weren’t exactly known for having a brain.

With a rippling, sizzling scream Senmitsu’s sword ripped up from the ocean below. A long arc of sparks came up with it and shredded the water underfoot, casting out waves of hot steam on its trajectory upwards.

Kon-konpon - (Soul Root)

Jutsu Description: This technique requires no hand seals, and is instead activated by expelling chakra from a tattoo. The tattoo can be of anything, but must be somewhere on the face, and it glows when this technique is used. Any item in the user’s inventory except soul armor can be instantly summoned into their hands or onto the appropriate body part regardless of its current location. The ability to summon an item comes from familiarity with it, and spending a few hours with a mundane item is enough to make this possible.

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The red hot blade exploded out of the water and soared upwards to intercept Ren’s trajectory. The Void warped the air around it as Ren made contact with it with his leg in a sweeping kick. However its gravity was simply too great- Ren howled as his foot recoiled off it as if he’d kicked a brick wall. His body was sent careening off into the water while all around him Senmitsu’s hail of fire blasted the sea. Senmitsu snapped his fingers, and the Void was back in his hands, all without him even having to turn around.

Despite himself, Ren found himself grinning wildly at the man.

It has been said that the only kindness a shinobi can afford on the battlefield is assuring the opponent that they’re willing to die before retreating. Due to the tenuous relationship between the countries of the shinobi world and the hidden villages inside them it had become something of a fashionable honor to leave your opponents alive and, if possible, in one piece. Plenty of friendships and alliances had been forged after fighting it out, after all, and each one of those bonds between people made both stronger.

Yet, Ren had always found himself thirsting for something more. How could you possibly know you’re strong if you always had it in the back of your mind that your rival wasn’t as motivated to kill you as you were them? And here he found his prize: the Flame, willing to die for the pursuit. The chase.

The excitin’ stuff…!

Ren’s single eye flickered in reflection of the vapor and mist that erupted from the beach at Senmitsu’s summoned blade. So much humidity crackled in the dry heat of the fire that it practically sparkled and crackled like electricity. The smell of brine of water barely cut through the smell of burning sulfur but Ren’s arms sizzled just from grazing the Konkaji’s Soul Weapon.

Then it sizzled in earnest as one of Senmitsu’s meteors crashed into Ren’s prone torso. He let out an ashy wheeze as his chest. A direct hit!

One that might, in another context, have ended the battle right then and there. But this was Water Country!

Ren on instinct disabled his water walking technique, the only thing keeping him on the surface of the ocean. The hot slag pushed down into his body and sent him plummeting into the ocean, which was a far safer place to be considering the bombardment happening topside. The scalding water managed to keep the molten iron from burning him too bad as he sank like an anchor, and Ren maintained enough wits to throw his hands together into a set of hand seals before the pain had time to rob him of his coherence.

Now he had plenty of water. From the splash where Ren sank into the sea, a geyser of swirling, cool mist erupted. It joined the smoky battlefield and smothered out the last of Senmitsu’s lingering flames, rolling across the night like a rogue wave and covering everything in blanket of white, moist air.

Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist Technique)

A thick mist materializes, covering a 200 feet radius centered on the user. The mist swirls about, obscuring vision and distorting sound. Visibility is cut down to three feet. This is a non-natural mist which obstructs view against vision-enhancing jutsu Stage Three and below. The mist may be heated to steam levels, reducing its duration by one post and causing those who breathe it in apart from the user throat and lung pain. The user of this technique can sense all movement within the mist, but only the relative speed and size of what is moving.

Senmitsu observed the development with a relaxed detachment. His earlier tiny smile faded with his flames.

As the mist began to seep into every crevice and cranny, the world became hazy and indistinct. The sounds of Senmitsu’s meteor-falling technique, the burning of the island forest, the rippling steam from fire against beachead, and Ren’s manic laughter all started to mesh and meld, echoing off the coiling mist, seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. The sensation of touch was overwhelmed by the chilled moisture in the air, sensation of sight ruined by the thick rolling clouds, sensation of hearing rendered useless by the echoing and dampening -

- and the Jellyfish lurked somewhere there now, completely out of sight.

Some time passed in relative silence. Senmitsu clacked his teeth together in boredom.

“Senmitsu!” The voice came from the position Ren disappeared at, but then echoed again somehow louder and closer behind the man. “I had thought about letting you go home, yanno?”

Was his voice coming from above? But then again, it bounced against the ground in such a way that it seemed like he was crawling on the ground, too. Senmitsu didn’t even turn his head as he listened.

“But man, you had to threaten my village – an’ not just the ninja, but the kids and nurses and...”

Ren pittered off in a tut-tut noise. Was that the sound of electricity, or just the sound of palm fronds crackling in the flames, echoing every which way?

“An’ I ain’t exactly one to talk -” Ren said, “- but the guilt of the pain you’d inflict on other people if I let you go, you know...I think it would drag me down. I only got enough room for my own hard-earned guilts!”

A momentary flicker of some emotion bubbled behind Senmitsu’s dull eyes.

With a snap, and right as the meteor shower began to wane, the sparks still floating in the air coalesced around his bare palms. His tattoo ceased glowing as the embers reformed into hardened steel, encasing his fingers in protective gauntlets. Once again the Flame was back to his full armament- the black steel of his Konken in one hand, and his grimy Konyoroi on both.

”Your village?” Senmitsu grumbled while popping his neck. “You mean the same one that made you a wanted man and put you in that hospital bed?” Senmitsu held the Void with both hands and felt its density shift. The mists twisted around it in a strange orbit. ”Tools don’t feel guilt, Gushiken. The weight of steel is the only thing holding me down.”

Another memory. Before making weapons, Senmitsu had been taught to make farm tools. And that woman, that woman-

-is that all he was to you? All I was to you? Dust to be ground into whatever shape pleased you? I don’t believe that for a second-

With a shake of his shaggy hair Senmitsu dismissed the thought. ”If you mean to kill me, you best be quick about it.” The black metal of his sword began to glow with a red hot heat yet again. Even swinging it through the mist gave off an audible hiss as the vapor boiled along the edge of his weapon. Senmitsu held the blade out less like a swordsman, and more like a woodcutter chopping firewood. ”I’m done warming up. I think I’ll smelt your bones into a zipper, if there's anything left of your body when I'm done, since you seem incapable of keeping your mouth shut.”

Yousetsutou (Welder's Knife)

Jutsu Requirements: Power=10, Reserves=10, Tactics=8

Jutsu Description: A chosen weapon begins to glow red hot, and becomes capable of causing significant burns to the flesh it touches. Any source of mundane metal which remains in contact with the weapon for one post also melts, and becomes absorbed into the original weapon. The user may vaporize any weapon in their own inventory and cause the sparks to fuse with the chosen active weapon, granting their next attack with that weapon 1 Level of Strength.

“If you’re tryin’ to make me pity you, it’s working.”

Ren’s voice reverberated through the thickened mist. His strained, gargled voice left an audible hiss in the air after every word. His panting, exertion filled tone couldn’t be hidden. But the sound of his boots steps, like the rest of his noises, seemed to come from anywhere and everywhere all at once.

“Even a fuck-up like me has got people I care about, people I’d regret hurting.” Ren sniffed. He hadn’t even seen that damn cat in a few days, but just thinking about it made his nose itch. “People I’d rather not let get hurt…!”

Ren pulled himself up out of the water. The heated metal from Senmitsu’s attack scalded off a chunk of his chest- maybe he’d not be able to grow hair there anymore, if he survived this. His hands formed a series of seals – hitsuji, mi, tora – and mixed his chakra deep in his stomach. He felt something sour trickling up his throat, like he might vomit.

Electricity cycled around Ren’s body and erupted, both clinging to his limbs as he moved while also reaching out and finding purchase against the splashing waves as he moved through his Hidden Mist technique. Each step left behind just enough sparks to form into an ethereal silhouette of himself, loaded with an electrical charge.

Raiton: Dengeki Bushin (Lightning Release: Electric Shock Clone)

The Lightning Clone is a weak incarnation of lightning that resembles its creation only in silhouette. It is an ethereal, insubstantial thing that glows and sparks. It is incredibly fragile, incapable of surviving even the lightest of blows, but it moves at one fourth the user's speed (including bonuses) and on contact with an enemy it will disperse in a flash of electricity, quite painfully.

Stage Four: 7 Clones

They came from everywhere--! Crackling, shadowy figures that resembled Ren in shape, made more distracting from the obscuring mist, flickered out towards Senmitsu all at once – each rushing towards him with mist still clinging to their near-insubstantial forms, like furies from the storm itself.

There were seven in total. It didn’t matter to Ren that Senmitsu’s sparks could easily disrupt these tenuous clones, the mist didn’t give him nearly enough time to make a well thought response. When those clones were destroyed, they’d each let out an intense blast of electric energy, and then his chance would come!

Senmitsu was an overwhelming man. Like trying to swim up a waterfall during a flood, an impossible amount of energy radiated from the man just from sheer force of personality. Ren gritted his teeth and started on his next seals. A non-stop barrage of electric attacks, even if they didn’t have enough power to kill the man out-right, would leave his muscles fatigued, involuntary twitches and cramps...once he pressed his advantage, it would be time to use that.

A ripple shook beneath Senmitsu’s feet, despite his unmoving stance. The warping space could even be felt in the air as the first of the clones finally entered into his reduced range of vision. Like a bowling ball being dropped on a mattress the density of the world around the Konkaji began to twist- but for now, it did nothing but disturb the mist.

The black tip of his red-hot Void ripped through the air. The red hot sparks of his Soul Forge sizzled against the electric glow of the raiton bunshin. One, two, the first clones closest to Senmitsu’s sword dispersed even before the steel could touch. The temperature alone from the burning blade was enough to disrupt the chakra that brought them to life. The gravity of the sword brought a tide of water along with its swing, which Senmitsu sent careening into bunshin numbers three and four. A fifth went down to Senmitsu’s gauntlet-covered fist in his other hand, and the sparks erupting from his sword showered out in one direction, dispatching a sixth.

A perfect sweep. In any other context, Senmitsu’s awareness was unparalleled. He could not be assaulted though the mist despite its perception warping power. In fact the Swordsman seemed almost enhanced by it- his mastery of combat meant no approach was safe, no flank undefended.

But once again, the man from Earth Country forgot where he stood. In Water country, battles didn’t just take place in two dimensions. From beneath the sea came the jittering, cackling sound of an electric hand bursting from beneath the sea. It grabbed his ankle while he was still mid-twist and finishing his attack. For a brief moment the swirling, unnatural fog lit up all at once as the bunshin detonated its latent electricity right into his body, enhanced by the water that now soaked him entirely from his splashing around.

Then the world returned to its hazy state. The crackling faded, apart from the popping of boiling water from the tip of Senmitsu’s sword. It was lowered now, completely dripped into the water below and casting off steam. Senmitsu’s head was similarly dipped and eyes covered by a shredded bandana. The one tattooed arm holding up his sword seemed to shake and shudder, as if the weight of the weapon was just on the threshold of his ability to hold. His muscles twitched and shuddered in protest.

It wasn’t just Senmitsu’s arm that hung low. There was a concavity to where he stood. Even the way he held himself, knees spread and back bent, gave the impression of some tremendous mass holding him in place. It wasn’t like a coiled spring about to snap- the man looked anchored. Stunned.

Open for counterattack.

Ren would have given anything to have his own sword on him, now. He could barely make out what Senmitsu assault, so fast and precise the blows had rolled out of the man, but he could hear the pop-and-sizzle of heat meeting lightning clone, the flash of the sparking explosions rippling through the mist like eels slithering through the shallows. Ren clenched his jagged toothed maw together as he started through a new series of hand-mudra, incanting their names to himself as he quickly molded and kneaded chakra in his body. He might not get another chance!

Ren’s stomach was aflame, irritated from a lack of food and the constant effort over the last few days. The urge to vomit was as strong as ever, like hacking up that metal earlier had set off some signal to keep it coming up. Ren held his breath to ground himself. His feet planted firm on the groun...water. Electricity popped off his fingernails with each seal. The voltage building up within him threatened to zap off into the sea if he couldn’t focus right- a Cloud ninja never had to worry about this, but as Kirigakure’s sole practitioning user of raiton, Ren had to teach himself how to do this without any guidance at all. If nerves cost him his only opportunity to hit Senmitsu, Ren would just have to die from shame instead.

A yellowed tangle of energy coalesced between his hands and he grunted as he captured the jittering jolts with his fingertips. His own aura, one of hair-rising static, flooded the damp surroundings. He had done this once before, in the Calamity- no, then. He hadn’t done it ever before. This would be the first real time. When he used this technique against Endo, it had been thrown out in the heat of the moment. This was the real thing, performed to perfection. The energy was invigorating, and he found himself laughing out loud again, his voice twisting through the mist and coming from every-which-way from Senmitsu’s senses.

“All that bluster!” Ren shouted over the sound of the torrent of energy he was molding between his palms. “I’ll make sure I send the slag of your toys back home for you – I’m sure your Lord would love to piss on ‘em personally!”

Ren felt the moment, right where the ball of lightning would threaten to overwhelm him himself, and spiraled his palms, twisting his arms and grinding his own energy against the electricity, surging each palm towards the opposite elbow. The ball seemed to hover there for just a moment – it’s rotation on the spiral imperceptible to Ren’s unaided eye – and then it launched forward with enough speed and force to suck up his Hidden Mist technique, coursing like a living beast as it rushed over the surface of the water towards Senmitsu. Small arms of energy, little arcs, started to spiral out and cling to the mist and surface of the water as it rocketed forward, making the rotation more apparent, and that energy rushed out until it was like some many-legged spherical beast.

Raiton: Kyuuden (Lightning Release: Ball Lightning)

Named and themed after the strange meteorological element, the user conjures a sphere of humming electricity struggling violently against the bounds of the user's chakra. The shinobi propels Kyuuden in a line toward a target with their chakra, usually at the ground. When it hits a surface kyuuden explodes in a tangle of lightning, dancing around the bodies of anyone within five meters of the impact point, leaving moderate electrical burns across their bodies and causing horrible trouble with fine motor functions for two posts, including those needed to make handseals.

“C’mon, fucker – just die already!”