Hinagiku
"You took the words right out of my mouth—"
A sly shift of the eyes brought Hinagiku's vision away from the haughty Yuki. Once golden and fallen to darkness, a section of the Dodecahedron had grey to a brittle hue.
Tension coiled in the Jonin's body. Ligaments and tendons holding force like taunt bowstrings. In heartbeat, her body snapped into motion— an unswerving arrow on a collision course with the Dodecahedron's walls.
"—Surprise~!"
The Ice-wall gave way, its structure collapsing as Hinagiku delivered a fierce palm-blow. In but a few breaths of time, Hina was out and rapidly scampering away. Even as she made off to vanish into the forest, her voice called back. "I told you, darling, I never lose at tag...~"
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To make sense of everything that led up to Hinagiku's smooth escape, time would need to be rewound.
A few seconds earlier, while Hama had been shifting her dodecahedron into position, Hina had not been idle. The ash-grey waters that Hama had so conveniently avoided had been seized by her control. When the Yuki's ice dome had formed, Hina had beckoned the impure liquid towards her person. As a result, it'd met with the semi-solid ice dome and began mixing. The chilling nature of the Ice-release chakra woven into the dome then began to work its magic. the mixture of liquids began to freeze-dry, forming into . . .cement!
One of Hinagiku's preparations for this mission had been several cache's of rock-dust. To be more specific, limestone dust. While merely some crushed up rocks in that hands of the unskilled, Hina had been able to convert this limestone to a more useful form —Calcium Oxide! More commonly known as Quicklime and was a major component in cement mix!
A simple addition of water and sand would allow the creation of a primitive brick. It went without saying that no sand had been mixed in. A combination of insufficient materials as well as a weakened structure —caused by the freeze-drying of the mixture— had allowed a pseudo-concrete to be created within Hama's ice dome. Much weaker than the other sections of the dome, Hina had been able to smash through it without much trouble.
Baiyan
"Yes...the 6th sister."
The sword star was troubled —nay, curious— about these rapid new developments. Lin Chong, the Majestic Star, was in Takigakure, and just the other day Baiyan had received a missive for search. In addition, it had only been a few months ago that Nadeshiko had gone contrary to its norm. They had sent a kunoichi to take part in the Chūnin Exams.
Given the event was a series of war games which drew the attention of the entire ninja world, there was no better stage to perform on, and the one chosen to perform on that stage had been Sagisō. It was through her that Nadeshiko had revealed its fangs to the world.
From what Baiyan knew, her 36th sister had done her job perfectly, achieving success in the qualifying rounds. She'd copped out as a member of the top 8. An excellent position —one which couldn't have been more perfect. It was just enough to display Nadeshiko's metal without drawing too much attention to themselves. It was rather odd to see someone from a minor village making the top 8 after all.
Sagisō might've been the biggest dark horse of the tournament had it not been for...
Taking the exams by storm a young, feisty Amegakure ninja had snagged the seat of the victor. Even further, she'd directly challenged the authority of the five great Nations. It'd been three months since then, and news traveled fast. The Chūnin exams were watched by hundreds, if not thousands after all. Even here in Takigakure, Baiyan had caught wind of the proceedings.
To have then been approached by an Amegakure Shinobi who knew Sagisō from the Chūnin exams? There were hardly so many coincidences in the world.
Disregarding the situations Nadeshiko was directly involved in; Konohagakure had been attacked, and posters for a missing Jinchuriki had been littered everywhere. Whispers and rumors filled the darkest alleyways —whispers of change.
Baiyan agreed with them. Change was indeed coming. However, an era of change must first be preceded by an era of chaos!
Coming to the realization, the Sword Star burst into uproarious laughter. She giddy with her excitement, and she could feel the vibrations in her sword. A premonition —it would see more blood than it's creator had ever imagined.
Stifling her outburst, she turned towards Azumi. "Allow me to introduce myself yet again —Baiyan Lianhua, Nadeshiko's Sword Star, Ranked 27th and Nickname the Pertinacious, but— you can call me Ruan Jin'er! As for you...Sayuri fits, doesn't it?"
Her eyes were wide open. Lightlessly dull and amber, and seeming to size up Azumi —nay, Sayuri— in a new light.
"Well— shall we depart?"
Hyōryugetsu
Chakra laced palms delivered an unending stream of devastating palm blows. Flexible wrists, and well-oiled joints provided leverage and control. The opposing Hyuga battled with one of the most variable fighting style Hyo had ever encountered. Solely through their brief combat, the Hozuki had been able to identify three different attacking patterns in the girl's movements.
Sometimes she was ferocious. Fingers hooked like 3-inch claw she punished the air; sending it screaming in shrill tones. The Hozuki had seen those beast-claws in action, leaving deep lacerations in tree trunks and rending apart bolts of water. The power with which she struck betrayed her slender figure, and it didn't take an expert to realize there was more at work than simple chakra.
Other times she was graceful. Arms loose and supple, striking like whips guided by her whirling shoulders. Rather than palm strikes, what tipped the end of these whips were dagger-like chops and swift shocks. It was not the change in attacks that had allowed the Hozuki to notice this variation. Instead, it was the abrupt snap of speed which accompanied its strikes.
At yet other times, she was ruthlessly efficient. Shoulders, elbow, knee and hip strikes flowed into each other, each aimed at vital areas of the body. They were serpentine strikes laced with a chakra blocking venom.
But no matter how varied and unpredictable her strikes, Hyoryugetsu could top them. Regardless of how well the attacks were lined up or how inescapable the situation seemed, Hyoryugetsu would also slip away at the last moment. A severing strike toward her waist would be dodged by separating her body, allowing the strike to pass between the two halves.
She could count the number of times her opponent had balked —however briefly— at a maneuver that shouldn't have been humanly possible. The being said, the surprise went both ways...
Without a doubt, it was those eyes. Nothing the Hozuki did could be hidden from them. Morphing an arm into a blade, or growing a row of spikes from her skin. Each attack, no matter how sneakily performed would be seen and reacted to.
This had been, without a doubt, a complete stalemate from the first exchange of blows. That balance had been maintained until her opponent had been —quite rudely— snatched away.
As the figure blinked into the distance, Hyoryugetsu stood still —observing. It was, after a moment of thought, that she determined the best course of action. Biting down on her thumb, she summoned Lluvia. The once clear skies darkened with clouds, and with a resounding crash of thunder, the skies wept. Sheets of bone-chilling rain descended on the battlefield, drenching everything. Needless to say, the oil fire had erupted with unspeakable fury and was now devouring its way through the forest and a breakneck pace.
It was then, and only then, that Hyoryugetsu began her pursuit.
While she herself had no chance of catching up to her target, her rain were another story. Icy droplets shrouded the location of Kai's scuffle with Shura, weaving together into thick curtains of mold-able water. Which was exactly what Hyo aimed for.
Right after the Clone has snagged the Shinobi turned Shuriken, it shot towards a nearby tree and used the trunk as a springboard to high-vault over Kai's charging ice dome. The clone appeared to have determined that going above, and in opposite direction of Kai's momentum was the optimal choice. The Yuki's ice-dome was being guided by the tendrils growing from the side and giving it propulsion. However, another way to look at it was that those tendrils were the only things able to change the Ice-ball's velocity & momentum.
Even if the aforementioned assumption was false, given that the Yuki was now airborne and had sizable magnitude of momentum, to change direction he could only leverage those tentacles. However, to obstruct the clone he would need to not only completely reverse his momentum, but also add vertical momentum to intercept the aerial-clone.
However, that didn't account for Hyo nor her rains. Thus, in that moment —as the clone was air-borne, and surrounded by water— that Hyo acted. Under the Hozuki's manipulation, the rain drops gathered around the clone, forming in impromptu water prison.
'Gotcha— wait, WHAT!?'
Almost as quickly as it'd formed, the ball of water shattered. It's volume drenching the ground below. Completely unhindered, the Clone landed on a tree-branch and began to dart from branch to branch.
Hyoryugetsu watched, wide-eyed, but her attention was focused on the puddle of water that had once formed her jutsu. It had only been a brief moment, but the feeling transmitted through the chakra in the water was enough for the Hozuki to piece something together. There'd been a brief 'shock' of chakra emitted from the Clone's body that had disrupted her own ability to control the water.
Pursuit...would be no easy task. The clone soon vanished behind a blockage of trees and branches, but Hyo was not concerned. As long as the clone was within her localized rain storm, she would be able to sense its general location.
But, even before any kind of pursuit could be initiated, they first needed to gather their bearings and with that in mind— "Well, Prince, are we going or..?" —she turned to Kai.
