Kira Sami - j8cob

[j8cob]

"Just a genin?"
One Year and Two Months into Timeskip

SPOILER: Click to show

"Can you let me go now?" Kira asked, her voice sounding more demanding than persuasive. Presently, the teenager was sitting against a tree, with a rope wrapped around her to keep her hands to her sides and her back pinned to the thick tree trunk. In front of her were two men with their backs to her. "You brought this on yourself. All we wanted was to be left alone. Now you wait while we decide what to do with you," the one with long black hair said. Neither turned to look at her, but rather continued their conversation.

But that did not amuse Kira in the least. "Well, can you at least tell me when your boss will be getting back? I'm getting bored sitting here," she complained. This earned an irritated sigh, and the one with long hair turned around again. "No, now be quiet would you? If you shut up we might just let you live." This earned an irritated frown from the teenage girl, and the two men went back to talking. With a sigh, Kira closed her eyes and let her head drop down, her long black hair almost reaching the ground when she did so. However, with her face concealed, she revealed a smirk. Upon looking up again, after snapping her head to the side to get her hair out of her face, she scanned past the two men.

Her gear was sitting on a wooden box ten meters away, but the two men were in the way. Kira didn't pay any attention to the conversation they were having. Rather, she was calculating how distracted they were with each other. "I think when I get home, I'm going to take a break for a while. The wife has been getting lonely, and quite frankly I miss her myself," the black haired one was saying. This earned a respectful nod from his comrade, that also had black hair but cut neat and short. "That's a fair decision. I think it would be best if you continued tagging along, at least until we reach our month's goal. You don't want to go home with less money than you should have. Your woman get a little upset with you."

Before the long haired man could respond to that, he felt a sharp kick to the side of his head. As this made him stumble, the other man turned to face the sound of the kick. Kira quickly turned around and poked the second man in his eyes before he could get his hands up. With both temporarily stunned, Kira ran past them toward her weapons. The man that was kicked looked back at the tree first and saw that the ropes were all intact somehow. Yet she managed to escape? "How did you...?" But he didn't dwell on it very long, and the two men ran after Kira just as she reached her weapons.

The first thing Kira grabbed was her sword, the Hungry Ocean. With that in hand, she held it to her left side with her right hand on the hilt. Her eyes were focused on the two incoming men, both now wielding kunai knives. As they drew near, Kira made a lightning fast draw of her blade and dashed forward. In the blink of an eye, she was behind the two men, sheathing her sword already. "How did you-" the long haired man began to ask again, before being interrupted. Both men received a large, deep gash across their midsections. A bloody one at that. As they both began to fall, Kira answered his question. "I escaped the ropes using the Hozuki clan's secret technique. And I killed the two of you using Iaidō."

The two bodies stopped moving, and Kira stood up straight now. After taking her sweet time retrieving all her weapons, she turned to look back at the bodies. "It was an interesting interrogation, you two. You may not have realized it, but our conversation before really helped me out. Now I don't have to wait until your friends get here. I can just go visit them." After that, she crouched down between the two bodies and turned them over to see their faces. Kira withdrew a Bingo Book from one of her pouches and began flipping through it. "It's a shame I had to kill you two. Neither of you are even in the Bingo Book. That means your deaths were totally in vain, as even I don't benefit from them. Should've let me go."

As Kira stood up, she heard a noise to her side. Upon looking over her shoulder, she saw a young man appear from the trees. He appeared to be about her age, still only a teenager. And upon seeing her over the dead bodies, he froze entirely. Kira stared into his eyes fiercely, intimidating him even more. He is undoubtedly a messenger, Kira thought, continuing the staredown. After a moment of this, the boy suddenly began to flee. Keeping her straight face, Kira began to chase after him. Though she now knew where he was heading, as she heard the others mention the general location of their hideout, this boy would probably lead her straight to it. Kira made sure to maintain a safe distance behind him, so if he were to check if he was being followed he would believe that she never gave chase.

---

She followed him for an hour. It was starting to get exhausting with all the running, especially as she had to do it stealthily to avoid detection by the messenger in front of her. But soon enough, she found that the boy led her to a waterfall. Kira watched as he jumped through the waterfall itself, undoubtedly into a cave behind it. "Thank you, nameless messenger boy," Kira said out loud, before landing on the river that flowed from the waterfall. Rather casually, she began to walk toward the waterfall. She took the moment of peace to adjust her hair and her cloak. Now, only the hilt of her blade was visible from beneath the cloak, effectively concealing all her weapon pouches and the two fuuma shuriken on her back.

At the base of the waterfall, Kira stopped and looked up at it. She wondered how many opponents she would have on the other side. The unknown factor made it a bit dangerous. But she knew that she had the element of surprise. The teenage girl withdrew three kunai, each having an exploding tag attached to the handle. Holding two in her right hand and one in her left, she jumped up through the waterfall, bringing her arms in to prepare the throws. Once she crashed through the falling water, she found a well-lit cave. However, it was more narrow than she thought, so before she landed on the ground she put the kunai away. It seemed at first that there was nobody present, but as the cave winded up ahead and she could hear voices echoing down it, it appeared that was not the case.

Calmly and casually, Kira began walking through the cave. She kept rested her left arm on her sword hilt, which ended up causing her cloak to part somewhat. As she walked, she continued scanning the walls and ceiling, making sure she wouldn't get ambushed. But as the voices became louder and clearer, it became obvious to Kira that she wasn't going to be ambushed. She was the one that would do the ambushing.

Upon walking around one final corner, Kira found that the cave opened up into a sort of large hall. It was obvious this was man made some time ago, as it was far wider than the natural cave was and the floor and walls were smoother. There was a large table, for conferences by the look of it, and above that was a large ornate chair. Presently, there was nine people in the room. Seven men sitting at the table, the messenger conveying his desperate message to them, and an old man sitting in the large chair. The old man appeared very old and rather frail. It almost looked like he hadn't left that seat in years. It wouldn't surprise Kira if that were true.

Upon standing in the open, the old man was the first to notice Kira. He let out a pained grunt, and everyone looked to entrance. Upon seeing the teenage girl again, the messenger boy began to panick. "That's her! The girl that killed Rigoroti and Danzo!" It would then seem that Kira was perceived with infamy among the men. All seven around the table stood up. But Kira didn't say a word. Instead, her right hand moved slowly toward the hilt of Hungry Ocean, firmly latching on while her left hand held the saya. "Kill her," the old man spoke from across the room, surprising Kira. She didn't even think he had the physical capability of speech. As the seven men dispersed, some forming handseals for techniques while other dashed in with blades of their own, Kira's expression suddenly become more fierce and determined.

"Hakujin."

Kira drew her blade in her typical Iaidō style, but upon doing so, her legendary blade let off a sharp wave of chakra all around her. The lightning fast strike was matched by the lightning fast speed of the expanding chakra ring, which disappeared after about ten meters or so. All seven men froze, before blood began spraying from their deep wounds. As they all fell to the floor, it was evident that even the walls around Kira now had cuts into them as deep as ten meters. The messenger boy was visibly shaking now, but the old man didn't seem to react much at all to losing those men in one attack.

"It took a bit of effort to get this far, but I've come for the bounty on your head, Yoshi Kyuuta," Kira said, now sheathing her sword. The old man still didn't react. But at this point, the messenger boy seemed to gather some courage to try and do something. In a quick motion, he moved his hand to his side to withdraw several shuriken to throw at Kira. But she was faster. She withdrew several shuriken of her own and threw them at the boy, all striking deep into his torso. After the boy stumbled back a bit, he fell over and crashed onto a sack that appeared to be filled with wheat. With that out of the way, it just left Kira and Yoshi.

"Your looks are deceiving. You appear to be an old, handicapped man, yet the Bingo Book says you are a very dangerous man. So far as to claim you were once A-ranked. Allow me to introduce myself," Kira said, before taking a surprisingly polite bow to the old man. "My name is Kira Sami, genin of Amegakure." To her surprise, the old man spoke up again. "Just a genin?" he spoke, though his voice did not seem sarcastic. "Yes. Just a genin." With her lightning fast draw, Kira sent a sharp chakra wave at the old man sitting in the chair.

However, it went too high and cut off the top portion of the chair just centimeters from his head. This puzzled Kira. How the hell did I miss? she wondered to herself, before swinging again and sending another one flying. This time, it went to the side and made a slash against the rock wall. A smirk started to form on the old man's lips. "You come in here with much bravado, but you failed to properly research who you were trying to kill." This made Kira scowl. She dashed forward, stopping in front of the old man, before swinging her blade in an incredibly rapid series of slashes. But when she stopped, she noticed that the man was still there. Perfectly unharmed. "Genjutsu," she said aloud, making him laugh.

"That is correct. My genjutsu makes it impossible for you to aim directly at me. Your eyes will deceive you for every strike. In my youth, this allowed me to kill many opponents. It seems even in my old age, I will get to use it a little bit more," the old man said. With this, he slowly stood up from his seat, prompting Kira to backflip several meters away. "If I can't hit you directly, I'll just hit you indirectly!" Kira shouted, sheathing her sword and flipping her cloack back. She began to throw dozens of shuriken at the general area of this man, making sure not to aim directly at him. By using such mass quantity of shuriken, she figured at least one was bound to hit him. But the old man just began chuckling.

"In principle, you are correct. But in practice, you fail." The old man began forming handseals at an alarming speed. This made Kira stop throwing shuriken and prepare for an attack. From the walls to her sides, two pillars of stone shot out. An attempt to crush her between them. However, Kira managed to jump up in time. Now in the air, she withdrew one of her exploding kunai she prepared earlier. "How about this then!? Kira said, before throwing the kunai in front of the old man. His eyes widened in fear as the tag detonated. It was too far away to capture him in the explosion and kill him like that, but the force of it sent him flying backwards, crashing through his chair and slamming into the back wall.

By the time Kira touched down, she had a smirk on her face. "You really shouldn't give me hints like that. I may be young, but I'm not stupid," Kira said, now casually walking toward the old man. He wasn't moving, so Kira crouched in front of him and held his head up. His eyes were closed and he wasn't breathing. His frail body could not withstand the impact. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to check the bodies of your friends and see if any of them are also worth money. No offense to your value or anything, but anything I can get I'll take." With that, she let go of his head and it dropped down again lifelessly. Kira stood up and adjust her cloak again, before withdrawing the Bingo Book she had. "I should be in charge of some type of squad that hunts criminals. I've gotten quite good at it, no?"

She took her time and examined the face of every person there. Only two, aside from Yoshi, were in the Book, but they weren't worth much. Still better than nothing, she thought, putting the Bingo Book away after checking the last body. A glance around the room revealed no secrets. She figured for a travelling band of assassins, they would have more loot or such. But then again, they weren't thieves. They were killers. Their satisfaction came from murder, and the only reason Kira wasn't killed by the two men that captured her was because she spun a good lie. She claimed that Amegakure had intel on Yoshi, but refused to say what it was. While they were deciding whether to just kill her or torture her was when she made her escape. "I thank you all for your time, but I really must get going now. I am kinda far from home now. But I'll be taking some proof of your deaths, as well as the location of this place so others can come take care of your corpses. Oops, I meant bodies." With that, Kira chuckled a bit to herself and began walking away.

But before she could get far, she heard some mumbling from the messenger boy. She had elected not to check his identity, as he appeared too weak and young to have a bounty. With that noise, she stopped and looked over her shoulder. "B-b-b... bu-but..." he began trying to say, clearly in pain. Kira knew that he had severe wounds from her attack, and since most were to his chest he was undoubtedly having difficulty due to lung damage. "Why do you.... why did you do this?" He was now straining to sit upright against the sack of wheat he had fallen on. Kira's expression didn't change in the slightest. In fact, she now looked away. "Because," she began, before walking away. As she reached the exit, she spared no glance at the dying messenger boy. "Because I can."

[j8cob]

The Eighth Blade
One Year and Three Months into Timeskip

SPOILER: Click to show

It took a while to get so far. After all, Amegakure is pretty far from Kirigakure, and Kira had to run most of it. The comfortable ride across the ocean was her break, and probably took the longest part of her trip. But now, after all that travelling, the teenage girl was in the Village Hidden in the Mist. Walking down the streets, she was wary. She had heard many stories of the violent history of this village and its leaders. But so far, it seemed that things were different than what she heard. Which was good. She didn't come here to die, after all. She came here to test herself. Kirigakure was the home of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Kira couldn't think of a better place to test her progress with her own sword skills.

However, she quickly came to find that finding any of the Swordsmen was a hassle. Everywhere she asked, people either didn't know or could confirm that one of them wasn't available for some reason or another. This began to frustrate Kira, but she kept her cool as she searched the unfamiliar city. After several hours, she finally found a lead. Apparently, one of the Swordsmen was in town. Though Kira found this also a bit difficult, as she was informed this particular Swordsman was close to the Mizukage. The fear didn't do well enough to stop her, as she travelled straight to the Mizukage Mansion. Once outside the large building, she took a moment to reflect on how this would go. Considering she was fully armed, and some type of guard would likely answer the door, she might come off as dangerous. So, for once in a long time, she forced a friendly smile onto her face before knocking on the door.

There was no response. After waiting a moment, Kira knocked again. Likewise: nothing. Now she was getting impatient. But just as she was about to knock again, the door opened. On the other side was a very short woman with long brown hair. This woman was much shorter than Kira was, which was surprising as she appeared to be a fully grown woman. "How may I help you?" the woman asked. Kira brought her fist to her mouth and cleared her throat. "Would this happen to be the home of the Mizukage?" Kira asked. This earned a light chuckle from the woman. "I am the Mizukage. Rika Suzu, at your service." This stunned Kira. She never pictured anyone so powerful to be so... unthreatening. Combine that with stories she had heard about the leadership of Kirigakure, and she could never have pictured this woman as the Mizukage.

"Oh, my apologies, Lady Mizukage," Kira said, taking a polite bow. "I'm not from around here, so I'm not very knowledgeable of... well... most anything here." At this point, Rika just laughed. "It's fine. So, who are you and what brings you here?" the Mizukage asked, now leaning against the doorway. "My name is Kira Sami. I am a genin from Amegakure. And no offense, Lady Mizukage, but I was actually pointed this way to find one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, Hiroshi Genji. Is he available?" This earned a very surprised look from Rika. She was surprised that the foreigner wasn't here for her. After a moment of silence, Rika recomposed herself and smiled. "Yes he is, as a matter of fact. Come in."

Once inside, Kira began looking around. The building was massive and fancy. After all, it was a mansion. But while she was taking the sight in, Rika spoke up from behind her. "That's a nice katana you have there," she said, pointing toward Kira's waist. The teenage girl was surprised and looked down. The hilt was protruding from her cloak, which in turn revealed the presence of her blade. This made her chuckle nervously. "It was the blade of my sensei. He entrusted it to me in his last moments," Kira explained. Despite the darkness of her words, her expression did not reflect any sadness or grief. Rika took note of that. Before they could continue their conversation, a tall, white-haired man appeared at the top of the staircase. "Who is this girl, Rika?" Hiroshi asked from the stairs. But before the Mizukage could answer, Kira spoke for herself.

"My name is Kira Sami. I am a genin from Amegakure. And I am here to challenge you to a duel." This created a silence throughout the mansion, before Hiroshi let out a sigh and stood up straight. "Not to sound conceited, but you are aware of my skill and status, correct?" With almost no pause between, Kira spoke up again. "You are Hiroshi Genji, the Rookie Swordsman of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. I know you wield Hiramekarei and the Scorch Release. I also know that despite having the title of 'Rookie' you are considered an A-ranked shinobi. I know my opponent." This created another pause, but a smirk slowly formed on Hiroshi's face. "I cannot guarantee your health." "Do not worry about my health. Do you accept my challenge?"

Hiroshi gave the girl a smile now. "I don't normally just accept challenges like that. But you are an interesting girl, so I accept." A small smirk finally formed on Kira's face, but disappeared quickly. "I only have two conditions for the battle," she began, holding up two fingers. Hiroshi began walking down the stairs, one hand on the banister. "One, it will be a battle of kenjutsu. Two, do not cut my hair." Though Hiroshi smirked at her last condition, the Mizukage busted out laughing. This startled Kira at first, but she forced an awkward smile once she realized that Rika simply found her condition hilarious. "I accept those conditions."

---

The arena wasn't exactly packed, as this wasn't an announced battle. But the group simply left the doors open, so if anyone wanted to see what was going on there was nothing to stop them. So far, there was a few dozen spectators around the arena. Though the Kirigakure Arena was mostly used for Chuunin Exams, it was also used for formal battles. And at Rika's suggestion, Hiroshi and Kira decided to fight there. Standing about twenty meters apart, the two faced each other. Hiroshi's sword, Hiramekarei, was a massive blade. Kira could tell it must weigh a lot. The sword itself was even bigger than the Mizukage, entirely. Hiroshi currently wielded the sword in his hands, already prepared in a fighting stance.

Kira, on the other hand, had not drawn her sword yet. It remained sheathed, but she had her right hand on the hilt and her left on the saya. Her fierce violet eyes were on Hiroshi, and she was itching to test her abilities. The Mizukage was not present, as she stayed at home with her child (which the fact she had one surprised Kira as well), but there was another man in the arena as a sort of referee. He raised his hand up high, before looking at the two foes. Kira was significantly smaller than Hiroshi was, but something about her determined look almost gave the impression that she would be able to match him. After a pause of relative silence, the man thrust his hand forward and shouted "go!"

Hiroshi shot forward at Kira, bringing his sword back. Blue chakra began to coat the blade, making it even longer than it already was. But Kira remained still for a moment. Once he was ten meters, Kira shot forward. In the blink of an eye, her blade met his. This seemed to shock everyone, including Kira. The Hungry Ocean was blocked by Hiramekarei. "You were fast enough to block my Iaidō," she noted aloud. "The fact you even can do that surprised me." Kira jumped back, now wielding her blade in both hands, while Hiroshi simply returned to his own fighting stance. "I am also surprised that your blade didn't break with an impact like that."

This time, Kira took the offensive. She dashed forward, performing a rapid series of slashes at Hiroshi. Her speed surprised him, but the size of his sword combined with his own speed made him able to avoid injuries. This display seemed to impress those that had gathered to watch, but there was no cheering involved. After all, they wouldn't want to cheer for the grown man to defeat the young girl, nor would they want to cheer for the foreigner to beat the local. This rapid-fire attack lasted for a full minute before Kira jumped back. Even with a sword that hefty, he was able to block all of the strikes, Kira thought to herself. With the onslaught over, Hiroshi swung his blade all the way around, before taking a swing at Kira. The chakra surrounding the blade extended, making it able to reach Kira. This surprised her, and she barely got her blade up in time to block the chakra blade from cutting her in half.

But she didn't account for the strength of the impact. This knocked her sideways, sending her crashing into the arena wall. She recovered quickly, but took note that the force behind every swing of Hiroshi's was powerful. "Now I am very surprised your blade did not break," Hiroshi mentioned aloud. This made Kira smirk. "You cannot break Hungry Ocean," Kira said back to him. This made Hiroshi smirk, but Kira continued. "There is an irony in this battle. You possess one of the seven legendary swords, and I possess the rejected eighth legendary sword." This shocked Hiroshi, and made him ponder. "Your blade is a legendary blade, you say?" Rather than simply say yes, Kira decided to demonstrate.

The teenager made one of her rapid, vertical swings at Hiroshi. Despite them being quite far apart, it made no difference. A large wave of chakra was sent from the blade, moving at the speed of the swing. Hiroshi managed to dodge it in time, though it was close. But the slash continued across the entire arena, cleaving through the arena wall entirely. And it didn't stop there. When Hiroshi looked behind himself to see the damage, he could see all the way through the arena and it's stands into the street, where across the street it appeared that a shop took damage as well. It was a miracle that no civilians were hit by that. With a look of shock, Hiroshi turned back to face Kira. "An eighth legendary sword, you say..." he mumbled to himself. But Kira wasn't going to give him all day to reflect on what he just saw.

Once again, in her lightning-fast fashion, Kira tried another Iaidō type slash. But this time, she found that Hiroshi dodged. Time seemed to slow down as Kira looked to her left. Hiroshi was planting his right foot and preparing a swing. His clothes had a slash through them, exposing his abdomen. But the narrow dodge saved his skin, and the damage only went as deep as his shirt. As Hiroshi swung again, Kira ducked underneath and tried an upward slash. Hiroshi turned sideways, avoiding the attack. But as he did so, he held his blade upright as the chakra around it formed the shape of a hammer. When he jumped back and swung again, Kira performed a backflip and landed several meters away, her sword already sheathed again. But by the time she looked up, Hiroshi was swinging again with Hiramekarei, only the chakra was in the shape of a blade again. Kira brought her sword up to block it, like the last time he tried that. Only once his chakra blade crashed into her sword, the chakra blade changed shape.

The chakra went around her blade and slashed right through Kira. She had a look of shock as she was cut in half. But Hiroshi's expression was also one of shock. Where his chakra blade went through her, her body splashed like water. And as it finished passing through, her upper and lower half reconnected themselves. "Hozuki," Hiroshi said aloud, bringing Hiramekarei in an upright stance again. Kira looked at Hiroshi, totally shocked at what happened. If it weren't for Hydrification, she would've been dead. Her speed was all for nothing. With a disappointed sigh, Kira stood up straight and raised her hand. "As you dealt a killing blow, it is safe to say that you won the match." This also surprised Hiroshi, and he relaxed out of his own combat stance and began to approach Kira.

"I'm beginning to think you lied earlier about who you are," Hiroshi said bluntly, though his voice was not accusatory at all. Kira shook her head. "I am exactly who I said I was. Nothing more, nothing less. I learned the Hozuki secret techniques from my sensei, Kirugetsu Hozuki." This made Hiroshi pause, as well as the fact he was now close enough to properly converse. "I've heard about him. He tried to become a Ninja Swordsman of the Mist. And I presume it was with that blade he tried to enter, based on my knowledge and your story earlier." The tall man pointed at the sheathed sword, and Kira nodded. "That is correct. My goal was to come to Kirigakure and test my ability with the blade. I have a long way to go, it would seem. Both literally and figuratively, as I shall now take my leave back to Amegakure."

As suddenly as Kira had appeared earlier in the day, she was leaving. "Wait," Hiroshi called out, stopping Kira from leaving the arena. "Your skills are incredible. I have never seen a genin with your level of mastery, especially of something as advanced as Iaidō." Kira stopped and turned to face Hiroshi. Before she spoke, she lifted a hand and brushed some of her hair from her face. "I am not a genin from lack of skill, but rather lack of time. I've never attended any Chuunin Exams, for I have been too busy training." This brought a smirk to Hiroshi's face. "It looks to have paid off. But here is some advice..."

"Your offense is incredible for one of your age, but you lack defensive skills. That is something you should practice. As well, your Iaidō is obvious to any kenjutsu expert. It isn't that your strikes are too slow, but rather that they are predictable. You should find some way to make your Iaidō more unpredictable, and you can very well become a powerful swordsman. Er, swordswoman?" Though he said it as a joke, Kira's expression didn't change. Now that Hiroshi thought about it, she didn't smile once. "Thank you for your advice, Hiroshi. I will keep that in mind as I train." With this serving as a farewell, Hiroshi frowned slightly. For a teenage girl, she was quite the opposite of sociable. But he could feel it in every strike she made that she certainly had determination.

As Kira left the arena and walked down the street, she took one last glance over her shoulder. I have improved greatly, but I have a long way to go. But don't worry, Kirugetsu-sensei. I will still make you proud, she thought to herself, before turning her violet eyes back to the road ahead.

[j8cob]

The Ronin versus The Green Falcon
One Year and Four Months into Timeskip
j8cob and Roran Hawkins

After some simple asking around, Kira was able to figure out where his home was. To find Kensuke Nimatsu, it would be wisest to start where he lives. She had come this far from her own home, and wouldn't be dissuaded if she couldn't find him immediately. But as the teenage girl walked down the street, her straw hat covering her face from the sunlight (rather than rain it typically blocked), she spotted the building she was looking for. Her sense of navigation wasn't the best, but she was pointed in this direction. So the teenage girl approached the door and gave a sharp knock.

The door was opened a relatively long period later, and the creaking sound was accompagnied by soft grumbling. Once Kensuke saw who was disturbing him, his frown grew deeper. Someone he never let before usually meant bad things. Especially should those be in full equipment and with a hood on. Doing his best to sound polite, he swallowed his annoyment. "How can I help you?"

Once the door was opened, Kira took a step backwards to maintain a polite space between the two. "I am looking for Kensuke Nimatsu. I've heard he is a skilled swordsman, and I wish to challenge him to a duel," she said, already assuming the young man before her was Kensuke but not wishing to vocalize that assumption. She noticed that he was quite tall, and she considered herself to be a bit taller than the average. But he appeared to be three or four years older than her. "Would that happen to be you?"

His frown dissolved and a soft smile grew on his face as he played with the paintbrush in his hands. Yes, that'd be a nice distraction. He had learned to paint once, but that was a long time ago. This painting he was making for someone's birthday was proving to be a hellish challenge, and he had started over more times than he sould have, and now resorted to practising a bit more. Enough frustration that could be thrown out in a duel. "Yes, my name is Kensuke Nimatsu. However, before talking about any duels, I wish to know who you are, and why you want to duel me." He answered, leaning against the door opening.

Though the man before her smiled, she did not return it. Her expression remained as somber as it always was. "My name is Kira Sami," she began, now taking one hand to remove her straw hat. She made a quick brush of her long black hair to fully reveal her face and both her violet eyes. "I am a genin of Amegakure, and I am here to test my ability with a sword. I had heard about the Green Falcon before, and took the time to find you just for that test." With the formalities out of the way, she put the straw hat back on. The rain wasn't the most pleasant thing to get on her face, but she found the sunlight quite bright.

His smile faded as soon as she mentioned she was from Amegakure. Unwanted memories forced themselves into his eyes, and once more he saw Samaki Samutabe die by his hands, and the despair in the eyes of Eiji, he saw his bloodstained hands hold Sachi, their child, and he could feel his heart freeze under the touch of guilt. He quickly shook that feeling off, and gave the genin a second look. She looked well-trained, as any genin, but there was an air of competence and trust in her own abilities, paired with the look of her blade, that made him reconsider her offer. "Well then, as you challenge me to a duel, please state your terms. I have fought many duels before, and despite what you may have been led to believe, duels are no affair to treat rashly. Perhaps you should reconsider your challenge?"

He advised her carefully, wishing to avoid the genin skewering herself on his sword. Thereby, Amegakure wasn't quite fond of him already, being the thorn in their side as clanleader of the neighbouring Nimatsu Clan and having killed one of their better jounin.

The teenage girl raised her hand, with three fingers pointed upwards. "In your case, I have three conditions." Two of her fingers went down, only holding one up now. "First condition, you will not hold back." A second finger was raised. "Second, this will be a battle of kenjutsu." Now all three fingers were raised again. "And third, you will not cut my hair. I am aware of the severity of duels, and I can assure you that I will be fine. This isn't my first time, after all." With that explained, she brought her arm back down, and what seemed to be a small grin formed at the end of her lips, but it vanished fairly quickly. "Do you have any problems with that?"

Kensuke nodded. These were terms he could fight on, and he had at least tried to make her reconsider. He hoped that he could forgive himself should he kill her, and that he wouldn't cause any more international trouble, should that happen. Before he spoke however, the idea of losing appeared in his mind, and he smiled as he thought about that possibility. Ofcourse, it was possible that he could lose, but the chance that he would was very small. He had incessantly trained his kenjutsu eversince he was five, and he was 20 years old now. Chances were good that he had been training longer than the girl had lived. "No, I do not. I accept this duel on your terms. But allow me to ask, why your hair?" He said, turning around and inviting her inside. He stored away his painting equipment and washed his hands, and awaited the girl's answer before preparing for the duel. As she came here all the way from Amegakure all on her own, undoubtedly she'd want her duel right now.

With the inviting gesture, Kira entered the house. To her surprise, Kensuke was the first person to inquire about her final condition (as it was always her final condition). "It took a long time to get my hair to this length, and I like it that way," Kira said rather simply. "So it would bother me greatly to have to grow it out again." This time, it was obvious that she grinned, but she still tried her best to keep a straight face. "I may not be the most feminine, but I still appreciate my hair." Once inside, Kira removed her straw hat again, as there was no sunlight to bother her now.

"That's an acceptable explanation. Howmany duels have you been fighting so far, since it seems to me that you aren't challenging someone for the first time." He asked as he went inside his room, where he put on his padding vest. It was a small vest he wore under his armour and over his clothing that was both useful, being fire-retardant, as required, so the armour itself wouldn't hurt him. Over that he put on his do, kusazuri and sode, over which he attached the uwa-obi, or the rather traditional belt on which his katana was attached. Leading her outside as they conversed, he led her to an empty trainingfield where they wouldn't be disturbed. Trainingfield 79'd have to do. It was recently repaired from 'occasional damage'. Probably an earth-style user having ravaged the terrain once more.

While Kensuke was preparing himself, Kira took the opportunity to answer his question. "Formal duels, the number isn't that many. I believe only... four. But one of those duels was against one of the Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist," she began. She left a pause after that, to stir curiosity, before simply adding "He defeated me." With a light chuckle after that, she recomposed herself. "But the others were victorious. I have spent several years now training non-stop, and am curious to see how my progress matches up against those renowned for their skills. I feel it is the only appropriate way to gauge my skill."

He was impressed by her achievements so far, and if he judged her correctly, he'd have an interesting fight up ahead. "I see. You have an interesting resumé so far. Let's see if you can beat me." He said with a form of honest admiration.

Walking on the grassy field, and testing the ground, he stretched his muscles before taking place. "I suppose you're ready?" He replied, while he used his dojutsu to its full ability to scan her body language for any hints regarding her fighting style. He noticed that she was right-handed by her footwork, which seemed to be quite good, based off how she adopted a combat position, but not ideal. Her build lent towards speed more than strenght, but to perfect that she'd need to practice on footwork a bit better to get the most of our her swings.

When they were at the trainingfield, Kira took a moment to examine her surroundings. Once she was familiar, she adopted her stance. Sinking a bit lower, with her right arm across to grip the hilt of her blade. "Back in Amegakure, the other shinobi started to call me the Ronin. I don't think it is because of my skill with the blade, but rather my lack of a master. I have no sensei, no team. My rank of genin simply remains as I haven't taken the time from my training regimen to attend any Chuunin Exams. I think this is a fair warning. Just remember my first and third condition now," Kira said, a grin forming on her face. Undoubtedly, Kensuke would be familiar with Iaidō, so Kira began thinking of ways to make it unpredictable. She needed to use her speed if she wanted to actually defeat this man, but he would be expecting her to be fast. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

eLet us begin then as soon as that couple passed that willow tree." He replied, nodding at the twosome of people in the distance, clearly visible against the bleak wall they were walking besides. He took this time to overthink her words and properly estimate her skill level, to make sure he wouldn't make any big mistakes that could cost him... or her. He decided to allow her the initiative as to prove what she was capable of, while remaining vigilant of her abilities. Only a few more meters untill the willow...

Kira flicked her head to the side, sending the straw hat to the ground. She didn't want her vision hampered, even if it meant the sun would shine directly on her face. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the two walk along the road. And they got closer, closer, closer... The two passed the willow tree, and Kira shot forward like a bullet. As she dashed forward, she tried to surprise Kensuke with sheer speed, performing one of her Iaidō draws toward his midsection. With his armor, the blow shouldn't be fatal should he fail to block or dodge, but Kira wasn't thinking about saving his health. She was thinking about her next move should he block.

Her speed was impressive, but he had been more than prepared. He unsheathed his own sword in a fluid and practised motion, and stepped forwards with his left foot, catching her blade with the flat of his own, about a few inches above his hilt, where he could put the most pressure on her sword. Due to her being right-handed and using the Iaido move, it was very predictable for her attack to arrive on his right side, and should she have attacked his left side, the speed of her attack would have had to pay for that. In an instinctive combination of movements he quickly pushed his sword upwards, using his hilt to push her blade out of the way for an attack towards her belly, which he executed by letting his blade 'fall' while keeping his hands high, as to surprise her. While his attack would have less force, it would be a lot faster and come from a strange angle like this, making it a hard move to block properly.

The teenager was surprised that he managed to block her strike. She was beginning to notice a consistency among talented swordsmen that they were able to counter her speed. This proved the point that her strike was predictable. This made her frown, but Kensuke wasted no time in counter-attacking. Kira knew her strength was sub-par, so a successful block could go sour. Especially assuming that he was much stronger than her. As Kensuke manuevered his blade around hers, Kira went even lower to the ground to slide past Kensuke. Surely his blade could follow her, but she also brought the Hungry Ocean low with her, to slash at his lower left leg. It was literally a low blow, but Kira didn't want to risk letting him take the offensive. She had to keep moving or he would undoubtedly break her guard and land a strike.

Noticing her change of direction the moment her foot touched the ground, he turned as she passed him, lifting his left foot out of danger. Her reaction had been quick enough to evade his attack and to limit him from counterattacking during her dodge, but not after it. The moment he stood on two feet again he stepped forwards, determined to keep the pressure on, and raised his sword over his head for acut that could cleave her in half, but could also change direction to a horzontal or a diagnoal cut, should he drop his sword again with his wrists. Because he had the initiative here, the risk that she could use the opening it provided was minimal, and the offensive potential of this move was more than worth the risk. This time, he chose to let the attack drop to her lower right side, attacking her knee.

He had managed to avoid the slash, but it gave the change of stance she needed. With Kensuke now slightly to the side, Kira pushed all her momentum into her feet to jump away from his reach. At the rate it was going, he would undoubtedly find a weak point in her offensive. So she need to use a hit-and-run strategy. As she landed to her safety, she resheathed the Hungry Ocean, and momentarily contemplated using it's abilities. After all, it would still be kenjutsu. But she decided to not reveal that card yet, and while Kensuke would probably be readying himself for another Iaidō attack, Kira jumped into the air with a spin. If he was paying attention with his dojutsu, he would see that under her cloak she was armed to the teeth. But her honor wouldn't allow her to use any of her shurikenjutsu. And as she descended on Kensuke, Kira timed her draw with her spin to slash vertically above Kensuke's left shoulder. A strike that would potentially mutilate him, though his armor would most likely protect that. Or... As Kira descended, Kensuke might noticed the muscle mass and definition in her arms substantially increase as she added some power with the Great Water Arm technique. Block this, she thought to herself as a sort of encouragement.

After she quickly escaped any follow-up atacks from him, he stepped back with his left leg, ready to react on any new attack. Pressing his attack now would be foolish, as she clearly was unaffected by the pressure to far, and it would be more dangerous to him than to her. As she rushed forwards after sheathing her blade, he saw she went for a vertical strike this time, a risky manouvre. She depended on her speed for protection, but his dojutsu had betrayed her intentions and allowed Kensuke to step to the left while guiding her sword to his right with a parry, and as soon as her blade was set in a harmless course, his sword left a shimmering after-image as it soared towards her neck from her right side.

As Kensuke side-stepped her strike, Kira had a temporary look of shock. Her speed wasn't matched at all, but rather she was predicted. How? As her blade went off-course and he brought his sword up, Kira looked in a panic. This would not make Kirugetsu-sensei proud. Time seemed to slow down as she conveyed her options. This one failure would end the duel now if she gave up. But a look of determination took over her features. In a surprising move, Kira let go of her sword and changed the direction of her spin. Though it wouldn't help much, it avoided losing so quickly as the blade narrowly avoided her neck (and thankfully her hair as well). Before she could hit the ground, she grabbed her blade out of the air again, and then proceeded to crash to the ground on her side in an unprofessional way. Before he would get a chance to strike her while she was vulnerable, Kira placed her feet firmly on the ground and kicked off.

This forced her into a backflip, letting her land just out of range of Kensuke. "I'm that predictable?" she said aloud, though it was more of an accident than actually communicating. Now she was breathing hard. She has had more close calls than she would want so far, and the duel had hardly been thirty seconds. I have to do it, she thought to herself, once again sheathing her sword. But rather than dash toward Kensuke, she jumped backwards. And as she performed yet another Iaidō draw, her blade let off a sharp wave of chakra. It flew through the air horizontally, and with the exact same speed of her draw. Of course, it's lack of thickness could make an easy dodge if he saw it coming, but Kira hoped the speed (and hopefully unpredictability) of it would get past his defenses and strike him directly in his midsection.

"Not quite." He replied calmly, awaiting her inevitable attack. This time however, she caught him by surprise with the way she attacked. Ofcourse, in a real fight he never used anything else than what she did right now, but he had expected another charge again. He coated his sword with the flying swallow technique and used it to cut through the chakra wave comnig for him and dash forwards himself. While charging he sent a falcon wing attack in a horizontal slash towards her to occupy her while he covered the distance. In any case, the real atack behind the shockwave of wind was aimed towards the middle of her chest, the target zone that was the hardest to dodge with.

He had a technique like hers? This surprised Kira. And since she was still in the air, she knew how this was going to go. He would meet her once she landed and take advantage of the window of vulnerability. This remined her of the words of the Ninja Swordsman, that she needed to work on her defensive capabilities. But she also remembered something else. Maybe if I don't let his moves put me on the defensive and go pure offense, she thought to herself. To test this out, while Kensuke sent the falcon wing attack at her, Kira began making rapid slices through the air. And with each swing of her blade, she sent another slice of chakra at Kensuke. And with the sheer speed of her swings, she hoped that it would prove to be a relentless wall of cutting chakra and force him to back off rather than close in. The falcon wing attack was stopped in this fashion, which gave Kira a sigh of relief. But she knew that if she kept this barrage up, it would go through her chakra like nothing else.

He frowned from concentration when he realized what she was doing, and how his falcon wing attack had been quite literally had been cut to pieces. He slided to a halt while charging chakra in his own blade, and fired a single lethal falcon blade attack in her general direction. It was enough chakra to effortlessly cut through the different chakra slices it encountered, but was unlikely to hit her. Hitting her wasn't his intention however. He used the gap created by his attack and the distraction it provided to sneak through her barrage. He ran towards her in a soft arc towards her left side, along the lenght of his attack to concel his approach as long as possible, and then charged her as soon as his attack passed her.

Somehow, he mustered a strike to cut through hers. Kira leaned backwards a bit, to dodge his falcon blade attack. But the effect of it was clear. It carved a survivable path through her barrage. And as Kira began to right herself again, just as she was touching down, she saw Kensuke approaching. I guess it can be expected from a swordsman of his caliber, she thought to herself, sheathing her sword. I have already lost. But not before I show him one last attack. Kira's violet eyes burned with determination again. She placed her left foot behind herself, for support, and sunk low again. It was obvious she was taking an Iaidō stance.

"Behold an attack both unblockable and undodgeable," she said aloud, before timing her draw just before she was in Kensuke's range. Like before, it let off a wave of cutting chakra. Unlike before, it was large and powerful. The wave was easily ten times thicker than her katana, and it's length was several meters. But the speed and cutting power was it's lethality. The speed of an Iaidō draw combined with enough power to cleave through Kensuke's sword, Kensuke, and several dozen trees in the distance behind him. But Kira knew that the battle was over here, one way or another. That attack took nearly all of her remaining chakra.

"Oh great..." He muttered as he saw the attack coming for him. There was no time to dodge, and storing enough chakra in his blade to defend himself with an attack of his own would take too much time. Instead, he caught the attack with his chakra-loaded sword, activiating one of his more demanding and strongest moves. Mirror blade. While he could hardly absorb the entire attack as it passed too fast, a large section of it that would hit him was instantuously sealed in his sword as he continued charging towards her. Ready to release the attack he just absorbed, he prepared to finish the fight.

Kira's eyes widened in shock as he somehow managed to absorb her attack. Though, not all of it, but enough to carve a path through it. The two surviving sections to Kensuke's sides continued on, crashing through the forest. Kira didn't know if that would get them in trouble or not, because she predicted that alone would probably cut down nearly a hundred trees. But the more pressing matter was that Kensuke now basically won. Her chakra was too low to attempt that again, and Kensuke was too close to do anything but one last Iaidō draw, which wouldn't even break his armor should he neglect to block it. With a sigh, Kira sheathed her sword and prepared her final, defiant act. At Kensuke's current range, her speed would not help her with such low energy. As he would make his swing, she made hers, though her draw was notably the slowest one she had used yet.

He closed in and parried the blow with his left armguard as he prepared to swing his own blade. However, her quick attack had denied him the opportunity to hit her directly with his sword, so he planted his shoulder in her chest and knocked her to the ground, and unleashed the stored chakra wave on the downed girl. It was an attack she simply could not avoid or protect herelf against, and they both knew it.


After the dust would clear, a hand would be found outstretched towards her, and the deep cut through the ground right besides her head still puffed out smoke and dust. Remarkably not a single of her hairs was harmed by the chakra wave that had passed mere inches over her head. "Well-fought."

The shoulder-check surprised Kira, as she figured he would cut her down after a parry. The impact hurt a bit, but not too much. And as he prepared to swing down, Kira looked onwards without even flinching. Once the smoke cleared and she realized he hadn't struck her directly, she looked up a bit to see the gash through the ground next to her head. This was the most surprising thing so far today. Giving Kensuke a shocked expression, she accepted the hand and let him pull her up to her feet. "You were stronger than I expected," she said rather simply, before turning to look at the slash in the ground.

"I wouldn't have done that," she added, before looking back at Kensuke. She had a grin on her face. "You shouldn't have shown me mercy. A less honorable person would've taken advantage. And in my case..." Kira drew her sword slowly, to emphasize tha she wasn't being threatening. With that, she swiped the blade across her left leg. It made a splashing sound and passed through, seemingly without harming Kira. "I am capable of taking debilitating losses." With that shown, she slowly sheathed her sword. She could feel tired. Her last attack basically left her running on empty.

He raised both his eyebrows after a quick demonstration of her last life-saving ability. "That's one very interesting technique right there. Hydrification, right? Although," He added, sending chakra into his own blade, setting it on fire. ", I also have a trick to make you sweat." He added with a content smile as he quenched the fire and sheathed his blade. "Although, I must admit that you surprised me. it has been a long time since I met someone who could keep up with my kenjutsu. If I may give you some advice, I suggest you improve your footwork. I have my dojutsu to predict your every move, but even without it I could have been in time to prepare for some of your attacks. And lastly, be unpredictable. You already are somewhat, but try to do what your enemy does not expect. Even if it doesn't work, it makes him pretty nervous at least."

The teenage girl nodded at his words. This made two accomplished swordsmen telling her to be more unpredictable. Clearly this was a big weak point. "Thank you for your advice," she said, giving a polite bow. Once she stood upright, she wobbled a bit, but managed to stay standing. "It is the secret technique of the Hozuki clan, Hydrification. That is correct. It was one of the gifts my former sensei had entrusted me with," Kira explained, before resting her left hand on the hilt of the Hungry Ocean. "Another was my legendary blade, the Hungry Ocean. But the most important thing he gave me was my confidence and determination. That is the reason I have sought you out. To see where that has gotten me since he has been gone." Kira looked over to where the battle started and saw her straw hat sitting nicely on the ground. "I have a long way to go."

"I see. I wish you a lot of luck then, and I hope that the next time we will meet, we will meet as allies, for I wouldn't want to face an enemy like you." He replied with a respectful bow as she put on her hat. The sword looked pretty plain, just like his own, with some sober decorations, much like his own. The craftsmanship that was visible in the blade itself proved that that sword was a weapon that was smithed to be used as a weapon of great value. A sword wasn't beautiful because of how shiny and perfect it looked, but it was beautiful it it served its duty. Anything beyond that was making it a more desirable object for a thief to take. Her sensei's other gift however, the hydrification technique, was something that could hardly be stolen. An invaluable gift that would one day turn her into a near invincible swordmaster. At least she trained and fought in the best way possible. Only resorting to her hydrification when absolutely necessary only honed her talent with the blade, and should she in a fight use both at the same time once she'd have fully matured, she'd be hardly beatable.

After Kira settled the hat back on her head, she turned around to face Kensuke. Part of her made her feel childish for challenging someone of his ability while she was still clearly outclassed. But the other part was glad she did so, because she can see her weak points more clearly now. "Thank you, Kensuke Nimatsu. We will meet again one day, this I can promise," she said, a genuine smile on her face for the first time since he met her. It was a hard battle, and though she lost she found it enjoyable. Taking a moment to brush some of her hair out of her face, she looked around the trainingfield. The cut down trees could be thought of as a testament to her capability. But the strip of intact trees between the strips of chopped ones was also a testament to Kensuke's ability to counter her every move. She was too predictable. With that in mind, her smile vanished and she nodded to Kensuke. "I will return in a year to check my progress again," she said, serving that as her sort of farewell. Though she wouldn't be leaving Konoha immediately, as she felt too tired to start travelling again, she didn't plan on attempting anything else exciting before she did leave. And with that, the girl turned away and began walking away from the trainingfield.