Colosseum - Round 2 - Strazio Rockwell vs Kakashi Hatake

[Kakashi Hatake]

Kakashi’s eyes sprang open in shock as his saber slashed at the stormcloud of his opponent’s roiling flesh-sparks. The masked shinobi could only scramble to raise his ossified aegus, the macabre barrier doing little to stall the pernicious pyromancer’s intense incursion. Pain danced across his flesh as the motes of molten energy tore into his skin, his body recoiling reflexively from the blast. The scarecrow soon found himself tumbling laterally, perhaps in a conditioned response to the fiery sensation now sending bolts of agony along his neurons. Whatever the case, his brain soon recognized a falling sensation as he rolled clumsily off of the platform.

This is no way for a battle to end…

Before he could further contemplate his failure, the copy ninja felt another sharp pang of agony as the raw flesh of his recently scorched shoulder struck steel. Though the cool metal was a welcome sensation, Kakashi was more pleased with the ‘not being in poison sludge’ aspect. As he got his bearings, the Anbu captain had to admit that he had never encountered an enemy with a technique quite this destructive. Moreover, his foe evidently had no qualms with turning his abilities on his own body, making himself a living weapon. It was painfully obvious why Rockwell had elected to eschew the plethora of available armaments; he did not need them.

Pain prickled across the swordsman’s body, his minimalist armor now mostly shredded by the barrage of explosive attacks doled out by his foe. His torso had taken a serious beating, though his scorched arms had not fared much better. The mage, however, had sustain a good deal of damage as well, his swollen visage a testament of this. Kakashi raised himself painfully to a seated position, his sharingan honing on the rapidly-moving cloud of sparks that was his opponent. He watched with contempt, barely hidden beneath the lip of the platform, as the sorcerer’s form again became tangible, a smirk pasted on his ravaged face.

“Hidhing again?!” Rockwell lisped, his swollen lips betraying his attempts at speech.

Hatake had to agree with the battlemage, concealment would do little to help him at this juncture. He had lost his smoldering shillelagh in his initial assault and surmised the odds of successfully re-arming himself were slimmer than he’d like. The silver-haired shinobi had to admit that the bloodthirsty battler’s strength clearly outmatched his own, but Kakashi gambled that his own strikes may continue to find purchase if he abused their difference in speed. He had managed to do so thus far, buying time and landing a few surprise strikes through use of his shadow clones, though his opponent would likely not fall for such a ruse a third time. With a smile on his face, he got to his knees, surreptitiously scooting to an adjacent platform. Maybe that’s what I need…

“Come outh, come outh!” Rockwell jeered, his breaths somewhat wheezy from exertion. He was not about to let the cowardly combatant sneak up on him again. The sorcerer savagely stalked to the edge of the platform, energy crackling across his skin.

Kakashi eyed his prowling foe from his new vantage point, consciously focusing what was left of his chakra. If he was to make a dent in the sadistic sorcerer, he would need a bit more oomph behind his blows. He tempered his resolve, energy pooling in his gut. With a deep breath the scarecrow stood from behind his cover, chokuto in hand. Kaimon; Open!

Strazio instantly caught sight of the ninja, eyeing him with a mocking gaze. “Righth, now comesth the clone bullshith.” He shook his head, raising a hand toward the silver-haired swordsman as he began to dash toward him. “I’m sthick of thath shith,” he slurred, turning away to scout for his shady foe.

A burst of chaotic energy bolted from the man’s palm as the shinobi neared, the battlemage’s gaze averted to scan in vain for his opponent. Kakashi ducked low, his enhanced speed allowing him to narrowly avoid a faceful of fire. With a swift sweeping motion, the ninja’s blade carved a broad gash across his opponent’s gut.

“MOTHERFUCKER.” Strazio roared as blood gushed from the gash. Rage quickly replaced his agony as adrenaline took over, arm snapping out reflexively to take hold of his assailant’s cinereous locks. With a guttural, animalistic roar he brought the shinobi down hard. Kakashi felt porcelain shards puncture his cheeks as the brawler slammed his face into unforgiving steel.

750 words on the nose according to Google Docs. Using Kaimon: Gate of Opening (Tier-1 Power-Up) for this post. 1/2 SP remaining.