[kuishinbou kashiwa]

round 3 - - final fight

Sometimes fights were elegant dances, where each opponent displayed technique after technique, gracefully evading one another's in turn; the emotional brawl between Kashiwa and Jou was the exact opposite. With each participant tossing out one Hail Mary after another, trying to claw their way to an advantage, it was a mess. But sometimes fights had to be messy. It was the final round and their last chance to show they had what it took to be chuunin. They were pulling out all the stops.

If he was in the audience, if it didn't mean his downfall, Kashiwa would have cheered on Jou's late-game rally. It seemed the young stone shinobi had found a second wind, gathering all his strength for one last charge. If Kashiwa was any less focused on survival, he'd have been beaming with pride. Instead, he had an all but invisible ninja hurtling toward him.

Kashiwa scanned the space in front of him and in his periphery, trying to catch any sign of movement left in his opposition's wake. Nothing. Until moments later he reappeared, his figure a silhouette behind the large explosion that had missed him entirely. The light was blinding, and Kashiwa squinted to try and keep his eyes on his opponent. A lifted arm, pulled back and ready. A clenched fist. It was all too fast. Kashiwa could see the images like he was reading a scrapbook, picking up information in tiny doses as the arm launched forward to meet him.

And he let it.

The fist crashed into his face, connecting square with Kashiwa's nose and breaking it. The grass ninja stumbled as the momentum of his opponent met him not just in his strike but in his body, toppling forward onto him. His head swam and his vision went all red. He fought to stay conscious. He'd taken a risk, letting the strike connect. But if Jou was laying down all his cards, Kashiwa would do the same.

His arms wrapped tightly around Jou in a firm bear hug; another grapple. Though, this time there was solid mass behind it, a form that wouldn't give in as easily as the copy that had performed the move earlier. Though the position was now reversed and it was Jou who was in sight of the clones. Kashiwa's foot flew back, grounding himself and holding the both of them up. Jou's was heavy under the grass shinobi's tiring muscles but he did his best to hold him in place.

"Where... are you looking?"

He spoke between sharp measured gasps of air, trying to maintain his breathing. As the words fell from his lips, the grip he held on Jou tightened. They'd come silently, no louder than two of Kashiwa's breaths. Two arrows, one for each side of his upper back, flew to meet him. The clone's made sure to aim away from his lungs, instead attempting to make contact with, and ideally through, the meaty flesh between his deltoids and shoulder blades.

--- words | Himishi Jou

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SPOILER: Click to show

Gifted Acrobat
A direct result of his penchant for long-range combat, Kashiwa employs evasive maneuvers and trains his mobility almost as much as he does his ninjutsu. He's no faster than the average shinobi at his level but can perform stunning feats of acrobatic skill and evade his opposition easily with supreme agility and balance.

CHAKRA USE TRACKER: 1 Medium, 1 Low, 7 Very Low