Phoenix seeking Eagle, which one is prey? [Private, invite only]

Washi could feel it in the wind. Some sort of omen. The cool air swept his air freely and his robes danced in the wind. A presence. He quickly sent chakra to increase his reflexes, shunshining outside the gates before the guard could even react. He would deal with this situation to make sure nobody would get hurt.

The chakra was of course familiar and its presence was easily felt and Washi closed both eyes before opening them and watching his surroundings. He quickly gathered pace as he looked for the man he had sensed. No doubt the Hokage would be concerned that one of his best jounin had gone out without warning.

Washi clicked his fingers and with his other hand carefully grabbed Kira within his robes, the kunai could not be seen as it was hidden inside his long sleeves but a flock of birds suddenly lifted in flight as if they could sense the impending danger. It was midday and the sun beat carefully onto Washi's skin as he called out softly and formed hand seals.

"Shinichi you can come out now,"

Shinichi smiled softly, held lowering for just a moment, very uncharacteristically for the proud young man. As he stepped out of the cover of the trees, his white Akatsuki robes fluttered hastily in the wind, as if in some twisted mockery of Washi's more gently flowing robes. The red clouds on his robes paled when compared to the red glint in the ruby eyes of his pheonix pendant, although whether it was a glint from the sun or something more could not be told. He let his pale fingers run cooly over the golden chain, his other hand tucked within his robes, idly fondling the silver hilt of his sword while the sleeve whipped in the breeze.

The leader of Akatsuki had given him only one assignment, to deal with his former comrade, the most dangerous Jounin in Konoha. The attack itself had been delayed, but Shinichi was loathe to prolong anything that need not wait. Whether the fight took place now or later, in the end, made no difference. That restlessness within him was growing, and he wasn't sure how long he would have lasted rotting in that dark place the Akatsuki called home. No more stagnating.

"Already forming seals my old friend, what if I came to talk to you?"

Washi almost grinned. With his exceptional seal speed, Shinichi would have no time to talk. He blinked carefully and slowly; and in a puff of smoke a shadow clone appeared beside him both of them forming seals so quickly that their hands blurred,

"Talk? We've talked before. Now is the time for battle," he said softly before he shunshined closer to his shadow clone, throwing a sharp kunai towards Shinichi's feet after he did so. Purposely missing but only by an inch. He was already formulating a plan.

As the kunai was thrown he quickly glanced around the area, taking in information from both the location and his enemy before facing his opponent once more, carefully positoned and ready to dodge or counter any of Shinichi's attacks. He knew his comrade well enough to guess what the next attack would be and he smirked slightly but calmly.

Shinichi jumped back a few feet, eyes narrowing suspiciously seeing the mark of his footprints on the dusty trail, the kunai dug into the ground just before it would have hit. Shinichi wonderered at the probability of sympathy for a moment but was quick to remember that little could be taken at face value with Washi. He could never form seals near as fast as Washi could, luckily his clan's secret Phoenix seal was a short cut for any jutsu involving fire. Forming what was similar to the tiger seal, but with his index fingers crossed and his little fingers touching, Shinichi took a deep breath, gathering his chakra, and expelling it. Flames shot from his mouth, roaring loudly and swirling in front of him for a moment, forming a dragon like shape then blazing towards Washi. If he wanted to get straight to it, so be it. Of course Shinichi was sure it couldn't be that simple...

"Katon: Karyu Endan!"

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Name: Katon: Karyu Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Missile)
Type: Offensive
Range: Short to Mid 0-10m
Rank: B
Description:
The user shoots an enormous ball of flame in the shape of a dragon from their mouth.
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Chakra: 194/200
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Washi saw the flames approaching, the heat blazing a trail as the dragon approached. In an instinct he sent his chakra down to his legs again, increasing his reflexes to incredible levels and shunshined to the side of the attack, his clone similarly doing the same. As they did so both of them quickly got out shurikens and attached them with explosive notes, sending them around Shinichi but never aiming directly at him.

As soon as Washi had thrown those shuriken he clasped his hands in the tiger seal before they blurred once more and he muttered the jutsu name,

"Katon: Goukakyuua no Jutsu!"

His clone did the same, even finishing his hand seals before the real Washi but no fire ball came out from his mouth. Meanwhile the large fireball streaked towards the side of Shinichi. The shuriken with explosive tags looked more menacing then usual.

Shinichi gathered his chakra into his legs and pushed off, launching himself almost straight up into the air. He heard the soft roar of the flames beneath him and felt the heat rising up, but as a member of the Shiroto clan, the heat didn't bother him much. Mere moments later the tags exploded beneath him, the force of the blasts causing his robes to flutter violently for a moment. Shinichi slid his blade from its sheath inside his robes and slid it out of his sleeve, the silver metal glinting in the sun as he slowly reached the peak of his rise and began to fall. In two smooth, precise slashes he pushed forth some of his wind chakra with the blade of the sword, making a wind blade sharper and more define than one without, one at Washi and one at the clone.

"Kaze no Yaiba!"


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Name: Kaze no Yaiba (Blade of Wind)
Type: Offensive
Range: Short to Mid 0-10m
Rank: A
Description:
This jutsu creates a blade of wind. This blade is impossible to block because of its intangible nature. Unlike the Cutting Whirlwind Technique, this jutsu requires no tool.
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Chakra: 178/200
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Washi grinned again. Shinichi had fallen for his trap. His jutsu was supposed to be nothing more then a distraction for a far greater plan and of course the explosive tags allowed him to get to this situation. While Shinichi was still in the air, the kunai that had been thrown earlier at the start of the fight suddenly changed into Washi and it shunshined towards Shinichi, ready to explode at any second.

Meanwhile the blades of wind approached Washi and his clone. The attack was fast but not entirely unexpected, both he and his clone quickly replaced with the shurikens that they had thrown, choosing not to set off the explosive tags for obvious reasons but the wind was fast and just caught Washi's robes as a bit of the material was left behind.

"Bunshin Daibukha!" said Washi loudly as he formed a hand seal and the clone near to Shinichi exploded. The smoke would give him some relief as he and the clone quickly moved to the back, both forming hand seals in the process as they began their next attacks,

"Kaze no Yaiba!"

Sending a blade of wind straight towards the back of Shinichi in case he had survived the earlier explosion and another one from the shadow clone, sent above it incase Shinichi jumped.

Just as he always had, Shinichi had played exactly into Washi's plans. Shinichi was far too direct and Washi too crafty. But Shinichi smiled even as a bead of sweat formed on his forhead. There was still something to be said for raw power. Landing just as the clone got next to him, he quickly gathered chakra into his legs and reflexively burst forward away from the clone, shunshining away. He could not shunshin near as far fast or well as Washi but it served its purpose, buying him a couple seconds. As he flew through the air, world blurred around him, he formed a string of seals and turned, landing and shouting the name just as the clone appeared next to him and blew.

"Futon: Daitoppa! Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

As soon as he uttered the words an enourmous burst of wind shot forth, howling and tearing through the very earth as it traveled towards Washi, who had gotten behind him, overpowering the blast from the explosion. He added the fireball technique which trailed in the tail end of the wind blast, flames roaring loudly. The blast pushed against the wind blade enough to slow it, and it was lessened after passing through the great fireball. Shinichi failed to react in time, but thanks to the dulling effect of his jutsu when it hit him squarely in the chest, rather than killing him, it knocked the wind from him and he fell back onto the ground with a grunt.

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Name: Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)
Type: Supplementary
Range: Short to Mid 0-10m
Rank: D
Description:
This jutsu is a high-speed movement technique, allowing a ninja to move short distances at an almost untraceable speed


Name: Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)
Type: Offensive
Range: Short to Mid 0-10m
Rank: C
Description:
This jutsu sends out a powerful explosion of wind from the user's location, easily leveling anything in its path. A variation of this technique involves a smaller blast of wind that gets ignited with flame, making it stronger and more damaging to the target.
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Chakra: 168/200
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He had managed to counter just in time...So he's worthy of Akatsuki after all...

Washi tapped his head slightly, quickly taking in battle calculations as to how the fight would proceed. He would have to go all out very soon as his chakra was slowly getting depleted from this fight, he bit his thumb so that a droplet of blood came out while the clone activated the rest of the exploding seals so that the smoke would cover what Washi was doing temporarily. This was a move that would perhaps swing the favour more towards him.

The clone quickly threw shurikens wildly, through the smoke and also into the air with a large arc to prevent Shinichi from jumping before once more his hands blurred, completing another set of handseals just as Washi shouted outloud and very clearly,

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

From above a giant toad plummeted towards Shinichi as the smoke began to clear.

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Chakra: 50/100

Shinichi had little time to react to the shuriken flying at him, he only saw them for a moment after they came out from the smoke, not enough time to draw his blade and deflect them, and he feared some trap if he dodged. Forming the phoenix seal he gathered his chakra within him, and the phoenix eyes on his pendant flared a bright red as he activated one of his clan jutsu.

"Katon:Hinote Kabe!"

As the first shuriken shot forth from the smoke a roaring flame erupted from in front of Shinichi, the fire white hot. As the shuriken hit the wall of flames they began to melt so quickly that Shinichi barely saw their dark froms through the fire, and none of them passed through far enough to even scratch him. It was the shadow around him that alerted him to some new trick, and by the time he looked upward his vision was all but blocked by the enormous toad falling towards him. In a sudden reflexive burst his chakra flooded to his feet, even as he threw himself forward, and while the instinctive blast had given him the speed he needed, it lacked any form of finesse, and he half rolled, half skidded painfully on the ground narrowly escaping being crushed, growling angrily knowing his robes would be impossible to clean after this.

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Name: Katon:Hinote Kabe (Blazing Wall)
Rank - C
Description : Forming the Phoenix seal, the user creates a sudden burst of white flame in front of him, creating a near impenatrable wall that incinerates anything that tries to get through.
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Chakra: 150/200
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The white flames burnt bright and he saw the flying shurikens melt as they passed through the intensity of the barrier. They were however mere distractions and his main plan had already been put in motion. The fight was dragging on longer then expected, he knew he could have finished this a lot sooner and his depleting chakra worried him.

Washi's clone quickly shunshined as Shinichi dodged the large toad which was now lying awkwardly as the clone started exploding near Shinichi. Washi did not wait to see the result of his attack but quickly made a few hand seals, replacing himself with a clone of his while the smoke from the explosion covered him. He henged into a kunai, allowing his clone to throw him from a safe distance away from the fight and into some trees.

"Is this all you've got Shinichi? This is what you've gained? Entering Akatsuki to become this pathetically weak?" mocked the clone softly as it began another string of seals, ready to use Washi's signature genjutsu once the smoke cleared.

Shinichi cursed, forming the phoenix seal with his hands while still on the ground, using his smoke fade technique, the smoke from his jutsu erupting moments before the explosion, Shinichi used the substitution jutsu on a nearby log, putting himself on the outer edge of the trees. The smoke from his jutsu mingled with the smoke of the from the explosion, and he thought and spoke as it slowly wafted away. Hearing Washi's words his blood began to boil and the phoenix eyes on his pendant flared bright, but he stroked the chain of his necklace and slowly calmed.

"You are a master trickster my friend, not all attacks on the mind must use chakra. I'll not let you provoke me. You'll note that you haven't truly harmed me either...Neither of us have shown our true power yet. Is it a clinging remnant of comradery? Is it a method of measuring eachother's growth?"

Shinichi dusted himself off as the smoke finished fading away. He was sure Washi could have pulled something crafty again, some genjutsu... Shinichi's limited genjutsu abilities were no good here anyway, raw power was his only tool. So why had he held back? Did he still feel some connection for his old comrade, despite his assurance at having severed those bonds? Or was it that fear of his own power, that he had believed to have conquered. The death of his father in the phoenix fire, the melting of the unmeltable stone...Such destruction, even stronger now, lay dormant within him. Yes...yes he did fear it. No matter how calm and reserved he was, in the end, fire was beyond control, burning wildly...no, but now Shinichi controlled it...It didn't matter. In the end it came down to death, the fate shared by all. He could either die in the flaming beak of the phoenix's rage, or by the hand of his enemy...Why not unleash his power and take down his enemy with him, if nothing else?

"No, it doesn't matter why we've held back. Enough child's play my old friend. I know you have some more tricks up your sleeve, and I've plenty more flame. Come!"

Everything, everything had worked, like a cog carefully fitted so that the entire machine could rumble. It was true he had not yet truly hurt Shinichi when he knew he had the capability of killing him but it didn't matter now. His intention was never to kill him but to teach him a lesson and a harsh lesson it would be.

The eye contact was enough as Washi's clone looked into Shinichi's eyes. The battle was now a battle of minds but this time he was going to be a lot more subtle, why produce millions of clones when you can already control the whole world? He could kill him right now...or perhaps seriously injure him while the illusion still remained but perhaps Shinichi was right? Perhaps Washi did feel some sort of emotion that prevented him from killing him.

"Tricks? You've always never understood me for what I truly am. There are people who claim I am a magician or an illusionist and countless times I've said I wasn't. I do however make plans and its a pity you've fallen right into this plan in particular," said Washi as he moved through the almost identical but illusion world.

He shunshined, perhaps faster then in real life but few people could discern the difference and he went for a stab with Kira, plunging the blade towards Shinich's stomach.

Shinichi arched a brow at this. He was no stranger to genjutsu, but Washi's use of them was on a mastery level, while Shinichi still merely dabbled, and he failed to notice the moment at which he was placed under the technique's affects. His blade flew again from its sheath, the ringing of the metal sliding on metal coinciding with the metallic clang of his blade's contact with Kira. He had swept his blade in a low arc to parry the stab, but the speed of the shunshin and the added motion of unsheathing the blade made him too slow. The stab itself failed, and kira was pushed to the side by the parry, but Kira dug into his flesh nonetheless, tearing through the robes and putting a deep gash into his side. Grimacing as the kunai tore through his side completely, he brought his blade, now holding Washi's kunai to the outside and within his guard, straight upwards for a vertical slash, as the blood flowed, staining his robes irrevocably crimson.

As Shinichi's sword approached, Washi tried to keep his movement as natural as possible. No harm could actually come to him but he made sure he dodged as if in keeping with reality as he shunshined out of the way but nevertheless making contact with the sharp blade. His robe got torn slightly by the attack and small beads of blood dropped onto the floor. He quickly turned his wrist sharply and swung his arm towards Shinichi's neck with Kira extending at the same time as he stepped with his right foot and turned on the pivot. Essentially doing a 360 degree slash around him. The blade glinted in the sunlight as it swished in a circle, Washi trying to regain his balanced posture an composure as he did so while watching his opponent carefully.