Atop the stairs, Tsu came upon the masked ninja searching frantically within the temple. "Where is it?!" He cursed, tossing a table end over end through the doorway. He turned when he heard her approach and glared. "You got past Viktor? Very clever, little girl." He smirked beneath his mask, though it was impossible for her to have seen that.
"Oh, please"
Tsu said, rolling her eyes "The only reason that I didn't just stomp on his head from the inside is that he stank to high heaven. My student is probably making him bleed right now." She shrugged, then held up her hands "So, what are you looking for?"
"You seem so sure of yourself." He replied with a shrug. "Why should I tell you? You came across D'var I'm sure, self-righteous fool probably gave you what..2 questions?"
"Three, and I got them out of him before the battle. Though I'm pretty sure he was lying, sooo... yeah"
Tsu shrugged, gazing up at the man and still holding a smoke bomb "Just tell me what you're after."
"Oh....I'm intimidated by your smoke bomb." He told her with a sneer. "Tell you what, how about you tell me what he said, and I'll tell you if he was lying or not."
"He just said you were looking for something, and his greatest weakness was
his honor"
Tsu said those words as if she tasted something vile on her tongue "Oh... and you should be careful what you say..."
"You already know we're looking for something. As for his weakness being his honor? I suppose that fits. He's a man of his word, odd thing to find these days." He explained, watching her cautiously, "Why should I be careful what I say? Are you too hot tempered to listen to people? And they put you in charge of a squad of Genin?"
"No, I mean, don't mock a smoke bomb"
Tsu said, sticking her tongue out and tossing it straight at the man; she didn't even know his name... at, who cares? She'd move the moment that the bomb hit, or the moment that he moved...
He caught the smoke bomb in his bare hand and looked at it before tossing it back to her. "That was very rude. You would start a fight before introducing yourself to your opponent? It's one thing I do admire about D'var. He's a bit of a stickler for traditions."
"Hi," a voice said from right behind the man, oh he had looked away, a silly thing to do really "I'm
Tsu." She grinned as the smoke bomb burst several feet away "Don't take your eyes off me." She lashed out with a hand, going for the back of the legs already.
The moment her hand struck his legs, he erupted with a POOF! There was another identical POOF! a ways across the temple and he stepped forward. "You should take your own advice." He made quick handsigns and slapped the wall, a summoning circle spreading out from his palm. "WOLF PACK!" There was a loud howl as 5 large wolves, one white, one red, one blond, one brown, and one black surged through the circle on the wall. The masked ninja held a hand to his chest and looked at Tsu. "I am Seyonne DÅbutsu. Squad leader of the Animal Men of the Darkness. Remember my name, little one. For I shall end you all."
"DOGGIES!" was the only response,
Tsu's pupils going wide again as she began to dart forward at high speeds, flickering back and forth in different areas, the smoke bomb that she had dropped becoming distorted as she dashed... everywhere it seemed... She was disguising her scent, leaving smokey trails everywhere and hiding her own scent with the smoke. And then everything just seemed to go... still.
"Come out, come out wherever you are little girl!"
Seyonne called as he stalked through the smoke. "My wolves will seek you out no matter where you hide. There is no sense in this." He cautioned her as his beasts roved throughout the smoke, following her scent trail every which way it went.
It went everywhere though, and every path was crossed so many times it was like trying to follow a child's random scribbles.
Tsu came in next with an exploding kunai, three thudding into the ground underneath the wolves while she remained out of sight.
Seyonne growled as the exploding kunai sent his wolves flying through the air. She wasn't the only one with ninja weapons though. He reached behind him back and brought his hand back around, a set of wicked looking talons were attached to his glove. He howled and surged forward, into the smoke. He was going to slice the little girl to ribbons.
He ran in there, and a small figure was standing in the middle of the smoke, blinded and unmoving, just standing there as the ninja bore down upon it. Standing inside a smoke screen would greatly blind a ninja, even with
Tsu's eyes it would be difficult to see.
Seyonne knew full well that his chances of striking her were slim to none, especially in a smokescreen. He didn't care though. He brought his talon-weapon to bear, slashing for the figure's chest
The figure was lifted up in the air easily, a crunching noise coming out from it as the claws dug deep into it's chest, easily being carried along and out of the other side of the smoke screen by the man's huge claws. The figure slumped... and he was staring at a crumbling figure of a Lucky Cat doll, about Tsu's size, which was tangled up on the claws of his hand. Tsu finished her handsigns about half way through the smoke bomb's cloud, behind Seyonne. She muttered "Bright Bite Jutsu" as she ran nearer, and suddenly there was a streak of startlingly bright light coming from her teeth. While he was busy noticing that the thing he had clawed was a doll, Tsu ran in low, and aimed to bite hard onto the man's right calf.
Seyonne howled in pain as her teeth sank into his calf. He whirled around, throwing the doll across the room. His wolves converged on them both, his howl giving away their position. With their master being in the center of their circle, they held off, unsure of whether or not they should converge for the kill.
The bright light started to leak into Seyonne's leg,
Tsu pulling back from the wound and grinning widely. Her teeth no longer shone, but Seyonne's leg was glowing brightly. "You're infected" she said, grinning wide with her sharp teeth "Soon you won't even be able to see. Then you'll be mine. Only a matter of time." She giggled, pulling out another smoke bomb from her bag "Lets have a game of keep away shall we?"
Seyonne winced as the light shone from the bite mark on his leg. He felt his chakra flooding to the bite mark. Whatever that jutsu was, it was stealing his chakra. "Why can't you stupid little ninja ever just let us do our job???"
"Cause you never told us what your job is, FUCKWIT!"
Tsu yelled, punching straight up and aiming a small but quick fist right into Seyonne's crotch. She wasn't honorable, she knew that, but she also knew that stuff like this kept her alive.
His hands clamped down around her arm when her fist collided with his crotch.
Seyonne shook his head and looked at her. "Basic Combat 101: Always wear a cup." His nails dug into her arm as they became claws rather than nails. "Man-Beast Mimicry." He spoke, his eyes changed to a reflective golden color. She wouldn't be able to see it, but fur sprouted along his skin as well. His teeth elongated, but beneath his mask, she would have missed that subtle change as well. He growled softly, making it sound more like a purr as he raked the claws down the length of her arm.
"
Tsu rule number seventy four," she hissed, grinning up at Seyonne even as the claws stuck into her wrist "Fight claws... with claws." She brought her hand up, the small hand wrapping around Seyonne's upper arm, by the elbow. She concentrated, and a set of thin, but incredibly sharp claws sprouted from her fingers and dug deep into Seyonne's elbow. She also had an explosive tag under her palm. Even if he didn't let go of her wrist, the guy was going to lose his elbow. She would be able to shield herself because she knew it was coming.
Seyonne winced slightly as her light claws dug into his elbow. It weakened his grip on her, that was for sure. He had little choice, when there were knives digging into the flesh of one's elbow, you could do little but let go of what you were holding. He tossed her aside savagely and gripped his elbow. "A tag? Really now?" He grabbed the explosive paper and pulled it from his elbow and crumbling the smoldering paper. The speed it took to do so was impressive.
"Well, you were hanging on like a bitch"
Tsu said with a weak smile, then pulling out another small smoke bomb. She looked down towards the glowing mark that had spread up higher than his knee now "Though that should be taking a little toll on you by now. Wait until the glow is behind your eyes..."
"It's got a while before it reaches my eye. I plan to finish you before then."
Seyonne retorted. He pressed his thumb to the bloody hole in his elbow and used the blood there for the summoning. He made the circle in the air itself, "Pestilence!" The buzzing was heard before anything actually came out of the summoning circle. Then a large black cloud surged through, filling the air between the two of them in seconds.
"Ohhhh... not that long"
Tsu giggled, casting a glance towards the cloud. she could try... nah, just run away. With the smoke bomb at her feet, it took less than a second for her to dart a few trails through the smoke, again, disappearing without a trace and never going near the flies. She didn't want them splattered all across her face... that would be gross.
It was more than just flies in this cloud of insects. There was just about every type of flying insect imaginable. The buzzing emanated from the thousands of pairs of wings that propelled the carnivorous arthropods. "You can't hide from them little girl! They've got your scent."
Seyonne cautioned her, waving his bloody claws in her generalized direction.
Damn. The blood wouldn't help... but she could always... no, she wasn't that bad yet. She listened out from behind a wall, listening out for the sound of buzzing getting closer. She slapped an explosive tag on the wall and took a step away, waiting for the swarm to come closer. She could run out of range from the explosion... she was sure.
Her use of basic ninja skills was irritating to
Seyonne. He was an elite jonin ninja, to have his time being wasted by such juvenile tactics was insulting. The only thing this little girl seemed to have going for her was that annoyance she had done to his leg. It burned and he continued to feel the chakra drain from his body via that bite mark. That fact irritated him as well...
Well all he was worth so far was the most basic of tactics. No point breaking out her big guns until... well... she really needed it.
Tsu didn't really feel that threatened by him. He was bothersome, but she'd bitten him, and the more he burnt through chakra the faster he would become exhausted. She still stood there, waiting for the flies to arrive and the tag to go off and help take out the rest of the swarm. She hoped they arrived quickly.
The swarm closed in on her location and surrounded her. The buzzing was enough in and of itself to drive people mad. "You want more?"
Seyonne taunted her, making another summoning circle on the ground. "Plague!" He hollered as a swarm just as large as that of the insects surged up from the ground. Only this swarm was furry and filled with shrill hissing and the gnashing of teeth as the rats filled the floor of the temple.
"You lost sight of me"
Tsu said from the other side of the temple, waving a slow hand towards Seyonne as the explosive tag detonated with full force and splattered the bugs like... well... bugs. She had been tensing for the moment the bugs came towards her, and the moment they'd swooped in she'd gotten out of there. She giggled as she gazed down a the glow, which was spreading down the knee of his other leg and up to his belly button "One bite, that's all I need... you know what? I could just leave actually. It won't stop until you're out of chakra. Even if you found what you're looking for, you'll barely be able to move afterwards." She gazed down at the rats as they continued to swarm out of the hole "And you brought me lunch. How kind."
"Eat them if you wish, but I wouldn't recommend it."
Seyonne cautioned her with a smirk. The warmth was spreading and he really didn't like that at all. He had little idea as to what was going to happen when the light engulfed him entirely. "I call them Plague for a reason." Her words were truthful though, it was getting harder for him to move. Curse this unknown jutsu she had plagued
him with.
"Oh, when I said you brought me lunch, I mean you brought me
your lunch"
Tsu giggled, her uninjured hand snatching out and catching a rat with incredible speed, killing it with her invisible claws. She then grinned, and sprang back against the wall, before using it to push herself towards the ceiling, then again, bouncing to the wall, the ceiling, landing on a rat with a wet squeaking noise, then bouncing around, all the while scattering the blood of the rat after her. She finally came in from the side, aiming both feet at him and hoping to smash the rat into his face when she made him unstable.
Seyonne reached up and grabbed her by the ankle when she attempted to kick him the face. He swung her about and threw her into the wall. "I am an elite jonin ninja from the Eternal Darkness. Do you really think you can stop me?"
Tsu winced, the rat-like grenade she'd been holding onto splattering into his chest and neck as she flew along. She winced, getting up slowly after hitting the wall. "Ugh... yeah, pretty much. I mean, you kinda suck so far. Three summons and some claws? Really? I've got a student who can do more than that. I've been causing you major trouble with a couple of explosive tags and playing keep away." She glanced down, the light was just past his navel now, and shining brighter. Good.
"It's called warming up. Do you think that's all I've got?"
Seyonne taunted, wincing slightly as the light spread. Whatever this jutsu was, it was annoying. He hated the simple fact that she was speaking the truth. But he didn't want to reveal all his tricks just yet...
"That's what I love about that jutsu"
Tsu giggled, stomping on a rat with a loud squeak as it came too close "The longer you wait the less you'll be able to do! Think you can pull out all the stops at half energy? Or a quarter energy? Think you can afford to wait around?"
"I think you'll be surprised by what I can pull off even at half energy."
Seyonne told her with a sneer. He made the handsigns and his arms erupted out towards her, growing larger with every second. "Expansion Jutsu! Arms!"
Tsu sighed, then in a quick puff of smoke she was clouded in a ball of smoke. There was a moment where his hands hit the wall behind her, then a weight on his right arm. Then pain. Tsu had jumped onto his arm, her slight body balancing easily, and was now running towards him at top speed, her claws dug into his arm and dragging a bloody trail up it as she ran straight towards Seyonne. If she was any bigger she wouldn't have been able to do this.
In an outrage,
Seyonne slammed the arm she was sprinting up into the wall, smashing clean through it in anger. He was NOT going to lose to a little girl. He had plenty of other tricks up his sleeves. He released the expansion jutsu and in a puff of smoke, his arms returned to normal, leaving her to crawl up nothing but air.
Tsu had flipped along the side of his arm as he had begun to shake her like an annoying fish on a hook, then let out a small yelp as the jutsu was released. She managed to get one foot on the floor, then brought the other around in a wide circle, smacking the rats on the floor as she did and sending missle after furry, diseased missile in all directions. "The more you use the faster you drain," she giggled, pointing out the line of light that was burning brightly half way up his chest by now.
"Ah, but the more I use, the faster I can crush you too."
Seyonne replied and surged forward with the speed of the wolf. It was true though, he was feeling his chakra burn down the more he fought. Clearly she was tryign to goad him into a taijutsu battle, cut off his chakra so he couldn't use his ninjutsu at all. Like that mattered, he was their leader for a reason after all. He leaped at her, talons barred as he tackled the little girl and sent her sprawling into the plague of rats that still infested the floor of the temple.
"How cute"
Tsu said with a small grin, having tucked herself up in a ball just in time as he tackled her, huffing and gazing up at Seyonne for a moment "But you're out of your league." The flurry of kicks that caught Seyonne in the face were at incredible speed; they weren't too powerful, but Tsu still had a small girl's flexible body and was quite capable of landing seven kicks directly in his eyes in the first few seconds. If he continued to try and hold her down, it would be like watching a woodpecker demolishing a tree trunk.
All the pain did was add fuel to his anger.
Seyonne growled and dug his fingers into her shoulders, pinning her beneath him. She may have a more flexible body, but there was only so far that that would help with. Pinned underneath him, there was little her flexibility could do. He pressed down on her legs with his own.
"You know,"
Tsu was trying not to get the pain of the situation get into her voice, but a small bit was slipping in as he dug into her shoulders, "I was in this situation a few nights ago. Probably going to end the same way too. You, exhausted, seeing stars, me, standing above you and telling you that I am FAR from done yet." She grinned, and with a few twitches of her hands, performed handsigns for a jutsu. Almost instantly her teeth began to glow again, and she grinned at Seyonne widely. She was suggesting a second bite, after all, there was no way he could stop her this way, and it would drain him faster than ever. It was, actually, a scare tactic. The jutsu she had used before was dangerous to the user in some ways, so she had learned to 'fake' the jutsu. She just hoped it work and he ran off in fear of the infectious bite. Otherwise, screw it, she'd just start biting him normally. It might take a while, but she had some sharp teeth.
Seyonne's mask pulled back, opening, revealing his mouth to her. He grinned savagely, "I was just thinking it's about time I gave
you a bite." Before she could do anything more, he leaned in and sank his teeth into the tender flesh between her shoulder and neck.
There was a gasp, but it didn't actually sound all that... unhappy.
Tsu shuddered for a moment, then bit down hard on Seyonne's neck as well. She gripped hard with her teeth, now she knew he wasn't going anywhere, and made a few quick hand signals. Now he had a second bite, a second infection of chakra draining... and her teeth and bitten into his neck, not the shoulder, and had hit a place which would bleed rather profusely. Two count downs had begun. The point where he drained of chakra, and the point where he died of blood loss.
Seyonne grimaced when she bit into his neck and bit down harder, sending his fangs deep into her tissue, scraping the bone beneath the muscle. He tore free of her skin, tearing a chunk from her shoulder as well. The blood flowed from his neck eagerly and his head swam a bit. "Do you really think I carea bout blood loss, fool?"
There was a moment of silence, then a chunk of flesh was spat from Tsu's mouth. "B... blood loss..."
Tsu hissed, wincing and feeling her shoulder with a wince, the blood flowing freely from the wound "And two chakra infections... you'll die, no matter what." She grinned slowly, still managing it, even now. She had her ace in the hole, if she ever really needed it, but this guy... pathetic. The most he'd managed to do was bite her shoulder.
A small black mark appeared on Tsu's shoulder as
Seyonne grinned down at her. He had more cards up his sleeves than she thought he did, that was for sure. A little blood loss and a bit of chakra infection as she called it were hardly enough to take him out. "If I don't come back with that, I'm dead anyway."
"Ohhhh... that tingles"
Tsu giggled at the sensation of the marks on her shoulder; she could feel them, but not see them. She swayed, then shook her head and said "Two question. What have you done to me? That's always a fun one. And will you PLEASE tell me what the HELL you are looking for?" Seriously. Some of the fighting might have been avoided if they'd just known.
"I think I'll keep that little secret for a while longer now."
Seyonne replied in regards to the mark. "As for what we're after? It's an item of extreme power. The natives want you to think it's just a myth, but we know it's not."
"Great, you're after a myth,"
Tsu sighed, shaking her head and reaching down to her pack. She brought out... well, it appeared to be a child's plaster, that you stick over small wounds, but it was about a foot long a several inches wide. She peeled off the sticky protection, and wrapped it around her shoulder. A cartoon cat face gazed out at Seyonne as the wound stopped bleeding. It would do nothing for the mark, but it was her own special made bandage that would keep her together. Her body was weak, fragile in some cases, so she carried around these special made ones.
Seyonne growled and grabbed her by the injured shoulder, digging his thumb into the center of the bandage. He hauled her up to her feet. The light from her infectious chakra bite shone even brighter than before. He was almost entirely engulfed now. "We will find it and there is nothing..." He winced and glared through the shine at her. "Nothing you can do to stop us."
Tsu winced slightly, but the bandage numbed pain mostly, so it was only a small twinge. "I'm not even half done with you," she whispered gently, reaching out and placing a hand on Seyonne's chest, over where his heart is, "If you think that you've seen all I can do you're sadly mistaken."
"Truer words have yet to be spoken."
Seyonne responded quietly. Her hand on his heart disturbed him slightly. The light was beginning to burn his eyes and the blood loss was greatly paling his skin as well. He hated getting this damaged in a fight, but he still had more moves to play....
"I feel your heart beat."
Tsu said with a faint giggle, smiling contently at the hand over his heart, taking her time as if this fight was already decided. She'd given him enough time really, enough time to explain himself. Why not just end it?
"You won't stop us."
Seyonne insisted as he looked down at her. The blinding light finally engulfed his head. He was lit up like a beacon now and completely blinded by the light. The blood loss was making his head swim even faster and he could hardly arrange a single thought
"If we fail there's another team up us on the island... just ready to take you down. We don't do things be halves,"
Tsu said, almost whispering to him, as if calming him before death "But they won't need to." He'd let her keep track of his heart beat. It was practically all over. Her hand moved back, then suddenly her small fists began to slam into the spot above his heart. She was hitting with the rhythm. Every time his heart contracted it was suddenly compressed by her fist, stuttering the beat. She was effectively giving him a heart attack by hand.
Seyonne couldn't help but groan in agony as she started pounding at his chest. The light was too bright, he couldn't see, it burned everything within him, the blood loss was making him faint, and now she was making his heart stop. He shoved her back from him and with the last of his chakra formed the handsigns necessary for his final jutsu. He slapped his chest and a summoning circle erupted across his body, covering him from head to toe in the symbols. He outstretched his arms and cried out as the massive black rhino erupted from his flesh, slamming right into the little girl and then through the wall, out into the snow. He collapsed onto the ground, his body ablaze with light and his breathing slow and ragged. He kept his eyes shut and started muttering as his hands moved along his body, seeking out certain locations and pressing his palms to them.
Tsu groaned deeply, wincing as she straightened up, rubbing her back and wincing. She was going to hurt tomorrow... And she was pretty sure her ribs were bruised badly, if not broken. "Ah... damn you" she hissed, starting to make her way over towards Seyonne again.
The rhino wasn't done with her yet. It whirled around when she tried for Seyonne. It was summoned with the last of it's master's chakra. As long as the man lived, it would remain to protect him. The entire temple shook under it's feet as it turned and charged at the little girl again.
Seyonne gasped for breath as he lay on the floor. He was more than pleased when the light faded from his eyes. He was still blinded by the brightness, but his skin no longer felt it was on fire from the blinding brightness of it.
Tsu heard the charging from behind and grit her teeth. Alright, could be her last chance. She dashed. Not at the speed of before, she couldn't really bring herself to get that fast, but she did a quick scurrying hop through the hole in the wall and straight towards Seyonne. Rhinos might hit hard but they weren't exactly speedy, at least compared to her. She prepared her kunai as she got close; three kunai among a set of caws, so six over all. Something was going to get shredded.
The air rippled with power as seals peeled back from
Seyonne's skin. His eyes erupted with flame and a scream issued forth from his throat. His skin felt as if it were on fire! The wound on his neck closed seamlessly and the wet blood dried up beneath the chakra's searing heat. He felt Tsu coming through the floor's vibrations. He still couldn't see from her accursed bite, but his other senses more than made up for that little lack. He rolled to his feet as the long-since sealed chakra surged back through his veins. It had been a very long time since he had sealed it away all those years ago and
never had he had to release the seals.
The first blow sunk the kunai into Seyonne's chest, since he wasn't moving at all to dodge, and anchored
Tsu in place as her claws dug into his chest. The other hand came around now, starting to slash wildly at the prone figure, claws and kunai like a terrible rake that could split the flesh completely open and to pieces with a single swipe. He wasn't going to get up if she could help it.
Seyonne hardly even flinched as she sunk the kunai into his chest. He looked down at her and smirked as he dispersed into a swarm of insects. "I won't fall for the same trick twice, little bitch." He voiced from elsewhere in the temple. The rhino still thundered around the room. It circled back around and charged at her once more.
Tsu panted gently, practically side stepping the Rhino as it charged towards her and taking a step away. She was breathing slowly now, the rhino charge had been close, but she'd allowed it to be so she wouldn't have to move around too much. She prepared a smoke bomb in her hand, hoping she got a new plan soon.
"Your bright bite failed, whelp."
Seyonne taunted her from the shadows as the rhino whirled back around for another charge, he really wished the thing was able to make hairpin turns, but eh the prices you pay for power. He slapped the wall and a summoning circle spun outward from his palm. There was a sound like a woman screaming as three large wild cats burst forth through the wall.
"Oh please, one more and you'd be in the same situation,"
Tsu giggled despite herself, wincing at the feel of her aching ribs shifting. She took a deep breath, then dropped the smoke bomb, her hand immediately going for her back. She needed a large bandage, something to fix up her ribs until the battle was over; as she did this her eyes dilated to huge sizes. She would be able to see much better than anyone else if they decided to come into the smoke, and the bandages would be on before long.
"You won't get a second chance."
Seyonne told her finitely. His cats were on the prowl, stalking into the darkness surrounding the room. The rhino was still rampaging through the temple as well, smashing through columns and the smoke, still searching for the girl.
Two wrongs did not make a right. But getting a ninja to do two wrongs was something dangerous, and relying on the smoke bomb had been something risky. Seyonne, however, had considered that she wouldn't be in the smoke this time, as she hadn't been in the last time. So the smoke was disguising her smell from the cats, and the sight of her, and even the rhino was too busy smashing up walls to think. Meanwhile about four bandages had been wrapped around
Tsu's body and she was breathing with a lot more ease. "There," she whispered to herself "Now to really kill this bastard." She took out a handful more smokebombs, obviously she carried quite a few at all times... alright, she MOSTLY carried smoke bombs. In a lightening flash they were scattered all over the room. This would blind Seyonne, blind a charging rhino, which was always a good thing, and disable the cats to a point. They were in a place where normal human senses were useless. This was her world again. She began to move at once, heading towards the direction she had last seen the rhino, her movements silent and fast.
"Man-Beast Mimicry!"
Seyonne's voice called out from the darkness, his voice echoing around the temple. Without her being able to see him, there was no way for her to know which animal he was mimicking.
Tsu winced at this sudden turn... then grinned widely and put her fingers together. A quick moment of concentration and she was done; where she had stood an exact copy of one of the big cats he had summoned stood. She'd transformed herself for disguise, and he knew that he hadn't dismissed the animals because that would cause a noticeable noise, specially to her. She began to stalk around at once, hoping that either the rhino caught Seyonne or she found an animal in this smoke.
Seyonne felt the sudden appearance of another cat deep in his bones. He had only summoned 3 and now he sensed 4. He smirked,
very nice, he thought. She figured she'd be safe as one of his cats? He grabbed one of the temple's columns and with his newly formed strength, tore it free from the base. He growled and threw the massive marble column into the smoke. If it struck one of his cats they'd return, if it struck her, he'd be able to hear the sickening crunch of a body.
Throwing a column into the smoke was a bit dim though. Specially since it rolled away in a random direction, not even precise in the aiming. Luckily, he had actually picked the right direction, unluckily,
Tsu wasn't just one dumb cat. She'd been expecting some kind of attack, and you couldn't miss the sound of a column being ripped up from the floor. She danced over that in one smooth motion, her incredible eyesight letting her dodge with ease. The confused rhino, which she had run towards when the smoke bomb started, was less lucky. He had thrown it in a vague direction, there was a poof of something returning, and still four cats out there.
Seyonne felt the chakra release as the rhino was sent back. It didn't matter anymore, that beast had served it's purpose. His cats were still on the hunt, it didn't much matter if Tsu changed forms or not, the cats had her scent, no matter which form she took.
Scent in this smoke was like trying to find someone in the dark using only your hands.
Tsu was crawled along the edges of the room, heading towards Seyonne the long way round, so she could try and sneak up on his from behind. If he hadn't moved that is. She knew that he was ROUGHLY in the direction that the massive chunk of rock had come from... Now she just had to find him.
It shouldn't take her very long to find him.
Seyonne made little attempt to hide himself now. He had the upper hand, he had 3 ferocious wild cats at his disposal, along with having his man-beast mimicry jutsu.
Tsu gazed at his shadow from the smoke, glaring at him slightly before deciding what to do. This appeared to be run straight towards him in cat form, letting out a vicious growl, then suddenly changing direction, running away and to the side, before letting out another growl and darting towards him again, as if waiting for an opening. Or baiting him to attack so she could counter with her claws and speed.
Seyonne made the release hand signs and 3 POOFS were heard from through the temple as he sent his cats home. He looked at her and snarled, he looked beefier, sturdier than he had before. Maybe if she thought about it, she could figure out which animal he had mimicked with that jutsu
Possibly the rhino, or maybe just an incomplete cat one,
Tsu wasn't sure. She came in close, then darted away again, keeping to the cat form. She even tried a swipe or two at his legs with her paws, trying to catch his ankles, since he didn't look as if he could move that quickly.
Using the strength of the rhino,
Seyonne did the one thing that the animal itself was incapable of, he jumped as Tsu took swipes at his legs. She really
was a fool if she thought he was going to let her hit him again. When he jumped, he traveled up above the smokescreen, revealing his newly formed appearance. The mimicry with the rhino granted him thick leather-like skin that certainly would have protected him against the claws of the wild cat. He landed with a loud THUD, the floorboards splintered beneath his thunderous strength. He snarled and glared at the smokescreen she was still hiding behind. He made a few quick handsigns and held a summoning circle above his head. There was an ear-splitting screech, that he only hoped harmed her hearing, as the massive bird of prey flew out of the circle. It perched itself upon Seyonne's shoulders, one enormous foot to either side of the man's head. With one mighty swipe of its glorious wings, the smoke billowed out of the temple via any and all openings opposite the man. He crossed his bulking arms and smirked as Tsu's location was finally revealed. "As much as I'd love to finish you off now, little girl, it is clear that the Heart isn't here anymore. Feel proud of yourself Tsu, never before have I had to release my reservation seals. For that reason alone, I allow you to live." With that said, he raised his hands and the bird lifted him skyward, tearing through the roof and taking the man southward.
About that time, as the great beast of a man was lifted up through the wreck of a roof, the cat was growling and trying to leap up at him and sway at him with its paws. Strange really, that she didn't turn back into her normal shape, since that would be able to take a better strike at her. That is, until he was a few feet above the tree tops. At that point there was a small "poof" noise, and the whiff of smoke made it clear. A clone. He'd been baited by a clone. "I, on the other hand,"
Tsu said with a small grin, as she kept her incredibly light grip on Seyonne's clothes "have no such qualms. BIRD!" And with that she leapt full pelt into the massive eagle holding onto Seyonne, starting to maul it mercilessly with a pair of thin but brutal claws. Seyonne was going to drop. She was on top of the bird, so very out of his reach, and the bird couldn't react either, because any fancy flying would make the grip on Seyonne fail.
Seyonne was furious that yet again she fooled with a simple jutsu. He reached up and gripped the eagle's talons tightly. With the bonus strength from the mimicry, nothing would be able to dislodge him without his say. The bird knew what was required, having the ninja attacking it so roughly, it didn't take much to get it to roll in the air, hoping to shake loose the little girl.
"Wheeeeeee!"
Tsu said aloud, one claw anchored into the bird's neck as it rolled around; its own struggles were ripping it to shreds, Tsu just needed to dig her claws in and hold on. "Thanks for supplying dinner," she giggled once they were upright again, chomping down hard on the eagle's neck. She wasn't trying to get rid of Seyonne, she was trying to make the eagle vanish.
The eagle wasn't going anywhere yet.
Seyonne knew how to train his animals. Again the bird did a barrel roll, trying to shake the girl loose. It was driving him crazy that she was still instigating like this. e had to find the Heart. He didn't have time to play around anymore.
There was a point where this eagle would either bleed out or collapse anyway.
Tsu was holding on for sheer life, now a pair of teeth and a claw helping rip a hole in the bird's neck. The feathers were going everywhere, and Tsu was... well, she seemed to be enjoying herself more than usual. "Biiiiirdy..." Seyonne heard her giggle when she pulled back to empty some blood out of her mouth, before biting down again.
Seyonne was growing more and more angry by the minute. She was devouring his eagle! This was supposed to be an easy snatch and grab assignment and these friggin Coalition ninjas were making it almost too hard. He released his hold of the talons and allowed himself to drop, she wanted the bird so bad? Let her have it. He could walk to the relief center just as easily as fly. With the added bonus of the rhino hide, the drop from this height should barely even register. He did so enjoy that animal....
It seemed that
Tsu's obsession with birds was a bit too much for her at the moment, and she continued to savage it in mid-air. This was real animal savagery right now, not just trying to get Seyonne, she was mauling the bird for her own pleasure.
Seyonne plummeted to the earth below and landed roughly, creating a large plume of snow to fly upward. He formed the release handsigns and dispersed the eagle into a large cloud of white smoke.
Tsu hissed when the bird dispersed, a sudden leap away making her land among the high up branches of a tree. She took a deep breath, then shook her head slowly and shrugged; she was injured, he had tough skin, she needed to slow down a bit and go back for her team... She had worn him down enough that she knew that Ishiaki could take him; and she knew that he was going to the camp, because that was the direction the eagle had been flying off in.
If he was going to take the Relief Center alone,
Seyonne was going to need to summon some more help. His bird was shot, the Plague and the Pestilence weren't going to help much at all, he of course still had the cats and rhino, and the wolves would help as always.
Tsu hissed to herself, climbing down the tree and feeling upset that she didn't get to finish that guy off or at least get her bird. But she should really go check on the others, see how they were doing.
Stumble!