Sero would stare with a cold gaze. Careful to control his breathing as he lurked beneath the surface. His Sword now held in both hands at it rested at an angle. The tip towards the ground. His breath was a little more difficult now. His vision was still sharp but there were moments when the edges would begin to blur out. He could tell that even though he had slowed the progress of the bleed out it was still not stopped. He could tell his body required more time to move now if only by a little. Everything was a little heavier. They had taken him by surprise which not many had in the past. Perhaps he had been too confident in his own ability. Nozomi was still preparing closer to the mark where they would all have to meet. His weakened body would make fighting her all that much more difficult. However for now they were keeping their distance and respecting his wishes. This Hanbei was his target. He had yet to sink his fangs in so he would need to change the hunt up. If he had his bow this might have been more in his favor. Still he was aware of one thing.

If He could see them, he had to assume they could see him.

So it wasn't of surprise to him when the target collected more Senbon into their hands. Aiming for him with the first volley. Once more with precise aim and in general at four points on his form. If he moved his head to one side or the other it would still claim an eye. Instead he would shift the handle of his sword. The blade shifting to cover his legs while the guard covered his eyes. With the added support of the ground he was able to hold it one handed as he did so. The senbon clanging off the thick blade. It seemed ever heavier. However his free hand collected his Wakizashi from its sheath and cut the straps to his Halberd. Just in time to bring it back as he shifted to the side. The senbon bouncing off his great blade around his thighs again though his Wakizashi flashed out to knock the other two off course. One catching his cheek ever so slightly. Creating a small bleeding cut just beneath his right cheekbone. This individual had taken a great deal of time attacking from a distance. It was time to retaliate.

There was a stillness in the air as Hanbei landed only five meters away. Like something terrible was coming and nothing dared move. They were far from wrong but Sero knew that due to blood loss he was going to be slightly slower than the other with a heavier weapon. He needed to make contact with it once and if they tried to block with that Tanto they were going to take a hard hit. The blade designed to simply crush through light weapons. He would grit his teeth and make up his mind in the second he had. He was going to need to gamble here but with a purpose. For a moment the tree's were Sero was sat still with only a slight stir within. The smell of fresh blood from his cheek suggesting Hanbei had done considerable damage again. However from the stillness suddenly a Wakizashi flew in a straight line like a kunai. Flying through the air right for Hanbei's face. Easy enough to dodge or parry. However it was followed quickly with a sudden and larger object flying slightly lower than it. Aimed for whatever way Hanbei's muscles had tensed to move. A wakizashi was flying for their face and a halberd straight for their torso only slightly to one direction if their body began to shift. However there was a burst as the form Of Sero launched in the direction the targets body reacted to with the halberd. Herding them and directing them with their own survival instincts. With that done Sero was flying straight for them and his Sword would come crashing in an upwards arc towards Hanbei. Aiming to catch them in a full cut from Waist to opposing shoulder.

And so, the fight kicked off perfectly, the tension in the air almost recoiling as Hanbei and Sero engaged each other. The Wakizashi flew forward, and was parried, knocked away towards Nozomi herself. Hanbei slithered past the Halberd that was also thrown, narrowly avoiding any damage from it. As the fires moved ever closer, dancing around and tightening, Nozomi finally made her choice to join the fray. Hanbei and Sero had had enough time to themselves, and Nozomi was getting antsy.

Hanbei moved forward, clashing with Sero, her eyes having finally left Nozomi. There had been moments that she had continued to watch Nozomi, and Sero had been doing the same. However, they both chose to dedicate to a single fight ending attack, or at least a small exchange that would end their match. And in doing so, Nozomi was left out of their attention. And that was a mistake that would be capitalized on.

Nozomi was a terrifying fighter for most to go against, and that had been before her training as a Hunter-nin. However, she wasn't just skilled in single combat, martial combat and the like. Her Hunter-nin training had given her further training in those regards, but also helped her hone more subtle forms of combat. And one of those was silent assassinations. Taking advantage of an opponent who was distracted, or who was unaware of the danger she posed.

Of course, she'd developed some techniques herself to assassinate people, however, those relied on chakra. Against chakraless beings though, even ones such as these, her assassination skills were adequate. Now utilizing the senbon that she had picked up, the same ones that Hanbei had launched at Sero previously, Nozomi launched them with practiced ease towards the two opponents.

Sero had been bleeding for long enough at this point that Nozomi knew he would be competently weakened, and that she didn't need to focus on him nearly as much. However, Hanbei had been left mostly unscathed throughout the entire tournament. It was her that Nozomi would focus on, not allowing herself to register the slight twinge of guilt she had for attacking her. This was a competition of course. It was both of their fault for lowering their guard against Nozomi, allowing her to utilize her skill set properly.

Several senbon scattered through the air, moving at high speeds towards Hanbei's form. 4 had been aimed towards Hanbei's head, one having been aimed at his temple, one at his eye, one towards the exposed ear, and one at neck level, towards her carotid artery. Hanbei had a side profile, so Nozomi couldn't space them out as she would like better. Multiple senbon had launched towards her torso, clustered towards the lower region, avoiding the ribcage. Nozomi's real aim was to hit the organs that weren't protected by ribs. The majority of her needles however, had been shot lower, with a larger spread, in order to hit a wider margin rather than targetted shots that might miss. Her hope was to pincushion Hanbei's legs.

Of course, she didn't fully ignore Sero. Sliding forward, having launched all of the senbon towards Hanbei, Nozomi grabbed the still falling Wakizashi out of the air, moving with a quick spin to gather the momentum to launch the blade back towards Sero's stomach. Beyond that, some of the senbon that had been aimed to hit Hanbei's legs had also enough spread that they may hit Sero as well. It would be nearly impossible with the way they had attacked each other for them to disengage and not have taken damage.

The end goal was to cause enough damage to the two of them that they would find moving to be quite difficult. And soon the dancing fire would overtake them afterwards, draining their chakra as they had when they had first appeared. Even should they be able to move after, it would be having sustained injuries that Nozomi hadn't. A small smirk appeared on the girl's face. A lot had happened in the span of a few moments.

Sero watched the clash as Hanbei charged into him. The Tanto coming up to block his swing as it sparked and cracks came up the length of the Tanto. He could feel his lack of power he usually had. Not in the sense that he could feel it physically but the encounter didn't work the way it should have. The tanto should have shattered like glass and his follow through would have hew the child in front of him into two beings. His grey eyes narrowed as he grit his teeth. The weapon the opponent was holding was no longer a threat. It would shatter if it attempted to cut into his cloak. Perhaps he would even need to buy Nozomi a new one but she had risked it against him. However the moment he realized he could not follow through with his slash and the individual was moving under its path his left hand released. It was true he didn't have enough time to reach back and counter. However his hand wasn't going to reach back but instead release the sword entirely and follow the momentum of the swing. The pale hand of the hunter falling upon the back of the head of his attacker.

Hanbei had gambled throwing their weight forward due to his wounded leg. However Sero was not averse to balance. Almost every weapon style required it. Hanbei's center of gravity was low and forward. Had Hanbei been already in an upward movement he might have had a difficult time. However As it was Sero simply pushed his weight down on his hand as it made contact and moved himself upwards. Forcing Hanbei face first if this succeeded towards the ground. The released sword falling from above him and behind. The weight of it the only thing driving it down but it was edge first. Like a Guillotine of gravity and position. However he had barely begun to move the head down when three senbon shot across his hand. Slicing across the top of his wrist, the top of his hand and across his middle fingers middle knuckle. Drawing his attention as his left hand was bloodied to Nozomi approaching from the side. He would use his strength to lift his feet the rest of the way off the ground and launch backwards in the direction of the center to avoid the Wakizashi. Having caught on with the Senbon in time to react to what would have been another serious wound. However that would put all of his weight on Hanbei. Before suddenly releasing and letting himself surge backwards.

With any luck his downwards force would Slam Hanbei into the ground and the blade would fall upon their back. Already the flames had overtaken his Halberd in the distance. Still his feet didn't catch right as he stumbled back and judged the position of his enemies. Nozomi's charge would have brought her on top of Hanbei hopefully in an awkward position and now mostly unarmed by all appearances. Perfect for taijutsu. It would be their turn to engage in close combat. However the flames would be on them in moments. If they continued not to engage each other and came for him they would likely overtake him in moments. However Nozomi had made a move. The now useless left hand dripping with blood was proof there had been something meant for Hanbei. Likely there were others he hadn't detected in the heat of the moment. Still he would stumble slightly to the left by two meters. Making him twelve meters In total as he finished stumbling back a little. Drawing his Katana and plunging the tip of it in the earth to remain upright. His body was weaker now. He only had the use of his right arm and one leg. His senses blurred. The flames would be on them in moments. He just needed to hold on.

Well you heard him. I'm dead.

The fight was almost done, if Nozomi was going to be completely honest with herself. She'd been calculating the distances of the fire's and they were going to be converging at the center within a short amount of time. With the elimination of Sero, Hanbei was dangerously close to them as they danced forward, eager to consume the chakra of Hanbei.

Nozomi had to admit, it was unnerving to see Sero go limp like that. She'd never actually seen him lose. In a way, it mirrored probably how he had felt seeing her after her fight with Enaka. Her attention never left Hanbei though, as she couldn't be bothered to think about that just now. This fight didn't matter, Sero wasn't actually dead. Once they had a winner, things would be reset anyhow, it's how all these things had gone previously. Whatever power it was that existed here, nothing mattered.

Her only response to Hanbei's outrage was to say a few simple words. "There's no time to argue, there won't be any where to run. The stage is shrinking, so let's just fight." She watched as Hanbei drew more needles and held them as spikes, and Nozomi's mouth twitched into a grin. The funny thing was, with punches that could draw blood, it would be like fighting a Himitsu. And that was something Nozomi intimately knew how to do.

Still, the fiery orbs would be on them soon enough. There was probably only time for a small exchange at most. The smart thing to do would have been to draw her swords, but there was a small sense of pride that Nozomi had, she didn't need the swords. Hanbei was going to use Sero's items to help him? And fight with weaponized hands? That was fine, she needed the handicap. Nozomi was every bit Sero's equal, and she didn't have a lucky hit off on her that drained her throughout the fight.

Still, Nozomi wasn't dumb. She wasn't heading towards Hanbei, as she was the one who was closest to the center. If Hanbei wanted to win, she would have to come to Nozomi and force her to leave. Ripping the pouch off of her armor again, Nozomi scattered the Makibishi she had collected once more. Either Hanbei would have to go through them, and risk injury, or she would have to go around them, wasting precious time. Her hands slid into her own pouches, drawing 4 senbon for each hand, each properly primed for either punches or being thrown as well.

Mistakes were made, and this fight was now close to its end. As Nozomi went to scatter the Makibishi, she was attacked, 5 senbon launching towards her arm. It wasn't hard for her to dodge it, she jumped to the left and twisted her body to the right, the needles slamming into the ground a few feet away from her.

Then Hanbei launched himself into the tree line, with Nozomi watching. Her eye kept on Hanbei, waiting for the inevitable ranged attack from the treeline. Interestingly enough, Hanbei didn't do that, and instead continued to move through the trees to get closer to Nozomi. She wasn't exactly sure why, but perhaps it was to avoid any traps Nozomi may have placed. It made sense, Hanbei didn't really want her to even scatter the Makibishi.

However, as Hanbei did a spin twist in order to avoid any senbon Nozomi might launch, Nozomi didn't bother. Instead, she twisted and went for the 5 senbon that Hanbei had thrown at her, grabbing them in a single swoop with her right hand. Hanbei had already expressed dissatisfaction that he's been attacked by Sero and Nozomi launching her own needles back at her.

She righted herself, and it was at that time that Hanbei landed at the final branch, which let out a loud crack, leaping down to the ground to attack her head on. Launching towards Nozomi, Hanbei let out a punch towards her chest, and Nozomi did perhaps the most unexpected move she would ever do.

Meeting the punch head on, she burst forward herself, braced against Hanbei's own full bodied force with her own. The needles in Hanbei's hand slammed into Nozomi's chest, and she gave off a sound of 'Ooph', and her own right hand had already moved forward, Hanbei's needles in hand, towards Hanbei's throat. They should have collided their punches at around the same time, but Nozomi was attacking to end the match, not for a follow up.

Even still, the needles in her chest actually appeared to have been ineffective, which was sure to throw off Hanbei, who might have expected at least some sort of damage. What Hanbei couldn't possibly know though, was that Nozomi happened to be wearing three layers of armor. Her flak jacket absorbed plenty of damage on it's own, reducing the needle's piercing damage to B rank rather than A rank. The ANBU armor underneath reduced the needles to a mere C rank, and the Camelio Suit under that was sturdy enough to negate almost the rest of it. Nozomi's own endurance allowed her to truck through anything past that. Hanbei wouldn't be able to dodge with such short notice though, and she didn't have quite the level of protection that Nozomi did.

Her left hand moved up to grab Hanbei's wrist and keep her stuck there as it was still stuck into Nozomi's flak jacket, and Nozomi's right leg would come up for a liver shot delivered by her knee to Hanbei, who's entire stomach was exposed. Sero's cloak was massive on her, but her own strike and lunge forward had opened it wide for Nozomi, and the protection it gave was useless as it wasn't even there.

Assuming Hanbei still tried to kick Nozomi's ankle, it wouldn't even work, Nozomi having killed off a lot of Hanbei's momentum by meeting the strike to the chest head on, and her subsequent actions, as well as lifting her own knee for a strong strike to end Hanbei's fight. Any of her strikes were probably fight ending ones should they land, and should they not, Nozomi would attempt to twist and throw Hanbei into the orbs of fire that had moved very close by now.

Hanbei had made a mistake putting on Sero's cloak. It was massive on her, and in fact would probably prove to get in the way, creating massive drag and air resistance against such a small girl, slowing her down, and perhaps even serving as something to trip her up. Not only that, but it also prevented her from using the Porcupine Mantle as tackling gear, as it's own function as armor would be negating towards the weapon itself. Besides, if all these things failed, Nozomi had so many options that she could utilize because the cloak was on. It was something easy to grab and direct into Hanbei's way. Cloaks were not smart to use in close combat, and Nozomi would capitalize on it if she needed to.

The orbs of eerie blue flame mere seconds away from colliding with the two fighters would stop just as suddenly as they had started their hovering trek. The flames flicker and dance, waiting it seemed in anticipation of some important happening. The same familiar sensation of something crawling in the dark and across their skin would return to the contestants, both locked in combat and trying desperately to fell the other. The stars seemed to disappear from the sky, and a loud echoing voice shattered the solemnity of the moment.

The same ghostly pale blue woman floats a few meters away looming over the still body of Sero and laughing as though at some secret joke. As her cackle fills the air, the blue flamed orbs pulse and shiver, burning brightly and then slowly fading from view seemingly sucked back into the aether. Her eyes snap up to the two bloodied and bruised women, piercing eyes seeking to match the gaze of each warrior.


With her final words spoken the terrifying visage of the woman fades from view, her laughter still echoing softly on the night breeze.