Maikumaru sat on the branch, his arm resting on his right knee, while his other leg casually swung. He was surrounded by a dense audience of paying customers. Bets were being placed all around, and many were betting on Maik. He scoffed. It was probably due to his stronger size. But many were placed on his opponent, who had yet to make an appearance. Maikumaru had heard whispers in a bar he had gotten himself wasted in of a fight club. Surprisingly he didn’t get wasted enough for him to forget those whispers. If there was one thing Maikumaru loved doing was throwing down hands. The crowd was large, and consisted of people from all over the Land of Fire.

Then there he was. Standing many trees away was his opponent. He was skinny, and had his hair over his eye. The way he walked was uncoordinated. It was lazy. He definitely wasn't a master at Taijutsu. But he had a cocky way about him. He was talented in something. It was enough for him to believe that he could win. He had no weapons on him, so it wasn't Bukijutsu of any sort. He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, and stood up. They were hundreds of onlookers, placing their bets. Wages were getting more and more intense. The young Iwa Ninja was starting to hear some pretty high numbers. Apparently Maikumaru was pegged as the “Mysterious Newcomer.” The other man was seen as one of the best fighters in the circuit. They called him The Blazer. It was a telling that he was a guy who was a master of Fire Ninjutsu. He attempted to give Maikumaru a snarky look. Frankly, the Iwa Ninja didn’t care. Win or lose, he is still going to get a fight, and that’s a win for him.

He stood up on the branch. The ref was calling from a megaphone. “FIGHT!!” The Blazer created the Tiger Hand Seal. Just as he suspected. It was common hand seal for Fire Technique. He Spat a large fireball into Maikumaru’s direction. The sneaky little prick. He jumped jumped from left to right, dodging all the attacks effectively. Maik was still a good distance away, so The Blazer continued to shoot flames from either his mouth or hands. Eventually Maikumaru was able to catch up to him. “You are used to standing back, and hitting people from a distance….hehehe….well you never fought anyone like me.” There was a look of disbelief on his face. Maikumaru wrapped his arms around him. He jumped into the air, flipping while doing so. He yelled in a panic as Maikumaru begin to lateral spin, and then he slammed down into a branch, breaking it, hearing a loud “OOF” from the man, and then into the ground, the large hulking frame landed on him hard. Maik got up from the body, to find that the man had been flattened. His mouth was gapped oppened, and he made an imprint into the dirt. The referee body flickered next to Maikumaru to raise his hand. “WE HAVE A WINNER!!! WHO WILL CHALLENGE HIM!!??!?”

That megaphone made Maikumaru wanted to break his neck.


558

Ess sat atop a branch, overlooking the fighting ring. Her back rested against the trunk while one of her legs dangled loosely, swinging back and forth. Her hands were busy holding a bag of popcorn and shoveling as much as she could into her mouth. The other hand occasionally gripped a pair of binoculars and passed them around to her companions. Her valets - the ever constant presence - occupied nearby branches, watching the fights with as much amusement as their mistress. This was their monthly bonding activity, after all and it had proven to be quite successful so far. The tree allowed them a good vantage point from which to watch the event, away from the rabble gathered on improvised stands. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the location of this fight club changed constantly to avoid local law enforcement.

The young dragon threw popcorn at the middle of the ring as one fight ended. "Boo!" She yelled, not quite sure what she was booing at. San climbed down the tree to go get the rest of them more popcorn in between fights.

"The Mysterious Stranger wins again! Ladies and gentlemen, get ready to place your next bets, because this fight will be a good one!" Called the announcer.

Yi passed her the binoculars and nudged at her, silently communicating something. Ess took them in one hand and peered through. "Hey you're right! That is Keru. You know? That one human dude I told you guys about - does explosion stuff," she said. The young dragon was now a little more invested than she had been before.

"Our next challenger! The master of fire jutsu, the undying phoenix! Give it up for The Blazer!" Unfortunately, the fight was over before San had a chance to return.

"Well that was quick," she mumbled. The rabbits nodded in agreement. The rest of the crowd was unsure of whether to cheer or boo at the fact that it had all been over so quickly. Clearly, it wasn't much of a debate for those who had won or lost money. "Either Keru's good or that guy was finna get wasted, amiright?" Again, the rabbits nodded.

Ess considered her options for a moment while shoving another fistful of popcorn into her mouth. She smiled wickedly. "You guys wanna find out the answer to that?" Without another word, the rabbits scrambled around excitedly. They had flyers ready for similar occasions. Ess hopped down from the branch as they got ready. She fell slowly and gracefully, as if gravity had less of an effect on her. She squeezed past the crowd and tapped the announcer on the shoulder.

"We have a challen-" Ess ripped the megaphone from his hand.

"Aight ladies and gents, ever seen a real fuckin dragon fight?" She yelled. Her hyping was met with confused and drunken cheers. "Well you're about to see one!" She dropped the megaphone and rolled her shoulders. The announcer scrambled to pick it up and say that bets were open.

One of the rabbits approached her, ears twitching. Ess smiled at him. "Alright, Er, up top," she said, slapping the rabbit's paw. A small stream of chakra poured through, into the small animal. She winked at him. Just like that, he disappeared back into the crowd, handing out flyers with the other two.

Light enveloped her body and her transformation began. A seven meter dragon took the young woman's place, teeth bared and claws sharp. She stood three meters away from her opponent. She was large, but the space provided ample room to move. She could take flight without a problem, if she wanted to. She had about five meter behind her, away from the crowd, without counting her huge form. Considering her height, she had no need to raise her neck to stare at her opponent eye to eye. If anything, she had to crouch down slightly. "Good to see you again, Keru."

[663]

Maikumaru jumped up to the branches, grabbing a hold of each one, wanting to go back to the branch he was initially sitting on. When he had arrived, took a deep sigh, and plopped down back on the branch, his arm resting on the knee that was on the branch, and his other leg swinging casually. Another one bit the dust, and he wasn’t sure who was next. He wouldn’t mind fighting another opponent. He only hoped that there would be a challenge, however, he couldn’t deny that he liked how much stomping the ground with whatever they throw at him a stroked his ego. But regardless, he liked an actual and good fight more than anything else.

He wasn’t sure if the operation he was doing was illegal or not, but frankly he didn’t care. This was a far better vice than the garbage he had polluted his body with, cigarettes and excessive drinking. And with this, he was happy. He didn’t allow his mind to be clouded up with thoughts of his nemesis when he fought. His thoughts of the Raikage, and his inevitable downfall. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind. There was no reason to be thinking such things. For now the only two things that mattered in this world was Maikumaru and his next opponent.

“Ladies and gents, ever seen a real fuckin dragon fight?!” His eyes shot opened to take a look of the one who seemed to have swiped the magphone from the ref/announcer, to see the face that had owned the familiar voice. And to his surprise it was none other than Ess, the woman he had helped back in Suna. Once again his eyes wandered back to her boobs. Her magnificent chest. His eyes were starry eyed. “Oh its nice to see you too, Ess. I didn’t think I would ever see you again as a matter of fact. And my name isn’t Maikeru. At least not anymore. Its Maikumaru. I met my dad for the first time since I was a baby, allegedly, and he told me my real name is Maikumaru. So I guess you could call me….Kumaru?”

Maikumaru laughed. Her presence brought out a nice aura of fun, something he had been needing for a while. He jumped from his branch, sitting approximately 20 meters away from her. She was large, and he wasn’t sure if his new grappling jutsu was going to work on her. There was no way in hell was he going to be able to use the Stonepress Backbreaker on her. He was going to have to get a bit more creative. He will probably need to rely on Ninjutsu a bit more than Taijutsu. He looked her magnificent dragon form. “Well I guess we should get started then.” Maikumaru opted to keep his distance from her. He got on one knee, and aimed his finger at her as if it was a gun. They fired rounds of small needles at her. It was a low ranking technique for sure, but all he needed to do was size her up, and put her on a slight defensive.

Chakra: 300/300:

557/1115 WC

12 tons, she estimated. That was about her current weight. Granted, she hadn't stepped on a scale in maybe a year, so that was a rough approximation. She could be half a ton off. If pilates was working for her, she had likely packed on a bit more muscle. It had done wonders for her sister's thighs, but that was besides the point. She had something to do now.

"Kuma," Ess corrected, still standing at her original distance. If his name was Maikumaru, she would call him Kuma. She supposed it fit, although she liked Keru better. Couldn't be helped if that wasn't his name, though.

The young dragon nodded. It was time  to start this fight. Without another word, Ess got into a stance, limbs coiled and ready to spring if need be. Her head and neck were reared upwards, ready to bite and strike if he decided to get close. For the time being, though, Kuma decided to remain on his branch. He took quick action, but Ess was wary. Five charged bolts headed her way, all in quick succession, aimed at the same spot in her left shoulder. She dodged to the right, and as she did, she held up her hands in the shape of a common sign: The shadow clone jutsu. In a puff of smoke, six copies of herself appeared scattered around the area, surrounding Maikumaru.

One was to his immediate left, another to his right. One stood four meters directly in front of him. Two others flanked Ess. The last one stood behind the young Iwa-nin, two meters away. Of course, these were purely illusions, meant to mimic another jutsu in order to mislead. After all, her opponent had no way of knowing whether or not she could create shadow clones. What was curious, though, was that what seemed to be the original Ess was actually an illusion as well. The real one was obscured, made invisible by her own technique.

The clones closest to the young shinobi - four of them in total - would charge at him simultaneously, each one towering over the trees. They would try to surround him, making it nearly impossible to slip through without considerable effort. All four copies would bite and slash at him, aiming for his torso and limbs, roaring loudly all the while. The attacks would look perfectly coordinated. If the attacks hit, they would very much look and feel real.

Meanwhile, the real Ess would quietly approach her opponent. 10 meters to his left was enough, for now. She held back a giggle. This was one technique she had been wanting to try for a while now. Chakra - ki, as she preferred to call it - flooded her vocal chords. "Boop," she whispered. The energy released and bolted towards Kuma. If it hit him, we would start to hear a butchered version of his favorite song, poorly played by recorders.

Throughout all of this, Ess would remain vigilant and ready to dodge and react in case Maikumaru managed to free himself of four 12 ton dragons. Even if they were an illusion, everything they did felt very much real, after all.

[530]

Chakra: 250/300:

Maikumaru watched as the Ess in her full dragon form. She then created what appeared to be Shadow Clones, that surrounded him. She dodged his bolts, exactly like he knew she would. He smiled and noticed that he wasn’t in the best situation. Clones were particularly hard to deal with, but there is usually something that distinguished between them from the original. But then he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. There was no way he could sense Ess anyway, considering that they were Shadow Clones, so he might as well just save himself the Chakra. But he could play the same game she did. Maikumaru knew that he couldn't overpower her, let alone seven of her. Seven of them surrounded him. A bit annoyed he began to weave his hand signs, going into the  Ram, Boar, Dog, Bird and finally the Hare. Around him arose four Earth Pillars. Once they did, Lightning ropes would connect between them. If the clones were unfortunate enough, their larger frames would be caught between at least one of the four sets of ropes,giving them a shocking revelation. It gave Maikumaru at least a brief moment to come up with a strategy. If he could somehow prevent the clones from griefing him, he could take to the desne group of trees to go into hiding, perhaps summoning a Suicide Shadow Clone full of Explosion Release, or his signature Mud Wolves, one of which with a Detonator on it. But she might have been aware of that strategy, given how she had seen it before. It was only a matter of time before she breached his barrier.

But then something happened while he was in his little chamber. He started to hear an awful noise. It was his favorite song, Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, but twisted, corrupted in an awful form by the sound of a disgusting flute. “WHERE THE HELL IS THIS TORTURE COMING FROM?!?!” He tried to cover his ears, but that was no help whatsoever. He looked around frantically to find the origin of the song. Of the atrocity, so he could swiftly murder them. But he couldn't. None of Ess's Clones had a flute of any sort. He activated his Gaia's Eyes Technique, to find the person who was responsible, and give them their proper punishment. But then he noticed something off. To his surprise there was another dragon, according to his Sensory. He looked to his left. His eyes couldn't see, but he could sense her. “Why is this one invisible but the others aren't?” Maikumaru deduced that it was either a Genjutsu or she had used a sensory cloak. Either way, using Genjutsu Release was still a waste of Chakra, because even if it was a Genjutsu, he could “see” her now, as long as he was connected to the ground, or touching something connected to the ground. He ran up the Pillar, using more hand seals. He had a better idea. Using the Boar, Ram, Snake, Horse, and Dragon hand seals, when he finally reached the top of the Pillar, keeping his feet connected to keep her location in mind, he unleashed lightning on her. It should stop the use of whatever Jutsu she was using, and end the Shadow Clones. A better use of Chakra.

581/1696

230/300 Chakra:

If she had been in her human form, Ess would have smirked and cracked her knuckles. As it stood now, though, she needed her hands to maintain her defensive posture. Her smirk would look odd to a human - all sharp teeth and barely any lip. Keru - Kuma, she corrected herself - had opted to perform a complicated array of hand signs in place of dodging. That in and of itself gave her all of the opening she needed. Seeing as he didn't dodge, all four dragons landed their intended hits. Though the injuries weren't real, the pain would be for as long as the technique lasted. Each dragon bit a different part of his body. One sank its teeth into his torso, another into his left bicep. The other two went for each of his legs, tearing into the muscles in his thighs. He would now see blood dripping down his entire body, chunks of flesh missing. Moving around would be difficult as long as the illusion lasted. To keep up the ruse, the dragons would leap backwards as soon as they injured Maikumaru, well away from the range of his technique when he finished casting it.

Ess didn't just sit back and watch while this happened, though. Although functional, this was part of a distraction, alongside the shitty flute version of whichever song he was listening to now. Honestly, that was one of her favorite techniques. She positioned herself so that one of her dragon clones was exactly over her. She needed to keep up the ruse. "Ready to give up now?" she asked. The sound came from one of the dragon clones. Immediately after she was done speaking, she retreated, moved again so that she was off to the right side of Kuma, ten meters away. At this point, he had finished casting his technique. However, all three clones were out of its range.

Moreover, the phrase she had spoken wasn't just a simple question. It carried the power of her chakra - ki, as she preferred to call it - as her previous techniques had done. It fanned out in a wave, much like the sound waves it was attached to did. This particular technique began with a headache and ended in a severe concussion. It traveled quickly towards its target. Kuma would begin to hear screams that sounded like his loved ones. His eyes and ears would begin to bleed as ki exerted pressure on his brain - all of this if the technique managed to hit, of course.

Despite knowing that he was know injured, Ess wouldn't drop her guard. She watched him closely. He ran up the pillars and her dragons followed suit. One would use its size to easily leap atop the pillar and prevent Kuma from getting there in the first place. The other three would try to bite him once again. Two would aim at each of his legs while the other aimed at his other arm - the one that was unharmed. If Maikumaru decided to continue up the pillar, the dragon would move back, but aim a slash at his torso. If he stopped, he would be cornered again. Moreover, if he continued with his planned technique, Ess would immediately activate something she had been preparing since the start of the fight: substitution jutsu.

The chakra she had passed on to her rabbit was a safety measure for a situation such as this. The jutsu would hit the rabbit while Ess reappeared five meters to the left of her original spot - still ten meters away from Kuma. The rabbit would take the entire hit. The electricity would make it convulse violently before it too disappeared in a puff of smoke. Ess readied herself for whatever counter her opponent prepared. The dragon clones remained on him, trying to incapacitate him and limit his movements as much as possible. This was her battleground to manipulate, after all.

[629]

Chakra:

Maikumaru breathed heavy. His plan had slightly worked to some extent, as he was able to force the clones to back off giving him some breathing room. As his plan fully went into fruition, he started to run up the Pillar but started to hear something. Something far worse than his favorite song being played in an awful flute. He heard the sounds of suffering. Sounds and screams of many people going through some sort of atrocity. Crying. Children crying. He heard the sounds of the people of Iwa going through some sort of unseen catastrophe that only his ears can see. His eyes opened wide, brows knitted, and mouth drooling. He used his Genjutsu Dissipation technique at the most powerful he can do, B rank. It was as he had expected, the Clones were fake, the horrid sounds of his Village Members suffering and his Favorite Song being altered to a form of a shitty flute.

Maikumaru understood a fight was a fight but that was taking it way too far. After he made an attack with his Electromagnetic Murder, she had used had substituted with her rabbit. So you found your rabbit…

He acted quickly, disengaging five meters away from her, and activating his Hidden Stone Jutsu making him invisible to the naked eye. Ran up to a different tree as quickly as possible, using his invisibility to his advantage. If she would get too close, he would keep jumping towards a different branch of a different tree, keeping his distance until he went to the dense branches and leaves, where he can be better hidden. While he carefully watched her movements, he activated his Suicide Bombing Clone. Maikumaru would move further away, just enough range to keep the jutsu active. He ordered the visible clone to launch itself from the branch to goad Ess into a trap. Maikumaru kept the clone as far away as possible without dissipating, and he had the clone run from Ess as far as possible, avoiding attacks as much as possible. He had the clone throw taunts from left to right. “Come on, you big gekko come and get me! Or are you too slow?”

And if she didn’t follow, the clone would retreat back into the dense roof of the forest, to stay hidden until it was time for it to emerge and perform a Kamikaze attack, on Ess.  Maikumaru would still remain far away from the suicidal clone as possible, knowing what it's detonation entails.


419/2115

Chakra: 170/300:

So he figured it out. To be fair, the intense screams coming from inside one's own head were a little on the nose - a clear illusion, no matter how disturbing it was to listen to. She would maybe have to fix that at some point in time, tweak it a little for the sake of subtlety. In the meantime, though, there was little she could do about that. All of her genjutsu techniques dissipated, Ess considered moving this to close-quarters combat for the time being. It wasn't her strong suit, but she had two clear advantages over her opponent: size and weight. With her current size came a good amount of reach. However, there were still ten meter between them and within that range were the four pillars with electricity running through them. No, she would keep her distance for now. As Kuma stood still to dispel the illusions, Ess would prepare another one, ready to begin the second he lifted the rest.

"Think you've got it solved now?" She asked as he turned around to disengage and promptly disappeared. It didn't matter, though. Her chakra spread quickly, whether she could see him or not. He was already susceptible to its effects at a five meter distance. If he didn't manage to somehow avoid the chakra-laced sound waves, he would see darkness the next time he blinked and opened his eyes again. He would see nothing in front of him or around him - nothing but emptiness. However, pink dragons would start to pop up across his vision. They would mutate shapes and colors, all the while singing a very discomforting tune. The entire experience would be very surreal. Overwhelming fear and existential dread were common side effects. Moreover, chakra would spread to his brain and start messing with his systems.

If that didn't happen, Ess still had a few tricks up her sleeve. She would leave those for later, though. For now, she kept her guard up, her eyes fixed in the general direction her opponent had fled in. She made a mental note to develop some sort of sensory technique. Those often came in handy in situations like these. While she couldn't see him, she noticed the slight unnatural movements of branches and leaves. Still, she pretended not to notice. She could use this to her advantage.

At that point, the clone appeared from that general area. It looked identical to the original, so much so that Ess didn't catch on to what it was at the beginning. "Now that was rude. You don't see me pointing out how you look like a hairless ape," The young dragon stated, ready to move if it started to get any closer. Something struck her as strange. Why would he go invisible just to goad her seconds later? It didn't make any practical sense to waste chakra like that. This had trap written all over it. Ess didn't like it at all.

She tensed her body and sprung into the air. Taking flight would be the best course of action for now. At 35 meters in the air, she felt safe that none of his attacks would reach her. She could still see what was happening below her. The strange imitation of Kuma was retreating back into the dense forest. Lame. She wanted to remain in front of the amazed crowd, but if he wanted to take this somewhere else, so be it. She would follow, though she would remain at her current distance. Hopefully the original was under the effects of her technique at this point. She would keep an ear out for any screams.

[617]

Chakra: 165/300: