A Fated Battle (Takashi vs Ogata)

Takashi once again strode out into the arena, this time with a little more recognition. The skills he had shown off in his last fight had surprised a majority of the audience and it seemed that the boy was the one to watch. He didn't care about that though, in fact his gaze seemed to be focused entirely on his opponent, one Ogata Hiroyuki.

He wouldn't admit it, but Ogata was probably the closest thing that Takashi had to a friend. Despite their conflicting personalities, they worked well together and seemed to do nothing but drive each other to new heights. It was this fact that could have them as favourites to go through to the finals. That was if they hadn't been set against one another at this early stage. A shame, really, but it wasn't a fight that Takashi hadn't planned for. In fact, if anything he had been planning for this since the chuunin exams had been announced, perhaps even before that. In their time working together, they knew just about everything there was to know about the other. Having trained all the way up to the tournament together, it was unlikely they had any surprises to pull out, so all this would come down to was who was wanted victory more.

Standing opposite, the younger shinobi stares across the field in silence. His focus was to win, even if it was his friend, and that would mean pulling no punches from the beginning. He didn't need to try and figure out the other boy's strategy, or his abilities, as they had been sparring since graduation and so far it had almost always ended in a draw.. Not today though. Today Takashi would ensure that he won.

To say Ogata was hyped for this battle would be an understatement, his generally cheery disposition gave way to his more serious entrance to the battle grounds. He and Gama walked in side by side, arms crossed and serious, his upper and lower eyelids had purple paint drawn on them in a straight thick line. Gama's paint matched, and as the crowd began to murmur and roar with anticipation Ogata couldn't help but take it all in. Takashi was his friend, his ultimate rival and he had been trying so god damned hard for years to overcome him. To this point, they were even, if not perhaps Takashi favored though you'd never hear Ogata admit it. Ogata himself wasn't supposed to be here, in spite of his proficiency he was never perceived as being on the level of his contemporaries, but this was his time to prove people wrong. This was him to make everyone recognize his brilliance.

As the proctor began to list off the rules Ogata's eyes finally opened, he stared eagerly at his old rival with a small smirk etched across his face, and his hand drifted slowly towards his kunai as the proctor prepared for them to clash. "Let's give it our all Takashi!" As Ogata said this, he dashed forward and slashed his kunai horizontally towards Takashi's chest, hoping Takashi would match it with his own.

Takashi just watched as Ogata stepped out opposite, having apparently decided to try out some war-paint this time, it was certainly on brand but Takashi couldn't really help but feel the boy was taking this less seriously than perhaps he should be. He couldn't tell if it was the fact he was trying to look serious or if there was something else. Regardless, seeing as Gama was already on the field, Takashi called his own summon, Yato, to begin as the proctor stood between them. Unlike his friend, Takashi never felt the need to prove himself to anyone. He would let his talents speak for themselves.

Soon, the battle began in earnest. With Takashi watching as Ogata quickly moved to close the distance between them, kunai drawn. A simple flourish and the Snake summoner had drawn his own weapon. A more ornate weapon imbued with a potent venom that would clash with a practiced ease. Between the two of them, Takashi had possibly spent more time honing his taijutsu and ability with a weapon. No where near the level that he had with Ninjutsu of course, but competent enough to fend off the frog boy. "I've seen this one, Ogata" He spoke simply, keeping the blades locked as Yato would dive into the earth, a well known tactic for Ogata of course, not that it would help him defend against it. In fact, the two of them had sparred enough to have very few secrets between them. If he were to guess, Gama was going to follow up during this stalemate but it was a matter of if the toad could do so before the serpent hidden beneath the arena floor could strike.

Ogata smirked as the snake buried itself in the ground below just around the time Gama was going to make his grand appearance. Ogata dashed backwards, allowing the clash to end as Gama came over the top swinging it's blade wildly towards Takashi's center mass. It wasn't an attack meant to land, but rather to push him back for the time-being. Ogata in the meantime had taken to running along the wall of the arena back towards Takashi, not willing to be taken from the ground so easily. He was weaving signals, and if Takashi had an eye towards Gama he'd see they were both prepping for an attack. "Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"

As soon as Ogata finished Gama and he would both launch the attack at roughly the same time hoping to scorch Takashi if possible. Even if it wasn't, it might work well enough to allow Ogata to work his way back towards Gama in the interim. The two were better together than they were apart, but Takashi knew that as well and as such Ogata probably couldn't expect that he'd be allowed to link back up easily. A small smirk covered Ogata's face as he waited for the dust to settle, time to see how Takashi would respond.

As predictable as ever, Takashi would deftly dodge the sword strike by doing a leaping roll to narrowly avoid the strike. However this wasn't simply the boy dodging, as he had placed an explosive tag during the dodging motion, it lay dormant however. Though it seemed that as he landed the boy had been taken by surprise, as the fire from both his opponents converged ready to swallow him whole. Ogata would see a momentary glance in his direction before being consumed. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left it seemed, apart from the smouldering remains of the young shinobi's coat.

Before the boy and his toad could properly re-unite however, Yato burst from the ground with Takashi in tow. The boy leaping into the air as he activated the tag he had left, the explosion sure enough to be a nice distraction as the great snake rushed Gama, fangs bared ready to snatch him away. Meanwhile, Takashi responded to the use of ninjutsu in kind. His hands forming independant techniques as he issued a great gout of flame from his mouth. Only to follow up with a surge of air that seemed to fuel the fireball. Though it also covered a number of envenomed kunai that the snake summoner had thrown aiming to strike him while distracted.

Techniques Used:

As Ogata would've expected Takashi expertly dodged the strike and prepared his own rebuttal as the flames seemingly left a scorched coat and little else in their wake. Gama was startled by the paper bomb but not caught off guard, he had managed to jump out of the way into the waiting body of a very angry snek. He was able to move enough to avoid the snakes fangs but the two still stumbled off and away from the action as Gama readied his sword to defend himself from the vile snek. It wasn't the best one vs one situation imaginable, but it was absolutely what they'd been left with.

In the meantime Ogata was in a much more difficult position. Takashi had avoided his first assault and prepped an attack. The fire was one thing, but if Ogata was correct it'd be followed up by..

Wind.

Ogata weaved signs quickly as the flames approached him "Bring Down the House Jutsu!" The attack landed, prompting the frog to recoil a bit but the purpose had been served in getting Ogata up and away from the flames. Ogata smirked, casting a series of toad oil bombs down towards his grounded foe that would use the previously set fires to close off the area before he turned his attention to Gama who was wrangling the snake. He needed to get Gama back if he wanted to win this, but how?

Yato was relentless in it's assault, the giant snake's body twisting and striking with surprising speed considering it's size. The strange angles made it difficult to get purchase on it's armour like scales from the frantic sword strikes. It wouldn't allow the toad a moment to escape and help it's summoner knowing that Takashi had things handled.

Takashi, meanwhile, had quickly moved to close the distance between them. Avoiding the oil bombs as best he could while effortlessly scaling the massive toad that had been dropped on the arena. He knew that Ogata couldn't handle himself quite as well at close range and his speed was going to be a massive factor when it came to ending his fight.

Until now, it was possible that Ogata had never seen just how calculating his team-mate could be, or how far seeing he was when it came to strategy. It seemed almost like he had him just where he wanted him. As a distraction, the young shinobi threw his kunai to open him up for a swift frontal assault followed by a series of spinning kicks that would end in a vicious kick aimed directly at the boy's head. The whole time Ogata would notice the cold look of calm in Takashi's eyes, to be the focus of his full strength.

Gama was fending off the snake as best he could, swinging his sword side to side in order to keep it away as best he could. He felt himself pressured against the flames as he stepped back and away, and he looked to Ogata for some kind of support.

In the meantime Ogata had his own problems to deal with as Takashi dashed towards him. He was able to clank the kunai away with his own but he was unable to avoid the spinning kicks heading his way despite his best efforts. He was sent flying, but he was competent enough to formulate a plan. He saw his toad, trapped and in need of assistance and frankly he was in need as well and thus, a plan was hatched. Ogata propelled himself off the massive toad, weaving signs with a smirk before screaming. "Gama, to me! Great Fireball Jutsu!"

As Ogata said this the massive toad would disengage, propelling itself towards Ogata's descending body around the same time a giant fireball was being lobbed to where he and the snake were previously having a kerfuffle. If he was lucky, the snake would be cooked. At best, he figured it'd at least have to return to it's hidey hole and Gama would have seemingly intercepted his falling comrade. The two leapt away in an instant, panting slightly as a trickle of blood and loads of sweat ran down Ogata's face. "Just as I'd expect.."

The snake wasn't letting Gama have a moment of rest, it's evasive and abnormal movement helping it avoid a majority of the damage, though it was starting to show wounding in some strikes that had managed to sneak through. Yato, however, was not looking to his summoner. He knew Takashi was going to be fine. After all, no student of Ryuichi Cave could be so easily taken out, else they would he would have been culled long before.

The plan seemed to have worked, at least for now. With the toad's jumping advantage there was little for Yato to do as it slipped just out of reach of it's fangs. Seeing the ball of fire flying toward it, the beast would once again tunnel into the safety of the arena floor. Now waiting for a moment that it could attack.

Takashi stood for a moment, watching down to see that Ogata and Gama had managed to reconvene... no matter. The boy dropped down from the toad, landing in a portion of the arena that wasn't on fire for his snake to emerge once more under the boy's feet, standing taller as he faced his foe once more. It seemed their little skirmish had ended up in little more than a reset, but he had a feeling things were about to be shaken up.

Ogata smirked as he stared across the arena from his rival. He knew frankly that any kind of engage from here would inevitably result in failure on his part, and so he decided it was time for this fight to come to a close. He reverse summoned the giant toad back to where it came from and prepared to yell. "ALRIGHT TAKASHI! I'M GONNA END THIS NOW!"

The plan had been figured out long before the battle started. The field was now covered in oil, an easy vector for Ogata's fire and now was the time to bring this contest to a close. Ogata and Gama stood side by side, both weaving separate signs as they synched up their timing regardless. "Mist Blaze Dance, Toad Oil Bomb, Go!" As Ogata said this, streams of gasoline oil and fire flew forth, scorching the arena between himself and Takashi. Anyone on the other side of the fire would be fucked, unilaterally destroyed by the ensuing destruction if they didn't get out of the way but something told Ogata Takashi would have his own plans.. Time to see how this would end.

As always, Ogata had to go for the more showy way of doing things. Though he was right in this case, this was going to end now. Takashi had been taxing his chakra reserves as it was already, and a final stand seemed fitting between the two. For the audience, it had been quite a show so far and it wasn't likely that they would forget this bout any time soon. In a calm manner, the younger shinobi pushed his glasses back up and readied himself for what was to come.

The arena was ripe for what Takashi himself had planned, a final combination attack that would hopefully prove him the victor. Moving forwards, Takashi leapt from Yato's head while weaving separate signs with both hands, a technique he had practiced outside only a few times with rather explosive results. A condensed fireball issued forth towards Ogata's own,, swelling in size into a great inferno the moment it made contact with the mixture of explosive gas and oil. However, the boy wasn't done when he followed through with a wind technique to fan the flames.

What happened next could only be described as a blur of light and heat, the mixture of flame and air exploding outwards between the pair to almost immediately engulf them in a firestorm. A firestorm that threatened to cook the entire stage if it weren't for the resident Mizukage swiftly creating a layer of black crystalline ice around the arena, funneling the resultant explosion into the air and away from the crowd.

Said Mizukage looked aside to her peer, icy blue gaze looking on with concern. "And these are your genin Lord Hokage? Do they not know restraint?" She had to admit, the pair of Leaf genin before her were skilled, if a little... dangerous. She allowed the walls to collapse inward, melting the ice to quickly quench the flames that remained leaving a rising steam cloud and presumably a pair of smouldering genin and their summons at opposite ends of the arena, most likely unconscious.

Techniques Used:

So to say that Ogata had been left in a heap would be perhaps the understatement of the year. As soon as the explosion occurred he was left plastered to the wall alongside Gama. It was only by the grace of a near-by mud-mound that the two had avoided being totally obliterated, but their goose was no doubt cooked. Gama, through sheer dumb luck had fallen behind the fallen larger frog which was now little more than a smoldering pile of frog-legs, and it shielded him from much of the blast. Nonetheless, Gama nor Ogata were leaving their prone state any time soon, even as the cold water splashed across their downed bodies. The crowd erupted, Ogata could almost hear it as he drifted from consciousness and yet the glory wasn't anything like what he expected. He tried to get up, he wanted to greet the crowds ovations with some kind of voluntary muscle contraction but even that proved too much. All he could do at this time was sleep.

Kaishi had long since asked his nearby Jonin to form a barrier between the arena and the crowd around them, but the Mizukage acting as a first layer of defense was frankly more than welcome. "I thank you for the assist Lord Mizukage, and to be frank I.. don't think even they knew what they were capable of. Not everyone has the refined control of their skills that you had at their age." Kaishi took a deep sigh, looking over the charred remains of the field before standing. "In the event that neither combatant is able to continue the battle must be declared a draw. Ogata Hiroyuki and Takashi have been eliminated from the Exams." There was slight jeering from the crowd whom was frankly in the mood to see these kids continue to give their all, but the rules were the rules. In spite of that, Kaishi now knew that he had some.. interesting talents on his hands. "Perhaps with the right training these two could be special.."

-End thread-