Disclaimer: SNK and Capcom own more than one ninja each, so............more ninjas today.

Chapter 37: A Destined Ninja Clash

The Announcer went on to announce the next fight.

"And now, to continue the tournament. Ibuki and Hattori Hanzo............COME ON DOWN."

Ibuki was stunned to have gotten the fight she desired so soon. The time had come for her to prove she was the better ninja. However, as she stepped into the ring, she began to feel uneasy as her opponent made his way into the ring. Something about him was extremely off-putting. Perhaps it was his large amount of Ki reserves for his ninpo that she was feeling. As he stepped into the ring, the Announcer allowed the fight to start.

"Let the match..............BEGIN!"

Suddenly, the uneasy feeling dissipated, as Ibuki leapt into the air and launched a kunai at him. However, he caught the kunai in between his index and middle fingers, throwing Ibuki off her game for a split second. Suddenly, Ibuki did a handseal, causing the kunai to discharge a large, electric current, leaving Hanzo in a literally shocked state. Ibuki landed and immediately ran at him. As she approached him, she did a series of three, slicing roundhouse kicks, each one finding it's mark. As Hanzo was sent to the floor by this technique, he immediately landed on his hands and flipped back into position. As he landed on his feet, he slammed his fist into the ground in front of him, causing a wave of flame to appear, bouncing forward toward Ibuki. Ibuki saw this at the last minute and rolled away from it, watching as the wave bounced past her and into the wall.

As Ibuki refocused her attention on Hanzo, he disappeared. As she looked around, she saw that he was around, so she deduced his possible location. She immediately backflipped into the air, causing Hanzo's surprise attack to miss. She then threw another kunai at Hanzo. However, Hanzo threw a shuriken of his own, causing the two to collide and fall harmlessly to the ground. Once again taking advantage of her apparent speed advantage, Ibuki bounced off the floor and jumped straight at Hanzo. As she came within striking distance, she kicked him twice in the face. However, Hanzo disappeared, as a log appeared in his place. As Ibuki landed from the move she did, Hanzo swooped down upon Ibuki, twirling his sword and striking her, leaving a slash across her arm. Ibuki flipped away from him, as he chuckled.

"You call yourself a ninja, yet you don't know the simple substitution technique?"

Ibuki was stunned at how inexperienced she was in the face of an expert ninja. What was she thinking by challenging him?

"I may only know certain basic ninpo, but I'll defeat you with what I do know!"

With Ibuki's resolve strengthened, how will she fare against a seemingly, unbeatable opponent?

End of Chapter 37

A/N: More ninja fights. I always wanted to write some of these type of fights since there's so much you could do with them. What do you think? Leave reviews, comments, and questions.