CHAPTER 10

Ralfe once again threw three shuriken at Kenpachi's, knocking them all away. He hurled another at the oncoming ninja. The water clone threw a Kunai at the wall behind Ralfe, this one attached with an explosive tag. Kenpachi ducked under the shuriken and attempted to stab up at the Leaf-nin. Ralfe's body blew up as Kenpachi stabbed at him, creating a huge explosion which shook the wall of earth. The exploding tag then went off, knocking it down completely.

Ralfe, in tact, stood among the rubble.

'Suicidal Shadow Clone,' he explained to the injured Kenpachi. 'Bakuretsu Kage Bunshin. It works like the normal Kage Bunshin, excepts it explodes,' he said simply.

"Oh ho! Very clever, using that in conjunction with my own tag to injure me..."

Kenpachi slowly stood, cradling a gash on his left arm caused by a jagged piece of rock. He retreated several feet and ducked, letting Shuriken and Kunai whistle over his head.

'That Mizu bunshin is proving very useful...I'll have to work on using it more...'

Ralfe evaded the shuriken and kunai and ducked behind some rubble.

'I wonder if I'll have to pay for damages,' he thought, looking round the battered arena floor.

'First I need to get rid of that water clone. Its only a tenth as powerful as the real thing. It would be a waste using 'Groundbreaking' to take it out. He seems to be using it as covering fire, so if I'm in close combat with the real Kenpachi, I don't think it would risk attacking in case it hit him instead of me. So the question is: Could I take him on in close combat now that I've weakened him? I'll aim to injure his legs, so that he can't kick or run.'

He held a kunai in either hand and memorised Kenpachi's position, then dimmed his light until it was almost out to make it harder for the water clone to hit him. Then he charged, not head on, but in a curved arc in an attempt to allude and surprise Kenpachi and his clone. When he was close to the mist shinobi, he brightened his light again and stabbed towards Kenpachi's chest. Kenpachi and his clone quickly switched positions as the light dimmed.

'He must have memorised my position for him to do this...'

He gave a fierce grin as his water clone dissipated into a puddle of water surrounding his sword.

"Yes...putting an excess of water into the clone paid off..."

The earth surrounding the sword embedded into the ground became soft and muddy, allowing Kenpachi to rip it from the ground. He took several steps backwards, swinging so that only the end of the sword could reach his glowing opponent.

'From this range he can't come inside my guard or have time to throw shuriken. If I keep him at this distance, it will end quickly.'

At that thought, he swung his longsword at the Leaf-nin, the pointed edge aimed right at his midsection

'Crap, hes got his sword back.' Ralfe side-stepped and stabbed at Kenpachi's right kidney.

Kenpachi rotated, the momentum of swinging the blade pulling him out of harm's way. He angled the tip into the ground, using it a point to push off of, aiming a kick at the back of Ralfe's head. Ralfe threw himself to the ground to avoid the kick, then rolled and got up again to face his opponent.

The unreleased momentum pulled the tip of Kenpachi's sword out of the ground, and he quickly landed on his feet, taking a couple steps back to stay out of close range.

'Dangit... Kenpachi thought as his breath came in short gasps. ...We've been evenly matched throughout this whole thing...I guess I'll have to use 'it''

He took a step backwards and flung his sword high into the air. He did a series of hand seals before catching the hilt of his sword as it fell to the ground.

'Suiton- Art of Liquid Embrace!'

Water congealed out of the mist, surrounding Kenpachi's body in several inches of liquid armor. He formed his left hand into a fist, and the water elongated into a spike, which he pointed at Ralfe.

"I had hoped to save this for the finals, but you're too close of a match for me to beat without it."

He unclenched his fist and grabbed the handle of his sword with it. Water flowed around the hilt, creating a guard for his fingers. He stepped into range, smashing a horizontal slice at Ralfe's chest.

Ralfe was smashed backwards by the immense force of the attack. He fell onto his back, clutching his stomach. 'Well I guess you beat me,' he coughed out, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

'But you haven't beaten me,' he said, stepping out from behind the broken wall. 'Kage Bunshin really is a useful jutsu. That was just a clone. I guess I've weakened you enough now.

Now heres my strongest technique, made specially for assassinations! Art of the Avalanche!'

He performed the hand signals and the earth beneath Kenpachi began turning and sinking, trapping him by the ankles.

'Surrender.'

Kenpachi sighed.

'Agh...Kage Bunshin. The bane of Taijutsu users...Oh well...My chakra is almost dry anyway...'

He reluctantly raised his arm, disappointment colouring his face.

'I surrender.'

'The winner of this fight: Ralfe of the Leaf!' exclaimed Raidou.

Ralfe released the jutsu.

'Woah, that was tough. You're the strongest opponent I've ever faced. Sorry about acting kinda arrogant earlier. It was supposed to throw you off guard, but it didn't really work.'

They walked back to the stands, while Raidou announced the next fight.

'Fight C, Kira of the Mist vs Shadow of the Sand! Would these two competitors come down to the arena?'

'Way to go, Ralfe!' said Kyo as he got back to the balcony.

'Thanks.'

Kenpachi stared at his victorious opponent, and then shrugged, returning to his team. Rukia seemed to be avoiding eye contact, and Kira was already on his way down to the arena floor. Kenpachi caught him on the way down.

"Be careful, Kira. Your opponent goes for the kill in every attack. Letting up on your guard can mean death. Don't-"

Kira waved away Kenpachi's other warnings.

"I'll be fine. Go up and rest. I know that using that water shield drains almost all of your Chakra, so you'd better get up there before you pass out."

Kenpachi nodded, his light-headedness almost causing him to black out, and leapt up to his team's area. Kira dropped down into the arena, and looked up at Shadow.

'Here we go...'

Shadow jumped down to face his opponent, glaring fiercely at him.

Raidou raised his arm, then dropped it; 'Start!'