Yoibetsu-N stood up straight, moving his eyes away from the smooshed leather ball that Hanomahal Moenaka still clenched in his hand. The fact that a mere play ball didn't explode into strips of leather and whatever it was stuffed with, given the deafening impact and the impressive crater that Moenaka's landing left, was revealing of a lot of things in of itself. This ball wasn't just for playing, it was the very soul of the Union Ball player and a viable weapon in its own right.
"You had my back wide open to you. Based on how you started this match, I won't delude myself into considering you a man of honor. And yet you retreated into safety, what's up with that?" Moenaka mirrored Yoibetsu-N's moves by straightening his back, clenching the oval-shaped, lightly flattened leather ball in one hand.
Yoibetsu-N's right index finger twitched. It wasn't something that just about anyone could make out, certainly not in the heat of battle. It would have taken either an incredibly experienced or an overly perceptive combatant, a true battlefield analyst to read that move. That was why it was in no way surprising when Yoibetsu-N's body vanished in a sparkle of static yellow electricity.
Moenaka's muscles flexed to get his body moving. When the Union Ball forward was moving, he was unstoppable. A true blockbuster forward who obliterated and flattened any defensive walls out there. The problem was that his opponent had figured out a counter from the first move in this match. Yet again, Yoibetsu-N slammed into Moenaka's body. However, his method was anything but repetitive.
The tanned, light-orange-haired Kumogakure ninja threw his entire body into his opponent like a sack of vegetables, moving his right leg and left arm to intercept the moving limbs that were about to begin gathering momentum and therefore nullify any semblance of kinetic energy that Moenaka's body could accumulate from the start.
"Uraken!" Yoibetsu-N called out, vaulting and spinning in mid-air like a beigoma, driving his spinning backfist into Moenaka's jaw and stunning the tall and burly athlete into a staggering state. The audience rustled in unease, noticing Yoibetsu-N levitating in mid-air while swinging his arms and legs like whips, rather, like a completely unskilled, elderly, feminine, or toddler combatant. There was no tension behind the strikes, not very much skill unless one considered a fully relaxed, whipping lash with open hands and feet skilled.
"This… This is odd," Shige-H winced in disgust. "It makes no sense for Yoibetsu-N to fight this way. He was primarily a taijutsu specialist in the Ninja Academy, why would he just flail and slap around like a complete, self-embarrassing imbecile like that?"
"No clue, but it makes for one heck of an entertaining show," Asuka chuckled, pressing her hand to her mouth to conceal her emotions that put her attractive facial features into an unnatural twist to them which might have appeared unnatural to some observers.
"Don't dismiss the power of slaps and whips. I've seen some skilled puppeteers deliberately make flexible, elongated limbs on their puppets for this exact method of attack," Damisan pointed out.
"This is… This is outrageous! Competitor Yoibetsu-N is flapping his arms and legs about like a fussy toddler and… What's even more infuriating is that this beatdown is working! Hanomahal Moenaka is backing up and doesn't seem to have a good response to this embarrassing barrage of lashing attacks!" the announcer reported, much to the disgust of the audience that quickly went from being just all-around excited for an impressive battle to picking a clear favorite.
It didn't take long for Hanomahal Moenaka to adapt to the assault, instead of trying to gather momentum or intercept the speedy blitz of lashes, the athlete stomped both feet firmly on the ground and put up his arms, crossing them above his head and hunkering down like a missile silo, protected by an enforced bunker from all sides. As expected from a taijutsu expert such as Yoibetsu-N, he realized that his slapping barrage would no longer work in an instant, before Moenaka could even counterattack. The ninja spun back into place and took a low stance of widespread legs, preparing for his opponent to attack.
Wearing more than a few swollen bruises after the slapdown, Moenaka growled and rushed forward like a speeding locomotive, gripping his play ball underneath the armpit in a standard for his charging maneuver stance. Yoibetsu-N appeared to be caught completely slacking, just standing there frozen in slowed time as the raging bull approached for the unstoppable stampede. Then, sparkles of yellow electricity surrounded the Kumogakure ninja, and he simply vanished, leaving only a field of electric static behind.
Moenaka exclaimed with a forceful grunt, driving both arms into the ground and slamming his ball with so much force that it expelled an upward shockwave as a straight booming pillar. Surrendering his body to the inertia, Moenaka shot into the air like a Flak cannon shell, homing in straight on the target that just now reappeared in the field of human vision high in the air. A straight smash into Yoibetsu's cheek turned the Kumogakure ninja into a rag doll, a turning kick punted him aside while Moenaka lifted both his arms into the air, wrapping his hands tightly around the Union Ball central piece and slamming it down into the limp body of his opponent.
Yoibetsu crashed into a messy pile of shattered tiles and burrowed dirt that he became covered in. Moenaka, having no mid-air maneuverability to speak of, was forced to answer the call of Mother Gravity and plunge where he was. Despite some rough-looking and even rougher-sounding blows, Yoibetsu-N shook the dirt off and got back on his feet, having wasted very little time and only showing some dirt on his skin and minor tears on his clothing.
"As expected, a taijutsu specialist can take a blow if necessary," Damisan noted.
"Maybe he rushed that substitution back then? He should have saved it for a better time if he could take these blows and stood up," Asuka blew her cheeks out while crossing her legs and resting her chin on her hands.
"Not necessarily," Shige-H sighed. As a medical kunoichi with an Advanced Bloodline that mostly involved getting in close and deconstructing her opponent or smashing them to bits, Shige-H had some experience with the taijutsu mindset too. At the very least, she recognized the game that Yoibetsu-N was playing and felt relatively impressed at how soon Yoibetsu-N caught on to the conditions of the battle. "It's not a matter of if he can or cannot take it, the obstacle that Yoibetsu-N is struggling against is raw toughness and stamina. Since the start of the match, he's identified the fact that Moenaka is simply tougher and has way better stamina than him."
"So, he substituted to prevent getting wailed on and taking damage to his toughness, an area he was already lagging behind his opponent in," Damisan added to Shige-H's observation.
"I see, so that's the reason he's so hesitant to crank up the lightning and the thunder, he's worried that he'll run out of juice before beating his opponent up, which is why he's trying every trick in the book to nail him as much as he can before he's absolutely forced to go all-out and start working up the real sweat," Asuka turned to Shige-H with an admiring look in her eyes.
"Exactly, Yoibetsu-N must have surmised that if he leaves things to a slugfest if he's left with no chakra and in just a straight-up fistfight, he'd lose. He knows the Lightning Armor is his answer, he's just cautious of the exact moment when to start using it," Shige-H explained, having some knowledge of her village's trademarked legacy technique. "The moment he first uses it–it's like signing a contract. You're obliged to burn through it because he'll amp up his speed, power, and toughness but burn through chakra. That means that when the technique inevitably runs out–Yoibetsu-N will be in a worse spot than he started in. This means that the moment he starts using it–he has to use it until he can't use it anymore, or using it will only widen the gap between him and Moenaka."
Moenaka twitched. Yoibetsu-N reacted again, but if Moenaka got fooled by the same response a third time, he'd have had no right to have come where he was right now. This tackle was a feint, with Moenaka's true attack being the push kick he transitioned into. Yoibetsu-N blanked out, with the wild howling and the expansive concussive shockwave surrounding the big boot closing in straight up in his face, with the added counterforce of Yoibetsu-N's own speedy charge, he was in for a clobbering.
WHAM!
Yoibetsu-N threw his own body into the raised boot and flattened against it, with Moenaka knowing full well that his opponent had a lightning-quick trigger finger, he stomped his foot down as the most reasonable way of transitioning into an attack. With Yoibetsu-N's body still suffering the muscle fatigue preventing him from substituting again, the unfortunate shinobi ended up cracking the tiles with his face and being burrowed face-first through the gravel underneath. Meanwhile, the Union Ball forward just walked over his opponent's body, trampling him with hearty stomps of both feet.
Sensing life surging back into Yoibetsu-N's body, Moeanaka slammed his play ball down, as if pinning the Kumogakure ninja down with the press of a heavyweight stuffed leather ball. This wasn't an attempt to hurt him, this was just something to give Yoibetsu-N's twitchy reflexes something to work on while Moenaka gathered speed. As Moenaka completed a successful first step, he grabbed hold of the same ball he touched down on his opponent and dragged it along for a ride, thrusting it forward and sending the burrowed ninja drilling through the dirt all the way to the edge of the arena, battered and loopy.
"Oh, no! What happened!? Did Yoibetsu-N take too much damage in the battle royale and didn't have the best time recovering during the day off!? During the battle royale, he showed an uncanny ability to become powered by lightning itself, however he's fighting a losing battle now!" the announcer lamented, adding to the exhilaration of the audience in seeing what they perceived as an unskilled ninja, making a mockery of martial arts with mere slaps pushed to the edge of the arena, on wobbly feet and pummeled into dirt while Moenaka was charging ahead with his ball in hand, ready for the winning tackle.
"He's forced to use it now," Shige-H winced, looking like she hated seeing a ninja she once knew, yet claimed to have little to no attachments to, being pushed to such a rough spot. "If he doesn't, he risks getting beaten too soundly for the Lightning Armor to be of any help to him. A drastic boost to one's speed, strength, and toughness won't matter if all your bones are broken and you can hardly move."
The skies turned black. The sights of a captivated audience disappeared into the void of blindness. Moenaka became so taken aback by this unexplained sensation that he slowed down and, instead of aiming straight at his opponent with a reckless charge, took the time to glance at the minute, brilliant details surrounding him. When Moenaka noticed the thin, fluffy hair on his arms and hands standing up like quills, it was too late to take action.
"Lightning Armor: Level One!" Yoibetsu-N muttered with his voice filling the black void of slowed-down time and the kaleidoscopic spectral phenomenon surrounding the pro-athlete. What was once all-black became so bright that it stunned Hanomahal Moenaka in place, leaving him covering his eyes and grunting in pain as they squirted tears of pain. The sudden eruption of lightning that eclipsed even the velocity of a natural lightning bolt all around the Kumogakure ninja left Moenaka's eyes feeling like hot shards of glass were stuck behind the eyelids.
Yoibetsu-N's feet tapped lightly behind the Union Ball forward. It was that light tap of sandals that woke Moenaka up from the hypnotic daze and made him snap out of his flinching and grumbling and turn back to face his opponent. Sharp pain stunned Moenaka in place as the sinewy pro-athlete realized he couldn't breathe. By lowering his gaze with shaky eyes, the athlete identified his abdomen as having been indented. Then, with a cascade of loud pops, dozens more indentations littered his body as hundreds of punches and kicks that Yoibetsu-N had delivered while passing behind his opponent finally caught up to the stunned giant.
Despite having begun to crawl back to an advantageous position, Yoibetsu-N was caught off-guard when he heard a thud that was comparable to the crack of thunder. There were few things more terrifying to one that wielded the lightning than the bang of thunder that they knew they weren't responsible for. This one belonged to Hanomahal Moenaka, who, instead of falling flat on his face, stomped his right foot down to maintain balance and tilted his frothing, pain-stricken expression to snarl directly at his opponent with veins popping out on his forehead and bulging eyes, full of raw fury.
Bellowing out like a wounded beast, Moenaka threw his arms to his sides and charged forward with Yoibetsu-N answering with the same. The two collided down in the middle of the arena, creating a rippling, translucent shockwave bubble that plucked lightning crackles from Yoibetsu-N's Lightning Armor aura and decorated the outside of the raging burst, trapped like sprinkling specks of stardust inside of a snow globe. Holding nothing back, the two exchanged powerful blows with Yoibetsu-N standing his own against the opponent that he once was desperate to prevent letting to get started.
"Your eyes aren't deceiving you!" the announcer proclaimed, leaning against the repaired railing positioned in front of him and pressing down hard on it. "Competitor Yoibetsu-N is employing brilliant martial arts and dancing around the brutish powerhouse that is Hanomahal Moenaka! It might be a shock to many of us who saw him slap around like a wussy earlier, but it appears that Yoibetsu-N can actually fight!"
"He could always fight," Shige-H grumbled. "I bet that the reason he used slapping and flailing before was because he identified that method of fighting to be exactly what he needed back then: unpredictable, fast, raw pain as opposed to lasting damage. It intercepted Moenaka's movements before the big guy could get a rush started and the pain from the slapping caused his body to stiffen and lock in place. Now that he feels strong enough to deal some actual damage, he's fighting for real."
"Man, this guy's trouble. I'd have some real problem trying to keep him away from me. You weren't kidding, his taijutsu is good," Asuka whistled out, looking impressed by how the amped-up, spiky-haired avatar of greased lightning thundered around his opponent and exploited openings almost before Moenaka revealed them.
"He might have rushed to trade blows though," Damisan lamented with a groan. "Just because he can dish out hits as strong and fast as his opponent doesn't mean that he should let someone like Moenaka just wail on him."
Having successfully accepted the fact that he was getting humiliated in a martial arts contest, Hanomahal Moenaka let rumbling echo through the audience by lightly tossing his ball upward only to be caught by his confused opponent. This strange movement ended up disabling Yoibetsu-N's arms as they clenched the hefty play ball in their hands. Grabbing the ball alongside the man holding it, Moenaka hurled them both into the sky after a swing that effortlessly used the indomitable momentum he was building up.
"As expected, someone who's proved to be unstoppable when he gets moving and only adds on to that momentum, Hanomahal Moenaka is a master at transferring kinetic energy and using that momentum to strengthen and make his move faster! The battle takes to the air again!" the announcer proclaimed as both combatants disappeared from the range of vision and only concussive shockwaves filled the air and threatened to deafen the audience. With how hungry they were for a show that would eclipse the battle royale from the earlier round, the audience only clamored for such entertainment, brushing off the potential health hazard as seeing something this dazzling was worth losing one's eyesight over.
A combination of punch, horse-kick, and a double ax handle slam sent Yoibetsu-N crashing down but, bolstered by the Lightning Armor aura that softened the blows and provided ample resistance against them, the taijutsu specialist of the Cloud completed a back flip before touching the ground with both feet and then vaulting back a few more times. Yoibetsu-N adopted a fighting stance and prepared to attack his opponent in an interception, as Moenaka had to return to the ground as well. As a testament to the unbound strength of the incoming attack, Yoibetsu-N cranked up the voltage of his Lightning Armor to become a boisterous thunderball consuming him whole, as opposed to serving merely as a tight electric aura.
"Knife-Edge Chop!" Yoibetsu-N hissed, with smoke escaping the corners of his mouth as he spoke. Like a raging, horizontal thunderbolt, Yoibetsu-N kicked off the ground with enough force to shatter the tiles he stood on and burrow a small hill of gravel behind him. Becoming the nose of the thunderbolt itself, Yoibetsu-N dashed, homing straight in toward his landing opponent with far too much acceleration for Moenaka to do much about it.
Having blitzed all the way to his opponent and completely bypassed any semblance of Moenaka's personal space, Yoibetsu-N delivered a backhand chop, hitting his opponent with the outer edge of his hand while his whole body was surging with Lightning Release chakra. Moenaka Hanomahal whited out, spitting out a mouthful of blood from his throat that was the prime target of the backhand knife-edge chop. Meanwhile, Yoibetsu-N continued forcing his chop to keep moving and swatting the body of his beefy opponent away from his sight.
Whited out and nearly decapitated, Hanomahal Moenaka flew aside. The limp body of the muscular athlete bounced around the surface of the arena like a flung pebble dancing across a lake. Moenaka ended up flattened with his neck turned at an awkward angle that hardly seemed fitting to carry a head of his size while bubbling blood frothed from his open mouth. The impact of even a simplistic taijutsu move like a knife-edge chop delivered a critical wallop when enhanced by a chakra mode of Lightning Release.