Strider Hiryu
Background:
Nothing is known about Hiryu's past, outside the fact that he's an orphan of Asian heritage, with him claiming at one point a Japanese identity while in disguise. He took the Striders' training program alongside Kain, Sheena, and Kubira, and became a close friend of the former two. During training, Hiryu's excellence in every category and incredible displays of skill at such a young age gained him a reputation among other Striders for his inhuman strength and mastery of the Cypher.
Together with him in the Striders was his sister, Mariya, a person he respected and loved dearly. One fateful day, however, Mariya suddenly went insane and murdered ten Strider trainees. As she was a very skilled agent on her own, Director Kuramoto decided to assign the mission to stop her to her brother, a decision he came to regret later. Hiryu desperately fought his mad sister while trying to reason with her, but was finally forced to kill her in self-defense. This incident would weigh heavily on Hiryu's mind. Carrying the burden of her murder, Hiryu lost the will to live and became increasingly reckless and careless during missions, becoming a "demon of destruction" who simply sought to die on the battlefield.
Powers and Abilities:
Superhuman Physical Characteristics,
Longevity,
Sword Master,
Ninja Skills,
Stealth Mastery,
Sixth Sense,
Plasma Energy Manipulation, which allows him to generate an electromagnetic field capable of repelling enemy bullets and enhance his Cypher with Fire or Ice with Absolute Zero properties,
Can summon a Glider,
Can spawn intangible duplicates of himself,
Temporary Invincibility (via Bunshin),
Can slow time,
Explosion Manipulation,
Statistics Amplification (Can double his jump height for 10 seconds via Jump),
Surface Scaling (Can walk on glowing walls via Magnetic Boots),
Homing Attack (Can launch homing blades of plasma via boost function),
Electricity Manipulation (Can unleash a massive amount of electricity and send out electrical sparks),
Earth Manipulation (Can create a powerful earthquake to kill every enemy on-screen),
Healing (Can heal himself via Medical)
Weaknesses: None notable
Joe Musashi
Background:
Orphaned at a young age, Joe was adopted by the chief of the Oboro clan, a superlative ninja clan that descended from the famed ninja of Iga, who have worked in the shadows to protect the peace for generations. The chief raised Joe along with the other young Oboro ninja and had him enrolled in the Oboro School. Like many other great ninja warriors, Joe started out as the weakest of his classmates. As he grew, however, he became the best in class, and by the time he was in his twenties, Joe became a master ninja in less than ten years, a rarity seen once in a century. He received Oborozuki (朧月 Hazy Moon), a coveted katana that was passed down to only the best ninja of the Oboro clan for centuries. Soon after he completed his training, Joe worked for the Japanese government, and on the occasion that he found himself with some free time, he met with his fiancée, Naoko, who was the Oboro chief's daughter.
Powers and Abilities:
Superhuman Physical Characteristics,
Weapon Mastery (Via his Hazy Moon sword and shurikens),
Stealth Mastery,
Martial Arts,
Enhanced Senses (Has a ninja-trained 'sixth sense' technique),
Acrobatics,
Magic (Using ninjutsu),
Poison Manipulation (His blowpipe contains a poison gas),
Status Effect Inducement (In Nightshade, his shurikens can paralyze enemies),
Elemental Manipulation,
Fire Manipulation and Creation (Via Jutsu of Karyu),
Electricity Manipulation and Forcefield Creation (Via Jutsu of Ikazuchi),
Air Manipulation (Via Jutsu of Tatsumaki and wind blades),
Weather Manipulation (Via Jutsu of Inazuma),
Duplication (Via Jutsu of Bunshin),
Illusion Creation (Can project illusions that can kill/damage enemies within radius),
Statistics Amplification and Afterimage Creation (Can increase damage of his fire-wreathed shurikens/conjured wind blades and by using Jutsu of Fushin),
Explosion Manipulation and Self-Destruction (Via Jutsu of Mijin)
Weaknesses: Ninjutsu lasts only for a short period of time.
Song: Striding Shinobi
Strider Hiryu, silent and swift as the shadows, traversed the snowy mountainside of Siberia, his strides effortlessly covering the distance among the snow-blanketed trees. The night was cold and calm, the only sound being the soft crunch of his footsteps against the white powder.
Unaware of his pursuer's presence, Hiryu continued his stealthy trek through the snowy landscape. However, nearby, a ninja skillfully concealed within the pristine white snow awaited silently, the figure belonging to Joe Musashi, a shinobi on a mission that would inevitably lead to a confrontation with the Strider.
Hiryu, sensing the danger, dropped to the ground and swiftly slid through the snow, dodging a hail of shuriken launched from the concealed enemy. In a swift lunge, he attempted to strike at his adversary with his Cypher, but Joe evaded the attack effortlessly. Instead, it was a nearby tree that suffered the impact, the trunk being cleanly sliced in half and collapsing to the ground.
Musashi made an attempt to attack Strider, but found his blade intercepted by Hiryu's Cypher. To his surprise, the plasma blade effortlessly sliced through the steel weapon, leaving him weaponless and taken aback by the unexpected turn of events. However, he managed to jump back just in time, narrowly avoiding receiving the same fate as his damaged sword.
Musashi, seeking to maintain a safe distance from his adversary, employed his ninjutsu to generate four dragon-shaped columns of flames to assault Hiryu. In response, Strider nimbly leaped up onto the tree branches, swiftly climbing upwards to evade the approaching fiery onslaught.
Strider Hiryu, having reached the top of the tree, leapt off and aimed to dive directly at Joe Musashi. However, to his surprise, he found himself passing through a deceptive illusion of the ninja, his blade instead plunging into the solid ground beneath.
Strider quickly looked up, locking onto Joe's position, and prepared to launch a strong lunge, swinging his Cypher to slash at his enemy. However, Musashi utilized his Jutsu of Ikazuchi, enveloping himself in a protective forcefield of electricity that jolted Hiryu upon contact. Taking advantage of this, Joe executed several well-placed electrified strikes against the A-Class ninja.
As the electrical forcefield subsided and the strikes resumed to normal, Strider opted to create a strategic distance by teleporting a short distance away with a distinctive warping sound. In response, he deployed Option A, sending an attack drone straight at Joe.
Musashi reacted quickly, hurling a kunai at the drone and successfully destroying it. Following up, he attempted to throw nightshade shuriken towards the Strider, aiming to impair his movements. However, Hiryu outsmarted the ninja's attack by summoning a robotic cat using Option B, which took the blow instead. The metallic animal was incapacitated by the shuriken, ultimately exploding.
Assuming Joe Musashi's inability to effectively battle multiple enemies simultaneously, Hiryu once again employed Option B, sending an army of robotic cats and falcons to besiege the skilled ninja. However, Musashi cleverly countered this strategy with the Jutsu of Tatsumaki, creating a whirlwind around himself with wind blades that not only lifted the robotic animals, but swiftly demolished them in rapid succession.
Recognizing that he had underestimated his opponent, Strider Hiryu swung his Cypher, launching a series of consecutive plasma energy arcs in Musashi's direction. Joe, displaying remarkable agility, nimbly leaped back into the sheltering protection of the nearby trees, skillfully dodging each incoming attack.
Hiryu forcefully slammed his Cypher into the ground, generating a localized earthquake that caused the ground to tremble. The shaken ground caused Joe to lose balance, toppling out of the trees. Despite his momentary fall, Musashi quickly reacted, flinging a barrage of incendiary shuriken in retaliation.
As Hiryu adroitly dodged the shuriken by swiftly teleporting around the area, he was poised to launch another attack against Joe. However, realizing the ninja's intention to swiftly bridge the distance, Musashi took out a blowpipe and blew a concoction of poisonous gas directly into Hiryu's face.
Gasping for air from the poisonous fumes now filling his lungs, Strider Hiryu leaped back, activating the Uroboros system to deploy two encircling drones beside him. The drones began unleashing consecutive blasts of energy, creating a barrage meant to keep Joe Musashi at a distance.
Joe Musashi endeavored to dodge the barrage of energy blasts, but the sheer number proved overwhelming, resulting in him being forcefully pushed back and stumbling into the snowy terrain. Regaining his composure, Musashi swiftly performed the Jutsu of Inazuma, calling forth storm clouds that filled the night sky, followed by a colossal bolt of lightning directly striking Hiryu. The drones accompanying the Strider promptly exploded in the aftermath of the intense electrical charge.
Strider, wincing in pain, painstakingly pushed himself up from the snowy ground. Feeling the lingering aftermath of the powerful lightning strike, he used a medical technique to gradually rejuvenate some of his energy and alleviate his injuries.
Joe Musashi, recognizing that Strider was on the verge of defeat, rapidly charged forward in a swift ninja sprint. He then unleashed the Jutsu of Mijin, triggering a colossal explosion to obliterate his foe. However, to his astonishment, Strider Hiryu responded by employing the Bunshin technique, which enveloped his body in a protective aura of invulnerability, momentarily shielding him from the explosive impact. In a decisive moment, Hiryu declared,
"Time to end this. Ragnarok!"
In a flash, he sped around the immobilized Musashi, leaving an impressive blur in his wake. Finally, he delivered the finishing blow, striking down upon his adversary with lethal precision. Joe Musashi stood there for several moments, before his body disintegrated into scattered remnants, marking his ultimate defeat at the hands of the Strider.
With a sense of triumph coursing through him, Strider savored what seemed to be a flawless victory, only to feel a sudden and stinging pain in his back by several nightshade shuriken. As his temporary invulnerability faded, he realized too late that the defeated shinobi he had vanquished was a mere conjuring, an illusion. Turning his head to face the truth, Strider found the real Joe Musashi standing behind him, having strategically taken advantage of his vulnerable moment. Joe Musashi delivered a cold statement to Strider,
"Had you payed better attention, you would have noticed I used a clone to fight for me while you healed yourself from the poison and lightning strike. You underestimated my cunning, and now it's too late. Farewell."
With a precise and lethal maneuver, Musashi swiftly grabbed Strider's head and executed a fatal neck snap. The defeated A-class ninja slumped to the ground, vanquished by the cunning shinobi.
Strength: So, while it's debatable how strong Strider Hiryu is, given most of his offensive feats are with a plasma blade than physical might with a metal sword, Joe Musashi has him beat by contending with Hiruko Ubusuna, who was able to conjure approximately a 500 KT storm over Tokyo, which is 33.33X stronger than the Hiroshima bomb.
Speed: The two are relatively closer to speed. Strider Hiryu is able to dodge anti aircraft bullets, some of the fastest approaching 2900 ft/s, or 2.5 times the speed of sound. However, Joe is fast enough to out speed explosions. Taking into account the average explosion speed of TNT, that's 6900 ft/s, or 6.13 times the speed of sound. That's 2.45X faster.
Skill: I'd say that Joe Musashi more skilled, since he's mastered both martial skill and ninjutsu magic, while Strider more used technology to aid his superhuman feats.
Experience: Strider isn't even 20 years old, while Joe is 26. Musashi has the more experience longevity wise.
Powers: I'd say that they're mostly equal in versatility. Strider may have the ability to temporarily catch up with slowing time, or tanking powerful attacks with invulnerability, but Joe could match Strider blow for blow with special attacks, and keep away from Hiryu's Cypher.
The winner is Joe Musashi.
Next time:
"For years I was the little thief pretending to be a socialite. But this... This is new. I'm done pretending. This cat's going to be a queen. Queen of thieves. Queen of crime. Queen of this whole town! And nothing and no one are going to get in my way!"
"I'm a thief – and stealing is what I do. Not so much for the prize or the possession or even the profit… but for the art of doing it… because I can… and because I'm good."