the arena fights.

[Kinz]

name; kalimari man
rank; d
description; One of our more unique specimens, the Kalimari Man is a weird squid like humanoid we came across while exploring the coastline of the continent. Expect to face a series of sticky tentacled attacks and be wary of his blinding ink shot. His stretchy five meter arms will definitely come in handy but as thin as he is, the six foot creature shouldn’t be that big of a problem.
reward; 25 experience, 500 ryo
minimum shinobi; one
mission status; interminable

Asa foot tapped a steady beat on the hard cement floor of the locker room they had given him to change in. Apparently he wasn’t allowed to use his own weapons or uniform while in the arena. Basic equipment only so they could ensure a fair match. Asa wasn’t sure why, but he also thought they were trying to pull in a more female audience because the uniform they gave him was one of the most ostentatious bits of clothing he’d ever worn. It was a pair of tight shorts that fit just a bit to snuggly and a simply harness on his upper body for the weapons they provided. He was given four kunai, a gladius of terrible craftsmanship five exploding notes. These were supposed to carry him through a total of three matches, each more difficult then the last. He’d receive a rest between them, but they would not resupply him should he be unable to retrieve his weapons at the end of the fight.

He could hear the steady patter above him. Though the coliseum was made of thick stone mined right here in the lightning country, the shear number of people echoing their footsteps through it carried the sound to him. Apparently chunnin didn’t fight here that often. Usually the odd genin with wishes for battle, or the captured looking for exercise or a way out would come here. Having a Chunnin meant there was a possibility of seeing some of the more unique and destructive things this place had to offer. Asa was afraid they’d leave a bit disappointed. He was just going to use this to get himself back into fighting shape. After his time in the clinic he needed to get the fire going back under his ass. Train a little harder and make himself ready to get to the good stuff.

A chime rang out nearby signaling to Asa to get ready to enter the arena. It was time for the show. Making sure his boots and weapons were secure Asa walked through the entrance hallway to await his match.

[Kinz]

Asa stood there in an excited stupor as he waited for the gate ahead of him to open. He was technically below the battleground, so until the gate ahead of him opened and the little hatch on the floor raised up he wouldn’t even see the arena he was going to be fighting in. He had seen battle before, but never with a crowd watching. But Asa was going to give them the show they wanted, at least…as best he could. He still needed to focus on winning after all.

The bars in front of him began to rise as Asa strolled out into the middle of the arena. The crowd roared, but Asa tried to maintain his senses. He failed. Asa began playing to the crowd, showing off his muscles, waving, and laughing. He was able to not that the arena was made completely of rock, with a wall surrounding the arena floor. Above the wall were the stands, where they had cut notches in the rock for people to sit. It was an impressive place, simply because of the shear size of it. Finally the opponents’ entry way opened. A man with tentacles coming out of his blue skinned body emerged. He was wearing similar clothing to Asa. He seemed to have a plethora of kunai though.

Asa calmed his excited actions and stopped presenting to the crowd. Now he was focused on the thing before him.

[Kinz]

Asa started things off, his gladius being pulled from the sheath attached to his harness. The shining steel would glint with the light of the sun that was not shrouded by clouds for once. His feet kicked up dirt behind him as he sped towards the odd man before him. The squid man wasn’t sitting still though. He drew two of the kunai from his belt and held them with their blades down, then each of the tentacles lifted one too?

Suddenly Asa was on the defensive. His forward momentum stopped as he was forced to begin backpedaling. Each of the tentacles lashed forward, all eight holding a kunai as if it was some form of terrible stinger. The tentacles moved with the speed of a cobra. Asa had all he could do to deflect them as he moved back. His sharingan was the only thing keeping him from being skewered. His right hand maintained his defense with his gladius, while the left drew one of his own kunai and began assisting in the defense. The lightning quick stabs would just keep coming though. Eventually Asa saw an opening though. Suddenly his gladius came up and slashed one of the tentacles off. The man screamed in pain and retracted the remainder of that appendage.

Asa continued to defend against the other seven but tried to watch what happened to the first. He was attempting to assess his opponent as he would have done oh so long ago. His time in the clinic merely weakened that perceptive nature. He had to remember to do this. It was simply something an ANBU like him needed to do during high level combat. The tentacle he had damaged suddenly began regrowing now that it was returned to the squid mans body. Good to know. He would need to kill the main body to disable the limbs.

[Kinz]

Steeling himself Asa formulated a plan in his head. His shraingan keeping him able to defend against the predictable tentacles, Asa took a final few defensive swipe then he would shunshin back just out of the tentacles current reach. Quickly forming a few handseals Asa would sink below the ground as the tentacles lunged at his body once more. Underground he would be out of their reach and as they launched to where he was Asa would angle himself and bolt out of the ground with his sword and Kunai ready. Each would slice through various segments of the mans tentacles.

The squid man would retract them attempting to regenerate his long ranged offensive capabilities, but Asa was within his guard now. Throwing his kunai it would speed towards him only to be deflected, but after the deflection would block the squid mans own sight he would recover to see Asa standing there with his gladius puncturing where the a normal mane heart would be. A few gurgles and inky black blood would start pouring from the squid mans mouth. Removing his weapons from the scene Asa would head back to his locker room to rest while they setup the new arena.

[Kinz]

name; bee tough!
rank; b
description; I’ve never in my life seen bee’s this big but I guess you sure will. Each one is about 25 lbs and two feet tall, half a foot across. Not worried yet, you will be. Their primary method of attack is shooting their regenerating stingers in a wave formation. A lot more nimble then they appear, you should expect to deal with a lot of bobbing and weaving as you face the 20 strong Bee Hive.
reward; 100 experience, 2,500 ryo
minimum shinobi; one
mission status; interminable

This time Asa found a nice women sitting in his ready room waiting for him to return. She was apparently a medic and looked over his injuries and resupplied his energy after the previous fight. She was a pretty girl, red haired with freckles but gingers didn’t bother him. The green glow of her chakra mending his body and reenergizing him illuminated the dimly lit room. It took her a few moments and Asa felt as good as new. He still had time to wait though as they set up the next match. Apparently it required them to place a thick mesh net over the entirety of the arena. The two engaged in small talk as they waited. She actually had treated him once before he found out. Apparently she was the one who rejuvenated him after the ramen shop mission he had previously undertaken. It was nice knowing there was a consistency to the people who watched over him.

She eventually left and allowed Asa some time to clear his head. He still hadn’t wasted any of his weapons yet. The squid man was dealt with fairly easily. Perhaps this next thing would be his true test. Asa paced for a bit, gulping some water he had been left. It looked as clear as crystal, and it tasted as refreshing as anything he could think of. Having not been allowed to work out in a long time the fast paced fight he had just had left him a bit winded. It felt good though to be truly back on his feet.

The chime sounded behind him to tell him to get going and Asa cleared his thoughts away. He would try not to get sucked in by the crowd this time, as he had before. It was just so nice to be cheered. He had no idea he wouldn’t have the same opportunity as he had before. As Asa approached the gate to allow him into the arena Asa could hear….a buzzing?

[Kinz]

The buzzing continued as the gate finally opened. The rocky stadium was still there but a large black mesh created a dome. He could still see the fans though they were somewhat blocked by this black haze. He knew there was a screen that had displayed their previous fight, so perhaps the camera was inside the dome recording their battle. The buzzing was coming from these large…yellow….”holy shit” were the words brought to Asa’s mouth as he looked at the creatures that populated the arena. About forty bees each the size of a small person hovered throughout the arena.

Asa stood there dumbfounded until finally he noticed the bee hive hovering just below the peak of the mesh dome, suspended by a thick cable. Suddenly it burst into flames. As the structure burned Asa knew what was happening. They were enraging the Bees, and Asa was their only outlet for aggression.

Suddenly the swarm erupted into action. Each bee not sure why this was happening but each knowing that someone needed to pay. They began to dive bomb Asa one at a time. One would come with its stinger poised, only to catch nothing but air as Asa daftly sidestepped, then the bee would climb back to the air where it would wait its turn to go again. Asa’s sharingan was the only thing granting him the time he needed to avoid their attacks. Forming some handseals while on the move Asa would form a earthen clone to assist him. Perhaps it would draw some of their ire while giving him a little breathing room for a plan.

[Kinz]

The bees continued their bombardment, some going after the clone, while the remainder went for Asa. He didn’t have enough chakra to be able to waste it using one of his lightning techniques, and his earth release was only good should he face an opponent who was actually on the ground. He had no options he could think of. Suddenly a bee came out of the corner of his eye. The swarm was to large to see every part of it at all times, and apparently the bees were somehow aware enough to use flanking maneuvers. As the bee he got on his peripheral vision launched its attack Asa side stepped one more time and saw his own blade cleave through the charging bee. He saw his rock clone stand there and catch a direct stab from a dive bomb, his earthen strength allowing him to do so. The clone then ripped the bee in two. Perhaps this was all he needed, to defend against the swarms close rage stings, and take them out one at a time when he was able.

That plan got shot to hell as he saw the true dangers the bees possessed. The ones who weren’t dive bombing began firing their stingers from range. This surprised Asa but he used his gladius to deflect the ones he could, and dodge the remaining dive bombers. The clone simply was covered in stingers and four dive bombers impaled him at ones. The clone was done for, but Asa could take some of the enemies with it at least. Activating the hand seals the exploding tag that Asa left on the clone ignited blowing the bees apart and firing some of the stingers off as shrapnel killing one of the stinger throwers floating around.

Asa was out of options. Without the clone to draw their fire he wouldn’t be able to defend against all of the bees attacks even with his sharingan. Quickly forming handseals while he ran from the stingers he would quickly sink into the ground and travel to the nearby rock wall and sink through it into the stands. Now protected by the mesh dome Asa would come up with a plan.

[Kinz]

Asa could hear the agitated bees raging inside the mesh dome, while the crowd raged outside it. They saw their supposed lamb to the slaughter had escaped his death pit and they weren’t happy to not see the show proceeding anymore. But Asa had a plan. It was going to drain him dry like last time most likely. He’d try holding it back a bit though. Hopefully it would still work well enough. Asa began running along the stands by where the mesh dome was attached. He would begin slicing through the beams securing it in place. His gladius being sub par since it was provided and not his usual well crafted one took a few strikes to cut through the metallic beam, but eventually he did it.

The fans were in an uproar as he made his way to each one in turn. He didn’t have a lot of time and he needed to make something happen before they rioted and assaulted him themselves. Eventually some of the smarter spectators realized what Asa was doing. They began to flee with the idea that the bees would escape after them too.

As the final place holder snapped the dome limply slumped over the interior of the battle ground catching every bee and pulling them to the ground. Hopping down, Asa formed a few short handseals and charged his with the Chidori. Then he would charge the current over the heavy net electrocuting the bees. He didn’t have the chakra to handle such a strain. As his legs went limp he saw the bees stop their furious attempts to climb back into the sky. The hive smoldered out after being ripped to shreds. Asa fell limply as a medic team came to assist him off the field.

[Kinz]

Asa awoke back in the waiting room he had been prepped in originally. The red haired medic was back, treating his tired body. She made a few comments about not overexerting himself or something. Asa stopped paying attention. He just didn’t have the energy to listen. Apparently they had taken the stuff they had provided back and he was left with his usual equipment. He had been granted victory, but he was considered to weak to continue. That was fine with him. He had proven his ability to handle a situation to himself. At all costs no less.

Asa got up against the medics wishes and headed back to the tower to turn in the missions he had completed.

[exit]
[short endind is short]

[Naitome]

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