Flame and Ice ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Inside the National Diet Building A puff of smoke rose up from nowhere. Leaving behind the flame kunoichi, Shiki. The young woman looked downwards in her crouching position as the smoke began to fade. But she noted that something was wrong. The air around her felt... cold. Very chilled. And Shiki was beginning to realize why. The floor beneath her... was frozen. In a thick sheet of ice. So thick and well formed that she couldn't hardly make out the floorboards beneath it. Then Shiki stood up and looked around. Ice covered the whole room. Over the walls, the floors. Even the ceiling had stalactite-like ice hanging downwards. That was odd. Why would such thick and spacious ice be piled up in a parliamentary building? Then even more important factors came to mind. Namely the fact that this room had no doors. And if it had no doors then that meant there would be no way for that guard she swapped with to have gotten in here. This was a trap. Either that, or... "...Someone was expecting me..." A second voice sounded out. "You are right." Shiki stood upright and gripped the hilt of her sword, Miyuki, behind her back. She could not sense which direction the voice was coming from. She looked around from one side of the iced room to the other. Then a puff of air boomed in the echoing and sparkling ice room. The bright green eyes of Shiki looked over to the centre of the noise. Towards the other side of the ice room. A large and spiky pillar of ice shot up from the frozen water beneath it. Within that pillar of ice was an obscured figure. Seconds later; the ice began to crack. Bit by bit. Each of the cracks slithered speedily down the pillar like snakes until the entire pillar shattered in one brilliant burst. Shiki remained focused on the image inside. A shinobi. A young man obviously, dressed in ninja clothing that was a smooth cross of white and navy blue. On the back of his waist was a short sword. In a similar arrangement to Shiki's sheathed blade. On his legs were four small rectangular pouches. Two on the outward side of either leg. Each one containing at least four kunai knives. And Shiki could tell this because of the ring butts that stuck out from each pouch. He was another of the Elemental-type shinobi. Obviously affiliated with ice (in the same way that Shiki was affiliated with flame and Zanmaru was with lightning). But the most glaring thing about him had to be... his face. Shiki couldn't see it. Because this man's face was blocked from view by a Kabuki Cat Mask. His long blonde hair flowed easily from the back of his head; but that was the only part of his head that Shiki could identify. The ice ninja made that trademarked two-fingered sign, chuckling. "I thought so. I knew that you would attempt to get inside the Diet Building via your teleportation technique. It was the same ability you used to defeat Zanmaru-san. Thankfully I anticipated this beforehand. And the Ninjutsu spell I cast upon the Diet Building, Fusagu Shun-Ugoki (Blocking Instant Movement) re-routed your path of advance and brought you here to me. Now I can settle the debts of both Zanmaru-san and Ryoko-san." Shiki smirked at this new foe. "So. I was right. You are a member of the Six Orochi. Care to give me a name?" "It is more polite to give your own name first," The Ice Ninja quipped. "Fine. You can me... Shiki," The Flame Kunoichi replied, "And now for you..." The young man lowered his free hand, while maintaining the two-finger sign. "For now I think I'll keep my real name a secret. Zanmaru-san and Ryoko-san were foolish enough to reveal themselves to you by identity. I am not like them. So can you call me... Cat Mask." Not much of a name but Shiki didn't expect much from the Orochi anyway. "Great. Well now. I suppose that you've been planning for my attack. And I also suppose that you were the one who killed Sakamoto-san. The sheets of ice reveal as much." Cat Mask remained silent for a second, then retorted. "...I was only following orders. Like I am now. You are a great opponent. To defeat both Zanmaru-san and Ryoko-san is impressive. And I will test those skills. So prepare yourself, Shiki-san." Now Shiki was beginning to understand all of this. The killing of Sakamoto Gendo was done for more than one reason. Partly to send a warning to the other Daigishi opposed to Koga rule. And partly to draw out Shiki by send out a call or a clue. The murder of Sakamoto was part of an elaborate trap. Killing two birds with one stone. Not a bad plan. Now Shiki had to contend with this Cat Masked Orochi before she could move on to speak with Fujiwara. Which might be tough now. Especially since Hirotsugu and his cohorts had been expecting her to turn up. But for now she just had to concentrate on the fight. Cat Mask snorted from behind his mask as Shiki tightened her grip over her short sword. Then the broken ice around his feet started to rise up. It all came upwards into the air, thick shard by thick shard, until it was all of it was suspended around his trained body. The ice zoomed inwards at him and began reforming. It all merged into another giant spike of frost; freezing him in place. A cloud of chilly air was wafting around it. The ice spike then began lowering back into the icy ground from which it had come. Taking Cat Mask with him. Shiki's emerald eyes blinked. She was more than confused. She had never seen this kind of Ninjutsu before. Elemental or not. He was using the entire icy environment to his advantage. But there was one thing she was aware of. The ice. It was all a shinobi conjuration. That Cat Mask must have used a skill called Kogoeta Kankyou (Frozen Surroundings) to freeze the whole room for this battle. Shiki scowled and turned around. Cat Mask had somehow hidden himself in the ice. He could probably attack from more than one direction. First things first. If she could locate him by voice... "You're using Kogoeta Kankyou!" Shiki yelled, looking around her, "And have somehow hidden yourself in the ice! Powerful skill as that is; it's virtually the same as Ryoko-san's Meiro Kiri ability! And that didn't get her very far..." "Wrong!" Though Cat Mask yelled out, Shiki couldn't tell which way the voice was coming from. Just like before. It seemed to be coming from all directions, "Ryoko-san hid herself within the fog of her technique. But I have not just hidden myself in the ice... I am part of it. It is high time I showed you just how intricate the power of ice can be..." Shiki wasn't intimidated by such talk. Words were just that. Words. All that mattered was action. The flame shinobi loosened her grip on her blade and continued to look around. He had to pop up some place. From there he would attack. Shiki looked over to her right. At the sheets of ice resting close to the ceiling on the far wall. The image of Cat Mask appeared on it. Like a reflection. But that reflection was not shown on any other piece of ice around that particular one. That had to be the sheet of ice that Cat Mask was hiding behind. Shiki fully released the hilt of her sword and went for one of the pouches at her waist. She pulled out a shuriken and quickly hurled it at the image of Cat Mask above. The shuriken whizzed upwards at the ice sheet. But before it hit; that sheet of frost warped itself into a different form. It became watery and liquid-like. However it stayed in place as a whole. Almost like a mirror. The shuriken went right through the water-mirror that had appeared. Like Shiki had thrown a stick into a lake but with no splash. But that wasn't the end of it. Though Shiki couldn't see it, some of the ice on the wall behind her did the exact same thing. Warp itself into a more fluid form. And from that water pane came Shiki's shuriken. It burst through it rapidly with the same speed as before. Then sliced straight through the shoulder fabric of Shiki's clothing. The girl gasped and looked back behind her. Only to see that ice return to its normal, purely solid form. Shiki blinked from astonishment. That was her shuriken. She could tell from the smooth and straight edges. Yet it been through the ice of the right wall; and then reappeared and slashed her through the ice of left wall. An amused laugh, which was obviously Cat Mask's, echoed in that frosty room. "That was not an intelligent move, Shiki-san. You have just experienced a sub-skill of Kogoeta Kankyou..." Shiki gripped her attacked shoulder, which was now bleeding. "...A sub-skill?" "That's right," He replied, "Shinkirou no Mizu-Hansha (Mirage of Water Reflection). While you are in this room and while this room is affected by the Kogoeta Kankyou; the reality of your surrounds will be distorted. The Shinkirou no Mizu-Hansha technique shall reflect all the attacks that you launch at the ice with any of your weapons. But the funny thing is... this reflection isn't always direct... as you have just seen. Your attacks can be reflected from any direction that I wish to choose. And that is not the only thing you have to worry about..." Another of Cat Mask's reflections appeared on the ice of the far wall. Right ahead of Shiki. This time it made the two-fingered sign of the shinobi too. Shiki readied herself and watched the image with stern eyes. Until she felt danger from behind her. Shiki instantly gripped her sword hilt, turned around and slashed. All in the blink of an eye. So fast that she herself wasn't even aware of what she was attacking. As it turns out, it was a deathly sharp icicle. Jagged enough and large enough to skewer Shiki like a fish. The girl sliced through the icicle before it touched her. It was cut into two even pieces. Those two pieces crashed and shattered on the ground from the impact. It broke into a tiny set of fragments. Then it all evaporated into water and melted back into the ice beneath it. Like it had never been there at all. "Heh, heh, heh..." Cat Mask laughed again, "You let that guard of yours down again. This other ability is called Shinkirou no Kouri-Toge (Mirage of Ice Thorn). Not only can my icy move of Kogoeta Kankyou reflect your weapon-based attacks... but the ice can also attack you from multiple angles at multiple, limitless times. What will you do to counter that, my dear Shiki-san?" "...Shit..." Shiki scowled as Cat Mask's reflection disappeared again. This man was skilled. A lot more so than Ryoko and Zanmaru. It seemed as if Hirotsugu was stepping up his plans. Now he was sending the stronger members of the Six Orochi to kill her. And Cat Mask was clearly better than those Shiki had encountered before. Not only had this man predicted Shiki's methods of sneaking into the Diet Building... he had also set up one fine trap for her. This Kogoeta Kankyou skill was probably one of the most powerful abilities that Shiki had seen in her young life. It properly reflected the great development of Kori-jutsu (Art of Ice) throughout the years. And was probably something that took years for Cat Mask to develop and perfect. It made Shiki wonder why he wasted his time serving scum like the Honshu Koga. Before she could debate that; a second attack came. It was Shinkirou no Kouri-Toge again. From both walls, right and left, burst up an ice spike. Sharp and keen. Cat Mask's reflection came up from behind both of them. Then the ice spikes were shot straight at their target. Shiki blinked violently. She quickly rolled forwards, sheathing Miyuki mid-action. She skidded to one side of the collision as the two ice-spikes rammed into each other brutally. The ice-spikes shattered against each other like fragile glass in a sparkling burst of glistening frost. Cat Mask had not been kidding when he said that he could attack at more than one time. But Shiki didn't shrink or cower. The girl let her head lull. Cat Mask watched this from one of his reflections on the opposite wall. He heard a low chuckle escape her lips, dampened down by the wrapping over her mouth. "Why are you laughing?" Cat Mask curiously questioned. Shiki looked over at the ice reflection. "...It's just that... since I arrived in Tokyo... you are the first person whom I have actually needed to go all out on." "Empty threats," Cat Mask responded, "All those shallow bluffs and that outrageous bravado will get you nowhere against shinobi such as myself." But then Shiki laughed once more "Heh, heh, heh. Don't be so sure I'm lying..." A second image appeared behind Shiki. Obviously to try that double attack again. Perfect. Just what Shiki needed. The young woman reached down into her side leg pocket and pulled a shuriken out of it. She drew back her right arm and then flung it straight at the first of the reflections on the wall at the other side of the room. Cat Mask's voice rang out again. "Foolishness! You know that won't work on me!" All Shiki was did was smirk and pulled up the two-fingered sign again. She kept her eyes ahead of her and didn't blink at all. As the shuriken neared the first Cat Mask reflection; it morphed into the Shinkirou no Mizu-Hansha form. That watery mirror. Which was the right moment for what Shiki had planned. "Shunhenkou!" The twin images of both the Cat Mask reflections gave surprised glares as Shiki disappeared with a large puff of rising mystic smoke. But was even more shocking than that was the fact that she reappeared in front of the watery mirror! And the shuriken was replaced in her previous position! The rear Cat Mask reflection gasped as the shuriken went straight for it and shattered the ice it had been cast on. Long before any attempt could have been made for the Shinkirou no Mizu-Hansha sub-technique. The remaining Cat Mask reflection spurted up a guzzle of blood from the mouth past his Kabuki Mask; which then sickly splattered against the glassy hoarfrost from the inside. He had been hit from the stomach. Obviously by the shuriken. The image of the Cat Mask reflection lurched forwards in the ice wall. Stunned by the attack. And stunned by the skill of action that brought about the unwelcome results. The reflection coughed up more blood, then spoke. "...You used... Shunhenkou... to switch positions with the shuriken...?" "You betcha," Shiki responded "There's a lot more to me than just throwing around shuriken. You might be able cast reflections and attack more than once at any specific time... but you can't reflect attacks more than once at a time. It was just a matter of catching you off guard when you tried a double attack." "Very... clever..." Cat Mask's voice offered. Shiki then brought up the two-fingered sign of the shinobi another time. "... It ain't over yet, my intelligent bastard. Kori-jutsu is indeed a powerful and neglected form of Elemental Ninjutsu. But there is one other elemental Ninjutsu form that is enough to counter its vast powers. An art that I am more than familiar with..." Hi-jutsu or Art of Fire. Now Cat Mask was beginning to realize that he was not the only one who was affiliated with a natural element. Shiki took a deep breath and made another two-finger sign with her free hand. She brought one before the other and concentrated. She had to complete this before Cat Mask went on the attack again. Which he did. The image of his now weakened reflection appeared somewhere else. To a sheet of ice on the left. And from that came another ice spike. But only one this time. Cat Mask was now fully aware of his new found weakness in double attacking via the sub-techniques of Kogoeta Kankyou. The frost spike quickly shot from the pane of frosty ice and zoomed for the Morioka girl like a bullet. Shiki didn't hazard a glance at the encroaching ice spike. But remained as she was. Then waved her right hand downwards with a call of attack; "Monosugoi Uma Hitoiki!" (Tremendous Horse Breath!) A huge gusting ring of hot flames burst open around Shiki. They encircled her for a brief second then quickly spread in an outwards motion; across the chilled air of the ice-covered room. The dancing flame ring invoked by the Monosugoi Uma Hitoiki made impact with the Shinkirou no Kouri-Toge twenty metres from Shiki. And the flame wave burnt straight through it. The wave then proceeded to ram into the sheets of ice from all sides of the room. And set them all alight. The atmosphere and colour of that room began to switch from cold and blue to slightly warm and orange. The whole of the room shook from the immense force of the ninja conjuration. Soon the ice began to melt all around from the intense heat. Leaving nowhere for Cat Mask to hide except for the ceiling. And that was bound to thaw out from the new high temperatures anyway. The voice of the young male ninja yelled out. "So it's true! Hi-jutsu! The Art of Fire!" Shiki pulled another of those bloodthirsty grins (though Cat Mask could not have seen it because of her face wrappings). "You sound surprised. My Chi is infused with the element of fire. Just like Zanmaru-san's was with lightning and yours is with ice." At that point; the ice on the ceiling began to crack a little. Then it shattered. Shiki looked up as this happened. Cat Mask burst through the ice up above. The only place he could have been. It was about to collapse. His body fell downwards at that reasonable height. But he was not jumping. He was definitely falling. He collided to the ice-melting ground with a thump; which knocked off his facial cat mask. Shiki could see where her shuriken had hit him. On the edge of the stomach, a wound that was now gushing blood. He was weakening fast. From both the shuriken-wound and the strain of the Kogoeta Kankyou on his Chi. It seemed like this fight was over. Shiki lowered her hands and slowly began walking to the de-masked Cat Mask. She stopped two metres before him and crouched downwards. "So, your trump card wasn't as effective as you-" Shiki started the statement off with a jeering tone. But she stopped herself. And a haunted glare passed through her eyes as she looked at this bleeding ninja's face. Figuring out his real identity. "It... can't be..." Shiki said, startled, "...H-Hibuki-san...?"
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