| abstract | - It was morning in the deserts that surrounding Sunagakure. The sun slowly rising above the horizon. The wind was blowing a gently breeze. It was a peaceful morning. In the desert was a man; Dressed in a red garment, the robes were adorned on the back nine blue tomoe and the Eye of Horus with a distinctive purple visage of the Rinnegan. Perched on top of his staff, he was meditating, taking in the soft energy that filled the sands of the desert. His name is Kisui Iyoku, Sage of the Sands, reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths. Every morning and evening, he meditates to slowly churn the reincarnated energy within his body, slowly processing the memories of his past life. "It feels rather peaceful, does it not, Kisui?" A voice churned out. Kisui was always unique in that a second spirit inhabited his body; an ancient one from a time long past. "Yes it does, though it seems someone wishes to accompany our presence." The young Sage replied. He felt the energy of the sands softly fluctuate; Footprints making their mark within the sand. "I've been seen already? I shouldn't have underestimated a man who bears the appearance of the almighty Sage himself, now should I?" The presence uttered a few words before making himself visible above the dune he just climbed. The man had an astonishingly regal appearance - white overcoat, mantle, pants and shoes combined with neat hair, angular face and sharp glasses. On the note of glasses, the man had just adjusted them slightly while making eye contact with the sage-like man. "Hello, there. My name is Matenrō. It is pleased to make your acquaintance, Kisui Iyoku was it?" He asked, appearing quite knowledgeable regarding the man before him. "Yes, I am Kisui Iyoku, Matenrō, and the feeling is mutual." Slowly, he stepped off his staff and opened his eyes, revealing the unmistakable vision of the Rinnegan. "So what brings you to the desert this early in the morning?" Kisui asked. Normally no one approaches the deserts this early unless they were making their way to Sunagakure, or leaving the village. "Such a mysterious figure, you are. A man who wishes to pick apart the universe and see it from the deepest orifices of its existence. Unorthodox, but still set firmly to something." Kisui's observations of the man were not of skepticism; He is aware that Matenrō is a powerful individual, using his skills of elusiveness to elude his opponents. "It's quite a peaceful morning here in the desert, wouldn't you agree?" Kisui asked, eying Matenrō with a visage of kindness. "Have you already been forewarned of my intentions?" Matenrō was intrigued by the man in front of him. His intellect was far beyond his years. "Unorthodox? Perhaps you could call them that. But I'd like to think of it as an innate part of ourselves. Every one of us wishes to see the truth of the world, and the way it is formed. I simply take the most easy approach to find it." Matenrō moved a few steps forward, appearing towards the man as a rather mellow individual. "I am an intellectual, Iyoku-san. As an intellectual, or rather, a scholar, I am interested in everything that helps support my hypothesis. Evidence is the key to my research, and a piece of that evidence lies in your Rinnegan..." Matenrō, making his intentions as clear as day, pointed out to Kisui, "I wish to analyze the structural composition of your Rinnegan and add it into my large database of structures I have analyzed over the years. Of course, only with your permission." Matenrō bowed slightly in respect, wanting to lure Kisui into his offer. "Mm... I may be young, but I do have a few several hundred years of wisdom pouring through me at any given time. Mere studies of the Rinnegan simply would not do on a living subject. You would have to remove the eye itself to study it completely. How about a simple battle for it? Something to get the old energies flowing. You win, you get to study my Rinnegan. If I win, well, then you can just be on your way. Sound good to you, Matenrō?" Kisui was well aware that there was a good risk of him losing his Rinnegan, but without risking something, you gain nothing. He needed to know just what he could do as a practitioner, and he hadn't had any form of combat since his battle against Akagi all those years ago. In an instant, his reincarnated energy burst forward, as if it was aware he was going to initiate combat. His energy spiked tremendously, constantly mixing natural energy with the ancient, reincarnated energy within him. Kisui could see that Matenrō possessed a very solid skeletal structure along with a very solid physical form, so close combat would be risky. Forming the Ram seal, Kisui made his first move. In an instant, the sands began to pick up, greatly influenced by his Earth energy, as if it was synced with the energy within him. With one step took, he was propelled to great speeds, influenced by his Wind energy. Hoping to deliver a solid strike, hardened sand enveloped his arms as he prepared to deliver a solid punch. This would either hit or miss, if it missed, he could try to recoup and counter against Matenrō. If it hits, it could be enough to at least break the skin and cause some form of damage. All he knew was there was a good chance it wouldn't hit, knowing Matenrō's intellect in battle. If it misses, all he can do is try to counter his opponent's next move. "Ah, just the perfect situation." Matenrō noticed things were going smoothly, and calmly witnessed Kisui executing his manipulation over the environment. However, such extravagant attacks were nothing for Matenrō. Knowing clearly which way the punch would attack him - his right shoulder - Matenrō immediately bent his left knee and went downwards, using his heightened reflexes to timely avoid the attack Kisui sent at him. Within that very instant, Matenrō lifted up his right leg in a crescent shape, hoping to intercept the punch by attempting to kick Kisui's own right shoulder blade, the impact of which would undoubtedly send Kisui flying backwards. Within an instant, Kisui noticed Matenrō's leg aimed towards his shoulder and at the moment of the kick, Kisui raised a barrier of sand, reminiscient of Gaara's defensive tactics, guarding against the kick. In that moment, Kisui attempted a counter strike towards Matenrō's liver, one of the weakest parts of a body. "Heightened reflexes means he can see my attacks coming if attempting to approach in a straightfoward manner. I'll have to use that to my advantage in whatever way I can." Kisui thought to himself. All he could do was hope his counter strike would connect. If not, he'll have to counteract and try something new. "Your sand is pointless." Matenrō noted as he placed one of his hands in front of the sand that attempted to hit the liver. Without any warning, the chakra used to manipulate it had been drained, before the sand itself had gone to the ground once again. Matenrō, retreating his leg, took a fast leap backwards and stabilized his position once again. "This is quite the predicament, isn't it?" Matenrō remarked somewhat oddly, "I suppose I should have been clearer in my language choice. I wished to analyse the structural components of your Rinnegan, yes, but only on the level of its abilities. Everything else, such as its anatomy, aren't concerned with me. Take that to a new Orochimaru if you'd like to boast in such a way." Matenrō sardonically remarked, placing his hand and inching his fingers towards himself, provoking Kisui to come forward. "Come now, don't you want to see how your sand was effortlessly dissipated?" Observing closely at Matenrō's right hand, he noticed that there were subtle rods protruding from the glove. "Chakra control. By absorbing the chakra in the sand and throwing off its spiritual and physical energies, the life was basically sapped out of the sand, turning it back to normal. If my thoughts are right, he probably has some counterproductive abilities that work against the sand, now." Formulating a strategy, Kisui raised the sand up behind Matenrō, a unique seal embedded within the sand. Focusing his energy, Kisui jumped to where the sand was, the seal fading away after use, delivering an attempted open palm against Matenrō's kidney. He couldn't risk using any elements, so he decided to try something new; attempt to use natural energy to buffer his attacks. "Flying Thunder God?" Matenrō noted as he then realized that Kisui was aiming for his kidney. "He's smart, the kid." Instantly, Matenrō used his innate perception of Kisui's movements and took a significant side-step to the left of Kisui's position, remaining static in the air for a brief period of time as he avoided the pulse of Natural Energy aimed towards him, while also sending out his hand in order to try and grip Kisui's own, all the while lecturing him: "Hitting me in the same place more than one is more than foolishness, you realize?" "Yes, yes it is." Kisui replied. Placing his hands down on the sand, he propelled himself into a stationary spin, using the momentum of the spin to deliver a kick aimed towards Matenrō's temple. Using the natural energy, he hardened the area of the ankle that would be impacting against the temple. "Sometimes redundant tactics can provide an opening for you to exploit. It's all a matter of knowing when and where to use that opening that matters most." Kisui thought to himself. He had a hunch Matenrō would predict he was going for the same area of impact as last time and has attempted to form a strategy around that particular moment. Again, all he could hope was to deliver an impact. All in all, the two have been fairly even with each other, countering their attacks with another, a battle of wits against two intelligent practitioners. Matenrō wasn't foolish, despite his admonishment of Kisui's fighting style. Understanding that his maneuvers would change based on the opening he kept for himself, Matenrō blocked the attack accordingly by placing his right arm out and catching the foot barehanded. The natural energy, however, caused a slight impact around the designated area, surprising Matenrō. "This isn't chakra...so it must be Natural Energy. He is a Sage, after all." Matenrō thought to himself, before trying to pull Kisui towards himself and aiming a singular palm strike towards the exposed chest of Kisui that he left open for himself. Knowing he only had a split second to react, Kisui's adrenaline shot through the roof. As everything began moving in slow motion around him, he formed a seal under the spot he was at. Quickly, he jumped and reappeared, regaining his posture and ducking under the palm strike. Suddenly, memories of a practitioner of physical combat began filling his mind. As if out of instinct, Kisui began delivering a barrage of different strikes, disguised as an exotic dance, choosing to try and hide his physical attacks within the dance. "This fighting style... what is it?" Kisui thought to himself, observing each and every move he made as if his body was on autopilot. "A sudden change?" Matenrō, perplexed and intrigued, chose to evade the attacks while analyzing them. To this extent, Matenrō noticed that the attacks were graceful and flowed well together, while he dodged one by making a side-step, he had to immediately block another with his right hand and then subsequently make a roll to the right in order to evade the third consecutive strike. Continuing this flow repeatedly, executing it remarkably well, Matenrō understood the manner to counter the style used against him. Matenrō intuitively used his ability to sense chakra noticed the build up of chakra within Kisui's right hand, which sent a simple, elegant palm strike towards him. Within that moment, Kisui's left leg made a crescent that attempted to trip Matenrō over: "Oh no you don't!" Matenrō thought to himself, before instantaneously countering with his right leg scooping up underneath the small space between the ground and Kisui's leg, lifting Kisui upwards and leaving him open to numerous jabs across his torso. Once again, Kisui's body was still in autopilot. Quickly, his arms planted themselves on the ground to cushion the fall. Quickly rolling backwards, Kisui rolled behind Matenrō and continued with the usual barrage, but this time adding a wide range of lateral movement to create angles for Kisui to strike at. He couldn't stop his body from making this wide barrage of movements, but it was as if it was adapting to Matenrō's fighting just as Matenrō was adapting to Kisui's, delivering a barrage of attacks while rolling away from his opponent's punches and kicks and delivering a counter attack. Back and forth, the two exchanged blows, evading and countering each one. The sun was high up in the sky; Midday was approaching, which charred the desert with scorching heat. Kisui's Anubian sennin energy gave hi resistance to the heat, but still made him put up quite a sweat as he continued evading and countering Matenrō's attacks while Matenrō did the same with Kisui. "Such nonsense...is pointless." Matenrō thought to himself, as he realized that Kisui's movements had automatically adapted to his own. Focusing on his defensive position now, he realized he was being cornered the more he defended. Deciding to turn the tables, Matenrō suddenly rushed to form a palm strike that hit the sand dune both were standing while fighting. The palm strike, infused with his own chakra, caused the sand to pulsate and suddenly rise up in several waves, which broke the equilibrium of Kisui's stance and his own. However, Matenrō was prepared for the change - he initiated it - and immediately flickered while using the sand as a cover, appearing a few meters away from the epicenter of the wave of sand he just created. Though the sand threw off his stance, he wasn't without a strategy. Thinking quickly, Kisui created a seal away from the sand and jumped to it. His body was in his control once again, fresh with the memories and experiences of the combat he was exposed to. The two were of equal distance from each other as the sand crashed against itself in waves. But he wasn't concerned with that. Looking around, he saw what looked like an aura; A chakra signature left behind from the Body Flicker Technique that seemed to move towards a spot of the sand opposite to him. Thinking of his next move, Kisui waited for the sand to die out and reset back to its original position. "In boxing, when a fighter is up against the ropes, he'll choose to hold against his opponent and let the referee reset them back to the center of the ring to gain an equal footing." Kisui thought to himself. "His use of Flying Thunder God will deplete his chakra...my advantage." Matenrō thought as he looked upon Kisui's figure waiting for the sand to die down. "He uses Flying Thunder God and can only come up with strategies like this? Looks like I must pressure him." Matenrō observed, before taking a single step forward. In that single step, he appeared to apply a considerable amount of pressure behind his foot, as he instantly traversed from his own side to the side that Kisui was at. Considering the instability of the waves of sand, Matenrō noted this was the perfect time to gain an estimate of his overall physical capability, and soon sent a single palm strike towards him at high speed - aimed for his stomach. Detecting Matenrō's movements, Kisui carefully stepped to the side, pushing Matenrō away by putting pressure against his arm and using his own momentum against him to push him out of the way. At that point, Kisui pushed forward, using a wide array of nearly unpredictable feints and trick shots, turning his dance into a wide rhythmic assault. Kick after kick, punch after punch, each one was thrown back and forth between the two in a dance of combat as the scorching sun rested high above the sky. "Judging by his movements, he must be believing that using the Flying Thunder God will deplete my chakra. Years of intensive chakra reduction training has helped with that immensely, and I still have my spirit to back me up if my initial chakra reserves go low." Kisui thought to himself, carefully calculating each of Matenrō's strikes to deliver a proper countermovement and counter attack. "Hmmm, thinking about it logically." Matenrō contemplated while he swiftly began to block the numerous, haphazard attacks from Kisui's position. He noticed that he was carefully making movements that left his own null, and therefore used a sudden shift in his movements to break the equilibrium. Rather than utilize straight strikes, his body suddenly went limp. Evading Kisui's right fist with a slip of his feet, as they would say, Matenrō placed his left arm on the ground unpredictably to support his sudden use of a break-dance-like movement, which involved him rapidly spinning both his legs to, apparently, dismember Kisui there and then. "Let's see how he matches this." "A change of pace..." Kisui thought to himself. Carefully using lateral movements to dodge the positions of the kicks, he found Matenrō's movements left little of an opening for him to exploit. "He's using a sort of break dance, no doubt as a counter to my attacks, choosing to dodge rather than block. This would serve to create a more broad form of defense in the form of movements. At this rate, I may have to block to get any form of retaliation in, but judging by the speed at which his kicks are launched, one kick could be enough to shatter bone." Choosing to go for actions rather than words, he imbued his left arm with natural energy and blocked the oncoming force of a right kick, avoiding the broken bones but it still did some damage nonetheless. Grabbing ahold of Matenrō's leg, he pulled back and threw him away from him and decided to try something new. "He did say he wanted a demonstration of the Rinnegan's abilities." As he attempted to throw a kick, he subtly imbued his right leg with energy, waiting to see how he retaliates. "When an object of great size is shrunk down, it still keeps its mass. But because of this, the object becomes heavier because the mass is being crushed down into a single point. The Shinra Tensei is a wide, offensive barrier like formation, so crushing down its mass into a single point should deliver more damage." "Perfect." Matenrō noted as he saw the use of Shinra Tensei. Rather than consciously block the attack completely, Matenrō chose to examine its effects upon him instead. Letting Kisui throw him away, Matenrō noted his use of a condensed Shinra Tensei, which he knew a direct hit would be fatal. To counteract this, Matenrō placed himself in a defensive position that allowed all his vital body parts to remain secure when impacted. The strength of the impact was considerable, causing a crater in the large dune of sand both were on. However, Matenrō remained with little injury besides a pulsing feeling within his chest, which didn't impede his battle prowess whatsoever. Awakening from the impact, Matenrō smirked as he used his position to summon a vibrant blue blade from a small capsule within his hands, which he then attempted to stab Kisui's leg with, considering the supposed rumor of the time limit between the use of the ability Kisui had just utilized. Taking a deep breath, Kisui stepped to the side, avoiding the stab. "He crumpled himself down to protect his vital organs. It hurt him, but not by much. I got about five seconds before I can use it again, but knowing him, he'll just limit the impact by flexing his body just enough to block the impact. Unless..." After Kisui formulated an idea, it was all about dodging the attacks until the limit reset. "5...", Kisui thought to himself with each swing he tried to dodge. There were a few he couldn't dodge, which ended up causing a few good nasty cuts, which would heal up after the battle, provided he lived that long. "4..... 3...... 2...... 1...... Now!" Jumping back, he attempted another one. Waiting for the perfect opening, he let Matenrō stab him, but moved just enough where the blade wouldn't pierce any vital organs. Clinching his teeth to bear with the inconsiderable pain, letting out a loud yell of pain. He knew he could exploit Matenrō's analytical nature by fooling him with the simplest of tactics; The feeling of near death. Feeling the smirk on Matenrō's face, he gripped tightly onto his sword arm. Then, he combined both energies that he was capable of utilizing into one punch, one intended to do the most amount of spiritual damage possible; Just enough to take the fight out of him. Forming a, stone barrier around them small enough to prevent any sort of movement, but not enough to prevent him from throwing his punch, he threw off a massive right hook, aimed straight for Matenrō's jaw. The brief scream caused Matenrō to stay in stasis for but a millisecond, but that was far too dangerous. Matenrō was entrapped, and the punch that he would have received was going to be far too dangerous to witness on his own. In a bid to successfully counter the attack without allowing his soul to be completely demolished, Matenrō relied on his innate flexibility as a medium to do so. Because he couldn't necessarily move within the stone barrier, Matenrō raised his leg to approximately 150 degrees upward, where Kisui attempted to strike him. Forcing the leg up with such high speed underneath the arm, Matenrō hoped to force it upwards and leave the impact elsewhere, giving him the opening necessary to counter effectively. Having the punch impact against Matenrō's leg, the punch tore away the spiritual energy within that leg, leaving it mostly useless. Though it wasn't what he was hoping for, it's all he could deal with. Letting out a few pants of air, he gripped onto Matenrō's arm once again and threw him through the barrier. Though the stab wound didn't hit any vital organs, it was causing some bleeding issues. It left him physically drained and unable to fight back, so he raised his hand up in surrender. "I think we've torn each other apart enough. As it stands, we're both pretty much at a standstill, but you had more of the edge thanks to that stab. I was hoping the barrier was small enough to isolate your movements, but your flexibility proved otherwise. You fought admirably. It's been ten years since I had a fight this intensive." Kisui spoke out. All he could do was stand and wonder what Matenrō would do next. The sun was just beginning to set on the horizon, indicating the approach of nightfall as twilight began to color the sky a mix of reds and blues. "The Rinnegan is still so new to me and I've got a lot more to learn about it." Matenrō, being thrown out of the barrier, landed on the ground and cringed in pain. His leg felt entirely numb and he definitely couldn't engage in too much physical combat at this point. "Should I use...no. I wouldn't get to see the potential of it otherwise." Matenrō noted, and laughed softly. "It appears we are both rather exhausted. Your lack of skill with the Rinnegan at this point makes it difficult for me to analyse. No matter, I might return one day when your skills grow even more. I look forward to it, Iyoku." Matenrō said to him, as he used his working leg to escape at a surprisingly high speed. And then, he thought to himself, "Next time...I have to properly fight..." as he left beyond the sand to find recuperation.
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