Chapter 214   - Ch214. Trying out knick-knacks

Ringo's shoulders sagged as she reluctantly watched one orange tail forming behind the chakra cloak of Yagura. She knew going against a jinchuuriki while fooling around is stupid.

"Since you want to play it that way..." Ringo discontentedly muttered, more for herself than others. Suddenly, the air around her shimmered and her voice reverberated through the plains, "Lightning Susanoo!" Instantly, blue armor similar to what samurai wore made of lightning sprang up around Ringo, covering her lithe form.

The second those words left Ringo's mouth, every Uchiha who ever heard of Mangekyo Sharingan stiffened. It was not only Uchiha's either. Many high-ranking old ninjas who knew about the special ability of the Mangekyo Sharingan had their eyes bulging out after seeing the armor covering Ringo. It might have been only a human-sized armor but it was far too reminiscent of the real Susanoo that sent a shiver through the spines of these people. After all, Ringo Ameyuri was not an Uchiha. Worse yet, she didn't have Sharingan. This moment would cause many doubts and speculations among the higher-ups of the hidden villages.

Yagura didn't wait for the special moment to end. His mind starting to give in to the influence of the bijuu chakra, he instantly lunged at Ringo while she just leisurely summoned a sword through a modified summoning seal on her wrist. Yagura neared Ringo with speed only rarely seen in the Shinobi world, showcasing why he deserved the title of Kage. Ringo simply lowered herself into a basic stance, patiently awaiting her opponent to enter the range of her blade.

No threats or useless banter was exchanged as it was quite pointless at the second Yagura started using bijuu chakra. Now was the time for power to do the talks.

Ringo's sword and Yagura's staff met... but instead of the expected struggle of strength, Yagura's weapon was pushed back by an invisible force upon the clash, throwing his arms a bit off and disrupting his balance.

'Oomph...' Ringo huffed in surprise as the strength she had to put into that single clash was far more than she expected. 'Damn, the kid indeed do pack a punch.' She frowned, unhappy with the performance of the sword she was holding.

Bewilderment momentarily appeared on Yagura's face, only for fury taking its place a second later as he reaffirmed his footing and attacked the patiently waiting and pondering Ringo again.

Violent clashes resounded through the plain, leaving many cracks and small craters on the ground as both combatants had extremely enhanced strength, either due to a bijuu cloak or a full-body elemental chakra armor. Every time the two ninjas clashed, Yagura was pushed back by an invisible force while Ringo's frown was increasing.

Suddenly, after fifty or so exchanges, Ringo's sword cracked when Yagura's staff smashed into it. Yagura's hands were yet again thrown off their intended course, pushing his body backward which gave Ringo the necessary time to do something she did for the first time in their duel. She lifted her left foot and strongly kicked Yagura's gut, sending his body crashing a few hundred meters away while bouncing numerous times off from the ground.

As Yagura was no longer an immediate concern, Ringo set her eyes on the now cracked blade of her experimental sword and wryly sighed. 'It's not really what I expected. I wanted our chunin to have at least a chance against a jinchuuriki with it but the amount of power I have to exert to not be blown away in a clash is not something an average chunin possesses. Not to mention it couldn't really withstand even fifty clashes with Yagura. Nope, this one is clearly a failure.' She let the sword go with disappointment showing on her face just as the blade finally succ.u.mbed to the crack and splintered into many pieces.

Ringo, however, was totally oblivious to the fact that a normal non-chakra metal blade withstanding fifty clashes with a jinchuuriki was abnormal or that expecting a chunin to be able to put up a fight against a jinchuuriki was madness in itself, no matter what tools he had. No... Ringo's experimental sword was something extremely useful as a weapon that could imbalance opponent upon each clash was something ground-breaking in the fights between more evenly matched opponents and could give the user an incredible advantage in the form of an opening. After all, the sword managed to make even a jinchuuriki imbalanced.

Alas, in Ringo's eyes it was simply not good enough while leaders of various villages could only drool as they watched the effects of the sword, many making a note to discuss potential sales with Ringo after the fight.

Curiously lifting her eyebrow, Ringo threw the last dagger near her feet and watched the effect as a seal appeared in the place in between the four daggers, the same place where Yagura was currently standing.

Yagura wanted to throw himself back at Ringo and continue his onslaught. He was now completely assured that leaving the woman time to make plans and prepare would be foolish. He had to push her and force her to make mistakes before capitalizing on them! He still held the edge in physical power and from what he saw speed. Although he wouldn't put it past his opponent to downplay her real speed. She was a Lightning User and Yagura was not stupid enough to not figure out she was most likely much faster than him once she actually decided to go all out. No... he had to use her playful approach towards their battle and score a solid hit.

There was a bit of a problem, however. The air around him stiffened and he was unable to move as a massive pressure landed on his shoulders. Yagura instantly noticed the seal under him and then he noticed the four daggers on the ground that clearly anchored the seal.

'What the heck is with this woman!? How many chakra weapons with special effects does she have? Did nobody bothered to tell her that they are supposed to be rare!?' Yagura mentally grumbled while using his chakra cloak to force himself free from the seal.

Ringo critically watched as the restriction seal created by her four experimental daggers slowly but surely gave out as Yagura's body started to regain its mobility. Sighing she took out a pink rubber duck from her wrist seal before casually throwing it at the still mostly immobilized Yagura.

The entire plains suddenly quieted down as the spectators watched in muted bewilderment when the duck impacted Yagura's forehead... and harmlessly bounced off, only causing his head to whip back, creating an awkward situation.

Yagura's eyes stared upward with utter lack of comprehension of what just happened. Shame started to rise inside of him. 'So... she is not satisfied with using her weird weapons. Now she is even throwing toys at me?' Yagura ever-so-slowly lowered his gaze back onto the amused Ringo who watched him with almost a clinical degree of scrutiny. He had had enough. Clearly, two tails of his bijuu cloak simply won't cut it. It was time to go all out.

And then he froze.

'HOW!?' Yagura frantically screamed as he noticed that he was no longer clad in his chakra cloak.

Ringo watched the spectacle in satisfaction, 'Aha! My anti-jinchuuriki Duckie worked! His connection with the bijuu was cut and the chakra cloak dissipated.' She giddily noted.

Ringo's merry mood didn't last long as Yagura's expression set itself in a cold facade. "I've had enough." He stated, his tone betraying the degree of rage he was feeling. And then... red.

Ungodly waves after waves of chakra sprang up from Yagura, pressing on the land around as earthquake shook the plains. Strong winds swept the surroundings with extreme pressure, making Ringo slightly bend her knees in order to withstand it. Orange chakra seeped from Yagura, expanding and slowly starting solidifying, gaining greyish color.

It took barely a second but Ringo now found herself facing a few stories tall form of the Three-Tailed Bijuu who was glaring at her with all the anger Yagura could muster.

"Er... the Duckie only cuts the connection between the host and the bijuu, not seal it. Hence, the jinchuuriki can reconnect to his bijuu almost instantly. A desperate need for improvement is duly noted." Ringo nodded to herself as she stared at the behemoth in front of her.