To Leap Over The Waterfall [Arashi Vs Zato]

Arashi sat under a waterfall, letting the immense and rushing weight of it crash down on his body and slide over his skin as he meditated. Training was such an ingrained habit at this point that he couldn't stop. It was also a great way to calm his nerves. It had been about a year since he spoke with the Arashikage at this point and the last of his affairs were more or less wrapped up. It had taken him way less time than he'd thought to get things all in order, all things considered. Soon, he would be gone without a trace. He'd left letters for Fufu and Gigi explaining the situation and begging their understanding and forgiveness.

A suicide note, by any other name.

They would get the letters at the time he had designated they be sent, though if he ran into Zato early that was fine with him as well. The Hoshigaki opened his eyes and glanced at the weapon that had brought out the ugliness in him, that had tainted his pure warrior's soul with a need for bloodshed. The weapon with which he had committed unforgivable sins, time and time again. How he hated the thing. It was, for all intents and purposes, a Clan heirloom. Nobody could master Samehada the way a Hoshigaki could. The weapon and the bloodline he carried were forever linked.

And he hated it.

Yet, how could he just let it go? He was something of a stickler for the ancient warrior traditions of their lands. To disregard them would be to piss on the graves of all who came before, and that was something he couldn't abide by either. So here he was, an empty shell full of shame which waited for it's end with solemn conviction. Sighing, Arashi stepped out from beneath the waterfall and began to towel off before putting on his shirt and signature vest and swinging Samehada's large form in unwieldy strokes. The huge, hulking flail swooping through the air with each swing. There was no artistry, no beauty in his swings. These were not the techniques he'd hones in the open sea, the Wavedancer School of techniques he'd wished to pass on someday. It was ugly, and cruel, the tools of a mass murder. Perfect for someone like him.

Zato was rarely all business, but this was one of those times. Arashi asking him to take his blade was one of the more special and surreal moments of his life, he'd grown up hearing legends of the man bludgeoning and butchering all enemies who stood in his way, and yet he had already granted Zato mercy. It seemed that Arashi's warrior spirit had been marred with guilt and attachment to times that were long gone, he was a warrior who thrived on the white noise of bloodshed and now struggled with the silence brought on by peace. To be a Shinobi, one had to somewhat turn off the part of their brain that might moralize things, but with age that sometimes grew harder. Sometimes the faces never left your conscious purview, and sometimes the alcohol wasn't enough to drown the memories.

Zato wasn't yet to that point in his career, and the life of a Shinobi was often a young mans game. Arashi was a veteran by most standards, and so the cumulative toll of the bodies that he'd had to carve through to get to this point was more apparent in him than it was in someone like Zato, who still sliced bone without recoiling to think about the fact they once belonged to someones son or daughter. Youth made monsters of a Shinobi's soul, and the attrition of age and tragedy would always wage it's own battle against them. Naturally, the end result of this in most case was a softening of the soul and combatant, and then.. well.

Death.

Zato arrived at the waterfall with his swords already drawn and his eyes locked. Arashi had defeated Zato once, but Zato had grown a lot since then and was by this point a much more motivated Shinobi than Arashi was. It was sad, but Zato knew in his heart the man he would be cutting down today was far from the man he'd been in his prime. It felt hollow, a victory that would be both unsatisfying and unearned over a man he believed deserved to live forever.

But that wasn't his choice to make.

Zato stepped forward, lightning crackling forth from his blades. "Arashi Sensei.. I've come to retrieve Samehada at your request so that you can retire in peace. Before we begin.. I'd like to thank you for sparing my life, and apologize for how this has to go. You were a great Shinobi, and I hope that someday I can be the man that you are today. With that being said.. I'll allow you the first move."

Arashi didn't jump or make any motion to acknowledge Zato's presence right away as he heard him step into this nice little hidden glade with the waterfall filling the air with the sounds of gallons and gallons of water pouring down, as well as a light mist which settled upon the skin. He had been prepared to have an argument with the young man over his request. He'd believed the young man would naively protest, make up some spiel about how Arashi was a hero and deserved his time to live with the glory he'd earned, but... As he turned to face the boy, no, the young man who had appeared and began to thank him as well as apologize, Arashi couldn't help but chuckle. He'd read between the lines of his little note.

"You grew up far faster than even I could've predicted, Zato," Arashi spoke without using the young man's nickname, as he often did when he wished to drop any sort of silliness. There was a time for games, and a time for gore as his former master often told him. "The depths of your potential are a vast ocean... Heh. You'll make a great leader of the Seven Swordsmen." For a shinobi, he was getting up there in years a little. He could've just retired somewhere quietly in peace, but his warrior's spirit violently rebelled at the very idea of such a thing. If he was to die, it would be on his feet fighting with everything he had.

He would never find peace in the afterlife with anything else.

Arashi's movements were a slow, deliberate ritual as he unwound the wrappings of Samehada and gave it a complex look before taking the blade up with both hands in front of him. His gaze was sharp, and his voice held no tremble of fear as he spoke. "I am Arashi Hoshigaki. To some, I am the 'Shark Skin' and to others I am 'The Wavedancer,' but today..." Arashi blurred forward in a rush of motion and went immediately on the offensive as he swung Samehada in a horizontal two-handed grip. The swing was controlled and measured, power flowing up from the twist of his feet and the motion of his step through his hips and into his torso. The swing was basic, foundational, and strong as hell even with the tight control Arashi performed it with. "...I am your opponent!"

The horizontal swing would be met with a two-bladed defense, Zato held his two blades to the side vertically but they quickly met their match as he was pushed violently aside and was left skidding across the waters surface. It took everything he had not to splatter across it, to skid across the waters surface like a ragdoll but he held firm. A small smirk formed across Zato's face as the reality of his situation became clear, Arashi's strike was clean as it could ever be and it didn't move him the way it did before. He still couldn't afford to take it head on, but this one clash of blades was enough for him to know that this time, he had a real chance of winning.

Zato would body-flicker forwards, his eyes locked on his new adversary as he launched a vertical upwards slash with his one blade, baiting a parry before lunging forward with a "stab" at Arashi's right thigh to immobilize him. If he had moved backwards, Arashi would find a blast of electric energy following where the blade had pointed hoping to pierce his thigh in the same spot the stab was aimed for. If Arashi was immobilized, the fight was in Zato's favor for sure. He couldn't worry about the semantics or ethics of what was going on right now, he owed Arashi a proper fight and if he wanted to get out of this alive.. He needed to fight forreal. "Give me all you've got Arashi!"

Arashi flashed a shark-toothed grin as Zato quickly recovered from his initial strike before swinging one of his blades upwards in a vertical slash. Zato was properly taking advantage of his lighter load-out and greater overall speed versus his larger and heavier weapon. Good, good, he'd learned some from their last fight. The question was, had he learned enough? Arashi didn't even bother to block the vertical slash, opting instead to take Kiba dragging across his flesh. He felt his muscles twitch and spasm but he forced his way through the pain as he thrust Samehada forward, mouth open wide with a greedy snarl.

However, he saw the young man going for the lunge and used the weight and momentum of his weapon aided by gravity to intercept the stab and try to have Samehada bit down on Zato's arm. The last time, he'd simply eaten his opponent's hits and smacked the man around. This time, he planned on going on a full offensive. He wasn't going to survive this fight, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to come at Zato with the intent to kill him. Anything less would defeat the purpose, after all. This was Zato's final test, to prove to Arashi that he had what it took to put his money where his mouth was. Assuming the lunge connected, Samehada would bite down on Zato's arm in a grab and Arashi would swing his weapon and throw the man further out towards the beach - and his favored battlefield, the ocean. "Good, Zato! But I know you can do even better! Give me everything you have, then dig deep and give me more!"

The scraping of arm and flesh under Samehada's shark scales was enough indication for Zato that he needed to get out of dodge, and so he did. He body-flickered backwards, the attempted grab was undone by the body-flicker towards land, and this was partly due to Zato not wanting to employ any cheap tricks to defeat Arashi. Sure, he could drag him into deep waters and do what he did best with the lightning swords, but where was the fun in that? Where was the challenge?

Zato didn't even bother registering what Arashi was saying, if he wanted to have a last moment of clarity and glee in battle Zato wasn't going to take it from him, but he was far too capable to be taken lightly. Zato shot a Lightning Style: Tracking Fang from the twin tips of Kiba, then followed the dog into battle before Body-Flickering to Arashi's back with a cross slash aimed right at the middle of his spine. Whether that or the tracking fang had worked was irrelevant, as Zato would step back for a moment before coming forward with the same technique he'd hit Arashi with when they first met. Between his teeth was a sword, and now the sparks of lightning flowing forth from his body seemed to be consuming him as he leaped forward. "Lightning Style.. Oni Giri!"

Arashi's mouth widened into a predatory grin as the thrill of battle thrummed through his very being. This, this THIS was what he lived for! A battle between masters of the blade! A clash of experience, power, and cunning! How long had it been since he'd had any fun like this? Far too long. Arashi laughed as Zato conjured a beast of lightning and ran right behind it as the crackling creature leapt at him. Zato appeared to use the timing of the beast's attack to attempt a pincer move as the young man disappeared in a Body Flicker.

Arashi's years of battle had him react with instinctive ferocity as he simply let the Lightning Release creature strike him. The electricity coursed through his veins, but Arashi grit his sharp and pointy teeth while swinging Samehada behind him to deflect the twin blades slashing at his back. A few scales scattered off of Samehada as Arashi blocked the blow and allowed the momentum of the strike to push him forward. Pivoting, the Hoshigaki held the hungry weapon out in front of him just in time to see Zato performing the technique he'd used against him when the two first met. With a knowing smirk, Arashi quickly positioned his weapon to block the technique as an explosion of lightning and scales ripped through the space, shredding parts of his midsection as the two clashed.

Arashi didn't stop to allow the dust to settle, as soon as he felt Zato's momentum stop Arashi roared as he swung the massive weapon in an underhanded diagonal swing to batter his opponent, and more importantly, allow his thirsting blade to feed on Zato's chakra. Even if Arashi had long felt that Samehada had become a crutch of a weapon for him, he was intent on pushing Zato to the limit. He was going to test every ounce of skill and power the swordsman had. Zato needed to prove to Arashi that he was leaving behind his country in competent hands. He would accept no less.

Zato was able to block some of the blow with his twin blades, but the blade shredded his upper right shoulder and sent him tumbling backwards as his body skipped along the ground before he managed to regain his footing. He wasn't getting crushed this time, Samehada wasn't landing as cleanly, and it seemed that Zato may have found the chinks in Arashi's armor this time, but he needed to be sure. He wanted to show him what he had become, his eyes danced with a level of glee and determination he didn't seem to have in their first fight. "Alright Arashi.. I understand."

In an instant, Zato would body-flicker forward and aim a horizontal slash towards Arashi's mid section, but this was a cover for a body-flicker that would have him appearing behind Arashi, aiming a lightning bolt at his knee as he tried to take his legs from him. If he could cripple his movement at least slightly, he'd have the setup in place for his ultimate jutsu, and he believed he could end the fight. At least.. that's what he was hoping for anyway.

Samehada gleefully fed on the churning chakra inside Zato's body even during the brief moment of contact. The legendary blade grew in size slightly from the energy absorbed as Arashi swung the now-larger and spikier weapon with contemptuous ease even now. He ran after Zato as his opponent skipped along the ground, keeping up the momentum like a tidal wave bearing down on a quiet beach. Zato rushed forward as well, seeming keen to meet the Hoshigaki in a head-on contest of power and skill with a slash at Arashi's midsection. The Hoshigaki didn't hesitate, stepping forward into the strike as Zato disappeared into another puff of smoke for another Body Flicker to appear behind Arashi.

Arashi's grin was toothy and wide as he pivoted on the balls of his feet, using the size and weight of Samehada along with the momentum of his swing to quickly pivot one hundred and eighty degrees to block the lightning bolt with his weapon and absorb more chakra, increasing the blade's size a little more. "To show your back is a swordsman's shame." Arashi spoke the words softly as he gave a small shake of his head to Zato with a knowing smile, all while shifting the weight of his weapon and letting out a roar of challenge. More, he needed to press his opponent more. "Dig deeper, Zato!" Arashi didn't allow a moment of lull in their fight, lest Zato retake the initiative he had just seized. Tightening the grip on his weapon, Arashi grinned as he stepped forward again, quickly performing another powerful swing of his weapon aimed at Zato's torso intent to smack him away like he was hitting a home run.

The chakra zapped from Zato's still twitching body was one thing, but the oncoming swing at his ribs would be enough to make him cry when he was a lesser man. The pain was immense, every bone the monsterous blade made contact with seemingly cracked on impact and Zato's body was sent spiraling through the air, skipping across the ground like a rock across a lake. He stood up, his mouth pooling with blood as a small grin formed across his face. "Very well Arashi.. I suppose I'll need to employ more.. final tactics."

Zato pointed his right blade into the air as grounds began to churn and echo with thunder, the serious and somber look on Zato's face was probably enough to tell Arashi what was coming, but if that on it's own wasn't the appearance of a dragon forged by lightning would surely do the trick. Wind howled between the two warriors, and it's cry was only split momentarily by the intermittent cracking of lightning across the sky. "This is my ultimate technique.. I developed it so that I may have a chance to defeat you, to defeat anyone who might stand in my way on the path to becoming the greatest swordsmen this village has ever seen.. Such lofty goals.. I only hope that in the future I can surpass your days of glory but for now.."

Zato would point his blade with intent as the dragon made it's swift descent. "I must carve my own legacy in blood and combat.. Kirin!"