Battle Beneath the Moon: Jade Cho vs Kuki Kagawa

[Misfit_Alien]

Jade flipped backward, successful in her attempts to catch her opponent off guard with that follow-up strike. She repositions herself, quickly darting off to the side and shuffling around the ring, circling Kuki as if she was prey, staring her down with vigor and determination the whole time. Then, in a quick instant, Jade would RUSH forward and storm Kuki with her next move, testing the masked fighter's defensive capabilities with another move, another FORM from her family's kendo teachings...but with a twist. She would dash into the ropes and bounce off of them, using the wrestling technique to build up momentum as she sprang forward at an even quicker pace.

"月明かりの下で入浴する極寒の強風..." - "(Frigid Gale Bathed in Moonlight...)"

Spoiler

She would thrust her shinai forward and clash swords with Kuki's blade, pressing against her and using the momentum and speed she gathered to force Kuki back a little more. She would leap overhead with a slight flip forward and descend upon Kuki with a mighty overhead spiraling slash, ending with her transitioning into a heavy impact landing upon her complete descent.

[BuckleBuster]

Kuki's brain had to work overtime in order to subdue the aching pain in her side and simultaneously keep up with the unrelenting assault from her opponent. She had been relatively lucky up until this point, with both strikes hitting her in her abdomen where her muscle strength provided as least some padding, as opposed to her head. That didn't stop Jade from trying however, as the kendoka prodigy soon began gearing up for another combination attack.

The masked kunoichi instinctively raised her shinai up in front of her in a guard stance as Jade came hurdling at her, only for the girl to whiz right past her and instead rebound off the ropes. Kuki had caught wind of the action just in time to deflect the impending attack, the length of her kendo stick sliding up against her opponent's as the two clashed center ring. Beads of sweat began to form at her brow as the girl exerted unrelenting strength, enough to slide her feet several inches backwards along the mat.

The pressure ceased almost as soon as it had come, only to return with an acrobatic flip that saw Jade's shinai descending from above! Once again Kuki raised her shinai above her head to deflect the blow. But rather than rebound off her stick like Kuki had expected, the power of Jade's slash cut clean through the intertwined bamboo fibers of Kuki's weapon, leaving the girl with a kendo stick snapped in half!

The crowd gasped as the kunoichi stood unarmed but otherwise unharmed from the most recent attack. Even Kuki stood frozen in a brief moment of shock, before her instincts kicked back into gear. Rather than cower or retreat, Kuki threw what remained of her kendo stick right at Jade's face! With the weight of the stick reduced, the muscle memory of her ninjutsu training kicked in, her wrist propelling the bristled bundle of bamboo with pinpoint precision as if it were a shuriken! Regardless of whether the throw had hit Jade or not, Kuki would use it as a distraction to rush her opponent, leaping into the air to deliver a flying side kick to her opponent's chest!

[Misfit_Alien]

Jade CLEAVED through Kuki's shinai, slamming to the ground with her mighty slash as she descended but the resulting impact left its mark as her shinai began to wear down from all the intensive use. Unlike her family's kendo swords, these disposable ones were never meant to be used with such force and power, they were never built to last. Jade could tell, as she had plenty of experience with non-Cho Family swords, that this one was nearing its limit. It didn't matter though, she could always just grab another...and for another reason, she could not, and WOULD NOT, sacrifice any power in her strikes just to make it last longer.

She intended to immediately follow up with yet another attack to keep Kuki on the defensive, but her ninjutsu-trained opponent was quite the resourceful type as a cut mark soon found its way onto Jade's face...blood spilled ever so slightly down the kendoka's cheek. Her eyes just barely registered the fact that Kuki tossed a broken piece of the kendo stick at her head, scratching her left cheek...it wasn't even thrown haphazardly, this was showing off Kuki's background and skill...and it astonished Jade as she marveled at her opponent's prowess yet again...

Long enough to barely block the Flying Side Kick in time as she defended against it with her shinai, getting knocked back as the kick made contact with her chest...SHATTERING through the kendo stick that was made to guard against it. Jade stumbled back, coughing and holding the handle with part of the hilt attached, or what was left of it. She let out a deep sigh and a grunt of pain, casting it aside and trying to recollect her breath and composure, Kuki having knocked both things out of the 'Kendoka Prodigy'...

[BuckleBuster]

The soaring shrapnel had found it mark scathed across the side of Jade's cheek, drawing a line of blood along with it. Kuki smiled behind her mask, satisfied that she had thrown the otherwise unaerodynamic object with such precision, but she wasted little time gloating and more time fighting as she immediately followed with the flying side kick.

The throw had proven to be just the distraction she needed, as Jade only had a split second to throw her own kendo stick up in a hasty defense. Kuki's speed and power was enough to break through the shinai, sending Jade's weapon in a similar state of disarray before rocketing her foot deep into the prodigy's chest. Kuki reversed the momentum and landed with a backward flip into a tiger stance, facing her disheveled opponent.

"Cheap knockoffs... nothing like the ones back home I bet, eh?" Kuki motioned with her head towards the shredded bamboo scattered around the ring, noticeably annoyed that they had been provided with such flimsy weapons in the first place. What was even more strange was that Kuki had opened herself up for small talk, genuinely curious as to the quality of the blade's found in her opponent's place of practice. She would only allow a brief response though, as she would already begin gearing up for another attack.

They were back to square one, hand-to-hand combat, but Kuki figured she had a slight edge over her opponent in this domain. The kunoichi would lunge towards Jade, but not to strike her, as was becoming noticeable in her attack pattern. Instead she grabbed onto the girl's wrist, hoping her dazed state would last long enough for Kuki to propel her into the opposite side of the ring, aiming to have her rebound off the ropes and come tumbling back with even more speed. If she was successful, Kuki would then wait until Jade hurdled back towards her before attempting to stop her dead in her track with a brutal hick kick to her injured cheek!

[Misfit_Alien]

Jade had nodded in confirmation...though, she was a little surprised at Kuki's sudden small-talk, it was...so casual and decently pleasant. It was a strange feeling after that first impression but Jade didn't mind it. However, she had to focus on the bigger picture here, she was now without a weapon and now she had a slight gash across her cheek, she was at a slight disadvantage as she KNEW Kuki had her beat in hand-to-hand combat. Still, she tried to prepare herself as Kuki rushed in, attempting to block an incoming hit that never arrived, and instead, she was grabbed and tossed toward some ropes, rebounding off of them but sliding underneath Kuki's leg by ducking down and getting on her knees, letting the momentum carry her as she passed up under the kunoichi's kick.

While her attempt at the dodge worked, albeit barely as she narrowly avoided the High Kick as Kuki's shin sailed over her and almost grazed her nose, she immediately came to a halt after the fact as she quickly tried to turn around and get back to her feet before Kuki could strike again, trying to whip around quick and bring up her guard for some form of defense.