When Tashi disappeared, the woman got low and her eyes widened. They darted from left to right, but then Tashi was behind her. She planted her foot and turned around as she dived backwards. Still it wasn't fast enough and the Mibu swordmsan caught her off-guard. His blade was bloodied at the end of his swing and she landed palms first on the ground, tumbling back into a cloud of white smoke.<br/><br/>From the plume a tall man emerged, shedding his disguise. He had two eyes of differing color; one blue and one green. His temples had grey hair and he had to have been in his forties... He was dressed plainly, though he had three belt pouches on and a Tanigakure-style shuriken holster at each thigh. Underneath his ninja suit he wore mesh armor, that much evident from the slash across his chest.<br/><br/>He narrowed his eyes, "Mibu, eh?"<br/><br/>The man assumed a different fighting stance. He ducked low, lowering his guard for a bit. It gave Tashi an opportunity to attack but seeing through the trick, the youth did not indulge the older ninja's feint. He let slip a grudging smile and stepped backwards. He raised one arm up and from under it he extended the fingers of his other hand. Suddenly, he drew his hand back in a strong pulling motion.<br/><br/>Tashi only felt a tugging sensation on his hip when suddenly, his katana began to unsheathe itself. Slow at first, and then suddenly. He had only a moment to grab the weapon before it would end up in his opponent's hands!<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">Swift: Assume Stance<br/>Instant: Kensei no Waza<br/>Free: 5 foot step backwards<br/>Move: Chakra no Ito (Ninjutsu DC 13 identify)<br/>Attack: Attempts a ranged disarm to grab the worn katana out of it's sheathe; no modifiers. Opposed attack rolls; 33 (http://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=40825)<br/><br/>Chakra: -3-0-2</div></div><br/><hr/><br/>Marise stood still, analyzing her enemy before acting too rashly. Kaname, on the other hand, started her counterattack. After a few seals, she summoned forth another fierce blast of electricity. It burst towards the cloaked man and blew apart the tree he stood on. He succumbed to the attack as well and began to fall to the earth, his cloak getting torn up and revealing more of his limbs. What wasn't metal was bandaged...<br/><br/>Sakumo took this opportunity and stepped off his branch, planting his feet on its side and sprung himself off towards the falling villain. "Ryuusei Masai!"<br/><br/>He came down, legs out straight as he swung his white chakra blade directly over his head. In an arc of white light, it struck... gold? The strange man summoned a weapon at the last second, or he always had it under his cloak... The blade was bright yellow, seemingly formed of pure energy. The hilt and crossguard was metal and archaically designed. The sound of the white chakra saber and the mysterious energy weapon clashing was unlike any other noise that ordinary weapons would make. It was a thunderous cackle until the man used brute force to push Sakumo away.<br/><br/>The Konoha Jounin stuck to the side of a tree as the man landed with his blade in hand.<br/><br/>"The sword of Raijin!" Sakumo exclaimed, his eyes suddenly wide, "Where did you get it?"<br/><br/>The man looked at the blade for a moment before retracting the electrical energy back into the hilt. It appeared then as a simple rod, a blade-less handle. "Oh... It must have been sometime in the war..." He looked up at Sakumo and narrowed his eyes. "Don't think that you can avenge the Second Hokage though. It wasn't<em>I</em>who killed him... but<em> they </em>died not too long after<em>he did</em>."<br/><br/>He looked over towards Mari and Kaname. "...Are there really nine of you?" He said, turning his head slowly to scan his surroundings. Judging by how even Sakumo seemed to be unnerved by this strange man, he'd only been playing with Kaname before. She still had managed to trap him in a genjutsu and hurt him with her ninjutsu, however...<br/><br/>Now he seemed much more cautious.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">Initiative;<br/>Mari: 22<br/>Kaname: 20<br/>Sakumo: 17<br/>Ryoichi: 15<br/><br/>Kaname does 5 damage to Ryoichi (Energy Resistance) and the tree. Tree branch breaks. Ryoichi falling until start of his turn, not denied dex bonus to defense.<br/>Sakumo rolls a 34 on attack. Miss!<br/>Ryoichi makes a full-round action to Spot while Seeing Chakra.</div></div>