When her strikes collided with nothing more than the slap of palms, the rage in Makoto's bestial glare seemed to boil hotter and hotter. She could spot the openings in the bear's stance but that meant little when his defense was rock solid. Not only that, but Seiichi was unusually coordinated for his size, returning blow for blow as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
No amount of hopping or twisting could avoid the combination he soon laid out. So Makoto refused to evade at all. If this was going to be a bloody exchange of fist and fury, then she would leave her mark no matter what. Each blow that rattled her body felt like it could very well shatter stone, but the relentless Inuzuka made her rival pay the price. Claws ripped at any flesh that got too close, leaving twisted marks of red across Seiichi's limbs as a result.
Makoto hit the floor - breathless - but far from defeated.
Rolling backwards almost immediately, a sharp inhale between gritted fangs preceded a vicious snarl as the kunoichi snapped to attention. Pain obviously wracked her body but her animal instincts pushed it aside, eyes aflame with anger. In one bounding leap she thrust her body at the bear again, heedless to the danger, and a familiar exclamation was sent howling into the air.
"TSUUGA!"
Yet she didn't spin quite as wildly as usual. Rather it was a simple-minded ploy to put Seiichi on his guard for a jutsu that never manifested. The real attack she plotted was to crash right in front of him, kicking up a wave of pebbles while she agilely slid past the bear's legs. In doing so, the Inuzuka covered her advance and emerged at her rival's flank, spinning around to attack from behind! Razor-like nails struck at anything within range, tearing and slicing with reckless abandon.
[attr="class","APP3"]She had recoiled, quickly recovering from what was clearly gritting pain. If Makoto hadn't become so sturdy over these years, there was no doubting that the pain may have been too debilitating to carry on. No different than she had been a decade past, Makoto pressed on with her recovery. She raced forth as if nothing happened, shrugging off the pain brought by the three strikes that Seiichi had landed cleanly. She had grown as a fighter, tougher now than she had ever been before. It was clear that, in her time of militant service, she'd seen many breakthroughs and it was, perhaps against Seiichi, that she was having one more.
His ears picked up the call as his eyes watched for the movements. She was swift and agile as ever, speeding towards him with an unrelenting speed as she showed no sign of giving up. It was there, however, that the tactic changed at the last notice. She had kicked up dirt and obscured his vision as he moved to guard his eyes. She took this to her advantage and slid between his legs only to emerge with a rending strike, a visceral set of razor sharp claws cutting at his back. There was no rest to their pattern, a wild flurry of combos tossed his way as she scratched him up cleanly. He stepped forward, the pain of it significant as broke away from her line of attack.
Seiichi inhaled sharply through his clenched teeth. The bear looked over his shoulder. It was a deathly look. His eyes were sharp and merciless in their appearance, honed to the finest tip that a dagger could hope to achieve as he glared so intently with a manifested malice. He turned around fully now and moved onto the approach. He was quick as he prepared to throw a punch towards Makoto's face when -- suddenly -- he faked the action. His speed was formidable and his technique masterful, if she failed to see through this misdirection, than Seiichi may have gotten the upper hand for the remainder of their brawl. He dipped his stance low when he entered her zone with a punch that was never completed, colliding into her with a breath-taking force as quick footwork had Seiichi spinning around her until he was at her backside. With a gable grip solidifying his hold, and having stepped in with his repositioning, Seiichi would twist with his tree-trunk like torso and influence them to his left where his right arm provided further strength and leverage. Unless Makoto could succeed in evading or breaking his hold, she was bound to find herself lifted from the ground with a tremendous twist as the world spun upside-down briefly before the gravity of her dire situation came crashing. It was a awful collision, a painful and disorienting one that were bound to include her shoulders and head as the areas of impact unless she had flexibility to help minimize the damage. Whatever the case, Seiichi would unlock his gable grip and move to mount Makoto while she remaining on the ground, pinning her beneath his impressive weight and the point of his knees on the ground. Her guard would need to be raised quickly as he soon punched from this new position of power.
There it was! That look. That damn look! Makoto had been waiting to see it since she laid eyes on the brute. Such wrath, such severity, such hunger all swept into that powerful glare. What seething, boiling rage!~ For a while there, she almost thought Seiichi lost that innermost fury, but she was glad to be wrong.
Grinning ear to ear with excitement, fangs gnashing in anger, blues hues wide with craving, she reciprocated every ounce of bloodlust her rival showed and then some.
Where their clash brought them next was nowhere else but the hard ground, a piercing pain shooting up Makoto's back and against her head when she landed. All it did was add to the kunoichi's elation to be thrown into such a vulnerable spot - now it was do or die and her animal instincts were screaming at her to fight back. Once the bear began to pummel, she snapped onto the defensive. A tilt of her head dodged the first blow and she raised her arms to defend against the second. But as for the hammering strikes that followed? Makoto's guard wavered and the fists crashed right into her face, rocking her senses from head to toe.
In response to such kindness, one of the Inuzuka's hands plunged into the bear's sides and started to rake over his chiseled frame. Tearing and ripping at any flesh she could sink her claws into, it was a desperate attempt to slow the assault raining down on her skull. Her other set of claws was busy digging into Seiichi's leg in a similarly vicious display, making him pay for every moment he maintained the pin.
However savage Makoto's resistance appeared in those fleeting moments, she knew there was no way to last long beneath that mountain of muscle. Something more had to be done or she would never break free! So as one more way to show defiance, shortly after the latest blow collided with her cheek, the Inuzuka shot a mouthful of bloody spittle straight at her rival's face.
[attr="class","APP3"]The jounin's fists came down in a flurry of formless blows, hailing brutishly with a fury as his hammering strikes. They were ceaseless as they came forth, proving to bear an attrition that he defenses could not stand up to. They were meaty strikes, complete and full with the weight there were laid upon. Despite her efforts to carve his flesh, floundering beneath his mighty pin with all her might as she flailed and scratched with her unkind claws, they proved little use to her. In death's throes, if he continued, her last worthwhile action was the spit of blood. It was precise, alarmingly, and struck him in the face, blooming over the bridge of his nose and across his cheeks. His rain of heavy hands came to an end and, instead, he seized her arms by the wrist to subdue her strikes -- unless she tried to go in with a cheap kick.
"We're done," Seiichi decided for them, the authority in those words fueled by the firmness of his gravelly voice. They were originally sent here with the intent in bolstering Otogakure's defenses, in the face of a frightening foe, not tally onto the long-standing dispute between their realms an additional death. "We're no good to anyone minced and pulverized," he lifted himself off of her, the tight and overpowering grip lessening as he went to stand until he could hold them no longer. He was a mess-- though certainly to no measuring degree of Makoto. Where his flesh had been clawed and cut, bleeding as it would, the poor Inuzuka women would come out of this with welts and bruises--maybe even a fracture--more reminiscent to a one-sided beat down. However, by all accounts, she was alive and she could even the score at a later day.
"Come, we've got cleaning up to do," he referenced to her, a hand extended to help her up. "Something tells me breathing exercises might be all that you can do for a few days..." Came an unexpected quip. Arm over shoulder, person over shoulder or their separate ways, the two would need some medical treatment and it couldn't be found in the middle of nowhere.
Flashes of black and red were all the Inuzuka could see until the vicious thrashing stopped. When it finally did, her skull was throbbing like crazy, the taste of hot blood coating her mouth. All she could hear at first was her own drumming heartbeat ringing in her ears plus a growl caught somewhere in her throat. However when she glanced up at Seiichi a moment later, she realized his intentions without listening to a word.
It was over.
"Shut up," she growled angrily. Nonetheless, Makoto took the hand offered to her and climbed to a stand. Disregarding the fact that she had to lean against the bear to stay upright, the Mist ninja wiped the blood from her face and dusted off her clothes. "Don't pull yer punches next time. That was just about to get fun," she chided in earnest, pulling away and stumbling a few steps down the riverbank.
The appearance of no less than four snarling ninken were now surrounding the rivals, having heard the cries of battle moments ago. Each dog was poised to strike from a different angle, fangs ready to sink into flesh at Makoto's cue. However that wouldn't happen. Not today at least. The Inuzuka gave a commanding snarl and the hounds ceased their defensive behavior at once, none of them willing to question her decision.
"After ya patch up those scratches lemme know when yer ready for round two," the kunoichi invited nonchalantly, spitting blood off to the side.
