Sasaki Kojirō vs. Ono Shigeyuki

Sporting Event / Competition

The crowd in Shimonoseki's arena hadn't yet had time to recover from the brutal display that was Kōtenbō's loss at the hands of Honda Tadakatsu. After more than a moment of silence, Kikkawa no Myōkyū attempted to rouse the crowd once again with the announcement of this round's fighters. Sasaki Kojirō, esteemed Kensei loosely affiliated with the Silver Meteor Storm, would be clashing with Ono Shigeyuki, amazon Twin Wall of the Tachibana. The two took up sides across from each other and waited for the maidenly announcer to begin their match.

Begin it she did, and Sasaki Kojirō took the first action by ducking behind that enormous stained-glass cube still hunkering in the northwestern corner of the arena. This left her obscured from Ono Shigeyuki's view, but the armored warrior did not pursue the obvious goad. Instead, Shigeyuki trudged over to the southwestern corner, jumped up atop one of the pillars there, and surveyed the area for any clue to her opponent's whereabouts.   Like a serpent, Kojirō wound out from her hiding place, crossed the sand, and struck before Shigeyuki could respond. Her first slice with Monohoshizao cut the pillar through horizontally. Then, she dashed around to the other side and kicked the now-loose top of the pillar with tremendous strength. Shaken from her footing, Shigeyuki and pillar fragment both tumbled through the air and landed with a splash in the canal ten feet away. Heavily armored as she was, the amazon wasn't injured by her flight. As she stood up, however, the water of the canal seeped heavily into her armor. Free movement would be a bit more difficult for her now.   Without giving Kojirō a chance to pursue, Shigeyuki hefted the stone pillar fragment and lobbed it with great force through the air back where it had came. Stone clashed against steel as the chunk slammed into Monohoshizao and fell away harmlessly. Shigeyuki clambered out of the canal on the opposite side, only to see her opponent dashing away for the safety of the cube once again. She sighed and determined to wait. Without any reliable method of attacking from range, Shigeyuki's opponent would have to close with her eventually.   On the far side of Cube, Kojirō was diligently hacking away at the glassy surface in front of her with Monohoshizao. Four swift cuts left four evenly-spaced handholds, allowing her easy access to the top of the object. Now clearly visible, she motioned for Shigeyuki to "bring it." Bring it she did, or attempted to. Shigeyuki grabbed a chunk of rock and kicked it as hard as she could at the side of the cube. Perhaps her intention was to break the structure's wall and send Kojirō tumbling down in an avalanche of rubble. In reality, the rock merely plunked against the cube's solid wall and fell unceremoniously to the ground.   It was more than obvious at this point that her opponent would not be lured into engaging on her terms. Therefore, Kojirō only attempted to look as dashing as she could, standing silhouetted at the top of the cube for a moment before gracefully falling down and fumbling the landing. It was a testament to her skill that the kensei could make even that clumsy roll look almost intentional. Soon she was on her feet again, across the arena, and finally in melee with her opponent.   Shigeyuki's heavy armor promised to be a powerful deterrent even against Monohoshizao. So, Kojirō focused her strikes on her towering opponent's unprotected head. The two clashed as skilled warriors do, with blows and counterblows so quick that it was all the audience could do to follow along. Kojirō employed her deadly technique, Tsubamegaeshi, while Shigeyuki pounded away with Otegine, scoring destructive wounds on the kensei's lightly-armored flesh.   Luck seemed to be on Shigeyuki's side, or perhaps her real battlefield experience simply won out. When the two separated, the amazon proudly wore a set of head wounds that each would have shattered the skull of a lesser warrior. Kojirō, however, was not bearing her injuries as well. A particularly deep spear-wound had left her unable to focus fully for the pain, and her movements were slowing from fatigue.   In the end, it was not blood that determined the fight, but stamina. Putting all her strength into one last strike, Kojirō opened another skull-piercing gash on her opponent's head. Shigeyuki bore the wound calmly, and did not strike again when the kensei fell to the ground from fatigue. Neither had escaped unscathed, but Ono Shigeyuki emerged this time the clear victor.