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((... * blaugh ducks, letting Rio cut off his own foot xd *

So Rio kicks at Gatz from the front, but at at the same time slice at the back of his neck... maybe if Rio was was in two places at the same time, but other than that, I don't think it's physically possible.))

Gatz dropped his umbrella and snapped his hands out and to the side, grabbing onto Rio's shin and forearm before the blows landed. He gave a slight twist to Rio's arm so that the sword twisted, only slapping him on the back with the flat of the blade. Without being able to fully extend, the kick lost most of it's potential force, the only damage it caused being a slight numbness in Gatz's hand from the force of the blow.

Meanwhile, he assumed a solid stance on one leg and backstepped with his left leg, starting to move his oppenent around their combined center of gravity, pulling the arm behind him while pushing the leg away from him. Gatz made one full revolution, then released his grip on Rio, sending the man spinning through the air and flying into some trees.

"Rio..." he sighed, retrieving his weapon as he waited for the man to get back up, "the Lotus Technique is a 'hard' martial art designed to deal direct damage to the opponent's body. Most of what I'm using are 'soft' martial arts, like Tai Chi, which redirects force thrown against it to the practiioner's advantage. To make it short, we could keep this up all day, but you're more likely to colapse from exhaustion before landing a serious blow on me. And your body won't last long in this state, as you know..."

(( wink Yes, but his arms are only so long. xd I was talking about the angle he'd have to do the dual-attack at... Attacking from the front, the best he could do is the side of Gatz's neck, not the back. If he had attacked from the side there'd be no problem, but Konoha Senpuu is a move that is performed from the front of the opponent.))

Gatz intercepted Rio's leg and tugged down as he stepped to the side, letting the man spin out before he slammed into the dirt.

"You can throw as many stones at a pond as you want, but you're still not going wind up hurting the water," Gatz said in a kung-fu master sounding voice, smiling.

"Rio, I realise that it's pointless to try and beat you into submission with a single strong technique--you're too thickheaded for the message to get across. So I just plan to keep this up until you realise you don't stand a chance of winning," he politely informed his opponent. "It's as simple as that."

Rioushu sighed as he started spinning and stopped himself by catching himself with his hands on the ground. He used one hand to push himself back to his feet, and used the other grab Gatz's ankle and pull it from under him, he didn't let go of it though, instead he twisted the entire leg with such force the Gatz flipped over to his stomach. Then he started twisting the ankle fiercely. "You're right Gatz, this is more effective, thanks for the advice.

Rioushu looked unamazed by Gatz's counter, in fact he almost looked bored. "Wow, you escaped, didn't see that one coming, now as for this painful arm of mine..." Rioushu said, and grimaced with pain as he grabbed the mangled armand twisted it, smiling as he heard it pop back in place. "Ouch, that hurt, and sounded disgusting, but not as much as this will!" Rioushu said, grabbing Gatz's same leg and reapplied the ankle lock, but this time he decided to make it a bit more technical, and fell onto his back, using his right leg to pin down Gatz's other leg. He twisted the ankle much more forcefully, and smiled with he heard a sickening rip. "There goes your ankle, muscle and bone."

"Nope," Gatz said with a smile. "No muscles, tendons, blood vessels, or nerves either. Though my body does simulate pain, so this does hurt a bit."

He reached over and grabbed his umbrella, opening it and starting to spin it with his right hand.

"... Of course, with Rio holding onto my leg, he can't dodge anything I throw at him..." the enitity pointed out.

The umbrella closed as it spun, building up an explosive vortex of chi within it. Gatz levered himself up on his left arm, and flipped the weapon over, the handle spinning against the palm of his hand. He then slammed his palm towards the ground, the slivery object drilling itself straight into the dirt up to the hilt. Then for a second, nothing happened.

A low rumble was heard, and the ground started to shake slightly. A large gyser of earth and rock blasted up from underneath Rio, throwing the man skyward in the vertical avalanche. Gatz was caught by the legs and dragged along with him, plucking his umbrella out of the dirt as he flew upward on the side of the shifting mass. He started spinning his umbrella again as the two combatants flew through the air, already preparing his next technique...

Rioushu gulped as he knew what Gatz was doing a second too late. He was sent flying into the air with Gatz, and knew that another technique was sure to come. "Not today Gatz." Rioushu said, releasing the leg he had pinned. He twisted his body around, maintaining the hold on Gatz's ankle as he threw Gatz over his shoulder, sending him flying to the ground and throwing a Kunai after him.

(( >.> Desert Coffin >XD Might as well do the whole funural twisted ))