Twelve Tone Rendezvous[Rio, Shaoling]

To be certain, Rio was pleased with Shaoling's answer. She was somewhat disappointed that this fight was simply a way of washing away her shame, given her the level of respect she held for the woman as a whole, but that no longer mattered now. With a single step, Shaoling accepted and swept in with a withering kick to her midsection. There was no time to evade. No, to be quite honest, Rio was far from foolish to assume she would be able to match her on that front. Speed was not her forte. Defend and counter. That would be the approach.

Proficient as she was, Rio did not doubt that Shaoling likely outclassed her in many facets of battle, but that is what made it so exciting. To face an insurmountable mountain and attempt to climb it, knowing full well failure was a genuine possibility. The kick would strike true, eliciting some measure of pain, but nothing to subdue her entirely.

Shifting her hips forward, Rio's right hand would shoot out like a bullet, aiming to hold the woman by her leg as she roared in with a strike with her free hand. Expecting that her grab and counter would be evaded rather easily, Rio would shift her feet a second time, in preparation for a flash step burst to keep herself in constant motion. Allowing Shaoling to overwhelm her with a series of strikes while she remained idle would be less than ideal.

Shaoling's approach to this bout was surgical, refined in the extreme. Her eyes watched for every possible motion Rio made, and as the woman made her effort to grab Shaoling's leg, she simply shifted herself effortlessly, evading both the grab and the strike. Once upon a time, she might have lowered herself to this level, toyed with the woman just enough to show her the divide between them.

She wasn't that woman anymore, however. Even having faced Erika, she'd avoided far more of her own skill than she'd have cared to admit, and she'd lost the bout because of it. Whether out of respect, or simple pride, even she didn't care to think about. But regardless, she wouldn't be doing the same again. As Rio stepped away, Shaoling simply stepped more quickly, her knee already shooting up to slam into the Shihoin's gut as the galeforce winds of her eternal shunko whipped around it, creating a drill of air few could even perceive.

4 Fushiki: Kiri.

Of course, one blow wasn't enough. Shaoling was a woman of decisive action, but a single strike was hardly decisive. Even her first kick had told her this woman was hardy, moreso than most. Her fist shot forward at much the same time as her knee, fully intent on delivering a blow to Rio's chest that she knew few could withstand. Shaoling knew that, despite the technique's simplicity, it was one of the most impressive that any practitioner of Hakuda could properly utilize.

Ikkotsu.

The natural sequence of motion it took for a single step compared to someone using shunpo simply to keep pace was a clear reminder of the divide between them. Of course, that was to be expected. Defending against it, however, quickly proved to be a different matter altogether. Within an instant, Rio felt a knee strike crashing against her gut. Predictable as it was her next counter was, Rio aimed to lock the woman in place again, in a desperate attempt to drag her in, to execute a devastating counterattack.

In turn, the Shihoin woman's attempt was met in return with a spiraling drill of air that accompanied the strike, compromising her ease of movement at the point of impact. Decisive action behind each strike, a polar opposite to the Shield of the Shihoin who prided herself on wearing at her opponent's will through steadfast resilience. Her body failed to match the woman's movement as a follow-up in the form of a fierce punch landed against her chest.

Ikkotsu

Two strikes executed within the space of a single movement - a true testament to the Shaoling's martial prowess. The moment Shaoling's first landed, it was hardly difficult to register the sound of ribs shattering under duress of the former captain's attack. Rio's body was sent crashing into an abandoned building. Simply by merit of her own physical gifts, the Shihoin woman managed to escape being buried under the subsequent collapse of the rubble, employing a last-minute use of flash step to guide her body through the air. Landing atop a large piece of rubble several meters away, Rio coughed out a sizable measure of blood, visibly grimacing at the overwhelming sensation of pain that assaulted her body.

Wiping away the crimson-colored spittle at her mouth, The Shield of the Shihoin chuckled softly, marveling at the thought that, were she a woman of the lesser constitution and meager will, her body would've suffered far worse. It was a somewhat humorous thought, to be certain, one that made her question her sanity for but a single moment. At this point, she could certainly yield, and call it here. No one would think lesser of her if she did so. However, that would be a greater stain on her pride than wandering out here senselessly. She wouldn't back down until her entire body had been compromised. It was clear, however, that were she to suffer another strike or two of that nature again, her prized willpower or durability would be rendered meaningless.

Rather than remain entirely on the defensive, Rio brought the entirety of her skill in shunpo to bear as she sped towards Shaoling, vanishing from one position to another, a ploy perhaps to throw off her focus, soaring in to attack the woman from behind, two fists poised in preparation for a Hakuda technique of her own, propelled forward by the highest degree of speed she could employ. Whether it'd land or not would be left entirely up to lock, honestly. Rio was not so foolish as to assume she would land a successful strike against a woman she viewed as second to her aunt in terms of impeccable speed, to say nothing of her surgical precision towards this battle.

Sokkotsu.

The Shihoin woman was skilled, certainly. Shaoling would have expected nothing less of a woman she'd helped to train, even if it had been far more distant and impersonal than the training she had given to Yugiri. However, the gulf between the two of them was still immense, and Shaoling could discern that simply by watching the woman's movements. In speed, finesse, mastery, all of it, Rio was simply not at Shaoling's level. Her body may have been more durable, but that was hardly even important.

Rio's shunpo was impressive, but Shaoling's was moreso. Her speed, and her hakuda, were insufficient to match Shaoling, least of all in a direct assault. With a single flash step, Shaoling moved to meet Rio head-on, but naturally she had no intention of simply facing such a strike. Could her own Hakuda have made it a non-issue? Perhaps.

But Shaoling didn't wish to match Rio. She wished to demonstrate how much more she excelled. As the two came into arm's reach, Shaoling's hands quickly slipped over Rio's outstretched arm, the extreme wind of her shunko creating a buffer as well as cutting into Rio's flesh. At the same time, however, the wind coursed into Shaoling's legs with such an intensity that even she felt the strain in her bones. All at once, she then stepped in much the same way one would execute a shunpo, the wind pushing her even faster, while utilizing her grip on Rio's arm as a point of rotation. An effortless, extreme-high speed vault over the woman's head, but it was not simply an evasive maneuver.

2 Oushiki: Mizuguruma.

As Shaoling came around behind Rio, she twisted herself around quickly, the wind on her legs propelling a withering heel strike into Rio's back, with speed and force so extreme even Shaoling felt the recoil rattle through her bones. A combination of shunpo, shunko, and hakuda technique in a single motion, such was the nature of those few techniques deemed Oushiki.

Shaoling was truly a master of her craft. The seamless flow of her movements were executed with such impeccable grace that Rio's expertise in Hakuda - something any universal observer would consider elite - simply paled in comparison. The very act of comparing the two was a foolish notion. Shaoling was a supremely talented paragon, thriving in her natural element. Rio was an exceptionally proficient expert, struggling to match a master's flow. Even her Sokkotsu, executed with well-timed precision and poise, had effectively been countered as if she had performed the technique with the clumsiness of a novice. If the Shield of The Shihoin had possessed an ego of any kind, it was certainly being crushed beneath the Ex-Captain's heel at this very moment.

The moment those hands slipped over her outstretched arms, Rio struggled to turn around in a futile attempt to shift her body in preparation, ignoring wind-induced cuts against her arms. Yet, her speed was far too thorough, her Shunko far too transcendent. Even humoring the idea of a counterattack was laughable at best, a mere prayer cast forward in the hope of attaining an elusive stroke of luck that would never bless the Shihoin. Shaoling hadn't been aiming to evade her when she gripped her arm - no, that was merely a set-up in preparation for another technique.

Oushiki: Miguruma

A crushing heel strike propelled by the wind landed resoundingly, connecting with such speed and force that Rio didn't hold back the pain in her voice as the bones in her back creaked, and flesh was cut into by the wind's whiplash. As a result of the impact alone, her body was sent
hurtling toward the rubble littering the ground. At that moment, with her face buried against debris, the Shihoin acknowledged something. The profound difference between exceptional skill and transcendent mastery.

Try as she might, she could repeat this scenario a thousand times at the current moment and each would, unless an opening presented itself, undoubtedly end in Shaoling's favor. No matter the resilience of one's armor or the indomitable sturdiness of their shield, with enough talent and skill in the opponent's repertoire, a chink would always present itself. Shaoling's talents proved to be a shining example of that. Struggling to rise from the ground, Rio would wipe away the debris on her face, chuckling wryly at how she was so readily handled by Shaoling.

"Well... I've seen how I hold up to the former second-division captain. Apparently, not all that well. You haven't missed a beat, Shaoling."

It was a struggle to rise up, truth be told. Shattered ribs, internal damage, and a back on the verge of giving out were the damnable culprits. It was honestly a miracle that she could move enough to sit against a rock. If nothing else, she retained her pride about that facet of her durability. To reiterate, were she of lesser constitution, she would have been in a far more unenviable condition than the one she occupied now. Holy hell... talk about not holding back.