EP 7; NERIAH! GENIUS NINJA OF THE FIVE RYUUGAN! A THREE ON ONE BATTLE! SHE WHO CRUSHES THE HEAD OF THE DRAGON!

EP 7; NERIAH! GENIUS NINJA OF THE FIVE RYUUGAN! A THREE ON ONE BATTLE! SHE WHO CRUSHES THE HEAD OF THE DRAGON!

Gaiden, Terra and Sahara stood on a really wide Glacier in the Hidden Snowstorm Ryu. Before them stood a girl with bright golden hair mixed with shades of blue at the edges. She wore a brilliant White Tailcoat with words imprinted behind it in Black.

"Say what? You telling me Tristran's on the loose?" Neriah glared at them fiercely.

It almost seemed as though flames were escaping her eyes.

"Technically no. Tristran's still trapped in a Karmic Cycle however he can only remain there if we fulfil certain conditions" Terra explained.

"I don't get it…you mean we're supposed to orchestrate a chain of events in the past that equip our parents with all the knowledge they need to beat Tristran. I don't like going about things in such a roundabout manner but if Sahara's with you then this can't be a joke" Neriah said as she scratched the back of her head as though she didn't understand what the point of all this was.

"Typical Neriah, a genius in combat but clueless when it comes to everything else…way to oversimplify things" Gaiden said with a bored look on his face.

"If what you say is true…then I'll need to put you through the wringer to test your resolve and see if you've got what it takes to beat Tristran. Fail my test and…I'll make your dazzling Stars weep!" Neriah said as her fierce expression suddenly relaxed and she took her fighting stance.

"You plan to fight all three of us? Isn't that too much of a handicap?" Gaiden said.

"You shouldn't take her lightly Gaiden" Terra warned.

"What do you mean?" Gaiden asked.

"For the past eight years, many Ninja have challenged Neriah to countless battles. They've tried taking her on one on one, they've tried sneak attacks, even sent whole armies against her and how many victories do you think they've won?" Terra said.

Gaiden's expression gradually became serious.

"Zero" Gaiden said.

"Exactly, even when by the slightest chance they do think they've won the fight, they eventually come to the realization that even their victories had been manipulated by Neriah" Terra explained.

"How does that happen?" Gaiden asked.

"Well there are a few hints left behind by those who previously engaged her in battle via rumours. The first is 'always begin a fight with Neriah by lowering your head'. If you don't want to do that 'grovel before her'. If that is too much for you to do, 'shrink yourself' and if you don't want to do that 'at least enter the battle starving'. Thus they gave her three titles. The first is 'The Master Of The Sliding Tackle', the second is 'The Genius Ninja Of The Five Ryuugan' and the final title is 'She Who Crushes the Head Of The Dragon'. Basically, don't enter a fight with Neriah thinking you have an advantage. The moment you do is the moment you lose" Terra explained.

Gaiden gulped.

Neriah smirked.

"Did you know you can tell a lot about a person from the way they apply their Five Senses?" Neriah said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gaiden asked.

Neriah motioned to him to attack with her forefinger.

"Lesson One; Light Meets Crystal; The Magnification Technique; basically, you just turned me into a Titan" Neriah said.

"We won't get anywhere by analyzing her abilities, I'm attacking!" Gaiden roared and charged forward.

When he was close enough to attack, he lunged at Neriah and threw a punch.

"In Icy Terrain…Friction is minimal…RYUUGAN VERSION ONE; MODE ELEMENTAL!" Neriah called as a Ryuugan manifested in her eyes.

She sidestepped, deflected Gaiden's punch while simultaneously knocking him off balance with a Foot Sweep.

"Taijutsu Art: Cleaning House!" Neriah said emotionlessly.

This threw Gaiden's balance completely off as the force of his charge forced him in the direction of his lunge. Gaiden directed the force of his charge towards his arms and placed them on the ground in an attempt to regain balance with a somersault but Neriah initiated a second Low Circle Foot Sweep that aimed for his hands now placed on the ground in an attempt to break his balance a second time.

"Cleaning House Level Two; Figure Eight Karmic Sliding Tackle Technique!" Neriah said emotionlessly.

Terra opened his eyes in shock. Gaiden watched in horror as Neriah's Foot Sweep approached his arms.

"She deflected Gaiden's initial punch while using a Foot Sweep to throw him off balance. She had already anticipated that Gaiden would attempt to regain balance with a somersault and thus initiated a Low Circle Foot Sweep to break his balance again" Terra watched in awe.

"FIRE ELEMENT! FIRE ROCKET!" Gaiden called and used a boost of flames to amplify his motion and thus propel himself into the Air.

LESSON TWO; FIRE MEETS WIND! AMPLIFICATION OF MOTION!" Neriah called as she suddenly disappeared. "CONDITION FOR INITIATING STORM FULFILLED! WATER MAKES ITS MOVE! NULLIFICATION OF FIRE! LIGHTNING MEETS WATER! AMPLIFIED RANGE OF LIGHTNING!" Neriah called as she intercepted Gaiden in Midair and delivered a dropkick to his chest with her right heel.

Gaiden crashed to the ground.

"LIGHTNING MEETS EARTH! LIGHTNING GROUNDED! RETURN TO BASE STANCE!" Neriah called as she landed smoothly on the ground and returned to her initial stance.

Terra stared at her in shock.

"Not only did she completely nullify Gaiden's offensive and break his Centre of Gravity…but she even read the Elemental Traits of his attack" Terra realized.

"RYUUGAN VER TWO; GRAMMATICAL GARDEN! APPLICATION OF SOUND! Lesson Three; Did you know…not only can you tell a lot about a person from what they do…you can also tell a lot about them from what they say…" Neriah said.

Gaiden sprung to his feet and somersaulted repeatedly till he was back where Terra and Sahara stood.

"I'll heal your wounds" Sahara said and placed her hand on Gaiden.

A bright green light ebbed from her hands and enveloped Gaiden. His wounds slowly closed up.

"I'll give you a boost in Physical Strength as well" Sahara said as a yellow light enveloped Gaiden.

"Regeneration Of Wounds and a Boost in Physical Ability. Most Humans are unconscious of what they do and say but a previous action or statement can subconsciously serve as a Trigger for one's next set of Actions regardless of whether one is conscious of that fact or not. Even when people purposely lie or manipulate facts to distort a scenario, there can never be a complete disconnect between 'Words' and 'Actions' implying that…Lies become irrelevant. SHIFT STANCE! 'REGENERATION' AND 'BOOST'. So their next set of actions couple a Coordination Technique with an Amplification Technique. They also intend to utilize decoys in order to figure out how my abilities work" Neriah said as Terra summoned his Staff and began to fire Kunai towards Neriah in order to complicate her movements and thus bait her into a trap.

Gaiden simultaneously charged from the Ground.

"So the best way to counter them is to use a combination of Disruption or Jamming Techniques in order to nullify their ability to coordinate, a basic Divide and Conquer Strategy coupled with a Nullification of their Individual Abilities" Neriah thought.

"CRYSTAL ELEMENT! CRYSTAL LABYRINTH JUTSU!" Gaiden called as a Crystal Labyrinth began to materialize all around Neriah while Terra simultaneously shot a barrage of Kunai towards all openings in the Labyrinth as it closed to ensure Neriah couldn't escape.

"A Crystal Prison coupled with an Aerial Assault that shuts off all escape routes. Hmmph. Clever but quite rudimentary. SHIFT STANCE! CRYSTAL MEETS AIR AND SOUND! THE AIR PARTICLES WITHIN CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURES PLAY A ROLE IN REVEALING THE IMPERFECTIONS WITHIN THE CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURES! CRYSTALLINE MASS CONCEPTUALIZATION TECHNIQUE COMPLETE! EVERY CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURE ALSO VIBRATES OR OSCILLATES AT A SPECIFIC FREQUENCY OR WAVELENGTH! WAVELENGTH MATCH ESTABLISHED! CRYSTAL LABYRINTHINE PRISON DESTRUCTION JUTSU; DESTRUCTIVE WAVELENGTH INTERFERENCE!" Neriah called as Gaiden's Crystal Labyrinth Prison Jutsu shattered.

"By triggering a Destructive Wavelength Interference within the Structure of The Crystal via Sound, I can force the Crystal Structure past its Structural Limit thus triggering a collapse of the Structure. This is the Principle behind an Opera Singer shattering a Glass via high pitched sound. ICE ELEMENT! OMNIDIRECTIONAL ICE DEFENSE!" Neriah called as an Omnidirectional Ice Wall materialized around her to block Terra's Aerial Assault as well. "ULTIMATE SNOWSTORM ELEMENT JUTSU VERSION ONE! ABSOLUTE ZERO! We have now entered a World Of Zero Chaos and Absolute Order, a World…of Perfect Stasis and Zero Friction" Neriah said.

"She completely nullified all our jutsu!" Gaiden exclaimed in horror.

"Taijutsu! Ninjutsu! Elemental Jutsu! Strategy! Stealth! It's all useless against her" Terra exclaimed in horror.

Terra returned his Staff to his side and removed his Flute.

"That won't do you much good while I'm utilizing the Sound Variation Of my Ryuugan. To put it in simple Terms, this version of my Ryuugan can 'see' Sound Waves. Music is built upon a Foundation of Eight Musical Notes, Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti and Do. The combination of Notes determine the Type and Tone Of The Music. Do Re Mi and Fa Notes combine to create Ballads. So Re Mi and La Notes are predominantly used for Praise or to boost Morale. Mi Re and So Re combinations are utilized for Dirges. Ti La Do Re Mi and Fa are utilized for Serenades" Neriah said calmly.

"But my Songs aren't just composed of Notes Neriah. Each Tune…is a Tribute to a Virtue of a Particular Trait or Object Of Reality" Terra said seriously.

Neriah sighed.

"I'm not trying to belittle your Music Terra…I do understand its True Value…regardless, every existing object is also built upon a Foundation Of Elements…Sound isn't exempt from this Law. Every Element also possesses the ability to evoke a set of unique Emotions and type of Sensory Perception…you understand what I mean don't you Terra" Neriah said as she lowered her eyes.

"Regardless of how long we fight, there will be no winner" Terra realized.

"Exactly, this fight is pointless…for as long as every Human Act, Thought and Interaction are governed by their Five Senses…I am unbeatable!" Neriah said as the Words on the back of her Tailcoat became visible.

'She Who Crushes The Head Of The Dragon'

were the words that were written.

"However, I acknowledge your resolve and know this is not a joke…you can count me in" Neriah said as she shut her eyes.

Her calm expression gradually faded away and the Fire returned to her eyes.

"With that, we've assembled all the Saints Of The Present Era. It's about time to return to Tempus Finis" Gaiden said happily.