NB Team Debate League round 3: (¬‿¬) vs Senko

[Prince Charles]

6 paths has asked for an extension since you guys cant decide who will go first.

ill give you guys around 1 hour or so to decide who will go first. Once you decide tell me. If by 1 hour u still cant decide then senko will go first as originally planned.

 

[Anub]

6 paths has asked for an extension since you guys cant decide who will go first.

ill give you guys around 1 hour or so to decide who will go first. Once you decide tell me. If by 1 hour u still cant decide then senko will go first as originally planned.

Weird face was originally planned to go first.

 

[Prince Charles]

Woops my apologies. Weird face was originally planned to go first. So as i said by 1 hour if this isnt sorted out, team weird face will go as originally.

 

[Prince Charles]

This is does not need to be argued.

As I said simply come to me when you guys sort this out and decide who is going first. Honestly Team weird face should be going first. But 6 paths came to me about it which is why i have decided to give 1 hour to sort this out.

 

[Fresco]

To avoid any more delays, we'll be going first since that's how it was originally intended. I'm sure the rest of my team has no problem with this.

 

[Prince Charles]

team weird face will be going first as planned. No changes will be made. Problem solved.

If anyone objects complain to my left nut because we cannot afford any more delays!

 

[Varrah]

Sumabitch.​

 

[EliteKakashi]

(¬‿¬)​

I'm going to start by covering how Gaara would undoubtedly start this match..and that is with the use of

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, a technique that allows Gaara to produce a very large amount of sand, and this was part 1 Gaara, current Gaara would easily double this amount, if not more. Gaara even states in part 1 that he could make more sand than that because he's capable of

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. The reason for Gaara starting the match this way is quite simple.

#1 – He's fighting against someone he knows is a member of the Akatsuki organization, given he would recognize the cloak from his battle with Deidara.

#2 – The battleground then would turn heavily in to Gaara's favor. As it not only gives him mass amounts of sand to work with, but it'll

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eliminating any chance of some kind of sneak from Kakuzu.

#3 – It'll also allow him the ability to

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which was capable of tracking the legendary Mu, also known as

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Now that we've covered the fact that Gaara will turn this battlefield in to his own miniature desert, we'll go in to ways Gaara can attack Kakuzu and defend himself from Kakuzu's own attacks.

First up..

Countering Doton: Domu -

Doton: Domu is undoubtedly a fantastic defense, one of the best defensive techniques we've seen in the entire manga...and you might be wonderinf, what is Gaara going to do to actually hurt Kakuzu? Well, Gaara doesn't possess any raiton abilities, but what he does have is A. All the sand he needs from using Ryuusa Bakuryuu and B. The abilitiy to just wait on Kakuzu. What do I mean by that? It's quite simple...

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. Gaara may not have knowledge of this ability right off the bat, but as he's shown, A. he can tell if he's killed his opponent or not after they've been crushed

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and B. he's a very intelligent, analytic fighter.

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Gaara will VERY quickly figure out Kakuzu's defense.

If Kakuzu wishes to use Doton: Domu to protect himself from getting crushed by something like

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, that's fine. But he'll have to keep his entire body cloaked in Doton: Domu, and he'll be unable to move.

Countering Jiongu

Gaara

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, once again, serves him very well. It pretty much nullifies any chance Kakuzu had at hurting him through the use of Jiongu. Gaara will be able to sense if Kakuzu were to ever try to attack from underground using the technique, like he did here to escape

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, and his sand will keep Kakuzu from using his “threads”(if he were to fuse with his masks)

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, and Gaara can obviously defend himself from the threads with his sands, or if he feels it absolutely necessary, he can use his

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, and don't be confused by it having Shukaku in it's name, it is simply named after him, not powered by him, as noted in the databook translation:

NINJUTSU; Saikou Zettai Bougyo: Shukaku no Tate (Absolute Defense of Solidity Ultimate*: Shukaku's Shield)
User: Gaara
Defensive; Close range; Rank: none

Main text

A sand shield created out of a concentration of the extremely hard materials that rest underground. Those materials are selected at a moment's notice thanks to chakra control, and after compression is applied, they are mixed together. The name of Shukaku, the Avatar of the Sand, is appropriate for such great defensive power...

Captions

-The minute congregation of sand becomes a shield of solidity unmatched!!

-The sand tanuki stands in the way, stopping the blow from all attacks!!

Picture comment

-Before such hardness, even Kimimaro's impeccable offensive is shattered.

As for..

Kakuzu's CQC abilities

He possesses some very impressive taijutsu skills. Managing to even best Kakashi, one of the better CQC fighters in the manga. Only problem is, this does nothing for him against Gaara. Why? #1 – Gaara does everything he can to keep fights at mid to long ranges at all times, even Kimimaro notes this, and also notes it would be extremely difficult to engage him in CQC

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. If Kakuzu somehow gets too close for comfort, which would require him having to fight through NUMEROUS attacks and traps in Gaara's sand, Gaara can easily

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.

CQC is not an option for Kakuzu here.


Now, let's move on to the hearts.

Kakuzu's elemental hearts

I really don't see these effecting Gaara in anyway, and why is quite simple. Not only does he have the absolute defense like I listed above to counter Kakuzu's threads attacking him, but that could also shield him from the blast radius of Kakuzu's futon, he also has the ability to pretty much INSTANTLY create several gigantic sand defenses. Such as this one:

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, this one should be noted as tanking Deidara's powerful explosion and this one

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. Nothing Kakuzu has shown will defeat these ultimate defenses, and before you try to bring up Raiton Gian..no, that's not going to cut it either. A very small amount of Gaara's sand was capable of stopping the Raikage's incredibly powerful,

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. This gives us absolutely no reason to believe that Kakuzu's Raiton Gian would be capable of piercing through one of Gaara's ultimate, near-instant sand defenses that I referenced above. Kakuzu's elemental attacks, just like his physical attacks, have now been completely nullified. Kakuzu is not going to hurt the incredibly powerful Fifth Kazekage.

Some of Gaara's offensive capabilities

As much as I'd love to go in to incredible detail as to how Gaara can smash Kakuzu and his poor masks, I'm going to leave this kind of vague, as to be fair to the opposing team, I have no way of predicting how you're going to try and defend with Kakuzu, and it would be unfair of me to tell you guys how you would.

#1 – As we went over at the beginning, Gaara is going to absolutely smother the battlefield in sand and turn it in to a mini-desert. Being hit by this wave of sand could hurt Kakuzu and his masks.

#2 – Once that wave of sand has hit, again as we covered, he can just smash Kakuzu and his masks with Sabaku Taiso.

#3 – He's capable of trapping Kakuzu and his masks in

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and could crush them with that through

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.

#4 – You might argue his masks take flight. That's no issue, though. Gaara's sand can

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and

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Kakuzu and his masks.

I think that covers enough of the basics and sets a solid enough base for my teammates to work from(and also crush Team Senko's moral ).

 

[Anub]

Bumping this.

 

[Varrah]

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基本情報 | Basic Information:

Name: Kakuzu
Nickname: Rag Doll, Treasurer of Akatsuki
Gender: Male
Age: 91
Clan: -
Zodiac: Leo
Blood Type: A​

Looks:
Kakuzu was a tall, tanned, muscular man that towered over everyone in Akatsuki with the exception of Kisame Hoshigaki. He wore a white hood and a black mask, with his eyes being the only visible part of his face. Underneath, his mouth was stitched together at the edges and he had long dark brown hair. His eyes have an unusual colouring: green irides, no pupils and red sclera. His clothing included the traditional Akatsuki cloak and the forehead protector of his home village with a scratch in the middle which symbolised that he was no longer loyal to it. He also wore dark green nail polish and an Akatsuki ring with the kanji for North (北, hoku) was placed on his left middle finger. His entire body was covered with various stitches and predominantly appeared to be sewn together. This was a result of the unique technique that he possessed — the Earth Grudge Fear.

Personality:
Kakuzu was a greedy, miserly individual, arranging goals in terms of the highest profit he could gain from them, and was often unwilling to involve himself in something if there was nothing to gain from it, as well as claiming that he tended to forget opponents who were not worth any money after he was done with them. He even remarked that money is the only dependable thing in the world. Due to this end, he referred to himself as the "Treasurer of Akatsuki". Given his friendly relationship with Zangei, his bounty officer, it would seem he collected bounties rather frequently to earn cash, and did so (or at least tried) during his missions on several occasions. The frequent side-tasks and devotion to money were both major points of contention between Hidan and Kakuzu. He also seemed to respect an opponent who thinks.Despite his obsessive personality and violent rages, Kakuzu was much more cautious than his partner, and was not as arrogant, never mindlessly rushing into battle like Hidan. Kakuzu frequently warned Hidan not to let his guard down.​

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村の情報 | Village Info:

Village of Birth: Takigakure | Village Hidden by a Waterfall
Village of Alliance: Akatsuki | Organization​

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その他の情報 | Other Info:

Abilities:
器 Weapons:
Kakuzu carries a whole multitude of weapons. In his ninja pouch, he carries shuriken, explosive kunai, explosive tags, flash and smoke bombs, ninja wire, and all the other items essential for a ninja. He also carries a basic black scimitar on strapped to his left leg which can be wielded with one hand. Other non-conventional weapons he carries include: a pouch full of fine sand, some cigarettes and flint.

水 Strengths :
This technique is a secret kinjutsu of Takigakure. It transforms the user's body into something similar to that of a rag-doll's, which is held together by hundreds of thick black threads. Kakuzu was able to manipulate these threads for many purposes. He was capable of sewing up any injuries that he or others might suffer, most commonly by reattaching body parts. The most significant aspect of these threads were that they granted Kakuzu a form of immortality, although he declined to think of it that way. In addition to sewing up his injuries, he could use the threads to tear into a victim's body, steal their still functioning organs, and integrate them into his own body, thus extending his life.

Masks - Kakuzu's animal masks, which resembled those of ANBU, contained his spare hearts. If he took use of the heart for himself, the corresponding mask would shatter upon the creature's reentry into Kakuzu's body. These masks were capable of attacking separately, unleashing devastating blasts of elemental chakra. These threads could also compact together to form a spider-like body around Kakuzu, allowing him to fuse the attacks of his masks together in order to increase his attacking power.

Hearts - Kakuzu usually used this method to steal hearts from powerful shinobi, and was able to store up to four spare hearts in his body at any given time, meaning that all hearts must stop functioning in order for Kakuzu to die. He can also put one of those hearts into his limbs and have them move individually, as seen when he used his hand to remove a shadow-enhanced trench knife that prevented the rest of his body from moving. The extra hearts in Kakuzu's body are normally stored in various animal masks that were sewn onto his back, granting him vast amounts of chakra and numerous elemental affinities.

Range Form - Kakuzu, thanks to his Earth Grudge Fear has the ability to change his form to suit his combat position from Short - Long range greatly changing his physical appearance, from detaching his arms to a certain length to having most threads form tentacles around his neck.

Strength - His raw strength was great enough to catch one of Chōji's enlarged punches with a single hand and punch down an iron gate, as well as lifting and choking two people simultaneously. This was further supplemented by his already adept taijutsu skills, shown when, during his fight with Kakashi (who is quite skilled in taijutsu) he mixed his hardening and extending abilities with his taijutsu eventually overwhelming Kakashi himself. All these factors afforded him great versatility against his opponents. Using Earth Release: Earth Spear Technique he was able to increase his hardness, up to the point when he was able to withstand attacks that were normally fatal, an example being him able to withstand Choji's surprise ambush without any visible damage.

知性 Intelligence:
Kakuzu was shown to be a keen analyst, which was somewhat attributable to his age. He is highly observant, easily noticing that Shikamaru was taking his time to formulate a plan to counter Hidan's technique, after the former caught his partner in his Shadow Imitation Technique. He was able to quickly discern the purpose of Shikamaru's various shadow attacks, and devised ways to counter them almost instantaneously during the battle. An example for that is when Shikamaru trapped him and Hidan in his Shadow Imitation Shuriken Technique, Kakuzu detached his right arm, hid it underground and with its help, was able to remove the trench knife, thus successfully breaking free from the technique​

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.​

How are you countering anything; you have neither deduced Kakuzu's abilities nor have I stated them, so until either one is done, this opening post is nonsensical. It goes against the stipulations of the match which Gaara's and Kakuzu's intelligence is that of the manga; basically meaning both Gaara and Kakuzu are ignorant of the other's abilities as they never confronted the other and remain that way until either party deducing the other's techniques or state them. You have not done so for the former and I have not stated Kakuzu's abilities—so how are you forming counters—you have not any material within the rules to do so. Your very opening is incorrect and filled with irrelevancies and this post alone negates it on all fronts. Senko's opening is as followed...​

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次 | Phases:

Opening Moves:

Before attacking, before rushing, before defending, Kakuzu will immediately scout Gaara’s appearance and analysis it, alongside with any actions made from him at this point. It serves as a preliminary understanding or indication for Kakuzu developing a preluding strategy and future strategies to use against Gaara, whereas the opening strategy is based solely on Gaara’s appearance, the latter strategies will based on Gaara’s words, actions, and tendencies. If by chance Gaara does decide to attack Kakuzu while planning, Kakuzu will use Doton Domu to turn his skin into a diamond structure, and will observe the attack Gaara just exercised into his strategies—and if possibly use the material as a reference for future attacks.

Kakuzu will noticed Gaara’s gourd, and assume that there is material in it; Kakuzu will discern Gaara’s appearance further, and recognize Gaara’s headband. Noticing the marks of Gaara’s headband are those of Sunagakure—one of the five great countries—and assume, much like Sunagakure and, that Gaara has a wind-based affinity which may possibly manipulate the material situated inside the gourd. To test out his hypothesis, Kakuzu will connect his fire heart to his circulatory system and use

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. The fireball of Katon: Zukokku will explode upon coming into close proximity of Gaara and create a gigantic conflagration which will sweep Gaara’s vicinity. Kakuzu will react accordingly.

From here, if Gaara does not block or evade the attack, he will die. If Gaara evades the attack, he will be met with a barrage of physical assaults from a Kakuzu exerting Doton Domu. Having the superior speed over Gaara, Kakuzu will use the increased physical power of Doton Domu to disrupt or punch away any attacks Gaara uses, while using his greater speed to catch Gaara at an angle decent enough to puncture one or more of Gaara’s organs, preferably internal. If Kakuzu cannot, he will simply cuff any attacks of Gaara’s and break his neck, arm or any other feature that he can captured using Doton Domu. In the likely event that Gaara does escape Kakuzu’s assault for an instance, Kakuzu will immediately use Jiongu to latch onto Gaara and instantly use the threads to tear into Gaara’s anatomy;

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.

If Gaara blocks the attacks, Kakuzu will analyze the method used to block Katon: Zukokku; scrutinizing the material used to neutralize the conflagration. Examining the gourd, Kakuzu confirms his theory: the gourd has material in it, and upon closer examination, the material is sand which is moved through space typically through the air; indicating that Gaara’s affinity, wind, is the chief factor in manipulating the material alongside the sand itself being chakra imbued. Upon confirming this, Kakuzu will connect his lightning heart to his circulatory system and use Raiton: Gian to measure the potency of the technique, and its concentration when met with an opposing factor. Kakuzu will surmise that the sand’s vigor should be diluted or weakened upon interacting with a lightning natured attack as Gaara’s sand is composed of Earth material reinforce by chakra to make its manipulation easier on him, and while he may possess the ability to create sand from the earth itself; the procedure and chakra in doing so should be strenuously taxing; hence the gourd and its containing of preexisting sand.

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, a lightning natured attack by elemental strengths and weaknesses, should cause any and all sand attacks to be effectively neutralize as it is minerals of earth imbued with chakra. The sporadic structure and scope of Raiton: Gian will be used dispelled substantial amounts of Gaara’s sand—which serve two functions: to solidify Kakuzu’s supposition and integrated into future strategies. Kakuzu plans appropriately, and begins a set of ploys. ​

• Kakuzu uses Jiongu and releases the lightning, fire, and wind masks.
• The masks move a lateral distance of 5cm.
• The lightning mask uses Ration: Gian to counter Gaara’s Sand, and immediately uses it again. It will continue to do so every time Gaara uses a sand-based attack.
• The fire mask will immediately use Katon: Zukokku during the voided intermission of Gaara’s Sand; its fires a fireball instantly after Gaara attempts to blocks the successive Gians. The wind mask circulates 3cm diagonally behind the lightning mask. It will occasionally attack simultaneously with the fire mask to increase its power and dynamism.
• These actions are placed to largely to kill Gaara, whether burned, sliced or electrocuted and secondly to acquire a higher understanding of the sand’s possibility—Kakuzu will assume that every action Gaara takes is attributable to the situation he is in, and his maneuver or manipulation of sand is measureable in degrees. Essentially, Kakuzu’s will reasoned that Gaara can potentially make the sand useful for any situation—such as winging—to escape some disasters of the masks. Kakuzu reacts and plans changes aptly.

​

(Start of Senko's second post.)
​

i'm high, so if you don't like...fuck it...

 

[Prince Charles]

on some 3 hunna shit..

that post was dope as fuk varrah lol

 

[Fresco]

on some 3 hunna shit..

that post was dope as fuk varrah lol

Yeah, pretty dope RP bio lol.

 

[EliteKakashi]

..What, exactly, was the point of listing his physical features/village info and techniques? You just added a bunch of useless things(well, the techniques matter, but we're all aware of what Kakuzu is capable of..and if people aren't they probably shouldn't be judges) that don't really matter in regards to the fight that judges are going to have to read through.

Also not sure I understood you saying my counters for Kakuzu's techniques didn't count because he doesn't have knowledge of them..when I never claimed Gaara had knowledge of Kakuzu's techniques. I simply laid out plans as to how Gaara could counter his techniques once they were used.

All that said, I liked the "phases" part of the post, good job. Just that the rest of it was incredibly unnecessary.

 

[Zexion~]

Yeah, pretty dope RP bio lol.

Thats what my rep said lol

 

[Varrah]

..What, exactly, was the point of listing his physical features/village info and techniques? You just added a bunch of useless things(well, the techniques matter, but we're all aware of what Kakuzu is capable of..and if people aren't they probably shouldn't be judges) that don't really matter in regards to the fight that judges are going to have to read through.

Also not sure I understood you saying my counters for Kakuzu's techniques didn't count because he doesn't have knowledge of them..when I never claimed Gaara had knowledge of Kakuzu's techniques. I simply laid out plans as to how Gaara could counter his techniques once they were used.

All that said, I liked the "phases" part of the post, good job. Just that the rest of it was incredibly unnecessary.

Messing around with the formats; people can skip to the "phases" part if they want to read the actually debate. The rest of the post can be seen as a remainder if a nig is unsure of the Rag Doll's moves.

Bout your counters, you admit your only postulating counters. Okay, good, but on the off-chance you were trying to past it off as an opening move it's a no go—Gaara cannot counter the unknown. If you're laying them out for the future cool move, doable. Though I suggest you should have actually move or made some sort of opening move in the future... ​

 

[EliteKakashi]

​

Messing around with the formats; people can skip to the "phases" part if they want to read the actually debate. The rest of the post can be seen as a remainder if a nig is unsure of the Rag Doll's moves.

Bout your counters, you admit your only postulating counters. Okay, good, but on the off-chance you were trying to past it off as an opening move it's a no go—Gaara cannot counter the unknown. If you're laying them out for the future cool move, doable. Though I suggest you should have actually move or made some sort of opening move... ​

Cool enough, I guess.

And as I mentioned in my opener, in regards to opening moves, I don't like trying to dictate what someone else may do. So I went the route of describing how Gaara would begin the fight and describing ways to defend the vast majority of Kakuzu's arsenal and just showing a couple of Gaara's offensive techniques.

Now that gives our team a quick reference point as to how Gaara can defend and some scans of his offensive capabilities. Plus, I only had 3 hours to make that post(before the deadline) after a certain somebody decided to focus on other, far less important things in this thing he called..I think it was..real life? than internet discussion boards(what's more important than that, amirite?) and stuck me with making the opener, which has potentially crushed our internet friendship.

Spoiler

You know I love you, Fresco.

 

[Varrah]

Cool enough, I guess.

And as I mentioned in my opener, in regards to opening moves, I don't like trying to dictate what someone else may do. So I went the route of describing how Gaara would begin the fight and describing ways to defend the vast majority of Kakuzu's arsenal and just showing a couple of Gaara's offensive techniques.

Now that gives our team a quick reference point as to how Gaara can defend and some scans of his offensive capabilities. Plus, I only had 3 hours to make that post(before the deadline) after a certain somebody decided to focus on other, far less important things in this thing he called..I think it was..real life? than internet discussion boards(what's more important than that, amirite?) and stuck me with making the opener, which has potentially crushed our internet friendship.

Spoiler

You know I love you, Fresco.

Alright then, all is well. ​

 

[Anub]

@ EK and Varrah's discussions: please either post VMs, PMs, or on another thread, but reserve this place for arguments that can persuade the judges.

@ judges: please don't take into account any other discussions other than the actual arguments (2 so far).

 

[Fresco]

How are you countering anything; you have neither deduced Kakuzu's abilities nor have I stated them, so until either one is done, this opening post is nonsensical. It goes against the stipulations of the match which Gaara's and Kakuzu's intelligence is that of the manga; basically meaning both Gaara and Kakuzu are ignorant of the other's abilities as they never confronted the other and remain that way until either party deducing the other's techniques or state them. You have not done so for the former and I have not stated Kakuzu's abilities—so how are you forming counters—you have not any material within the rules to do so. Your very opening is incorrect and filled with irrelevancies and this post alone negates it on all fronts. Senko's opening is as followed...

First and foremost, the biggest problem with this part is that its somewhat defeated by the fact that you totally ignored EliteKakashi's first few points, and instead, continued on to dictate how the fight would go in your own mind. You state that we have neither deduced Kakuzu's abilities nor have you stated them, but that's not the point. EliteKakashi was only laying the groundwork for the rest of our team. You state it goes against the stipulations of the match, but you yourself went against it by ignoring EliteKakashi's first point: how Gaara would open this fight up.

In all fairness, the whole "Phases" part of your post is an illegitimate argument really because you decided to ignore our first point altogether. But for the fun of it, I'll go accordingly and pick it all apart and get back to our strategy later.

Before attacking, before rushing, before defending, Kakuzu will immediately scout Gaara’s appearance and analysis it, alongside with any actions made from him at this point. It serves as a preliminary understanding or indication for Kakuzu developing a preluding strategy and future strategies to use against Gaara, whereas the opening strategy is based solely on Gaara’s appearance, the latter strategies will based on Gaara’s words, actions, and tendencies. If by chance Gaara does decide to attack Kakuzu while planning, Kakuzu will use Doton Domu to turn his skin into a diamond structure, and will observe the attack Gaara just exercised into his strategies—and if possibly use the material as a reference for future attacks.

To begin with, this is all conjecture on how the fight will go, but its somewhat logical, I'll give you that much. But, since you didn't specify what technique Gaara would use to attack Kakuzu, I'll specify for you. Like in the Kimimaro battle, he can attack using

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. Albeit, it doesn't look that overwhelming, but take into consideration that this is Part 2 Kage Gaara. Meaning, he can use the technique with much more efficiency and and in greater abundance. [

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] Like you say, Kakuzu will notice the attack coming (he'll look above) and will use Doton: Domu to "observe" the technique. By the mere fact that Kakuzu is looking up to observe the technique, he'll be open to an attack from below, similar to Kimimaro's case. [

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] And since Kakuzu is unable to move when Doton: Domu is in effect, he'll be powerless to stop the attack from below. [

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] At this point, Kakuzu will be completely incapacitated, as Kimimaro was in that fight. [

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] I'll admit, there's little Gaara can do at this point given Kakuzu's current predicament with Doton: Domu acitvated and Gaara will undoubtedly sense with his sand that he can't harm him in that state. But, since Kakuzu has Doton: Domu activated, he will not be able to move, as shown above in the databook scan. So literally, all Gaara has to do now is play the waiting game. (Kakuzu would undoubtedly suffocate) In case Kakuzu releases Domu, and tries to break away, Gaara can crush him in an instant. BUT, this is all hypothetical since you said if Kakuzu is attacked while analyzing Gaara's appearance. (Again, note how this is irrelevant given the logical scenario EliteKakashi pointed out)

Kakuzu will noticed Gaara’s gourd, and assume that there is material in it; Kakuzu will discern Gaara’s appearance further, and recognize Gaara’s headband. Noticing the marks of Gaara’s headband are those of Sunagakure—one of the five great countries—and assume, much like Sunagakure and, that Gaara has a wind-based affinity which may possibly manipulate the material situated inside the gourd. To test out his hypothesis, Kakuzu will connect his fire heart to his circulatory system and use

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. The fireball of Katon: Zukokku will explode upon coming into close proximity of Gaara and create a gigantic conflagration which will sweep Gaara’s vicinity. Kakuzu will react accordingly.

From here, if Gaara does not block or evade the attack, he will die. If Gaara evades the attack, he will be met with a barrage of physical assaults from a Kakuzu exerting Doton Domu. Having the superior speed over Gaara, Kakuzu will use the increased physical power of Doton Domu to disrupt or punch away any attacks Gaara uses, while using his greater speed to catch Gaara at an angle decent enough to puncture one or more of Gaara’s organs, preferably internal. If Kakuzu cannot, he will simply cuff any attacks of Gaara’s and break his neck, arm or any other feature that he can captured using Doton Domu. In the likely event that Gaara does escape Kakuzu’s assault for an instance, Kakuzu will immediately use Jiongu to latch onto Gaara and instantly use the threads to tear into Gaara’s anatomy;

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.

@Red: I don't see how Kakuzu can come to the conclusion that Gaara would be able to manipulate the material inside his gourd on the basis that Gaara might have a wind-based affinity.

I'm surprised you didn't think of Gaara's obvious counter to Katon: Zukokku. Given the wide area that the Katon technique covers, Gaara can and will take flight to avoid the technique. [

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] Also Gaara would never get into a CQC confrontation with anyone. And since Gaara would undoubtedly go into the air to evade the technique (not physically evade it as you imply), it really makes this part of your post irrelevant.

If Gaara blocks the attacks, Kakuzu will analyze the method used to block Katon: Zukokku; scrutinizing the material used to neutralize the conflagration. Examining the gourd, Kakuzu confirms his theory: the gourd has material in it, and upon closer examination, the material is sand which is moved through space typically through the air; indicating that Gaara’s affinity, wind, is the chief factor in manipulating the material alongside the sand itself being chakra imbued. Upon confirming this, Kakuzu will connect his lightning heart to his circulatory system and use Raiton: Gian to measure the potency of the technique, and its concentration when met with an opposing factor. Kakuzu will surmise that the sand’s vigor should be diluted or weakened upon interacting with a lightning natured attack as Gaara’s sand is composed of Earth material reinforce by chakra to make its manipulation easier on him, and while he may possess the ability to create sand from the earth itself; the procedure and chakra in doing so should be strenuously taxing; hence the gourd and its containing of preexisting sand.

Eh, I've seen this argument once before and its a huge misconception, really. For one, Gian is not comparable to the likes of Chidori, something that did indeed pierce Gaara's defense (albeit in part 1 meaning it absolutely wouldn't now.) and in fact, Gian was trumped by Chidori's more controlled and stabilized form: Raikiri. [

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] I would also like to note that the technique's speed is nothing special; Kakashi was able to avoid Futon: Atsugai from Hidan's position and make it over to Choji's and Shikamaru's position to diffuse Gian with his Rakiri. [

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] I would suggest reading 334 p. 11-13 or so to get a sense of it all. But back to the point I was trying to make earlier: a B-Rank technique such as Raiton: Gian doesn't have the piercing power of something like Raikiri, and to a lesser extent Chidori. Although Chidori was able to pierce through Gaara's defense, that was in part 1. And in fact, it didn't cause a fatal blow or anything. [

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] But what hurts Gian the most is that it lacks proper piercing feats to suggest that it can pierce through something like Gaara's defense. Especially considering to what extent Gaara's ultimate defense can go. [

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] Doubt he'd have to go to such an extent for such an inferior lightning technique, though. In fact, Gaara was able to save Sasuke from Raiton Armor A's Guillotine Drop with minimal sand at his disposal. [

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] Given the above, Gaara's defense's weakness isn't lightning-based attacks nor has it ever shown to be the case. Again, somewhat irrelevant given Kakuzu will either be incapacitated at this point or Gaara will be in the air. And since distance can counter speed and the speed of Gian is not all that great (as I pointed out earlier), Gian will have little to no effect on this battle.

Also, Gaara states that he can create sand from the ground without effort, so that last point doesn't stand. [

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]

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, a lightning natured attack by elemental strengths and weaknesses, should cause any and all sand attacks to be effectively neutralize as it is minerals of earth imbued with chakra. The sporadic structure and scope of Raiton: Gian will be used dispelled substantial amounts of Gaara’s sand—which serve two functions: to solidify Kakuzu’s supposition and integrated into future strategies. Kakuzu plans appropriately, and begins a set of ploys.

You see, the "sporadic structure and scope" of Gian is actually why it wouldn't be able to pierce Gaara's defense and/or make a considerable impact. Perhaps if it was more concentrated, it would have an effect to a considerable extent.

Anyways, to the point you completely ignored at the beginning:

What Gaara would like to do at the beginning is turn the location to his advantage by using

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. With the said technique, Gaara was able to supplement the battlefield with an abundance of sand. [

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-

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] Though, you might bring up the point that he wouldn't use such a technique so early in a fight. Well in fact, he would. See, Gaara used the technique relatively early in his fight with Kimimaro. Even if he didn't start the fight out that way, he would use it in the early stages of the battle. Given this is current Gaara, it would only mean that the technique is much more effective and powerful. I'll save you some time here by saying that Kakuzu should be able to deduce that Gaara's gourd has sand in it and that Gaara can control sand. (lol)

Now that the battlefield is completely in Gaara's favor, many paths are open to him at this point. The fact that this is now a miniature desert, Gaara can attack from any angle and defend effortlessly (goes without saying since his defense basically has a mind of its own). In the supplemented battlefield, Gaara was able to defend Lee from a considerable distance away. [

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] That wouldn't have been possible had he not used the aforementioned technique. There's a reason as to why Gaara would do that. Mainly, its because he has no prior knowledge to Kakuzu, so he'd like to turn the location in his favor as its the logical thing to do. Although Gaara has no knowledge of Kakuzu, he does know that Kakuzu is an Akatsuki member by looking at his attire. Knowing this, Gaara will become more cautious and analytical, of course to figure out Kakuzu's techniques. Though, Gaara has the advantage here because of him having cleared the battlefield. (The trees will be gone and there would be no where for Kakuzu to ambush)

In the early stages of the match, Gaara will have no need to go into the air. Gaara has only went into the air if there was an attack with a large area of effect below or if he was fighting an airborne opponent such as Mu or Deidara. Kakuzu can use his larger techniques if he wants to put himself at a major disadvantage. Progressing through the match, Kakuzu will see that his attacks can't penetrate Gaara's ultimate and automatic sand defense. I'll reiterate some of the points made by EK and myself:

• Doton: Domu's downfall is that you can't move while using it for you entire body. This can be easily exploited by Suna Shigure or Suna Arare
• Given Gaara doesn't go close range/doesn't get in CQC, Kakuzu using the aforementioned technique on only one part of his body would do no good.
• Raiton: Gian can't pierce or harm Gaara's sand in any way and I felt I countered this well.
• Futon: Atsugai, Katon: Zukokku, and their combination can be effortlessly tanked give he's tanked larger and more destructive attacks. [
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  ][
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  ]

I'll let Noddy handle the rest of our argument.

 

[Waltz]

Ramble...

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Beginning with Ryuusa Bakuryuu is a futile attempt given the objective of the combatants as it is only a technique used to give him a geographical advantage and even if further enforced with

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it is still futile given the defense capabilities of Doton: Domu. Gaara continually using shock waves through the sand would amount to nothing but a waste of chakra and once over, Kakauzu can easily resurface given his bodily construction. Ryuusa Bakuryuu projects from Gaara's standing point meaning that there will also be trees and solid earth directly behind [given the location] and the claim that the technique 'clears forestry from the area' is actually

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as the trees were fractured for the most part; leaving an opening for hidden surprises such as attacking from underground as Kimimaro. Being able to tell whether Kakauzu is alive of not through sand sensory and being 'intellectual' aren't counters for Kakuzu defense but rather qualities of both Gaara and his sand. Sand, as stated prior are simply earthed elements manipulated by chakra and is weak against Raiton based offences. Rikiri hailed as the lightening cutter [technique which once easily breached Gaara's defenses], was almost over powered by Kakuzu's raiton as Kakashi suffered injury [indicating the superior of the two] and will no doubt do justice to Gaara's sand shield.

The melting point of sand [quartz] is some 1710ºC and even if entirely composed of other soil aggregates; it's melting point is still vastly inferior to the high temperatures of lightening being some 30,000ºC and highlights the reasoning behind Raiton being the perfect opposition for Doton; leaving high possibilities for Raiton: Gian to easily breach Gaara's immediate defenses, frying him in the process. The intent of this match is to kill the opponent and as such is a great disadvantage to Gaara as his methods of execution revolve solely around crushing the opponent with sand; something Kakuzu's defenses, specifically a varied yet distinct form of diamond completely negates. The sand has already been easily anticipated and avoided on foot [

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->

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->

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] By two persons having a 4.5 for speed and given Kakuzu's feats in

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as well as a 4.0 for speed; would be able to do similarly as well as react to any possible attacks Gaara may bring forth which includes the first move whether it be Suna Shigure or Ryuusa Bakuryuu. Kakuzu cannot be caught from below via similar means as not only does the jutsu not prevent Kakuzu from moving [only the hardened portion] but may provide a full bodily defense on contact with any sand as:

Spoiler

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Meaning the claims that Kakuzu will be completely incapacitated at any use of the technique are untrue. Fresco, It is more than likely also given his age and experience through the years that Kakazu would be knowledgeable of the fact that Sunagakure is the village of the Land of Wind and with an intelligent mind as his, would be forming the stated premises; that Gaara has a wind-based affinity which may possibly manipulate the material situated inside the gourd. If Gaara takes to the skies he will only be met with assaults from the other hearts. Kakashi's feats against Futon: Atsugai were solely due to the

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to anticipate attacks; as for a Gaara not wielding any doujutsu and a stationary fighter the same cannot be said. The destructive force of this fuuton would no doubt cause Gaara to play defense, leaving him open for alternate or combined assaults. As regards part 1 Gaara, he could have suffered a fatal wound if Chidori was

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. Bringing the Raiton no Yoroi argument is a rather weak attempt to say that Gaara's sand would defend against Raiton: Gian as the voltage carried by the Raiton no Yoroi is is harmless as those who have come in direct contact with it suffered no damage from the raiton itself, Onooki mounting Ay is the greatest example. If you had some rudimentary understanding of the chakra flow you would know that it is only the user shrouding their body in a layer of lightning chakra that, not to be used as an offence or def but to electrically stimulate the nervous system; thus amplifying taijutsu.

On the other hand, the same obviously cannot be said for Chidori, Raikiri or Raiton: Gian as they are used as concentrated offences of Raiton chakra and are at a much higher voltage. Sasuke scratching Ay with chidori and Raiton: Gian injuring Kakashi through the lightening cutter testify to that fact. Earth [which sand is apart of] is weak against lightening, that is a canonical, yet critical fact that cannot be ignored or underestimated as it has been highlighted on more than one occasion. The

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at which Kakuzu can protect himself with Domu is evidently quicker than it would take Gaara to completely cover and crush Kakuzu with sand. You still haven't stated how Gaara kills Kakauzu, which actually is an impossibility as not only does Kakuzu have higher chakra reserves but the perfect counter to Gaara's sand, being Raiton. Rolling forward: After Kakuzu easily evades Garra's attempts through defenses and strategical thinking he uses Jiongu and releases the lightning, fire, and wind masks; beginning a barrage of assaults on Gaara, yet timed correctly to fill voided intermissions yet occasionally attack simultaneously to increase its power and flexibility of attacks. Gaara would be solely focused defending against assaults, in which he will ultimately fail given Raiton. As he control's his hearts with mere thought it still leaves options for Kakuzu to travel beneath ground enforcing Doton: Domu assaults on Garra from either behind the scope of Ryuusa Bakuryuu or directly beneath, resulting in critical injury as Gaara's only defenses would be occupied.

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