Kakashi Cup: Round 1 Hidan vs. Gaara

[Hikari Link]

Hello everyone and welcome to Round 1 of the the Kakashi Cup, part of the five-tiered Rasengan Championship. Each division will pit a group of ninja of similar skill level against each other in a one-on-one, single elimination tournament. This particular tier will showcase some of the upper mid-ranked ninja in the series.

The Premise:
Each character is motivated to fight their hardest based on the belief that they will be granted one wish upon victory. At the end of every battle, they are healed to 100% health and their memory of that fight is erased, so that they don't know they are in a tournament, only believing the fight in front of them counts. They are given a dossier thirty minutes before their match. It lists all of their opponent's ninjutsu and genjutsu and a very general description of it, to ensure their are no quick surprise attacks, like Kakashi using Kamui to take a head off. They don't know the opponent's past, secrets, taijutsu, or weapons, just ninjutsu, genjutsu, and attacks of that nature (i.e. Kekkei Genkai attacks).They can draw on experience from all of their fights, up to whatever point in the series they are taken from, which we will specify, but they can't use experience from tournament fights, because they don't remember those.

The Arena:
The Arena is approximately the size of the one used during the Chuunin Exam finals. A small thicket of trees surrounds the outer perimeter of the arena, fairly thick and 20 feet deep, to allow for stealth. Off to one side is small pond, approximately 5 feet deep and 20'x10'. It is a cloudless, sunny day at noon.

The Rules:
Each character will have a designated level of power and certain techniques may be restricted for the sake of balance. What this means is that they will be pulled from a certain point in the story and have all experience prior to that point as well as all such techniques. Any moves that result in the guaranteed death of the user are forbidden, as they have to survive to progress. Usually, rounds will begin Sunday night or Monday Morning and continue until Friday at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time. Saturday and Sunday will be days left up to the judges to decide. We ask that all discussion halt at the designated time and if you post afterward, your post may be disregarded. Please remember to cite your information as much as possible. Also, acknowledge this sites scanlation policy and do not posts links to sites where illegal content can be viewed, simple chapter and/or page numbers will do. Only the manga, the Official Databooks, and the Official Fanbooks are valid references. Anime-only material is not valid at all.

The Officials:
The officiating judges are hahonryuu, Sharingan_Warrior5693, and myself, Hikari Link.

The Fighters:
Round 1 Hidan vs. Gaara
Round 2 Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyuuga Neji
Round 3 Uchiha Sasuke vs. Kankurou
Round 4 Rock Lee vs. Momochi Zabuza
Round 5 Sarutobi Asuma vs. Yakushi Kabuto
Round 6 Inuzuka Kiba vs. Nara Shikamaru
Round 7 Temari vs. Aburame Shino
Round 8 Hatake Kakashi vs. Yamato

Gaara:
Gaara is at full power, healed to 100% after the fight with Kimimaro. No transformations and he can only hover on his sand 10 feet above the ground.

Hidan:
Hidan is at full power, healed to 100% after his second fight with Shikamaru. No restrictions.

It would appear that Gaara is quite busy this week, having a match in both the Naruto Cup and the Kakashi Cup. Will Hidan be able to defeat Gaara and accomplish Akatsuki's goal or will the Jinchuuriki prove to much for the immortal? Gentlemen, start your engines.

[spiralblitz]

um hidan lost cause he can't achieve his win condition vs gaara. so gg.

[PsychoKarin]

Gaara wins. Period. There is no way in hell that scythe is getting through the sand shield, the sand armor, and Gaara's evasion to get some blood. This one is over. Gaara is just gonna sand tomb him Kimi style, and that will be it.

[Nejifan]

Originally Posted by PsychoKarin

Gaara wins. Period. There is no way in hell that scythe is getting through the sand shield, the sand armor, and Gaara's evasion to get some blood. This one is over. Gaara is just gonna sand tomb him Kimi style, and that will be it.

pretty much. hidan is pretty slow, so although immortal, I dont see him landing even 1 hit. all gaara has to do is immobilize him with sand around his feet, and then bury him.

[Sasuke of the desert]

gaara would roll hidan.
hidan wouldnt be able to reach gaaras blood and i dont see how anyone could survive a sand tsunami into a sand tomb.

[hahonryuu]

i gotta say, this is a terrible match up for hidan. but then the competition in this tier is pretty stiff regardless for everyone. its getting to the point where there are really no weak people left. everyone here is either a chuunin+, a jinchuuriki, or has a curse mark. but still, bad match ups are bad and can happen

well now. hidan has a solid 3.5 speed which is <as far as we know since we don't have much of a standard to go off of since no one really fights gaara up close after naruto aside from state 2 kimimaro> as far as we know, enough to get through his auto guard, unless someone has an argument for otherwise

so, i have confidence hidan can get some blood. the downside being...what then? his has to make that circle and stay in it for the curse to work. i don't think gaara will let him sit still long enough to make it. i imagine staying put and making a circle would be rather dangerous with a giant sand wave coming at you. and dang near impossible to do when sinking in quick sand <heck, drawing in moving sand really would be impossible>

so long story short, the ritual is pretty much out of the question. he'll have to fight normally. the problem is that he likely wont do lasting damage due to gaaras prodigious defenses

and just being fast enough isn't going to guarantee not getting caught by the sand. he could do what he did against kimi and attack from right underneath his feet.

[PsychoKarin]

The difference between Lee and Hidan as far as speed goes is that any part of Lee (Arms, Legs, Head) can be a weapon that can deal serious damage. Hidan's only real weapons are the spikes and the scythe, which allows Gaara to heavily block on the side of those weapons. When Lee was attacking, Gaara had to watch for damage from any direction. Even if Hidan is fast enough to get past the auto-guard, the scythe is too slow to get a clean hit in.

[Nejifan]

Originally Posted by hahonryuu

i gotta say, this is a terrible match up for hidan. but then the competition in this tier is pretty stiff regardless for everyone. its getting to the point where there are really no weak people left. everyone here is either a chuunin+, a jinchuuriki, or has a curse mark. but still, bad match ups are bad and can happen

well now. hidan has a solid 3.5 speed which is <as far as we know since we don't have much of a standard to go off of since no one really fights gaara up close after naruto aside from state 2 kimimaro> as far as we know, enough to get through his auto guard, unless someone has an argument for otherwise

so, i have confidence hidan can get some blood. the downside being...what then? his has to make that circle and stay in it for the curse to work. i don't think gaara will let him sit still long enough to make it. i imagine staying put and making a circle would be rather dangerous with a giant sand wave coming at you. and dang near impossible to do when sinking in quick sand <heck, drawing in moving sand really would be impossible>

so long story short, the ritual is pretty much out of the question. he'll have to fight normally. the problem is that he likely wont do lasting damage due to gaaras prodigious defenses

and just being fast enough isn't going to guarantee not getting caught by the sand. he could do what he did against kimi and attack from right underneath his feet.

apparently hidan isn't quite as slow as I thought, but still, in comparison to the sand, like you said, he doesn't have much chance to use the ritual. and a single hit from sand tomb ends it for hidan (or really anyone to be fair, except kimi)

Originally Posted by PsychoKarin

The difference between Lee and Hidan as far as speed goes is that any part of Lee (Arms, Legs, Head) can be a weapon that can deal serious damage. Hidan's only real weapons are the spikes and the scythe, which allows Gaara to heavily block on the side of those weapons. When Lee was attacking, Gaara had to watch for damage from any direction. Even if Hidan is fast enough to get past the auto-guard, the scythe is too slow to get a clean hit in.

exactly. the scythe is big and cumbersome, and while it does have range, and some maneuverability in mid attack due to it being on a chain, I don't see gaara getting caught off guard by it to begin with, and as per previous comments, hidan doesn't have a real chance at the ritual to begin with.

[hahonryuu]

Originally Posted by Nejifan

apparently hidan isn't quite as slow as I thought, but still

remember, all he ever said was that hew as the slowest in akatsuki. he never technically called himself slow. i mean everyone else int here <that we have stats for> is like 4+ in speed...when your on the same team as itachi, yeah i would imagine your speed to feel pretty tame haha

really is a shame hidan got gaara right away. it pretty much takes his fighting style away

it's like naruto without his clones
a hyuuga without byakugan
jiraiya without toads
orochimaru without his 3589382950325680689 "keep me alive" jutsu's
asuma without his knives
shikamaru in pitch blackness
gaara without sand

win or lose, against just about everyone else hidan at least wouldn't have had his fighting style compromised. its almost not fair. its like he's fighting his natural enemy. i mean he would be in for a tough fight no matter what, but its a heck of a lot easier to come up with a winning scenario for hidan when he

A) fighting a predominately close range fighter, of which there are plenty in this tier <zabuza, lee, neji, asuma, kiba, naruto>

B) actually has access to his curse

but here? a mid ranged highly defensive fighter who can control the terrain and has a wide area of attack <to the point of being able to attack you from literally any direction>

he's basically just a guy with an odd scythe and above average stats.

[Narutoluigi]

Gaara wins no doubt. That scythe aint touching him. gg hidan.