[center][i]"In no way unexpected. . .[/i][/center]

[indent]Atop one of the many hills within Konohagakure, a man stood unmoved by the funeral pyre for the Hozuki. Dozens of shinobi tried to douse the flames, but it took some time. The Hozuki had obviously seen the horrors of Sai, as he wanted nothing left of his body. It meant very little; the division this man represented had samples of every Jounin that ever went through the Konoha clinics, and that same Jounin was just there for what he assumed was routine procedure after a bout with someone of similar skill-level. As fact, the man standing and watching the blaze had predicted this from the beginning.[/indent]

[i]"Hosuka, your predictions have been off. You expected Hayato to succeed in training at least one squad, and for Kirugetsu to last years before... this...[/i] the man spoke out, seemingly to no one. In a few moments, Hosuka emerged out of a tree beside the man as if it were no more than a doorway.

[b]"You're right. I expected more stability. Both of them suffered from terrible stress syndromes, but I had hoped they would be far more resilient than this. I did not want to sacrifice my field shinobi to train genin. . . we are all stretched so thin,"[/b] the Hokage replied back.

[i]"The Hydrification technique is not lost to us. One of his genin managed to steal it, and our Hyuuga managed to copy it. His sword may be no more than a pile of metal, but there are smiths in Iwa that could bring it back, and most likely more powerful,"[/i] the gentlemen with cross-armed retorted, ignoring half of what Hosuka told him only to inform him that their loss wasn't as terrible as it appeared.

[b]"We'll hand him over to Kiri. Let them have his burial. Kenji, with him gone, there will be no one upset by the first step of Clan Reconstruction Division. There is no Hozuki within our borders, but we can change that,"[/b] Hosuka stated before turning to the man denominated as Kenji.

[i]"You're right. Kirugetsu may be gone to us, but I am sure we can train a candidate to replace him. We cannot imitate his decades of experience, sir, but it was his experience that led to this..."[/i]

[b]"Indeed it was. How long will it take?[/b] Hosuka asked in a dull manner.

[i]"It will still take years... we have to enhance the cells of a candidate to use the techniques, then teach them. Teach them the techniques, the kenjutsu, and the Acid Release will come in its own time, if it does at all,"[/i] Kenji retorted.

[b]"That is still far too long to be productive how we need it... I don't see how Sai created the forces he did in only a year. He replicated Kekkei Genkai, not just advanced natures. From what I have seen, no methods we have can even begin to reproduce those results."[/b]

[i]"Yet, sir, yet. We still research Shin and the captured Sage Seals. We have a lot to learn. We also don't have near the resources Sai had during his empire. I assure you of this, sir, once we have one successful experiment, the rest will fall into place. Getting the formula down once means from then on, we merely tweak it."[/i]

[b]"Then let no time be wasted. You have enough on the Hozuki and on Kirugetsu to recreate him. No one will care, if anyone even notices. War is uncoming, Kenji, you know that. I have seen the pathetic excuses we have for shinobi now. I wonder if Hitori had any idea what he was saving..."[/b]

[i]"Sir, this world has been softened by its years under Sai. You cannot expect those we harvest from it to be suited for their new roles. We lost most of the hopeful students in the siege..."[/i]

[b]"I have papers to arrange for Kirugetsu. Sai was so close to his goal... if the world we know now has such little potential for shinobi."[/b]

With that, Hosuka left the same way he appeared: melding himself through the trunk of a large tree. Kenji returned to his blank stare into the fire, watching as Kirugetsu and most of his belongings went up in flames. There were others. Jinzo, Goro, Hayato, Lin, Isota. All of them had cracked under the pressure of teaching these new genin. Some even resulted in the death of nearly a dozen of them - the fall of division B. Sai left a world devoid of potential for this generation of shinobi and created an entire generation that seemed incapable of passing down their lineage. Sai, in his own way, may have succeeded in his goal.

[center][b]The next morning...[/b][/center]

If not for the travesty of the night before, the morning would have been pleasant. It was cool with a light dew on the leaves, humid, but not muggy. The sun shone down through the clouds and illuminated the dark blue sky while it was fading from night into day. Iroh had no interest in the incident of the night before. He disliked Kirugetsu to begin with. The story was he became enraged at Hosuka and ultimately killed two of his genin before himself. Two dead genin on a squad of a man that publicly berated the Hokage after being presented with a gift was a terrible image, but it was the one that went down with Kirugetsu. Evne if untrue, the man was seen as he who slaughtered his genin. In that same day, Hayato became a missing-nin after nearly killing a chuunin. Kirugetsu was one thing, but Hayato always seemed fun-loving and light-hearted. For him to just snap was a real surprise. Regardless, nearly three dead in one day.

[i]"Wouldn't be bad if Kyo wasn't his replacement..."[/i] Iroh muttered. It was a solid half-hour before his genin were to show up. All three of them, Shira, Isao and Ageha, were given scrolls and told to meet here, as was Iroh. He opted into training students, unlike most, but still didn't like the precept. He was a man of passion, that jumped into the flames and was tempered by the harsh conflict of war. Unlike Hayato and Kirugetsu, Iroh thrived in it. He was not cracked or broken, nor was he rage-filled. Only thirty or so out of almost a hundred genin were left, and it had barely been a week. Divisions B, D, and E were all destroyed. Division A was cut down by itself and Division C was almost unheard of. Iroh was left questioning what happened in the village, but that was not his place. He was here to train, to avoid becoming some high-up in Iwagakure, and he had no intention of risking that.

Meanwhile, Kino had just been hearing about his team. His uncle told him, but he was in disbelief. It wasn't until he reached the village and asked the Jounin office that it was confirmed. Kirugetsu had died, and the story going through the village was that he killed Shisen and Maruki as well. All three were dead - his entire former team. A moment of darkness fell on him. The idea that he could've died due to an enemy he couldn't fight nor would have ever seen. His sensei. He spent the entire night doing exactly as told and even part of that morning only to realize the man that instructed him was... dead. A murderer. On that note, Kino had no idea what to do. He fled home and just sat with his brother, confused. Maybe he would get a scroll? A letter? A visit? Would he go back on a team? With who? Kino just didn't know, and that may have been what scared him the most.