[color=bc8dbf][center][h3]Riku Orochi[/h3][/center][/color] Riku, surprisingly, stood quiet throughout the meeting. It was pretty boring, he took most note of the voices he heard. A few of them sounded quite pretty, and he spent much of the meeting imagining what they must look like. His fantasies were broken, much like the room, by the blast erupting. Riku swore, but was covered by the second blast. He stood by his kage; the Rankage's defenses were impressive. He was, in title, her bodyguard, but in practice, it was starting to feel the other way around. Still... There were a lot of things that didn't add up. The Sankage was gone, and there was a beast he could FEEL in the distance more than see, and this Norio had either the worst or best timing he'd ever seen. Riku drew his bow, pulled a single arrow off the quiver on his hip. He held it infront of his nose, almost posing. [color=a187be]"Smells like ink."[/color] He notched and fired it in a second towards the first of his three mysteries, at Norio himself. The arrow had two odd properties. The first was that it was blunt, and the second, why it was blunt, was it was an enclosing sealing arrow. It would seal someone inside it, they would find themselves in a blank room with a seal on the bottom of it. Riku turned towards his master. [color=a187be]"Interesting times? Don't lie, you were just as bored before this as I was, I can hear your heartbeat. “Well, I'm equal parts your adviser, so here's my advice. There are three roads we can travel. I find our newest guest’s arrival suspicious, I vote we ask on his impeccable timing, already fired an enclosing arrow. You can hate me for being beautiful later. Second route, follow the Sankage, perhaps a kidnapping in the confusion? Perhaps a culprit. Third route, ensure our safety. You check the totem while I seal our students to safety. Well, which path do you decide? You have the eyes. In any case, my path is clear, and I shall work on whatever you direct."[/color] Riku began a series of handsigns, focusing on opening his mind's eye. [i]Mind's eye of Kagura[/i] He breathed deeply as he concentrated, trusting his master in case of any further explosions. He slowly sought out chakra around him, feeling the kages and guards around him. And then concentrating further as he searched for both the genin, and for the missing Sankage. To see what was alive, hoping the answer to be ‘all the genin’. The genin could do without being traumatized, restabilizing the Mist had been bloody enough. If it just weren’t for those darn assassins sent at the Rankage Riku thought with a macabre smile. =================== [center][h3]Han’yo, the unremarkable[/h3][/center] Han’yo sat in a small little room with his genin, an awkward silence as he tried to be ‘cool’. Maybe he was too old for this? Still, he, as their leader, had to suppo- A large boom echoed in the distance. Han’yo was instinctive in his response. His hands flickered, and walls of stone rose around the small house. Despite his speed, he wasn’t fast enough, as debris shot through the house, clearing the table and much of the room. Han’yo leapt to the side, more debris being heard crashing against his defenses outside [b]“Damnit, I was too flashy, Earth Style Wall is too slow. If I’d known Moving Core, there would have been no damage.”[/b] He found Tōdai in the debris. The boy would live, but it was an unfortunate injury Han’yo would have to be ashamed of not stopping. Han’yo could sense what it was without looking, and he could tell it was over. He began wrapping the injury. [b]“A bijuu…. Seems I’m not the only one too flashy, building a city around these totems is a bad idea. We are lucky none of us are dead. If it had decided to hit here first, we all would have been. Meirō remember this, ninja are not flashy. Why is this? Because no matter how strong and stylish we may be, we will not measure up to the might of the Bijuu in a straight fight. They surpass us naturally. Yet they are the ones sealed, not us. Our strength, if used right, if subtle, surpasses theirs. Meirō, repeat to me right now what you know of the bijuu. This is the perfect time for a history lesson. You just saw the glimpse of one. Once you are finished, we will find out what happened. It is best not the be the tallest blade of grass right now.”[/b]