[center][color=#ACECFC][h2][u][b]Kouken, Ayame[/b][i][/i][/u][/h2][/color]
[COLOR=silver][sup][b]Iwagakure | C-B | Barrier nin[/b][/sup][/COLOR][/center][hr][INDENT][sup][COLOR=silver][b]TIME:[/b] [i]Present Day - Morning[/i] | [b]LOCATION:[/b] [i]Lightning Challenge Room[/i] | [b]INTERACTION:[/b] [@Ganryu] [i]Ai Kabe[/i], [@Kalas] [I]Renjiru Kurogama[/I], [@Spanner] [i]Hikaru[/i].[/COLOR][/sup][/INDENT][hr]As the statue revealed its true identity, Ayame narrowed her eyes slightly. As she noticed the scroll, Ai began talking, arranging the team and setting in motion a proper plan. It brought a small smile to her lips, even as she focused on keeping her barriers up. While the lightning beast wasn't really making any progress at breaking the barrier—as she focused the chakra where it hit, weakening it in locations further from the beast—it still took a fair amount of chakra to maintain the large network of barriers.

Adapting quickly to the new plan, Ayame cast out her hands to either side, generating chakra threads. The threads touched all her barrier rods that were far off, pulled them from the ground, and then back towards her. In about 3 seconds she had them close enough to maneuver them properly. The further off, less necessary barriers had deactivated when the rods had been extricated, of course, but those immediately around herself, Hikaru, and Renji were still up and quite stable. In fact, the one around them was much stronger than the earlier barrier had been, by virtue of her having to manage less.

Twitching her fingers she caught several Sekisao, and then threw them, hard. The rods hurtled in four groups, one of them traveling to her right, creating two lines leading up to Raijin's naval; the other created two lines leading to the edge of the room.

Channeling chakra through the threads, she erected a barrier towards the navel, leaving the rods leading towards the wall totally stationary. Focusing she took down one wall of their barrier, merging the path to the navel with the enclosed space that protected them from Raiju.

She looked to Renji and Hikaru and spoke, her voice commanding for once.

[color=#ACECFC][b]"Go!"[/b][/color][hr][center][color=#D4716E][h2][u][b]Nazomeku, Kazayatsu[/b] - [i]Kuroyaju[/i][/u][/h2][/color][COLOR=silver][sup][b]Iwagakure | A | Tsuchikage[/b][/sup][/COLOR][/center][hr][INDENT][sup][COLOR=silver][b]TIME:[/b] [i]Present Day - Morning[/i] | [b]LOCATION:[/b] [i]Konohagakure - Stadium Observation Room[/i] | [b]INTERACTION:[/b] [@Syn] [i]Gisho Omawarisan[/i] and [i]Namine Akizakura[/i].[/COLOR][/sup][/INDENT][hr]Yatsu took a pull of his sake, still sitting and apparently relaxed as Namine and the Hokage spoke about the return of a great evil: Seijuro. He smiled faintly as the Hokage insisted they not stop the exams. Yatsu stood and glanced at Namine, smiling.

[color=#D4716E][b]"I agree. Stopping the exams now will send our budding shinobi into dissaray, which would only play into Seijuro's hands, letting him snatch anyone or anything he might want while our forces are in chaos."[/b][/color] Bending down he picked up what appeared to be a cane, which had been sitting next to him, before rising back up. He tapped the cane against the ground, channeling a brief pulse of chakra through it.

Instantly the cane extended upwards and he twirled it once so that the point that had been aimed at the ground, now faced the ceiling. It had become a spear.

[color=#D4716E][b]"I would be glad to put down such an evil,"[/b][/color] he said, glancing at Gisho, [color=#D4716E][b]"...especially alongside either of you. It would be an honor."[/b][/color] Having encountered him before, Namine would notice an odd lack of frustration in the Tsuchikage. Normally, the man preferred to avoid combat entirely. It seemed that his dislike of combat disappeared when faced with an objective evil, something which threatened the well-being of many an innocent soul.

In fact...there even seemed to be a fire in his eyes and an eagerness in his heart.

[color=#D4716E][b]"Let's not tarry now,"[/b][/color] he said, glancing between the two.

While he wore a perfect disguise of patience, Namine would feel something other than eagerness in him. She would feel something dark, something buried, but its exact nature was so entrenched and hidden beneath Kazayatsu's other thoughts and emotions that she would be unable to identify it exactly.

All she'd be left with was an ominous premonition, a feeling of deep hurt, and something like hunger—though not of the physical sort.

It was disturbing, but it was also clear that Yatsu had it entirely under control. It was clear that it would not harm his allies, and furthermore it was certainly apparent that Gisho and her were his allies.

He was no traitor.

Still, what was it that lurked deep in the eccentric kage?

What indeed.