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[hr][INDENT][sup][COLOR=silver][b]TIME:[/b] [i]Present Day - Late Morning/Early Afternoon[/i] | [b]LOCATION:[/b] [i]The New Continent - En Route to the God Tree[/i] | [b]INTERACTION:[/b] [i] [@Savato] [@J8cob] [@Rabidporcupine] [@Odin] [/i][/COLOR][/sup][/INDENT]

Yuhi listened to the doctor's explanation and nodded along, beginning to understand what had happened from his account of the events. He believed he was correct in that thinking a factor had been omitted from the explanation that they'd been given - not knowingly, as the doctor's recollection had seemed quite forthcoming (and there was little reason to lie to the individuals supposed to ensure your safety) - but there was something that was not quite [i]right[/i]. Nagi's interrogation of him seemed to have earned her nothing but his scorn (and rightfully so, in his mind) and as she factored him into the equation, he gave her a look of equal parts desire to educate her and disdain for her lack of understanding. She was singularly focused, it seemed--she had been given her mission, and like her division's moniker she was determined to sniff it out to the exclusion of anything else. That was an immensely useful trait for a detective, and even knowing as little about her as he did he was quite certain that she was a stellar detective - but this mission did not require a detective. It required a cohesive unit of individuals who acted with proper information and planning, and apparently Nagi and Izuku preferred to act before those stages were complete. Yuhi got a very different vibe from Soryu, though - he was quite certain that the blue haired ninja was processing the available information in his own way and preparing to act in kind... Though the haste with which half of their team acted prevented him from really being able to do so.

[color=#7293DC]"Thank you, Doctor. We will report back once we have made progress on the mission."[/color] He offered, a tinge of disdain and a tinge of apology in his voice, as he stepped away.

Though there had been no time for it earlier, Yuhi made sure to answer Nagi at least briefly before she brazenly stepped foot into the swamp.

[color=#7293DC]"God Trees are the progenitors of chakra. I'm sure you know the history in some form, perhaps allegorically--Kaguya ate of the tree's fruit and became the first to wield the power of chakra. A tree similar to this one is the reason that history's course was altered from the normal to the extraordinary, and why we all exist in the fashion that we do."[/color] He spoke hurriedly, attempting to give his teammates at least a fragment of the knowledge required to appreciate the sheer importance of what was unfolding before them. He immediately got a sense of who was taking him seriously and listening to him--that was, Nagi and Soryu--and made a note to have a frank discussion with Izuku about the importance of cohesion once they had survived this ordeal. Indeed, most of the group seemed to follow Nagi's lead into the swamp without so much of a second thought (again, with the exception of Soryu who hesitated slightly), and Yuhi took the opportunity to observe precisely what was happening with them as they progressed into the swamp. 

He noted first that they seemed to be walking in circles - peculiar enough, given that the God Tree was straight ahead of them, but it did make plenty of sense given the story they'd heard about the deceased scientist. There was clearly something perverting the sense of perception of those who attempted to approach the tree - and, thinking about it, that did not seem too out of place. Though his knowledge on the God Trees was quite limited, he had read that they possessed [i]some[/i] form of sapience (not perhaps an intelligence, but a will that could be expressed by any means it had available to it). Given the pulsating tangle of chakra he could feel within the tree from even here it occurred to him that perhaps the God Tree was defending itself by using genjutsu, or something akin to it. How it was applied did not immediately come to mind, though he wagered that at this point he had almost spent as much time as he was going to be able to without actually stepping in to the swamp. Just before his foot crossed the threshold, Yuhi barked out a quick question to test whether or not his companions could hear him:

[color=#7293DC]"Are you aware that you're walking in circles?"[/color]

There was no response. Indeed, it seemed that his working theory of genjutsu rendered them unable to hear him - though he was quite curious about whether or not it would be a shared illusion or an individual experience. It seemed likely to be shared, he figured, if it was some protective instinct of the God Tree. Given that the scenario was very likely about to involve the mysterious local fauna attacking him, Yuhi removed the Yata no Kesan from his backpack and allowed it to hover gently over his open right palm, and continued to walk towards his squad. As the illusion took control of his senses, he found his way to the group rather quickly and attempted to explain to them his perception of the situation amidst the sound of the apparent local fauna beginning to close its way in.

[color=#7293DC]"I believe that the God Tree is somehow influencing this genjutsu--a protective measure, perhaps, to halt our approach? Given how suspect this seems, I'm inclined to believe that we should investigate the tree at the earliest possible opportunity. It will likely offer us a way to end all of this  and establish the safe zone - though I am certain that of all of us, I am the only one with enough knowledge about the God Tree to end things in such a manner."[/color] Yuhi spoke quickly, having also heard the tell-tale sounds of the local fauna coming towards the group. He found it particularly odd that there was a whistling sound, and as they came into view he took in their measure as best as he could while preparing himself for combat. At their most basic level they had the forms of wolves, but there were subtle changes from most of the specimens he had ever encountered. Their gait was longer (though he wasn't sure if he could attribute that to the wolves or to the genjutsu), their snouts were oddly shaped for carnivorous predators, and there was a flower on the very tip of their tails which seemed to emit the whistling noise that he'd been hearing.  The flower in particular struck a chord with Yuhi, who began thinking about it as he kneaded chakra internally in preparation to fight the wolves.

It looked [i]remarkably[/i] similar to the bud atop the God Tree, which further lent itself to his theory that the tree was the ultimate cause behind the unique fauna and the genjutsu that they found themselves in. It would explain why the genjutsu was a shared experience, as they did not seem to each be having similar but completely distinct instances of the genjutsu due to their ability to communicate with one another (and Yuhi's lack of being able to communicate them when he was not within the genjutsu). He didn't have much time to ponder the implications further, however, as his perception was fighting against him. Where once the wolves had been plainly visible, they were now simply gone. His periphery told him that something was moving, and as he swivelled his head to take a look there was clearly the form of a wolf where before there had only been a tree. Genjutsu were not something he had a great deal of experience in, though he had picked up as many tips as possible from Kyoko whenever she elected to talk about her abilities. Much of the trouble with dealing with a malleable genjutsu that could adapt itself was the intelligence behind it--only particularly intelligent beings could alter one's perception on such a fundamental level that it becomes impossible to distinguish from reality. It was a relatively safe risk to assume that the God Tree did not have such a level of intelligence, or its defence would likely be far more intricate than ambushing those who came close to it with its minions and genjutsu. 

As his mind raced with the possibilities, he didn't notice that a wolf had leaped right at him and attempted to sink its teeth into his midriff. As the bite happened, Yuhi curiously felt no sense of pressure. He wondered for a second what had happened, thinking the seals on his body should have activated, before realising that the attack itself was illusory and snapping his thoughts back to reality. With enough chakra prepared, he activated his Shikigami no Mai and dispersed a loose cloud of paper within a few feet of him. He could not rely on his senses to accurately track the beasts, so he would ensure that they would not reach him without navigating through his weapons of choice. Sure enough, between the illusory attacks that simply phased through the paper and were clearly not real, one of the wolves made its move and lunged at him with a vicious bite. A piece of paper stuck to the top of its elongated snout, and with a quick burst of his chakra the kanji for "Cut" would appear on the piece of paper, and in an instant the wolf's jaw and the beginning of its head were severed vertically, not quite splitting open due to the length of their snouts. The wolf crumpled to the floor immediately, blood oozing from the clean cut and slicking the paper so that it slid off into the marshy mess below. He wasn't expecting it to have done that much damage, truth be told, as the effects from his bloodline were quite weak without an enormous amount of chakra to back them up - but the wolves seemed to be similar enough to common animals that the effects were quite pronounced.

The next wolf came for him from behind, opting not to leap towards him but to go for his legs in order to prevent his escape true to their harrier style of combat. It managed to avoid several of the loosely floating sheets of paper, and got within two feet of Yuhi before he channelled fūton chakra into a single sheet along its edge and brought it straight down, slicing through the wolf's spine and into its body before emerging cleanly from its belly underneath. The strike served to paralyse the creature's body immediately, but its momentum carried it forward enough to land a weak bite against his calf before it actually died. The teeth barely managed to touch his flesh, but it was a solemn reminder of the dangers of combat - Yuhi had been sloppy, and had this been a stronger enemy he could have suffered an actual injury instead of the mild tinge of pain he currently felt. When he'd finished, he noted that his teammates had similarly beaten their own attackers - and that Nagi had been beset by [i]considerably[/i] more wolves than they had. He afforded himself a brief moment to wonder why before deactivating the Shikigami no Mai and gathering up the errant sheets of paper, about 20, and arranging them into a neat stack in his hands while his mysterious cube idly floated beside him.

[color=#7293DC]"The flowers on these wolves are too similar to the bud atop the God Tree for it to be a coincidence. Keep that in mind."[/color] he stated, nodding towards Soryu. Nagi seemed too headstrong and cocksure to consider the implications of the statement, and Izuku was... well, Izuku. Not much of a strategist, to put it lightly. Soryu was certainly the man he trusted the most with any sort of strategic advice from his brief time observing his team. Then, all around them, the illusion changed. He noticed nothing but an entrance to the God Tree revealing itself, and his heart raced at the possibility of getting to discover what was within the tree and study it in further detail. The violent roar reached his ears, but he barely even considered what it meant as he started to walk towards the God-Tree, then stopped and looked at the monstrosity that encroached upon the group. He hesitated for a second, before impressing his chakra into the stack of paper, emblazoning each of the twenty pieces with a more grandiose version of the commonly recognised symbol for an explosive tag, and foisted them upon Soryu.

[color=#7293DC]"I see an opening for the tree - I'm going to go and see if I can stop this before it really begins! Use those explosive tags in the fight, and good luck!"[/color] he called out, simply unable to both pass up the opportunity to research the God Tree and put his theory to the test. Everything was far too connected for it to be a coincidence. Nobody else would be able to do what he could within the tree, and though it meant abandoning his team to fight the monster without him he truly believed that the best outcome would result from him examining what he believed was the source of all of these troubles. If his team hated him for a hundred years for his decision, he was certain he could live with that. He'd have forgotten them by then, anyway. 

He made a mad dash for the opening, and climbed inside.