[center]Iroh watched as Shira entered the woods, then sent out a quick burst of his seismic chakra through the air, just to catch their attention.[/center]

[indent]Iroh then kicked off the post he was leaning on, one of his feet being planted flat against it while his arms were originally crossed. It seemed like the thing someone far younger - for that fact, their age - would do. He looked at all three of them, scanning them over. He noted their weapons, using such to pick out who was who. [i]"Shira Hataga. Isao Kiriyama. Ageha. I am Iroh Ikeda, the Seismic Sage. I specialize in nintaijutsu, so don't ask me about anything else. I am your new sensei."[/i][/indent]

[center][i]"Your clan doesn't matter,"[/i] he said while looking directly at Shira.

[i]"Your past doesn't matter,"[/i] he said after quickly changing his gaze to Ageha.

[i]"You are now shinobi, at the lowest level," [/i]he said after once again changing his gaze to Isao.[/center]

[i]"Before you ask questions, I want to make one thing clear. Of your graduating class, only about twenty-five percent of you are left. Hosuka-san himself told me he only expects ten percent of you to even live a year as real shinobi. Look to your left. Then your right. If the Hokage is correct, at least one of those people is likely to die in the next year - if not yourself,"[/i] he told them all after finally diverting his gaze into their general direction. [i]"It is my goal to make you beat the odds. If numbers are against you, I will show you how to disprove even the best statistics. I was told as a genin that I would never make it using taijutsu, fighting head first. I made it through two wars and a decade of Hell,"[/i]he told them all, referencing his own past in an attempt to inspire them while also strike fear into them.

Iroh then allowed a smirk to creep across his face before asking, [i]"Questions?"[/i]