Nazomeku, Kazayatsu - Kuroyaju
Iwagakure | A | Tsuchikage
TIME: Present Day - Morning | LOCATION: Konohagakure - Stadium Observation Room | INTERACTION: @Syn Gisho Omawarisan and Namine Akizakura; @Ganryu Ai Kabe.
Barged in upon by one of his chuunin, Ai Kabe, Yatsu watched and listened to her for a time while she went through her various antics. He was glad she had returned to the village, though he did have his suspicions about her, as was his responsibility as kage. Nonetheless she seemed harmless enough.
The butt of his spear still planted against the ground, his chakra faintly pulsing through it, he responded to her question.
"As much as this may be about showing the potential of shinobi, I see this exam as a test of character and a learning experience. It is not so much about whether our shinobi, or the Leaf's impress me as it is important how they grow from this point onwards."He took a swig of his sake and smiled slightly,
"It is also a reminder that we live in a much more peaceful time. I find it to be a tremendous relief."He hid away his flask, head tilting slightly as he noticed something. His lips pursed and a frown crossed his features as the sound became more distinct in the following silence.
Tick. Tick. Tick.The chakra pulsing through his spear suddenly had a purpose as his other hand reached out, grabbing Ai by the shoulder. Stone spread from his hand onto her collarbone and back, strengthening his hold, before he pulled her next to him, letting go of his staff as he executed handseals faster than the eye could follow.
His chakra spread in an instant, covering the floor, then breaking it, even as a dome of earth shot over them, closing in seconds. His right hand on the ground, two fingers touching his spear which was in the center of the enclosure that contained Ai and him. He continued pouring chakra into the stone, using chakra flow and adding additional mass to the stone. He channeled the smallest amount of his kekkei genkai's chakra into the stone and used it as a catalyst to manipulate the temperature of the stone and the air that entered it. It also served to illuminate the interior faintly.
Outside the roar of a tremendous explosion drowned out all other sound. Were Ai to look upon the Tsuchikage's face, she would not see the kind, whimsical, and often eccentric man she had come to know her entire life. She would see anger and worry writ across his brow and burning in his eyes.
The air inside the shelter heated slightly, as did the surface, which became almost hot to the touch. It wasn't quite hot enough to burn, but it was damned close.
The kage kept one stabilizing hand on Ai, the stone having fallen away. Briefly they would feel as if falling, but at no point were they lifted from the 'ground' of the dome's interior. Eventually there was a jostling impact, and then nothing. Kazayatsu waited thirty additional seconds before he took his hand off of Ai's shoulder and looked at her.
"Ai, find your sister. See if you can gather the other shinobi. I believe the village is under attack. I value your lives, but I cannot stay with you. Whoever just made an attempt on my life has decided to threaten the wellbeing of my people, my shinobi, my allies, and my village."He stood, and as he did so the dome of dense stone crumbled around them, turning into dust and scattering outwards where it swirled in the wind. A white knuckled hand moved to grip his spear.
His usual jovialness was gone, replaced by a dangerous edge. Looking at him was like looking at a volcano on the precipice of eruption, but in the form of a man.
"Ah, and Ai," he begun, pausing
"Make an effort to notify all of the shinobi that they should, under no circumstances, approach the battlefield I am fighting on. Stay 200 meters out." He glanced at her, and there was fire in his eyes, before he looked away and began walking off through the ash and smoke.
Just as his figure became a silhouette in the debris she would hear one word.
"Dismissed."
Kouken, Ayame
Iwagakure | C-B | Barrier nin
TIME: Present Day - Morning | LOCATION: Lightning Challenge Room | INTERACTION: @Write Aito.
Seeing Aito brought a smile to her face, but it also worried her because if her friend decided it would be better to take from her, well, there probably wasn't too much she could do about it. They usually came to a standstill or Aito beat her, mostly because Ayame refused to use real force to deal with her friend...or anyone really.
“Aito. Hi, um. I don't suppose you'd let me pass? I would rather not have to fight you,” she said, smiling awkwardly. However, before her friend could respond a shockwave struck them. Ayame reacted instantly, stumbling then bracing herself. She glanced up to see a huge plume of fire coloring the sky red and orange. It was in the direction of the observation building...which was also where the kage were.
Her eyes widened in shock, before she swallowed some of her fear and looked to Aito.
She bit her lip as she realized that Ai had headed in that direction when she'd departed.
God she hoped that explosion hadn't been as bad as it looked...and felt. She turned to Aito.
“Actually, nevermind, let's stick together. I don't know if the exam is still on, but I think it'll be postponed. Let's head for the observation building. I need to see if Ai's okay.” Worry was writ in her voice even as she tried to suppress it.
Gesturing for Ai to follow, Ayame headed for the observation building, simultaneously headed for the exit.
Nisekuru, Koutaku
Iwagakure | A | Tsuchikage
In the form of a messenger hawk, and then a mosquito—its eyes altered to see as a human might—Koutaku watched Team Fire's interaction with another shinobi. He racked his brain and came up with names for all of them.
Kurin, Senju; Orihara, Usagi; Uragiri, Sakana; and Uzumaki, Kamui.The team moved, but not in sync. They didn't have much of a plan it appeared. Just potential strength in numbers and the possibility for teamwork. There was tension here and there among them, but it wasn't reliable enough to exploit in truth.
What did he know about the lot of them? More than they knew about him, surely.
Kurin was a Senju, so the conclusions were fairly obvious, but he knew that the shinobi was something of a sensor. Granted, Kurin did not appear to be
with the larger group. Good, it provided a divide and a possible ally.
Glancing between them he noted another sensor, which was rather troublesome. Still, even if there were two sensors available, it didn't mean they'd be able to detect something as tiny as an insect. Especially when he wasn't even really moving around much at all.
Noticing that at least one or two of them were glancing around occasionally he wondered if they were on the lookout for others or if they had another member. Either was problematic because it meant that there was a good chance that someone was hiding in their vicinity
So the question was, how best to deal with the situation?
Turning over his various tools in his mind, Koutaku considered his options.
The first he noted would be making a temporary alliance with Kurin, who was fairly powerful in his own right and was also in an environment that could very well benefit his style.
Second was the use of transformed weapons propelled by a mixture of his techniques to sow chaos. This along with a few other techniques could give him an opening to steal a scroll.
Option three was isolating a member of the team from the others, perhaps replacing one somehow. The question there would be who could he replace with minimal suspicion? Who did he know best among them? How could he separate the group?
He began shifting back into a proper human form, making sure to remain totally out of sight from any angle coming from below and nearby. The size of the trees in the Forest of Death were very useful for things like this.
Once he'd returned to a human state he silently and swiftly prepared a number of kunai, wire included of course, and then infused chakra into them, performing a series of handseals as he did so. Briefly he debated using his summon, then thought better of it...for now. By the time he'd finished his preparations the others were in the midst of what appeared to be an interrogation. Then it happened, a massive, loud, fiery distraction. He glanced in its direction, narrowed his eyes, and then used shunshin...once. He used it to get to a new angle, using trees and the like to stay out sight. Once in position he twitched a finger and a kunai shot from his prior location upwards and to the right of the group—whereas he was “in front” of them in relation to their position facing Kurin. However, with them likely distracting by the massive plume of flame blossoming in the distance, he would be in the opposite direction to where most were almost certain to be looking.
The kunai, firing from a position high in a tree, shot with tremendous speed at the group, but was not meant for them exactly. On contact with the ground, or anything else it may have struck, it released a powerful blast of air potent enough to knock the entire group off balance. He'd put a good bit of chakra in that kunai. It'd further divert their attention as he moved to a tree to the “left” of the group—across from the tree the first kunai had come from.
Ten no Tsunzaku(天の劈く 'Pierce the Heavens')
Asshuku Saya(圧縮鞘 'Compression Sheath').
A kunai fired at them from the front this time, but the effect was less pronounced when/if it struck the ground amidst the group. Finally a fourth kunai flew at them from the right of the group.
By now dust, dirt, and debris had been thoroughly stirred up in their midst, making it difficult, if not impossible, to see the oncoming high speed projectile. Of course, the attack was twofold, for the thrown kunai had wire extending back to where they'd been thrown from, meaning that moving in certain directions in the cover of dust was liable to get a person tangled up and cut.
The question was, how exactly would they react?
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???? | C | ????
TIME: Present Day | LOCATION: Forest of Death | INTERACTION: @Ganryu
An explosion rocked him, scattering the crystal dust around him and throwing him off balance for a moment. Catching himself and planting his feet he glanced up and then smiled as he saw the flames stretching into the heavens.
“Beautiful,” he said before shaking himself. The shock had thrown off the bloodlust. It seemed he needed to hurry. Perhaps that fellow from before could entertain him for a time.
He crouched channeling chakra through his body, muscles tensing, and then vanished in a shunshin, headed for the medical facilities. He was on the hunt for a certain genjutsu user.
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